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  • KEITH URBAN PREMIERES NEW VIDEO FOR “OUT THE CAGE” FEATURING BRELAND, NILE RODGERS.

    Video
    Keith Urban

    “The freneticism of the rhythm makes me wanna take off and start running or……just break something,” says Keith Urban of his song “Out The Cage,” which sees the debut of its music video today.   As with his current single “One Too Many,” Urban’s duet with P!nk, “Out The Cage” features an unlikely collaboration that includes a legendary funk master and a country-trap, artist.

    As Breland tells it he received an out-of-the-blue text from Urban.  “We should get together and write sometime – see what happens.” So, I said I’d be there tomorrow.  I mean, working with Keith Urban?  I was like, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

    “It’s 9:30 the next morning, my phone rings and it’s Breland,” explains the four-time Grammy© Award winner.  “He says, ‘Hey, Keith.  It’s Breland.  I’m in your front yard.’   And along with the help of co-writers Sam Sumser and Sean Small comes “Out The Cage,” from Urban’s #1 album THE SPEED OF NOW Part 1.

    The video, which Urban and Breland shot in Sydney (following a two-week quarantine) is a frantically paced, quick cut stream of imagery and performance that captures “Out The Cage’s” driving intensity, as well as the combustibility of the creative relationship between Breland and Urban.  Add to the mix legendary funk master and Chic co-founder Nile Rodgers, who filmed his part from Connecticut, and this video lives up to its name.

    “I get a phone call from Keith – and he’s my bro – so of course I jumped on the call,” says Rodgers.  He says, ‘Hey Nile, I got this song that I’m working on, can I send it to you?’  I listened for about 5 minutes” and as Urban tells it, “He called me 10 minutes later and said, ‘yo brother, this song is sick.”

    “Out The Cage” was one of four tracks written during the Covid lockdown, with the lyrical content exploring themes of freedom. “I really wanted this to speak to liberation of all sorts, even if somebody in a dead-end job, somebody stuck in a relationship that’s going nowhere or someone who’s imprisoned in their own mind.” said Urban.

    Urban’s latest album, THE SPEED OF NOW Part 1, marks the fourth in an historic streak of simultaneous #1 album debuts in the United States, Canada and Australia also features the international hits “Polaroid,” and “Superman.”

    For more Keith Urban information, go to www.keithurban.net or follow on:

    Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / Twitter

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Keith Urban, Jon Pardi and more

    Press
    Jon Pardi / Keith Urban

    Keith Urban is making the media rounds this week to chat about hosting the ACM Awards and his latest single, “One Too Many.” On Wednesday (April 14th), he will appear on The Late Late Show With James Corden. On Thursday (April 15th), he’ll chat with Ellen DeGeneres (check local listings).

    Jon Pardi is set to appear on NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday (April 16th).

  • THE ACM AWARDS 2021 ARE THIS SUNDAY, AND MANY OF YOUR FAVORITE COUNTRY STARS ARE READY TO HIT THE STAGE.

    Audio
    Brothers Osborne / Chris Stapleton / Dierks Bentley / Eric Church / Keith Urban / Lauren Alaina / Little Big Town / Luke Bryan / Maddie & Tae / Mickey Guyton

    With six each, Chris Stapleton and Maren Morris lead the list of nominations going into Sunday night’s (April 18th) ACM Awards.

    Chris earned nods in the categories for Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Song (for “Starting Over”) and Album of the Year (Starting Over) as artist, songwriter and producer.

    Eric Church earned three category nominations for Entertainer, Male Vocalist and Music Event of the Year for Luke Combs’ “Do to Me.”

    Luke Bryan picks up a pair of nominations for Entertainer of the Year and Album of the Year for Born Here Live Here Die Here, while Dierks Bentley also is nominated for two including Male Vocalist of the Year and Music Video of the Year for “Gone” (the award went to Kane Brown for “Worldwide Beautiful”).

    Brothers Osborne are nominated for both Duo of the Year (an award they’ve won twice before) and Album of the Year for Skeletons. Keith Urban also picks up two nods…in the same category – Music Event of the Year for both “Be a Light” with Thomas Rhett, Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott and Chris Tomlin, as well as his latest single, “One Too Many” with P!nk.

    Carrie Underwood earned a nod in Music Event of the Year with John Legend for “Hallelujah,” while Lauren Alaina is also nominated in Music Event of the Year for Hardy’s “One Beer,” along with Devin Dawson.

    Little Big Town picks up a nomination for Group of the Year, while Maddie & Tae scored a nomination for Duo of the Year.

    The 56th Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton, will air live from Nashville April 18th beginning at 8pm ET/7pm CT on CBS. The show will also be available to stream live and on demand on the Paramount+.

     

    Audio / Luke Bryan is up for ACM Entertainer of the Year, as well as Album of the Year for Born Here Live Here Die Here. He says being recognized for Entertainer is always a “dream come true.”

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    Luke Bryan (Nominated for ACM Entertainer) OC: …dream come true. :36
    “Being nominated for ACM Entertainer of the Year is just, it’s just amazing. I mean, I look back over my career and I’ve won a couple of Entertainer awards and every time you see your name a part of that group of people, you’re just honored by it. I’ll tell you what, I go on stage every night trying to be the best entertainer I can be and try to get everybody in the crowd, in the room sing and love one another and have fun So, any time the ACMs recognizes me for that, it’s a dream come true.”

    Audio / Luke Bryan talks about what fans can expect on his new album, BORN HERE LIVE HERE DIE HERE.

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    Luke Bryan (fan expectations for BHLHDH) OC: …something for everybody. :37
    “I think fans can expect a little something of everything. They can expect a love song, a dancing song; obviously, ‘One Margarita’ being a big ole fun summer drinking song. And I think we have songs that will make you cry, touch your emotions, and I think, like I said there are songs that you can fall in love to out there. And there are songs that talk about the true meaning of life when you think about a song like ‘For a Boat,’ and you got a father teaching his son about the important things in life. So, I’m just proud of the way the album come together, and I feel like there’s something for everybody.”

    Audio / Eric Church, going into Sunday's ACM Awards as the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year, says this nomination means more to him than ever before.

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    Eric Church (ACM Entertainer Nod) OC: …live up to. :51
    “Coming off the CMA Entertainer of the Year – I’ve said this in interviews and I really believe this – I did not know what that award would mean to me because we’d never won that award (laughs) and never thought we would, and I felt a responsibility. I know what that award means to the format; I know what that means historically, and I tried to live up to that. I think with the vaccinations, I think with the touring, I think with the things we’ve tried to do during this, I’ve done more in that regard than I ever would’ve, because I understand the people that came before me, and I understand the people that will come after me. So, that nomination means more to me now than it probably ever has, because we’ve won. I think representing the format that I adore is something that I’m trying to live up to.”

    Audio / Eric Church talks about his ACM Male Artist nomination.

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    Eric Church (ACM Male Artist 2021) OC: …category. :12
    “I’ve not been in that category in a while. I think it’s a great honor. I mean, I’ve said this a thousand times – I’ve always thought of myself as more of a stylist than a vocalist, but it’s an honor to be with the guys that are in the category.”

    Audio / Eric Church talks about being nominated for ACM Music Event of the Year with Luke Combs on “Does To Me.”

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    Eric Church (ACM Music Event of the Year 2021) OC: …hopefully it wins. :34
    “Luke Combs is somebody that we went to the same college, we’re from North Carolina both of us, I’ve got to know him, not only as an artist, but on a personal level. We’ve hung out together in North Carolina, here in Tennessee. I’m so proud of him and what he’s done. I’m proud that I was able to influence him and that he was able to do his own thing. And this song was, it was great to record it with him. I love the song. I love the writing of the song. I had nothing to do with that. They wrote it to the wall, and it was an honor to join him, and hopefully it wins.”

    Audio / Chris Stapleton, who is nominated for Entertainer, Male Artist, Album and Song of the Year at this year’s ACM Awards, talks about the theme of his latest album, Starting Over.

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    Chris Stapleton (theme of Starting Over album) OC: …as humans. :54
    “I’ve never really looked at records necessarily as having a theme.  I’ve never made a record in that kind of a constraint necessarily. And there are a lot of great records that have this theme and this overlying thread that kind of runs through them.  Maybe the thread for me is just I’m singing. I wrote a bulk of the songs. It’s the same guys playing all the songs. If there’s a theme – if there’s a theme it’s hopefully there’s a theme of truth somewhere in it. And what I mean by that is hopefully we’re conveying in the songs some experiences that feel real and hopefully people can find themselves in those songs and in the album. And for me if I’m looking for a theme it’s that kind of, I don’t know, that thing that binds us all together as humans.”

    Audio / Chris Stapleton will perform “Maggie’s Song” on the ACM Awards on Sunday Night (April 18th). He felt like Maggie, a dog he and Morgan rescued and had for 14 years, deserved a song of her own – that song appears on his ACM-nominated album, Starting Over.

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    Chris Stapleton (Maggie’s Song) OC: …of our family. :33
    “She deserved a tribute of a song. Now, whether or not I did her justice in the song, I don’t know, but she was a dog that deserved a song so I wrote a song about her the day after she died. That song happened to carry through to me being allowed to play it live, and we wound up in the studio and we recorded it. And now it lives in the world to make people more sad than they deserve to be (laughs) in a year that we don’t need much of that. But I loved that dog very much, and she was a great member of our family.”

    Audio / Brothers Osborne, who are nominated for two ACM Awards including Duo of the Year and Album of the Year, talk about why they made their ACM-nominated album, Skeletons.

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    Brothers Osborne (how Skeletons came about) OC: …came about. 1:02
    “Skeletons is a record that was essentially brought on because we wanted to play more new songs live. So, going into this record T.J. and I decided let’s make a record that no matter what song we just cherry pick out of the record we can do it during our show. And that is how we decided the songs that we ended up on the record. And we started with just like every other artist, 30, 40 plus songs. We started whittling them down, ‘well we might be able to play that. I don’t know if we would be able to play that.’ And that’s how we ended up with Skeletons. And it was really birthed from just playing live shows. One of the cool things about this record is that this is the first record where our entire band is playing on it. Previous records our drummer Adam and our bass player Pete they were playing, but this one has our other guitar player Jason and our keys player Billy Justin now. And it made a huge difference because for the first time we all got in the studio after playing hundreds of shows together, we put the headphones on and started playing and it was like oh it’s just the guys. We’re jamming with the dudes. And that’s how the record came about.”

    Audio / Keith Urban has two ACM nominations in the same category of Music Event of the Year. Here he talks about the ACM-nominated duet with superstar P!nk on “One Too Many.”

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    Keith Urban (P!NK duet) OC: …it together. :29
    “This song was written as a duet, and I sent the song to her and luckily she loved it. I loved the song and I was really hoping she would love it, because she’s truly one of the great singers of our generation. So, to hear her voice on this song was phenomenal. We had such a great time getting to do that. I wish we could’ve done it in the same space, but you know with the situation we’re in, of course, we couldn’t do that. So, she recorded her vocal at her house and I did mine at my house, and we put it together.”

    Audio / Little Big Town talks about being nominated for ACM Group of the Year.

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    LBT (Group nomination) OC: …yeah. :12
    “That’s the coolest thing. Yeah. We’re all friends and we all root for each other and cheer each other on, and we love the music they’re making. And we just celebrate, man. We’re, we’re fans. Yeah.”

    Audio / Maddie & Tae feel like awards nominations show them they're making music people are enjoying.

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    Maddie & Tae (Duo nomination) OC: …super fun. :24
    “Having that nomination was like, oh wow, our peers do still feel like we’re doing something special and do still believe in us and that was a really nice spirit-lifter where we were like, ‘Oh my gosh. We are doing something right and we’re making music that people are enjoying,’ and that was just a huge, huge compliment. And we’re nominated with some of favorite people in the industry, so super fun.”

    Audio / LINER Keith Urban (ACM promo)

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    Audio / LINER Mickey Guyton (ACM Promo)

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    Audio / LINER Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton (ACM Promo)

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  • THE ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC ANNOUNCES SPECIAL PERFORMANCES, COLLABORATIONS AND WORLD PREMIERES FOR SUNDAY NIGHT’S ACM AWARDS.

    Press
    Alan Jackson / Brothers Osborne / Carrie Underwood / Chris Stapleton / Dierks Bentley / Eric Church / Keith Urban / Little Big Town / Mickey Guyton

    The 56th Academy of Country Music Awards are setting the stage for a night of incredible music on Sunday (April 18th). The ACMs announced this week special performances, collaborations and more for the awards show, which will be hosted by Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton.

    The show, which will feature some of the biggest names and emerging talent in Country Music, will take place from three iconic venues: the Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe with special performances at legendary locations across the city including the Station Inn, Bridge Building and on Broadway.

    This year’s ACM Awards will feature Elle King and Miranda Lambert opening the show with “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home),” Dierks Bentley performing U2‘s classic “Pride (In The Name Of Love)” with husband/wife duo The War and Treaty; Brothers Osborne will turn in their new single, “I’m Not For Everyone,” Eric Church (“Bunch of Nothing”), Carrie Underwood will perform a medley from her new album of gospel hymns (My Savior) which will also feature a duet with CeCe Winans, Mickey Guyton (“Hold On”), Alan Jackson “You’ll Always Be My Baby” and a special mashup for “Drive (For Daddy Gene),” Chris Stapleton on the tear-inducing “Maggie’s Song,” as well as Kenny Chesney, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Jimmie Allen, Gabby Barrett, Lady A, Dan + Shay, Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton celebrating the 20th Anniversary of his first hit single, “Austin,” as well as his latest “Minimum Wage,” Chris Young and Kane Brown, Carly Pearce and Lee Brice (“I Hope You’re Happy Now”).

    Previously announce performers include Keith Urban, Little Big Town and Ashley McBryde.

    The 56th Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton, will air Sunday, April 18th beginning at 8pm ET/delayed PT on CBS.

  • DIERKS BENTLEY, BROTHERS OSBORNE, LUKE BRYAN, ERIC CHURCH, MICKEY GUYTON, ALAN JACKSON, LITTLE BIG TOWN, CHRIS STAPLETON, KEITH URBAN AND CARRIE UNDERWOOD ARE AMONG THE ANNOUNCED PERFORMERS AT THIS YEAR’S ACM AWARDS.

    Press
    Alan Jackson / Brothers Osborne / Carrie Underwood / Chris Stapleton / Dierks Bentley / Eric Church / Keith Urban / Little Big Town / Luke Bryan / Mickey Guyton

    Dierks Bentley, Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Mickey Guyton, Alan Jackson, Little Big Town, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood are among the performers at this year’s ACM Awards. They’re joined by Kelsea Ballerini, Lee Brice, Kane Brown, Kenny Chesney, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Ryan Hurd, Jack Ingram,  Elle King, Miranda Lambert, Ashley McBryde, Maren Morris, Carly Pearce, Jon Randall, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, The War and Treaty, CeCe Winans and Chris Young.

    Over 25 artists will perform more than 30 songs from three iconic Country Music venues: the Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe. Additional details on the exciting performances including unprecedented collaborations and surprising moments will be announced in the coming weeks. First-time ACM Awards performances from many of the legendary artists in the lineup can be found HERE.

    The health and safety of the artists, fans, industry, staff and partners involved in the ACM Awards is the number one priority. All guidelines set forth by national, state and local health officials will be closely followed and implemented during the production along with additional safety measures to be instated by dick clark productions and the Academy of Country Music.

     

    For more information, visit ACMcountry.com. You can also like Academy of Country Music on Facebook, follow on Twitter at @ACMawards, follow on Instagram at @ACMawards and sign up for the FREE ACM A-List for more immediate updates.

    The 56th Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton, will air Sunday, April 18th beginning at 8pm ET/delayed PT on CBS.

  • TAYLOR SWIFT REVEALS TRACK LIST FOR FEARLESS (TAYLOR’S VERSION) OUT THIS FRIDAY.

    Audio
    Keith Urban / Taylor Swift

    Taylor Swift sent fans on a huge Easter Egg/Scavenger hunt before unveiling the track list for Fearless (Taylor’s version), which is set for release this Friday (April 9th). “The vault door is about to be unhinged as you’ll think I am after you watch this video,” she tweeted.

     

    Her fans immediately decoded the clues and revealed Keith Urban would also be included on the album. The only song previously released from the re-recordings is “You All Over Me (From The Vault),” featuring Maren Morris on background vocals.

    The global superstar commended her fans on socials and wrote, “Here’s the full track list, my friends. I’m really honored that @keithurban is a part of this project, duetting on That’s When and singing harmonies on We Were Happy. I was his opening act during the Fearless album era and his music has inspired me endlessly. I’m counting down the minutes til we can all jump into this brave world together, filled with equal parts nostalgia and brand newness.”

    https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/1378377399667154948

    https://twitter.com/KeithUrban/status/1378395637423673347

     

     

    Fearless (Taylor’s Version) will include Fearless‘ original 20 songs (19 tracks from the Platinum edition and “Today Is a Fairytale”), plus six newly recorded songs that she had written around the time of the Fearless sessions.

    Taylor is also currently making her way up the country charts with her single, “no body, no crime” from her recently released album, evermore.

    Audio / Taylor Swift explains why Fearless was the first album she re-recorded.

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    Taylor Swift (explains why Fearless rerecorded first) OC: …time around. :45
    “Deciding on what album to re-record first was pretty easy for me. I always gravitated towards Fearless, because I think that as an album, it was a real coming-of-age and I look back on that album, and it filled me with such pride. It was an album about hope and lessons learned and the effervescence of teenage youth and all that, so what more fun than to go back and explore that? And I think that I tried to keep it as close to the original as possible, and the additional songs that I’ve added are songs that I think add insight into what the album almost was; because every time you make an album, you leave songs off, and I think that it’s really cool that the fans will get to have the full picture this time around.”

  • NEWS AND NOTES: Taylor, Keith, Vince, Carrie, Darius, Reba, Chris

    Press
    Brothers Osborne / Carrie Underwood / Chris Stapleton / Darius Rucker / Keith Urban / Reba McEntire / Taylor Swift / Vince Gill

    Taylor Swift‘s “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s version)” is featured in the trailer for the new animated film, Spirited Untamed, from Dreamworks.  The song originally appeared on her 1989 album, and this is the first and only place to hear her re-recorded version of the song.

    The film, which features the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal, Julianne Moore, Walton Goggins, Andre Braugher, and Isabela Merced, will hit theaters nationwide on June 4th.

     

    Vince Gill, Reba McEntire, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban are among the artists featured on a limited-edition LP for the Grand Ole Opry’s Unbroken: Empty Room, Full Circle album. The announcement came on the anniversary of the Opry’s decision to pause in-house audiences in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Available June 4th, 2021, exclusively on Opry.com and at the Opry’s Nashville-based retail outlets,  the LP includes memorable performances recorded live from the Opry stage in front of an empty house. For 29 weeks, Saturday night Opry shows continued uninterrupted despite public health orders that temporarily shuttered many other live productions. These performances were made possible because of the devotion of Grand Ole Opry members, featured performers, Opry staff and local health officials who safely worked together to bring comfort to millions around the world. Brad Paisley, Marty Stuart, Luke Combs and many more.

    Chris Stapleton and his wife, Morgane, join actor-singer Leslie Jordan on his song “Farther Along,” which will be featured on his forthcoming debut album of Southern gospel hymns, Company’s Comin’.  Brothers Osborne’s TJ Osborne, Dolly Parton, Ashley McBryde, Tanya Tucker, Brandi Carlile and more are featured on the album. The Tennessee native, best known for his roles in TV shows such as “Ally McBeal,” “Boston Public,” “Reba,” “Boston Legal,” and “American Horror Story,” has become a social media favorite while in quarantine for his endearing videos, including a regular “Sunday Mornin’ Hymn Singin'” series.

     

  • KEITH URBAN AND MICKEY GUYTON TO HOST THE “56TH ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS™” LIVE FROM NASHVILLE, SUNDAY, APRIL 18 AT 8PM ET / 7PM CT ON CBS

    Press
    Keith Urban / Mickey Guyton

    The Academy of Country Music®, dick clark productions and CBS announced today that 15-time ACM Award winner Keith Urban, and New Female Artist of the Year nominee Mickey Guyton, will host the 56TH ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS™, honoring the biggest names and emerging talent in Country Music. CBS presents the 56th ACM Awards® live from three iconic country music venues: the Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe Sunday, April 18 (8:00-11:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

     

    Urban returns for his second year after hosting the 55th ACM Awards in September, while this marks Guyton’s first time hosting the ACM Awards and the 29th time multiple hosts have taken the ACM Awards stage. Guyton’s performance of her critically acclaimed song “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” at last year’s show featured Urban as a surprise guest on piano.

    “I’m beyond thrilled to be co-hosting with my friend Mickey,” said Urban. “I love that finally everyone will get to see her infectious energy and uber creative spirit in full light.”

    “Last year I had the opportunity to perform at the Academy of Country Music Awards with someone I long admired, Keith Urban, and this year I am incredibly excited to share hosting duties with him,” said Guyton. “As I’ve said before ‘if you can see it, you can be it,’ and it’s such an honor to step onto the ACM stage as the first ever Black woman to host the show. Over the years, the Academy of Country Music has always been a home for me through opportunities both onstage and throughout their work on diversity and inclusion. This is a moment of great significance for me and I am so thrilled to share it with all the fans.”

    “Following Mickey’s groundbreaking and emotional performance featuring Keith Urban at last September’s ACM Awards, the producers knew that they would make a perfect hosting duo,” said ACM, dcp and CBS in a joint statement. “Since then, Mickey had a stratospheric rise and Keith has continued to top the charts. They will make a dynamic pairing that captures the warmth, humor, and comfort that the fans are looking for, and join a legendary list of talented artists that have hosted the ACM Awards over the years.”

    Urban is a double nominee in the Music Event of the Year Category for his collaboration with P!nk on his latest single, “One Too Many,” for which he received an additional nomination as the song’s producer. In addition, he received a nomination for his collaboration with Thomas Rhett, Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott, and Chris Tomlin on “Be A Light.” To date, Urban has won 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, securing his first win in 2001.  He has spent the better part of his life harnessing a deep-seated passion for music.  This, when combined with his authenticity and talent, helps to exemplify why he is one of the most well-respected artists in the world. In addition to his ACM Award wins, he’s pocketed four GRAMMY© Awards, three AMAs, two People’s Choice Awards and celebrated nine consecutive gold, platinum or multi-platinum albums. His latest studio album, The Speed of Now Part 1, marks the fourth in an historic streak of simultaneous #1 album debuts in the United States, Canada and Australia.  It produced “One Too Many,” his latest single, the Top 5 hit “God Whispered Your Name,” as well as the international hits “Polaroid” and “Superman.”

    While plans for a tour were placed on hold, and many in the country faced stay-at-home orders, Urban did what he does best – found ways to stay connected with his fans and used music as balm.  He was one of the first to take to social media to perform a series of “concerts” from his home.  He stole the attention of the world with his performance of Steve Winwood’s Higher Love, for Lady Gaga’s “One World: Together at Home.” His concert for COVID-19 first responders became the first in the U.S. to be held at a drive-in movie theater and supported numerous efforts to assist in COVID relief. Urban’s live shows have become legendary – as unpredictable as they are explosive.  Whether in an arena of 15,000 or outdoors in front of 50,000, they’re an experience of emotion, musical texture, energy and showmanship.  His  musical virtuosity and fluidity is unparalleled leading to collaborations with a diverse group of artists that include, among others; Billy Gibbons, Buddy Guy, Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, John Mayer, Julia Michaels, Justin Timberlake, Dzeko, Miranda Lambert, Nile Rodgers, Post Malone, Taylor Swift, The Rolling Stones and Vince Gill.

    Mickey Guyton was born in Arlington, Texas and began singing in church at a young age. She was drawn to a variety of artists with big voices including Dolly Parton, Cece Winans, Whitney Houston and LeAnn Rimes. After signing to Capitol Records Nashville, Mickey’s first appearance was an all-star concert at the White House captured by PBS. In 2015 she released her self-titled EP featuring her debut single “Better Than You Left Me.” The following year she was nominated for her first Academy of Country Music Award for New Female Vocalist. Mickey returned to the ACM Awards in 2019 performing “I’m Standing With You” from the BREAKTHROUGH movie soundtrack alongside Chrissy Metz, Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina and Maddie & Tae. This last year, Mickey performed her first solo ACM Awards performance of “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” with labelmate Keith Urban’s accompaniment on piano.  The performance, which HITS called “…a Whitney Houston/Beyoncé power-vocal rendition of the glass-ceiling reckoning…” was named one of the best performances of the night. Mickey released her EP, Bridges, last September, which includes “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”, hailed by Variety as “country music’s song of the year”, as well as, “Black Like Me,” a song Mickey co-wrote in March 2019 at a cross-genre writing camp. Due to demand, “Black Like Me” was released in June 2020 and was named one of the Top 10 songs of 2020 by NPR, Billboard and The Associated Press. Mickey recently made history as the first Black female solo artist to earn a GRAMMY nomination in a country category (Best Country Solo Performance) for “Black Like Me” which she will perform as part of the awards ceremony Sunday, March 14. Mickey and her music have been featured recently by The New York Times, CBS This Morning, NPR, Today, Billboard, The Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, ELLE, The Washington Post, Paste, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, American Songwriter and Pollstar.

  • THE ACM AWARDS NOMINATIONS 2021 HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED!

    Audio
    Brothers Osborne / Carrie Underwood / Caylee Hammack / Chris Stapleton / Dierks Bentley / Eric Church / Keith Urban / Lauren Alaina / Little Big Town / Luke Bryan / Maddie & Tae / Mickey Guyton / Parker McCollum / Reba McEntire / Travis Denning

    With six each, Chris Stapleton and Maren Morris lead the list of nominations at this year’s ACM Awards.

    Chris earned nods in the categories for Entertainer, Male Artist, Song (for “Starting Over”) and Album of the Year (Starting Over) as artist, songwriter and producer.

     


    Brothers Osborne     and Kelsea Ballerini, along with ET‘s Rachel Smith revealed the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards nominees today (February 26th) on CBS This Morning.

    The reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year Eric Church earned three category nominations for Entertainer, Male Artist and Music Event of the Year for Luke Combs’ “Do to Me.”

     

     

    Luke Bryan picks up a pair of nominations for Entertainer of the Year and Album of the Year for Born Here Live Here Die Here, while Dierks Bentley also is nominated for two including Male Artist of the Year and Music Video of the Year for “Gone.”

     

     

     

     

    Brothers Osborne are nominated for both Duo of the Year (an award they’ve won twice before) and Album of the Year for Skeletons. Keith Urban also picks up two nods…in the same category – Music Event of the Year for both “Be a Light” with Thomas Rhett, Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott and Chris Tomlin, as well as his latest single, “One Too Many” with P!nk.

     

     

    Carrie Underwood earned a nod in Music Event of the Year with John Legend for “Hallelujah,” while Lauren Alaina is also nominated in Music Event of the Year for Hardy’s “One Beer,” along with Devin Dawson.

     

    https://twitter.com/Lauren_Alaina/status/1365342084824203268

     

    Little Big Town picks up a nomination for Group of the Year, while Maddie & Tae scored a nomination for Duo of the Year.

     

     

     

    Mickey Guyton and Caylee Hammack are both nominated for New Female Artist of the Year, while Travis Denning and Parker McCollum are up for New Male Artist of the Year.

    https://twitter.com/MickeyGuyton/status/1365330487636594694

     

     

     

     

    The 56th Academy of Country Music Awards will air live from Nashville April 18th beginning at 8pm ET/7pm CT on CBS. The show will also be available to stream live and on demand on the Paramount+.

    Entertainer of the Year

    Luke Bryan
    Eric Church
    Luke Combs
    Thomas Rhett
    Chris Stapleton

    Female Artist of the Year

    Kelsea Ballerini
    Miranda Lambert
    Ashley McBryde
    Maren Morris
    Carly Pearce

    Male Artist of the Year

    Dierks Bentley
    Luke Combs
    Eric Church
    Thomas Rhett
    Chris Stapleton

    Duo of the Year

    Brooks & Dunn
    Brothers Osborne
    Dan + Shay
    Florida Georgia Line
    Maddie & Tae

    Group of the Year

    Lady A
    Little Big Town
    Old Dominion
    The Cadillac Three
    The Highwomen

    New Female Artist of the Year

    Ingrid Andress
    Tenille Arts
    Gabby Barrett
    Mickey Guyton
    Caylee Hammack

    New Male Artist of the Year

    Jimmie Allen
    Travis Denning
    Hardy
    Cody Johnson
    Parker McCollum

    Album of the Year

    Born Here Live Here Die Here, Luke Bryan
    Mixtape Vol. 1, Kane Brown
    Never Will, Ashley McBryde
    Skeletons, Brothers Osborne
    Starting Over, Chris Stapleton

    Single of the Year

    “Bluebird,” Miranda Lambert
    “I Hope,” Gabby Barrett
    “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” Carly Pearce and Lee Brice
    “More Hearts Than Mine,” Ingrid Andress
    “The Bones,” Maren Morris

    Song of the Year

    “Bluebird,” Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Natalie Hemby
    “One Night Standards,” Ashley McBryde, Nicolette Hayford, Shane McAnally
    “Some People Do,” Jesse Frasure, Matt Ramsey, Thomas Rhett, Shane McAnally
    “Starting Over,” Chris Stapleton, Mike Henderson
    “The Bones,” Jimmy Robbins, Maren Morris, Laura Veltz

    Video of the Year

    “Better Than We Found It,” Maren Morris
    “Bluebird,” Miranda Lambert
    “Gone,” Dierks Bentley
    “Hallelujah,” Carrie Underwood and John Legend
    “Worldwide Beautiful,” Kane Brown

    Songwriter of the Year

    Ashley Gorley
    Michael Hardy
    Hillary Lindsey
    Shane McAnally
    Josh Osborne

    Music Event of the Year

    “Be A Light,” Thomas Rhett f/Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin, Keith Urban
    “Does To Me,” Luke Combs f/Eric Church
    “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” Carly Pearce and Lee Brice
    “Nobody But You,” Blake Shelton f/Gwen Stefani
    “One Beer,” Hardy f/Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson
    “One Too Many,” Keith Urban f/P!nk

     

    Audio / Chris Stapleton, who is nominated for 6 ACM Awards including Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist and Album of the Year (among others), talks about the theme of his latest album, Starting Over.

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    Chris Stapleton (theme of Starting Over album) OC: …as humans. :54
    “I’ve never really looked at records necessarily as having a theme.  I’ve never made a record in that kind of a constraint necessarily. And there are a lot of great records that have this theme and this overlying thread that kind of runs through them.  Maybe the thread for me is just I’m singing. I wrote a bulk of the songs. It’s the same guys playing all the songs. If there’s a theme – if there’s a theme it’s hopefully there’s a theme of truth somewhere in it. And what I mean by that is hopefully we’re conveying in the songs some experiences that feel real and hopefully people can find themselves in those songs and in the album. And for me if I’m looking for a theme it’s that kind of, I don’t know, that thing that binds us all together as humans.”

    Audio / Eric Church, the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year, is nominated for Entertainer (among others) at this year’s ACM Awards. Backstage at last year’s CMA Awards, he talked about his first Entertainer of the Year win.

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    Eric Church (CMA 2020) 1 OC: …next year or two. :31
    “There’s not really been winners this year. I mean, nobody’s played. Nobody’s done the things we normally do. It’s been a year, to me, about losses. It’s about loss of life. It’s about loss of education for your kids. It’s about loss of time playing. It’s been a year of managing those losses. But I really meant what I said (during my acceptance speech) that we were in a room together as country music, and that’s not happened this year. So, I think that that was a win for country music, and I think it was a win for where we’re gonna go in the next year or two.”

    Audio / Before releasing his latest album in August of last year, Luke Bryan talked about what fans can expect on BORN HERE LIVE HERE DIE HERE.

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    Luke Bryan (fan expectations for BHLHDH) OC: …something for everybody. :37
    “I think fans can expect a little something of everything. They can expect a love song, a dancing song; obviously, ‘One Margarita’ being a big ole fun summer drinking song. And I think we have songs that will make you cry, touch your emotions, and I think, like I said there are songs that you can fall in love to out there. And there are songs that talk about the true meaning of life when you think about a song like ‘For a Boat,’ and you got a father teaching his son about the important things in life. So, I’m just proud of the way the album come together, and I feel like there’s something for everybody.”

    Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about his latest single, "Gone," for which the music video is nominated for an ACM Award.

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    Dierks Bentley (Gone) 2 OC: …would enjoy it too. :18
    “You know, the song, ‘cause I didn’t write it I can only brag on it, is just really well-written. It’s catchy, it’s fun. It’s metaphorical about what’s happening right now. It reminds me a little bit of some stuff we’ve had out in the past, but it feels like new territory in other ways and I don’t know, I just enjoyed it. I enjoyed singing it and I enjoyed playing it, and I wanted to put it out there and I thought our fans would enjoy it too.”

    Audio / KEITH URBAN TALKS ABOUT RECORDING “ONE TOO MANY” WITH P!NK.

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    Keith Urban (P!NK duet) OC: …it together. :29
    “This song was written as a duet, and I sent the song to her and luckily she loved it. I loved the song and I was really hoping she would love it, because she’s truly one of the great singers of our generation. So, to hear her voice on this song was phenomenal. We had such a great time getting to do that. I wish we could’ve done it in the same space, but you know with the situation we’re in, of course, we couldn’t do that. So, she recorded her vocal at her house and I did mine at my house, and we put it together.”

    Audio / CARRIE UNDERWOOD TALKS ABOUT THE SONG, “HALLELUJAH,” WHICH JOHN LEGEND WROTE AND IS FEATURED ON.

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    Carrie Underwood (Hallelujah) OC: …cool collaboration. :37
    “’Hallelujah’ is a song that touches on many different topics and feelings. It’s a love song, it’s a Christmas song, it’s a celebrating the time of year song. It’s you know, still wanting that joyfulness – it was written by John Legend and Toby Gad. When I listened to it, it had John’s voice on it, and it’s just beautiful. I knew I wanted to sing it – we asked if John, you might want to sing it with me. The perfect song, the perfect person, John Legend sounds amazing on it and I was like wow, I can’t believe that this just all came together like this, and just kind of a really cool collaboration.”

    Audio / Parker McCollum talks about being nominated for his first ACM Award…for New Male Artist of the Year.

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    Parker McCollum (1st ACM Nomination) OC: …So grateful. :36
    “What does it mean to be nominated for an ACM Award? I can’t even explain it. I’ve watched these awards shows from the time I can remember listening to country music or watching television. It’s been my whole life. And so to be nominated for an ACM, something like New Male Artist of the Year – an absolute honor and a dream come true and so cool to see how proud my family is of me getting nominated for something like this. It’s just, there are no words, man. So grateful.”

     

    Video /

  • KEITH URBAN AND P!NK RECORDED “ONE TOO MANY” SEPARATELY BUT SEAMLESSLY.

    Audio
    Keith Urban

    Keith Urban is scaling the country charts with his latest single, “One Too Many,” a soulful country duet with pop superstar P!NK. Unfortunately, due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, the two artists weren’t able to record the song together.

    “We had such a great time getting to do that,” says Keith. “I wish we could’ve done it in the same space, but you know with the situation we’re in, of course, we couldn’t do that. So, she recorded her vocal at her house and I did mine at my house, and we put it together.”

    Keith loved the song, written by Cleo Tighe, Daniel Davidsen, James Norton, Mich Hansen and Peter Wallevik, immediately and was hoping P!NK would as well.

    “This song was written as a duet, and I sent the song to her and luckily she loved it. I loved the song and I was really hoping she would love it, because she’s truly one of the great singers of our generation. So, to hear her voice on this song was phenomenal.”

    “One Too Many” is from Keith’s tenth studio album, The Speed of Now Part 1, which also includes “We Were,” “Out The Cage,” “God Whispered Your Name,” “Polaroid” and “Superman.”

    Audio / Keith Urban talks about recording “One Too Many” with P!NK.

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    Keith Urban (P!NK duet) OC: …it together. :29
    “This song was written as a duet, and I sent the song to her and luckily she loved it. I loved the song and I was really hoping she would love it, because she’s truly one of the great singers of our generation. So, to hear her voice on this song was phenomenal. We had such a great time getting to do that. I wish we could’ve done it in the same space, but you know with the situation we’re in, of course, we couldn’t do that. So, she recorded her vocal at her house and I did mine at my house, and we put it together.”

    Video /

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