Get ready for one of country music’s biggest nights! Us Weekly has everything you need to know about the upcoming 53rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards.
What Time?
The ACMs will broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas at 8 p.m. ET.
Who’s Hosting?
Reba McEntire is set to host the 53rd ACMs. The country music legend spoke to Rolling Stone about returning as the host for the first time since 2012.
“Since I had turned that duty over to Blake [Shelton] and Luke [Bryan] and then Luke and Dierks [Bentley], they just came back around and asked if I would be interested. I said, ‘Sure!’ I miss it. When you’re sitting at the awards show and you’re out in the audience, once you’ve gotten the honors of hosting, you’re sitting there kind of wondering what’s going on backstage and you miss being a part of that excitement,” she told the mag.
Who’s Performing?
Carrie Underwood is returning to the stage to perform her new single, “Pretty Cry,” for the first time since she revealed she fell down the stairs outside her Nashville home in November 2017. “The Champion” singer told fans in a January blog post that she got “between 40 to 50 stitches” on her face and broke her wrist.
“I’m doing pretty darn good these days!” Underwood wrote on Tuesday, April 10, in another blog post. “My wrist is almost back to normal, about 90 percent there … and the docs say that last 10 percent will come in time. And my face has been healing pretty nicely as well. I definitely feel more like myself than I have in a while.”
Other performers include Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Shelton, Kelsea Ballerini, Kelly Clarkson, Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, Maren Morris, Lady Antebellum, Thomas Rhett, Kenny Chesney, Bebe Rexha and Julia Michaels.
Who’s Nominated?
Chris Stapleton leads the pack with eight nominations, but Rhett follows closely behind with six noms. Stapleton, Bryan, Aldean, Keith Urban and Garth Brooks are set to compete for Entertainer of the Year.
The 53rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards air on CBS Sunday, April 15, at 8 p.m. ET.
