ACM Awards 2020: The Highwomen Celebrate First Nomination for Group of the Year

The Highwomen are celebrating another career first, with their first-ever awards nomination! The quartet, made up of Maren Morris, Natalie Hemby, Amanda Shires and Brandi Carlile, received one ACM Awards nomination, for Group of the Year.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Highwomen (@thehighwomen) on Feb 27, 2020 at 7:27am PST

"Our Highwomen group chat is lighting up this morning because we just got our first ever [ACM Awards] nomination!" The Highwomen posted on social media.

Morris, who will likely not attend the ceremony since she is due to give birth to her third child within the next few weeks, received several more nominations. Morris is also nominated for Female Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, both as artist and producer (for GIRL), and Music Event of the Year, for "Fooled Around and Fell in Love," the Miranda Lambert collaboration, which also includes Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack and Elle King.

Thankfully, Morris and the other members believe strongly in the equal importance of all four members, so the remaining singers will be fine for the night without her.

"We knew from the get-go with this band that we all have our own solo endeavors," Morris told Billboard. "They have families. We've said [that] none of us really needed this group, which is, I think, why it's so special: none of us need the money or the fame. We all have our own things going on, so this was really four people that really believed in the songs that we were turning in for it, and the message behind it."

The Highwomen formed, at least in part, to inspire other young women, in an era where women are largely under-represented in country music.

"We recognized that we're in a time right now where our daughters don't have the same country music heroes that we had," Shires told PopCulture.com and other media. "They have a few of them, and they're great. But, two women out of the Top 20 is not enough. Zero women on the Top 20 is not enough for country radio. We wanted to get together with compassion, and love, and tackle the problem of country music not being an amplifier for women, and we intend to do that."

The 2020 ACM Awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 5, at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. Keith Urban will host the ceremony.

Photo Credit: Getty / Cindy Ord