Aeolian sand is widely distributed in desert areas, but it has certain challenges in the application of roadbed engineering due to its loose particles and poor stability. Cement-modified aeolian sand has gradually become the mainstream improvement method of aeolian sand materials due to its good sand fixation performance. However, the mechanical properties and failure modes of cement-modified aeolian sand are still unclear. The effective characterization of the damage evolution process of aeolian sand is crucial to understanding its mechanical mechanism. This study focuses on cement-modified aeolian sand as the research subject. Utilizing an unconfined compression apparatus and an acoustic emission monitoring system, this research simultaneously monitors stress-strain data and acoustic emission signals during the deformation and failure process of cement-modified aeolian sand. This investigation analyzes the influence of cement content on mechanical performance parameters, examines the correlation between acoustic emission time-frequency characteristics and damage evolution processes, and subsequently establishes an acoustic-emission-based damage evolution model. The results show that a strong correlation is observed between the stress-strain curve and the acoustic emission (AE) evolution characteristics of the cement-modified aeolian sand. When the applied stress reaches 80% of the peak stress, the AE signals enter a relatively calm period. This characteristic can be regarded as significant precursor information for the deformation and failure of the material. The damage in the cement-modified aeolian sand follows a Weibull distribution. The shape parameter m attains its maximum value at a cement content of 7%. The material's homogeneity transitions from being comparable to coal rock at lower cement contents to resembling granite at higher contents. These findings can provide a technical basis for using acoustic emissions to characterize damage and identify risks in cement-modified aeolian soils.