Carrie Underwood photo by James White, courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Carrie Underwood and Lady Antebellum have been added to the list of country stars who will be a part of the 54^th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Carrie will join Tony Bennett for a performance while Lady A will serve as presenters. A tribute to the late Etta James by Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt has also been added. The GRAMMYs will air on CBS on Sunday, February 12th at 8/7 CT.

Other country artists scheduled to perform include Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Glen Campbell, with Blake Shelton and The Band Perry, Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Swift. Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert and Gwyneth Paltrow will be among GRAMMY presenters. Continue Reading

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Miranda Lambert photo by Randee St. Nicholas, courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert and Gwyneth Paltrow have been announced as presenters at the 54^th Annual GRAMMY Awards. They are just the latest country stars to be added to the awards. Lifetime Achievement Recipient Glen Campbell will perform with special guests Blake Shelton and The Band Perry. Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson, and Taylor Swift are also slated to perform.

Other performers on the GRAMMYs include Katy Perry, Adele, Coldplay and Rihanna, Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars, Paul McCartney and Nicki Minaj. LL Cool J will act as host of the GRAMMYs for the first time. Continue Reading

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Glen Campbell photo courtesy of Big Hassle PR

Glen Campbell, who is set to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy, will perform on the GRAMMY Awards with Blake Shelton and The Band Perry. Glen has won five GRAMMYs over his career and is currently on the road for his Goodbye Tour after announcing last year that he has Alzheimer’s.

Blake Shelton is nominated for two GRAMMYs, including Best Country Solo Performance for “Honey Bee” and Best Country Album for Red River Blue. The Band Perry is up for Best New Artist. The 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place on Sunday, February 12. The show will air live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on CBS at 8/7 CT. Continue Reading

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Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton pose with awards at the 45th annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on November 9, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton will perform “America the Beautiful” together prior to the kickoff of the Super Bowl in Indianapolis on February 5, reports the Associated Press (via Yahoo). One of the most-watched events of the year, Kelly Clarkson is slated to perform the National Anthem. The Super Bowl will air live on NBC.

Blake and Miranda aren’t the only country artists who will be in Indianapolis for Super Bowl events, however. Darius Rucker and Dierks Bentley will perform at concerts in Super Bowl Village in the days leading up to the Super Bowl, while Sara Evans will perform at the Taste of the NFL’s 21st Annual Party With a Purpose on February 4. Madonna has been announced as the Super Bowl’s halftime performer. Continue Reading

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Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records.

Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Swift are among the first artists announced as performers at the 54^th Annual GRAMMY Awards. This will be Jason’s first performance on the show, while Taylor has performed previously. Other artists announced as performers include the Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars, and Nicki Minaj.

Jason and Taylor are up for three GRAMMYs each. Jason is nominated for Best Country Solo Performance for “Dirt Road Anthem,” Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with Kelly Clarkson, and Best Country Album for My Kinda Party. Taylor is also nominated for Best Country Solo Performance as well as Best Country Song for “Mean,” and Best Country Album for Speak Now.

In other GRAMMY news, MusiCares, the charitable arm of The Recording Academy which provides assistance for music people in times of need, will honor 14-time GRAMMY winner Paul McCartney as their 2012 Person of the Year. Paul and other artists to be announced will perform at a gala two nights prior to the GRAMMY Awards in Paul’s honor. All proceeds from the event, now in its 22nd year, will go to MusiCares.

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Miranda Lambert photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville. Jewel photo courtesy of The Valory Music Co.

NBC’s “The Voice” coaches have enlisted multi-platinum singer-songwriters Kelly Clarkson, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds,” Jewel, Miranda Lambert, Alanis Morissette, Ne-Yo, Lionel Richie and Robin Thicke to lend their knowledge and skills as advisers to six separate artists on Teams Adam (Levine), Blake (Shelton), Cee Lo (Green) and Christina (Aguilera), respectively, during the “battle rounds” phase of competition on the upcoming season.

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Blake Shelton photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

Each year GAC asks fans to help us choose the best of the best country music videos released during the prior 12 months for our year end Top 50 Videos of the Year countdown. Here are the voting results for 2011 based on videos released and added to the GAC playlist from Nov. 1, 2010 to Oct. 31, 2011.

1. Blake Shelton — “God Gave Me You”
2. Jason Aldean w/Kelly Clarkson — “Don’t You Wanna Stay”
3. Keith Urban — “Without You”
4. Jason Aldean — “Dirt Road Anthem”
5. Brad Paisley & Carrie Underwood — “Remind Me”
6. Blake Shelton — “Honey Bee”
7. Lady Antebellum — “Just A Kiss”
8. Alan Jackson — “Long Way To Go”
9. Scotty McCreery — “I Love You This Big”
10. Trace Adkins — “Just Fishin’” Continue Reading

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LAS VEGAS, NV - DECEMBER 05: Singer Jason Aldean poses in the press room with the awards for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Singer of the Year: Male, Single of the Year: Vocal Collaboration, Touring Artist of the Year and Music Video: Group or Collaboration at the American Country Awards 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on December 5, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Slow and steady wins the race and Jason Aldean is proof of the old adage. Ever since Jason’s self-titled debut in 2005, he has slowly been working his way up the ladder, scoring hit songs and platinum albums along the way. 2011 turned out to be his year, as his My Kinda Party album, released in November of 2010, catapulted him to new heights.

My Kinda Party went double platinum and was the top-selling country album of 2011. The album was named the CMA Album of the Year as well as iTunes’ Country Album of the Year and came in at No. 4 on Billboard’s all-genre Top 200 Albums of 2011 chart. It produced three consecutive No. 1 hits, including “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” “Dirt Road Anthem,” and “Tattoos On This Town.”

“When we did our annual holiday party, we had more to be thankful for and celebrate than we ever have before,” Jason said. “It’s really cool to be experiencing some of this stuff with a lot of the same guys who have been with me since I started in 2005. We’re definitely a family, and that has made the whole experience even more special.”

While industry awards have alluded Jason in previous years, 2011 changed that. He picked up two CMA Awards for Album of the Year and Musical Event of the Year for “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with Kelly Clarkson, won six American Country Awards, including Artist of the Year, and won the Breakthrough Award at the Billboard Touring Awards. Jason was nominated for 20 total awards in 2011, including three for the 2012 GRAMMYs.

One of his biggest accomplishments came in touring, however. Jason’s My Kinda Party Tour played to over one million fans and sold out more than 50 arenas and amphitheaters in advance. The tour was named to the Billboard Top 25 Tours of 2011 list, coming in at No. 24, one of just four country acts to make the cut. Continue Reading

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Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records.

Jason Aldean and The Band Perry have been announced as performers during the Nightly Concerts at LP Field during the 2012 CMA Music Festival. The CMA Music Festival will take place in downtown Nashville June 7-10. Carrie Underwood was announced as a performer during the LP Field shows last week.

Jason and The Band Perry both picked up their first CMA Awards last month. Jason won Album of the Year for his triple platinum My Kinda Party album as well as Musical Event of the Year for “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with Kelly Clarkson. The Band Perry picked up CMAs for Single of the Year for “If I Die Young” and New Artist of the Year and lead singer Kimberly Perry was awarded the CMA Award for Song of the Year for writing “If I Die Young.” Check out CMA Awards photos HERE. Continue Reading

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Blake Shelton photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

GRAMMY nominations are in and the stars are reveling in the good news. Blake Shelton received nominations in three of the four country categories, including Best Country Solo Performance for “Honey Bee,” Best Country Song for “God Gave Me You” and Best Country Album for his album, Red River Blue.

“It’s one thing to be acknowledged by the GRAMMY voters for one of your songs, but to have two songs nominated, and the album that they’re both off of, is an emotional experience,” Blake said. “I may never have something like this in my career again and I’m darn well going to enjoy it!”

Tying Blake for most country GRAMMY nominations is Jason Aldean. The three nominations are also Jason’s first GRAMMY nods. Up for Best Country Album for My Kinda Party, Best Country Solo Performance for “Dirt Road Anthem” and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with Kelly Clarkson, Jason also performed “Dirt Road Anthem” with rapper Ludacris, during the GRAMMY Nominations Concert.

“I was totally stunned, and it all happened so fast,” Jason said. “I was feelin’ a pretty big adrenaline rush from our performance with Luda, and then to be told we had three nominations was just crazy. We were flying pretty high all night… there was definitely some celebrating on the flight back to Nashville.”

While all three nominations are special, Best Country Album is a dream come true for Jason. “That ‘Album’ nomination is what artists dream of their whole career,” he said. “And then for both the duet with Kelly and ‘Dirt Road’ to get some recognition, which were both different kinds of songs for us this year, it’s just incredible.”

Eric Church received his first ever GRAMMY nomination in the Best Country Album category for his album Chief. “The GRAMMYs are the ultimate honor for any recording artist,” Eric said. “It’s very cool that they recognized Chief in what I feel is the most coveted category. I got into the music business because of great records and the feelings they imparted on my heart. I’ve poured everything I am into making those kinds of albums, and I am very thankful for this nod.”

Thompson Square found themselves nominated for two GRAMMY awards. They are up for Best Country Duo/ Group Performance  as well as Best Country Song for “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not.” “We both could not believe the news of our Grammy nominations,” Keifer Thompson said. “When our manager told us we really thought he was playing some sort of sick joke on us. We can’t thank the Grammys enough for such a prestigious honor!” Continue Reading

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