Riley Green and Tenille Townes are early winners at the 55th Academy of Country Music Awards.
On Thursday (August 20), ACM Awards host, Keith Urban surprised the two rising stars during a video conference, announcing Green as the New Male Artist of the Year and Townes as the New Female Artist of the Year.
"I’ll always remember this feeling, standing here as a new artist," Townes in a press release. "I feel so honored and incredibly grateful just to be a part of this Country Music community that inspires me. Receiving this ACM Award feels like belief from that community, and that means so much to me."
"When we had to come off the road back in March, I wasn’t sure what the rest of 2020 would look like," Green added. "So much has happened in the world since then and I’m really excited to have a moment to play music again. My grandfathers’ love for Country Music is what led me to this moment and I have to dedicate this award to them. Thank you to everyone who believes in my music enough to let this boy from Alabama get to share his songs like this."
"This year’s New Artists have experienced astounding success already, and the Academy feels honored to be able to present them with their first ACM Award win," Damon Whiteside, CEO of the Academy of Country Music said. "We hope this is a memory that they will carry with them as their careers continue to thrive. A huge congratulations to all of this year’s well-deserving nominees and a special thank you to the artists’ teams who helped the Academy pull off the surprise, especially our host Keith Urban for making this moment monumental. We can’t wait to see Riley and Tenille on the 55th ACM Awards stage on September 16!"
Both of the New Artist winners will perform during the ACM Awards broadcast on Wednesday, September 16 starting at 8 PM ET on CBS. Rescheduled from their usual April date, the awards will take place for the first time in Nashville across three venues including the Ryman Auditorium, the Grand Ole Opry House and the Bluebird Cafe.
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