Old Dominion Had a Fellow ACM Group of the Year Nominee Cheering Them On

Old Dominion became the first-named winners of the 2021 ACM Awards show on Sunday night (April 18), bringing home the title of ACM Group of the Year for the fourth year in a row. Despite their winning streak, the group seemed genuinely surprised when they took the stage, telling the limited in-person audience that, especially after such an unusual year, they had no idea who was going to win the category.

Backstage in the virtual press room, the band elaborated on how surprised they were by their win.

"Obviously this year has been so weird. It kinda was up in the air for us," Old Dominion explained. "You feel so disconnected from the normal ways you measure your success, by being on the road, so it's kind of hard to gauge where we even are.

"We were nervous, to be honest," the band admits of their headspace headed into the show.

But there was one person who didn't have any nerves about whether or not Old Dominion would win the trophy, and that was the bandmates' friend and fellow nominee, Jaren Johnson of the Cadillac Three.

"We were sitting there, and Jaren from the Cadillac Three was like, 'Oh, you got this! You're my favorite band! You guys are the best band in country music!'" Old Dominion recount, cracking up. "We're like, 'I don't know, man, it could go either way.'

"It's like we're their idols or something!" Old D joke. "They definitely thought we were gonna win. I don't know who we thought were gonna win."

Old Dominion were the first winners announced live on Sunday night. Jimmie Allen, Gabby Barrett, Kane Brown, Carly Pearce and Lee Brice were all announced as early winners before the ceremony.

The 2021 ACM Awards air live on CBS and stream live on Paramount+. Sign up for the streaming service here.