Kenny Chesney to Receive Pinnacle Award at 2016 CMA Awards
Kenny Chesney will be honored with a special trophy, the Pinnacle Award, at the 2016 CMA Awards.
The Pinnacle Award "recognizes an artist who has achieved global prominence through concert performances and record sales at levels unique in country music" and "has also attained the highest degree of recognition within the broad expanse of music worldwide," according to a press release from the Country Music Association. Additionally, Pinnacle Award winners' "talent and presence will have a long-term positive impact on the appreciation of country music for generations to come."
“When you do what you do, you never think it’s a big deal. But when an organization like [the] CMA recognizes you in this fashion, it makes you step back,” Chesney says. “To receive this award -- especially during their 50th anniversary -- is such an honor, because they’re recognizing half a century of country music.”
Chesney will be only the third recipient of the Pinnacle Award. The CMA created the award in 2005, when they presented it to Garth Brooks, and Taylor Swift earned the honor in 2013.
“I can’t think of a better occasion than the 50th anniversary of the CMA Awards to present an award of this magnitude to an artist of this caliber,” says CMA CEO Sarah Trahern. “Kenny’s outstanding career and the millions of fans he has touched through his enormously popular stadium shows epitomize the definition of the Pinnacle Award.”
Throughout his career, Chesney has been nominated for 43 CMA Awards; he has won eight of those times, including four Entertainer of the Year wins and an Album of the Year win.
One day before the CMAs, on Nov. 1, Chesney will receive the BMI President's Award; the honor is reserved for songwriters who “have distinctly and profoundly influenced the entertainment industry." The artist will release his new album, Cosmic Hallelujah, on Friday (Oct. 28).
The 2016 CMA Awards will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on ABC on Nov. 2 at 8PM ET, with Brad Paisley and Underwood returning as co-hosts.
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