Garth Brooks and Chris Stapleton were big winners during the 50th Annual CMA Awards. Brooks took home Entertainer of the Year, while Stapleton was a double winner, earning Male Vocalist of the Year and Video of the Year for “Fire Away.” Read MusicRow‘s CMA recap here.

Full list of 50th Annual CMA Award Nominees (Winners in red):

Entertainer Of The Year
Winner: Garth Brooks
Luke Bryan
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban

Single of the Year
(Award goes to Artist, Producer(s), and Mix Engineer(s))

Winner: “Die a Happy Man,” Thomas Rhett
Produced by Dann Huff and Jesse Frasure
Mix Engineered by Justin Niebank
The Valory Music Co.

“Humble and Kind,” Tim McGraw
Produced by Byron Gallimore and Tim McGraw
Mix Engineered by Byron Gallimore
Big Machine Records

“My Church,” Maren Morris
Produced by busbee and Maren Morris
Mix Engineered by Dave Clauss and busbee
Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville

“Nobody To Blame,” Chris Stapleton
Produced by Dave Cobb and Chris Stapleton
Mix Engineered by Vance Powell
Mercury Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville

“Record Year,” Eric Church
Produced by Jay Joyce
Mix Engineered by Jay Joyce and Jason Hall
EMI Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville

Album of the Year
Black
Dierks Bentley
Producer: Ross Copperman, Arturo Buenahora, Jr.
Capitol Records Nashville / Universal Music Group Nashville

Hero
Maren Morris
Producer: busbee, Maren Morris, Brad Hill
Columbia Nashville / Sony Music Nashville

Winner: Mr. Misunderstood
Eric Church
Producer: Jay Joyce, Arturo Buenahora, Jr.
EMI Records Nashville / Universal Music Group Nashville

Ripcord
Keith Urban
Producer: Jeff Bhasker, Tyler Johnson, Dann Huff, Greg Wells, Nile Rodgers, busbee, K-Kov, Nathan Chapman, Jonny Price, Keith Urban
Hit Red Records / Capitol Records Nashville / Universal Music Group Nashville

Storyteller
Carrie Underwood
Producer: Jay Joyce, Mark Bright, Zach Crowell
19 Recordings / Arista Nashville / Sony Music Nashville

Song of the Year
(Award goes to Songwriter(s))
“Burning House,” Camaron “Cam” Ochs, Tyler Johnson, Jeff Bhasker
“Die a Happy Man,” Sean Douglas, Thomas Rhett, and Joe Spargur
Winner: “Humble and Kind,” Lori McKenna
“My Church,” busbee and Maren Morris
“Record Year,” Eric Church and Jeff Hyde

Female Vocalist of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris
Kacey Musgraves
Winner: Carrie Underwood

Male Vocalist of the Year
Dierks Bentley
Eric Church
Tim McGraw
Winner: Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban

Vocal Group of the Year
Lady Antebellum
Winner: Little Big Town
Old Dominion
Rascal Flatts
Zac Brown Band

Vocal Duo of the Year
Winner: Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Joey + Rory
Maddie & Tae

Musical Event of the Year
Winner: “Different For Girls,” Dierks Bentley feat. Elle King
[Capitol Records Nashville / Universal Music Group Nashville]

“Home Alone Tonight,” Luke Bryan featuring Karen Fairchild
[Capitol Records Nashville / Universal Music Group Nashville]

“The Fighter,” Keith Urban (featuring Carrie Underwood)
[Hit Red Records / Capitol Records Nashville / Universal Music Group Nashville]

“Think Of You,” Chris Young (duet with Cassadee Pope)
[RCA Nashville / Sony Music Nashville]

“You Are My Sunshine,” Morgane Stapleton with Chris Stapleton
[Low Country Sound / Elektra Records]

Musician of the Year
Jerry Douglas, Dobro / Lap Steel Guitar
Paul Franklin, Steel Guitar
Winner: Dann Huff, Guitar
Brent Mason, Guitar
Derek Wells, Guitar

Music Video of the Year
Burning House
Cam
Directed by Trey Fanjoy

Winner: Fire Away
Chris Stapleton
Directed by Tim Mattia

Humble and Kind
Tim McGraw
Directed by Wes Edwards

Record Year
Eric Church
Directed by John Peets and Reid Long

Somewhere On A Beach
Dierks Bentley
Directed by Wes Edwards

New Artist of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini
Brothers Osborne
Winner: Maren Morris
Old Dominion
Cole Swindell

Blake Shelton, Thomas Rhett, and Kelsea Ballerini will headline the 2017 lineup for the second Music and Miracles Superfest Show on April 22, 2017, which will also include performances by Lynyrd Skynyrd and Michael Ray. The concert was created by Chicken Salad Chick Foundation board members Kevin and Stacy Brown and Betty and Earlon McWhorter to raise funds for cancer research and help combat hunger. The first Music and Miracles Superfest, headlined by Kenny Chesney, was the first major concert ever held in Jordan-Hare Stadium’s 75-year history, on April 23 in Auburn, Alabama.

Chicken Salad Chick Foundation’s Stacy Brown and the McWhorters recently presented a $200,000 check to Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center to support cancer research from funds raised through the Music and Miracles Superfest, among other initiatives.

“This was the dream and the vision of my late husband, Kevin Brown, who was diagnosed with colon cancer in Nov. 2013,” said Brown, co-founder of the Auburn-based Chicken Salad Chick restaurant and catering firm. “Thankfully, our business was successful and we were already talking about how we were going to give back. It became clear very quickly that this should be our focus.”

In conjunction with the McWhorters, the Browns launched the Chicken Salad Chick Foundation, with a mission to help feed the hungry and fight cancer. Kevin Brown, who was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2013, started dreaming of a giant fundraising concert headlined by Chesney, which resulted in the inaugural Music and Miracles Superfest. Monies from the event will go to clinical research designed to generate new knowledge that will enable physicians and scientists to make more rapid advances in cancer prevention, detection and treatment. Vanderbilt is one of the leaders of a nationwide research effort to align promising therapies with patients with advanced cancer who are mostly likely to benefit from targeted therapies.

Pictured (L-R): BMI’s Josh Tomlinson, BMI songwriter Song Dillon, BMI Icon Dean Dillon and BMI’s Jody Williams.

Song Dillon, daughter of BMI Icon and country music legend Dean Dillon, stopped by the Nashville office of performing rights organization BMI on Nov. 2 to officially sign as a songwriter.

A lifelong songwriter, Song is currently in high school in Knoxville, Tennessee, and plans to move to Nashville after graduation to pursue a career as a writer and an artist.

Pictured (seated): Ken Burns. Standing: Ricky Skaggs; Dr. Bob Fisher, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Belmont University; Nashville Mayor Megan Barry.

Belmont University announced Wednesday morning (Nov. 2) a deal to sponsor the upcoming eight-episode, 16-hour documentary series Country Music, helmed by revered filmmaker Ken Burns.

Among those celebrating the announcement were Nashville mayor Megan Barry, artist Ricky Skaggs, Belmont University president Bob Fisher, and producer Burns.

While the exact amount was not revealed, Fisher noted that Belmont would help underwrite a significant amount of the production and distribution costs for the series.

Burns has directed and produced for 30 years, including award-winning documentaries The Civil War (1990), Baseball (1994), Jazz (2001), The War (2007), The National Parks: America’s Best Idea (2009), Prohibition (2011), The Central Park Five (2012), and The Roosevelts (2014). He was also executive producer of both The West (1996, directed by Stephen Ives), and Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies (2015, directed by Barak Goodman). Burns’ work has been nominated for two Academy Awards and has earned two Emmy Awards (for Baseball and The National Parks).

“In some ways I don’t know why in almost 40 years we haven’t done [a country music documentary] before,” said Burns. “We are interested and each of our films asks one question: ‘Who are we? Who are these people who call themselves Americans? What does investigation of the past tell us about who we are and where we are going as people?'”

As part of the deal, Belmont University students will have the opportunity to intern with Burns’ Florentine Films in New Hampshire and New York. Belmont will also host a screening and Q&A session for the series.

Pictured (L-R): Dr. Bob Fisher; Ken Burns; Ricky Skaggs (speaking); Marty Dickens; Nashville Mayor Megan Barry.

Burns has already been working with Belmont’s Don Cusic for the past four years, as well as with the Country Music Hall of Fame to tell the story of country music’s history. He noted that the series includes interviews with Holly Williams, Belmont alumna Trisha Yearwood, Ricky Skaggs, Dolly Parton and more.

“There is no better place to center our base of operations than in Music City,” said Burns. “And while we do go to the Appalachian Mountains; Memphis, Tennessee; Del Rio, Texas; Bakersfield, California; Bristol, Tennessee; and Nova Scotia, Canada and the way it’s taken on around the world, it is centered here. The story of country music is this glorious tension of Nashville and these hillbillies that invaded…that tension is one of the driving forces of country music and this town. One of our earliest alums is Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, better known as Minnie Pearl. She helped the established gentry of Nashville accept the new people who came in. In every single episode, all eight episodes, we are on the cusp of that great story. We are thrilled to work with Belmont to help tell that story.

Belmont University announces major sponsorship of Ken Burns’s new documentary, the highly anticipated “Country Music” which is slated to premiere nationally on PBS in 2019, on the front steps of Freeman Hall at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. November 2, 2016.

“We’ve digitized 20,000 still photos,” said Burns, who noted the documentary is in the early days of editing. “We’ve done 98 interviews for this and I’m sorry to say, but happy to say, we included several people who have passed away, including Ralph Stanley and Little Jimmy Dickens.”

The documentary is set to air in 2019 on PBS.

“I can’t think of a better subject than country music,” said Burns. “It is American history firing on all cylinders.”

Josh Turner Meets and Greets for Second Harvest 

Photo: Rick Diamond

Josh Turner teamed up with Nashville’s Cost Plus World Market for a special meet and greet/food drive Sunday (10/30) and raised over 1000 pounds of non-perishable food for Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Turner met and took photos with fans and the strong turnout resulted in over a half ton of food going to families in the middle Tennessee area in time for the upcoming holidays.

KTHK Star Guitar Charity Auction A Success

Pictured (L-R): KTHK Cory Daniels, Winning Bidders Mr. & Mrs. Overdorf, KTHK Don Jarrett

MusicRow CountryBreakout panel station KTHK-FM in Idaho Falls, Idaho, held their 4th annual Star Guitar Charity Auction on The Early Bird Show Oct. 20-31, auctioning off eight guitars signed by country stars like Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and dozens more. The event raised $6,700 for three local charities, the Veteran’s Mobility Corp, District#91 & District #93 school music programs, and The Eastern Idaho Down Syndrome Family Connect. The station has raised nearly $28,000 for local charities over the last four years.

Newsboys Help Guardian For Heroes on Love Riot Nashville Stop

Pictured (L-R): Newsboys’ Jody Davis and Michael Tait; Guardian for Heroes’ Jeff Kyle; BeastMode for the Brave’s George Chmiel; and Newsboys’ Duncan Phillips and Jeff Frankenstein backstage at Nashville’s Curb Event Center before Friday’s “Love Riot Tour” stop. Photo: KohlPhoto

The Newsboys “Love Riot Tour” Nashville show at the Curb Event Center Friday night (Oct. 28) served as a benefit for the Guardian for Heroes Foundation. Established by late U.S. Navy SEAL and “American Sniper” Chris Kyle, the organization assists combat veterans transitioning to post-military life. During the evening, Guardian for Heroes’ Jeff Kyle, brother of Chris Kyle, spoke about the foundation’s mission and purpose. BeastMode for the Brave endurance athlete George Chmiel also joined Kyle onstage to share about his run across America to raise awareness about the serious issues veterans face upon returning home from the battlefield. Chmiel is currently on track to run more than 3,000 miles in 60 days.