Lambert leads nominees for country music awards

In this Sunday, April 2, 2017 file photo, Miranda Lambert performs ‘Tin Man’ at the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the T-Mobile Arena in Las

Vegas. (AP) Miranda Lambert led the pack with five nominations for Country Music Association awards on Monday, with Little Big Town and Keith Urban earning four nods each.

Lambert was nominated for song and single of the year for “Tin Man”, and also earned nods for album, female vocalist and best video of the year. Nominations for the 51st annual awards were announced on “Good Morning America”. The ceremony is scheduled for Nov 8 in Nashville. Old friend Taylor Swift, now a pop music queen, earned a song of the year nomination for penning “Better Man”, performed by Little Big Town.

The inescapable song of the summer, Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road”, earned nominations for top single and song; it holds the record for most weeks topping Billboard’s list of top country songs. Hunt was snubbed in the best male vocalist and entertainer of the year categories.

Veteran Garth Brooks is shooting for his sixth entertainer of the year award, and his third straight since coming out of retirement. He’s competing with four other men in the category: Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Chris Stapleton and Urban. Urban, a 10-time CMA award winner, was also nominated for male vocalist and single and music video of the year for “Blue Ain’t Your Color”. He can even get an extra trophy because he’s also listed as a producer for the song. (AP)