Taylor Swift wields an acoustic guitar for world premiere performance of Betty at 55th ACM Awards

She is a two-time winner of the Academy of Country Music’s highly-coveted Entertainer Of The Year award.

And for the first time in seven-years, Taylor Swift returned to the ACM stage to deliver the world premiere performance of her hit song Betty at the Grand Ole Opry House.

The 30-year-old singer-songwriter wielded a black acoustic guitar and remained seated on a stool as she effortlessly performed the emotionally-charged track.

Taylor was positioned center stage, while a backlit harmonica player aided the mood of her performance.

She had on a maroon long-sleeve shirt that was completely covered in light reflecting sequins and she slipped her slender stems into a pair of high waisted beige trousers that tapered at the ankles.   

Swift opted for a minimalistic makeup look and she wore her dirty blonde hair in a romantic bun. 

She maintained intimate eye contact with the camera throughout the entire performance and she could hardly contain her smile as she gazed out into the empty auditorium. 

Taylor concluded her performance with one epic strum before the stage lights went black. 

Prior to taking the stage, Swift’s official fan page hyped up devout ‘Swifties’ by urging them to tune into the world premiere performance.

Betty is featured on Swift’s latest critically-acclaimed record Folklore, which made its surprise debut on July 24. 

The country-inspired single also acted as a means of unveiling the name of pal Blake Lively and husband Ryan Reynold’s third daughter, who was born in October of last year.

Fans quickly connected the dots due to the presence of the names ‘James’ and ‘Inez’ in the song, which happen to be the names of Blake and Ryan’s eldest daughters.

After a few weeks of speculation, Taylor admitted that she ‘named all the characters in this story after [her] friends’ kids.’

She also explained the meaning behind the emotionally-charged song, which she wrote ‘from the perspective of a 17-year-old boy,’ in a brief Country Radio interview.

‘Everybody makes mistakes, everybody really messes up sometimes,’ she began. 

‘I’ve always loved that in music you can kinda slip into different identities and you can sing from other people’s perspectives. So that’s what I did on this one.’ 

Swift’s eighth studio album, Folklore, has dominated the top slot on the Billboard 200 chart for six straight weeks, ‘making it the album with the most weeks atop the list in nearly four years,’ according to Billboard.

Across eight-albums, Taylor has spent 46 total weeks at number one, which ties her with Whitney Houston ‘for the most weeks atop the chart by a woman in history.’ 

The Dear John songstress graced the socially-distanced carpet for Wednesday’s ACM Awards in head-to-toe Stella McCartney at the iconic Grand Ole Opry House. 

Since breaking into the country music scene in 2006, and eventually migrating to pop music, Taylor has taken home a total of nine ACM Awards, including Album Of The Year and Record Of The Year.

She was named the Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer Of The Year in 2011 and 2012.

Taylor last appeared at the award show in 2013, where she performed the hit Tim McGraw song Highway Don’t Care with the 53-year-old country legend, himself, and Keith Urban.

The biggest names in country music maintained their social-distance for The 55th Academy of Country Music Awards on Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee.

Keith Urban hosted the award show on CBS, which is typically held in April in Las Vegas, but was delayed this year and moved to Nashville, Tennessee due to the pandemic.  

The performances, some of which are pre-taped, span three historically important stages in country music history, but none were open to fans.

The smallest, the Bluebird Cafe, accommodates only about 90 people pre-pandemic and the venue helped to start the careers of Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift, among many others. Miranda Lambert sang the aptly titled Bluebird from the small stage, with other performances from Tim McGraw, Jimmie Allen and Luke Combs.

The Ryman Auditorium, an early landmark for gospel and bluegrass as well as country, featured performances by Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett with Jon Pardi and Kelsea Ballerini. 

Swift performed at the biggest of the venues, the Grand Ole Opry House, which acted as the center of operations for the live broadcast. 

But Swift was just one of many incredible performers to take the stage during Wednesday night’s show in Music City USA.

Carrie Underwood brought her powerhouse vocals as she paid homage to trailblazing female country stars of the Grand Ole Opry at the iconic venue.  

The 37-year-old American Idol alum performed a medley of songs by the likes of Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Barbara Mandrell, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton. 

She also performed an awe-inspiring medley of some of her greatest hits, alongside fellow Entertainer of the Year nominees Luke Combs, Luke Bryan, Thomas Rhett, and Eric Church. Underwood was the only female nominee.  

Underwood and Rhett ended up tying for Entertainer Of The Year, so each musician got a chance to deliver an acceptance speech to eerily empty theater. 

Rhett and Church returned, separately, later in the night to perform Beer Can’t Fix and Stick That In Your Country Song. 

Maren Morris, who welcomed her first child, a son, with husband Ryan Hurd, 33, slipped her incredible post-baby body into a bright, tropically patterned dress as she graced the stage.

The 30-year-old songstress, with guitar in hand, performed an electrifying rendition of her hit song To Hell and Back from her 2019 album Girl. 

Bryan could hardly keep a smile off his face as he brought the party back to the socially-distanced award show with a performance of his fun-filled hit One Margarita.

Kane Brown, 26, moved many to tears with his powerful genre-bending track Worldwide Beautiful.

‘I just want everybody to love everybody. And this is a song I wrote for it,’ said Brown to the empty theater before launching into the track.

Lovebirds Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani provided all of the feels, while performing their song Happy Anywhere from a studio in Los Angeles. The pair were unable to travel to Nashville for the show.

Keith Urban put aside his hosting duties to virtually perform with pop punk icon Pink, who he recently collaborated with on this new song One Too Many.

The 52-year-old Australian also showed off his piano chops, while performing alongside the ever stunning Mickey Guyton.

Guyton, donning a white floor-length gown, held tightly onto her microphone as she delivered a goose bump inducing performance of her hit What Are You Gonna Tell Her.

Tim McGraw had a full circle moment, while performing his latest single I Called Mama at the Bluebird Cafe, where he got his start  

Kelsea Ballerini gave the award show some Las Vegas glamour in a multi-toned mini dress that was doused in orange and maroon glitter.

The 27-year-old hitmaker oozed confidence as she belted out the lyrics to her new single Hole In The Bottle. 

American Idol’s very own Gabby Barrett served major angel vibes in a chiffon floor-length gown that featured a jewel-covered bodice.

She performed I Hope with husband and fellow musician Cade Foehner.

Country music icon Trisha Yearwood performed I’ll Carry You Home during the show’s moving in memoriam segment.

New Female Artist of the Year winner Tenille Townes blew audiences at home away with her raspy vocals as she performed her radio hit Somebody’s Daughter.  

New Male Artist of the Year winner Riley Green bared his soul while singing the words to the relatable track I Wish Grandpas Never Died.

As if two medleys were not enough to satiate Country Music lovers, Old Dominion’s very own Matthew Ramsey took fans down memory lane by playing some of the bands biggest hits.

Dan + Shay, who took home the ACM for Best Group, may have been barely visible due to their set’s artsy lighting, but the two-man group had all eyes on them, while performing I Should Probably Go To Bed.    

Florida Georgia Line served up some old fashioned patriotism with a performance of their red, white, and blue approved track I Love My Country.

Morgan Wallen rocked a denim-on-denim ensemble and a mullet, while rocking out to his bar-friendly song Whiskey Glasses.

A whole new department focusing on COVID-19 precautions and regulations was added by Dick Clark Productions to protect all those involved in Wednesday evening’s event.

‘Whether someone is a guitar tech, a grip, an artist or a producer, everyone who entered any of their venues had to take a COVID-19 test, wear a mask and get their temperature checked,’ explained Richard A. Clark of Dick Clark Productions.