Country Singer Reveals Pregnancy, Baby Bump at the ACM Awards

Country singer Renee Blair surprised ACM Awards viewers by revealing her pregnancy at the big event. On Thursday, Blair and her music producer husband, Jordan Schmidt, stepped out for the awards show with Blair’s baby bump stealing much of the spotlight. “If I’ve learned anything about life thus far, it’s to expect the unexpected!” The “Holy Cowboy” singer told PEOPLE of being pregnant with her first child. “We got married and got pregnant all in what seemed like the same breath.”

Blair, 31, and Schmidt, 35 — who got married in Nashville in 2022, after dating for five years, were nominees at the Academy of Country Music Awards, though she did not initially intend to show up pregnant. “I was originally hoping to get pregnant right now actually, in May 2023, on our honeymoon in Italy – which has now been postponed for two wonderful reasons: the pregnancy and because Mom and Dad are nominated for ACM Song of the Year for co-writing HARDY’s ‘Wait in the Truck,’” she told PEOPLE. Ultimately, the song did not win in the aforementioned category, but it did take home two awards: Visual Media Of The Year and Music Event Of The Year.

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The singer later said, “I’m excited to be nominated for my first ACM alongside my husband, and also showing our son one day that we were thriving and living at an all-time high while he was growing in my belly!” Schmidt added, “I’m so excited to share this moment with my wife and our unborn child, and I can’t wait for the day we show him pictures of how he was at the 58th ACMs!” Blair continued, “We have kept the news silent from the public on social media – I have been out on the road touring the last couple months, and just put out the first single (“Holy Cowboy”) to my new album, Hillbetty, coming out later this year, and I was apprehensive to go once I found out I was pregnant.”

Notably, Blair revealed that another singer inspired her to end the secrecy and come out glowing to let the world know she’s going to be a mom. “Seeing Rihanna debut her bump at the Super Bowl inspired me to do the same in front of my crowds each night, and it made for such a special moment with the audience,” she said. The couple did not reveal their due date.