ACM Honors Industry Veterans

The stars of Country Music paid tribute to industry veterans last night for the Academy of Country Music's ACM Honors in Nashville.  The first-time event recognized Special Award recipients and those who won the MBI (Musicians, Bands and Instruments) Award from the 43rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. The achievements of the award winners were celebrated with live music, interviews with industry veterans, video tributes and historical video retrospectives.  Dick Clark received the Jim Reeves International Award, which is given to an individual for outstanding contributions to the acceptance of Country Music worldwide. Bill Anderson and Fred Rose were the recipents of the first-time Poet's Award, which honors songwriters for their musical and/or lyrical contributions throughout their careers. Brenda Lee, the Oak Ridge Boys, Conway Twitty and Porter Wagoner were the recipents of the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award, which honors pioneers in the Country Music genre.  MBI Honorees included: Jerry Douglas - Top Specialty Instrument(s) Player of the Year Stuart Duncan - Top Fiddle Player of the Year Shannon Forrest - Top Percussionist/Drummer of the Year Paul Franklin - Top Steel Guitar Player of the Year Dann Huff - Top Guitarist of the Year Just Niebank - Audio Engineer of the Year Michael Rhodes - Top Bass Player of the Year Matt Rollings - Top Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year Mark Wright - Producer of the Year Among the tribute performances were: Luke Bryan performed Conway Twitty's "Hello Darlin'" Amy Grant performed Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" Ernie Hasse and Signature Sound performed a medley of Oak Ridge Boys songs Raul Malo performed Brenda Lee's "Jambalaya" Joe Nichols performed Bill Anderson's "I'll Wait for You" Jon Randall performed Bill Anderson's "Whiskey Lullabye" LeAnn Rimes performed Brenda Lee's "I'm Sorry" Rivers Rutherford performed Fred Rose's "Blue Eyes Cryin' In the Rain" Connie Smith performed Bill Anderson's "Once a Day" Glen Templeton and Emily Portman performed a medley as Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn Josh Turner performed Conway Twitty's "Slow Hand" Participants in the video-tribute included President George W. Bush and Laura Bush, Trace Adkins, Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton, Marty Stuart, Steve Wariner, Lee Ann Womack and Montgomery Gentry.