The seven-time ACM Award winner loaded up on sausage and double entendre as she performed the lead single from her latest album, Middle of Nowhere

May 17, 2026

Kacey Musgraves hit the stage at the 2026 ACM Awards for the first time ever on Sunday night breaking a shocking dry spell with a performance of her own single… “Dry Spell.”

The seven-time ACM Award winner’s performance was filled with cheeky double entendre. It opened with Musgraves sitting atop a washing machine before picking up some sausages at the butcher’s counter of a makeshift grocery store (à la the “Dry Spell” music video). Even the signage was slyly ribald with cream, juice, melons, and bananas on sale, and eggplants and cucumbers located in aisle 69.

Earlier this month, Musgraves released her seventh studio album Middle of Nowhere. With plenty of pedal steel guitars and the singer’s Texas roots on full display, the LP is her most country-leaning project in years. The LP marked Musgraves’ first since 2024’s Deeper Well.

In celebration of the album, Musgraves has delivered a handful of live performances from a surprise Coachella set to album promotion shows in London, and most recently, a three-night residency at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas. For her final night at the famed Texas venue, the singer brought out fellow country queen, and ACM Awards nominee, Miranda Lambert to sing their new duet “Horses and Divorces.”

Musgraves isn’t up for any awards at the ceremony this year since Middle of Nowhere, released on May 1 of this year, falls out of the eligibility period. The singer has won seven ACM Awards over the years, including Album of the Year for 2018’s Golden Hour.

Other performers set to take the stage throughout the night include Ella Langley, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert, Cody Johnson, Carter Faith, Parker McCollum, Lainey Wilson, and Riley Green.