Maren Morris, Chris Stapleton lead ACM Awards nominations
Morris and Stapleton lead the nominations for this year's Academy of Country Music Awards. The academy announced on Friday that Morris and Stapleton both had six nominations ahead of the April 18 awards show, which will air on CBS from Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo)NASHVILLE, Tenn. โ Maren Morris and Chris Stapleton are the leading nominees for the Academy of Country Music Awards, but only Stapleton joined the all-male ballot for the top prize of entertainer of the year. The academy announced on Friday that Morris and Stapleton both had six nominations ahead of the April 18 awards show, which will air on CBS from Nashville, Tennessee. AdMiranda Lambert, who is already the most nominated artist in ACM history, stretched her streak with five nominations.
ACM Awards show returns to Nashville venues in April
FILE - This April 7, 2019 file photo shows host Reba McEntire on stage at the 54th annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. The Academy of Country Music Awards is coming back to Nashville in April for a second time to hold its awards show at three different venues. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)NASHVILLE, Tenn. โ The Academy of Country Music Awards is coming back to Nashville for a second time to hold its awards show at three different venues. The awards show, which is normally held in Las Vegas in April, used the same Nashville locations when the coronavirus pandemic delayed their show to last September. The show was held in Nashville for the first time last year without a live audience.
Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris to play CMAs
FILE - Eric Church performs at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Ariz. on March 28, 2017. Church will perform at this year's CMA Awards in Nashville. (Photo by Rick Scuteri/Invision/AP, File)NASHVILLE, Tenn. โ Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Luke Combs and more are set to take the stage at the CMA Awards in November. The country music awards show promised that the genreโs biggest stars will be together in one room again for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak started. Lambert, the leading nominee with seven nods including entertainer of the year, will perform โSettling Down" from her album of the year nominated record โWildcard."
Thomas Rhett, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs top CMT noms
NASHVILLE, Tenn. โ Ashley McBryde, Dan + Shay, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Sam Hunt and Thomas Rhett top the 2020 CMT Music Awards nominations with three each. In nominations announced Wednesday for the pandemic-delayed show, 14 videos are vying for the top prize of video of the year. The fan-voted show will air on CMT and other networks on Oct. 21 with outdoor performances. The Highwomen, a group made up of Maren Morris, Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Amanda Shires, also got their first nomination for group video. Electronic producer and DJ Marshmello also earned a nomination in collaborative video for the crossover hit โOne Thing Right" with Kane Brown.
5 Things to Know for Today
FILE - In this Aug. 19, 2020, photo Attorney General William Barr participates in a roll call with police officers from the Kansas City Police Department in Kansas City, Mo. In a private conference call this week with his U.S. attorneys nationwide, Attorney General William Barr said he wanted prosecutors to be aggressive in charging demonstrators who cause violence. (AP Photo/Mike Balsamo, File)Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:1. QUESTIONS RISE OVER INDIAโS DEATH TOLL Experts say its death toll of only 83,000 in a country of 1.3 billion people is likely an undercount, raising questions about the way it counts fatalities from COVID-19. ACM AWARDS TAKE SURPRISING TWIST Carrie Underwood and Thomas Rhett tie for entertainer of the year, the first time the top prize has been split between two artists.
Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett tie for top prize at ACMs
Underwood and Rhett seemed equally taken aback after host Keith Urban announced the tie at the awards show held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday. โKeith, what is happening right now?โ Rhett asked, astounded, before thanking his family. There was a lot of anticipation for the show, which featured Taylor Swift making her first appearance at the ACMs in seven years. In awards announced before the show aired, Rhett also won music video of the year, while Townes won new female artist of the year. Underwood sang a tribute to iconic female Opry members, including Patsy Cline, Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, Barbara Mandrell, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton.
ACM Awards brings live performances back to TV amid pandemic
This combination photo shows country singers, from left, Luke Bryan, Kane Brown and Mickey Guyton who will perform at this year's ACM Awards in Nashville. (AP Photo)NASHVILLE, Tenn. โ At the Academy of Country Music Awards on Wednesday, there wonโt be fake fans, canned applause or pre-taped acceptance speeches. After a five-month delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, the awards show wants to bring the live television experience back again. The 55th annual ACM Awards, normally held in April in Las Vegas, were delayed this year and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, for the first time. โI donโt know if itโs gonna look like an NFL Draft night when we hand out the awards,โ Urban said laughing.
Kane Brown, Mickey Guyton, Luke Bryan to sing at ACM Awards
NASHVILLE, Tenn. โ The Academy of Country Music Awards will feature performances by Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Dan + Shay, Florida Georgia Line, Mickey Guyton and Morgan Wallen, all from the Grand Ole Opry House. Riley Green won new male artist of the year and Tenille Townes won new female artist of the year. The Bluebird Cafe will host performances by Jimmie Allen, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert featuring songwriters Natalie Hemby and Luke Dick, and Tim McGraw. And Kelsea Ballerini, Gabby Barrett, Maren Morris, Old Dominion, and Thomas Rhett featuring Jon Pardi will put on their shows from the Ryman. Keith Urban will host the show from the Grand Ole Opry House.
Hot Country Knights cash in on '90s nostalgia
The Hot Country Knights have been a staple of Bentleys touring show for years, but during a break in recording and touring, Bentley produced a full album of parody songs called The K Is Silent. (Jim Wright/Capitol Records Nashville via AP)NASHVILLE, Tenn. โ With their acid-washed jeans and mullets, the Hot Country Knights arenโt just nostalgic for the โ90s era of country music. The fascination with that decade of country music history and its icons is at an all-time high. AP: Have you seen the โ The Tiger King? I donโt think our lyrics are suggestive at all and anybody that thinks that needs to check their country music history.
At home with kids, pets and spouses, country stars play on
NASHVILLE, Tenn. โ Country musicโs biggest stars should have been on the carpet of the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday in Las Vegas, but like most of America, they were homebound because of the coronavirus. Still, the musicians played on, surrounded by spouses, kids and โ in one case โ a horse. โACM Presents: Our Country,โ a TV special aired on CBS in lieu of the delayed awards show, featured acoustic performances, special duets, clips from previous ACM Awards telecasts and a tribute to the late country icon Kenny Rogers. Brad Paisleyโs wife, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley, played the role of camera operator as Paisley and Darius Rucker played together via video conference. โLean into your guitars and your pianos and your voices and let that heal you.โ___Online:ACM Awards: https://www.acmcountry.com/___Follow Kristin M. Hall at http://twitter.com/kmhall
Dan + Shay, Old Dominion, Maren Morris nab top ACM noms
NASHVILLE, Tenn. โ Grammy-winning duo Dan + Shay lead the 2020 Academy of Country Music Awards with six nominations for Dan Smyers and five for Shay Mooney and helped pop star Justin Bieber earn his first-ever ACM noms. Each member is nominated twice for single of the year as artists and producers of โOne Man Band.โOthers earning five nominations include Thomas Rhett, producer Dan Huff and Grammy winner Maren Morris. 1 country song of 2019, Morgan Wallen's โWhiskey Glasses," eligible. Wallen did earn a nomination for new male artist, but his hit song isnโt competing for any prizes. __A previous version of this story had the incorrect number of nominations for the group Old Dominion and its individual band members.
Kane Brown pays tribute to late drummer Kenny Dixon
Honoree Kane Brown accepts an award onstage during the 2019 CMT Artist of the Year at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Oct. 16, 2019 in Nashville. (CNN) - Country star Kane Brown choked back tears as he honored his late drummer, Kenny Dixon, as he accepted an award at the CMT Artists of the Year awards show just four days after Dixon's death. "I want to dedicate this to my drummer Kenny," Brown. Country singer Chris Young had presented Brown with the award and also had mentioned Dixon's tragic death. Brown also paid tribute to Dixon with an Instagram message on Sunday.