The 20 most memorable moments in ACM history

As the lights were beginning to fade on the 1975 CMA Awards, the winner of the previous year's Entertainer of the Year award, Charlie Rich, had one job. Announce that year's winner, and be gracious in handing the award over. 

I guess one out of two isn't bad. After handing over the award, Rich literally set fire to Denver's ballot slip right there on stage, with everyone in attendance watching.

Sure, this really didn't have anything to do with country music, but it was hilarious nonetheless. At the 1983 ACM Awards, Mr. T was on hand to read the show's rules, and presumably, make sure that everyone in the crowd follows them to a T.

Sorry, that was horrible.

Anyway, the video is here.

In 1976, Loretta Lynn was facing a stacked field, going up against Glen Campbell, Roy Clark, John Denver and Mickey Gilly for the prestigious Entertainer of the Year award. And when she won, she became the first female artist ever to win the award, to raucous applause from the crowd. Video of that special moment can be found here.

This win, at the 1991 ACM Awards, was incredibly poignant for the Judds; Naomi had announced her retirement due to health issues the previous year, so the win and subsequent acceptance speech were incredibly moving and emotional.

Any other year, this might not be as buzzworthy of a moment, but the 2008 ACM Awards marked the first year in the show's history where the Entertainer of the Year award took fan voting into account. Kenny Chesney ended up with the award, and took home a 50th Anniversary Milestone award for his trouble as well.

Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton had big shoes to fill, as they were slated to take over hosting duties for Reba McEntire, who had hosted the award show since 1999. Blake Shelton had some practice, as he shared hosting duties with her for a few years, but in 2013, McEntire passed the torch.

The show ended up being a massive success, with the two friends cracking jokes at each other's expense throughout the program.

George Strait performed his final touring concert back in 2014, capping off an incredible career in entertainment. For his trouble, fans came out in droves, voting for him to receive the prestigious Entertainer of the Year award during that year's ACM Awards.

Just before Keith Urban was slated to perform at the 2004 ACM Awards, disaster struck and a guitar went missing. As stagehands scrambled backstage to find it, Reba McEntire and Dick Clark had to fill time any way they could. It resulted in a hilarious, awkward, incredibly memorable minute and a half. The full video is right here.

Earl Scruggs passed away in March of 2012, leaving behind a career that really did shape the future of bluegrass music. Steve Martin and Rascal Flatts paid tribute to the man during that year's ACM Awards, playing "Banjo" to honor and celebrate the late, great banjo player. A video of the performance can be found here.

2013 wasn't just the year that Luke Bryan hosted the ACM Awards for the first time, it also marked the first time he won Entertainer of the Year award. His acceptance speech was incredibly emotional, and was made even better when Blake Shelton joined him onstage to congratulate him.

Blake Shelton might have a more chill, easygoing demeanor now, but back at the 2010 ACM Awards, he was certainly excitable. When Hillbilly Bone won the Vocal Event of the Year and Shelton was saddled with his first win, he literally stomped up the stairs to accept the award.

What were you doing when you were 15 years old? Because I'm willing to bet that you weren't winning Top New Female Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year honors at the ACM Awards, like LeAnn Rimes was in 1997. Personally, I was watching cartoons and playing Nintendo.

Oh jeez, poor guy. Back in 2012, Ashton Kutcher made an appearance at the ACM Awards, looking like he raided Party City for country-western-themed Halloween costumes before appearing on stage and singing some of "I Cross My Heart" in the awkwardly charming way only Kutcher could.

Speaking of Hollywood stars at the ACM Awards in odd outfits, Jay Leno took the stage back in 1999 to give Garth Brooks an award for Artist of the Decade. Apparently Leno couldn't resist poking a bit of fun at Brooks, electing to dress up as him for the event.

2006 marked the first year that the ACM Awards were held in Las Vegas, so Trace Adkins got into the spirit of the city by surrounding himself with showgirls as he performed.

There's no other way to put it – Tony Romo's appearance at the 2015 ACM Awards was cringe-worthy. His appearance, which featured an awkward staged pass as well as (ugh) deflate-gate jokes may not have been funny, or even entertaining, but it was certainly memorable.

They weren't pulling any punches that year. The award show began with a gigantic medley of songs that saw Carrie Underwood performing with Brooks and Dunn, Rascal Flatts, and other guests.

You wouldn't think this would work, would you? But last year, Trombone Shorty joined Little Big Town on stage for a performance of Stay All Night that was high-energy, jazzy, and generally just... fun. Apparently New Orleans jazz and country music pair pretty well together!

Five years after they retired, Brooks & Dunn reunited at the 2015 ACM Awards – marking their first public performance together since their retirement from music. It was a special moment for the duo, who are the ACM Awards' winningest group with a staggering 27 wins.

Back in 1994, Alan Jackson was a bit ticked off. See, he was slated to play the ACM Awards, but the event organizers told him he'd have to play along with a backing track. He didn't like this very much, so he took the stage dressed in a muscle shirt and proceeded to make a mockery of the event in pantomime. His drummer didn't even have drumsticks, for crying out loud! The video of the performance is here.