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Country Singer Mickey Guyton Becomes 1st Black Woman to Co-Host the Academy of Country Music Awards

On Thursday, the Academy of Country Music announced the hosts for its 56th annual awards ceremony. Suggested Reading Three Friends Were Headed To A Beyoncรฉ Concert, But One Dies On the Way. Guess What The Other Two Did Next? Our Fave Moments From A$AP Rocky’s Fashion Show During Paris Men’s Fashion Week 15 Sneaky Moves…

On Thursday, the Academy of Country Music announced the hosts for its 56th annual awards ceremony.

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Per a press release sent to The Root, country music singer Mickey Guyton will be making history as the first Black woman to host the ACMAs, where she will be joined by fellow country artist Keith Urban. Guyton previously performed at last yearโ€™s ceremony for the first time, where Urban provided a piano accompaniment for her acclaimed hit โ€œWhat Are You Gonna Tell Her?โ€

https://twitter.com/ACMawards/status/1370041837155672070

โ€œAs Iโ€™ve said before โ€˜if you can see it, you can be it,โ€™ and itโ€™s such an honor to step onto the ACM stage as the first ever Black woman to host the show,โ€ Guyton expressed in a statement. โ€œOver the years, the Academy of Country Music has always been a home for me through opportunities both onstage and throughout their work on diversity and inclusion. This is a moment of great significance for me and I am so thrilled to share it with all the fans.โ€

โ€œIโ€™m beyond thrilled to be co-hosting with my friend Mickey,โ€ Urban added. โ€œI love that finally everyone will get to see her infectious energy and uber creative spirit in full light.โ€

Signed to Capitol Records Nashville in 2011, Guyton released her self-titled EP four years later and was subsequently nominated for her first Academy of Country Music Award for New Female Vocalist in 2016. Back in September 2020, she released Bridges, an EP that included the aforementioned hit, โ€œWhat Are You Gonna Tell Her?โ€ as well as, โ€œBlack Like Me,โ€ the latter being released earlier that year in June during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests. It was later recognized as one of the Top 10 songs of 2020 by NPR, Billboard and The Associated Press. Speaking on the importance of highlighting reality through a musical lens, Guyton told Taste of Country:

โ€œMusic is supposed to be hopeful, and thatโ€™s the kind of music that Iโ€™ve been trying to write: Talk about the issues that have been happening and then hopefully bring people a little hope after I talk about it,โ€ the singer-songwriter explains. โ€œThe only way we can get better is if we talk about the issue. We canโ€™t just brush it under a rug like so often we doโ€”thatโ€™s so detrimental to your heart. Youโ€™ve gotta face it.โ€

In addition to hosting the 2021 ACMAs, Guyton has also made history as the first Black female solo artist to be nominated for a Grammy in the country category. Currently up for Best Country Solo Performance, sheโ€™ll be performing โ€œBlack Like Meโ€ at this yearโ€™s ceremony, which airs Sunday, March 14.

The 56th Academy of Country Music Awards will broadcast live on Sunday, April 18 at 8:00 p.m. ET on CBS and will also be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

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