Lambert’s hot night

By MESFIN FEKADU

AP Music Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas

Luke Bryan won entertainer of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.

The singer beat out Miranda Lambert, Garth Brooks, Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line for the top honor Sunday at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“Texas!” he screamed onstage. “Listen guys, what an amazing night of music ... thank you to my wife, my kids ... my fans, country radio.”

Blake Shelton joined him onstage, and the two hosts hugged. The award was presented by Steven Tyler, who is recording a country album.

Bryan won entertainer of the year at the 2013 ACM Awards. Last year, George Strait won the top honor.

Bryan also won entertainer of the year at the Country Music Association Awards in November.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift may have left country for pop — but she had a memorable moment at Sunday’s event.

The singer was one of seven recipients of the 50th Anniversary Milestone Award, and a video package highlighting her career and success played before her mother, who recently announced she is battling cancer, presented her daughter with the award.

“I am a very proud mom,” said Andrea Swift, who also called her daughter “brave enough to explore her musical curiosity.”

“You showed me who you are with the grace” Swift said of the country world when she announced she was releasing her first full-blown pop album, “1989,” last year. “I am so happy I learned how to write songs in a town like Nashville.”

Lambert was on a red-hot winning streak — and she even rocked a red-hot bustier and disheveled hair when she performed “Little Red Wagon.”

Lambert, the night’s top nominee with eight, won album of the year for “Platinum,” female vocalist of the year and twice for single record of the year for “Automatic” — as a performer and songwriter.

“I love all of those albums so much — I have them all,” said Lambert, who beat out Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church and Little Big Town for the honor.

Lambert, a fashion favorite in the last year, wowed again in a flowing, plunging dress on the red carpet. Inside the venue, she wore white pants and a white top with a black sheer center.

She also accepted the 50th Anniversary Milestone Award, given to her by Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara (Lambert wrote a song for their new film, “Hot Pursuit.”)

Other recipients of the anniversary honor include Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney and George Strait, who performed near the beginning of the show.

Florida Georgia Line was behind Lambert with two wins for vocal duo of the year and vocal event of the year, and shared with Luke Bryan for “This Is How We Roll.”

The duo sang the groove “Sippin’ on Fire” surrounded by a ring of fire onstage. And Brooks’ performance of “All American Kind” included U.S soldiers standing proudly.

“I’d like ... to thank all of our men and women in the armed forces ... protecting our freedom,” Brooks said when he received the Milestone Award from Taya Kyle, the wife of the late “American Sniper” Chris Kyle.

The ACMs kicked off paying tribute to veteran Merle Haggard, while Strait sang “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” — appropriate for the awards show celebrating its 50th anniversary in a new location, the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Shelton and Bryan introduced Strait as the “king of country music.” Keith Urban and Church both played guitar while Church sang “Pledge Allegiance to the Hag” in tribute to Haggard.

Then — across at the second stage at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium — the country stars performed “Raise ’Em Up” as the audience danced along, including McEntire.

Shelton announced that the 2015 ACM Awards — usually held in Las Vegas — set a Guinness World Record for most-attended live awards show of all-time.