Wynonna Judd to Receive Country Champion Award at Inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards

Wynonna will receive the Country Champion Award at the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards, which is set to air live from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

And Wy will head right back to the Opry on Oct. 3 when she hosts Christmas at the Opry, a two-hour special that will air Thursday, Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

The People’s Choice Country Awards will air live on NBC and Peacock while Christmas at the Opry will air on NBC and next day on Peacock. The latter show is seen as competition for CMA Country Christmas, a fixture on ABC since 2010. Carly Pearce hosted last year’s show, which aired on Dec. 8, 2022.

“Wynonna is one of the most recognized and lauded performers in country music,” Cassandra Tryon, senior vice president, live events, NBCUniversal Entertainment, said in a statement. “Not only is she incredibly talented, her selflessness and passion for putting the needs of others in the spotlight is unmatched. We can’t think of a better person to honor as our inaugural ‘Country Champion’ and to celebrate the holidays with across these two major country music events.”

As the Country Champion recipient at the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards, Wynonna will be celebrated for her decades-long career and efforts around philanthropy and activism. She has used her public platform to advocate for children, military veterans and their families, disaster relief and more through her work with such organizations as the Wounded Warrior Project and Habitat for Humanity.

As previously announced, Toby Keith will receive the Country Icon Award on the show.

The same producers are behind both shows. People’s Choice Country Awards is produced by Den of Thieves with Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager and Barb Bialkowski serving as executive producers, along with RAC Clark as executive producer and showrunner.

Christmas at the Opry is executive produced by Ignjatovic, Prager and Bialkowski for Den of Thieves along with Clark and Jen Jones.

Tickets for the Oct. 3 taping of Christmas at the Opry, in front of a live audience, are on sale now at Opry.com. The performer lineup will be announced at a later date.

NBC calls these projects “an example of collaboration resulting from NBCUniversal’s equity investment in Opry Entertainment Group alongside Atairos, which was finalized last year.”