ACM Awards Announces 2016 Nominees

The Academy of Country Music has just announced the nominees in several key categories for the upcoming ACM Awards show and it looks like a lot of the heavy hitters like Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney were replaced with sounds of the new generation including Chris Stapleton and Kelsea Ballerini.

In fact, Chris Stapleton and Eric Church lead the pack with 5 nominations each.  Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley will co-host for the first time.  (Dierks first time as he replaced Blake Shelton as former co-host)

The 51st Annual ACM Awards will air live from Las Vegas on April 3 at 7:00 pm Central on CBS.

Here's a look at some of those nominees:

Entertainer of the Year
Jason Aldean
Garth Brooks
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Miranda Lambert

Male Vocalist of the Year
Jason Aldean
Dierks Bentley
Eric Church
Brett Eldredge
Chris Stapleton

Female Vocalist of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini
Jana Kramer
Miranda Lambert
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood

Vocal Duo of the Year
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Joey + Rory
Maddie & Tae

Vocal Group of the Year
Eli Young Band
Little Big Town
Old Dominion
Rascal Flatts
Zac Brown Band

Album of the Year
I'm Comin' Over, Chris Young
Montevallo, Sam Hunt
Mr. Misunderstood, Eric Church
Tangled Up, Thomas Rhett
Traveller,Chris Stapleton

Single Record of the Year
"Burning House," Cam
"Buy Me A Boat," Chris Janson
"Die A Happy Man," Thomas Rhett
"Girl Crush," Little Big Town
"I'm Comin' Over," Chris Young
"Take Your Time," Sam Hunt

Nominees for Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year will be announced at a later date and for the full list of nominees just go to acmawards.com.