SONG OF THE YEAR AND SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR THE
51st ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS®
The Academy of Country Music announced today the Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year nominees for the 51ST ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS®, Country Music’s Party of the Year® co-hosted by Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV on Sunday, April 3rd at 8:00PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network. The nominations news was first shared this morning via Rolling Stone Country, who partnered with the Academy to break the news on these important categories.
“The ACM Board of Directors recently voted to revise the prestigious Song of the Year Award criteria to allow the greater songwriting community a stronger voice in determining the final nominees,” said Tiffany Moon, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the Academy of Country Music. “Songwriters are at the inception of all of this; we’re privileged to have their expertise in choosing the most well-crafted songs.” A professional panel comprised entirely of award-winning songwriters helped select the nominees for the category that were then voted on by the Composer class of ACM Membership to appear on the final ballot.
SONG OF THE YEAR NOMINEES (Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s):
- Burning House – Cam
Songwriters: Jeffrey Bhasker, Tyler Johnson, Cam
Publishers: Marvelous Oaks Records (ASCAP), Creative Pulse Music (BMI), One Year Yesterday Publishing (BMI), Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI), These Are Pulse Songs (BMI), Way Above Music (BMI)
- Girl Crush – Little Big Town
Songwriters: Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose
Publishers: HillarodyRathbone Music (ASCAP), Hoodie Songs (BMI), Songs of Crazy Girl Music (BMI), Songs of Universal Inc (BMI), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)
- Nobody To Blame – Chris Stapleton
Songwriters: Chris Stapleton, Barry Bales, Ronnie Bowman
Publishers: House of Sea Gayle Music (ASCAP), WB Music Corp (ASCAP), Quackhead Music (BMI), RayLynn Publishing (BMI)
- Raise ‘Em Up – Keith Urban Featuring Eric Church
Songwriters: Tom Douglas, Jaren Johnston, Jeffrey Steele
Publishers: Jeffrey Steele Music (BMI), Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI), TomDouglasMusic (BMI), Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP), Texa Rae Music (ASCAP)
- She Don’t Love You – Eric Paslay
Songwriters: Eric Paslay, Jennifer Wayne
Publishers: Five Stone Publishing (ASCAP), Spirit Two Nashville (ASCAP), Songwriters of Platinum Pen Publishing (BMI)
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR *(OFF CAMERA AWARD)
- Rodney Clawson
- Ross Copperman
- Ashley Gorley
- Shane McAnally
- Josh Osborne
Shane McAnally’s nod for Songwriter of the Year marks his ninth ACM nomination, he previously won in 2013 for both Songwriter of the Year and Album of the Year for Same Trailer Different Park.
Rodney Clawson receives his eighth ACM nomination, and his third nomination for Songwriter of the Year.
Ross Copperman has previously been nominated for Album of the Year and Single Record of the Year, in 2014. This is his first nomination in this category.
Ashley Gorley’s nomination is his third for Songwriter of the Year, and he was also nominated in 2008 for Song of the Year.
This marks Josh Osborne’s second nomination in this category, he was nominated in 2014, as well.
With these Song of the Year nominations, Chris Stapleton now leads Academy of Country Music Award nominees with seven nominations in total, two for Song of the Year (one as artist, one as songwriter) for “Nobody to Blame,” Male Vocalist of the Year, New Male Vocalist of the Year, twice for Album of the Year for Traveller (as artist, and as producer), and Vocal Event of the Year for “Hangover Tonight” with Gary Allan. These mark Stapleton’s first ACM Awards nominations as an artist. He was previously nominated for Song of the Year, as a songwriter for “Drink a Beer” in 2014.
Cam, a first-time nominee this year, has six nominations in total. She is twice nominated (as artist, and songwriter) for Song of the Year for “Burning House,” for New Female Vocalist of the Year, Video of the Year for “Burning House,” and is twice nominated (as artist, and as producer) for Single Record of the Year for “Burning House.”
First-time ACM Entertainer of the Year nominee, Eric Church, is also now nominated for Song of the Year for “Raise ‘Em Up” in collaboration with Keith Urban, Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for Mr. Misunderstood, Video of the Year for “Mr. Misunderstood,” and Vocal Event of the Year for “Raise ‘Em Up.”
With this Song of the Year nomination for “Girl Crush,” reigning Vocal Group of the Year Little Big Town now has five nominations, including their 10th nomination for Vocal Group of the Year, as well as Single Record of the Year and Video of the Year categories for “Girl Crush.” They also received a nod for Vocal Event of the Year for “Smokin’ and Drinkin’” with Miranda Lambert.
Keith Urban now has three nominations for this year’s ACM Awards, one in the Song of the Year category for “Raise ‘Em Up,” and two nominations for Vocal Event of the Year (as artist and producer) for “Raise ‘Em Up,” all with Church.
Nominated previously for Song of the Year in 2012, Eric Paslay now has two nominations for Song of the Year (one as artist, one as songwriter) for “She Don’t Love You.”
About the Academy of Country Music Awards:
The 51st Academy of Country Music Awards is dedicated to honoring and showcasing the biggest names and emerging talent in the country music industry. The show is produced for television by dick clark productions and will broadcast LIVE from MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, April 3, 2016 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network. Allen Shapiro, Mike Mahan, R.A. Clark, Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco are executive producers. Bob Romeo is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music.