LUKE BRYAN, KELLY CLARKSON, HUNTER HAYES, MIRANDA LAMBERT, BLAKE SHELTON, GEORGE STRAIT AND THE BAND PERRY TO PERFORM AT THE 48th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS

ENCINO, Calif., March 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Academy of Country Music announced today that Luke Bryan, Kelly Clarkson, Hunter Hayes, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, George Strait and The Band Perry are scheduled to perform as part of the 48^th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS.  This is the first round of artists announced as performers on this year's broadcast. The ceremony, which will be co-hosted by Bryan and Shelton, honors country music's top talent, as well as the industry's hottest emerging artists, is produced for television by dick clark productions and will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

Performers:
Luke Bryan will be co-hosting the Awards telecast for the first time and is one of the fastest rising stars in country music.  He is nominated for four awards, including Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for tailgates & tanlines, and Vocal Event of the Year for "The Only Way I Know" with Jason Aldean and Eric Church.  He is currently headlining his first major tour, the "Dirt Road Diaries Tour," and has earned five platinum singles. 

Kelly Clarkson is nominated for Vocal Event of the Year for "Don't Rush" with Vince Gill, her third nomination in that category.  Last year, she took home two ACM Awards, including Vocal Event of the Year and Single Record of the Year for "Don't You Wanna Stay" with Jason Aldean. To date, Clarkson has released 5 studio albums, sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, 10 million albums in the U.S., and has had 10 singles in the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. Clarkson recently won the GRAMMY® for Best Pop Vocal Album for her last studio album Stronger. Last November, she released her Greatest Hits – Chapter 1 album, which features three new tracks, as well as a compilation of some of her greatest hits to date.

Hunter Hayes has six ACM nominations, including two in the Song of the Year category as the artist and composer, as well as in the Single Record of the Year category as the artist and producer for "Wanted."  He rounds out his nominations with New Male Vocalist of the Year and Video of the Year for "Wanted."  Hunter's GRAMMY® nominated self-titled debut album has garnered three smash hits, including his current single, "Somebody's Heartbreak," which has already entered the Top 5 and is certified Gold, as well as his near Triple Platinum-selling No. 1 single "Wanted."  Hunter Hayes is a celebrated musician, songwriter and performer who is currently on the "Blown Away Tour" with Carrie Underwood.

Miranda Lambert, reigning ACM Female Vocalist of the Year, has earned five nominations including her seventh consecutive nod for Female Vocalist of the Year and second nomination for Entertainer of the Year.  In addition, Lambert was nominated for Single Record of the Year and twice nominated for Song of the Year, as artist and composer, for "Over You."  Lambert is currently on the "Locked & Reloaded" Tour with longtime friend Dierks Bentley. 

Blake Shelton, ACM reigning Male Vocalist of the Year returns to co-host the Awards telecast for the third consecutive year.   He is nominated for three awards - Male Vocalist of the Year, Song of the Year as composer for "Over You" with Miranda Lambert and Entertainer of the Year, the Academy's most prestigious honor.  His current single, "Sure Be Cool If You Did," is his fastest No. 1 record topping the charts in only eight weeks on Billboard's Hot Country Songs Chart.  "Sure Be Cool If You Did" is off his new album, Based On A True Story…which is available everywhere on March 26. You can also catch Shelton kicking off his "Ten Times Crazier" tour on July 19 in Virginia Beach, VA. 

George Strait has won twenty Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Artist of the Decade award, an award that has only been given to four other acts in the Academy's history.  He also holds the record for the most No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.  He has sold more than 68 million records, garnering him 32 different platinum or multi-platinum albums resulting in the most RIAA platinum certifications in country music and the third in all genres, behind The Beatles and Elvis Presley.  Strait recently released his newest single, "Give It All We've Got Tonight"—the first release from his forthcoming 2013 album.  Strait also placed No. 1 on Pollstar's Concert Pulse chart in March after the first leg of his on-going two-year final U.S. tour, "The Cowboy Rides Away Tour" with special guest Martina McBride.

The Band Perry returns to the ACM Awards this year with their third Vocal Group of the Year nomination, just two short years after they were honored with the New Artist of the Year award in 2011. The sibling trio's sophomore album PIONEER will be released on April 2, 2013 and has already spawned the smash, RIAA Certified Platinum single, "Better Dig Two," which quickly became the No. 1 Billboard Hot Country Song, making it the fastest-rising song of the band's career.  It is their third chart-topping single landing at No. 1 on the Country Radio Charts for two consecutive weeks.  The Band Perry is currently on Rascal Flatts' "Changed Tour" and will appear on CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman on April 1, 2013.     

About the Academy of Country Music Awards
The 48^th 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, April 7, 2013 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.  Allen Shapiro, Orly Adelson and R.A. Clark are executive producers.  Barry Adelman is producer, and Bob Bardo is the executive in charge of production. Bob Romeo is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music. 

SOURCE Academy of Country Music