Remember When the ACM Award Looked Like a Bowling Trophy? They Changed It

The famed ACM award got a redesign before the 2003 show in Las Vegas. Now, artists pick up a silver statuette attached to a black base. If you look down at the trophy, you’ll notice it’s shaped like a cowboy hat. Overall, the award is much heavier than one would imagine. Artists that win two or three certainly will have sore arms after an night of lugging their loot around Sin City.

Prior to the makeover, the award was on a wooden base and featured a few different metallic or gold tops. The trophies Toby Keith is holding in the photo above are two cowboy hats with guitar necks protruding from behind. Those wins were for Top Male Vocalist and Album of the Year at the 2001 award show. On the right is the current award, which Keith picked up for Top Male Vocalist in 2004. In the ’70s and ’80s, the award looked even cheaper, but was the same style as the ones Keith is holding on the left. Needless to say, the reboot was a good idea.