George Strait and Alan Jackson will perform together on tonight’s CMA Awards to celebrate the 50th Anniversary. The two have been friends for more than 20 years and have collaborated on the CMA Awards previously. The two teamed up in 1999 to perform “Murder on Music Row,” which happened to win an award for Vocal Event of the Year in 2000. And again in 2013 to pay tribute to the late George Jones by performing his song “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”

Even though the CMA Awards aren’t airing until tonight, a couple of awards have already been announced.

Dierks Bentley picked up his first award of the day for Musical Event of the Year for their No. 1 hit, “Different for Girls,” featuring Elle King. The award is a first for Elle, and the third career win for Dierks. He previously won the Horizon Award (now New Artist of the Year) in 2005 and Music Video of the Year for “Drunk on a Plane” in 2014.

He and Elle will perform together tonight at the CMA Awards.

Chris Stapleton, who won four awards last year, takes home Music Video of the Year for “Fire Away.” The clip, directed by Tim Mattia and starring Ben Foster (Inferno, Lone Survivor, Six Feet Under) and Margarita Levieva (The Blacklist, Revenge) (pr. Le-vee-va), was used as a conduit to help bring mental health awareness to light. In the video, a young couple battle with the woman’s mental issues until it finally drives her to commit suicide.

“It’s a subject matter that is very close to me and means a lot to me, and to be able to tell that story and to share it with so many people and to bring that character to life for me was tremendously important,” says Margarita. “So, as soon as I heard the whole outline and how we were going to shoot it and the story that we’re going to tell, I was immediately drawn and really looking forward to doing it.”

Chris, who is also up for several other CMA Awards including Entertainer of the Year, is currently sitting inside the Top 20 on the country charts with his latest single, “Parachute,” a song from his CMA award-winning album, Traveller.

The 50th annual CMA Awards will broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Wednesday (November 2nd) at 8pm ET on ABC.

Eric Church and Chris Stapleton, along with Maren Morris, top the list of final nominees for this year’s CMA Awards with five nominations each.

Chris is technically nominated for six awards, which includes single and he could win as both artist and producer. Keith Urban technically is up for five as both artist and producer of his album, Ripcord. Dierks Bentley and Carrie Underwood received four nominations, while Luke Bryan and Brothers Osborne each picked up two nominations.

Eric Church picked up five nominations for this year’s CMA Awards. The nods include Male Vocalist and Album of the Year for Mr. Misunderstood (produced by Jay Joyce and Arturo Buenahora, Jr., as well as Single of the Year for his recent No. 1 hit “Record Year,” Song of the Year for “Record Year,” which was written by Eric and Jeff Hyde and Music Video of the Year for “Record Year,” which was directed by Reid Long and John Peets. He now has a total of 22 career nominations since his first in 2011 for New Artist of the Year.

After Chris’ breakout year in 2015 when he had three nominations and went home with four trophies for Album (including producer), Male Vocalist, and New Artist of the Year, he is back in 2016 with five nominations, including his first for Entertainer of the Year. His list of nods this year also includes Male Vocalist; Single of the Year for “Nobody To Blame,” which was produced by Stapleton and Dave Cobb and mix engineered by Vance Powell; Music Video of the Year for “Fire Away,” which was directed by Tim Mattia; and Musical Event of the Year with life and stage partner Morgane Stapleton (her first nomination) for “You Are My Sunshine.” Stapleton only receives one nomination for Single of the Year, but can receive an additional trophy as producer.
Dierks, a 20-time nominee and two-time winner including the Horizon Award in 2005 (now New Artist of the Year) and Music Video of the Year in 2014 for “Drunk On A Plane,” will vie for Male Vocalist; Album for Black, which was produced by Ross Copperman and Buenahora; Music Video for “Somewhere On A Beach,” which was directed by Wes Edwards; and Musical Event of the Year for “Different for Girls” with Elle King (her first CMA Awards nomination).

Keith, who has been a nominee every year since 2004, received four CMA Awards nominations in 2016 including Entertainer of the Year, which he won in 2005 when the show went to New York City. Urban’s other nominations include Male Vocalist; Album of the Year for Ripcord, which was produced by Urban, Dann Huff, Jeff Bhasker, Tyler Johnson, Greg Wills, Nile Rodgers, busbee, K-Kov, Nathan Chapman, and Jonny Price; and Musical Event of the Year for “The Fighter,” featuring Underwood. Keith only receives one nomination for Album of the Year, but can receive an additional trophy as producer. Keith has won the Musical Event category four times including “Start A Band” with Paisley (2009); “Highway Don’t Care” with McGraw and Taylor Swift (2013); “We Were Us” with Miranda Lambert (2014); and “Raise ‘Em Up,” featuring Church (2015).

Luke, who is the reigning Entertainer of the Year, is nominated again in 2016 (he received his first nomination in the category in 2013). He is also nominated for Musical Event of the Year for “Home Alone Tonight,” featuring Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town.

Brothers Osborne are nominated for Vocal Duo and New Artist of the Year.

Little Big Town and Lady Antebellum vie for Vocal Group of the Year.

Kacey Musgraves, who won New Artist of the Year in 2013 and Song of the Year in 2014, is also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year.

Several of your favorite country artists – then, now and forever country – will take to the stage to perform at Wednesday night’s CMA Awards. Universal Music Group is representing with performances by George Strait, Alan Jackson, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Little Big Town, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, Vince Gill, Kacey Musgraves and Vince Gill.

The 50th Annual CMA Awards will be broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Wednesday (November 2nd) at 8pm ET on ABC.

The Final Nominees for “The 50th Annual CMA Awards” (by ballot category order):

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Garth Brooks
Luke Bryan
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban 

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist, Producer(s), and Mix Engineer(s))
“Die a Happy Man”
Thomas Rhett
Produced by Dann Huff and Jesse Frasure
Mix Engineered by Justin Niebank
The Valory Music Co. 

“Humble and Kind”
Tim McGraw
Produced by Byron Gallimore and Tim McGraw
Mix Engineered by Byron Gallimore
Big Machine Records 

“My Church”
Maren Morris
Produced by busbee and Maren Morris
Mix Engineered by Dave Clauss and busbee
Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville 

“Nobody To Blame”
Chris Stapleton
Produced by Dave Cobb and Chris Stapleton
Mix Engineered by Vance Powell
Mercury Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

“Record Year”
Eric Church
Produced by Jay Joyce
Mix Engineered by Jay Joyce and Jason Hall
EMI Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist and Producer(s))
Black
Dierks Bentley
Produced by Ross Copperman and Arturo Buenahora, Jr.
Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville

Hero
Maren Morris
Produced by busbee, Maren Morris, and Brad Hill
Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville 

Mr. Misunderstood
Eric Church
Produced by Jay Joyce and Arturo Buenahora, Jr.
EMI Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

Ripcord
Keith Urban
Produced by Jeff Bhasker, Tyler Johnson, Dann Huff, Greg Wells, Nile Rodgers, busbee, K-Kov, Nathan Chapman, Jonny Price, and Keith Urban
Hit Red Records/Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

Storyteller
Carrie Underwood
Produced by Jay Joyce, Mark Bright, and Zach Crowell
19 Recordings/Arista Nashville/Sony Music Nashville 

SONG OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Songwriter(s))
“Burning House”
Camaron “Cam” Ochs, Tyler Johnson, Jeff Bhasker

“Die a Happy Man”
Sean Douglas, Thomas Rhett, and Joe Spargur 

“Humble and Kind”
Lori McKenna 

“My Church”
busbee and Maren Morris

“Record Year”
Eric Church and Jeff Hyde 

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood 

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Dierks Bentley
Eric Church
Tim McGraw
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban 

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Old Dominion
Rascal Flatts
Zac Brown Band 

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Joey + Rory
Maddie & Tae 

MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to each Artist)
“Different For Girls”
Dierks Bentley feat. Elle King
Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

“Home Alone Tonight”
Luke Bryan featuring Karen Fairchild
Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

“The Fighter”
Keith Urban (featuring Carrie Underwood)
Hit Red Records/Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

“Think of You”
Chris Young (duet with Cassadee Pope)
RCA Nashville/Sony Music Nashville 

“You Are My Sunshine”
Morgane Stapleton with Chris Stapleton
Low Country Sound/Elektra Records 

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Jerry Douglas (Dobro/Lap Steel Guitar)
Paul Franklin (Steel Guitar)
Dann Huff (Guitar)
Brent Mason (Guitar)
Derek Wells (Guitar) 

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist and Director(s))
“Burning House”
Cam
Directed by Trey Fanjoy 

“Fire Away”
Chris Stapleton
Directed by Tim Mattia 

“Humble and Kind”
Tim McGraw
Directed by Wes Edwards 

“Record Year”
Eric Church
Directed by John Peets and Reid Long 

“Somewhere On A Beach”
Dierks Bentley
Directed by Wes Edwards 

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Brothers Osborne
Maren Morris
Old Dominion
Cole Swindell 

Brothers Osborne claimed Song of the Year at the 54th Annual ASCAP Awards on Monday night (October 31st) for “Stay a Little Longer.” Chris Stapleton was presented the Vanguard Award, which acknowledges the impact of an ASCAP member on musical genres that shape the future of American music.

Dierks Bentley performs live on Good Morning America on Wednesday morning (November 2nd) in advance of the 50th Annual CMA Awards.

Easton Corbin is set to perform during the 90th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which will air on NBC.

From the stage of Nashville’s iconic Ryman Auditorium, Little Big Town, along with Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and Ryman Auditorium General Manager Sally Williams, announced this morning their upcoming Little Big Town at the Mother Church residency.  The first ever Ryman residency, slated for six nights in 2017, will kick-off on February 24 during Country Radio Seminar week.  The date will coincide with the release of the Grammy-winning band’s seventh studio album entitled, The Breaker.  Additional dates scheduled for the residency are February 25, May 19 & 20 and September 15 & 16.  Tickets and special two-day packages for all shows will go on sale Friday, November 4 at 10:00 a.m. via ticketmaster.com and ryman.com and will be available online only. Tickets for the concerts will be $90.50, $60.50 and $50.50. Each ticket purchased to see Little Big Town at the Ryman includes one (1) physical album of Little Big Town’s new album, The Breaker, scheduled to be released on February 24, 2017. Also on Friday, CID Entertainment will offer additional VIP experiences. For full details, visit bit.ly/2e5PIws.

Little Big Town at the Mother Church will see the Grand Ole Opry members return to the historic Ryman, where they first graced the storied stage in 2005.  Each of the six shows will feature different support acts and surprise special guests.  Known for their progressive partnerships, expect the unexpected from these upcoming shows. With no other headlining tour currently scheduled, Little Big Town at the Mother Church will account for a large portion of the foursomes touring plans in North America in 2017. These limited live dates are not to be missed.

“As musicians, there is no better feeling in the world than playing on the stage at the Ryman,” said Little Big Town’s Jimi Westbrook.  “To be given the opportunity to headline their first residency means so much to us as a band and we promise to make each night as memorable for the fans as possible.”

In addition to the residency, Little Big Town announced the release of their seventh studio album, The Breaker, available in stores February 24.  The album, produced by Jay Joyce, features lead single, “Better Man” which is currently climbing the charts at country radio. The video for “Better Man,” directed by Reid Long and Becky Fluke, premieres worldwide today.  To view video click here: http://vevo.ly/2JlWhh.

“The Breaker is about letting go of things that break you, it’s about the new ground you try and break as a human being and as a musician.  Sometimes you’re the one that’s broken and sometimes you’re the breaker,” said Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild. “It’s a sentimental record because we’re feeling super grateful for our friends and family and the chance to share the next chapter.”

George Strait recently announced the Nov. 18 release of Strait Out of the Box: Part 2 exclusively with Walmart. This impressive three-disc, 56-track collection features 36 hit singles including 26 No. 1s plus two brand new songs co-written by Strait along with 18 choice album cuts, all personally selected by the King of Country Music. Strait Out of the Box: Part 2 spans 20 years of Strait’s career from 1996 to 2016 and follows the highly successful, 8x Platinum-selling 1995 release, Strait Out of the Box.

Going back through all the songs for this box set does bring back a lot of old memories,” says Strait. “A lot of them we considered for radio singles and for whatever reason, we just picked something else. It was not that hard to pick them after I looked through them because there are just so many that are my favorites.”

The two new songs, “Kicked Outta Country” (George Strait/Jamey Johnson) and “You Gotta Go Through Hell” (George Strait/Bubba Strait/Dean Dillon) are the first new recordings released from Strait since last year’s surprise Cold Beer Conversation album.

Strait fans have the opportunity to pre-order Strait Out of the Box: Part 2 along with select merchandise, including a silver-plated belt buckle identical to the one featured on the collection’s cover. The limited edition buckle arrives in an autographed craft wooden box suitable for display. All fan packages and pre-order information available HERE.

Strait, the most-nominated and most-award-winning CMA artist with 23 wins and 89 nominations, takes the stage at The 50^th Annual CMA Awards on Wednesday to perform during “country music’s biggest night.” The broadcast airs on ABC Nov. 2 at 8/7c live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

Strait Out of the Box: Part 2 Track Listing:

Disc 1 (1996-2000)

1. Blue Clear Sky
2. Carried Away
3. Rockin’ In The Arms Of Your Memory
4. I Can Still Make Cheyenne
5. Round About Way
6. Carrying Your Love With Me
7. One Night At A Time
8. Today My World Slipped Away
9. The Nerve
10. I Just Want To Dance With You
11. True
12. Maria
13. We Really Shouldn’t Be Doing This
14. Meanwhile
15. Write This Down
16. The Best Day
17. Looking Out My Window Through The Pain
18. Go On

Disc 2 (2001-2008)

1. She’ll Leave You With A Smile
2. Run
3. Living and Living Well
4. My Life’s Been Grand
5. Cowboys Like Us
6. Desperately
7. Four Down and Twelve Across
8. I Hate Everything
9. Seashores of Old Mexico
10. She Let Herself Go
11. Give It Away
12. Wrapped
13. It Just Comes Natural
14. Texas Cookin’
15. How ’Bout Them Cowgirls
16. Come On Joe
17. Troubadour
18. River Of Love
19. I Saw God Today

Disc 3 (2009-2016)

1. Living For The Night
2. Out Of Sight Out Of Mind
3. Arkansas Dave
4. Love’s Gonna Make It Alright
5. Drinkin’ Man
6. Shame On Me
7. Here For A Good Time
8. House Across The Bay
9. Blue Marlin Blues
10. I’ll Always Remember You
11. Give It All We Got Tonight
12. I Just Can’t Go On Dying Like This
13. That’s What Breaking Hearts Do
14. The Night Is Young
15. I Believe
16. Goin’ Goin’ Gone
17. Everything I See
18. Kicked Outta Country*
19. You Gotta Go Through Hell*

Strait is one of the most celebrated country music stars in history and Billboard recently named him No. 1 on the Greatest of All Time: Country Artists list. With 60 No. 1 singles and more than 70 million records sold, Strait has more No. 1 songs than any other artist and is third only to Elvis Presley and The Beatles with the most Gold and Platinum albums in history. He is the most-nominated artist in CMA Awards history and was the first country music artist honored with Billboard’s Legend Of Live Award.

Strait Out of the Box: Part 2 is now available for pre-order HERE

*Denotes newly recorded material

Multi-Platinum-selling country star Josh Turner and Cost Plus World Market helped raise over 1,000 pounds of non-perishable food items for Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. At a food drive on Oct. 30, Turner met and took photos with fans that brought canned goods to the World Market Nashville West location. A strong turnout resulted in over a half ton of food going to families in the middle Tennessee area in time for the upcoming holidays.

“Little things can make a big difference,” shares Turner. “People coming by may not think much of a canned good, but that item really will bring a smile to someone’s face and I’m happy to do whatever I can to support that.”

“We’re thrilled to partner with Josh to help our local communities,” says Glenn Hambrick, World Market General Manager. “We appreciate everyone’s donation to the food drive; it will make a difference for families in need.”

Turner’s hits include “Time Is Love,” “Why Don’t We Just Dance,” “Firecracker,” “Would You Go With Me,” “Your Man” and his latest hit single, “Hometown Girl.”

Photo Credit: Rick Diamond

Keith Urban is going into this year’s CMA Awards with four nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist, Album of the Year (Ripcord) and Musical Event of the Year for “The Fighter” with Carrie Underwood. He could also receive an additional trophy as producer.

Keith has several CMA trophies sitting on his mantel, beginning with his 2001 Horizon Award (now New Artist of the Year). He went on to win Male Vocalist in 2004, 2005 and 2006, as well as the trophy for Entertainer of the Year in 2005. The father of two is also really good at collaborating with four wins in the Musical Event of the Year category beginning in 2009 with Brad Paisley on “Start a Band.” He also went on to win the award again in 2013, 2014 and 2015. He’s nominated this year with Carrie Underwood for “The Fighter.”

Keith, who is making his way up the country charts with “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” is set to perform on the CMA Awards and is also part of the 50th anniversary song “Forever Country.”

The 50th Annual CMA Awards will be broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Wednesday (November 2nd) at 8pm ET on ABC.

Two-Time CMA and ACM Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan wrapped his “Kill The Lights Tour” with two back to back sold-out stadium dates, October 22nd in Dallas’s AT&T Stadium and October 29th at Detroit’s Ford Field. Luke has performed for a total of 1.6 million fans in concert in 2016, including more than 100,000 fans during his eighth annual “Farm Tour.” The tour is named after Luke’s Platinum-selling Kill The Lights album which just launched its fifth consecutive No. 1 single with “Move.” This is Luke’s 17th career No.1 single.

Dierks Bentley released the title track from his CMA-nominated album BLACK (Capitol Records Nashville) today (October 31st). Written by Dierks, Ross Copperman and Ashley Gorley, “Black” has been called one of “the sexiest songs of his career.”

“It’s no secret that this record is named after my wife, and she was both brave and generous to let me write about our relationship as the foundation of a lot of these songs,” said Bentley. “I’ve talked about how it explores some of the darker corners and edges of the heart, what happens in the black of night, and this song was really central to forming the rest of the project. It’s probably not what Cass expected when I told her I’d written a love song and named it after her, it’s more of an in-the-moment love song.”

The four-time CMA nominee will make the television premiere of the steamy new single “Black” live from Nashville on Wednesday during Good Morning America (ABC at 8:30a local time on 11/2). Tonight (10/31), Bentley will also perform on ABC’s prime time special, All Access Nashville: Celebrating the CMA Awards with Robin Roberts (ABC at 9:00P CST on 10/31) in front of a live audience at Nashville’s Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge.

Dierks just wrapped the last leg off his headlining 2016 SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH TOUR selling out amphitheaters and venues throughout the country. He also recently announced his 2017 WHAT THE HELL WORLD TOUR launching January 19th in Dayton, Ohio, with Cole Swindell and Jon Pardi. For more information and a full list of tour dates, visit www.dierks.com.