Songwriter Ashley Gorley Has 3 ACM Nods for Song of the Year: Who Else Has Done That?

Songwriter Ashley Gorley has three ACM Awards nominations for song of the year. He’s only the third songwriter to achieve that feat in the show’s 58-year history. (The category was introduced in the show’s second year.)

Gorley co-wrote Chris Stapleton’s “You Should Probably Leave” with Stapleton and Chris DuBois; Cole Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” with Swindell, Jesse Frasure, Mark D. Sanders, Thomas Rhett and Tim Nichols; and Morgan Wallen’s “Sand in My Boots” with Josh Osborne and Michael Hardy.

The only other songwriters to notch three nominations in one year are Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson, each more than 50 years ago.

Hag was the sole writer of all three of his 1968 nominees – “The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde,” “Mama Tried” and “I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am.” He was also the artist on all three songs. The first two reached No. 1 on Hot Country Singles – now called Hot Country Songs. “I Take a Lot of Pride” peaked at No. 3. Jimmy Webb won the award that year for writing the Glen Campbell classic “Wichita Lineman.”

Kristofferson was the sole writer of all three of his 1970 nominees – “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” a No. 1 hit for Sammi Smith; “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” a No. 1 hit for Johnny Cash; and “For the Good Times,” a No. 1 hit for Ray Price. (All three chart references are to Hot Country Singles.) Kristofferson won the award for the sublime “For the Good Times.”

Hag, who died in 2016 at age 79, and Kristofferson, 86, have long been country music royalty.

Haggard was voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994. He received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2006 and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2010.

Kristofferson was voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and received that organization’s highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award, in 2006. He was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004 and received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2006.

Gorley, 45, has written hits for a raft of country artists, as well as such non-country artists as Bon Jovi and Jason Derulo. He has topped Billboard’s Country Songwriters chart for 33 weeks and has headed Hot 100 Songwriters for three weeks.