ACM Awards 2018: Midland, Brett Young, Lauren Alaina Win New Artist Honors
New Group, Male and Female artist winners are all first-timers
Midland, Brett Young and Lauren Alaina are winners of the 2018 ACM awards for New Artist.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Ahead of the 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards telecast on April 15th, the winners in the new artist category have been revealed, and their respective victories mark the first-ever ACM wins for all three. Midland are the New Vocal Group of the Year, while Brett Young has been selected New Male Vocalist and Lauren Alaina was named New Female Vocalist of the Year.
The winners, each of whom received a surprise phone call with news of their victories from this year’s awards-show host, Reba McEntire, are all slated to perform on the live telecast. In addition to their wins, both Alaina and Midland are nominated in other categories, with her nod for Vocal Event of the Year with Kane Brown (for “What Ifs”) and the trio’s nods for Vocal Group of the Year as well as Single Record of the Year for “Drinkin’ Problem.”
McEntire, taking over from Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, is returning to host the proceedings for the 15th time and is also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year. She previously hosted the show solo from 2001 to 2010 and teamed with Shelton in 2011 and 2012. Chris Stapleton and Thomas Rhett are the top nominees at this year’s ceremony, which will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 15th, at on CBS.
