ACM Lines Up Awards Performers

Leading nominee Lady Antebellum is among the performers set for the upcoming ACM Awards.

The Academy of Country Music announced today (3/23) that Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton & Trace Adkins, and Carrie Underwood, are scheduled to perform as part of its 45th annual Awards show on Sun., April 18. Reba McEntire will host the show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, airing live at 7 PM/CT on CBS.

Heading into the ceremony Lady Antebellum lead this year’s nominations with seven nods, including Album of the Year and Top Vocal Group. In addition, the trio was nominated for Single, Song and Video for “Need You Now.” They were also nominated as a producer for Single Record of the Year and as a composer for Song of the Year.

Underwood is nominated for six awards, including Entertainer of Year. She is the reigning Entertainer of the Year, and, if she wins that category again, she will be the first female in Academy history to capture two Entertainer of the Year trophies. Underwood is also nominated as an artist and composer for Song of the Year for “Cowboy Casanova,” as well as Vocal Event of the Year for “I Told You So” with Randy Travis. In addition, Underwood is nominated for Top Female Vocalist and Album of the Year for Play On.

Chesney is nominated for four awards, including Entertainer of the Year and Top Male Vocalist. If he wins Entertainer, it will be his fifth win in the category. He is also nominated as an artist and producer for Vocal Event of the Year for “I’m Alive” with Dave Matthews.

Brooks & Dunn are in the running for Top Vocal Duo and will also receive the Academy’s Milestone Award during the tribute concert special, ACM Presents: Brooks & Dunn—The Last Rodeo, taping Monday, April 19 at Las Vegas’s MGM Grand Garden Arena, and airing Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on CBS.

McEntire, who is hosting the ACM Awards for a record twelfth time, is nominated for Top Female Vocalist of the Year. Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins are nominated for Vocal Event of the Year for “Hillbilly Bone.”