Many of Dan + Shay's songwriting partners honored the country music duo at the 14th Annual Academy of Country Music Honors. Jessie Jo Dillon, Jordan Reynolds, Nicole Galyon, and Laura Veltz all took the Ryman Auditorium stage in Nashville to present Dan + Shay with the Jim Reeves International Award. This award is given to artists who make "outstanding contributions to the acceptance of country music throughout the world and have done the most to promote the genre worldwide."
"Not to brag or anything, but all of us standing here have written some big hits with the next honorees," Dillion began the tribute. "It seems like we should be writing their next single, there's so much firepower on this stage right now," Veltz joked, as the four songwriters wrote some of the duo's biggest hits, including '10,000 Hours,' 'Speechless' and 'Tequila.'
"This reigning ACM duo of the year are truly international superstars. With over 7.6 billion global streams, Dan + Shay are a force here and around the world," the songwriters added. After hyping their collaborators up, Dillion, Reynolds, Galyon, and Veltz performed a medley of all the hits songs they've written for Dan + Shay.
"I'm so thankful to be in this crowd," Shay Mooney said while accepting the award. "I get emotional watching moments like this since it's been a very long time since we've been able to look down and see some of our friends in the crowd and actually see them face to face."
Dan Smyers said their songwriters were the first people they thought to ask about presenting the Jim Reeves International Award. "Without the songwriters in this town, we would have none of this," he continued. "None of the shows, none of the record sales. It all starts with the song. You guys are responsible for the biggest songs in our career. You're the reason we get to live our dream every day and stand on this stage."