Eric Church, Hunter Hayes top nominees for ACM Awards

Eric Church and Hunter Hayes may have walked away from Sunday night’s Grammy Awards without trophies, but that’s not likely to be the case at the April 7 Academy of Country Awards, where the two stars are the top nominees. Church (left) leads the pack with an impressive seven nominations. Hayes is close behind with six, although neither landed a nod for the show’s top prize, entertainer of the year.

 

Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift each landed five nominations. Luke Bryan and Little Big Town each received four, as did newcomer Kacey Musgraves on the strength of just one single she’s released thus far, which even earned her a place in the female vocalist of the year category alongside four more seasoned vets. Bryan’s nominations include his first ever nods in the entertainer of the year and male vocalist of the year categories.

 

Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Eli Young Band and newcomers Florida Georgia Line each received three nominations. For Florida Georgia Line, these are the duo’s first ever ACM nominations, and they’ve already won in one of the categories. (More on that below.)

 

The 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 7 at 8:00 PM (ET) on the CBS Television Network. Shelton and Bryan will team up for the first time to host the show. It will be Shelton’s third time as host, and Bryan’s first stint hosting a live televised event.

 

The ACM’s professional members will select winners in most of the categories, but fans are once again invited to help pick the entertainer and new artist of the year winners. The three nominees in the latter category, Brantley Gilbert, Jana Kramer and Florida Georgia Line, have each already won an ACM this year in the broader categories of new male vocalist, new female vocalist and new duo or group, respectively. Those winners were chosen by fans in voting earlier this year. Hayes (right) had been nominated in the new male category (the first of his eventual six nominations), but lost to Gilbert. Meanwhile, the final three new artist nominees set up an interesting rivalry since Gilbert and Kramer live together and recently got engaged to one another.

 

Fan voting for new artist of the year and entertainer of the year begins on March 25 at 3 p.m. (ET) at VoteACM.com. Fan voting for new artist will close at 5 p.m. (PT) on April 7 just before the live show starts. Fan voting for entertainer of the year will close during the third hour of the broadcast.

 

Here are the nominees in the key categories:

 

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Jason Aldean · Luke Bryan · Miranda Lambert · Blake Shelton · Taylor Swift

 

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Jason Aldean · Luke Bryan · Eric Church · Toby Keith

· Blake Shelton

 

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Miranda Lambert · Martina McBride · Kacey Musgraves · Taylor Swift

· Carrie Underwood

 

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR

Big & Rich · Florida Georgia Line · Love and Theft · Sugarland · Thompson Square

 

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

The Band Perry · Eli Young Band · Lady Antebellum · Little Big Town

· Zac Brown Band

 

NEW MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Lee Brice · Brantley Gilbert · Hunter Hayes

 

NEW FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Jana Kramer · Kacey Musgraves · Sunny Sweeney

 

NEW VOCAL DUO OR GROUP OF THE YEAR

Florida Georgia Line · Love and Theft · Thompson Square

 

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR [Winners of New Male, New Female & New Vocal Duo or Group Of The Year]

Florida Georgia Line · Brantley Gilbert · Jana Kramer

 

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

· Blown Away – Carrie Underwood

· Chief – Eric Church

· Red – Taylor Swift (she is also nominated here as an album producer)

· tailgates & tanlines – Luke Bryan

· Tornado – Little Big Town

 

SINGLE RECORD OF THE YEAR

· Even If It Breaks Your Heart–Eli Young Band

· Over You – Miranda Lambert

· Pontoon – Little Big Town

· Springsteen – Eric Church

· Wanted – Hunter Hayes (he is also nominated here as a producer)

 

SONG OF THE YEAR [Award goes to Composer(s)/Publishe​r(s)/Artist(s)]

· A Woman Like You – Lee Brice

Composers: Phil Barton, Johnny Bulford, Jon Stone

· Even If It Breaks Your Heart – Eli Young Band

Composers: Will Hoge, Eric Paslay

· Over You – Miranda Lambert

Composers: Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton

· Springsteen – Eric Church

Composers: Eric Church, Jeff Hyde, Ryan Tyndell

· Wanted – Hunter Hayes

Composers: Hunter Hayes, Troy Verges

 

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Note: there are six nominees here due to a tie.

· Creepin’ – Eric Church

· Merry Go ’Round–Kacey Musgraves (she is also nominated here as a video producer)

· Tornado – Little Big Town

· Wanted – Hunter Hayes

· We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together – Taylor Swift

· The Wind – Zac Brown Band

 

VOCAL EVENT OF THE YEAR

· Don’t Rush – Kelly Clarkson Featuring Vince Gill

· Easy – Rascal Flatts Featuring Natasha Bedingfield (the band is also nominated here as producer)

· Feel Like A Rock Star – Kenny Chesney (Duet With Tim McGraw) (Chesney is also nominated here as a producer)

· Let It Rain – David Nail Featuring Sarah Buxton

· The Only Way I Know – Jason Aldean With Luke Bryan & Eric Church