Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood are the 2012 CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR, it was announced earlier this evening during the premiere of the 90-minute special hosted by country super group Rascal Flatts and "Nashville" actress Hayden Panettiere. These seven country music superstars were honored by some of the biggest names in entertainment during an exclusive night of wall-to-wall performances and special appearances. 2012 CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR is now available on CMT.com and will re-air on Sunday, December 9 at 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Tuesday, December 11 at 12:00 a.m. All times are ET/PT.
The evening began with host
Hayden Panettiere, joined by her "Nashville" co-stars
Connie Britton and
Charles Esten, for a special show open straight from their set where she was whisked away by
Rascal Flatts to host the show.
Rascal Flatts then kicked off the evening's performances with "Hot in Here," from their album Changed. The first honoree of the evening was
Toby Keith who was presented his trophy by baseball great
Roger Clemens and received congratulations from country comedian
Rodney Carrington and "Late Late Show" host
Craig Ferguson. Keith then performed his hit "Beers Ago." Honoree
Miranda Lambert was up next, being presented her trophy by
Sheryl Crow with congratulations from
Chris Young and country music icon
Merle Haggard. Lambert performed her hit "Over You."
Eric Church received his trophy from friend
Kid Rock, along with a video greeting from Metallica's James Hetfield, before performing "Homeboy." Honoree
Kenny Chesney received his second CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR trophy from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member
Sammy Hagar and a special video message from Academy Award(R) winning actor
Morgan Freeman. Eli Young Band and newcomer Kacey Musgraves, who will both tour with Chesney in 2013, performed his hit "Come Over."
Carrie Underwood, who performed her latest single "Two Black Cadillacs," received her second CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR trophy from husband, Nashville Predators'
Mike Fisher, and congratulations from
Hunter Hayes and "Today" show co-host
Hoda Kotb.
Kenny Rogers presented honoree
Luke Bryan with his trophy while friends
Lady Antebellum and Thompson Square congratulated him for the honor. Bryan performed a mash-up of his hit "Drunk on You" and OneRepublic's "Feel Again" with the band's frontman,
Ryan Tedder.
Jason Aldean received his third CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR trophy from Atlanta Braves' great Chipper Jones and was honored by rapper Ludacris and "Duck Dynasty" star Willie Robertson. Aldean closed the evening with a dynamic performance of his hit, "Take a Little Ride."
CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR is executive produced by John Hamlin, R.A. Clark and Margaret Comeaux.
CMT, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is the leading television and digital authority on country music and entertainment, reaching more than 92 million homes in the U.S. CMT and its website, CMT.com, offer an unparalleled mix of music, news, live concerts and series and is the top resource for country music on demand. The network's digital platforms include the 24-hour music channel, CMT Pure Country, CMT Mobile and CMT VOD.
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