Kelsea Ballerini, Cam, Martina McBride among American Country Countdown Awards performers

Country’s biggest stars and rising newcomers including Kelsea Ballerini, Cam, Dan + Shay, Sam Hunt, Martina McBride, and Cole Swindell will join previously announced powerhouse performers Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood and more on the star-studded “American Country Countdown Awards” airing Sunday, May 1st from 8-10 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed on FOX. This year’s host and additional performers will be announced shortly.

Breakout artist Kelsea Ballerini is the latest recipient of the 2016 ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year award with two consecutive No. 1 smashes — the Gold-certified “Love Me Like You Mean It” and the infectious follow-up “Dibs” — from her critically acclaimed debut album “The First Time.” The country sweetheart is the first solo female artist in 15 years to hit No. 1 with her first two country singles and one of only 11 women to have ever hit the top of the charts with a debut. The Black River Entertainment recording artist is a two-time 2016 ACCA finalist for Female Vocalist Of The Year and Breakthrough Female Of The Year.

Shining newcomer Cam is a two-time 2016 ACCA finalist for Female Vocalist of the Year and Breakthrough Female Vocalist of the Year. Her No. 1 smash “Burning House” was certified Platinum by the RIAA and remains the only single by a country female to achieve more than 1 million downloads the past year. When Cam’s debut album “Untamed” was released in December, it earned 2015’s best first-week sales by a debut country artist.

Critically acclaimed duo and current two-time ACCA finalist Dan + Shay (Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney) hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Albums Chart with their first album “Where It All Began.” Racking up more than 26 million YouTube views, they are the only new country duo in SoundScan recorded history to debut at No. 1. Dan + Shay have been nominated for both the CMA’s and ACM’s Vocal Duo of the Year for two years in a row, and were previously nominated for a CMT Music Video Award.

Standout newcomer Sam Hunt is a current five-time ACCA finalist including coveted categories Artist Of The Year and Album Of The Year. His Grammy-nominated debut album “Montevallo” topped the Billboard Country Albums Chart in its first week and remains the best-selling debut album for a country artist since 2011.

Multiple Grammy Award nominee and vocal powerhouse Martina McBride has sold over 18 million albums to date, including 20 Top 10 singles and six No. 1 hits. Recently, she released her new single, Reckless,” the title track from her 13th studio album due out April 29th. She has earned more than 15 major music awards, including four wins for Female Vocalist of the Year from the Country Music Association and three Academy of Country Music Awards for Top Female Vocalist.

Rising singer/songwriter Cole Swindell just hit the top of the country singles charts for a record- breaking fifth consecutive time with the title track “You Should Be Here,” from his forthcoming album, following four No. 1 singles off his Platinum-certified debut. The 2015 ACM New Artist Of The Year and Billboard Top New Artist has earned over 250 million streams and sold over 4 million tracks. Additionally, he has co-written eight of the biggest No. 1 songs in country music for some of the format’s hottest stars, including Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line and Thomas Rhett.

The American Country Countdown Awards is based on country music’s longest-running radio countdown show (43 years), American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks, and honors country music’s biggest stars, based on album sales and radio airplay. Finalists and winners for all categories are based on radio airplay charts, sales and streaming data from April 1, 2015 to March 28, 2016 provided by BuzzAngle Music. Touring data is from Pollstar “The Concert Hotwire.” The NASH Icon Award is chosen by The American Country Countdown.

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Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com