Keith Urban leads CMA nominations with seven

NASHVILLE Keith Urban’s album Ripcord has spawned several top country singles and led to him picking up seven nominations, including entertainer of the year and album of the year at this year’s Academy of Country Music Awards.

Lady Antebellum announced the nominations Thursday on CBS This Morning for the awards show, which will be held April 2. Urban is also nominated for male vocalist of the year, single record of the year and song of the year.

Six-time nominee Miranda Lambert was nominated for female vocalist of the year, which she has won a record seven years in a row. She’s also nominated for album of the year for her double album, The Weight of These Wings, single record of the year, song of the year and video of the year.

Coming off her Grammy win for best country solo performance, Maren Morris tied Lambert with six nominations, including album of the year for Hero. She is nominated as female vocalist, new female vocalist and single record of the year for her song My Church.

With strong pop, dance and R&B influences, Urban’s album has dominated country radio over the past year, with four singles reaching the top six on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Urban said of his top-entertainer nomination. “I have always loved performing on stage, being an entertainer. So that category has always been the highest honour imaginable.”

He mentioned Adele’s Grammy performance when she restarted her George Michael tribute. “She had this incredible courage to stop it in the middle of a live show and say, ‘Let me get this thing right.’ It was the most extraordinary thing I have ever seen on a live TV show.”