Luke Bryan Reacts to 2019 ACM Awards Double Nomination

Luke Bryan has a message for his fans after receiving two 2019 ACM Awards nominations, for both Single of the Year, for “Most People Are Good” and the night’s highest honor, Entertainer of the Year.

“Thank you so much for my ACM nomination for Entertainer of the Year, and Single of the Year, for ‘Most People Are Good,’” Bryan said. “It means the world, and we’ll see you at the awards. Tune in!”

Bryan later reflected on the industry recognition, and the validation it offers after working so hard in 2018.

“The opportunity to go to the ACMs with two nominations – Entertainer of the Year and Single of the Year – is just a huge honor for me,” Bryan admitted. “When I was able to record ‘Most People Are Good,’ I just felt like it was a really, really important song for the world to hear, an important song for me to have in my live show and to put out on radio, and to have it nominated is so rewarding for me and I’m so happy for the songwriters.

“And also, to have an Entertainer of the Year nomination is a huge honor for me,” he continued. “It’s something that I really, really work hard at every year to try to be a better Entertainer, a better singer and a better performer. Nothing is better than going to the ACMs in Vegas, having a couple of nominations and just being out there and enjoying the party and being in the room and seeing what happens. I’m humbled by it, and it’s gonna be exciting the night of the ACMs.”

“Most People Are Good” is the second single from Bryan’s What Makes You Country album, and one of the most important songs he believes he has ever released, which has a message that is important for everyone.

“The first time I heard the song I was just so enamored with the whole body of the work of the song, and everything it was saying and doing,” Bryan revealed to PopCulture.com at a media event. “That line kinda bypassed me as somebody in the LGBT community latching onto it. I mean I just heard it as just love; I kind of heard it as just a love line. I didn’t really pick it apart that way.

“And I will be truthful,” he continued, “I thought about it as even an inner-racially charged line originally. But that’s only even after I had multiple listens of the song. And then as people started asking me about it, and going into even recording it, somebody brought up, ‘Would you ever have changed that line? ‘And I would’ve been like, ‘Are you crazy? Not in a million years.’”

The Georgia native is competing against Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Chris Stapleton and Keith Urban for Entertainer of the Year. Other artists with songs in the Single of the Year category include Jake Owen, Kane Brown, Florida Georgia Line with Bebe Rexha and Dan + Shay.

Bryan’s ACM Award nominations came on what was otherwise a sad day for the singer and his family. The same day the awards were announced, Bryan’s wife, Caroline, announced their beloved 18-year-old rescue dog, Poochie, had passed away.

Reba McEntire will return as host of the 2019 ACM Awards, after Bryan and Dierks Bentley had the job for two years. The ACM Awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 7, at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

Photo Credit: Getty / Boston Globe