Brad Paisley leads CMA nominees

Brad Paisley led the pack when nominations for the 43rd annual Country Music Assn. Awards were announced Wednesday, with mentions in major categories including male vocalist, album, single and song. He’ll also compete in the entertainer of the year race against Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, George Strait and teen sensation Taylor Swift.

Swift, Strait and relative newcomers Jamey Johnson and Zac Brown tied with four nominations each, reflecting an influx of new blood into the CMA honors. Strait’s nominations for entertainer, male vocalist, music video and music event give him a career total of 79, tying him with Alan Jackson for the most nominations in CMA history.

Strait has won 22, more than any other artist.

Swift, 19, is the only woman in the entertainer competition and the first nominated since Faith Hill in 2000. Swift is also up for female vocalist, music video and album for “Fearless,” which could yield two awards for her -- as artist and the album’s co-producer, with Nathan Chapman.

In the female vocalist field, she is nominated with Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Miranda Lambert and Reba McEntire.

Nominees in five categories were announced live on ABC’s “Good Morning America” by Texas singer Lee Ann Womack and Darius Rucker, who is also nominated in the new artist category with Johnson, Randy Houser, the Zac Brown Band and Jake Owen, and for male vocalist alongside Chesney, Paisley, Strait and Urban.

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