| Nashville Tennessean
“Starting over” can take the power of country music Chris Stapleton down a familiar path: dominating the award season.
With six nods each, Stapleton and “The Bones” hitmaker Maren Morris lead the nominations for the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards, scheduled for April 18 in Nashville.
Behind his 2020 record “Starting Over”, Stapleton enters the main categories, including Artist, Male Artist, Song and Album of the Year. He competes for the Artist of the Year award – considered one of the biggest awards in country music – with Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs and 2020 co-winner Thomas Rhett.
Morris, ACM’s current Female Artist of the Year, won nominations for Female Artist, Single, Music and Video of the Year, the last for “Better Than We Found It”, her timely and self-described “protest song” that supported black Movement of Lives Matter.
She returns to the top gender category alongside debutant Carly Pearce, as well as previous nominations Kelsea Ballerini and Ashley McBryde. Miranda Lambert, the most winning artist in ACM’s history, receives her 15th nomination as a Female Artist of the Year. For the first time since 2005, the category will not feature Carrie Underwood, who separated Rhett’s artist of the year in 2020.
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Behind Stapleton and Morris comes Lambert with five nominations. McBryde and Rhett won four each.
Four black artists – Kane Brown, Mickey Guyton, Jimmie Allen and John Legend – received nominations, the largest in ACM history. Brown, a modern hitmaking force in country music who has yet to win an ACM award and was late for a CMA Awards nomination, won her first nomination for Album of the Year for the summer 2020 EP “Mixtape Vol. 1.” Allen and Guyton compete in the respective categories of New Male and Female Artist of the Year; Legend received his first ACM nod in his Video of the Year career for Carrie Underwood’s vacation duet, “Hallelujah”.
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However, diversity decreases in higher-level categories. The Artist of the Year returns to an all-male contest and no artist of color has won sales in the Artist, Male Artist, Female Artist, Single or Music of the Year categories – the latter notably losing Mickey Guyton’s single “Black Like Me”, competing for a Grammy award next month.
And despite excluding women from the Animator of the Year category, ACM voters agreed that women dominated singles releases in 2020. For the first time in the program’s history, the category features five women: Lambert (“Bluebird); Gabby Barrett (“I hope”) Pearce with Lee Brice (“I hope you are happy now”); Ingrid Andress (“More Hearts Than Mine”); and Morris (“The Bones”).
The Academy of Country Music removed Morgan Wallen, an emerging star in 2020, from eligibility after a video published in early February showing the singer shouting racial slur in Nashville.
The ACM Awards returns to April this year after COVID-19 precautions delayed the show to September 2020. Nashville venues The Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ole Opry House and Bluebird Cafe will host the show for the second year in a row.
The 56th annual ACM Award aired on April 18 at 7 pm CST on CBS.
56th annual candidates for the ACM Award
Artist of the Year
- Luke Bryan
- Eric Church
- Luke Combs
- Thomas Rhett
- Chris Stapleton
Female Artist of the Year
- Kelsea Ballerini
- Miranda Lambert
- Ashley McBryde
- Maren Morris
- Carly Pearce
Male Artist of the Year
- Dierks Bentley
- Eric Church
- Luke Combs
- Thomas Rhett
- Chris Stapleton
Duo of the Year
- Brooks & Dunn
- Osborne Brothers
- Dan + Shay
- Florida Georgia Line
- Maddie and Tae
Group of the Year
- Lady A
- Little big city
- Old Dominion
- The three cadillac
- The Highwomen
New Female Artist of the Year
- Ingrid Andress
- Tenille Arts
- Gabby Barrett
- Mickey Guyton
- Caylee Hammack
New Male Artist of the Year
- Jimmie Allen
- Travis Denning
- DIFFICULT
- Cody Johnson
- Parker McCollum
Album of the Year [Awarded to artist(s), producer(s), record company–label(s)]
- Born Here Live Here Die Here – Luke Bryan
- Producers: Jeff Stevens, Jody Stevens
- Label: Capitol Records Nashville
- Mixtape Vol. 1 – Kane Brown
- Producers: Andrew Goldstein, Charlie Handsome, Dann Huff, Lindsay Rimes
- Label: RCA Nashville
- Never Will – Ashley McBryde
- Producer: Jay Joyce
- Record label: Warner Music Nashville
- Skeletons – Osborne Brothers
- Producer: Jay Joyce
- Label: EMI Records Nashville
- Start over – Chris Stapleton
- Producers: Chris Stapleton, Dave Cobb
- Record label: Mercury Nashville
Bachelor of the Year [Awarded to artist(s), producer(s), record company–label(s)]
- Bluebird – Miranda Lambert
- Producer: Jay Joyce
- Label: Vanner Records / RCA Records Nashville
- I hope – Gabby Barrett
- Producers: Ross Copperman, Zach Kale
- Record label: Warner Music Nashville
- I hope you are happy now – Carly Pearce and Lee Brice
- Producers: busbee
- Label: Big Machine Records / Curb Records
- More hearts than mine – Ingrid Andress
- Producers: Ingrid Andress, Sam Ellis
- Record label: Warner Music Nashville
- The Bones – Maren Morris
- Producer: Greg Kurstin
- Label: Columbia Nashville
Song of the Year [awarded to songwriter(s), publisher(s), artist(s)]
- Bluebird – Miranda Lambert
- Composer (s): Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Natalie Hemby
- Editors: Songs of Emileon; Little Louder Songs; Pink Dog publication; Songs by Universal, INC; Sony ATV tree publication; Publishing Wrucke for you
- One-night patterns – Ashley McBryde
- Composer (s): Ashley McBryde, Nicolette Hayford, Shane McAnally
- Publishers: Canned Biscuit Songs; Smackworks Music; Smack Blue, LLC; Smackstreet Music; Tempo Investments; Warner Geo Met Ric Music; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp
- Some people do – Old Dominion
- Composer (s): Jesse Frasure, Matt Ramsey, Thomas Rhett, Shane McAnally
- Editors: Carrot seed songs; EMI Blackwood Music INC; Smackville Music; Songs of the ROC Nation; TelemitryRhythm House Music; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp; Smack Hits; Tempo Investments; Warner Gro Met Ric songs
- Start over – Chris Stapleton
- Composer (s): Chris Stapleton, Mike Henderson
- Publishers: I Wrote These Songs; Straight Six Music; WC Music Corp
- The Bones – Maren Morris
- Composer (s): Jimmy Robbins, Maren Morris, Laura Veltz
- Publishers: Big Machine Music, LLC; Extraordinary Publication of Aliens; International canine music; Oh Denise Publishing; Round Hill songs; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Video of the year [Awarded to producer(s), director(s), artist(s)]
- Better than we found – Maren Morris
- Director: Gabrielle Woodland
- Producers: Sarah Kunin, Jennifer Pepke
- Bluebird – Miranda Lambert
- Director: Trey Fanjoy
- Producer: Heather Levenstone
- Gone – Dierks Bentley
- Directors: Wes Edwards, Ed Pryor, Travis Nicholson, Running Bear and Sam Siske, with animation by Skylar Wilson
- Producer: David Garcia
- Hallelujah – Carrie Underwood and John Legend
- Director: Randee St. Nicholas
- Producer: Greg Wells
- Worldwide Beautiful – Kane Brown
- Director: Alex Alvga
- Producer: Christen Pinkston
Composer of the year (off camera award)
- Ashley Gorley
- Michael Hardy
- Hillary Lindsey
- Shane McAnally
- Josh Osborne
Musical event of the year (a tie in the category increased the nominees) [awarded to artist(s), producer(s), record company–label(s)]
- Be A Light – Thomas Rhett with Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin, Keith Urban
- Producer: Dann Huff
- Label: The Valory Music Co.
- Does To Me – Luke Combs featuring Eric Church
- Producer: Scott Moffatt
- Label: River House Artists / Columbia Nashville
- I hope you are happy now – Carly Pearce and Lee Brice
- Producer: busbee
- Label: Big Machine Records / Curb Records
- Nobody But You – Blake Shelton with Gwen Stefani
- Producer: Scott Hendricks
- Record label: Warner Music Nashville
- One Beer – HARDY with Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson
- Producers: Derek Wells, Joey Moi
- Label: Big Loud Records
- One more – Keith Urban, P! Nk
- Producers: Cutfather, Dan McCarroll, Keith Urban, PhD
- Label: Capitol Records Nashville
ACM studio recording awards nominees
Bassist of the year
- Healing by Jarrod Travis
- Mark Hill
- Tony Lucido
- Steve Mackey
- Glenn Worf
Drummer of the year
- Fred Eltringham
- Evan Hutchings
- Derek Mixon
- Jerry Roe
- Aaron Sterling
Guitarist of the year
- JT Corenflos
- Kris Donegan
- Jedd Hughes
- Ilya Toshinskiy
- Derek Wells
Piano Player / Keys of the Year
- Dave Cohen
- David Dorn
- Charlie Judge
- Mike Rojas
- Benmont Tench
Special instruments player of the year (tie within nominees increased in the category)
- Alicia Enstrom
- Jim Hoke
- Danny Rader
- Mickey Raphael
- Ilya Toshinskiy
- Kristin Wilkinson
Steel Guitarist of the Year
- Spencer Cullum
- Dan Dugmore
- Mike Johnson
- Russ Pahl
- Justin Schipper
Audio Engineer of the Year
- Jeff Balding
- Jason Hall
- Gena Johnson
- Vance Powell
- F. Reid Shippen
Producer of the Year
- Buddy Cannon
- Dave Cobb
- Dann Huff
- Jay Joyce
- Joey Moi