ACM Awards Off-Camera Winners Announced

The Academy of Country Music has announced winners of awards that will not be aired during the live telecast of the Country Music Award Show on May 18th.   The Academy will present the Special Awards and MBI Awards to recipients at a special event in Nashville later this year, date to be announced. The Industry and Radio Awards will be presented during the New Artists’ Party for a Cause on Saturday May 17, in Las Vegas.       SPECIAL AWARDS The Academy of Country Music Special Awards are voted on by the ACM Board of Directors and are awarded during years where the Board of Directors feels there are clear and deserving candidates. Honorees include:   Jim Reeves International Award -- Dick Clark Dick Clark has been selected as the recipient of the Jim Reeves International Award, which is presented to an individual for outstanding contributions to the acceptance of country music throughout the world. In 1979, Clark joined forces with the Academy of Country Music to bring the show to NBC and then later to CBS. With his guidance, the Academy of Country Music Awards broadcast has continued to grow with every decade. Clark was more than just a producer, he hosted the show four times, starting in 1969 and following with stints in 1971-1973.    Poet’s Award -- Bill Anderson and Fred Rose Bill Anderson and Fred Rosehave been selected to receive the first-ever Poet’s Award, which honors songwriters for outstanding musical and/or lyrical contributions throughout their careers in the field of country music.   Over the course of 50 years, “Whisperin’ Bill” Anderson has written songs for some of the biggest names in country music, ranging from Ray Price to George Strait – and racking up 37 Top 10 country hits as a performer in his own right. In 1962, Anderson perched at No. 1 for seven weeks with his own song, “Mama Sang a Song” and repeated that remarkable achievement in 1963 with “Still.” Contemporary artists such as Vince Gill, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley and George Strait have all recorded songs penned by Anderson, who won his first Academy of Country Music award in 2007 for co-writing Strait’s hit track “Give It Away.”   Following the success of writing songs for Hollywood’s singing cowboys, Fred Rose co-founded Nashville’s first music publishing house, and nurtured the career of a young Hank Williams. Both men were charter inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961. As a songwriter, Rose scored a Western-inspired hit, “We’ll Rest at the End of the Trail” in 1936. He penned songs for legendary artists Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, landing his most famous hit posthumously with Willie Nelson’s 1975 recording of “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.” Rose is an inductee of both the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame Rose. In 1942, he and Roy Acuff founded Acuff-Rose Music, still one of the most successful publishing companies in Nashville today.    Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award -- Brenda Lee, The Oak Ridge Boys, Conway Twitty, and Porter Wagoner Brenda Lee, The Oak Ridge Boys, Conway Twitty,andPorter Wagonerhave been chosen to receive the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award honoring individuals who are pioneers in the country music genre.  Past recipients of the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award include Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Bob Wills, Tex Ritter, Charlie Pride, Loretta Lynn, Charlie Daniels, Hank Williams, Sr., Merle Haggard, George Jones, Dolly Parton and Alabama, among others.   Thanks to an impressive string of pop hits in the 1950s and 1960s, Brenda Lee remains one of the best-selling female artists in history, and she introduced Nashville’s music to audiences throughout the world. She made her first chart appearance in 1957 with “One Step at a Time,” debuting on the Grand Ole Opry that same year and earning the nickname “Little Miss Dynamite” from the success of her following hit song “Dynamite.”   Although their roots were in gospel, the Oak Ridge Boys ultimately scored enormous success in country music with their signature four-part harmonies and crowd-pleasing concerts. In 1978, the Academy of Country Music awarded them with two trophies – Vocal Group of the Year and Album of the Year. Their career momentum continued for another decade, with an astonishing 17 No. 1 hits, including “I’ll Be True to You,” “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight” (an early cut for Rodney Crowell) and “Trying to Love Two Women.” Their most famous song “Elvira” appeared in 1981 and won the Academy of Country Music’s Single Record of the Year as well as a Grammy for country vocal group. Multiple other No. 1 hits followed, giving them chart-topping songs for three consecutive decades. The group is still actively touring today.     In 1970, Conway Twitty set the astonishing pace for the decade with “Hello Darlin’” one of the most recognizable singles in Country Music history. He later he teamed with Loretta Lynn and the Academy of Country Music awarded their partnership with four trophies for Top Vocal Group in 1971, 1974-1976. In 1975, he won two more Awards for Album of the Year and Top Male Vocalist. Before he died in 1993, Twitty had scored a record breaking 40 number one hits, either as a solo artist or with his close friend Loretta Lynn.   Porter Wagoner’s smiling face and sparkling jackets made country fans feel at home during his 50 years on the Grand Ole Opry.  A recognized Country Music artist, he reached number one on the Country chart with the song “A Satisfied Mind” in 1955. When television came into homes in the sixties, he greeted them with his own show and most famous singing partner, Dolly Parton, who famously was inspired to write one of her greatest hits, “I Will Always Love You” about Wagoner.  He died in 2007.

 

MBI (MUSICIANS, BAND, INSTRUMENTAL) AWARDS: TOP GUITARIST OF THE YEAR Dann Huff TOP PIANO/KEYBOARD PLAYER OF THE YEAR Matt Rollings TOP BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR Michael Rhodes TOP PERCUSSIONIST/DRUMMER OF THE YEAR Shannon Forrest TOP STEEL GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR Paul Franklin TOP FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Stuart Duncan TOP SPECIALTY INSTRUMENT(S) PLAYER Jerry Douglas AUDIO ENGINEER OF THE YEAR Justin Niebank PRODUCER OF THE YEAR Mark Wright INDUSTRY AWARDS: NIGHTCLUB OF THE YEAR Billy Bob’s, Ft. Worth, TX CASINO OF THE YEAR Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT DON ROMEO TALENT BUYER OF THE YEAR Gil Cunningham, Neste Event Marketing PROMOTER OF THE YEAR Brian O’Connell, Livenation VENUE OF THE YEAR Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, VA RADIO AWARDS: NATIONAL ON-AIR PERSONALITY The Big D and Bubba Show The Lia Show ON-AIR PERSONALITY - MAJOR MARKET Gerry House & The House Foundation, WSIX- FM, Nashville, TN ON-AIR PERSONALITY - MEDIUM MARKET Valleri St. John, WWGR-FM, Ft. Meyers, FL ON-AIR PERSONALITY - SMALL MARKET Gator & The Styckman, WGSQ- FM, Cookeville, TN RADIO STATION - MAJOR MARKET WMIL- FM, Milwaukee, WI RADIO STATION - MEDIUM MARKET WUSY- FM, Chattanooga, TN RADIO STATION - SMALL MARKET WGSQ- FM, Cookeville, TN