Jason Aldean, The Band Perry, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Taylor Swift, and Zac Brown Band Top the List of Final Nominees for "The 45th Annual CMA Awards"

Hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, 2011 CMA Awards will be Broadcast Live From the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Wednesday, Nov. 9 on the ABC Television Network

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 6, 2011 -- Topping the list of final nominees are four artists with five nominations each for "The 45th Annual CMA Awards" including Jason Aldean, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, and Taylor Swift. Right on their heels are The Band Perry and Zac Brown Band, who each received four nominations as a group while individual members Kimberly Perry (of The Band Perry), Coy Bowles and Zac Brown (of Zac Brown Band) each earned a solo nod as a songwriter.

"'Country Music's Biggest Night(TM)' is shaping up to be a tight race with an outstanding group of new and established nominees topping the list," said Steve Moore, CMA Chief Executive Officer. "With no clear frontrunner there will be a heightened level of excitement and anticipation for the CMA Awards in November."

"The 45th Annual CMA Awards" will be hosted for the fourth time by Paisley and Carrie Underwood and broadcast live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Wednesday, Nov. 9 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the ABC Television Network.

For the sixth year, the announcement of the final nominees in five of the 12 CMA Awards categories was made live on ABC News' "Good Morning America" with The Band Perry and Jake Owen delivering the news from the heart of New York City's Times Square. Finalists in the other seven categories were announced by Jerrod Niemann and CMA Vocal Duo and New Artist of the Year nominees Thompson Square from the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, which was home to the first broadcast of the CMA Awards in 1968.

Aldean received first-time nominations in five categories in 2011 including Entertainer; Male Vocalist; Album for My Kinda Party, produced by Michael Knox; and Single and Musical Event of the Year for "Don't You Wanna Stay" with Kelly Clarkson, also produced by Knox. Aldean has two prior nominations including the Horizon Award in 2007 and in 2008 when the category changed names to CMA New Artist of the Year. Clarkson was last nominated in 2007 for Musical Event of the Year with Reba McEntire for "Because of You."

Aldean's golden touch in 2011 extended to songwriters Brantley Gilbert and Colt Ford, who penned Aldean's "Dirt Road Anthem," nominated for Song of the Year.

CMA's reigning Entertainer of the Year, Paisley received five nominations for Entertainer; Male Vocalist; Album for This is Country Music, which was produced by Frank Rogers; Musical Event and Music Video of the Year for "Old Alabama," featuring Alabama and directed by Jim Shea. Paisley's nominations keep him in the No. 3 spot for the most career nominations in CMA Awards history. He has been nominated every year since 2000 and has amassed an incredible 57 career nominations to date. Only George Strait (81) and Alan Jackson (80) have more. With their two nominations Alabama has 41 career nods. The supergroup has won nine CMA Awards including three for Entertainer of the Year. The group received its last nomination in 2004 in the Vocal Group of the Year category.

CMA's current Male Vocalist, Shelton also received five nominations including Entertainer; Male Vocalist; Album for All About Tonight, produced by Scott Hendricks; and Single (produced by Hendricks) and Music Video of the Year for "Honey Bee," directed by Trey Fanjoy.

Swift also received five nominations including Entertainer; Female Vocalist; Album for Speak Now, which was produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman; Music Video for "Mean," which was directed by Declan Whitebloom; and Song of the Year for "Mean," written by Swift, her first nomination as a songwriter. Swift received five nominations, but can receive an additional trophy as producer of her album. Swift won the Horizon Award in 2007 and two years later was named Entertainer of the Year (2009).

The Band Perry received their first nomination in 2010 and they are back in 2011 with four nominations including Vocal Group; New Artist; Single for "If I Die Young," produced by Paul Worley; and Music Video of the Year for "If I Die Young," directed by David McClister. In addition, lead singer Kimberly Perry received one solo nomination for penning "If I Die Young," nominated for Song of the Year.

Zac Brown Band garnered four nominations for Vocal Group; Album for You Get What You Give, produced by Keith Stegall and Zac Brown; Musical Event for "As She's Walking Away" with Alan Jackson; and Single of the Year for "Colder Weather," produced by Stegall and Brown. Additionally, bandmates Brown and Coy Bowles each received a nomination for Song of the Year for writing "Colder Weather" with Wyatt Durrette and Levi Lowrey. Brown could also pick up an additional two trophies for producing the nominated Album and Single of the Year.

Rounding out the Entertainer of the Year category with Aldean, Paisley, Shelton, and Swift is Keith Urban, who won the trophy in 2005. Urban is also nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year, which he has won three times (2004, 2005, and 2006).

Four-time CMA Entertainer of the Year Kenny Chesney received three nominations including Male Vocalist; Musical Event and Music Video of the Year for "You and Tequila" featuring Grace Potter and directed by Shaun Silva. Matraca Berg and Deana Carter each received a nomination for Song of the Year for penning the No. 1 hit. These are Potter's first CMA Awards nominations.

Sara Evans, who received her last CMA Awards nomination in 2006, was nominated for Female Vocalist and Single of the Year for "A Little Bit Stronger," produced by Tony Brown. Brown leads the list of nominees among non-performers with 39 career nominations.

CMA Awards co-host Carrie Underwood received her sixth nomination for Female Vocalist in 2011. Underwood won Female Vocalist of the Year in 2006, 2007, and 2008. If Underwood wins the Female Vocalist of the Year trophy again, it will tie her with Martina McBride (1999, 2002-2004) and Reba McEntire (1984-1987) for most wins in this category. McBride is nominated in the category again in 2011, with Evans, reigning Female Vocalist Miranda Lambert, and Swift.

Lambert received a second nomination along with Sheryl Crow and Country royalty, Loretta Lynn for Musical Event of the Year for their performance of the classic "Coal Miner's Daughter." The song, which tells the story of Lynn's humble beginnings, was nominated for Song of the Year in 1971. The subsequent soundtrack for the movie by the same title won CMA Album of the Year honors in 1980. Lynn, who was CMA's first Female Vocalist of the Year in 1967 and first female Entertainer of the Year in 1972, received her last CMA Awards nomination in 1994 for Musical Event of the Year with Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette for "Silver Thread and Golden Needles."

Husband/wife duo Thompson Square received their first nominations in 2011 for Vocal Duo and New Artist of the Year. In all, there were new names among the nominees in 10 of the 12 CMA Awards categories including Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Album, Vocal Duo, Single, Song, Music Video, Musical Event, Musician, and New Artist.

Another duo making their CMA debut in the Vocal Duo of the Year category is The Civil Wars. Joining them are Montgomery Gentry, who won the Award in 2000, Steel Magnolia, Thompson Square, and Sugarland, who has won the trophy four times (2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010).

In addition to The Band Perry and Thompson Square, the New Artist category also includes Luke Bryan, Eric Church, and Chris Young. Bryan and Young were nominated in the category in 2010. This is Church's first CMA Awards nomination. Artists can only be included in this category two times.

Every finalist in the Vocal Group of the Year category has been previously nominated including The Band Perry, the reigning Vocal Group of the Year Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Rascal Flatts, and Zac Brown Band.

The Musician of the Year category included first-time nominee Sam Bush (mandolin) along with Jerry Douglas (dobro), Paul Franklin (steel guitar), Dann Huff (guitar), and Mac McAnally (guitar).

Held during November Sweeps (Nov. 10), "The 44th Annual CMA Awards" on ABC, dominated the night winning all six of its half hours. With a primetime sweep, ABC finished No. 1 on Wednesday in Viewers across all key demos including Adult, Men, and Women (18-34/18-49/25-54), as well as finishing as the top broadcaster with Teens (12-17) and Kids (2-11). In Total Viewers (17.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.7/13) it was ABC's strongest Wednesday in 12 months with an estimated 33.8 million viewers watching at least some portion of the three-hour gala.

The 2010 CMA Awards was the No. 1 entertainment show for the week among the key advertising Adults 18-49 sales demographic. The special beat its nearest competition by 5.7 million viewers and by 74 percent in Adults 18-49, according to Nielsen.

Winners of "The 45th Annual CMA Awards" will be determined in a final round of voting by eligible voting members of the Country Music Association. CMA Awards balloting is officiated by the international accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche LLP.

The CMA Awards nominees and winners are determined by the 6,400 industry professional members of CMA, which was the first trade organization formed to promote an individual genre of music in 1958. The first CMA Awards Banquet and Show was held in 1967 at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium. The following year, the CMA Awards moved to the Ryman Auditorium and was broadcast on NBC television for the first time - making it the longest running, annual music awards program on network television. The show aired on NBC through 1971 and on the CBS Television Network from 1972 through 2005 before moving to ABC in 2006.

The CMA Awards finalists will be featured on "CMT Insider Special Edition: 2011 CMA Awards Nominations," featuring in-depth coverage of all the nominations, artist interviews, and more. The 30-minute special will premiere Wednesday, Sept. 7 (11:30 AM/ET). The special will re-air on Saturday, Sept. 10 (1:30 PM/ET) and again on Sunday, Sept. 11 (11:00 AM/ET) on CMT.

A video highlights package including footage of the nominee announcements in New York City and Nashville, exclusive interviews, music video clips, and more will be serviced today, Tuesday, Sept. 6 (2:00-2:30 PM/ET).

The video highlights package will be available via satellite at Galaxy 17 (KU) Digital - Transponder 13 - Ch D - 9 MHz - Downlink Frequency: 11973.5 (H) - FEC: 3/4 - Symbol Rate: 6.1113. In addition, the video highlights package will be available via FTP download at ftp.magnosound.com; USERNAME: cmaawards; PASSWORD: nominations.

If you have difficulty picking up the video highlights package or have questions about the feed, please contact Scott Sklarin with Sklarin Communications at (917) 992-0920 or (917) 929-5564; or Maria Eckhardt at CMA (615) 664-1637, or by e-mail at meckhardt@CMAworld.com. For questions regarding the FTP download, please call (212) 302-2505, ext. 0.

Tickets for "The 45th Annual CMA Awards" go on sale to the public Saturday, Sept. 24 (10:00 AM/CT). Tickets can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com or Ticketmaster outlets; by calling (800) 745-3000; or at the Bridgestone Arena Box Office, located at 501 Broadway (corner of Fifth Avenue and Broadway, Nashville). Ticket prices for the CMA Awards start at $110 for Upper Level seating. Ticket prices include tax, but exclude applicable service fees. Purchase tickets early for the best available seats. In 2009 and 2010, the CMA Awards sold out in advance.

"The 45th Annual CMA Awards" is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton is the Executive Producer, Paul Miller is the Director, and David Wild is the writer. The special will be shot in high definition and broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC's selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound.

Premiere Radio Networks is the official radio packager of the CMA Awards. Chevrolet(TM) is a Proud Partner of the CMA Awards and Official Ride of Country Music. CMA is a Proud Supporter of DRIVE4COPD.