The 2025 ACM Awards lit up the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on May 8, celebrating a major milestone—60 incredible years of honoring the best in country music.
This year’s show was made even more special with the return of the iconic Reba McEntire as host, marking her 18th time leading the ceremony. With a lineup packed with fan-favorite performances and emotional wins, one standout moment came when Ella Langley and Riley Green took home the award for Music Event of the Year.
Their heartfelt duet, “You Look Like You Love Me,” released in June 2024, struck a chord with fans and quickly rose to the top of the Country Airplay charts. It became a career-defining hit for Langley, earning her first No. 1, and marked a second for Green. The song’s raw emotion and honest storytelling helped it stand out in a year full of strong contenders.
While the Music Event of the Year category is now a fan-favorite, it’s actually one of the newer additions to the ACM lineup. Originally introduced in 1998 as Vocal Event of the Year—first won by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill for “It’s Your Love”—it got a name change in 2019 to better reflect the wide range of collaborative magic happening in country music today.
Langley and Green’s win proves that sometimes, the right song with the right voices can truly move the genre forward. Their chemistry, both in the studio and on stage, helped make this duet a standout moment of the year—and now, an official ACM winner.
