As countless stars gathered in Las Vegas for the 61st Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards on May 17, 2026, the show was filled with familiar faces to fans of “The Voice.”
Quite a few beloved celebrity coaches, past and present, attended the ACM Awards, including some who performed and others who were nominated. Here’s who we spotted, from Blake Shelton to Michael Bublé…
‘The Voice’ Coaches Dazzle on the ACM Awards Red Carpet
GettyThe ACM Awards may be devoted to country music, but stars outside the genre — including Michael Bublé — were on hand for the fun night, too. Bublé stood out in a royal blue suit on the red carpet, and later introduced the nominees for Song of the Year.
The crooner, who has coached three seasons of “The Voice” and served as Kelly Clarkson’s Mega Mentor during season 29, confirmed to Billboard on the red carpet that he’s been recording an album in Nashville that he called his “love letter to country music.”
GettyKelsea Ballerini dazzled on the ACM Awards’ red carpet, too. The country singer, who served as the Comeback Coach in 2015 on “The Voice” and as a primary coach in 2025’s season 27, sported cascading waves in her hair and a cream-and-gold gown. Ballerini was nominated for the Female Artist of the Year award, but Ella Langley won the honor — as well as every other category she was nominated in.
See ‘The Voice’ Coaches Who Performed at the ACM Awards
Some fan-favorites from “The Voice” performed on the ACM Awards, too, including longtime coach Blake Shelton. After 23 seasons, Shelton retired from the NBC show in May 2023 to focus on family and other projects.
Shelton closed out the ACM Awards with a heartwarming tribute to late Nashville songwriter Don Schlitz, performing one of his many hits, “The Gambler,” which was made famous by Kenny Rogers.
Dan + Shay, who served as the first coaching duo on “The Voice” in the spring of 2024, delivered an emotional live debut of their powerful new song, “Say So,” in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month.
The song was inspired by the sudden death of Bill Vaughn, the late president and CEO of Warner Chappell Nashville, who died in January 2025 at age 49. According to Billboard, it was later confirmed that Vaughn died by suicide.
Meanwhile, country star Riley Green, who was just announced as a new coach on season 30 of “The Voice,” also performed his hit “Change My Mind” at the ACM Awards and brought some hardware home.
He and Ella Langley won the “Music Event of the Year” award for their duet, “Don’t Mind If I Do,” which he said she sang in her pajamas, having run over to the studio as soon as he wrote the tune. It’s the duo’s second year in a row winning the award; in 2025, they won it for their first duet, “You Look Like You Love Me.”
