Academy of Country Music awards coming in April

Monday, January 11, 2010 – The 45th annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be held in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 18.

The event will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. in the east and at the same time delayed in the Pacific time zone on CBS.

The Academy will tape an all-star concert special, ACM Presents: Brooks & Dunn - The Last Rodeo at the same location on Monday, April 19 to air later on CBS. Both shows are produced for television by dick clark productions.

Reba McEntire will host the awards show for the 12th time. This will be the fifth year the event is at MGM Grand and the eighth year the show will be held in Las Vegas. Nearly 15 million viewers tuned in to last year's Awards, a 22-percent increase over the previous year. "No one does it better than Reba McEntire," said Orly Adelson, President of dick clark productions and executive producer of the awards. "She always brings spunk and personality to the show and we are honored to have the queen of country music back to host the Awards for the 12th time."

Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn, the best selling duo in the history of country music who are splitting after this year, will receive the Academy's Milestone Award in recognition of their 20-year record-breaking career during a tribute concert special, ACM Presents: Brooks & Dunn - The Last Rodeo. They will be honored for holding the record for the most wins of any artist in the Academy's history with 26 awards in total, including three Entertainer of the Year awards. They will also be honored for holding the record for most Top Vocal Duo wins, with 15 awards, 8 of which are consecutive from 2000-2007.

Artists already scheduled to perform at the ACM Presents: Brooks & Dunn - The Last Rodeo taping include Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and McEntire.

Tickets for both events go on sale Jan. 15. Sales from ACM Presents: Brooks & Dunn - The Last Rodeo will benefit ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable arm of the Academy of Country Music, which works to improve lives through music.