Alan Jackson, Mickey Guyton and Vince Gill will perform during the National Memorial Day Concert airing May 30th on PBS at 8pm ET. The 90-minute special, hosted by actors Joe Mantegna (Criminal Minds) and Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Truman, CSI: NY), will feature all-star performance and tributes from Washington, D.C. and around the nation honoring our American heroes. Others set to perform or appear include Gladys Knight, Sara Bareilles The Four Tops, Army Veteran Colin L. Powell, actors Steve Buscemi, Kathy Baker and Mary McCormack, among others.
Chris Stapleton and Luke Bryan are among the headliners performing at Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The three-weekend event, taking place September 2-4, 9-11 and 16-18, will also include performances by Jordan Davis, Maddie & Tae, Sheryl Crow, Zac Brown Band, Dylan Scott Scotty McCreey, Brett Eldredge, Jake Owen, Jimmie Allen, as well as Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Ludacris, Nelly, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Diplo, and many others.
Taylor Swift has made history once again. She will receive the Global Icon Award at the 2021 Brit Awards making her the first female recipient of the honor. The Global Icon award is “the highest accolade given and is reserved for truly exceptional artists” and Swift will be the fourth recipient after Elton John (2014), David Bowie (2016) and Robbie Williams (2017). She is being honored for “her immense impact on music across the world and incredible repertoire and achievements to date” and is also up for the International Female Solo Artist Award at the ceremony, which is taking place Tuesday (May 11th).
Mickey Guyton is getting ready to co-host this year’s ACM Awards on Sunday (April 18th). This morning she chatted with Gayle King on CBS This Morning. Check out their conversation here.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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 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.
Carrie Underwood is set to perform songs from her new album, My Savior, on the Today Show on Friday (March 26th) on NBC. My Savior will be available beginning tomorrow, as well.
Reba McEntire sings the theme song “Somehow You Do,” for the new movie, Four Good Days, starring Glenn Close and Mila Kunis. “It was written by the amazing Diane Warren who also wrote my songs ‘I’ll Be’ and ‘What If.'” The film will be released April 30th.
I was honored to be asked to sing the theme song for the new Glenn Close and Mila Kunis "moving and powerful" movie, Four Good Days – in theaters April 30. It was written by the amazing Diane Warren who also wrote my songs "I'll Be" and "What If." #SomehowYouDo#FourGoodDayspic.twitter.com/mE0OnwjQkN
Eric Church is featured in the new issue of Garden & Gun to talk about recording his latest three-album project, Heart & Soul, hanging on his Tennessee property and how he relaxes after a long tour.
Eric sat down with @gardenandgun to talk about recording his latest 3 album project Heart & Soul, being out on the lake, and how he relaxes after a long tour.https://t.co/8RDszWzjXJ
In celebration of the historic moment, Mickey has released a special version of “Black Like Me (Our Voices),” listen HERE. She wanted to release a version of the song that embodies everything the song stands for – “‘Black Like Me’ is about us, you and OUR voices together,” shares Mickey. Fans can also listen to a special Mickey Guyton playlist HERE.
Mickey cowrote “Black Like Me” at a cross-genre writing camp in 2019 and released the song last summer due to fan demand. Since its release, critics have continued to praise “Black Like Me” with Billboard, NPR and The Associated Press naming it one of the Top 10 songs of 2020.
“Black Like Me” topped the iTunes Country Songs chart on Monday following the singer’s performance at Sunday’s GRAMMY Awards. The singer’s 2020 “Bridges” EP also rose to No. 2 on the iTunes Country Albums chart.
Mickey made history as the first Black solo female artist to earn a Grammy nomination in a country category – Best Country Solo Performance for “Black Like Me.”
The song is from her Bridges EP, which was released last year.
Mickey was recently announced as a co-host of the upcoming 56th Academy of Country Music Awards, alongside labelmate Keith Urban, after receiving a nomination for New Female Artist of the Year. Last year, Mickey made ACM history when she performed “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” as the first Black female solo artist to perform their own song. The performance was hailed by critics as one of the best of the show with Rolling Stone noting, “Guyton knocked it out of the park demonstrating that she’s got a world-class set of pipes as well as something important to say.”
About Mickey Guyton 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 performed as part of the awards ceremony Sunday, March 14. In addition, Mickey was just announced as a co-host along with Keith Urban for the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards airing on CBS April 18. 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.
This year’s Grammy Awards have set the stage for this Sunday (March 14th), and several UMG Nashville artists are in the running. Little Big Town picked up two nods for Best Country Album for Nightfall, as well as one for Best Country Duo/Group for “Sugar Coat,” along with Brothers Osborne for “All Night,” their sixth career Grammy nomination.
Eric Church’s “Stick That in Your Country Song,” Vince Gill’s “When My Amy Prays” and Mickey Guyton’s “Black Like Me” are nominated for Best Country Solo Performance.
Mickey, the first Black solo female artist to be nominated in a Grammy country category, will perform her nominated song “Black Like Me” on Sunday’s show, and she says it will be very emotional for her, as is her first Grammy nomination.
“Getting my first Grammy nomination for ‘Black Like Me’ means the absolute world to me,” she says. “I’ve been pursuing music for a very, very, very long time, and there are many times that I thought I was going to quit. And my music journey didn’t change until I stopped running away from who I really am, embracing who I really am, and opening the door for other people, other people that are marginalized.”
Of significant note, Taylor Swift earned six nominations. folklore, a follow-up to her Loveralbum, was nominated for best pop vocal album. The album’s lead pop single, “cardigan,” was also recognized in the overall Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance categories. Her collaboration with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, “exile,” received a nod in Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. If that wasn’t all, the “betty” artist earned a nomination for best song written for visual media for her collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber on Cats’ “Beautiful Ghosts.”
The 63rd annual Grammy Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah, will broadcast live on Sunday, March 14th beginning at 8pm ET/5pm PT on CBS. The show will also be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.
Best Country Album
Lady Like, Ingrid Andress
Your Life Is a Record, Brandy Clark
Wildcard, Miranda Lambert Nightfall, Little Big Town Never Will, Ashley McBryde
Best Country Solo Performance
“Stick That in Your Country Song,” Eric Church “Who You Thought I Was,” Brandy Clark “When My Amy Prays,” Vince Gill
“Black Like Me,” Mickey Guyton
“Bluebird,” Miranda Lambert
Best Country Duo / Group Performance
“All Night,” Brothers Osborne “10,000 Hours,” Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber
“Ocean,” Lady A “Sugar Coat,” Little Big Town “Some People Do,” Old Dominion
Audio / BROTHERS OSBORNE'S JOHN OSBORNE SAYS THEY HAD THEIR FANS AND LIVE SHOWS IN MIND WHEN WRITING AND RECORDING THEIR LATEST SINGLE, "ALL NIGHT."
Brothers Osborne (All Night) 2 OC: …what we did. :15
“‘All Night’ is a song we wrote with our friend, Andrew DeRoberts. We wanted to write a song that just felt good. We didn’t want to think too hard about it. We wanted to write a song that no matter what happened we knew that our fans at our shows were gonna love to sing along to (it), and that’s what we did.”
Audio / Mickey Guyton, who will perform “Black Like Me” on this year’s Grammy Awards, said her performance will be emotional because it’s not just about her.
Mickey Guyton (Grammy performance) OC: …right now. :33 “My performance at the Grammys is going to be so special and emotional, like it’s not just about me, there’s it’s the song Black Like Me. It is so many people’s stories. And that was my goal in this performance. There’s representation as well, which is really important to me in this performance. But I just wanted people to feel like they’re coming together. This is a huge moment for black people in country music, and I just feel so honored to stand in these shoes right now.”
Audio / Mickey Guyton talks about her first Grammy nomination and what it means to her.
Mickey Guyton (Grammy nomination) OC: …are marginalized. :29
“Getting my first Grammy nomination for ‘Black Like Me’ means the absolute world to me. I’ve been pursuing music for a very, very, very long time, and there are many times that I thought I was going to quit. And my music journey didn’t change until I stopped running away from who I really am, embracing who I really am, and opening the door for other people, other people that are marginalized.”
Audio / Little Big Town’s Phillip Sweet talks about the band’s ninth studio album, Nightfall.
LBT (Nightfall) OC: …proud of it. :23 “Nightfall is our ninth studio album, and we poured our hearts into this project and we’re so proud of it. We feel like it makes a beautiful statement about where we are right now as a band and how much we love making music together and also that the album takes you on a journey. It will transport you hopefully into a beautiful place, because we love it and we’re very proud of it.”
Audio / Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman talks about the band's Grammy-nominated song “Sugarcoat,” a tune that appears on their new album, Nightfall.
LBT (Sugarcoat) OC: …what’s going on. :20 “I love ‘Sugarcoat.’ It’s a story about a woman who is putting up all these fronts to live a perfect life, and actually what is happening behind closed doors is the opposite of perfect. It’s really devastation, but she’s covering it up at every time but then she realizes that she needs to let her man know she knows what’s going on.”
Audio / Eric Church talks about his song, "Stick That In Your Country Song."
Eric Church (STIYCS) OC: …found itself. :56 “I’ve never had a song in my career that was a harbinger of things to come. When we recorded ‘Stick That in Your Country Song,’ we had a booming economy and a pretty great world going on. And I remember thinking when I did it, ‘Wow, I’m not sure this, I’m not sure how relevant this is for right now. I love the song. I love the sentiment, but I’m just not sure.’ And within about 30 days, the world changed, and it changed for a while, and this song just became more and more real and more and more relevant. And truth be told – 100% honesty – I had a different single picked out as the first single, and then the world kept changing and it kept bringing itself almost like a magnet back to this song and back to this moment. So, this song found itself. It wasn’t me finding it, it found itself.”
Audio / Vince Gill talks about his song, "When My Amy Prays."
Vince Gill (When My Amy Prays) OC: …give myself. :15
“To me the real beauty of that song is the light that I paint her in, obviously. But the, golly, how is the right way to say this? Maybe the emotion comes from the vulnerability that I give myself.”
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.”
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, whichHITScalled “…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, whichincludes “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”, hailed byVarietyas“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 byThe 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 SongwriterandPollstar.
The list of performers at this year’s Grammy Awards has been announced. Taylor Swift — who is among this year’s top nominees with six nods including overall Album of the Year for folklore and Song of the Year for “cardigan” — is set to perform, as is Mickey Guyton who will make her first appearance on the show. Mickey is nominated in Best Country Solo Performance for “Black Like Me.”
Other performers include Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Post Malone, Brandi Carlile, BTS, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Haim, John Mayer, Megan Thee Stallion and Harry Styles, among others.
According to Billboard, the telecast will pay tribute to independent venues, which have been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Various categories will be presented by club workers from The Troubadour (Los Angeles), The Hotel Café (Los Angeles), The Apollo Theater (New York City) and The Station Inn (Nashville).
The 63rd annual Grammy Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah, will broadcast live on Sunday, March 14th beginning at 8pm ET/5pm PT on CBS. The show will also be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.
