Two of country music’s most celebrated voices are headed to Conway this summer as Crystal Gayle and Ricky Skaggs take the stage at the 2026 Arkansas Country Music Awards.
The red carpet event will be held Monday, June 1, at Reynolds Performance Hall on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas.
Gayle, who stands as one of country music’s most successful female vocalists, will be honoring 2026 Arkansas Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Allen Reynolds. Reynolds served as Gayle’s producer throughout her incredible hit-making career, which includes such hits as “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue,” “I’ll Get over You,” “Talking in Your Sleep” and “Half the Way.” Also, Reynolds penned the Gayle hits “Wrong Road Again,” “Somebody Loves You” and “Ready for the Times to Get Better.”
A member of the Grand Ole Opry, Gayle has scored 34 top 10 country singles, with 22 reaching number one. She has earned numerous honors from the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music, and the American Music Awards. Her landmark 1977 album, “We Must Believe in Magic,” became the first country album by a female artist to sell more than one million copies and be certified Platinum. “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” also won a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1978.
Joining Gayle on the awards stage is Skaggs, whose career spans mainstream country stardom and bluegrass mastery. A member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, Skaggs is a longtime Grand Ole Opry member and a 15-time Grammy Award winner.
During the 1980s, Skaggs dominated country radio with hits such as “Heartbroke,” “Highway 40 Blues,” “Uncle Pen,” “Country Boy” and “Lovin’ Only Me.” An eight-time Country Music Association award winner, he was named Entertainer of the Year in 1985. After his prominent run in country music, Skaggs, who cut his teeth musically in bluegrass, became one of the genre’s most recognizable ambassadors alongside his band Kentucky Thunder.
Skaggs is married to Sharon White, of The Whites. Along with Allen Reynolds and Jimmy Doyle & Patsy Gayle, The Whites are among the 2026 inductees into the Arkansas Country Music Hall of Fame.
The 2026 Arkansas Country Music Awards will be co-hosted by country music historian and journalist Charles Haymes and Miss Arkansas 2014 Ashton Gill. Additional performer announcements are expected in the coming months.
Tickets are on sale now at www.ArkansasMusic.org.
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