Special Awards, Industry Awards, Radio Awards and MBI Honorees Announced
ENCINO, Calif., May 7 -- Today the Academy of Country
Music is announcing the winners of awards that will not be televised during
the live telecast of the 43rd ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS. The
ceremony, which honors country music's top talent as well as the industry's
hottest emerging talent, will be broadcast LIVE from MGM GRAND in Las Vegas
on Sunday, May 18th, 2008 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.
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. In the eighties
and nineties, he was a fixture backstage doing live interviews with
winners. Just as American Bandstand was a rite of passage for up-and-coming
pop singers, talking to Dick Clark backstage at the ACM Awards on live
network television was a mark of success for country acts.
Clark has also been welcoming to country acts on his other productions.
Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve and the American Music Awards have
featured country acts prominently since their inceptions in 1972 and 1973,
respectively, and American Bandstand also offered exposure to artists such
as Alabama, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Tanya Tucker and Conway Twitty.
Past recipients of the Jim Reeves International Award include Merv
Griffin, Roy Clark, Garth Brooks, Charlie Nagatani and Buck Owens, among
others.
Poet's Award -- Bill Anderson and Fred Rose
Bill Anderson and Fred Rose have 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. 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, and Porter Wagoner have
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." Lee
expanded the horizons of country music with successful international tours
and recordings in multiple languages, becoming best-known for her beloved
classic "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." She joined the Country Music
Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, becoming
the only woman in history to be honored by both institutions.
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 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
-- Bill 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
The winners of the MBI, Industry and Radio Awards are voted based on
Academy of Country Music ballots in their respected category.
About the Academy of Country Music
Founded in 1964, the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC is an artist and
industry- driven organization, that provides the financial resources to
ensure the on-going philanthropic work of its Charitable Fund. The Academy
of Country Music Charitable Fund promotes and supports music education and
humanitarian programs that transform the human spirit. Through its
charitable donations, the ACMCF works towards promoting Learning Through
Music and Healing Through Music. The Academy is comprised of more than
4,500 professional members and more than 40,000 associate members and is
headquartered in Encino, Calif.
About the Academy of Country Music Awards
The 43rd 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 be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday,
May 18, 2008 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.
R.A. Clark is executive producer, Barry Adelman is producer and Bob Bardo
is executive in charge of production.
For more information on the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC and the ACADEMY OF
COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, please visit http://www.acmcountry.com. For more
information on the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC CHARITABLE FUND, please visit
http://www.acmcf.org.
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