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The 2008 ACM Awards are done and we’ve got your winners right here!

Winners of the 2008 Academy of Country Music awards got to party it up Vegas style as they celebrated another year of milestones and fan appreciation. Reba McEntire hosted the festivities and as always, the winners were gracious, and excited.

“A singer is nothing without inspiration. I thank my wonderful wife, Kim, who is not here tonight. I probably ought to thank my son for the first time for inspiration. I am so honored to carry the torch another year, and thank God for all the blessings in my life.”-Brad Paisley

“There are so many people who deserve to be thanked for this, but I am going to thank one. And that’s a person that used to love to go to lunch with her friends and cook dinner for her family and sleep in her bed every night. She gave that all away and left that all behind to go on the road with her 16-year-old daughter. … And then she was sleeping in rental cars and in airplanes and rental cars with her mouth wide open because she was so tired. And so Mom, thank you so much! I love you! This is for you!” - Taylor Swift

“It means so much to me that you guys really relate to this song and that you accept it. Thank you so much to my partner Kristian Bush and to Gail Gelman [manager] for believing in this song before anybody did. Thank you to Luke Lewis and your whole staff at Mercury to have big ones enough, that when we came to you and said, ‘Hey, let’s put a song without drums on the radio,’ you said, ‘Sure!’” Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland

Album of the Year: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Miranda Lambert
Entertainer of the year: Kenny Chesney
Single of the Year: “Stay,” Sugarland
Song of the Year: “Stay,” Sugarland (Jennifer Nettles, composer)
Top Female Vocalist: Carrie Underwood
Top Male Vocalist: Brad Paisley
Top New Duo or Vocal Group: Lady Antebellum
Top New Male Vocalist: Jack Ingram
Top new New Female Vocalist: Taylor Swift
Top Vocal Duo: Brooks & Dunn
Top Vocal Group: Rascal Flatts
Video of the Year: “Online,” Brad Paisley (Jason Alexander, director)
Vocal Event of the Year: “Find Out Who Your Friends Are,” Tracy Lawrence with Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney
For a full recap of all the winners presented on and offstage, visit the ACM’s official website.

Brad Paisley talks about winning awards and hittin the road for “The Paisley Party”

“Personally, I like winning awards — they’re extremely valuable over the course of one’s career,” Paisley tells Copley News Service interview. He added,”…Nor do I have time to dust or polish the statuettes, so my parents take care and display most of them at their house. Somehow they keep track of it all.”

Brad Paisley is a four-time Academy of Country Music nominee this year, including Entertainer of the Year, Top Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for 5th Gear, and Video of the Year for “Online”. After the May 18 show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paisley will spend some time at his home in Tennessee before heading back out on the road.

The Paisley Party, which fires up in Albuquerque, NM June 11, is a six-month national tour, and a part of the music biz that Paisley loves. “True, it can separate you for a little too long from family and friends, but I really love it on the road,” he said. I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that his tour bus, nicknamed Air Force One, reportedly comes with every amenity, including a full-size kitchen and satellite television. Keep your eyes on the Brad Paisley Tour Schedule for dates and ticket information!