Sam Hunt leads the list of nominated country artists at this year’s Billboard Music Awards with four nods. He’s nominated for Top Country Artist, Top Country Album for Montevallo and two nominations in the Top Country Song category for “Break Up in a Small Town” and “Take Your Time.”

Luke Bryan and Chris Stapleton follow with a pair of nods, including Top Country Artist and Top Country Album for Kill the Lights and Traveller, respectively, while Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” is up for Top Country Song.

The 2016 Billboard Music Awards will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas May 22nd.

2016 Billboard Music Awards Nominations:

Top Country Artist:
Zac Brown Band
Luke Bryan
Sam Hunt
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood

Top Country Album:
Chris Stapleton, Traveller
Luke Bryan, Kill The Lights
Sam Hunt, Montevallo
Zac Brown Band, Jekyll + Hyde
Carrie Underwood, Storyteller

Top Country Song:
Sam Hunt, “Break Up In A Small Town”
Sam Hunt, “Take Your Time”
Little Big Town, “Girl Crush”
Thomas Rhett, “Die A Happy Man”
Chris Young, “I’m Comin’ Over”

Photo ID L-R: LBT’s Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook, RIAA EVP Public Policy & Industry Relations Michele Ballantyne, LBT’s Kimberly Schlapman and Phillip Sweet

Photo Credit: Becky Fluke

 

Prior to their performance at Baltimore’s Royal Farms Arena Friday night, the GRAMMY Award-winning group Little Big Town received a surprise visit from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet were presented with an RIAA Double Platinum certification plaque celebrating their smash hit, “Girl Crush.”

 “Girl Crush,” written by Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose, landed on multiple year-end “Best of” lists and was the most downloaded country single of 2015. It garnered two CMA Awards (Single of the Year and Song of the Year), was nominated for GRAMMY Song of the Year and earned the title of GRAMMY Best Country Song. The group also took home a GRAMMY for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the record-breaking tune. “Girl Crush,” the second single off Little Big Town’s Gold-selling sixth studio album PAIN KILLER (Capitol Records Nashville), remained at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for 13 consecutive weeks, setting the longest run in the top spot for a group since 1959. To preview and purchase “Girl Crush” and Pain Killer, click HERE.

Little Big Town is the three-time, reigning ACM Vocal Group of the Year, the four-time, reigning CMA Vocal Group of the Year, and was recently awarded with the ACM Crystal Milestone Award. Little Big Town is currently on the Kill The Lights Tour with Luke Bryan, with upcoming dates in Toledo, Ohio; State College, Pa. and Charlottesville, Va.

 For more information, please visit www.LittleBigTown.com.

Four-time Entertainer of the Year winner Luke Bryan took his Kill The Lights Tour back on the road this past weekend after a short hiatus to co-host the ACM Awards on April 3rd in Las Vegas.

All three weekend concerts sold out including the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York, where Luke set a record with the largest single day country concert attendance and the largest single day country concert gross in the venue’s history.

During the tour break, Luke was named the Country Artist of the Year at the iHeart Radio Music Awards, also held on April 3, and dominated as the most-nominated artist with seven category nods for the upcoming American Country Countdown Awards set for May 1.

Luke’s Kill The Lights Tour resumes this weekend in Toledo and will go on to play six stadiums concerts before wrapping in the fall.

The Georgia native is making his way up the country charts with his latest single, “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day,” which is from his latest album, Kill the Lights.

2016 Kill The Lights Tour:

4-14                 Toledo, OH                 The Huntington Center

4-15                 State College, PA       Bryce Jordan Center

4-16                 Charlottesville, VA     John Paul Jones Arena

4-20                 Missoula, MT              Adams Center

4-21                 Missoula, MT              Adams Center

4-22                 Bozeman, MT             Brick Breeden Fieldhouse

4-23                 Bozeman, MT             Brick Breeden Fieldhouse

4-29                 Concord, CA              Concord Pavilion

4-30                 Fresno, CA                  Save Mart Center

5-1                   Indio, CA                    Stagecoach

5-12                 Omaha, NE                 CenturyLink Center

5-13                 Wichita, KS                INTRUST Bank Arena

5-14                 Oklahoma City, OK    Chesapeake Energy Arena

5-20                 Atlanta, GA                Lakewood Amphitheater

5-21                 Atlanta, GA                Lakewood Amphitheater

5-27                 Baton Rouge, LA       Bayou Country Superfest*

5-29                 Daytona Beach, FL     Country 500

6-2                   Holmdel, NJ                P.N.C. Bank Arts Center

6-3                   Atlantic City, NJ         Boardwalk Hall

6-4                   Hershey, PA                Hershey Park Stadium

6-9                   Virginia Beach, VA    Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach

6-10                 Washington, DC         Jiffy Lube Live

6-11                 Washington, DC         Jiffy Lube Live

6-17                 Oshkosh, WI               Country USA*

6-19                 Columbus, OH            Buckeye Country Superfest*

6-24                 Toronto, ON               Molson Canadian Amphitheatre

6-25                 Toronto, ON               Molson Canadian Amphitheatre

7-7                   Milwaukee, WI           Summerfest*

7-8                   Indianapolis, IN          Klipsch Music Center

7-9                   Indianapolis, IN          Klipsch Music Center

7-15                 Boston, MA                Gillette Stadium***

7-16                 Boston, MA                Gillette Stadium***

7-17                 Bangor, ME                Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion

7-21                 Scranton, PA               The Pavilion at Montage Mountain

7-22                 Pittsburgh, PA            First Niagara Pavilion

7-23                 Pittsburgh, PA            First Niagara Pavilion

7-29                 Philadelphia, PA         BB&T Pavilion

7-30                 Philadelphia, PA         BB&T Pavilion

7-31                 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center

8-11                 Cleveland, OH            Blossom Music Center

8-12                 Cleveland, OH             Blossom Music Center

8-13                 Cincinnati, OH            Riverbend Music Center

8-14                 Cincinnati, OH            Riverbend Music Center

8-19                 Minneapolis, MN       U.S. Bank Stadium

8-21                 Calgary, AB                Country Thunder Calgary*

8-25                 Kansas City, MO        Providence Medical Center Amphitheater

8-26                 St. Louis, MO             Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

8-27                 Chicago, IL                Wrigley Field

9-1                   Raleigh, NC                Walnut Creek Amphitheatre

9-2                   Charlotte, NC             PNC Music Pavilion

9-9                   Denver, CO                 Dick’s Sporting Goods Park

9-10                 Denver, CO                 Dick’s Sporting Goods Park

9-15                 Sacramento, CA          Toyota Amphitheatre

9-16                 Mountain View, CA   Shoreline Amphitheatre

9-22                 Phoenix, AZ                Ak-Chin Pavilion

9-30                 Salt Lake City, UT      USANA Amphitheatre

10-1                 Salt Lake City, UT      USANA Amphitheatre

10-22               Arlington, TX            AT&T Stadium ***

10-29               Detroit, MI                 Ford Field

Dates and Cities subject to change

*festival date

**no Little Big Town

***Chris Stapleton joins

For up to date information on Luke, the tour and tickets go to www.lukebryan.com or www.livenation.com.

https://twitter.com/lukebryanonline

https://www.facebook.com/lukebryan

http://instagram.com/lukebryan

Little Big Town picked up a pair of ACM Awards, including Vocal Group of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year for “Smokin’ and Drinkin’” with Miranda Lambert.

The group also performed “Stay All Night” from their album, Pain Killer.

UMG ACM Winners so far include Chris Stapleton, who picked up the Song of the Year honors for his current single, “Nobody to Blame,” along with his co-writers Barry Bales and Ronnie Bowman.

Congrats go to Little Big Town, who were surprised with the Vocal Event of the Year award for “Smokin’ and Drinkin’” with Miranda Lambert.

Little Big Town are up for a handful of awards at this year’s ACM Awards, including Single, Song and Video of the Year for “Girl Crush,” which was written by Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey and Lori McKenna.

“We knew when we first heard this song that it was incredibly special. It literally took my breath. I gasped when I realized what this song was actually about,” says LBT’s Kimberly Schlapman. “These three women poured their heart and soul into an incredibly special once in a lifetime song, and the fact that we were able to cut it is an incredible gift, and we’ll always be thankful to them for letting us do it!”

The members of Little Big Town are also up for Vocal Group of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year – with Miranda Lambert on “Smokin’ and Drinkin’,” with Karen Fairchild scoring another nomination in the Vocal Event category with Luke Bryan for the No. 1 song, “Home Alone Tonight.”

The band is set to perform during the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards, airing live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas April 3rd at 8pm ET/PT delayed on CBS.

Little Big Town and Charles Kelley, along with previous host Blake Shelton, and newcomers Old Dominion, have been added to the list of performers at Sunday night’s ACM Awards.

Kip Moore and Kacey Musgraves have been announced as presenters, along with Martina McBride, Jake Owen, Jana Kramer Cole Swindell and actor Kiefer Sutherland (24), among others.

Previously announced performers include Dierks Bentley, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Brett Eldredge, Sam Hunt, Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Tim McGraw, Cam, Kenny Chesney, Dolly Parton with Katy Perry, Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood, Chris Young with Cassadee Pope and Florida Georgia Line.

The 51st Academy of Country Music Awards will air live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas April 3rd at 8pm ET/PT delayed on CBS.

Keith Urban performed at a private 40th birthday celebration in L.A. on Saturday (March 19th) for Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon. He teamed up with Taylor Swift on her hit “Shake It Off,” and later accompanied Reese and the rest of the party-goers on a rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” the same title as her 2002 film. Other guests included Jennifer Aniston and her husband, actor Justin Theroux, Matthew McConaughey, Katie Hudson, Courtney Cox, Robert Downey, Jr. and Keith’s wife, Nicole Kidman.

Lady Antebellum, Sam Hunt and Kacey Musgraves will perform during the Windy City LakeShake festival June 17th – 19th in Chicago. Joining them will be Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, Thomas Rhett and Martina McBride, among others.

Mickey Guyton, Canaan Smith and Lauren Alaina are featured in the new issue of NASH Country Weekly magazine in their Spring Fashion article. They, along with Granger Smith, modeled different looks for spring and talked about their style on and off-stage.

Darius Rucker will host his seventh annual Darius and Friends benefit concert at the Wildhorse Saloon June 6^th (as the unofficial start to the CMA Music Festival). Tickets for the show, with proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, go on sale Thursday (March 24th).

David Nail was in South Carolina over the weekend for the NeedtoBreathe Golf Classic. NeedtoBreathe is a Christian Rock band, who’ve won numerous Gospel Music Awards and topped the Christian charts.

The members of Little Big Town were apparently hanging out with superstar Justin Timberlake, writing songs . He shared a photo on his socials of him with LBT’s Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman and wrote, “NBD… Just writing with @littlebigtown This band is the truth!! So good!!!!”

Little Big Town will appear on CBS’ The Talk on Wednesday at 2pm ET.

Charles Kelley has a pair of appearances on Wednesday, including a performance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live (11:35pm ET).

Dierks Bentley will hit the ice with the Nashville Predators on Sunday (February 27th) in the alumni game against the St. Louis Blues alumni.

Charles Kelley will appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday (March 2nd).

If you want to light up your life, you can do so with a David Nail candle. Inspired by the romantic themes of his hit song, “Night’s On Fire,” the candle boasts the earthy aroma of sage, oak and lavender to relax the body while the lively aromas of orange and amber awaken the mind! Night’s On Fire is subtle and enticing. 12 ounce soy wax candle with an 80 hour burn time housed in a repurposed wine bottle!

Little Big Town is set to receive the Artist of the Year award from the Music Business Association. The band will accept the award during the 2016 Music Biz Awards Luncheon May 18th. Sam Hunt will be honored with the Breakthrough Artist Award.

Toby Keith has been added to The Life & Songs of Kris Kristofferson along with Hank Williams Jr., Martina McBride, Jennifer Nettles, Lee Ann Womack and Jack Ingram. The concert taping, which pays tribute to the famed singer-songwriter-actor, will take place March 16 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Previously announced artists include Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Darius Rucker, Emmylou Harris, Jamey Johnson, Willie Nelson and Trisha Yearwood.