2008 Academy of Country Music Awards Winners

May 19, 2008 by Jarrod Vrazel

2008 Academy of Country Music Awards winners were announced May 18, 2008 live from the MGM Grand Graden Arena in Las Vegas on CBS. Congrats to Sugarland for winning Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year for Stay, Jack Ingram for Top New Male Vocalist, and Kenny Chesney Entertainer of the Year.

Complete listing after the jump…

2008 Academy of Country Music Awards Winners

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Kenny Chesney

TOP FEMALE VOCALIST
Carrie Underwood

TOP MALE VOCALIST
Brad Paisley

TOP VOCAL GROUP
Rascal Flatts

TOP VOCAL DUO
Brooks & Dunn

SONG OF THE YEAR
Stay
Sugarland

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – Miranda Lambert

TOP NEW FEMALE VOCALIST
Taylor Swift

SINGLE RECORD OF THE YEAR
Stay
Sugarland, Produced by Kristian Bush, Byron Gallimore, Jennifer Nettles

VOCAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
Find Out Who Your Friends Are – Tracy Lawrence With Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Online – Brad Paisley

More than a half million fans voted in the Entertainer of the Year category, and they named Kenny Chesney for the evening’s biggest honor – his fourth consecutive win. This was the first year in the Academy of Country Music history that fans chose the winner of that category. Chesney is one of only four artists to win this honor three or more consecutive times, joining Alabama (who has won five consecutively), Garth Brooks (has won four consecutively) and Hank
Williams Jr. (has one 3 consecutively).

Brad Paisley won Top Male Vocalist and Carrie Underwood won Top Female Vocalist, both for the second consecutive year in a row; Brooks & Dunn won Top Vocal Duo, marking their 25th ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARD. Rascal Flatts win for Top Vocal Group topped Alabama’s record for the most consecutive wins in this category – with six years running.

The Academy of Country Music also honored Garth Brooks with the first-ever Crystal Milestone
Award. The award is given to an artist or industry leader to commemorate a specific, remarkable
achievement. With 128 million unit sales, Brooks has been certified the top-selling solo recording artist in U.S. history. He is the only solo artist in RIAA history to have six albums top the 10 million sales mark.

Also this evening, Rascal Flatts was honored with the 7th annual ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC / The Home Depot Humanitarian Award, which salutes an artist or group in the country music industry who is committed to serving others, has a generosity of spirit and a dedication to helping build the dreams of those in need. Rascal Flatts was selected by a special blue-ribbon committee comprised of executives in the country music industry as well as local and national philanthropic leaders for his ongoing community service and charitable giving of his time and talent. As the award’s winner, Rascal Flatts will have a community playground built in a city of its choice through the efforts of The Home Depot and KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.

Lady Antebellum, Jack Ingram and Jason Alexander each won their first-ever ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS tonight. Lady Antebellum won for Top New Duo or Vocal Group; Ingram won for Top New Male Vocalist; Alexander won for Video of the Year (for Brad Paisley’s “Online”)

Brooks & Dunn hold the most awards in the Top Vocal Duo category with a total of 15 wins. Rascal Flatts win for Top Vocal Group topping Alabama’s record for the most consecutive wins in this category – with six years running.

This was the first time in Academy of Country Music history that fans chose the winner of the
Academy’s highest honor, selecting Kenny Chesney as Entertainer of the Year for the fourth consecutive year. Brad Paisley won Top Male Vocalist and Carrie Underwood won Top Female Vocalist, both for the second consecutive year.

Sugarland, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney each won two Academy Country Music Awards tonight: Sugarland for Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Stay”; Paisley for Top Male Vocalist and Video of the Year; Rascal Flatts for Top Vocal Group and Academy Of Country Music / The Home Depot Humanitarian Award; Chesney for Entertainer of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year (with Tracy Lawrence and Tim McGraw).