Image Courtesy Pearl RecordsGarth Brooks was just a few weeks into his World Tour when he was nominated for Entertainer of the Year at this Sunday’s ACM Awards. Since the nominations were announced earlier this year, Garth has gone on to play his 100th show on the trek, with ticket sales topping the two-million mark. Despite those impressive statistics, Garth knows he’s facing some stiff competition with Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line all vying for the fan-voted trophy.
He tells ABC Radio, “The talent level is crazy, and again, there’s five names in there we can name. Keith [Urban], Blake [Shelton], Eric [Church] — you could name, there’s guys that should be in there as well that aren’t, so this is gonna be a tough category to walk away with it.”
Garth has actually won ACM Entertainer of the Year six times, and was named the ACM Artist of the Decade for the 1990s. Still, it took a request from his wife, Trisha Yearwood, to calm his nerves going into Sunday night’s show.
“My wife said, ‘Do me a favor. Let’s go there with no expectation. Let’s be the happiest couple in the room, and let’s have fun,'” Garth says. “I don’t know if an award show I’ve ever done that, ’cause [with] awards shows, you’re always nervous and everything, but this one — I’m just gonna go there and have fun.”
The fun starts Friday night at Garth and Trisha co-host the ACM Lifting Lives charity gala in Dallas featuring performances from Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, The Band Perry and more. The next day, Trisha flies to the East Coast to launch her new furniture line before flying back to Texas for Sunday night’s ACM Awards.
Garth says, “Her schedule is a lot more hectic than mine. I’m just gonna come there and play music and have some fun.”
Fan voting in the Entertainer of the Year category is open now at VoteACM.com. Look for Garth to also perform on the 50th Annual ACM Awards, broadcasting live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Sunday night at 8 ET on CBS.
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