Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood (Photo courtesy of ABC/Image Group LA)
The following is a press release from the Academy of Country Music and Dick Clark Productions:
The Academy of Country Music® and Dick Clark Productions announced today the all-star lineup of performers for ACM® Presents: Our Country, a two-hour special featuring intimate conversations and at-home acoustic performances with Country Music’s biggest stars, along with clips from the Academy of Country Music Awards’™ 55-year history. Confirmed performers include Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Kane Brown & John Legend, Luke Bryan, Brandi Carlile, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Sheryl Crow, Florida Georgia Line, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Old Dominion, Brad Paisley & Darius Rucker, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton & Gwen Stefani, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, and Keith Urban. The special will be broadcast Sunday, April 5 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT and 7:00 PM CT) on the CBS Television Network and on CBS All Access.
ACM® Presents: Our Country will also honor 10-time ACM Award® winner Kenny Rogerswith performances by Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker. As previously announced, artists will appear from their homes to share heartfelt thoughts and perform acoustic versions of Country hits. Additionally, video clips from previous ACM Award broadcasts will highlight favorite ACM moments from the past. It will be a night filled with entertainment, hope and reflection, bringing the healing power of music to Americans at a time when they need it most.
The special will broadcast during the time slot previously scheduled for the 55th Academy of Country Music Awards, which will now be broadcast Wednesday, Sept. 16 (live 8:00-11:00 PM ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network and streaming live and on demand on CBS All Access. The 55th ACM Awards, hosted for the first time by reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year and 15-time ACM Award winner Keith Urban, honors the biggest names and emerging talent in the Country Music industry.
For more information, visit ACMcountry.com. You can also like Academy of Country Music on Facebook or follow on Twitter at @ACMawards, follow on Instagram at @ACMawards and sign up for the FREE ACM A-List for more immediate updates.
About ACM® PRESENTS: OUR COUNTRY
ACM® Presents: Our Country invites fans to join their favorite superstars for a new kind of entertainment special featuring at-home acoustic performances with top Country artists along with clips of their favorite moments from the Academy of Country Music Awards’™ 55-year history. is produced for television by Dick Clark Productions. R.A. Clark, Barry Adelman, Mark Bracco and Amy Thurlow are executive producers. Damon Whiteside is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music®.
Carrie Underwood emerged as the night’s biggest winner with two trophies at tonight’s “2019 CMT Music Awards,” continuing her streak as the most awarded artist in CMT history. Winning two awards tonight for “Female Video” for “Love Wins” and “Video of the Year” for “Cry Pretty,” her overall CMT Music Awards tally now consists of 20 career wins.
Tonight’s first-time winners include Ashley McBryde and Julia Michaels, and Luke Combs and Leon Bridges. Fan favorites Dan + Shay, Kane Brown, Keith Urban and Zac Brown Band were also winners.
The evening was filled with spectacular performances both inside and outside the Bridgestone Arena, kicking off indoors with a rousing performance of “Don’t Threaten Me With a Good Time” from Thomas Rhett featuring show host Little Big Town and Trombone Shorty, followed by Kane Brown’s “Short Skirt Weather,” live from the outdoor stage on Broadway.
The night was full of several exciting collaborations, including ones focusing on powerful female voices: Brandi Carlile and the legendary Tanya Tucker sang Tucker’s classic hit, “Delta Dawn,” with vocal backing provided by an all-star group of female artists that included Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Deana Carter, Carly Pearce, Lauren Alaina and RaeLynn. Maren Morris performed her newest song, “Shade,” and was joined onstage by icon Sheryl Crow, singing their collaboration “Prove You Wrong” off of Crow’s upcoming album.
The collaborations continued with R&B phenoms Boyz II Men and Brett Young who performed “Here Tonight” and “Water Runs Dry.” Toby Keith took to the outdoor stage to sing his single, “That’s Country Bro,” and brought down the house when Cole Swindell joined him on stage for his hit, “Beer For My Horses.”
Superstar group Little Big Town returned to their hosting duties for a second time this year, and performed their moving song, “The Daughters,” and Keith Urban performed his newest single, “We Were,” for the first time on television. The outdoor performances continued with Dan + Shay’s “All to Myself,” and Carrie Underwood had the outdoor crowd dancing with a dazzling performance of “Southbound,” live from the Parthenon in Centennial Park.
Nashville’s biggest party also featured show-stopping performances by Kelsea Ballerini, “Miss Me More,” Luke Bryan, “Knockin’ Boots,” Luke Combs, “Beer Never Broke My Heart,” and Zac Brown Band, “Someone I Used to Know.”
CMT’s Ram Trucks Side Stage featured performances by new artists Jordan Davis, Tenille Townes, Jimmie Allen, Runaway June, Morgan Wallen and Mitchell Tenpenny.
As part of this year’s “CMT Music Awards,” CMT and Save the Music committed to gifting a new band program to a deserving public school. Tonight it was announced that “Breakthrough Video of the Year” winner Ashley McBryde selected the city of New Orleans and KIPP East Community Program to be the recipients of this gift. Serving over 600 students whose entire population receives free or reduced lunches, KIPP East Community program will now be able to add a second full time music teacher and implement a full-fledged band program.
The Save The Music organization restores music education programs in public schools across the country by making grants of new band or string musical instruments, music stands and method books, and program services including professional development workshops, to K-8 public schools.
Here is the complete list of winners and nominees for the 2019 CMT Music Awards:
*=winner
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video of the year; awarded to the artist (male, female, group/duo or collaboration) and the video director. Final nominees announced the morning of the show, with final voting held on social media during the live telecast.
● Jason Aldean featuring Miranda Lambert – “Drowns the Whiskey”
● Keith Urban featuring Julia Michaels – “Coming Home”*
● Sugarland featuring Taylor Swift – “Babe”
CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Musical performance on a television show, series or variety special on CMT; awarded to the artist (individual, group or duo)
Boyz II Men and Brett Young – “Motownphilly (From CMT Crossroads)”
Luke Combs and Leon Bridges – “Beautiful Crazy (From CMT Crossroads)”*
Maren Morris and Brandi Carlile – “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (From 2018 CMT Artists of the Year)”
Brett Eldredge and Meghan Trainor – “Let You Be Right (From CMT Crossroads)”
Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman and Gladys Knight – “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and “Help Me Make It Through the Night” (From 2018 CMT Artists of the Year)
Zac Brown Band and Shawn Mendes – “Keep Me in Mind (From CMT Crossroads)”
Returning for the second consecutive year, award-winning musical talentLittle Big Town served as hosts for the evening when the “2019 CMT Music Awards” premieres LIVE from Nashville next month. The chart-topping group has graced the “CMT Music Awards” stage with multiple wins and performances under their belts and will introduce the next wave of winners in Nashville during one of the most highly-anticipated events in country music. As nominees, they’ll also vie for CMT Performance of the Year and Group Video of the Year.
For more information, follow @CMT on Twitter and Instagram, use hashtag #CMTawards and like the CMT Music Awards on Facebook.
To request media credentials for the 2019 CMT Music Awards, please visit cmtmusicawardspress.com.
About CMT Awards Host: Little Big Town
GRAMMY, ACM, CMA, and AMA Award-winning group, Little Big Town — consisting of members Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet, Kimberly Schlapman, and Jimi Westbrook — first entered the music scene over 19 years ago with hit songs “Boondocks,” “Bring It On Home,” “Good As Gone” and the GRAMMY-nominated “Little White Church.” Their breakthrough albums Tornado and Pain Killer produced multiple #1 singles, including “Pontoon,” “Tornado,” and “Day Drinking,” as well as the history-making, best-selling country single of the year (2015) “Girl Crush.” Released February 24, 2017, Little Big Town’s latest studio album, The Breaker, debuted #1 on the Billboard Country Charts and Top 10 (No.4) on the Billboard 200 to critical acclaim, marking the group’s fourth Top 10 debut on the Billboard 200 chart. The album features their GRAMMY-winning, multi-week #1 single, “Better Man,” as well as “When Someone Stops Loving You.”
Little Big Town has earned more than 40 award show nominations and in the past five years has taken home nearly 20 awards, including multiple GRAMMY, AMA, People’s Choice, CMA, ACM awards, and an Emmy award. Currently the reigning CMA and ACM Vocal Group of the Year, the Country Music Hall of Fame inductees (2014) went onto receive their star on the Nashville Walk of Fame in 2017. Also in 2017, Little Big Town hosted a sold-out, year-long artist residency at the famed Ryman Auditorium in Nashville — marking the venue’s first-ever, year-long residency in its 125-year history. The band also recently launched 4 Cellars wine, their first non-musical project as a band, with Browne Family Vineyards. For more information on Little Big Town visit LittleBigTown.com or follow them @littlebigtown.
About CMT
CMT is the leading authority on country music and lifestyle, offering a mix of original series, music events and specials. CMT is everywhere its fans are including two cable channels (CMT and the 24-hour music channel, CMT Music), radio (CMT Radio), digital (CMT App, CMT.com) and social (CMT on Facebook, CMT on Instagram and CMT on Twitter). CMT is a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB). For more information, please visit CMT Press at cmtpress.com.
Common at the New York City premiere of “Megan Leavey” at Yankee Stadium on June 5, 2017. (Photo by Patrick Lewis/Starpix)
Cam (Photo by Ninelle Efremova)
Andra Day at the 33rd Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Public Auditorium in Cleveland on April 14, 2018. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
The following is a press release from the Recording Academy:
Tina Tchen, Chair of the Recording Academy™’s newly formed task force on diversity and inclusion, announced the names of the 16 members joining her in examining barriers and biases affecting women and other underrepresented voices in the music industry and, specifically, the Recording Academy.
Since her appointment, Tchen has spent weeks meeting with and listening to constituents across the music community, using that feedback to assemble a task force that is balanced in perspectives and interests to ensure that the group is independent and focused on making progress in the industry. All members will volunteer their time and expertise, and none are employed by the Recording Academy or hold any position on its Board. The task force includes the following music creators, executives, academic scholars, and thought leaders in gender equality and diversity:
Stephanie Alexa, vice president of finance and licensing administration, ATO Records
Michele Anthony, executive vice president and executive management board member, Universal Music Group
Cam, GRAMMY®-nominated artist
Common, GRAMMY-winning artist
Sheryl Crow, GRAMMY-winning artist
Andra Day, GRAMMY-nominated artist
Giselle Fernandez, award-winning television journalist
Jimmy Jam, GRAMMY-winning artist
Beth Laird, CEO and co-owner, Creative Nation
Debra Lee, chairman and CEO, BET Networks
Rebeca Leon, co-founder and CEO, Lionfish Entertainment
Elizabeth Matthews, CEO, ASCAP
Dr. Stacy L. Smith, founder and director, USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative
Ty Stiklorius, founder and CEO, Friends At Work
Julie Swidler, executive vice president of business affairs and general counsel, Sony Music
Dean Wilson, CEO, SEVEN20
“I’m honored to lead such an esteemed group of visionaries who possess the experience and passion needed to drive real change in building a more inclusive and equitable music community,” said Tchen. “This is an important first step made possible by the Recording Academy’s leadership, which recognizes the benefit of examining these issues with fresh eyes.”
The task force is set to meet shortly to begin its work with a review of Recording Academy operations and policies across the areas of corporate governance, hiring and promotion, membership, awards, and the GRAMMY Awards® telecast. As Chair, Tchen will develop an operational roadmap for the task force and update the Recording Academy on the group’s progress on an ongoing basis throughout the year.
“This is an extremely important initiative for us,” said John Poppo, Chair of the Recording Academy Board of Trustees. “The Board takes seriously any role the Recording Academy can play in serving our music community, and certainly one that could facilitate increased diversity and inclusion. We are inspired by the prospect of what this task force might accomplish, and we’re grateful to Tina and the group’s esteemed members for graciously agreeing to partner with us in this effort.”
As one of its first orders of business, the task force has established a feedback tool to collect public input and suggestions for the group’s review and consideration. Anyone interested in providing suggestions for the task force can do so by visiting www.grammy.com/taskforcefeedback.
“The Recording Academy prides itself on being a thoughtful organization, and is committed to being responsive to those we represent in the creative community,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of the Recording Academy. “Today, there’s an opportunity for us to effect historic change in attitudes and practices within our industry. We embrace that opportunity in full. With a leader like Tina at the helm and a group of such high caliber, this task force is primed to have a meaningful impact on building a music community that is inclusive, welcoming, and open to all.”
The Recording Academy represents the voices of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and all music professionals. Dedicated to ensuring the recording arts remain a thriving part of our shared cultural heritage, the Academy honors music’s history while investing in its future through the GRAMMY Museum®, advocates on behalf of music creators, supports music people in times of need through MusiCares®, and celebrates artistic excellence through the GRAMMY Awards®—music’s only peer-recognized accolade and highest achievement. As the world’s leading society of music professionals, we work year-round to foster a more inspiring world for creators.
For more information about the Academy, please visit www.GRAMMY.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @RecordingAcad on Twitter, “like” Recording Academy on Facebook, and join the Recording Academy’s social communities on Instagram, Tumblr, and YouTube.
