Here are the winners of the 48th Annual ACM Awards, held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Sunday night:

Entertainer of the Year
Luke Bryan

Male Vocalist
Jason Aldean

Female Vocalist
Miranda Lambert

Vocal Duo of the Year 
Thompson Square

Vocal Group of the Year
Little Big Town

Album of the Year
Chief, Eric Church

Song of the Year (Award to Songwriter)
“Over You,” Miranda Lambert (Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton)

Single Record
“Over You,” Miranda Lambert

Video of the Year
“Tornado,” Little Big Town

Vocal Event of the Year
“The Only Way I Know,” Jason Aldean with Luke Bryan and Eric Church

New Artist of the Year
Florida Georgia Line

Jana Kramer,  New Female Vocalist Winner
Brantley Gilbert, New Male Vocalist Winner
Florida Georgia Line, New Vocal Duo or Group Winner

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Jason Aldean is in Las Vegas for this Sunday’s ACM Awards, where he’s up for Entertainer of the Year.  He’s not going to spend his time leading up to the show worrying if he’ll win that trophy or not.

“I quit thinking about awards shows, like, before I got there a long time ago,” Jason says.  “Now, I just kind of show up with the mentality of ‘I’m gonna show up and whatever happens, happens, and I’m gonna have fun while I’m there.'”

It probably helps that Jason already has a few ACM Awards on the mantle back home in Nashville.  While he would like to win Entertainer of the Year at some point in his career, Jason says, “You put too much hope into it, and you go, ‘Yes, well I think this is our year.’  Then you get there, and it doesn’t happen, and then you’re depressed for a year.”

He adds, “I just kind of quit doing that stuff altogether.”

Look for Jason to perform on the 48th Annual ACM Awards Sunday night at 8 Eastern on CBS.

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Luke Bryan is a first-time nominee in the Entertainer of the Year category at this Sunday’s ACM Awards, and he didn’t get to that spot by accident.

Luke says, “When I moved to Nashville, I knew that I wanted to try to be the Entertainer of the Year at some point.  And that’s just how I moved to town thinking.”

Luke worked with that goal in mind as he began scoring hit after hit on the country chart, but he won’t be crushed if someone else walks off with the Entertainer trophy this year.

“If that ever happens, it will be one of the biggest defining moments of my career, and if it doesn’t ever happen, then it wasn’t supposed to happen,” Luke explains.  “I mean, I can’t believe I’m this far in this business, and I treat every day like that.”

If Luke does make it to the stage, he will be so happy to acknowledge his fans and the people on his team who make his recording and touring careers possible.

He says, “Your acceptance speech is the ability to thank everybody that allowed you to win it.  That’s what’s the fun part of winning awards is you get to go, ‘You people are the ones that created this, and thank you.'”

Luke is set to co-host the ACM Awards with Blake Shelton Sunday night at 8 Eastern on CBS.  The two of them will open the show with a little help from Pistol Annies, Sheryl Crow and Brad Paisley on Blake’s new single, “Boys ‘Round Here.”  Luke is also set to premiere his brand-new single, “Crash My Party,” during the three-hour broadcast.

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Alan Jackson‘s Precious Memories Volume II is #1 on one of the Billboard charts, but it’s not the one you might expect. Alan tops the Christian Albums tally with the new hymns project, which also bows at #2 on Billboard‘s Country Albums chart with 55,000 copies sold according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Alan topped both of those charts with his first Precious Memories release in 2006. That album sold 107,000 copies in its first week, making Alan the only artist to top the Country Albums chart with a gospel album since Charley Pride‘s Did You Think to Pray, back in 1971.

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Darius Rucker is in the giving spirit these days.  He’s set to host the ACM Lifting Lives Celebrity Golf Classic this Saturday in Las Vegas, and proceeds from that event go to the Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund to help those in need in the music industry. Taking part in these events is a no-brainer for Darius, who is very passionate about golf.

He says, “It’s awesome that I can help people and hang out with my buddies and hit a little white ball.”

Darius adds with a laugh, “You know, ’cause that’s the only time I can hit something white as hard as I can and not go to jail.”

Darius is also bringing back his annual Darius and Friends benefit concert Monday, June 3 at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville.  That event raises money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and tickets go on sale Friday at WildhorseSaloon.com and DariusRucker.com.

The Darius and Friends event has raised more than $125,000 in its history for St. Jude.

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Florida Georgia Line and rapper Nelly have joined the bill for the ACM Presents: Tim McGraw’s Superstar Summer Night taping Monday night in Las Vegas. John Fogerty, Faith Hill and The Band Perry have also been added to the lineup for the show, which will air Sunday, May 19 at 9 p.m. Eastern on CBS.

Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Ne-Yo, Pitbull and Lady Antebellum have been previously been confirmed as performers on the show. Tim McGraw will serve as the ringleader for the special, which is designed to kick off the 2013 summer touring season.

Proceeds from the taping go to ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable arm of the Academy of Country Music.

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All eyes will be on Blake Shelton and his new co-host Luke Bryan at the 48th Annual ACM Awards Sunday night on CBS.  While Blake thinks Luke will do a great job in the gig, he admits it’s going to be hard not having his long-time co-host Reba helming the show.

Blake says, “I think anytime you had Reba involved in anything, and you take her out, that’s a big piece of the puzzle gone that you can’t replace, you know?”

He adds, “We’re gonna do the best we can.”

Blake always relied on Reba to help keep him in line and be the rock of the show for the past few years.

Now that she’s gone, Blake says, “With me and Luke, you know, I don’t know who the hell is going to be the rock.  I guess it’s supposed to be me.  That’s kind of scary.”

Though this is Luke’s first time hosting a major, live awards show, Blake has seen Luke in action when they filmed a few commercials for the show last month.

“He’s really good with the camera and timing and the teleprompter and is still just enough of Luke in there that it’s a lot of fun too,” Blake says.

Reba fans can still look forward to seeing country’s most famous redhead introducing George Strait and Garth Brooks‘ tribute to the late Dick Clark on this year’s show.

The 48th Annual ACM Awards broadcast live from Las Vegas Sunday night at 8 Eastern on CBS.

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Brad Paisley brings country’s past into the present using a sample of the late Country Music Hall of Fame member Roger Miller‘s 1964 hit “Dang Me” in his new song “Outstanding in Our Field.”  He also recruited Dierks Bentley to contribute vocals, and Hunter Hayes plays guitar on the track which will be included on Brad’s new album, Wheelhouse, coming out next week.

Fans watching the ACM Awards will get to see this collaboration come to life on Sunday night’s show, and Roger will be in on the act too.

Brad tells ABC News Radio, “When we do it live, you’ll see in black and white Roger Miller behind me come up on the screen.  You’ll see that on the ACMs this week, where there he is.  He’s doing his line, and then Dierks comes in the next verse, and Hunter plays guitar and all this.”

Brad has always prided himself on being a steward of country music’s history, and he feels this collaboration takes that role to a new level.

“Now you really have the technological ability to not just build on the past and take all of these things I learned from Roger Miller being a fan, but I get to sing with him because of technology,” Brad explains.

There are some legal issues behind the scenes over whether or not Brad can actually sample Roger Miller’s records, but he says, “The copyright lawyers get to figure it all out.  Which is fun, I don’t care.”

Brad Paisley hosts the ACM Fan Jam this Sunday night at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.  Portions of that show, including the performance of “Outstanding in Our Field,” will be shown on the ACM Awards broadcast on CBS starting that night at 8 Eastern.

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Blake Shelton has scored his second #1 debut on Billboard‘s Country Albums chart with Based on a True Story.  That set sold 199,000 copies according to Nielsen Soundscan, giving Blake his best first-week sales numbers ever. Based on a True Story also debuts at #3 on the overall Billboard 200 chart.

Look for Blake and a few friends to perform “Boys ‘Round Here,” the lead single from Based on a True Story, to open this Sunday night’s ACM Awards on CBS.  He’s co-hosting the show with Luke Bryan.

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A ton of TV, sports and music stars have signed on to present trophies at this Sunday’s ACM Awards in Las Vegas. Look for Reba to introduce the George Strait and Garth Brooks‘ joint tribute to the late Dick Clark. Jake Owen, Miranda Lambert, John Fogerty, Kacey Musgraves, Sheryl Crow and Scotty McCreery are also on the presenters list, along with a few stars from CBS shows including Vegas‘ Michael Chicklis, Beth Behrs of 2 Broke Girls, and The Big Bang Theory‘s Kaley Cuoco.

Duck Dynasty stars Willie & Korie Roberts will present trophies too, along with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Media personalities Nancy O’Dell and Kevin Frazier are also serving as presenters.

Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan co-host the 48th Annual ACM Awards Sunday night at 8 Eastern on CBS.

 

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