Swift, Underwood & More Join Performers for 2013 ACM AWARDS on CBS

Country music stars Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Lady Antebellum and Little Big Town are scheduled to perform at the 48th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, co-hosted by Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton and to be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 7 (8:00-11:00 PM live ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network.

These artists join previously announced performers Luke Bryan, Kelly Clarkson, Hunter Hayes, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, George Strait and The Band Perry, as well as those performing at the 3rd Annual ACM Fan Jam, headlined by Brad Paisley, along with special guests Dierks Bentley, Hunter Hayes and New Artist of the Year nominees Brantley Gilbert, Jana Kramer and Florida Georgia Line. LL COOL J has also been tapped to make a special appearance during this year's ACM Fan Jam, emceed by Storme Warren.

Jason Aldean is nominated this year for three Academy of Country Music awards, including his third consecutive nod for Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year, as well as Vocal Event of the Year for "The Only Way I Know" with Luke Bryan and Eric Church. Recently, Aldean played his first-ever Madison Square Garden show, which sold out in just seven minutes, when his "2013 NIGHT TRAIN" tour rolled into New York City for one of its many sold-out stops. Aldean has solidified his stadium headliner status with upcoming sold-out shows at the University of Georgia's Sanford Stadium, two nights at Boston's Fenway Park and one at Chicago's Wrigley Field.

Kenny Chesney has won 11 Academy of Country Music Awards, including four Entertainer of the Year Awards and the Crystal Milestone Award, an award that has only been given to five other acts in the Academy's history. He is nominated this year for Vocal Event of the Year for "Feel Like a Rock Star" with Tim McGraw. Chesney's current single, "Pirate Flag," is burning up country radio, becoming his eighth Top 25 debut and being named USA Today's Song of the Week. The song is the first single off of his upcoming Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Records album Life on a Rock, set to be released on April 30. He has just kicked off his "No Shoes Nation Tour" on March 16 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

Eric Church leads with seven ACM Award nominations, including Male Vocalist of the Year and his second consecutive nod for Album of the Year and Video of the Year. He is twice nominated for Song of the Year for "Springsteen," as both artist and composer. Church also earned nominations for Single of the Year for "Springsteen" and for Vocal Event of the Year for "The Only Way I Know" with Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan. His third album, CHIEF, reached Platinum and received several end-of-the-year "top album" accolades from NPR, Rolling Stone, SPIN, iTunes and the Los Angeles Times. Church is a three-time GRAMMY Award nominee, including a nod for Best Country Album, and his second and third single releases, "Drink In My Hand" and "Springsteen," reached #1 on the country radio charts. Church's forthcoming live album release, Caught In the Act: Live, is currently available for pre-sale and will be released on April 9.

In his record-shattering career, Tim McGraw is a 15-time ACM award winner and has sold more than 40 million albums as well as dominating the charts with 33 #1 singles. Since the release of his debut album in 1993, he has also won three GRAMMY Awards, 12 Country Music Association Awards and 10 American Music Awards, while simultaneously maintaining a parallel career as a successful actor in such films as "The Blind Side," "Country Strong" and "Friday Night Lights." He has also hosted "Saturday Night Live," a rare honor for a singer in any genre. McGraw is spotlighting the hottest music of the summer and calling on his friends to help kick off the 2013 touring season for "ACM Presents: Tim McGraw's Superstar Summer Night. The special, which will also be broadcast on CBS, will feature high-octane performances and musical collaborations from Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Ne-Yo, Pitbull, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum and more to be announced, for a two-hour, star-studded concert event benefitting ACM Lifting Lives, the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music dedicated to improving lives through the power of music.

Reigning Entertainer of the Year and seven-time GRAMMY winner Taylor Swift received five ACM nominations, including her fourth consecutive nod for Entertainer of the Year. If Swift wins Entertainer of the Year, this will be her third consecutive win in that category. Swift is nominated for the sixth time for Female Vocalist of the Year and for the fourth time for Video of the Year for "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." She also received a double nomination for Album of the Year for Red as the artist and producer. Swift is the first artist since The Beatles and the only female artist in history to log six or more weeks at #1 with three consecutive studio albums, and she is the only female artist in music history and the fourth artist ever to twice have an album hit the one million first-week sales figure. Recently, Swift scored her fourth consecutive #1 single from her Red album and just kicked off her highly-anticipated "The RED Tour," playing to capacity crowds at 66 stops, including 13 stadiums, through North America until September 21.

Carrie Underwood is nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year, marking her eighth consecutive nomination for this category, an award she has already won three times. She is also nominated for Album of the Year for Blown Away. Having won a total of 10 ACM Awards, Underwood is also a two-time Entertainer of the Year winner. In 2010, she was honored with the ACM Triple Crown, an award presented to an elite group of country music artists who boast wins for New Artist, Male/Female Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year. Currently, Underwood is on her critically-acclaimed international "Blown Away Tour," which began at London's historic Royal Albert Hall and is now making its way through North America.

Lady Antebellum is an ACM award-winning trio comprised of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood. Recently, the band received their fifth ACM Award nomination for Vocal Group of the Year, an award they have won for three consecutive years. The seven-time GRAMMY Award-winning trio's current single, "Downtown," is the lead single off of their upcoming fourth Capitol Nashville release Golden, scheduled to come out May 7. "Downtown" hit big out of the gate, becoming the trio's highest-charting debut on the Country radio charts.

Little Big Town leads the ACM Award group nominations with four nods, including their seventh nomination for Vocal Group of the Year. They are also nominated for Album of the Year, Single Record of the Year for "Pontoon" and Video of the Year for "Tornado." The GRAMMY Award-winning country group, consisting of members Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet, Kimberly Schlapman and Jimi Westbrook, first entered the music scene over 13 years ago, and their fifth studio album, Tornado, debuted at the top of the Billboard Country Chart where it stayed in the #1 position for five consecutive weeks. The album, produced by Jay Joyce, includes the two-time platinum-selling #1 hit single "Pontoon" and follow-up single and title track "Tornado," which also peaked at #1. The foursome has played in front of more than four million people to date and currently is headlining their "Tornado Tour" across the U.S. and Canada. They will join Keith Urban on tour later this summer.

The 48th Academy of Country Music Awards is dedicated to honoring and showcasing the biggest names and emerging talent in the country music industry. The show is produced for television by dick clark productions. Allen Shapiro, Orly Adelson and R.A. Clark are the executive producers. Barry Adelman is producer, and Bob Bardo is the executive in charge of production. Bob Romeo is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music.

For more information visit:

Official CBS Website: http://www.cbs.com/shows/academy_of_country_music/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AcademyOfCountryMusic

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ACMawards

To post a comment, you must register and login.