Darius Rucker will receive the Veterans Voice Award presented by USAA’s Honor Through Action at the 52nd American Music Awards, and he will also perform during the broadcast with his Hootie & the Blowfish bandmates. The show airs live Monday, May 25, 2026, at 8:00 PM ET and 5:00 PM PT from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The award honors artists who use their platforms to make meaningful, lasting change in the lives of those who served, and Rucker’s record fits that brief closely. Over his career, he has supported military organizations, helped provide more than 20 mortgage-free homes to veterans through Military Warriors Support Foundation, performed on multiple overseas USO tours and appeared at events including the DoD Warrior Games.
Last year’s Veterans Voice Award went to Zac Brown, a sign that the AMAs have turned the honor into a recurring part of their Military Appreciation Month programming. Queen Latifah will host this year’s ceremony, which will be broadcast during a month set aside to recognize service members and veterans.
USAA is also bringing back its Poppy Wall of Honor for a seventh year, with the exhibition returning to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The display stretches more than 130 feet and features more than 600,000 hand-placed poppies, each one representing an American life lost in the line of duty since World War I. USAA said Gold Star families, service members and veterans will be seated at the show, tying the tribute inside the arena to the remembrance outside it.
That pairing gives the award added weight: Rucker is not being recognized for a single gesture, but for years of work that have kept veterans in view long after the applause fades. On May 25, the broadcast will test whether a pop-country star and an awards show can make that recognition feel as lived-in as the service it honors.
