Taylor Swift lands special country honour

Taylor Swift, Reba Mcentire and Garth Brooks have learned they're already winners of Academy of Country Music honours five days before the organisation's big awards show in Las Vegas.

The trio join Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers as those who will be honoured with special awards from the Academy.

Reba McEntire will receive a Career Achievement Award, while Taylor Swift is the recipient of the 2011 Jim Reeves International Award for her contributions to the acceptance of country music throughout the world.

Garth Brooks and the Gatlins will receive the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award.

Additionally, Tom T. Hall and the late Hank Cochran are this year's recipients of the Poet's Award in recognition of their achievements as songwriters, and artist manager John Dorris has been tapped for the Mae Boren Axton Award in recognition of his years of service to the ACM.

Even Gwyneth Paltrow's Country Strong movie has landed an accolade - the cast has been honoured with the Tex Ritter Award, which is given to films which prominently feature country music.

The special honours, announced on Tuesday (29Mar11), will not be handed at during the ACM Awards show on Sunday (03Apr11). The trophies and many industry awards will be presented at the ACM Honors gala, which will take place later this year (11) in Nashville, Tennessee.