The Academy of Country Music and dick clark productions have announced additional information regarding the servicemen and women from the United States Armed Forces, who performed on stage with some of the biggest names in country music during ACM PRESENTS:  AN ALL-STAR SALUTE TO THE TROOPS, taped on Monday, April 7th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In honor of Armed Forces Day (May 17) observances, the two-hour concert event, co-hosted by LL COOL J and Chris O’Donnell, will air Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at 9:00 PM ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice, Luke Bryan, Merle Haggard, Hunter Hayes, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Kellie Pickler, Blake Shelton, George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Eli Young Band, Florida Georgia Line, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts and The Band Perry all performed and paid tribute to our country’s remarkable all-volunteer military force.

Many of the artists were joined on stage by service members from the United States Armed Forces including:

• Marine Capts. John Ed Auer & Matt Smith (performance with Lady Antebellum)
• Army Sgt. Christiana Ball(performance with Lee Brice)
• Navy STG3 Destiny Mills Coates (performance with Keith Urban)
• Marine Lt. Col. Mike Corrado (performance with Toby Keith)
• Army Spc. Kelly A. Gregg (performance with The Band Perry)
• Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Katie Spira (performance with Hunter Hayes)
• Marine Staff Sgt. Brandon Valentine (performance with Rascal Flatts)
• Air Force Staff Sgt. Baily Zimmerman (performance with Kellie Pickler

The special also includes moments and stories of incredible bravery and integrity in addition to appearances and presentations by Marcus Luttrell (retired U.S. Navy SEAL), Joe Mantegna (“Criminal Minds”), Craig Morgan (U. S. Army Veteran/Country Music Artist), Nancy O’Dell (“Entertainment Tonight”), and Sheryl Underwood (former Staff Sergeant in the Air Force Reserves/“The Talk” host). 

Proceeds from ticket sales for ACM PRESENTS: AN ALL-STAR SALUTE TO THE TROOPS benefitted ACM Lifting Lives. 

ACM PRESENTS: AN ALL-STAR SALUTE TO THE TROOPS was produced for television by dick clark productions and taped at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Monday April 7, 2014 and will air on Tuesday May 20, 2014 at 9:00-11:00 PM ET/PT on the CBS Television Network. Allen Shapiro, Mike Mahan, R.A. Clark and Barry Adelman are executive producers. Bob Romeo is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music. 

About ACM Lifting Lives

ACM Lifting Lives® is the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music dedicated to improving lives through the power of music.  Through partnerships with artists and strong ties in the music industry, ACM Lifting Lives develops and funds music-related therapy and education programs, and serves members of the community who face unexpected hardships through its Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund. Through generous donations and the support of artists and fans, ACM Lifting Lives is able to fund everything from disaster relief and helping communities in need, to music education in schools and music camps for those with disabilities, to supporting programs that use music therapy as a means to help our veterans and wounded warriors, while providing grants to help them ease back into life. For more information, please visit www.ACMLiftingLives.org. 

AUDIO: George Strait talks about saluting the troops for the ACM Honors, as well as every night he’s on tour.

George Strait (ACM Salute to the Troops) OC: …doing it. :59
“We owe them a lot. Anytime we can give something back to them, I think it’s great and I’m all for it. Being able to do that on our tour this year, the giving away the homes thing, it’s an amazing feeling every night – it never grows old. It’s just every night; you get a little something different from it. It’s tough some nights but it’s so rewarding to see their faces and it’s a life-changing thing for them to get a house. I mean, my gosh, I’m just so happy to be able to have that platform to give the general to come up there and do that for them. I’m an ex-military guy myself. I served three years in the military and it was a great experience for me, it really was, I wouldn’t trade those days for anything. So just to be able to do my little thing with them is – it makes you feel good and I love doing it.”

AUDIO: Keith Urban says his song “For You” for the Act of Valor soundtrack was a ‘thank you’ to the Navy Seals.

Keith Urban (Navy Seals) OC: …extraordinary. :36
“For me, and I said this to some of the SEAL guys too, you know, because they were saying thank you so much for the song and being involved in the film. I’d like to say it’s just mine and my family’s tiny little way of saying thank you for what they do. It’s really extraordinary what they do, and I think this film, particularly, when people see it will have a new insight as to what they do. The diversity, separate to their sacrifices and their honor — separate to that — their actual physical human skills are just extraordinary.”

Audio / Keith Urban (Navy SEALS)

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AUDIO: Lady Antebellum talk about performing on the ACM Honors 2014.

Lady A (ACM Honors) OC: (HILLARY) …hung right in. 1:52
Charles: “One of the service men that was preforming with us gave me, when he was up there, a bracelet. Apparently, I guess when one of their brother’s falls as solider they give them a bracelet in his honor and he literally has name and all those things and numbers and stuff and that kind of technical stuff. But before he gave it to me, he said “man if he knew you were wearing it and being up on stage and doing this.” I was like I can’t take this; this is like your friend that died in battle. I was like I can’t do that. He was like “Trust me. This would mean so much to him.” So I got to wear it on the performance and I’ve been wearing it live about half the shows. I pop it on there.”

Hillary: “One of the women, we were taking the big group photo, and she gave me her bracelet in honor of her brother. She had lost her brother over in Afghanistan. And so it was awesome to connect to these men and women who just protect us on a daily basis. It just gives us the smallest taste of what they walk with and have to live with and the hurts and the highs and the lows in all of it every single day. It was awesome. Honestly going into it I didn’t know what to expect. You know playing the show. I knew it was going to be fun cause of all of the artists. But when we found that these guys were going to play with us and one of the guys had a break out line on Compass. You will hear him sing. It was like, it was awesome. It is just really really cool.”

Dave: “He was a good singer too. The fiddle player was really good. I mean they are up there with all of these A list session guys that are in the house band.” 

Charles: “They knew what they were doing.”

Dave: “The fiddle player was just playing all the parts. It was great.

Hilary: “They hung right in.”