BRAD PAISLEY AND CARRIE UNDERWOOD RETURN TO HOST "THE 49th ANNUAL CMA AWARDS" LIVE FROM NASHVILLE ON THE ABC TELEVISION NETWORK

Country superstars Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will be returning to host "Country Music's Biggest Night(TM)" for the eighth consecutive year in 2015. "The 49th Annual CMA Awards" airs live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4 (8:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

The return of the popular pair was announced by reigning CMA Vocal Group of the Year Little Big Town during "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock," which aired last night on ABC. During the concert special, which was hosted by Little Big Town, viewers were able to Shazam the show to unlock a video montage of Paisley and Underwood's many televised highlights from previous CMA Awards broadcasts.

"We are so fortunate to have Carrie and Brad hosting the CMA Awards for the eighth time," said Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. "They have real chemistry on stage and bring credibility, comic timing, and critical acclaim to 'Country Music's Biggest Night.'"

"Brad and Carrie are great hosts because they are very active collaborators in the process," said Robert Deaton, Executive Producer of the CMA Awards. "They are heavily invested in the continued success of the CMA Awards while being mindful of the prestige and history. They are not simply setting the bar for hosting an awards show, they are surpassing it every time they step out on our stage."

Paisley has won 14 CMA Awards since receiving the Horizon Award (now the New Artist Award) in 2000, including Entertainer of the Year (2010), Male Vocalist (2007, 2008, 2009) and Album (2006 for Time Well Wasted). He won Musical Event of the Year three times, first in 2004 with Alison Krauss for "Whiskey Lullaby," second in 2006 for "When I Get Where I'm Going" with Dolly Parton, and a third time in 2009 for "Start a Band" with Keith Urban. He claimed the Vocal Event of the Year trophy in 2001 for "Too Country" with Bill Anderson, George Jones, and Buck Owens; and won Music Video of the Year four times, including "I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song)" (2002), "Whiskey Lullaby" (with Krauss, 2004), "Online" (2007) and "Waitin' on a Woman" (featuring Andy Griffith, 2008). He is No. 5 on the list of top CMA Awards winners of all time.

Paisley is a critically-acclaimed singer, songwriter, guitarist, and entertainer whose talents have earned him numerous awards, including three Grammys. He has been a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry since 2001. Paisley has written or co-written 20 of his 23 No. 1 singles with the first being his 1999 hit "He Didn't Have To Be" and his most recent, "Perfect Storm," from his chart topping 2014 album Moonshine in the Trunk. Paisley's current single is "Crushin' It" from the same album and he kicked off his Crushin' It World Tour the middle of May by playing to more than 50,000 fans the first weekend. Paisley has recently partnered with Boot Barn(R) and developed an exclusive line of jeans, hats, t-shirts, jewelry, belts, and woven shirts called Moonshine Spirit by Brad Paisley. Connect with Brad at www.BradPaisley.com; www.Facebook.com/BradPaisley; on Twitter @BradPaisley; on Instagram @BradPaisley; and YouTube YouTube.com/BradPaisley.

Underwood has received five CMA Awards in her career - three consecutive Female Vocalist of the Year trophies (2006-2008), as well as Single of the Year (2007 for "Before He Cheats"), and the Horizon Award (2006). Her 21 career CMA Awards nominations include three for Album of the Year for Carnival Ride (2008), Play On (2010), and Blown Away (2013); four nominations for Music Video of the Year for "Jesus Take the Wheel" (2006), "Before He Cheats" (2007), "Blown Away" (2013), and "Somethin' Bad" a duet with Miranda Lambert (2014); and two for Musical Event of the Year for "I Told You So" featuring Randy Travis (2009) and "Somethin' Bad" (2014). She has been nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year every year since first being nominated in 2006 (2006-2014).

Underwood emerged from the promise of her 2005 American Idol win to become a true multi-format, multi-media superstar, spanning achievements in music, television, and film. A seven-time Grammy Award winner, she has amassed nearly 100 major honors, sold more than 56 million records worldwide, and recorded 21 No. 1 singles, 11 of which she co-wrote. Underwood was recognized as Pollstar's top female Country touring artist for her headlining tours in 2008, 2010, and 2012. Her four studio albums, Some Hearts, Carnival Ride, Play On, and Blown Away - each certified multi-Platinum or Platinum - tallied 38 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart with songs that have been streamed more than 1.4 billion times worldwide. In 2013, she starred as Maria von Trapp in NBC's three-hour holiday blockbuster, the Emmy-winning "The Sound of Music Live!," whose airings attracted 44 million viewers. In late 2014, the Grand Ole Opry member released her first hits collection, Greatest Hits: Decade #1. Celebrating her first 10 years of music, the 25-song collection included two new hits co-written by Underwood: the Platinum-certified, Grammy-winning "Something in the Water," as well as the No. 1 smash "Little Toy Guns." Poised to return for her third season as the voice of primetime television's No. 1 program, "Sunday Night Football," Underwood is currently working on new music for her fifth studio album. For more visit CarrieUnderwoodOfficial.com and follow her on Twitter @CarrieUnderwood; on Instagram at Instagram.com/CarrieUnderwood; Facebook at facebook.com/CarrieUnderwood; and YouTube at youtube.com/CarrieUnderwoodVEVO.

The 2015 CMA Awards nominees and winners are determined by more than 7,400 professional members of CMA, which was the first trade organization formed to promote an individual genre of music in 1958. The eligibility period for the 2015 CMA Awards is July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015.

The second ballot will be emailed to CMA members Tuesday, Aug. 11. Voting for the second ballot closes Thursday, Aug. 20 (6:00 PM/CT). The final nominees in each of the 12 categories will be announced on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

Winners of "The 49th Annual CMA Awards" will be determined in a final round of voting by eligible voting CMA members. The third and final ballot will be emailed to CMA members Thursday, Oct. 8. Voting for the CMA Awards final ballot ends Tuesday, Oct. 27 (6:00 PM/CT). All balloting is officiated by the international accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche LLP.

The first "CMA Awards Banquet and Show" was held in 1967. The following year, the CMA Awards was broadcast on television for the first time - making it the longest running, annual music awards program on network TV. The CMA Awards have aired on ABC since 2006. ABC will be the network home of the CMA Awards and CMA's other two television properties, "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock" and "CMA Country Christmas," through 2021.

Ticket information for the CMA Awards will be announced later this summer with information available at CMAawards.com. Or follow the conversation on Twitter at #CMAawards. For more information about the 2015 CMA Awards please visit CMAawards.com.

"The 49th Annual CMA Awards" is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton is the Executive Producer and Paul Miller is the Director. The CMA Awards will be shot in high definition and broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC's selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound.