The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Nashville, Tennessee. It was originally called the Country & Western Music Academy; and was formed by people who wanted to share their love of Country music.
In 1965, the first annual awards ceremony was held. Buck Owens won for Top Male Vocalist and Bonnie Owens won for Top Female Vocalist. Merle Haggard was named Top New Male Vocalist and Kaye Adams was named Top New Female Vocalist.
The most prestigious awards are for Artist of the Decade and Entertainer of the Year. There are a number of other awards to recognize male and female vocalists, albums, videos, songs and musicians. An award is presented in recognition of achievement in the previous year. An award presented in 1999 is for achievement in 1998, i.e., the "1998" award.