News

DIERKS BENTLEY AND BRAD PAISLEY TO PERFORM AT THE 47th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC® AWARDS

COUNTRY MUSIC’S PARTY OF THE YEAR®

LIONEL RICHIE AND TAYLOR SWIFT SCHEDULED AS PRESENTERS

TELECAST TO AIR LIVE FROM MGM GRAND IN LAS VEGAS

Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network

ENCINO, CA (March 28, 2012) – The Academy of Country Music announced today that Dierks Bentley and Brad Paisley are scheduled to perform as part of the 47th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS.  In addition, Lionel Richie and Taylor Swift are scheduled as presenters. The ceremony, which honors country music’s top talent as well as the industry’s hottest emerging artists, is produced for television by dick clark productions and will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

Richie and Swift join previously announced presenters, Beth Behrs, Hunter Hayes, and Nancy O’Dell. In addition, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Sara Evans, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Chris Young, The Band Perry, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town and Rascal Flatts have been announced as performers at the 47th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS.

Performers:

Dierks Bentley received a double nomination as artist and composer for Song of the Year for his critically acclaimed single “Home,” which he will be performing on this year’s show. A past New Artist of the Year winner, Bentley’s career has also boasted nominations for Album of the Year for Up On The Ridge and Male Vocalist of the Year. Bentley recently wrapped the Australian leg of his 2012 Country & Cold Cans Tour, and is currently touring the U.S. for a 20-city spring run.

Brad Paisley is the reigning Male Vocalist of the Year and is nominated for four awards, including his fifth consecutive nomination for Entertainer of the Year and eighth nomination for Male Vocalist of the Year, which he has won five times consecutively between the years of 2006-2010.  He received two nominations in the Vocal Event of the Year category for “Old Alabama” with Alabama and “Remind Me” with Carrie Underwood. Paisley also just completed the first leg of his “Virtual Reality World Tour 2012” and played to over 218,000 fans with 19 sell-outs. The tour picks back up on May 18 in St. Louis and continues through mid-October.

Presenters:

Music icon Lionel Richie has created an unforgettable body of work that speaks to the hearts of people of all races, faiths and ages around the world with his universal themes of life, love and loss presented with poetic simplicity and irresistible melodies.  He has earned sales of more than 100 million albums, 22 Top 10 hits, five Grammys, an Academy Award for Best Original Song, a Golden Globe and a host of other awards from virtually every other major entertainment organization. His catalog of timeless hits includes "Say You, Say Me," "Easy," "Still," "Hello," "Stuck On You," You Are," "My Love" and "Endless Love."  

The following night after the ACM Awards, Richie will collaborate with an all-star ensemble for ACM Presents: Lionel Richie and Friends – In Concert, the once-in-a-lifetime concert event taping Monday, April 2, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.  The special will air Friday, April 13, 2012 on the CBS Television Network.

Reigning Entertainer of the Year, Taylor Swift, leads solo female nominees with three nominations, including her third consecutive nod for Entertainer of the Year.  If Swift wins Entertainer of the Year, this will be her second consecutive win in that category. Swift, a 6-time Grammy winner, is nominated for the fifth time for Female Vocalist of the Year, and for the third time for Video of the Year (for “Mean”).  In 2011, in addition to winning Entertainer of the Year, Swift was honored with the Academy’s prestigious Jim Reeves International Award, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the acceptance of country music worldwide.

About the Academy of Country Music Awards

The 47th Academy of Country Music Awards is dedicated to honoring and showcasing the biggest names and emerging talent in the country music industry.  The show is produced for television by dick clark productions and will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network. Orly Adelson and R.A. Clark are executive producers.  Barry Adelman is producer, and Bob Bardo is the executive in charge of production. Bob Romeo is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music.  For more information, please visit www.acmcountry.com.