There are award moments, and then there’s this. Tucker Wetmore was on stage at O2 Forum Kentish Town in London — closing out the third consecutive sold-out night of his Brunette World Tour’s UK run — when a video message from Thomas Rhett interrupted the show. Seconds later, his mother Sia walked on stage to present him with the ACM New Male Artist of the Year award. His first ever ACM. In London. In front of a sold-out room that had no idea it was coming.
“I’m at a loss for words right now for the first time in a long time,” Wetmore said from the stage. “I can’t do any of this without you guys. I can’t do any of this without that woman right there.”
The Academy of Country Music sending the trophy internationally — a first in recent history — tells you everything about where Wetmore’s stock currently sits.
We got an early look at what all the fuss was about when Wetmore came through Auckland’s Spark Arena supporting Jordan Davis, and it was clear even then that this was an artist operating well above support act level. The stage presence was immediate and natural, and what struck us most was how much of the crowd already knew his songs — singing them back word for word, the kind of reception most headline acts would be happy with. It felt like watching someone outgrow the support slot in real time.
The win caps a rise that has been genuinely remarkable in its speed. His debut album What Not To became the biggest country album from a new artist in 2025, debuting at number 15 on Billboard’s all-genre 200 Albums chart and pushing his career streams past two billion. Back-to-back number one singles at Country radio, three consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Radio Country Airplay chart, and now an ACM award presented to him mid-show in a sold-out London venue. The 61st ACM Awards themselves stream live on Prime Video on Sunday 17th May.
The Brunette World Tour continues across the US through the rest of the year, with dates including a debut at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado and stops in Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas. For a country artist still in the early stages of his career, the venues already tell their own story.
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