The 2018 CMA Awards are less than one month away, and the second round of performers have been announced for this year’s broadcast.
Dierks Bentley will take the stage with Brothers Osborne, Florida Georgia Line with Bebe Rexha, and Kacey Musgraves, Pistol Annies and Thomas Rhett will also join the lineup.
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Bentley and Osborne will likely perform their collaboration, “Burning Man,” while fans can count on FGL and Rexha to perform their smash duet, “Meant to Be.”
Bentley is nominated this year for Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year for The Mountain, Brothers Osborne are nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year for the fourth year in a row, having won last year and in 2016, and Musgraves earned a nod for Female Vocalist of the Year. She is also the only woman nominated in the Album of the Year category, receiving the spot for her record Golden Hour.
Florida Georgia Line is also nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year, and “Meant to Be” and Rexha received two nods — Musical Event of the Year and Single of the Year. Rhett scored nominations for Male Vocalist of the Year, Music Video of the Year and Album of the Year for Life Changes.
Previously announced performers include Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Dan + Shay, Old Dominion, Keith Urban and the event’s co-host, Carrie Underwood. More performers and presenters will be announced as the show gets closer.
Underwood will return as co-host alongside Brad Paisley, with the duo helming the show for the 11th year in a row. When the pair hosted the show in 2014, Paisley revealed on-stage that Underwood was expecting a baby boy, so it’s also possible that Underwood will use this year’s ceremony to reveal the sex of her second child, which she and husband Mike Fisher know but have not yet shared.
“Somehow it came up, it was like, ‘We could reveal it on the show, if you’re gonna reveal it anyway,’” Paisley told Country Countdown USA of the moment. “And she said OK.”
While Underwood already knew she was having a boy, Paisley told her not to tell him until the night of the show.
“So, we were standing in our places. They were about to say, ‘Please welcome your hosts,’ and [she] looks at me and goes, ‘Come here,’ and she goes, ‘It’s a boy!’” he said. “And I said to her, ‘I know.’”
To share the news, Paisley had Underwood whisper the sex of the baby in his ear before telling her audibly on the mic, “You could name him Garth!”
“Then the funny part was, people didn’t know if we were serious!” Paisley recalled. “They were texting her publicist if it was true, and they didn’t know either! It was a great way to do it.”
The CMA Awards will air live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Photo Credit: Getty / Michael Hickey
