Lainey Wilson Kicks Off ACM Awards with ‘Can’t Sit Still’

Lainey Wilson walked into the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Thursday night and immediately cranked up the tempo. The reigning Entertainer of the Year launched the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards with “Can’t Sit Still,” a boisterous country-rock number that she and a troupe of dancers in all-white outfits and cowboy hats tore across the stage. Strobe lights sliced through the performance, and Wilson’s physical command echoed the night’s host, Shania Twain, without ever tipping into imitation.

This was Wilson’s first live appearance since marrying former NFL quarterback Devlin “Duck” Hodges in Tennessee last Sunday, a shift she didn’t pause to spotlight but that gave the whole set a subtle, forward-moving charge. The song’s frantic pace and the staging’s controlled chaos felt less like a victory lap than a flex of where she is right now.

Wilson has been in a rare stretch. Her Netflix documentary, Lainey Wilson: Keepin’ Country Cool, arrived on April 22, directed by Amy Scott. She headlined Stagecoach in April, her first time topping the festival’s bill after playing it in 2023. And the ACM nominations this year, dominated by women, placed her among the field’s top contenders. Megan Moroney led with nine nods, Miranda Lambert had eight, and Wilson and Ella Langley each had seven. The closest male name was Chris Stapleton at six.

The performance didn’t point toward any one of those plotlines. It just moved, loudly and with intent, as an opener that set a clear tone for the night.