In a star-studded event full of incredible performances and exciting awards, the 48th Annual ACM Awards celebrated country music’s finest last Sunday night. Hosted by county superstars Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan, the event honored artists nominated for various awards including New Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and the coveted Entertainer of the Year award.
Performances
Hosts Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan definitely brought a humorous element to the event. Their teasing comments about the similarities between Luke’s “spray-painted jeans” and a Motel 6, Blake breaking the streak of talent coming from Oklahoma, and what Hunter Hayes was still doing back in 1994 kept the audience laughing all night.
This year’s performances seemed to be the most elaborate, which was more successful for some artists than others. Carrie Underwood’s performance of “Two Black Cadillacs,” complete with Cadillac cars and smoke machines, was as classy as Carrie was in her elegant, 40s-style dress; however, The Band Perry’s fist-pumping rendition of their latest single “Done” was so over-the-top that lead singer Kimberly Perry was too out of breath to actually sing the words.
Collaborations were very popular this year. Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley and the Pistol Annies opened the show with a performance of Blake’s latest single “Boys ‘Round Here.” Tim McGraw performed his chart-topping hit “Highway Don’t Care,” featuring Taylor Swift’s background vocals and Keith Urban on guitar. In addition to singing the lead off single “I Want Crazy” from his upcoming sophomore album Encore, Hunter Hayes performed three times with several different artists, including his performance with legend Stevie Wonder that closed out the show.
Other crowd favorites included Lady Antebellum’s “Downtown,” featuring a very pregnant Hillary Scott, and Luke Bryan’s “Crash My Party.” Miranda Lambert’s fiesty, upbeat performance of “Mama’s Broken Heart” had the whole crowd on its feet, as did Jason Aldean’s throwback tribute to Joe Diffie, “1994.” George Strait also performed his latest single, “Give It All You Got Tonight,” which is on its way to becoming his 100th number-one hit.
Awards
Florida Georgia Line beat out New Male Artist of the Year Brantley Gilbert and his fiancée, New Female Artist of the Year Jana Kramer for the New Artist of the Year award, which has been known to jump start many new artists’ careers. Florida Georgia Line, the duo of Bryan Kelley and Tyler Hubbard, who met as students at Nashville’s Belmont University, broke onto the music scene just last year with their summer anthem “Cruise,” and quickly followed up with their latest single, “Get Your Shine On.”
Eric Church’s Chief album, which was named Album of the Year last year by the Country Music Association, received the same recognition at the ACM Awards. Chief features singles like “Springsteen,” “Drink In My Hand” and “Like Jesus Does.” Miranda Lambert’s “Over You,” which she and her husband Blake Shelton wrote about his late brother, won both Song of the Year and Single Record of the Year.
Jason Aldean took home the Male Artist of the Year award, and deservedly so; he has been nominated for this award for the past four years, so many would agree that his time had finally come. Miranda Lambert won Female Artist of the Year, which came as no surprise; she has been known to dominate many award shows, and this year was no exception. Little Big Town has recently made a comeback with songs like “Pontoon” and “Tornado,” and their hard work paid off, as they took home the Vocal Group of the Year award. Keifer and Shawna Thompson of Thompson Square took the Vocal Duo of the Year award.
The most exciting and highly-anticipated award of the night was the Entertainer of the Year award. Nominees were Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan.
In a surprising twist, it was Luke Bryan who took home the Stetson-topped trophy. The moment his name was announced, he burst into tears of shock and gratitude, and took several minutes to collect himself before stepping up to the mic to thank his family, record label, fans and everyone that has been a part of his music. As his road has been harder than most– his brother was killed in a car crash the day Luke was leaving for Nashville, and his sister died a few years later of a brain tumor at the age of 39– there was no doubt in anyone’s mind just how much this award meant to him.
“I swear to God, every time I step onstage it is a blessing for me to play for fans,” Luke said, adding, “This is the defining moment of my life; it means the world to me and I will never take it for granted.”