“2017 CMT MUSIC AWARDS” TO FEATURE SUPERSTAR PAIRINGS: FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE AND THE CHAINSMOKERS, KEITH URBAN AND CARRIE UNDERWOOD, LADY ANTEBELLUM AND EARTH, WIND & FIRE LIVE FROM NASHVILLE ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7TH AT 8:00PM ET/PT

05/24/17

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NASHVILLE – May 24, 2017 – Building upon an unmatched reputation for superstar cross-genre pairings, CMT today announced that breakout artists, The Chainsmokers, will perform with superstar duo Florida Georgia Line for the first time on television during the “2017 CMT Music Awards.” In a performance sure to span multiple decades, Lady Antebellum will jam out with Earth, Wind & Fire, while country royalty, Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood will perform live together for the first time on any CMT stage. They join previously announced superstars Blake Shelton, Brett Eldredge, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert and Thomas Rhett from Nashville’s Music City Center on Wednesday, June 7^th at 8pm ET/PT. Additional performers will soon be announced.

Hosted by Nashville star Charles Esten, country music’s highly-anticipated night will see breakout stars Kelsea Ballerini and Thomas Rhett going head-to-head against country music veteran Keith Urban for most nominations at the “2017 CMT Music Awards”. Fans can vote for their favorites now via CMT.com until Monday, June 5^th for categories including “Video of the Year”, “Male Video of the Year”, “Female Video of the Year”, “Duo Video of the Year”, “Group Video of the Year”, “Breakthrough Video of the Year”, “Collaborative Video of the Year”, “CMT Performance of the Year”, and “Social Superstar of the Year”.

The top seven finalists for the night’s biggest award, the highly-coveted “Video of the Year,” will be revealed the morning of June 7.

Last year’s “CMT Music Awards” once again earned its title as the hottest night in country music attracting nearly 4 million fans, its biggest to date, across a three network simulcast (CMT, TV Land and Nick@Nite) up +20% from the prior year. The awards also lit up social media with #CMTawards trending worldwide for 5 hours to rank as the #1 Series/Special on Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings for the day.

Follow @CMT on Twitter and Instagram, use hashtag #CMTawards and like the CMT Music Awards on Facebook.

To request press credentials for the 2017 CMT Music Awards, please visit cmtmusicawardspress.com.

About CMT

CMT, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is the leading television and digital authority on country music and entertainment, reaching more than 92 million homes in the U.S.  CMT, CMT.com and CMT Radio offer an unparalleled mix of music, news, live concerts and series and are the top resource for country music on demand.  The network’s digital platforms include the 24-hour music channel, CMT Music, CMT Mobile and CMT VOD.

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