The Academy of Country Music revealed the nominees for the 56th ACM Awards Friday morning (Feb. 26). The 56th ACM Awards will broadcast live from Nashville on Sunday, April 18 (8:00-11:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network and will also be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+, ViacomCBS’ upcoming global streaming service.

Kelsea Ballerini and Brothers Osborne appeared live today on CBS This Morning to announce this year’s nominees for Entertainer of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Duo of the Year, Group of the Year and Single of the Year.

Maren Morris and Chris Stapleton lead with 6 nominations each. Miranda Lambert garners five nominations, continuing her streak as the most nominated female artist in Academy history with 68 lifetime nominations.

For the first time in ACM Awards history, four Black artists are nominated for awards in a single year including Jimmie Allen, Kane Brown, Mickey Guyton and John Legend.

Additionally, for the first time in ACM Awards history, every Single of the Year nominee is a female artist. Notably, no female artists are represented in the Entertainer of the Year category.

Producer Jay Joyce leads the Studio Recording nominations with four entries. Dann Huff receives three nominations, and busbee posthumously earns two.

John Legend receives his first-ever ACM Awards nomination for Video of the Year for his duet with Carrie Underwood on “Hallelujah,” while Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton received a nomination for Music Event of the Year for their duet, “Nobody But You,” marking Stefani’s first ACM Award nomination.

14 artists and industry creators received their first-ever ACM Awards nominations, including: Legend, Stefani, Tenille Arts, Spencer Cullum, Travis Denning, Kris Donegan, Alicia Enstrom, Jason Hall, Gena Johnson, P!nk, Steve Mackey, Benmont Tench, Chris Tomlin and Kristin Wilkinson.

The full list of nominees for the 56th ACM Awards are below:

GROUP OF THE YEAR:
Lady A
Little Big Town
Old Dominion
The Cadillac Three
The Highwomen

DUO OF THE YEAR:
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie & Tae

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Maren Morris
Carly Pearce

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Dierks Bentley
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR:
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton

SINGLE OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]:
Bluebird – Miranda Lambert
– Producer: Jay Joyce
– Record Label: Vanner Records/RCA Records Nashville

I Hope – Gabby Barrett
– Producers: Ross Copperman, Zach Kale
– Record Label: Warner Music Nashville

I Hope You’re Happy Now – Carly Pearce & Lee Brice
– Producers: busbee
– Record Label: Big Machine Records / Curb Records

More Hearts Than Mine – Ingrid Andress
– Producers: Ingrid Andress, Sam Ellis
– Record Label: Warner Music Nashville

The Bones – Maren Morris
– Producer: Greg Kurstin
– Record Label: Columbia Nashville

NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Ingrid Andress
Tenille Arts
Gabby Barrett
Mickey Guyton
Caylee Hammack

NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Jimmie Allen
Travis Denning
HARDY
Cody Johnson
Parker McCollum

SONG OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]:
Bluebird – Miranda Lambert
– Songwriter(s): Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Natalie Hemby
– Publishers: Emileon Songs; Little Louder Songs; Pink Dog Publishing; Songs of Universal, INC; Sony ATV Tree Publishing; Wrucke for You Publishing

One Night Standards – Ashley McBryde
– Songwriter(s): Ashley McBryde, Nicolette Hayford, Shane McAnally
– Publishers: Canned Biscuit Songs; Smackworks Music; Smack Blue, LLC; Smackstreet Music; Tempo Investments; Warner Geo Met Ric Music; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp

Some People Do – Old Dominion
– Songwriter(s): Jesse Frasure, Matt Ramsey, Thomas Rhett, Shane McAnally
– Publishers: Carrot Seed Songs; EMI Blackwood Music INC; Smackville Music; Songs of ROC Nation; Telemitry Rhythm House Music; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp; Smack Hits; Tempo Investments; Warner Gro Met Ric Music

Starting Over – Chris Stapleton
– Songwriter(s): Chris Stapleton, Mike Henderson
– Publishers: I Wrote These Songs; Straight Six Music; WC Music Corp

The Bones – Maren Morris
– Songwriter(s): Jimmy Robbins, Maren Morris, Laura Veltz
– Publishers: Big Machine Music, LLC; Extraordinary Alien Publishing; International Dog Music; Oh Denise Publishing; Round Hill Songs; Warner-Tamerlane
Publishing Corp.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]:
Born Here Live Here Die Here – Luke Bryan
– Producers: Jeff Stevens, Jody Stevens
– Record Label: Capitol Records Nashville

Mixtape Vol. 1 – Kane Brown
– Producers: Andrew Goldstein, Charlie Handsome, Dann Huff, Lindsay Rimes
– Record Label: RCA Nashville

Never Will – Ashley McBryde
– Producer: Jay Joyce
– Record Label: Warner Music Nashville

Skeletons – Brothers Osborne
– Producer: Jay Joyce
– Record Label: EMI Records Nashville

Starting Over – Chris Stapleton
– Producers: Chris Stapleton, Dave Cobb
– Record Label: Mercury Nashville

VIDEO OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]:
Better Than We Found It – Maren Morris
– Director: Gabrielle Woodland
– Producers: Sarah Kunin, Jennifer Pepke

Bluebird – Miranda Lambert
– Director: Trey Fanjoy
– Producer: Heather Levenstone

Gone – Dierks Bentley
– Directors: Wes Edwards, Ed Pryor, Travis Nicholson, Running Bear and Sam Siske, with animation by Skylar Wilson
– Producer: David Garcia

Hallelujah – Carrie Underwood and John Legend
– Director: Randee St. Nicholas
– Producer: Greg Wells

Worldwide Beautiful – Kane Brown
– Director: Alex Alvga
– Producer: Christen Pinkston

MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR (Tie Within Category Increased Nominees) [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]:
Be A Light – Thomas Rhett featuring Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin, Keith Urban
– Producer: Dann Huff
– Record Label: The Valory Music Co.

Does To Me – Luke Combs featuring Eric Church
– Producer: Scott Moffatt
– Record Label: River House Artists/Columbia Nashville

I Hope You’re Happy Now – Carly Pearce & Lee Brice
– Producer: busbee
– Record Label: Big Machine Records / Curb Records

Nobody But You – Blake Shelton featuring Gwen Stefani
– Producer: Scott Hendricks
– Record Label: Warner Music Nashville

One Beer – HARDY featuring Lauren Alaina & Devin Dawson
– Producers: Derek Wells, Joey Moi
– Record Label: Big Loud Records

One Too Many – Keith Urban, P!nk
– Producers: Cutfather, Dan McCarroll, Keith Urban, PhD
– Record Label: Capitol Records Nashville

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR:
Ashley Gorley
Michael Hardy
Hillary Lindsey
Shane McAnally
Josh Osborne

STUDIO RECORDING AWARDS:

BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Jarrod Travis Cure
Mark Hill
Tony Lucido
Steve Mackey
Glenn Worf

DRUMMER OF THE YEAR:
Fred Eltringham
Evan Hutchings
Derek Mixon
Jerry Roe
Aaron Sterling

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
J.T. Corenflos
Kris Donegan
Jedd Hughes
Ilya Toshinskiy
Derek Wells

PIANO/KEYS PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Dave Cohen
David Dorn
Charlie Judge
Mike Rojas
Benmont Tench

SPECIALTY INSTRUMENT PLAYER OF THE YEAR (Tie Within Category Increased Nominees):
Alicia Enstrom
Jim Hoke
Danny Rader
Mickey Raphael
Ilya Toshinskiy
Kristin Wilkinson

STEEL GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Spencer Cullum
Dan Dugmore
Mike Johnson
Russ Pahl
Justin Schipper

AUDIO ENGINEER OF THE YEAR:
Jeff Balding
Jason Hall
Gena Johnson
Vance Powell
F. Reid Shippen

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR:
Buddy Cannon
Dave Cobb
Dann Huff
Jay Joyce
Joey Moi

Heath Sanders spent almost a decade working in natural gas in Arkansas before he found himself taken on a whirlwind journey via his music.

He grew up in a single-wide trailer in Marshall—a small town in a region of Arkansas called the Ozarks that is characterized by terrain encompassing mountains, caves, rivers and hot springs. His father logged in the winter and built fencing in the summer, as well as milked cows year round.

“I just had a good, solid, blue-collar start to life. I had an amazing grandpa that was really involved in music and always loved music,” Sanders told MusicRow in a recent virtual visit. “He was putting a guitar in my hands when I was six months old. I don’t know how I didn’t learn to play it until I was 21, but he sure tried.”

The day Sanders turned 18, he was offered a job in the oil fields. He enjoyed it when he started because of the unlimited hours he could rack up. “You could work a hundred hours a week if you wanted to,” he said.

When gas prices fell in 2017, Sanders hours were cut back to 40 per week. “Being the money man that I was, I was living way past my 40-hour means, so it really set me back substantially as far as finances go,” Sanders said. “So I decided to pick up a side gig and the only thing that made sense to me was that I could play some songs on the guitar and get by.”

Sanders started playing bars and restaurants to make some extra money. “I never really saw myself as anything more than just the guy sitting over in the corner, playing a song or two while everybody ate their steaks.”

In September of 2017 Sanders made a Facebook page to promote his artistry and book gigs. Shortly after, a friend dared him to post a cover of Chris Stapleton’s “Either Way.”

The video went viral. With the validation he got from the success of the video, Sanders decided to try something he had never done before: writing a song.

“I had never really written a song before. I had learned three chords back in my early twenties and I would sit down and try to write some songs. They were terrible, so I just put the pen away and never really tried.

“I picked up my pen on a Sunday morning and I sat down to write. It took me all day to write a verse and a chorus. That song ended up being ‘Bloodline,’ which ended up being my first single. But the crazy thing is, I’m sitting there with my pen in my hand and my guitar in my lap, writing my first song ever, and the phone goes off and it’s Bobby Bones.”

Bones, a fellow Arkansas native, invited Sanders to come play on his morning show, and told him to bring in an original song to play. “I panicked,” Sanders joked. He finished the song with his buddy, Jamie Jones, and played it shortly after on The Bobby Bones Show.

“Needless to say, after I walked out of the studio, my entire life changed.”

After his performance on the radio show, Nashville music executives started calling. The now Valory Music Co. artist found a partnership with Scott Borchetta‘s Big Machine Label Group.

“I was really fortunate,” Sanders said. “A lot of people come to town and work their tails off for 10 or 15 years before anything really happens for them. I just feel blessed. I feel like I cheated the system a little bit, but everything happens for a reason.”

Sanders co-wrote all four songs on his recently released EP, Common Ground.

Sander’s first single, “Old School’s In,” celebrates his upbringing and officially arrives for adds at country radio on March 8. “Time still crawls, the flag still flies / Mama still cooks and God won’t die / Dogs still hunt, men man up / A little bit of red just runs in your blood,” Sanders sings in the tune.

Common Ground‘s affecting title track spreads a message of unity and acceptance in spite of differences. “We’re all findin’ our own way / We’re all livin’, we’re all learnin’ / From the cradle to the grave / We’re all weak, we’re all strong / We’re all right, and we’re all wrong / And when time runs out / We all end up /In common ground,” Sanders sings.

“I have to share a little perspective here, or to share a little story here on what this opportunity to see the world has done to to my world view and my perspective. Three years ago, I’d never been north of Missouri. I’ve never been west of Texas and I’ve never been in south Louisiana. As soon as I signed up with the label, they shipped me off to Cancun.

“Being from where I’m from, an old dirt road there’s obvious stereotypes you put on people in cities and stuff. Being able to travel and see places like Chicago and going out to California, gladly I’ve realized that there are as good of people in those cities as the old men sitting in their overalls, drinking coffee in the morning at the gas station. There’s good people everywhere. And I think we all really want the same thing: we all just want to pursue life, liberty and happiness. We just want to live our lives. I’m really proud of this song, it’s one of those songs that you step back from and you’re like, ‘Golly, I just can’t believe I had a hand in writing that.'”