See the Academy of Country Music

 

The Academy of Country Music had its beginnings in 1964. Eddie Miller, Mickey Christensen, Tommy Wiggins and Chris Christensen founded this organization which was first called the Country and Western Music Academy. One year later a chairman named Dick Shofield was elected and he charged membership dues of $10. Shofield would remain chairman for the next two years. In 1966 the Academy held its first award ceremony hoping to gain bigger exposure to the general public. By 1968 the "hat" style trophy was adopted.

 

During the 1970's the organization decided to change its name to the Academy of Country Music. The reason behind this change was that the original name was often confused with a music school. In 1972 the Academy award show was broadcast on ABC for the first time. By the end of the 1970's the Academy joined forces with Dick Clark productions and moved the ceremony to NBC. In the 1980's the Academy of Country Music held its first Faces show in Nashville, Tennessee and has continued this program each year since. By 1998 the Academy changed stations one last time to CBS where it remains today.

 

It was in 2003 that the Academy of Country Music decided to change its location from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, Nevada. At this time the Academy also decided to update it's hat trophy with a more modern sleek design. In 2004 many new ideas emerged and came into action. Some of these included online voting for Country Music artists, associate members were allowed to join, the Academy of Music Charitable Foundation was formed, and several charity programs were run directly from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. When 2005 rolled around the Academy celebrated it's 40th anniversary with a special on CBS in December. 

 

2006 brought with it over 35,000 Academy Associate members. The Academy held its first "Number One" celebration that will be a yearly event for those country stars who have achieved a number one hit song the previous year. On May 23rd the Academy held its 41st Annual Awards Ceremony which turned out to be the largest in history. This celebration was broadcast live on CBS from the Grand Hotel in Las Vegas and is sure to have many more years of success.