Chris Stapleton, Kelsea Ballerini, Old Dominion Win New Artist ACMs
The Academy of Country Music has announced its New Artist winners for Male, Female and Duo/Group ahead of the April 3rd ACM Awards: Chris Stapleton, Kelsea Ballerini and Old Dominion were all victorious in their respective categories.
For Stapleton, the win over fellow New Male Vocalist nominees Brett Eldredge, Chris Janson, Thomas Rhett and Chase Rice, comes on the heels of his two Grammy awards in February. He’ll compete in three other categories when the trophies are handed out next month in Las Vegas: Male Vocalist, Vocal Event of the Year for “Hangover Tonight” with Gary Allan, and Album of the Year for Traveller.
Stapleton’s female counterpart Ballerini, meanwhile, marks her first-ever award win with the New Female Vocalist triumph. In December, she received a Rising Star award via Billboard, but the ACM is the “Peter Pan” singer’s first voted industry trophy. She’ll vie for “established” Female Vocalist during the ACM Awards against Jana Kramer, Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves and Carrie Underwood.
In the New Vocal Duo or Group category, Old Dominion beat out A Thousand Horses, Brothers Osborne, Maddie & Tae and Parmalee. The band-of-songwriters led by singer Matt Ramsey will hit the road this summer on Kenny Chesney’s Spread the Love Tour.
Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley co-host the 51st ACM Awards on Sunday, April 3rd, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The show airs live on CBS at 8:00 p.m. ET.