Country Music Stars Honored CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR, Airing Tonight

The stars aligned in Nashville last night for a celebrity-filled evening honoring the 2012 CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR with appearances or performances by some of the biggest names in entertainment and sports, including Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Luke Bryan, Rodney Carrington, baseball great Roger Clemens, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Sheryl Crow, Eli Young Band, "Late Late Show" host Craig Ferguson, Nashville Predators' Mike Fisher, Academy Award® winning actor Morgan Freeman, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Sammy Hagar, Merle Haggard, Hunter Hayes, Metallica's James Hetfield, Atlanta Braves' Chipper Jones, Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Miranda Lambert, rapper Ludacris, Kacey Musgraves, "Duck Dynasty" star Willie Robertson, Kenny Rogers, Thompson Square, Grammy Award® winning record producer and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, Carrie Underwood and Chris Young.

Country super group Rascal Flatts and "Nashville" actress Hayden Panettiere hosted the event that honors the top country acts of 2012 when it premieres tonight, December 8 at 10:00 p.m., ET/PT on CMT.

For the first time ever, CMT is keeping the illustrious list of honorees top secret until they are revealed tonight, December 8. The 90-minute special is the most exclusive gathering of country music superstars of the year and celebrates the class of 2012 with an incredible evening of wall-to-wall performances and special appearances from others in entertainment. Past artists named as CMT Artists of the Year include Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, and Zac Brown Band.

CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR is executive produced by John Hamlin, R.A. Clark and Margaret Comeaux.

During Saturday's premiere, join the conversation about CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR on CMT.com/AOTY/ and the official Facebook page, or follow @rascalflatts, @haydenpanettier and @CMT on Twitter using official hashtag #CMTAOTY.