Cody Johnson Takes Pride In Being An Entertainer
All eyes are on Cody Johnson tonight as he attends the 2024 ACM Awards as not only a performer, but also as a five-time nominee. His nominations include Visual Media of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and the top honor of the night, Entertainer of the Year.
RELATED: Parker McCollum: Cody Johnson Is ‘So Good For Country Music’
Johnson spent some time in Frisco, Texas this week with Backstage Country’s Kelly Ford; to say he’s ready to take on the ACM Awards, would be an understatement. The country star didn’t hold back on his true feelings going into Country Music’s Party of the Year.
“I’ve been ready for the Entertainer of the Year nomination since I was about 12 years old. Being an entertainer is something I pride myself on.” Johnson told Ford.
He continued, “However, if I have to compare one to the other, you know, like Album of the Year is a conglomerate. Yeah, that’s me, Trent Willmon, Jack Clark, Scott Gunter, Chris Lacy. It’s my band in Nashville, and it’s something that we all worked very hard on. So, yeah, there’s two different things now.”
Johnson is set to perform his latest single, “Dirt Cheap,” tonight at the ACM Awards. The song, which is now a country staple, is featured on his 2024 album, via Warner Music Nashville, titled Leather.
“Josh Phillips, he wrote this song by himself. I heard through the grapevine that his wife asked to hold on to it until he felt like he had an artist that could portray it in the right light. He sent it to Luke Combs. Luke never clicked on it. Thanks, Luke. Well, I found that out on a duck hunt,” Johnson said.
Johnson is currently out on the road for his headlining 2024 ‘The Leather Tour’ and will play major festivals this summer including CMA Fest in Nashville, Windy City Smokeout in Chicago, and Gulf Coast Jam in Florida, among others.
The 2024 ACM Awards will air on Thursday, May 16 at 8 p.m. EDT/7 p.m. CDT/5 p.m. PDT, streaming live exclusively on Prime Video.