Avery Anna, 2026 ACM New Female Artist of the Year Winner: Fun Facts

Avery Anna, who was named the Academy of Country Music Awards’ new female artist of the year on Tuesday (April 28), ahead of the 61st annual ACM Awards on May 17, is a fast-rising 22-year-old singer from Flagstaff, Arizona.

She is signed to Warner Music Nashville, for whom she has released two full-length albums, Breakup Over Breakfast and Let Go Letters, and two EPs: Mood Swings and forgive, forget. She co-wrote all 17 songs on Breakup Over Breakfast, which features collaborations with Parmalee, Dylan Marlowe, Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose and Lori McKenna. She also co-wrote and was featured on Sam Barber’s hit “Indigo,” which reached No. 8 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.She has served as an opening act on tours by Josh Turner, Parmalee and Martina McBride.

She joins a very impressive list of winners in the new female artist of the year category, which has been presented in all but seven years since the ACM Awards got underway in 1966. Shania Twain, who is set to host this year’s show, won the award in 1996. Each of the top four nominees for this year’s ACM Awards – Megan Moroney, Miranda Lambert, Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson – is a past winner in the category. Other past winners include Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Kelsea Ballerini and Ashley McBryde. And that’s just in this century. Pre-2000 winners include Barbara Mandrell, Tanya Tucker, Olivia Newton-John, Linda Ronstadt, Crystal Gayle, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes.

Here are five things to know about Avery Anna.

Avery and Anna are her first and middle names
Avery Anna was born Avery Anna Rhoton. Several other artists are known by their first and middle names, including Thomas Rhett (who was born Thomas Rhett Akins, Jr.), Carter Faith (her full name is Carter Faith Jones) and Bella Kay (who was born Bella Kathleen Ann Williams).
She loves country but has diverse tastes
“I’ve been singing and writing in a journal for as long as I can remember,” the then-18-year-old told Billboard’s Jessica Nicholson in 2022. “Songwriting came from that. When I was younger, I would sing with my grandpa and he would play Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. That’s where my love for country started, and I’ve been raised on it. Of course, later on, I came to love Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Kelsea Ballerini and so many more.”
[Editor’s Note: All three of those women won the same ACM Award that Avery Anna just won, as did another singer she praised in that interview – Donna Fargo. In 2021, Avery Anna covered Fargo’s most famous hit, “The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.” in a TikTok video.
“I love that song,” she told Nicholson, “But I also loved Cage the Elephant and Noah Kahan and YEBBA.”
It all started for her in a bathtub (it’s an acoustics thing)
In October 2020, Anna posted a TikTok video of herself in a bathtub, singing the Grammy-winning A Great Big World/Christina Aguilera collab, “Say Something.” The clip landed 10 million views on TikTok. One of those viewers was Matt Thomas, lead vocalist and guitarist from the country group Parmalee, who shared the video with writer/producer/manager David Fanning. Fanning and his 33 Creative management company manager/partner Tina Crawford reached out to Anna via Instagram, ultimately signing her to a management and production deal.
She didn’t waste time when she set about pursuing her dreams
In May 2021, Anna graduated from high school, having completed her final year via Zoom. Just three months later, at 17, she moved to Nashville. In June 2022, she signed a recording contract with Warner Music Nashville. Three months after that, she made her Grand Ole Opry debut.
She freaked out when Kelly Clarkson covered one of her songs on her talk show
Kelly Clarkson covered Avery Anna’s song “Narcissist” for a “Kellyoke” segment on The Kelly Clarkson Show. The young star cowrote the song with Andy Sheridan and Ben Williams.
“I just remember being so in shock and so awestruck,” she told Nicholson. “I used to watch Kelly Clarkson singing ‘Piece by Piece’ on American Idol over and over again on YouTube. Just knowing that she connected with a song that I wrote is insane, because my whole life it’s been me connecting with her songs. It was just crazy.”