In honor of college basketball’s craziest month, I created a bracket with 16 of the hottest acts in country music. I seeded them based on the strength of their current “season,” which ran from the ACM Awards in April 2016 to the Grammy Awards in February 2017.
After more than 20,000 votes were cast during the competition, one man reigned supreme: Blake Shelton.
Blake defeated Maren Morris, Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood in Rounds 1, 2 and 3, and then he ran away with the championship by besting Dolly Parton in the Finals by more than 2,000 votes.
In addition to his role as a coach on The Voice, Blake’s accomplishments this past season include:
- People’s Choice Award Favorite Album
- People’s Choice Award Favorite Male Country Artist
- Billboard No. 1 album (If I’m Honest)
- Two Billboard No. 1 songs (“Came Here to Forget” and “A Guy With a Girl”)
Congrats on the win, Blake. And thanks to everyone who voted over the past month.
Garth Brooks courtesy CMA; Dierks Bentley courtesy The Greenroom PR; Carrie Underwood by Koury Angelo/Schmidt Relations; Miranda Lambert by Randee St. Nicholas/Sony Music Nashville; Keith Urban courtesy PFA Media; Little Big Town by Matthew Welch/Sandbox Entertainment; Blake Shelton by Brian Bowen Smith/NBC; Maren Morris by LeAnn Mueller/Sony Music; Sturgill Simpson by Reto Sterchi/Sacks & Co.; Kelsea Ballerini courtesy Black River Entertainment; Thomas Rhett by John Shearer/The Greenroom PR; Jason Aldean by James Minchin/The Greenroom PR; Eric Church by John Peets/EB Media; Chris Stapleton courtesy UMG Nashville; Luke Bryan courtesy Schmidt Relations; Dolly Parton by Quantrell Colbert/NBC
