Parker McCollum is walking into the 59th Annual ACM Awards already a winner. The 31-year-old snagged a pre-show win on Wednesday when his song, “Burn It Down,” took home the Visual Media of the Year prize. With another possible win in the future, Parker says that's not what it’s about for him.
LISTEN NOW: Parker McCollum joins Audacy’s Rob Holly at 2024 ACM Awards
“It’s not about winning, honest to God, no BS,” Parker told Audacy’s Rob + Holly. “Walking the same halls and being at the same show and being invited to something that has Reba [McEntire] and COJO [Cody Johnson] and Randy Travis and all this unbelievable talent in Country music, that’s what makes me feel like I’m winning.”
All that in addition to the exciting changes in his personal life as he readies to welcome his first child, a son, with wife, Hallie Ray in August. “My life has been so blessed lately. We got a baby boy on the way, coming in August and Hallie Ray is healthy. God has been so good to us in my personal life and then the career going as well as it is… I’m speechless pretty often these days.”
Admitting he “freaks out sometimes” at the thought of becoming a father, McCollum shares he is excited to raise a son with the same foundation he had. “He may not be very intelligent or very smart, but he will have impeccable manners and an incredible work ethic — those are two things I promise he will have,” Parker said. “That’s how I was raised and I truly, I have the greatest dad in the world and I genuinely look forward to passing everything he and my grandparents and my mom taught me down to him and raising him the way I was [raised].”
Hear more from Parker about readying for baby boy, his time at the ACMs and so much for by checking out his entire conversation with Audacy’s Rob + Holly above and don’t forget to tune in to the 59th Annual ACM Awards tonight at 8pm EST on Amazon Prime. No Amazon Prime account is needed to watch.