Thomas Rhett, Luke Bryan Among Country Nominees for 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards 

The start of a new year also brings in the start of awards season for every entertainment entity in the industry, and music is definitely not left behind.

With categories aplenty ready for the taking, the nominations for the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards were announced earlier this morning and a few familiar faces made the cut in both country and all-genre categories. Leading the pack for the format is a three-way tie between Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell and Thomas Rhett.

While Bryan holds key nominations in the categories for Male Artist of the Year and Country Artist of the Year, Rhett follows right behind with his two nods in the Country Song of the Year and Country Artist of the Year categories respectively. Swindell keeps close by with his nominations for his emotional hit, “You Should Be Here,” in both the Country Song of the Year and Best Lyrics categories.

Other recognized country stars making the cut outside of the genre-specific categories include Florida Georgia Line for Best Duo/Group of the Year and Blake Shelton in the Best Lyrics group for his huge single of the summer, “Came Here to Forget.”

The 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards will air live on March 5 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT, TBS and TruTV. Check out all of the country nominees below:

Male Artist of the Year: 
– Luke Bryan
– Drake
– Justin Bieber
– Shawn Mendes
– The Weeknd

Best Duo/Group of the Year: 
– Florida Georgia Line
– Coldplay
– DNCE
– The Chainsmokers
– twenty one pilots 

Country Song of the Year:
– “Church Bells” – Carrie Underwood
– “Snapback” – Old Dominion
– “Somewhere On A Beach” – Dierks Bentley
– “T-Shirt” – Thomas Rhett
– “You Should Be Here” – Cole Swindell

Country Artist of the Year:
– Carrie Underwood
– Jason Aldean
– Keith Urban
– Luke Bryan
– Thomas Rhett 

Best New Country Artist: (New Category)
– Chris Lane
– Chris Stapleton
– Granger Smith
– Kelsea Ballerini
– Maren Morris

Best Lyrics: *Socially Voted Category
– “You Should Be Here” – Cole Swindell
– “Came Here to Forget” – Blake Shelton
– “Cheap Thrills” – Sia featuring Sean Paul
– “Closer” – The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
– “Heathens” – twenty one pilots
– “Love Yourself” – Justin Bieber
– “Scars To Your Beautiful” – Alessia Cara
– “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)” – Adele
– “Too Good” – Drake featuring Rihanna
– “7 Years” – Lukas Graham