Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

Dierks Bentley takes listeners on a musical journey of peaks and valleys with the title-track of his ninth studio album, THE MOUNTAIN, available June 8th. With the launch of the album’s pre-order today, Apple Music exclusively premieres the first video installment of a four-part series chronicling his fans’ stories of resilience, perseverance and hope set to picturesque performance footage shot in Colorado of new tracks. Billboard is giving fans a sneak peak of Daniel Foley, Boston Marathon runner and bombing survivor’s inspiring journey here https://bit.ly/2qvL93J.

“The people I meet on the road who are climbing their own personal mountains unknowingly inspired this album,” said Bentley. “Their stories are powerful and raw, but there is always a sense of resilience and hope. Those feelings are the foundation of this album to me.”

The ACM nominee has invited fans to be part of the live broadcast performance for his “empowering single” (Rolling Stone) that “celebrates women in song” (Associated Press) “Woman, Amen” during Sunday night’s 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards (4/15 at 8P ET on CBS), by submitting images of everyday female heroes.

Multi-PLATINUM selling singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley has built a reputation as both a forever-young drifter and a dedicated family man, put in millions of miles on headlining tours and taken the fearless stylistic detours of a truly authentic artist. He continues that journey with his highly anticipated ninth studio album, THE MOUNTAIN (Capitol Records Nashville), set for release June 8th. Reaching a new creative high, Bentley co-wrote 10 of the 13 new tracks that are unified by themes of presence and positivity, and range in style from textured rock to acoustic folk, feeling both rooted and expansive at the same time. After 15 years in Country music, the mountains Bentley has climbed could form a range of their own. To date, the Arizona native has scored 17 No. Ones and 13 GRAMMY nominations – including at least one stemming from each of his last six albums. Bentley has amassed more than one billion digital streams, countless additional nominations from the ACM, CMA and Billboard Music Awards and has been a Grand Ole Opry member for over a decade. After his 2017 tour claimed the top spot on Billboard’s Hot Tours selling over 750,000 tickets, Bentley will fuel arenas and amphitheaters throughout the summer with his 2018 MOUNTAIN HIGH TOUR, launching May 18th in Columbia, MD

The ACM Awards are taking place a few days from now, and the show is promising to be inspiring, entertaining and poignant.

Going into Sunday night’s show, Chris Stapleton leads the list of nominees with eight nods in five categories, including Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Single of the Year for “Broken Halos,” Song of the Year for “Whiskey and You” and Album of the Year for From a Room, Vol. 1. He’s won numerous awards over the past few years, and while he’s grateful for every single trophy he takes home, he has a special affinity for the Album categories.

“They are all significant and if you get one award for anything it’s a treat. But any of the awards that awarded the album, the album awards, because I really wanted to make an album that was good,” says Chris. “I wanted that to be a thing, again, more than I wanted it to be, ‘Well here’s the single and eight other songs.’ So, the album awards for me were important in that we did our job in a good way, you know. Just I have such an affinity for albums that I don’t know if I want those more or if they mean more, but they are all meaningful.”

Luke Bryan has won a handful of ACM Awards over his career, including the New Artist of the Year Award in 2010 following it up with two Entertainer Awards just a few years later. He tells us he is honored to be included in that category. “[I’m] so honored to have another Entertainer of the Year nomination and I always think about winning my first Entertainer of the Year [Award] at the ACMs,” he says. “To go to the ACMs knowing that you’re one of those lucky people that have that nomination, it just tells me that I’m doing all I can and doing the right things out on the road and hopefully, the fans are still loving what I’m trying to give to them every night.”

Keith Urban has quite the plethora of nods going into this year’s ACM Awards, including Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Song of the Year for “Female”  and twice, as both artist and producer in the Vocal Event of the Year category for “The Fighter” (featuring Carrie Underwood). Urban won Top New Male Vocalist of the Year in 2000, and Top Male Vocalist of the Year in 2004 and 2005.

Keith’s “Female” was nominated for Song of the Year. The Top 10 hit was written by Nicolle Galyon, Shane McAnally and Ross Copperman, and he said he just had a feel that he needed to record the song and let everyone hear it. “The song spoke to me. It just spoke to me,” said Keith. “As I was singing it, I thought I feel like I’ve known this song my whole life. Something else was going on with it how it felt to me. So, I love it. I believe in it. I didn’t record it for any other reason than it was a heart reaction that I had to it.”

In addition to Vocal Event of the Year for “The Fighter” with Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, is also nominated in the Female Vocalist of the Year category.

Lauren Alaina was announced as the Top New Female Vocalist of the Year a couple of weeks ago, and she still gets emotional talking about the “love” and recognition she has received from her peers and industry insiders.

Previously announced ACM Awards performers include Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina, Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Kelly Clarkson, Florida Georgia Line, Alan Jackson, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Midland,Maren Morris, Jon Pardi, Bebe Rexha, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and Brett Young.

The 53rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards will broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas April 15th at 8pm ET on CBS.

The nominees for this year’s ACM Awards:

Entertainer of the Year
Jason Aldean
Garth Brooks
Luke Bryan
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban

Male Vocalist of the Year
Jason Aldean
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban
Chris Young

Female Vocalist of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris
Carrie Underwood
Reba McEntire

Vocal Duo of the Year
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
LoCash
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill

Vocal Group of the Year
Lady Antebellum
Lanco
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
Song of the Year
Sam Hunt, “Body Like a Back Road”
Keith Urban, “Female”
Miranda Lambert, “Tin Man”
Chris Stapleton, “Whiskey and You”

Single of the Year
“Better Man,” Little Big Town
“Body Like a Back Road,” Sam Hunt
“Broken Halos,” Chris Stapleton
“Drinkin’ Problem,” Midland
“I’ll Name the Dogs,” Blake Shelton

Album of the Year
Breaker, Little Big Town
California Sunrise, Jon Pardi
From A Room: Vol. 1, Chris Stapleton
Happy Endings, Old Dominion
Life Changes, Thomas Rhett

Video of the Year
“Black,” Dierks Bentley
“It Ain’t My Fault,” Brothers Osborne
“Legends,” Kelsea Ballerini
“Marry Me,” Thomas Rhett
“We Should Be Friends,” Miranda Lambert

Vocal Event of the Year
“Craving You,” Thomas Rhett f/Maren Morris
“Dear Hate,” Maren Morris f/Vince Gill
“(Funny) How Time Slips Away,” Glen Campbell and Willie Nelson
“The Fighter,” Keith Urban f/Carrie Underwood
“What Ifs,” Kane Brown f/Lauren Alaina

The 53rd Annual ACM Awards, hosted by Reba McEntire, will broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas April 15th at 8pm ET on CBS.

Dierks Bentley will release his highly anticipated ninth studio album, THE MOUNTAIN (Capitol Records Nashville), June 8th. Reaching a new creative high, Bentley co-wrote 10 of the 13 new tracks that are unified by themes of presence and positivity, and range in style from textured rock to acoustic folk, feeling both rooted and expansive at the same time.

THE MOUNTAIN’s story begins in the Rocky Mountain resort town of Telluride, Colorado, which every summer plays host to a celebrated bluegrass festival. Owing to his well-documented love of the genre, Bentley has attended the festival multiple times over the years, always making a point to slow down and tune back in to the world around him. But after performing on the festival’s main stage in 2017, the idyllic surroundings became more than a much-needed getaway.

“I found myself there, constantly reaching for my guitar,” Bentley said. “It was like a gravitational pull. That town and those people just make you want to be creative, I couldn’t describe it. I was like ‘How do I tell everyone in Nashville this is what I want to write about?’ I realized I couldn’t bring it back, so I had to take everyone out there.”

Returning that August with six of his most trusted songwriting collaborators, Bentley and his fellow ‘Telluwriters’ all bunked up in a small house, explored the area and dug deep into the peaceful, reflective vibes he was feeling. They had five days to work with and were hoping to write eight songs…but ended up with nearly twice that number, forming the core of the record. Bentley returned to Telluride with his production team Ross Copperman, Jon Randall Stewart and Arturo Buenahora Jr to a tucked-away hideout called Studio in the Clouds last November to record. Perched high on a mesa, its tracking room overlooking the endless Rocky Mountain landscape, THE MOUNTAIN rose up in earnest.

“For me it’s the best of both worlds, and it feels like something new. It’s powerful but also happy, with acoustic sensibility mixed in with the big sounds I like to have for the road,” Bentley added. “They are the songs I’d play for somebody to say, ‘This is who I am right now.’”

THE MOUNTAIN Track Listing:

1. Burning Man (Feat. Brothers Osborne)

2. The Mountain 

3. Living

4. Woman, Amen

5. You Can’t Bring Me Down

6. Nothing On But The Stars

7. Goodbye In Telluride

8. My Religion 

9. One Way

10. Son Of The Sun

11. Stranger To Myself

12. Travelin’ Light (Feat. Brandi Carlile)

13. How I’m Going Out

After 15 years in Country music, the mountains Bentley has climbed could form a range of their own. To date, the Arizona native has scored 17 No. Ones and 13 GRAMMY nominations – including at least one stemming from each of his last six albums. Bentley has amassed more than one billion digital streams, countless additional nominations from the ACM, CMA and Billboard Music Awards and has been a Grand Ole Opry member for over a decade. After his 2017 tour claimed the top spot on Billboard’s Hot Tours selling over 750,000 tickets, Bentley will fuel arenas and amphitheaters throughout the summer with his 2018 MOUNTAIN HIGH TOUR, launching May 18th in Columbia, MD. For more information visit www.dierks.com.

The Academy of Country Music® revealed today an expanded lineup of superstar collaborations and must-see performances for the 53^RD ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS™, Country Music’s Party of the Year®.  The 53^rd ACM Awards®, hosted by Reba McEntire, will broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 15 (8:00-11:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network.

For the first time, the Academy of Country Music Awards will debut “ACM Flashbacks” to honor classic country music hits and/or the artists whose music continues to influence musicians and fans alike. With this new feature, the ACM Awards will celebrate hits from a specific year, or honor an individual artist and their accomplishments through unique collaborations and one-of-a-kind renditions of their iconic songs. This year, the awards telecast will honor three of country music’s hit songs from 1993 with Toby Keith and Blake Shelton performing Keith’s celebrated No.1 debut single “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” Alan Jackson and Jon Pardi performing Jackson’s ACM Award-winning hit “Chattahoochee,” and Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson performing Reba’s GRAMMY® Award-winning hit “Does He Love You.”

Additional collaborations include Kane Brown and Lauren Alaina performing the multi-platinum, No. 1 hit “What Ifs,” Keith Urban and Julia Michaels performing Urban’s new single “Coming Home,” plus previously announced Bebe Rexha with Florida Georgia Line performing the chart-topping hit “Meant to Be.”

Also, Dan + Shay, Darius Rucker and Chris Young will join the lineup of previously announced solo performances by Lauren Alaina, Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Midland, Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood and Brett Young. Previously announced presenters include David Boreanaz, Drew Brees, AJ Buckley, Cam, Sam Elliot, Eve, Ashton Kutcher, Dustin Lynch, Nancy O’Dell, Rebecca Romijn, Max Thieriot and Lindsey Vonn.

Carrie Underwood has released her new single, “Cry Pretty,” which she co-wrote with the Love Junkies (hit songwriters Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose) and co-produced with David Garcia.

Carrie felt excited about the new song after leaving the writing session. “Hillary came in with the title and a few lines and we all just loved it,” said Carrie. “I mean we’re all women in different places in our lives and kind of have all lived different lives and from different places, but we all love music and we all love sharing our heart in our music. Off we went,” says Carrie. “I left that day so excited and feeling so good about and couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, as an artist and also as a producer. So, it’s come a long way since the day we wrote it, but it’s something I’m very proud of.”

Carrie is nominated for Female Vocalist and for Vocal Event of the Year along with Keith Urban for “The Fighter.” The 53rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards will broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas April 15th at 8pm ET on CBS.

Carrie posted a note to her fans on Tuesday (April 10th) to update them on what’s been happening the last few months, including her new song, “The Champion,” how she’s recovering from her accident (“about 90% there”), her husband Mike Fisher coming out of retirement to play for the Nashville Predators again and much more. Read it here.

Carrie Underwood is set to perform her new single “Cry Pretty” at Sunday night’s (April 15th) ACM Awards. She releases the song to radio this morning, and while she’s thrilled to debut it on the show this weekend, she’s also a little bit nervous, as well.

“I am super-excited to perform ‘Cry Pretty’ on the ACMs. I’ll definitely admit that I’m a little bit nervous too, just because it’s something that we’ve been working on and it’s kinda like that week, it’s gonna be like, ‘Here’s the single. Here it is. I hope you like it. Now I’m gonna perform it a few days later.’ I mean I just really hope – I know fans seem to be really excited because we’ve been kind of hinting at things to come, and I just want to go out there and just lay it all out there, and hopefully just set up the rest of the album and I just hope people are into it.”

Previously announced ACM Awards performers include Lauren Alaina, Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Kelly Clarkson, Florida Georgia Line, Alan Jackson, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Midland,Maren Morris, Jon Pardi, Bebe Rexha, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and Brett Young.

Carrie is nominated for Female Vocalist and for Vocal Event of the Year along with Keith Urban for “The Fighter.” The 53rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards will broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas April 15th at 8pm ET on CBS.

Chris Stapleton has released “Millionaire,” a song included on his latest album, From A Room: Volume 2. The tune, written and originally recorded by Kevin Welch, will go for adds at radio April 23rd.

“I love that song. I would always sit around the house playing that song to myself on guitar,” says Chris. “It’s fun to play. It’s fun to sing. It’s a great melody. It’s great lyrics. It’s great everything. To me, that’s a great song, and I just loved it so it was time to do it.”

Chris leads the nominees at this year’s ACM Awards with eight nominations in five categories, including Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Album, Single and Song of the Year. The 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas April 15th at 8pm ET on CBS.

ACM nominee and performer Dierks Bentley will share the story of real-life heroes Jennifer and Sydnee Floyd Tuesday (April 10th) across all Entertainment Tonight platforms with the exclusive music video premiere of his Top 10 single “Woman, Amen.” Directed by longtime collaborator Wes Edwards, a performance from Colorado’s stunning landscapes which also serves as the foundation of Bentley’s upcoming ninth studio album THE MOUNTAIN, coincides with the powerful story of Nashville’s Floyd family, a mother-daughter duo who drew from their own personal hardships to create positive change in their community.

“Jennifer and Sydnee make everyone around them want to do more, to be better…it was an incredible honor for me to honor them,” said Bentley. “I hope that by shining a light on the completely selfless volunteer work they do, it will maybe inspire other folks to do what they can in their own communities.  I was really drawn to their real-life experience, and I wanted to do a video based on real people with real struggles and real triumphs.  These are the people I get to meet every day, and they are really the ones who have inspired this music.”

To go behind-the-scenes to watch the Floyd family’s touching reaction to a surprise invitation from Bentley, click here: https://youtu.be/DHNum-gkjks

The “empowering single” (Rolling Stone) that “celebrates women in song” (Associated Press) shares a deeply sincere and personal message of love and gratitude that’s made universal, proving why Bentley is “one of the format’s leading male hit-makers,” (NPR). The “shimmering song of devotion” (Billboard) has been dubbed “insanely catchy” (CMT) and “feels arena-ready,” (Baltimore Sun). In addition to performing “Woman, Amen” at this weekend’s 53rd Annual ACM Awards (4/15 on CBS at 8:00P ET), it will serve as a pivotal performance during ABC’s WE Day primetime special (airing 8/17 at 8:00p ET) where Bentley will spotlight the Floyd family during the world’s largest youth empowerment event, alongside speakers and performers including Jennifer Aniston, The Chainsmokers, Morgan Freeman and Selena Gomez.

After his 2017 World Tour claimed the top spot on Billboard’s Hot Tours selling over 750,000 tickets, Bentley will fuel arenas and amphitheaters throughout the summer with his 2018 MOUNTAIN HIGH TOUR, launching May 18th in Columbia, MD. For more information visit www.dierks.com.

The Academy of Country Music® revealed today that 13-time ACM Award® winner Carrie Underwood will perform the world television premiere of her soon-to-be-released single live on the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, joining a star-studded lineup of performers and presenters. Carrie is nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year as well as Vocal Event of the Year for “The Fighter” with Keith Urban.

Previously announced ACM Awards performers include Lauren Alaina, Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Kelly Clarkson, Florida Georgia Line, Alan Jackson, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Midland,Maren Morris, Jon Pardi, Bebe Rexha, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and Brett Young.

Previously announced presenters include David Boreanaz, Drew Brees, AJ Buckley,Cam, Sam Elliot, Eve, Ashton Kutcher, Dustin Lynch, Nancy O’Dell, Rebecca Romijn, Max Thieriot and Lindsey Vonn.

The 53rd ACM Awards will broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas April 15th at 8pm ET on CBS.

Luke Bryan’s “Most People Are Good” remains at the top of both country charts for a third week in a row. The song is his 20th No. 1 which is his second chart-topper from his latest album, What Makes You Country.

The Georgia native says his own mother cried when she heard the song. “When I hear ‘most mamas ought to qualify for sainthood,’ it’s one of the best lines I’ve ever heard in a song,” says Luke. “I’ll play Mama my new album before it comes out and half the time she’s scrambling, doing the dishes or something and she won’t listen, but I caught her in the truck. I kinda had her attention and I played her ‘Most People are Good,’ and the picture of her with a big ole paper towel over her face crying. The line really hit her, hit her like it should hit you. ‘Most mothers ought to qualify for sainthood’ – I know my wife should definitely be a saint, putting up with me and my crazy boys.”

Luke is nominated for ACM Entertainer of the Year, an award he’s taken home twice. The 53rd Annual ACM Awards will broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas April 15th at 8pm ET on CBS.