Blake Shelton must be so proud of his The Voice season 4 winner, Danielle Bradbery! The now-21-year-old singer, who won the show when she was just 17, just reached another huge milestone in her career — her first-ever ACM Award nomination. “I woke up to the news. I couldn’t believe it. It definitely took a while to sink in. Just being nominated is a huge deal to me!” she told HollywoodLife.com in an EXCLUSIVE interview ahead of the big night. Danielle was nominated for Best New Female Artist, an award won by Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini in the past. Danielle was joined in the category this year by Lauren Alaina, Carly Pearce and The Voice-alum RaeLynn. While Lauren was the lucky winner — who received a viral call from host Reba McEntire to tell her the news — Danielle was excited to just be considered. “I love Lauren! I’m so proud of her. We did talk after she won and we’ve hung out a little too. She deserves it,” she told HL.
“Having friends in this industry just makes it so much more fun. We support each other because we actually like each other and like each other’s music,” Danielle explained. “A good support system is important. I think we all work together to support each other constantly!” Her positivity and call for women to unite in the country music industry comes after a number of country ladies have have spoken out about pitting women against each other. Kelsea Ballerini noticed a Twitter poll asking, “Which female artist are you most looking forward to seeing perform at this year’s #ACMAwards?” which prompted her to respond in a lengthy Instagram caption, that was worth everyone’s read. “Since I put out my first single over 4 years ago, every interview includes some form of question about the females in country music…or the current lack thereof. So we swim upstream and wear ourselves out trying to be heard and finally see the charts start to mention a few more of our names, the categories recognize a few more of our songs, and even start to cheer each other on. But then there’s something as simple and seemingly harmless as this, that sets us back.” She added, “This isn’t mean girls. This is country music.” QUEEN.
Danielle didn’t hold back in supporting fellow female country artists during her interview with HL! “I’m so excited about the ACMs. I love these events because you see all your friends and get to see them perform!” she said. “I’m excited about Carrie Underwood’s performance…everything she does is amazing! And I feel like everyone is pumped to see Reba host!” Danielle added that she’s currently writing more music and getting ready to tour! We can’t wait to see her lookin’ gorgeous at the ACMs tonight!