The ACM nominees for Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year were announced on Thursday (February 18th). Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush,” Eric Paslay’s “She Don’t Love You” and Chris Stapleton’s “Nobody to Blame” are on the ballot, as well as Keith Urban’s “Raise ‘Em Up,” featuring Eric Church.

The Academy of Country Music Awards will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas April 3rd at 8pm ET on CBS.

Song of the Year [awarded to songwriter(s)/publisher(s)/artist(s)]
“Burning House,” Cam
Songwriters: Jeffrey Bhasker, Tyler Johnson, Cam

“Girl Crush,” Little Big Town
Songwriters: Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose

“Nobody to Blame,” Chris Stapleton
Songwriters: Chris Stapleton, Barry Bales, Ronnie Bowman

“Raise ‘Em Up,” Keith Urban featuring Eric Church
Songwriters: Tom Douglas, Jaren Johnston, Jeffrey Steele

“She Don’t Love You,” Eric Paslay
Songwriters: Eric Paslay, Jennifer Wayne

Songwriter of the Year
Rodney Clawson (“Crash My Party”)
Ross Copperman (“Strip It Down”)
Ashley Gorley (“Play It Again”)
Shane McAnally (“Break Up in a Small Town”)
Josh Osborne (“John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16”)

Keith Urban and Vince Gill have announced their sixth annual All for the Hall, a benefit concert for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The two will headline the event, which will take place April 12th at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

The show’s theme is Mashville: The Music City in 2016, and it’ll feature performances by the show’s headliners, as well as Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt, Florida Georgia Line, Peter Frampton, Jason Isbell, Emmylou Harris, Maddie and Tae and Maren Morris.

Nashville has become a dynamic and diverse musical melting pot,” Keith said about this year’s theme in a prepared statement. “While it remains the home of country music, an unbelievably talented community of songwriters, producers, instrumentalists, singers, bands and solo artists are rapidly changing the entire musical landscape in Music City, U.S.A.”

Keith Urban made a surprise appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show Wednesday (January 13th) to talk about his new Ripcord World Tour and invite the entire studio audience to his show in Los Angeles.

Keith also talked about his late father, “Bob,” who passed away in December after a long battle with cancer. The “Break On Me” singer gave full props to his father for his love of country music.

Keith Urban has long been hailed as one of the industry’s best live performers who has always given his fans, old and new alike, electrifying and unpredictable shows with eye-popping production and a set list that is saturated with many of his 19 No. 1 songs.  Electrifying and emotional, face-paced and inclusive, Urban’s concerts are an explosive experience, a roller coaster ride that numerous critics have called “concert events not to be missed.”

‘RipCORD World Tour 2016’ with Brett Eldredge, along with special guest Maren Morris, will debut on June 2nd, in Kansas City, Missouri and thus far will play more than 50 shows in amphitheaters and arenas throughout the U.S.  Additional legs will be announced and ticket on sales, which will begin in select markets on January 29^th, will become available locally within the next few weeks.

“I’m seriously chomping at the bit to kick off this tour,” said Urban.  “We’ll be playing a lot of new music from RipCORD, all new production, new cities where we’ve never played …and Brett Eldredge and Maren Morris?  It’s gonna be potent and unbridled!!!”

‘RipCORD World Tour 2016’ will not only see Urban’s first headlining shows ever in Youngstown (Ohio), Lincoln (Nebraska), Orange Beach (Alabama), Bloomington (Illinois) and Myrtle Beach (South Carolina), but will see his return to several cities in which he hasn’t appeared in three years, including Tampa (Florida), Kansas City (Missouri), Lake Tahoe (Nevada) and West Palm Beach (Florida).

“I was a Keith Urban fan long before I ever got this music thing going,” said Eldredge.  “He is an absolute powerhouse on stage – unlike anyone I’ve ever seen and to top it all off, one of the most down to earth people I know! The Ripcord tour is gonna be on fire! Get ready!”

“When I was asked to join Keith on tour, I was floored,” said Morris.  “I’ve personally been a fan of his for as long as I can remember. This is my first tour at this level, and I can’t think of a more respected writer, artist, and musician to join for it. It’s going to be an absolute blast!”

Urban’s ‘RipCORD World Tour 2016’ will debut on the heels of his soon to be released eighth studio album release of the same name, which has already produced two singles – his Grammy nominated, 19^th No. 1 song, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” and its second single “Break On Me.”  It is the follow-up to Urban’s groundbreaking release FUSE, his fourth #1 album, that marked the first time in history that a male Country artist had debuted atop the all-genre charts in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

KEITH URBAN “RIPCORD WORLD TOUR” 2016

June 2                Kansas City, MO                 Cricket Wireless Amphitheater

June 3                St. Louis, MO                      Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

June 4                Indianapolis, IN                  Klipsch Music Center

June 10              Myrtle Beach, SC (festival)  Carolina Country Music Fest

June 11              Alpharetta, GA (Atlanta)      Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

                                                                    at Encore Park

June 16              Orange Beach, AL               The Wharf Amphitheater

June 17              Tampa, FL                          MIDFLORIDA Credit Union

                                                                    Amphitheatre

June 18              West Palm Beach, FL          Perfect Vodka Amphitheater

June 23              Clarkston, MI (Detroit)        DTE Energy Music Theatre

June 24              Canandaigua, NY                Constellation Brands-Marvin

                                                                    Sands Performing Arts Center

June 25              Mansfield, MA (Boston)       Xfinity Center

July 2                 Gilford, NH                         Bank of New Hampshire

                                                                    Pavilion at Meadowbrook

July 9                 Toronto, ON                        Molson Canadian Amphitheatre

July 14               Cincinnati, OH                   Riverbend Music Center

July 15               Cleveland, OH                     Blossom Music Center

July 16               Holmdel, NJ                        P.N.C. Bank Arts Center

July 21               Salt Lake City, UT               USANA Amphitheatre

July 22               Greenwood Village, CO        Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre

July 23               Albuquerque, NM                Isleta Amphitheater

July 28               Mountain View, CA             Shoreline Amphitheatre

July 29               Lake Tahoe, Stateline NV    Lake Tahoe at Harvey’s Outdoor

                                                                    Amphitheatre

August 18           Charlotte, NC                      PNC Music Pavilion

August 19           Raleigh, NC                        Walnut Creek Amphitheatre

August 20           Virginia Beach, VA              Farm Bureau Live at Virginia

                                                                    Beach

August 25           Syracuse, NY                      Lakeview Amphitheater

August 26           Philadelphia, PA                  BB&T Pavilion

August 27           Washington, DC                  Jiffy Lube Live

October 6            Bismarck, ND                     Bismarck Civic Center

October 8            Lincoln, NE                         Pinnacle Bank Arena

October 13          San Antonio, TX                  AT&T Center

October 14          Dallas, TX                          American Airlines Center

October 15          New Orleans, LA                 Smoothie King Center

October 20          Los Angeles, CA                  Staples Center

October 21          Las Vegas, NV                     T-Mobile Arena

October 22          Phoenix, AZ                        Talking Stick Resort Arena

October 27          Grand Rapids, MI                Van Andel Arena

October 28          Rosemont, IL (Chicago)        Allstate Arena

October 29          Toledo, OH                          Huntington Center

November 4         Milwaukee, WI                    BMO Harris Bradley Center

November 5         Minneapolis, MN                 Target Center

November 11       Nashville, TN                      Bridgestone Arena

November 12       Bloomington, IL                   U.S. Cellular Coliseum

November 13       Youngstown, OH                 The Covelli Centre

November 17       Hershey, PA                        Giant Center

November 18       Uncasville, CT                    Mohegan Sun Arena

November 19       Brooklyn, NY                       Barclays Center

About Brett Eldredge

Brett Eldredge’s current single, “Drunk On Your Love” is the second single from his recently released sophomore album Illinois and is currently nearing Top 20. Illinois debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart and No. 3 on the Billboard top 200 Chart and has already produced the No. 1 single “Lose My Mind.” The 2014 CMA New Artist of the Year co-wrote and co-produced every song on the 12 set disc, which follows on the heels of his 2013 debut album Bring You Back. That album spawned three consecutive #1 singles including thePlatinum-certified “Don’t Ya,” the Gold-certified “Beat of the Music,” which was the most played country song of 2014, and the Gold-certified “Mean To Me.”

Known for his world-class vocals, Eldredge has performed his songs on nearly every major television show in the country, and recently wrapped his first headline tour, CMT on Tour: Brett Eldredge & Thomas Rhett — Suits & Boots.

About Maren Morris

25 year-old Columbia Nashville singer/songwriter Maren Morris has quickly established herself in Nashville’s music community with songwriting and vocal styling’s that reflect her country, folk and pop influences, with Rolling Stone Country touting her “a stellar solo artist in her own right.”  Songs from her self-titled EP, have been critically received and just two weeks after its release surpassed 5.5 million streams, with 3 songs hitting Spotify’s US and Global “Viral 50” chart, zipping to #1 on Billboard’s Heat Seeker Album Chart. The Texas native was named one of CMT’s Next Women of Country, a VEVO Discover Artist, a SiriusXM “Artist To Watch in 2016,” and one of Rolling Stone Country’s “10 New Country Artists You Need To Know.”

For more official keith urban news and information go to www.keithurban.net or follow him on www.facebook.com/keithurban or @keithurban.

The final season of American Idol kicked off last week, and not only were the judges – Keith Urban, Harry Connick Jr. and Jennifer Lopez – were blown away by the immense talent during the first round of auditions, but the rest of the nation, including Mickey Guyton, were as well. In addition to the other contestants, 15-year-old Tristian McIntosh from Nashville, stunned the judges with a piano version of Mickey’s song, “Why Baby Why” and then brought them to tears when her mother, Amy, who is deployed overseas, surprised her during the audition and gave her the golden ticket to send her on to Hollywood.

Mickey first heard of Tristan several months ago when the young girl posted a video of herself singing “Why Baby Why” on Instagram. “I actually heard of Tristan about six months ago when my EP came out while I was on tour with Brad [Paisley], and she posted a video of her singing ‘Why Baby Why.’ I actually posted it on my Instagram, and I was like this girl is really freaking talented, and the fact that she’s 15 is just insane,” says Mickey.  “Once I saw the actual audition, it was just so, so emotional, like I’m still a mess. I can barely talk about it now, because of how special it is…It was a really cool moment for me.”

American Idol airs Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8pm ET on Fox.

Luke Bryan is set to perform a two-song medley during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest. He’ll perform his No. 1 hit, “That’s My Kind of Night” and “Move” from his latest album, Kill the Lights.

Sam Hunt is scheduled to perform on NBC’s Late Night With Seth Meyers January 6th.

Keith Urban‘s official lyric video for his latest single, “Break On Me,” has been released. Check it out here.

Kip Moore has been spending his holiday surfing in Costa Rica.

The Country Radio Broadcasters have announced Keith Urban as the recipient of the 2016 CRS Artist Humanitarian Award, to be presented during the opening ceremonies of Country Radio Seminar on Feb. 8, 2016. Last year’s Artist Humanitarian Award recipient, Lady Antebellum, will be on hand to present Urban with this year’s award.

The CRB Artist Humanitarian Award was created in 1990 by the organization’s board to honor Country music artists who have exhibited exceptional humanitarian efforts during their career.

CRS Executive Director, Bill Mayne comments, “Keith Urban is a true humanitarian who gives out of love, passion, spirit, and generosity. It’s been an honor to witness quietly from the sidelines, the amount of time, talent, and passion that Keith has selflessly given over his life and career. The impact and reach of his generosity has effected so many and is so broad in scope and depth – his is a bar of humanitarian effort, that we all can be inspired by!”

Over the years, Urban has been a strong supporter of numerous benefit concerts, including the annual “All For The Hall” Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum benefit concerts, which has raised nearly $3 million in proceeds.  In addition, he’s been and remains a supporter of The Grammy in the Schools program, Mr. Holland’s Opus Fund and was recently named the first Ambassador of the CMA Foundation.

He is a continued supporter of the “Make A Wish” Foundation and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. As an advisory board member at St. Jude, Urban has visited the hospital and produces a calendar each year with all net proceeds going to St. Jude. Since their inception in 2003, these calendars have raised more than $850,000 for the life-saving mission of the hospital.

Following the 2010 Nashville flood, he was very active in the relief efforts and participated in the re-opening of the Grand Ole Opry House, Marty Stuart’s “Late Night Jam,” GAC and Vince Gill telethons; all to raise funds for flood relief.

Additionally, he has supported our nation’s troops and the Navy SEALS Foundation. Urban donated to the foundation his share of artist and publishing royalties from his song “For You,” which reached a total of $300,000.

He was also the first Ambassador for the CMA Foundation’s Education Program and has donated from his line, URBAN guitars, to five Music Education Matters partner programs across the country, including programs in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York City and San Francisco. He’s also donated URBAN guitars to the Grammy Foundation and its MusiCares program, as well as donating proceeds from the guitars to Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation to keep musical instruments in schools.

Past recipients of the Artist Humanitarian Award have included Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Trace Adkins, Randy Owen, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, Reba, Vince Gill, Garth Brooks and Charlie Daniels, among others.

For more information on Keith Urban, visit www.keithurban.net. For more information on Country Radio Seminar, visit www.CountryRadioSeminar.com.

About Country Radio Seminar: Country Radio Seminar is an annual convention designed to educate and promote the exchange of ideas and business practices in the Country music industry, with specific emphasis on issues relevant to Country radio. Country Radio Seminar 2016 is set for Feb. 8-10, 2016 at the Omni Hotel.  Visit www.CountryRadioSeminar.com for more information. Like CRS on Facebook and follow CRS on Twitter (Hashtag #CRS2016).

Holiday liners from UMG Nashville artists, including Alan Jackson, Billy Currington, Brothers Osborne, Canaan Smith, Clare Dunn, Darius Rucker, David Nail, Dierks Bentley, Easton Corbin, Eric Church, Eric Paslay, Gary Allan, George Strait, Jon Pardi, Josh Turner, Keith Urban, Kelleigh Bannen, Kip Moore, Lady Antebellum, Lauren Alaina, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Mickey, Sam Hunt, Scotty McCreery and more!