Music icon Lionel Richie received his first-ever Country Music Association nomination on Wednesday for his duet with Darius Rucker on Richie’s “Stuck On You” in the Music Event of the Year category.

“I am thrilled to receive my first nomination from the CMA. I am so grateful to the country music community for embracing this project and making me feel so at home,” Richie exclaims. “To share this nomination with my friend Darius Rucker makes it even more special. I have a CMA nomination and a friend for life. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Darius Rucker, who sang with Richie on “Stuck On You,” says, “I was so honored to have sung with Lionel and am overjoyed with this nomination.”

“Stuck On You” appears on Richie’s platinum-certified Tuskegee. Tuskegee is the best-selling country album of 2012 and the first country album in more than a year to spend two consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200. Richie has garnered album sales of more than 100 million, 22 Top 10 hits, five Grammys, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a host of other awards.

Tuskegee has become a worldwide hit, debuting at No. 1 on Canada’s Top Albums chart and reaching the Top 20 albums charts in 10 countries. It hit the Top 10 albums charts in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Holland, Australia, Hong Kong and Sweden. This is his first No. 1 album in Canada in the SoundScan era and his first No. 1 album in Canada since his sophomore solo album, Can’t Slow Down, in 1983.

The album features duets of 13 of his timeless hits with Jason Aldean, Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, Billy Currington, Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson, Jennifer Nettles, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Rogers, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton and Shania Twain.

The 46th Annual CMA Awards will broadcast live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Thursday, Nov. 1 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Contact: jerry@nashville.com

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