Already having Vegas withdrawals? Not to worry - the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will re-air Saturday, June 5 at 9pm/ET on GAC.


Check out photos, videos and more from Country Music's Party of the Year HERE!

Winners have been announced for the 45^th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, a star-studded ceremony broadcast LIVE tonight on the CBS Television Network from MGM GRAND in Las Vegas. Once again, nearly half a million fans voted for the Entertainer of the Year category and named Carrie Underwood winner of the evening's biggest honor. This is the second year in a row that Underwood has been named Entertainer of the Year.

Underwood is the first female to ever win the Entertainer of the Year award twice and only the 7^th female to take the award in the 40 year history of this category; previous winners include Loretta Lynn in 1975, Dolly Parton in 1977, Barbara Mandrell in 1980, Reba McEntire in 1994, Shania Twain in 1999, The Dixie Chicks in 2000 and Underwood's first Entertainer of the Year award in 2009.

Underwood also received the Triple Crown Award, thanks to her past wins for the categories of Entertainer of the Year, Top Female Vocalist and Top New Female Vocalist, which has been won by only one other female artist - Barbara Mandrell in 2004.

Brad Paisley won Top Male Vocalist and Miranda Lambert won Top Female Vocalist. This is Paisley's fourth consecutive win as Top Male Vocalist and Lambert's first win as Top Female Vocalist. Brooks & Dunn won Top Vocal Duo and, in addition, the pair sang the fan-selected song "My Maria" as their final Academy of Country Music Awards performance. Lady Antebellum took home their first Top Vocal Group honor; the group won a total of five honors in three categories during tonight's telecast, making them the night's top winners.

Also this evening, Montgomery Gentry was honored with the 9^th annual ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC / The Home Depot Humanitarian Award, which salutes an artist or group in the country music industry who is committed to serving others, has a generosity of spirit and a dedication to helping build the dreams of those in need. 

Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry devote their time and energy into making the needs of others a priority. They are active participants in many charitable organizations giving their time, talent and treasure. Together, they have strongly served and supported the U.S. military and numerous charitable organizations including the TJ Martell Foundation, which Gentry serves as a board member. They also provide their individual time to two deserving philanthropies. Montgomery gives his support to Camp Horsin' Around in Lexington, KY, which provides a camp facility equipped for children with serious, chronic illnesses and physical difficulties. Also, Gentry bolsters the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

Following is the list of winners in the 16 categories voted on by the membership (excluding the Entertainer of the Year and Top New Artist categories, which were voted on by a combination of professional ACM members and fans):

Entertainer of the Year

• Carrie Underwood

Top Male Vocalist of the Year

• Brad Paisley

Top Female Vocalist of the Year

• Miranda Lambert

Top Vocal Group of the Year

• Lady Antebellum

Top Vocal Duo of the Year

• Brooks & Dunn

TOP NEW SOLO VOCALIST of the Year *

• Luke Bryan*

TOP NEW VOCAL DUO of the Year *

• Joey + Rory*

TOP NEW VOCAL GROUP of the Year *

• Gloriana*

TOP NEW ARTIST

• Luke Bryan

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

• Revolution - Miranda Lambert (Columbia Nashville)

          Produced by: Frank Liddell, Mike Wrucke

Single Record of the Year [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company(s)]          

• Need You Now - Lady Antebellum (Capitol Records Nashville)

                                 Produced by: Lady Antebellum, Paul Worley

Song of the Year [Awarded to Composer(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]

• Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

          Composers:  Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott

          Publishers: EMI Foray Music (SESAC), Darth Buddha (ASCAP), Dwhaywood Music (BMI), Hillary Dawn Publishing (SESAC), Radiobullets Publishing (BMI), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI), Year Of The Dog Music (ASCAP)

Video of the Year [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)] (Off Camera Award)

• White Liar - Miranda Lambert

          Producer:  Tameron Hedge

          Director: Chris Hicky

Vocal Event of the Year [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/ Record Company(s)] (Off Camera Award)

• Hillbilly Bone - Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins (Reprise Records / Warner Music Nashville)

Producer: Scott Hendricks

TRIPLE CROWN AWARD WINNER

• Carrie Underwood

THE HOME DEPOT HUMANITARIAN AWARD

• Montgomery Gentry

FAST FACTS ON THIS YEAR'S AWARDS:

• This is Reba McEntire's twelfth year hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards.

• Brad Paisley is the only artist to win three or more consecutive honors in the Top Male Vocalist of the Year category; this is Paisley's fourth consecutive win.

• With this year's win for Top Vocal Duo, Brooks & Dunn have now received an astounding 27 Academy of Country Music Award trophies, the most of any artist in Academy history. Due to this achievement, Brooks & Dunn will be honored at the ACM PRESENTS: BROOKS & DUNN - THE LAST RODEO which will air Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

• Miranda Lambert is the first solo female artist to ever win two Album of the Year awards; Lambert previously won Album of the Year for Crazy Ex Girlfriend during the 2008 telecast.

Lady Antebellum won five awards tonight in the categories of Single Record of the Year (both as artists and producers), Song of the Year (both as artists and composers) and Top Vocal Group.

Miranda Lambert, producer Tameron Hedge and director Chris Hicky have been awarded Video of the Year for "White Liar" and Blake Shelton along with Trace Adkins with producer Scott Hendricks and Reprise Records/Warner Music Nashville have been awarded Vocal Event of the Year for "Hillbilly Bone."

Both off-camera awards presentations were made in surprise announcements at events surrounding the 45^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. 

Miranda Lambert was presented her award while at a reception honoring winners in the radio categories on Saturday evening. She was on hand to present the awards to the winners of Radio Station of the Year and On-Air Personality of the Year categories at a private reception at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino when those winners turned the tables on her - surprising her with the news of her first-ever win in the Video of the Year category.  Lambert previously won Top New Female Vocalist in 2006 and Album of the year in 2007. This is her third ACM Award.

Bill Mayne, President of the Academy of Country Music and Charlie Cook, Chairman of the ACM Radio Task Force, led the charge in the surprise presentation.  Hedge and Hicky were not available to attend, but were later notified by telephone.

Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins received news of their win just after performing "Hillbilly Bone" in front of thousands of fans attending a Dr Pepper VIP concert at the MGM Grand Marquee Ballroom, when ACM Executive Director Bob Romeo joined them onstage with trophies in hand. 

Shelton has been nominated three times in the Top New Male Vocalist and Vocal Event of the Year categories, and this is his first win. Adkins has won two ACM Awards for Single Record of the Year in 2008 for "You're Gonna Miss This" and in 1996 for Top New Male Vocalist. This is his third ACM Award.

The Ram Truck Brand and the Academy of Country Music announced the first-ever text-to-vote for the Entertainer of the Year fan-voted category, the highest accolade bestowed on an artist as part of the 45^th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, hosted by Reba McEntire.  The ceremony, which honors country music's top talent as well as the industry's hottest emerging artists, is produced for television by dick clark productions and will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 18^th, 2010 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

This text-to-vote powered by Ram Truck will provide fans with the first-time opportunity to utilize texting to vote for the evening's biggest award, Entertainer of the Year, for which Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, George Strait, Taylor Swift, reigning Entertainer of the Year Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and Zac Brown Band, are all nominated this year.

Voting will begin at the start of the telecast, when codes for each artist are given simultaneously, and will continue until the third hour of the show. Until then, fans may log onto www.VoteACM.com, also powered by Ram Truck, to vote.

Country music superstar Toby Keith has partnered with ACM Lifting Lives and Stand Up To Cancer to support cancer research with the performance of his hit "Cryin' For Me (Wayman's Song)" at the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. Fans can pre-order a download of the upcoming performance on iTunes beginning April 13th and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the cause.

Keith wrote "Cryin' For Me" in honor of his close friend, NBA star and fellow musician Wayman Tisdale, who died of complications from cancer treatments last year. Join Toby, Lifting Lives and SU2C in honoring Wayman by reserving your iTunes download TODAY.

Tune in to see Toby's performance during the live telecast of the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday, April 18th at 8pm ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

ACM Nominees Blake Shelton and Bomshel will celebrate the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards with host Drew Carey during a special country-themed episode of CBS' "The Price Is Right" on Friday, April 16th! Get ready for The Week Vegas Goes Country by tuning in!

The 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will air LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 18th at 8:00pm ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

Laura Bell Bundy, Billy Currington, John Fogerty, Jack Ingram featuring Dierks Bentley, Toby Keith with Dave Koz, Miranda Lambert, Rascal Flatts and Darius Rucker are scheduled to perform as part of the 45^th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, hosted by Reba McEntire.  In addition, Kristen Bell, Jamie Foxx, Julianne Hough, LL COOL J, Matthew McConaughey and LeAnn Rimes are scheduled as presenters.  The ceremony, which honors country music's top talent as well as the industry's hottest emerging artists, is produced for television by dick clark productions and will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 18^th, 2010 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

These artists join previously announced performers Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton & Trace Adkins, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood.

For detailed info on each of these artists, click HERE!

Beginning April 1st, country music fans have the power to choose which of their favorite artists will go home with the ACM Entertainer of the Year and Top New Artist trophies! Voting will run through Sunday, April 18th, with winners being announced on the LIVE broadcast of the 45th Annual ACM Awards from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Vote NOW at www.VoteACM.com!

Top New Artist Nominees:

Luke Bryan
Gloriana
Joey + Rory

Entertainer of the Year Nominees:

Kenny Chesney
Toby Keith
Brad Paisley
George Strait
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban
Zac Brown Band

New country artist Josh Thompson takes fans along for the ride on his Road to the ACMs, a weekly web series that chronicles the life of an artist in the weeks prior to Country Music's Party of the Year. Watch the latest episode here!

Brooks & Dunn, the best-selling duo in the history of country music, will perform one of their hit songs as voted on by their fans at the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, to be broadcast live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 18th on the CBS Television Network. The duo is embarking on their final tour tgether this summer, and this will mark their final Academy of Country Music Awards performance as a duo.

Viewers can now log on to www.cbs.com/brooksdunn to vote in two phases for one of their six favorite B&D songs:

1) My Maria
2) Brand New Man
3) Red Dirt Road
4) Neon Moon
5) You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone
6) Boot Scootin' Boogie

No registration is required to vote and fans may vote one time per day. Additionally, a 30-second clip of each song is available for listening. Phase one of voting begins March 24, followed by the second phase in which fans will be able to vote for one of the top three songs, beginning April 14. Voting will cotinue up until the duo's final performance together on the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.

Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton & Trace Adkins, and Carrie Underwood, are scheduled to perform as part of the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Reba McEntire.  The ceremony, which honors country music's top talent as well as the industry's hottest emerging artists, is produced for television by dick clark productions and will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 18^th, 2010 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

READ MORE for further information on each of these performers.

The Academy of Country Music and Great American Country (GAC) announced on March 16th that Luke Bryan, Gloriana and Joey + Rory have been named Top New Solo Vocalist, Top New Vocal Group and Top New Vocal Duo, respectively. The three winners are now considered nominees for the Top New Artist award, which will be given out on the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

Luke Bryan released his sophomore album, Doin' My Thing, on Capitol Records Nashville in October 2009, debuting at #2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. The CD includes his #1 gold single "Do I" and new smash hit "Rain Is A Good Thing." Bryan is currently headlining his own dates as well as opening for Jason Aldean on the "Wide Open Tour" and will be a featured act on Miranda Lambert's upcoming spring tour. This is Bryan's first win for an Academy of Country Music Award.

Gloriana's self-titled album debuted at #2 on the Billboard Country Album Chart and #3 on Billboard's Top 200 and was the best selling debut by a country group in 2009. It includes hit singles "Wild At Heart," "How Far Do You Wanna Go?" and their current single "The World Is Ours Tonight". The group, who won the fan-voted Breakthrough Artist Award at the American Music Awards, is currently on tour with Taylor Swift. Gloriana is a four-member vocal group featuring brothers Tom and Mike Gossin along with Rachel Reinert and Cheyenne Kimball. This is Gloriana's first nomination and first win for an Academy of Country Music Award.

Winner of Top New Vocal Duo, Joey + Rory, have a huge year ahead of them. They already have started on a U.S. arena tour and will release their sophomore album simply titled Album #2 in the summer. Husband and wife duo Joey + Rory started performing as a duo for the audition of the CMT series, "Can You Duet," in early 2008. This is their first win for an Academy of Country Music Award.

Each winner will perform and receive their trophy on the Trace Adkins-hosted GAC special "ACM Top New Artists," premiering Thursday, April 1 at 10:00 PM ET and airing multiple times before the Academy of Country Music Awards. For the first time ever, the special will be taped during the regularly-scheduled Tuesday Night Opry at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Opry performances are held every weekend of the year and on Tuesdays through December 14. To plan an Opry visit or to buy tickets to the March 23rd special Grand Ole Opry and GAC Special TV taping, call (800) SEE-OPRY or log on to opry.com.

Voting for Top New Artist will take place at www.VoteACM.com powered by CBS.com beginning Thursday, April 1st and will end at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 18th.

The winner of the new Top New Artist category will be awarded on the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network

For the second year in a row, YOU, the fans, can vote for your favorite new artists at the 45th Academy of Country Music Awards!

The Academy of Country Music and Great American Country have partnered to open up the three newcomer categories — Top New Solo Vocalist, Top New Vocal Duo and Top New Vocal Group -- to interactive fan voting through VoteACM.com. (As previously announced, the Top New Solo Vocalist category will take the place of the Top New Male Vocalist and Top New Female Vocalist categories.)

Fan voting begins at www.VoteACM.com on Friday, February 26th, and will close on Friday, March 12. The winner in each category will be announced in mid-March and will move on to compete for Top New Artist.  Voting for the Top New Artist category will begin at VoteACM.com on Thursday, April 1, and will close on April 18, with the winner being announced live during the 45^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards broadcast on CBS.

Following is the list of final nominees in the Top New categories:

 

Top New Solo vocalist

·         Luke Bryan

·         Jamey Johnson

·         Chris Young

 

Top New vocal duo

·         Bomshel

·         Joey + Rory

·         Steel Magnolia

 

Top New Vocal Group

·         Eli Young Band

·         Gloriana

·         The Lost Trailers

 

Professional members of the Academy of Country Music select the final nominees in the Top New Solo Vocalist, Top New Vocal Duo and Top New Vocal Group categories. Professional member votes will be combined with fan votes to obtain the winners of the Top New categories of the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS.

 

As part of this partnership, GAC will air several stand-alone specials, including a show featuring all the nominees from each of the three categories, as well as a show featuring the three winners who will compete for overall Top New Artist.

 

“GAC provides many new country music artists their first television exposure, and this special programming gives fans the opportunity to get to know the ACM new artist nominees even better,” said Sarah Trahern, Senior Vice President of Programming for GAC.

 

 “The Academy’s partnership with GAC last year brought a lot of new faces to the forefront of country fans minds, and we hope to build on that success, exposing a brand new slate of newcomers to GAC viewers,” said Bob Romeo, Executive Director of the Academy of Country Music.

 

The first GAC special, hosted by reigning ACM Top New Male Vocalist Jake Owen, will feature the nine nominees, three from each newcomer category, and will premiere Thursday, February 25 at 10:00 PM ET. This special will re-air through March 12, when voting closes.

 

On March 23, GAC will tape a second special wherein the winner in each category will be named and presented with the award for Top New Solo Vocalist, Top New Vocal Duo, and Top New Vocal Group.  Each winning act will perform on this special, which will air multiple times before the Academy of Country Music Awards. The premiere airdate of the special is Thursday, April 1 at 10:00 PM ET.

 

VOTE NOW!

Hot country trio Lady Antebellum leads the nominations for the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which were announced live in New York City by ACM nominees Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton on March 2nd. The group received 7 total nods in the categories for Top Vocal Group, Album of the Year, Single Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Video of the Year.

Check out the full ballot HERE and don't forget to vote now for the Academy's Top New Solo Vocalist, Top New Vocal Group and Top New Vocal Duo at voteACM.com!

Fan voting for Top New Artist and Entertainer of the Year will begin Thursday, April 1st - stay tuned!

Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton will announce the nominees for the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards LIVE from New York City during CBS' The Early Show on March 2, 2010. Blake Shelton will also perform several of his hits on the show.

Check back here for the complete list of nominees following the press conference.

For more information on The Early Show, click HERE.

The 44^th Academy of Country Music Awards was among the week’s Top 10 rated shows according to Nielsen ratings, coming in at No. 7 and besting powerhouse shows CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Two and a Half Men and the NCAA Basketball Semifinal. Ratings were up 21 percent from last year’s show, giving the ACM Awards its best ratings in a decade.

Thank you to everyone who watched AND all the fans who voted for Entertainer of the Year and Top New Artist!