Keith Urban And Miranda Lambert To Perform At ACM Awards

The Academy of Country Music has announced its initial line-up of performers for their 55th annual ACM Awards ceremony on 5 April in Las Vegas.

At the top of the list is multiple ACM Award-winner and 2020 nominee Keith Urban, who will also serve as this year’s host, as well as 27-time award winner and 2020 nominee Miranda Lambert. Lambert will also join fellow nominees Lindsay Ell, Caylee Hammack, Elle King, Ashley McBryde and Tenille Townes for a performance of ‘Fooled Around and Fell in Love’. The awards ceremony will be broadcast live from Las Vegas on Sunday, 5 April at 8:00pm EST.

Watch Keith Urban perform ‘God Whispered Your Name’ on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert below.

Urban, who is also up for Male Artist Of The Year, will make his debut as emcee for the ACM Awards, taking over from 16-time host Reba McEntire. The Australian country star just released a new single, ‘God Whispered Your Name’, which marks the first new music from Urban since his chart-topping 2018 album, Graffiti U. Last week, the artist performed the song on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Leading this year’s nominations are Maren Morris and Thomas Rhett, who are each up for five awards. Morris is up for Female Artist Of The Year and Album Of The Year (for Girl) while the Highwomen (featuring Morris, Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Amanda Shires) are up for Group Of The Year. Rhett, meanwhile, has such nominations as the prestigious Entertainer Of The Year, Male Vocalist Of The Year and Album Of The Year, for Center Point Road. Continuing a whirlwind year, Justin Bieber received his very first nod from the Academy, with four nominations for Dan + Shay’s No.1 song, ‘10,000 Hours’, which he co-wrote with the duo.

Other nominees include Blake Shelton – up for Single Of The Year and Song Of The Year – Old Dominion, Kacey Musgraves and Luke Combs, while Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ hit song ‘Old Town Road’ is up for Music Event of the Year.

While there was some concern whether the awards would still happen given the number of cancellations the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the Academy of Country Music and Dick Clark productions issued a join statement this morning to Billboard saying the health and safety of everyone connected with the show remains their top priority.

“We are closely monitoring the situation along with the MGM team, who are in continuous contact with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Southern Nevada Health District, and other agencies and experts for guidance,” the statement reads. “We will take every precaution to ensure the safety of our artists, staff, crew, guests and attendees.”

The 55th annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be broadcast live on CBS on Sunday, 5 April at 8:00 pm EST.

Visit the official ACM site for more details.

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