Ranking the 54th Academy of Country Music Awards nominees by Twitter followers

Somewhat hard to believe that Stapleton, who has a chance to win Entertainer of the Year for the third time in four years, isn't really close to 1 million followers on Twitter. Perhaps a few more ACMs, and Stapleton's followers will increase. Or maybe he needs to post some funny cat videos.

The Academy already announced that Combs is the winner of the New Artist of the Year Award. Yet, Combs is still under 300,000 followers in the Twitterverse. His page is updated frequently, so any fans of Combs who are looking for news about the country star, especially tour information, should check it out.

Not only is Bradbery one of country music's rising stars, but she's also pretty active on Twitter. At least we think it's her and not somebody on her team. She's also supportive of her fellow country musicians, even giving a shout out to Ashley McBryde for beating her out for New Female Artist of the Year. Plus, star U.S. gymnast Simone Biles visits Bradbery's feed.  

The hottest duo on the country scene at the moment, the pair of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney could be in for a big night at this year's ACMs. While they also have their own Twitter pages, we'll go with the one for the group, which includes lots of concert footage, fan shots and even a pic of a dog working on a laptop. 

Morris is chatty on her Twitter page, which would seem the point. It's just your average Twitter conversations with friends like Kelly Clarkson and Keith Urban. We should be so lucky. Morris, who is up for Female Artist of the Year, also seems to be a big fan of "Veep" and "Game of Thrones." She's got good taste there.

Swindell is another country star whose Twitter page is full of good info: tour dates, show lineups and ticket information. Now that's treating your fans right. As a show of thanks, fans of the man who is up for Song of the Year for his hit "Break Up In The End," tell your friends so Swindell can generate more Twitter followers.

Now this doesn't make sense. Musgraves might be country music's biggest star at the moment — gender aside — and she hasn't cracked the 1 million follower mark. Her page is kind of funny and full of inspiring posts. Perhaps things will be different once the Grammy winner cleans up at the ACMs. That's right: Musgraves seems poised to earn plenty of hardware on April 7. 

One would think for as long as Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush have been going strong, they would have hit 1 million Twitter followers by now. Then again, Sugarland remains one of the most beloved country acts of all time, so the pair probably is not losing any sleep over Twitter popularity. It also doesn't hurt to come together with Taylor Swift on "Babe" to earn some ACM love.

Everything the uber-talented and versatile Rexha does seems to turn into gold. Joining forces with Florida Georgia Line for the smash "Meant To Be" has her nominated for Music Event of the Year, Song of the Year and Single of the Year. It's safe to say that collaboration helped pad her Twitter stats as well.

More than 20 years after being formed, Little Big Town can still deliver. It was back in 2007 that the band won for Top New Vocal Duo/Group at the ACMs. It's piled up plenty of awards since then and again this year is up for Group of the Year — an award the band last won in 2017. On its Twitter page, you can also catch the band members playing with the gang from "Sesame Street."

Brown has not only turned the country music world on its ear but also has had little trouble crossing over to the pop arena, which in this day of Twitter, streaming and YouTube, is not that hard. In addition to being seriously talented, he's got charisma and is somebody who is easy to root for, and not just by millennial country music fans. 

Say what we want about how genuine, or "country," these guys might not be, but they are still extremely popular with fans. It's mainstream country, think the Nickelback of genre, and they say "y'all" quite a bit on their Twitter page. But boasting just over 2 million followers is impressive. FLAGALine is nominated for Duo of the Year, plus Single of the Year, Song of the Year and Music Event of the Year — the last three courtesy of Bebe Rexha.

Church's "Desperate Man" is up for Album of the Year, and fans can get some insight about the record from an interview video off his Twitter page. That's actually quite unique when compared to other country stars' pages. It's more of a newsy site: straight to the point, get your Eric Church info and enjoy the day.

A nominee for Single of the Year ("Down to the Honkytonk"), Owen is actually a pretty funny Twitter follow. He also just released his sixth studio album, "Greetings from... Jake," so things are good for Owen. We think those Twitter followers just might rise as the album continues to soar.  

Considered one of the good guys in country, Rhett likes to get personal on Twitter, usually going deep within his music. He's up for Male Artist of the Year, a tough category, but he's certainly worthy of consideration. He also did a fine job with his recent performance on "Saturday Night Live."

Royalty when it comes to country groups, Lady Antebellum still can command a stage and earn a nomination for Group of the Year to prove it. The band has won eight ACM and seven Grammy Awards. Its most recent ACM came in 2013, when the group was honored with the Jim Reeves International Award.

Bentley has a few chances to pick up some hardware at the ACMs this year. He's nominated for Male Artist of the Year, Album of the Year ("The Mountain"), Video of the Year ("Burning Man" with Brothers Osborne) and Music Event of the Year. And, as reminded on his Twitter page, Bentley will be playing a free concert at the 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville.

The sleeveless, shirt-clad, cowboy hat-wearing pics of Chesney are plentiful on his Twitter page. Still one of country's all-time superstars, Chesney has an opportunity to earn a couple of wins at this year's ACMs. He's up for Entertainer of the Year and Music Event of the Year - the latter for his collab with David Lee Murphy on "Everything's Gonna Be Alright."

It's going to be a special night at the ACMs for Aldean, who will receive the Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award. Aldean, who is flirting with 4 million Twitter followers, told the Academy of Country Music's official website: "This is probably one of the coolest awards I’ve ever been given." He's also nominated for Entertainer of the Year and Music Event of the Year ("Drowns the Whiskey" with Miranda Lambert).

If you're looking for a favorite in the Entertainer of the Year category at the ACMs this year, it's Urban. He won the CMA version of the award and enjoyed a stellar 2018, thanks to one of the biggest and most successful tours in all of the music industry. Urban is also nominated for Male Artist of the Year.

Twitter was buzzing in February when Lambert announced to her fans that she married New York City police officer Brendan McLoughlin a month earlier. That's social media's version of the traditional wedding announcement the old folks remember reading in the local newspaper. The good times might keep coming for Lambert, who is nominated for Female Artist of the Year and that Music Event of the Year with Jason Aldean.

Visit Underwood's Twitter page, and the superstar is likely to give you some interesting and genuine insight into her life off stage. She likes to talk about family and is not afraid to post pictures of herself sans makeup. Underwood gets a chance to shine while nominated for Female Artist of the Year at the ACMs. 

One of the biggest music stars on the planet, Bryan is still not too busy to answer questions from the nearly 10 million fans of his Twitter page. Nominated for Entertainer of the Year and Single of the Year ("Most People Are Good"), Bryan could be in for another big night at the CMAs this month.

Teaming with Dan + Shay on the hit "Keeping Score" brings Clarkson to the ACMs as a finalist for Music Event of the Year. Along with her more than 12 million Twitter followers. Clarkson remains one of the most pleasant music stars on the planet, whether it be pop or country, and genuinely looks like she still enjoys what she's doing. 

Swift is nominated for her appearance on Sugarland's "Babe" in the category of Video of the Year. However, that's enough to put her atop this list. Swift left her country roots a while back, but there is still much love from fans of the genre. It's a safe bet that a good chunk of those more than 83 million Twitter followers lean toward the country side.