Miranda Lambert Leads 50th ACM AWARD Nominations; Ceremony Tonight

The 50TH ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, Country Music's Party of the Year®, honors country music's superstars and hottest emerging talent. Hosted by ACM Award winners Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan, the ACM Awards will be broadcast LIVE, and as previously announced, extended by a half hour in celebration of its golden anniversary, from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, tonight, April 19 (8:00-11:30 PM, live ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network. They are produced for television by dick clark productions.

Nominees were revealed online via the fourth annual ACM digital press conference this morning. Jason Aldean, Lee Brice, Kristian Bush, Brandy Clark, Tara Lipinski, Dustin Lynch, Joel McHale, Nancy O'Dell, Melissa Peterman, Jamie Lynn Spears and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders all announced nominations via photo postings to the Academy's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts during the online event.

Once again, fans will help select the winner of both the Academy's most prestigious honor, Entertainer of the Year and the New Artist of the Year. As previously announced, Brett Eldredge, Tyler Farr, Sam Hunt, Kip Moore, Thomas Rhett, Chase Rice, Cole Swindell and Dan + Shay are the semi-finalists for this year's ACM New Artist of the Year Award. These top eight artists from the first round of ACM professional voting will compete via fan vote at voteACM.com and voteacm.CMT.com, combined with the ACM professional membership vote, to determine the three nominees for the award. An additional combined fan and professional membership vote will determine the winner. The winners of Entertainer of the Year and New Artist of the Year will be announced live during the 50TH ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS.

Miranda Lambert earned eight nominations, including her fourth nomination for Entertainer of the Year and ninth consecutive nod for Female Vocalist of the Year, with additional nominations for Album of the Year, plus Single Record of the Year and twice for Song of the Year, as artist and songwriter, for "Automatic." Her nominations continue with Video of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year for "Somethin' Bad" with Carrie Underwood. Lambert is the reigning ACM Female Vocalist of the Year.

Dierks Bentley received seven nominations, including Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for Riser, Single Record of the Year and Video of the Year for "Drunk On A Plane." In the category for Song of the Year, Bentley is nominated twice for "I Hold On," as artist and songwriter. Bentley is also nominated for Vocal Event of the Year with The Cadillac Three, Florida Georgia Line and Mike Eli for "The South."

Reigning Vocal Duo of the Year Florida Georgia Line were nominated for five awards, including their first in the Entertainer of the Year category, their third consecutive nod for Vocal Duo of the Year and a nomination for Single Record of the Year for "Dirt." They received two nominations in the Vocal Event of the Year category, one for "The South" with The Cadillac Three, Dierks Bentley and Mike Eli, and for "This Is How We Roll" with Luke Bryan.

Luke Bryan received four nominations, including his third consecutive nomination for both Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year. He also earned a Song of the Year nomination for "Drink a Beer" and Vocal Event of the Year nomination for "This Is How We Roll" with Florida Georgia Line.

Kenny Chesney was nominated for four awards, including Song of the Year, Video of the Year and twice in the Single Record of the Year category as an artist and producer. All of Chesney's nods were attributed to his hit song, "American Kids."

Eric Church earned four nominations, including a nod for Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year for The Outsiders. Church is also nominated twice in the Song of the Year category, as the artist and songwriter for "Give Me Back My Hometown."

The Academy of Country Music's professional membership selects the nominees and winners of the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, and selects the final top five nominees of the Entertainer of the Year category. New Artist of the Year final nominees will be selected by a combined vote of the fans and professional members.

Fan voting for Entertainer of the Year begins Wednesday, April 8 at 3:00 PM, ET/Noon, PT at VoteACM.com, and will close during the third hour of the LIVE broadcast. First round fan voting for New Artist of the Year is now open at VoteACM.com and voteacm.CMT.com, and will close on Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 6:00 PM, ET/3:00 PM, PT. The final three nominees will be announced in the coming weeks and will move on to compete in the final round of voting for the New Artist category at VoteACM.com. Final round fan voting for the New Artist of the Year category begins Wednesday, April 8 at 3:00 PM, ET/Noon, PT and will close Sunday, April 19 at 8:00 PM, ET/5:00 PM, PT (when the LIVE telecast begins).

Following is the list of final nominees in the televised categories. Winners in each of these categories will be presented with an ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARD during the live television broadcast:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

· Jason Aldean

· Garth Brooks

· Luke Bryan

· Miranda Lambert

· Florida Georgia Line

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR [TIE]

· Jason Aldean

· Dierks Bentley

· Luke Bryan

· Eric Church

· Brad Paisley

· Blake Shelton

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

· Brandy Clark

· Miranda Lambert

· Martina McBride

· Kacey Musgraves

· Carrie Underwood

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR

· Brothers Osborne

· Dan + Shay

· Florida Georgia Line

· Maddie & Tae

· The Swon Brothers

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

· Lady Antebellum

· Little Big Town

· Rascal Flatts

· The Band Perry

· Zac Brown Band

ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company-Label(s)]

· Old Boots, New Dirt - Jason Aldean

Producer: Michael Knox

Record Label: Broken Bow Records

· Pain Killer - Little Big Town

Producer: Jay Joyce

Record Label: Capitol Records Nashville

· Platinum - Miranda Lambert

Producers: Chuck Ainlay, Frank Liddell, Glenn Worf

Record Label: RCA Nashville

· Riser - Dierks Bentley

Producers: Ross Copperman, Jaren Johnston

Record Label: Capitol Records Nashville

· The Outsiders - Eric Church

Producer: Jay Joyce

Record Label: EMI Records Nashville

SINGLE RECORD OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company-Label(s)]

· American Kids - Kenny Chesney

Producer: Buddy Cannon, Kenny Chesney

Record Label: Blue Chair Records/Columbia Nashville

· Automatic - Miranda Lambert

Producer: Chuck Ainlay, Frank Liddell, Glenn Worf

Record Label: RCA Nashville

· Dirt - Florida Georgia Line

Producer: Joey Moi

Record Label: Republic Nashville

· Drunk On A Plane - Dierks Bentley

Producer: Ross Copperman

Record Label: Capitol Records Nashville

· I Don't Dance - Lee Brice

Producer: Lee Brice

Record Label: Curb Records

SONG OF THE YEAR [TIE] [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]

· American Kids - Kenny Chesney

Songwriters: Rodney Clawson, Luke Laird, Shane McAnally

Publishers: Big Red Toe Music (BMI), Creative Nation Music (BMI), Farm Town Songs (BMI), Smack Ink (ASCAP), Songs Of Universal, Inc. (BMI), Twangin And Slangin Songs (BMI), Universal Music Corporation (ASCAP)

· Automatic - Miranda Lambert

Songwriters: Nicolle Galyon, Natalie Hemby, Miranda Lambert

Publishers: EMI Blackwood Music, Inc. (BMI), Pink Dog Publishing (BMI), Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI), Wruckestrike (BMI)

· Drink A Beer - Luke Bryan

Songwriters: Jim Beavers, Chris Stapleton

Publishers: House of Sea Gayle Music (ASCAP), Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI), WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)

· Follow Your Arrow - Kacey Musgraves

Songwriters: Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves

Publishers: 351 Music (BMI), Highway 508 Songs (ASCAP), House of Sea Gayle Music (ASCAP), Smack Ink (ASCAP), Universal Music Corporation (ASCAP), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)

· Give Me Back My Hometown - Eric Church

Songwriters: Eric Church, Luke Laird

Publishers: Creative Nation Music (BMI), Longer And Louder Music (BMI), Songs Of Universal, Inc. (BMI), Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI), Twangin And Slangin Songs (BMI)

· I Hold On - Dierks Bentley

Songwriters: Dierks Bentley, Brett James

Publishers: Atlas Holdings (ASCAP), Big White Tracks (ASCAP), External Combustion Music (ASCAP), Songs of Brett (ASCAP), WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Nominees fan-voted, per above. Final nominees to be announced shortly.

For a complete list of nominations, go to www.ACMcountry.com

IMPORTANT NOTE: Awards counts for artists reflect categories in which they have been recognized as individuals or as part of their duo or group. In some cases, an artist may receive more than one nomination, which factors into their official count. For example, Kenny Chesney received two nominations in the Single Record of the Year category - one each as artist and producer - because that category recognizes both.

The 50TH ANNUAL 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, Mike Mahan, R.A. Clark and Barry Adelman are executive producers. Bob Romeo is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music.

Official CBS ACM URL: http://www.cbs.com/shows/academy_of_country_music/

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

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

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