Toby Keith
2012 CMA Awards: Staff Picks & Predictions
While the rest of the country fixates on “Nashville,” the 46th annual Country Music Association Awards air live from Music City with equal drama and ridiculousness November 1 at 7 p.m. CST. The CU staff picked and predicted the awards below. Chime in with your thoughts, and check back for our live blog on Thursday night!
Entertainer of the Year 
Should Win:
- Jason Aldean – Dan, Ben, Kevin
- Kenny Chesney
- Brad Paisley
- Blake Shelton
- Taylor Swift – Jonathan, Tara, Leeann
Will Win:
- Jason Aldean – Dan, Ben, Jonathan, Kevin
- Kenny Chesney
- Brad Paisley
- Blake Shelton
- Taylor Swift – Tara, Leeann
100 Greatest Men: #49. Toby Keith
100 Greatest Men: The Complete List
After first finding success as a smooth country balladeer, Toby Keith got in touch with his sense of humor and aggressive bravado. The combination made him one of the biggest country stars of the new century.
2012 ACM Awards: Staff Picks & Predictions
Throw on your bedazzled boots – the 47th annual Academy of Country Music Awards air live from Las Vegas this Sunday at 8 p.m. EST. The show promises to be a melting pot of performances, with oddball duets like Rascal Flatts and Steve Martin – and no, that’s not an April Fools joke. The CU staff picked and predicted the awards below. Tell us your thoughts, and check back for our live blog on Sunday night!
Entertainer of the Year
Should Win:
- Jason Aldean
- Kenny Chesney
- Brad Paisley
- Blake Shelton
- Taylor Swift – Jonathan, Dan, Tara, Leeann, Kevin, Ben, Sam
Four Ways that 9/11 Changed Country Music
The terrorist attacks on American soil ten years ago changed the course of our nation’s history in far more significant ways than just its impact on country music.
But the fact is that country music was changed as well. Here are the four biggest ways that it did, for better and for worse.
1. Alan Jackson Becomes a Legend
He was still getting solid radio airplay and record sales in 2001, but it seemed like his glory days were behind him. Then, he stepped on to the CMA Awards stage and debuted “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” to a stunned industry crowd on national television.
Album Review: Eric Church, Chief
Eric Church
Chief
On his new album, Eric Church sings that we need “Some longhaired hippie prophet preaching from the book of Johnny Cash/A sheep among the wolves there standing tall/We need a country music Jesus to come and save us all.”
Bear in mind that he’s singing these lines on an album loaded with distorted vocals and sound effects, guitar solos closer to Three Doors Down than Cash, and a song about Bruce Springsteen.
