Vegas is Full of Emotions for Dierks Bentley

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – FEBRUARY 22: Dierks Bentley performs at Bridgestone Arena on February 22, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Dierks Bentley is nominated for four Academy of Country Music Awards next month including the coveted Album of the Year for his The Mountain project, but he admits Las Vegas now comes with a lot of emotion after the tragic Route 91 shooting a few years back.

"There's a lot of emotion for me in Las Vegas," he shared with us. "I get a lot of bracelets. You know I had a Route 91 bracelet for most of this tour and I hear a lot of stories. It's a fun award show it's a great party and it's fun. There's a lot of memories in that town to hosting it and being part of that great festival, so for me going back to Vegas every year now it brings up a lot of emotions, it really does. "

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The former ACM Awards host says he's actually happy not to be hosting this year. He says, "Not hosting is pretty great though. It was fun doing it for two great years with Luke (Bryan). It was wild and crazy, but it's also fun just getting a chance to be there. I wasn't nominated for the Grammys this year so I just watched it from home and it was like, 'Wow' I could really appreciate the performances and the collaborations and all these great female performances. I missed not being there because that means I wasn't nominated but it was nice for me to kind of step back and enjoy it."

The Academy of Country Music Awards will air live from Las Vegas on April 7, 2019 on CBS.

-Nancy Brooks

Academy of Country Music Awards Dierks Bentley

Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media GroupEditor

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.