Shelton, Dan + Shay, Gabby Barrett Perform Smash Singles Across ACM Stages
Warner Music Nashville was a triple threat at last night’s ACM Awards with three artists winning three awards and three performances across three stages. Superstar Blake Shelton earned Single of the Year for “God’s Country” while global trailblazers Dan + Shay notched their second consecutive Duo of the Year win. Ashley McBryde was honored in the Music Event of the Year category for her feature in the female-fueled “Fooled Around.” Shelton, Dan + Shay and Gabby Barrett joined the show to perform their latest hits on country music’s most historic stages.
Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani tuned in from their virtual Bluebird Café to deliver their latest duet “Happy Anywhere.” The single is currently nearing Top 10 on country radio after just two months, and it follows the Platinum-certified, multi-week No. 1 “Nobody But You” and the 3x Platinum, newly crowd ACM Single of the Year “God’s Country.”
“Holy cow – single of the year! This is a complete shock and an absolute honor.” Shelton said from the stage. “I want to take just a second to thank Scott Hendricks for producing this record and for bringing this song to my attention. Thank you to [Warner Music Nashville] for the work you do… thanks for continuing to somehow prop me up after 20 years of doing this. And obviously country radio for playing the crap out of not only this song, but you’ve been so good to me with all my singles. Thank you to my management, thank you to the fans and thank you Gwen Stefani for continuing to encourage me to keep doing this and keep trying and being my inspiration. Thank you, God…thank you everybody! Single of the Year! Yes!”
ACM Awards Duo of the Year Dan + Shay made the television debut of their current single “I Should Probably Go To Bed” at the Grand Ole Opry on last night’s ceremony. The song has already amassed 60 million streams globally and is approaching Top 10 at Hot AC and Top 15 at country radio. “I Should Probably Go To Bed” is the follow-up to the duo’s worldwide smash “10,000 Hours” with Justin Bieber. Less than a year old and already certified 3x Platinum, the track spent 21 weeks atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart and earned the biggest first-week streaming total in country music history – adding to the 5.5 billion global career streams they have already amassed.
“This is amazing, what a great way to start off a night,” Smyers said in the duo’s acceptance speech. “The Academy of Country Music, thank you so much for voting for us… we are so proud to be part of this country music family. The country music family has the best fans in the entire world. Thank you guys for continuing to support us and make our dreams come true. We love you. Country radio thank you for playing our records, [and] our team, thank you for everything.” Watch the duo’s virtual visit to TODAY this morning HERE.
Breakout star Gabby Barrett took the Ryman stage to perform her 2x Platinum phenomenon “I Hope.” This year’s most-streamed country song made Barrett the first solo female to top the country airplay charts with a debut single since 2017 and the first solo female to top Hot Country Songs with a debut since 2006. She is also the first woman to claim a Top 10 on the Hot 100 and the No. 1 spot on Hot Country Songs in 45 years. Now it’s onto new music for Barrett: her current single “The Good Ones” from new album Goldmine is already pushing 60 million global streams.
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Warner Music Nashville was created in 2009 under the leadership of Chairman & CEO John Esposito. It continues to champion Warner Music Group’s presence in the Nashville music community its family of labels have called home for more than 60 years.