Wednesday, the ACM Awards are finally here.
HIGHLIGHTS
· Miranda Lambert holds the title of most-awarded artist at the ACM Awards, with 32 trophies to her name.
· 2020 ACM Awards: No Acts Eligible for New Duo / Group of the Year
PERFORMERS:
Kelsea Ballerini (“Hole in the Bottle), Gabby Barrett (“I Hope), Maren Morris (“To Hell and Back”), Old Dominion (a medley of their No.1 hits) and Thomas Rhett with Jon Pardi (“Beer Can’t Fix)” at the Ryman Auditorium.
Jimmie Allen (“Make Me Want To”), Luke Combs (“Better Together”), Miranda Lambert featuring Natalie Hemby and Luke Dick (“Bluebird”) and Tim McGraw (“I Called Mama”) will perform at the Bluebird Cafe.
Dan + Shay (“I Should Probably Go To Bed”), Luke Bryan (“One Margarita”), Mickey Guyton (“What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”), Florida Georgia Line (“I Love My Country”), Eric Church (“Stick That In Your Country Song”), Kane Brown (“Worldwide Beautiful”) and Morgan Wallen (“Whiskey Glasses”). These performances will take place from the Grand Ole Opry house.
New Female Artist of the Year Tenille Townes and New Male Artist of the Year Riley Green will also take the stage. Blake Shelton & Gwen Stefani will perform their new single, ‘Happy Anywhere.’ Trisha Yearwood will perform a special song, ‘I’ll Carry You Home’ in tribute to those in the country music community lost during the past year. Carrie Underwood will perform to celebrate the 95th Anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry.
Taylor Swift will perform her country single, ‘Betty.’
PRESENTERS:
Darius Rucker, Lauren Alaina, Runaway June and Clint and Lisa Hart Black Keith Urban will host this year’s ceremony of the Academy of Country Music Awards.
NOMINATIONS
Entertainer of the Year
Luke Bryan Eric Church Luke Combs Thomas Rhett Carrie Underwood
Male Artist of the Year
Dierks Bentley
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban
Female Artist of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood
Album of the Year
Center Point Road –Thomas Rhett
GIRL –Maren Morris
Heartache Medication – Jon Pardi
What You See Is What You Get – Luke Combs
Wildcard – Miranda Lambert
Group of the Year
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
The Highwomen
Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie & Tae
Single of the Year
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
“One Man Band” – Old Dominion
“Rainbow” – Kacey Musgraves
“Rumor” – Lee Brice
“What If I Never Get Over You” – Lady Antebellum
New Female Artist of the Year
Ingrid Andress
Gabby Barrett
Lindsay Ell C
aylee Hammack
Tenille Townes – WINNER
New Male Artist of the Year
Jordan Davis
Russell Dickerson
Riley Green – WINNER
Cody Johnson
Morgan Wallen
Song of the Year
“10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay ft. Justin Bieber
“Girl Goin’ Nowhere” – Ashley McBryde
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
“One Man Band” – Old Dominion
“Some Of It” – Eric Church
Video of the Year
“10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay ft. Justin Bieber
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
“One Man Band” – Old Dominion
“Remember You Young” – Thomas Rhett
“Sugar Coat” – Little Big Town
Music Event of the Year
“10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay ft. Justin Bieber
“Dive Bar” – Garth Brooks ft. Blake Shelton
“Fooled Around And Fell In Love” – Miranda Lambert ft. Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack, Elle King
“Old Town Road” – Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus
“What Happens In A Small Town” – Brantley Gilbert ft. Lindsay Ell
Songwriter of the Year
Ashley Gorley
Michael Hardy
Hillary Lindsey
Shane McAnally Josh Osborne
FACTS
For the first time in its 55-year history, the country music awards show will take place in Music City, across three of town’s historic institutions — the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium and Bluebird Cafe — making it the first awards show to do so.
The historic move comes out concern for the safety and health of the Nashville-based artists and attendees. The Academy will strictly follow the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s safety guidelines, along with state mandates, in planning the event.
The ACMs have set up shop in Las Vegas for several years, having previously taken place in Los Angeles and Dallas. The 2020 ceremony was originally scheduled to occur on April 5, but was postponed to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Top Artist Nominees: Fast Facts
· Dan Smyers of Dan + Shay, 6 nominations
· Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay, 5 nominations
· Maren Morris, 5 nominations
· Thomas Rhett, 5 nominations,
· Dann Huff, 5 nominations
· Justin Bieber, 4 nominations
· Blake Shelton, 4 nominations
· Old Dominion, 4 nominations
· Eric Church, 3 nominations
· Luke Combs, 3 nominations
· Miranda Lambert, 3 nominations
· Ashley McBryde, 3 nominations
· Kacey Musgraves, 3 nominations
ACM Awards Nominees: Notes From the Academy
· Maren Morris earned five nominations in four categories, including her fourth Female Artist of the Year nomination and first Group of the Year nomination as a member of The Highwomen. She is also nominated in the Album of the Year category twice, as both artist and producer, for GIRL. Additionally, Morris is nominated for Music Event of the Year for “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” with Miranda Lambert, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack and Elle King.
· Reigning Male Artist of the Year Thomas Rhett received five nominations in four categories, including his first-ever Entertainer of the Year nomination. Rhett is also nominated twice, as both artist and producer, for his album Center Point Road in the Album of the Year category. Additionally, he received his first Video of the Year nomination for “Remember You Young,” and his fourth Male Artist of the Year nomination.
Producer Dann Huff received five nominations, including a nod for Album of the Year with Thomas Rhett as a producer for Center Point Road. He is also nominated for Music Event of the Year as a producer for “What Happens in a Small Town” with Brantley Gilbert and Lindsay Ell, and Single of the Year as a producer for “What If I Never Get Over You” with Lady Antebellum. Huff also received two nominations across the Studio Recording Award categories, including Guitar Player of the Year and Producer of the Year, an award he won previously in 2006, 2009 and 2013.
· Reigning Duo of the Year Dan + Shay earned four nominations, including their seventh nod for Duo of the Year. They received nominations in the Video of the Year, Music Event of the Year, and Song of the Year categories for “10,000 Hours.” Shay Mooney received his first individual nomination as a songwriter in the Song of the Year category for “10,000 Hours.” Additionally, Dan Smyers received two individual nominations as a songwriter in the Song of the Year category and as a producer in the Music Event of the Year category for “10,000 Hours.”
· First-time Academy of Country Music Award nominee Justin Bieber earned four nominations for “10,000 Hours” (featuring Dan + Shay). Bieber is nominated for Music Event of the Year, Video of the Year, and twice, as both artist and songwriter, for Song of the Year.
· Blake Shelton received four nominations, including Single of the Year, Song of the Year and Video of the Year for “God’s Country.” He is also nominated for Music Event of the Year for “Dive Bar” with Garth Brooks; Shelton previously won in this category in 2009 for “Hillbilly Bone.”
· Reigning Group of the Year Old Dominion earned four nominations, including their fifth nod for Group of the Year. They are also nominated for Single of the Year, Song of the Year and Video of the Year for “One Man Band.” Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen and Brad Tursi each received individual nominations as songwriters in the Song of the Year category for “One Man Band.”
· Eric Church received three nominations, including his second nod for Entertainer of the Year. Church was also nominated as artist and songwriter in the Song of the Year category for “Some of It” – marking his eighth and ninth nominations in the category.
· Reigning New Male Artist of the Year Luke Combs received three nominations including Male Artist of the Year and his first nomination for Entertainer of the Year. He also received his first nomination for Album of the Year for What You See Is What You Get.
· Miranda Lambert received three nominations including Female Artist of the Year, which she has won nine times, more than any other female in the history of the ACM Awards. Lambert was also nominated for Album of the Year for Wildcard and received a nomination for Music Event of the Year for “Fooled
Around and Fell in Love” featuring Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack and Elle King.
· Reigning New Female Artist of the Year Ashley McBryde received three nominations. She received two nominations in the Song of the Year category as both artist and songwriter for “Girl Goin’ Nowhere,” her first in the category. Also, she received her first nomination for Music Event of the Year for her contribution to Miranda Lambert’s “Fooled Around and Fell in Love.”
· Reigning Female Artist of the Year Kacey Musgraves earned three nominations including her seventh nod for Female Artist of the Year. Additionally, she received her first Single of the Year nomination as both artist and producer for “Rainbow.”
· ACM Award-winning producer busbee is posthumously nominated for two awards, including his third nod for Album of the Year with Maren Morris as a producer for GIRL. Also, he is nominated for Producer of the Year, his third nomination in this category.
· This year’s nominations list includes 25 artists and industry creators receiving their first-ever ACM Awards nomination. The first-time nominees include Mason Allen, Ingrid Andress, Dan Atchison, Gabby Barrett, Justin Bieber, Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd, Jeremy Bussey, Clint Daniels, Carlo Glorioso, Riley Green, Caylee Hammack, Michael Hardy, The Highwomen, Cody Johnson, Alexa Kinigopoulos, Stephen Kinigopoulos, Lil Nas X, Angie Lorenz, Sophie Muller, Michael Trent Reznor, Matthew Atticus Ross, Jordan Schmidt, Tenille Townes, Morgan Wallen and YoungKio.
