WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR “2016 AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS”

  • LUKE BRYAN NAMED ARTIST OF THE YEAR
  • Reba McEntire Honored Longtime Friends Brooks & Dunn With 2016 NASH Icon Award Presented By Ford F-Series 
  • Toby Keith Performed Touching Tribute to Country Legend Merle Haggard, Introduced by Academy Award® Winner Matthew McConaughey

Winners have been announced for the star-studded 2016 AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS, which aired LIVE tonight on FOX from The Forum in Inglewood, CA. Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt each picked up two awards: Bryan was named Artist of the Year and Male Vocalist Of The Year, while Hunt received Breakthrough Male Of The Year and Digital Album Of The Year. Other winners included Kelsea Ballerini (Breakthrough Female Of The Year), Garth Brooks (Touring Artist Of The Year), Florida Georgia Line (Group/Duo Of The Year), Chris Stapleton (Album Of The Year) and Carrie Underwood (Female Artist Of The Year). For a complete list of winners, please see below.

The two-hour broadcast featured 14 performances, including Kelsea Ballerini (“Dibs”), 2016 NASH Icon Award presented by Ford F-Series recipients Brooks & Dunn (“Red Dirt Road”), Luke Bryan (“Huntin’, Fishin’ And Lovin’ Every Day”), Cam (“Mayday”), Dan + Shay (“Nothin’ Like You”/“From The Ground Up”), Florida Georgia Line (who premiered “H.O.L.Y.,” a song from their new album due out this summer), Sam Hunt (“Make You Miss Me”), Chris Janson (“Buy Me a Boat”), Martina McBride (“Reckless”), Thomas Rhett (“Die A Happy Man”), Cole Swindell (“You Should Be Here”) and Carrie Underwood (“Church Bells”).

Three of country music’s leading ladies — Martina McBride, Jennifer Nettles and Cam — kicked off the evening with a performance of McBride’s No. 1 hit anthem “This One’s For the Girls,” while legendary duo Brooks & Dunn performed their 2013 megahit “Red Dirt Road,” after receiving the 2016 NASH Icon Award Presented by Ford F-Series. The award, which celebrates an iconic artist whose extraordinary talent has influenced generations of musicians, was presented by longtime friend and 2014 NASH Icon recipient Reba McEntire. Academy Award® winner Matthew McConaughey introduced Toby Keith’s tribute to his friend Merle Haggard, with Haggard’s longtime band, the Strangers, featuring Haggard’s son, Ben. 

Presenters at the second annual show included Paula Abdul, Chase Bryant, Terry Crews, Cat Deeley, Sara Evans, Trent Harmon, Jana Kramer, Chris Lane, Maddie & Tae, McConaughey, Scotty McCreery, McEntire, Jennifer Nettles, Michael Ray, Canaan Smith, Luke Wilson and Dwight Yoakam.

Following is the list of winners in the 12 categories for the 2016 AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS: 

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Luke Bryan

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Luke Bryan

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Carrie Underwood

GROUP/DUO OF THE YEAR

Florida Georgia Line

BREAKTHROUGH MALE OF THE YEAR

Sam Hunt

BREAKTHROUGH FEMALE OF THE YEAR

Kelsea Ballerini

BREAKTHROUGH GROUP/DUO OF THE YEAR

Old Dominion

SONG OF THE YEAR

“Die A Happy Man” – Thomas Rhett

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

“Traveller” – Chris Stapleton

DIGITAL SONG OF THE YEAR

“Girl Crush” – Little Big Town

DIGITAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR

“Montevallo” – Sam Hunt

TOURING ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Garth Brooks

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 AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS is produced by dick clark productions. Allen Shapiro (CEO, dick clark productions), Mike Mahan (President, dick clark productions), Mark Bracco (Executive Vice President, Programming and Development, dick clark productions), Richard Godfrey and Tom Forrest are executive producers.

About dick clark productions

dick clark productions (dcp) is the world’s largest producer and proprietor of televised live event entertainment programming, with the “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “American Country Countdown Awards,” “American Music Awards,” “Billboard Music Awards,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest,” “Golden Globe Awards,” “Hollywood Film Awards” and the “Streamy Awards.” Weekly television programming includes SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, from 19 Entertainment, a division of CORE Media Group and dcp. dcp also owns one of the world’s most unique and extensive entertainment archive libraries, with more than 55 years of award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming. For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com. 

About Cumulus Media

A leader in the radio broadcasting industry, Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS) combines high-quality local programming with iconic, nationally syndicated media, sports and entertainment brands to deliver premium content choices to the 245 million people reached each week through its 454 owned-and-operated stations broadcasting in 90 U.S. media markets (including eight of the top 10), more than 8,200 broadcast radio stations affiliated with its Westwood One network and numerous digital channels. Together, the Cumulus/Westwood One platforms make Cumulus Media one of the few media companies that can provide advertisers with national reach and local impact. Cumulus/Westwood One is the exclusive radio broadcast partner to some of the largest brands in sports and entertainment, including the NFL, the NCAA, the Masters, the Olympics, the GRAMMYs, the Country Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards and Miss America. Additionally, it is the nation's leading provider of country music and lifestyle content through its NASH brand, which serves country fans nationwide through radio programming, NASH Country Weekly magazine, concerts, licensed products and television/video.

For more information, visit www.cumulus.com.

SOCIAL MEDIA INFORMATION:

Cheat Tweet:  Congrats to the winners of this year’s #ACCAs! See the full list of @ACCAs winners here: bit.ly/ACCAs16Winners