The accomplishments of Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift in 2011 will be celebrated with CMT’s Artists Of The Year on December 13 at 9 pm CT. Hosted by Rob Lowe, the 90 minute special (also on CMT.com) will feature performances and appearances by The All-American Rejects, The Avett Brothers, Ellen DeGeneres, Gavin DeGraw, NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon, celebrity chef Stephanie Izard, Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger, Miranda Lambert, Matthew McConaughey, New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, Lionel Richie, Joe Walsh of the Eagles and Hank Williams Jr.
Honorees and their guests will be treated to cuisine prepared by Izard, Top Chef winner and chef/partner of Chicago’s Girl & The Goat restaurant.
CMT Artists Of The Year honorees were chosen by ranking the top five artists based on the following criteria: sales (physical albums, digital albums, and single downloads); country radio airplay based on spins; concert grosses as a headliner or co-headliner; and activity on CMT.com (video streams, searches, and artist page views). The rankings were then compiled to identify the leading performers across the four categories cumulatively.
CMT Artists Of The Year is executive produced by Rac Clark. John Hamlin and Margaret Comeaux serve as executive producers for CMT.
