Country
2023 CMT Music Awards to Air Live From Austin, Texas
The 2023 CMT Music Awards are headed to the Lone Star State. CMT and CBS have revealed that the 2023 CMT Music Awards will air Sunday, April 2, 2023, live from Austin, Texas’ Moody Center, via CBS. The Paramount Global country music tentpole event returns for its global premiere exclusively via the CBS Television Network and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+. Kelsea Ballerini, who recently released her album Subject to Change, will return for a third consecutive year as co-host of the CMT Music Awards. Ballerini surprised Carrie Underwood during her Wednbesday (Nov. 2) stop at Moody Center on her The Denim & Rhinestones Tour, where they revealed Underwood as the first performer for the 2023 CMT Music Awards. Underwood has won the most honors of any artist at ...
Gabby Barrett Gives Birth to Baby No. 2 With Cade Foehner: ‘What a Precious Gift’
Gabby Barrett and her husband Cade Foehner have welcomed their second child, son Augustine Boone Foehner, born on Oct. 27. They are also parents to daughter Baylah May Foehner, who was born in January 2021. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news On Nov. 2, the couple shared a photo on social media of Baylah May looking at her newborn baby brother, who is dressed in a blue onesie and wrapped in a blue blanket. The photo was captioned, “Soaking up newborn days with baby brother. What a precious gift from our Lord!” The couple also revealed his name — as well as its pronunciation — and the little guy’s birthday in the caption. Barrett and Foehner met while each was competing during the 16th season of American Idol. Barrett went on to finish in th...
Billy Strings Announces 2023 US Tour Dates
Billy Strings has expanded his 2022 tour through next spring with new dates in North America. Strings now has 40 dates coming up on his schedule, including newly-announced appearances at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena (two nights), Atlantic City’s Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena (three nights), Charlottesville’s John Paul Jones Arena (two nights), and Atlanta’s State Farm Arena and Charleston’s North Charleston Coliseum (two nights). He also has a leg of tour dates in the EU and UK this December. Tickets for Strings’ new tour dates will be available for pre-sale starting November 2nd at 10:00 a.m. local time with general on-sale following this Friday, November 4th at 10:00 a.m. local time. Head over to Ticketmaster and use our pre-sale code HEADLINE. See Billy Strings’ full itinerary of 2022-...
Katy Perry, Chris Stapleton, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett Among Newly-Added 2022 CMA Awards Performers
More performers have been added to the upcoming 56th annual CMA Awards, set to air Nov. 9 on ABC (and available the following day on Hulu). Brothers Osborne, Brandy Clark, Luke Combs, Caylee Hammack, Cody Johnson, Elle King, Patty Loveless, Ashley McBryde, Reba McEntire, John Osborne, Katy Perry, Pillbox Patti, Chris Stapleton, Cole Swindell, The Black Keys, The War and Treaty, and Thomas Rhett have all been added to the performer lineup. Reigning CMA entertainer of the year Combs, who is again nominated for the night’s most coveted honor, will perform his single, “The Kind of Love We Make.” Johnson, a four-time nominee heading into the ceremony, will perform his Billboard Country Airplay chart-topping hit “‘Til You Can’t,” while Elle King (who will release the country project Come Get You...
Jack White Covers “Van Lear Rose” in Tribute to Loretta Lynn: Watch
Loretta Lynn passed away earlier this month at the age of 90, and Jack White, who produced and played guitar on her 2004 comeback album Van Lear Rose, covered the title track during CMT’s October 30th tribute concert, “A Celebration of the Life and Music of Loretta Lynn.” Via Stereogum, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium hosted the concert as well as country legends like Alan Jackson, Wynonna Judd, George Strait, and Tanya Tucker. White was a late addition to the setlist, and he gave a fiery performance on behalf of the woman he recently called “the greatest female singer-songwriter of the 20th century.” “Van Lear Rose” is a showcase Lynn’s lyrical dextertity, starting off like a juicy small-town story before taking a personal turn at the end. Check out White’s cover of ...
R.I.P. Patrick Haggerty, Lavender Country Vocalist and Queer Activist Dead at 78
Patrick Haggerty, lead vocalist and guitarist of the pioneering queer country group Lavender Country, has died. He was 78. “This morning, we lost a great soul,” read a statement from Lavender Country’s Instagram account October 31st. “RIP Patrick Haggerty. After suffering a stroke several weeks ago, he was able to spend his final days at home surrounded by his kids and lifelong husband, JB. Love, and solidarity.” Haggerty was born on September 27th, 1944, and raised on a dairy farm outside Port Angeles, Washington. The sixth of ten children, Haggerty has said that his family was very accepting of his sexuality. After a brief stint serving in the Peace Corps, he moved to Seattle, where he quickly immersed himself in the Stonewall-era gay rights movement, joining the local chapter of the Gay...
Loretta Lynn’s Life Celebrated by George Strait, Brandi Carlile, Tanya Tucker and More
As has been often quoted since her death Oct. 4 at the age of 90, Loretta Lynn said that to make it, “You have to be different, great or first. I think I was just a little different.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Time and time again during Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Loretta Lynn, which took play tonight (Oct. 30) from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry and aired live on CMT, viewers were reminded that Lynn sold herself short: she was all three. Wynonna, The Gaither Trio and Larry Strickland opened the service with an elegiac “How Great Thou Art” and Alan Jackson sang “Where Her Heart Has Always Been,” a moving tribute originally written about his own mother’s death, but otherwise, the performers sa...
Wynonna Celebrates The Judds‘ Enduring Legacy With Soul-Lifting ‘Girls Night Out’ With Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride & Brandi Carlile
In the 1980s, mother-daughter duo The Judds, with their homespun songs and pure, family harmonies, were among several acts that helped return country music to a more rootsy sound. Between 1983 and 2000, mother Naomi Judd and daughter Wynonna notched 25 Hot Country Songs appearances, which encompassed 14 No. 1s and 20 top 10s. In addition to their electric personalities, they also had a secret weapon — the junior Judd, then still a teen, whose distinctive, husky voice has always been an endlessly versatile instrument, capable of rendering the delicate nuances demanded by a tender love song, but equally capable of the hand-raising, soul-shouting intensity of a musical preacher. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The Judds: The Final Tour had been an...
‘Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Celebration of the Life & Music of Loretta Lynn’: How to Watch & Stream the Star-Studded Special
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. “A celebration of life fit for a true queen of country music.” The legendary Loretta Lynn will be celebrated in a two-hour, star-studded tribute special premiering on CMT on Sunday (Oct. 30). Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Celebration of Life & Music of Loretta Lynn is set to air live from the Grand Ole Opry House at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m CT. Jenna Bush Hager will host the commercial-free special featuring performances and appearances from Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton, Wynonna, ...
How to Get Tickets to Shania Twain’s 2023 Tour
Shania Twain has announced the “Queen of Me Tour,” in support of her upcoming sixth studio album, Queen of Me. Get tickets here, and read on for more details including pre-sale dates. What Is Shania Twain’s Next Tour? Twain’s “Queen of Me Tour” is a nearly 50-date run of shows in support of the singer’s upcoming sixth studio album of the same name — her first LP six years. It kicks off on April 28th in Spokane, WA and makes stops across the US and Canada through the end of July, with further tour dates in the UK scheduled in September. Who Is Opening for Shania Twain? Advertisement Related Video Joining Twain on the road is a rotating supporting cast of opening acts that include Lindsay Ell, Hailey Whitters, Breland, Kelsea Ballerini, Mickey Guyton, Robyn Ottolini, and Priscilla ...
First Country: New Music From Lainey Wilson, Keith Urban, Shania Twain & More
First Country is a compilation of the best new country songs, videos & albums that dropped this week. Lainey Wilson, “Hold My Halo” This Louisiana native’s career is on fire right now. In addition to her new album, Bell Bottom Country, which drops today (Friday, Oct. 28), Wilson is the leading nominee heading into this year’s CMA Awards, earning six nods during her very first year as a nominee. Wilson co-wrote all but one track on this project, including her newest release, the frisky “Hold My Halo,” which raises a drink to the virtues of a hard-working woman who deserves a night to “tell that angel inside of me to hide her wings and lay low.” Keith Urban, “Street Called Main” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Urban’s new song,...
Lainey Wilson Says She’s ‘Here to Take Care of Business & Share My Story’ on ‘Bell Bottom Country’ Album
Lainey Wilson’s career has been developing at breakneck speed. In three short years, she’s gone from releasing her debut major label EP to being the top nominee at Nov. 9’s CMA Awards. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In 2019, she released Redneck Hollywood on Broken Bow Records/BBR Music Group, followed by 2021’s full-length, Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin.’ On Friday, Bell Bottom Country — a nod not only to her freewheeling form of music, but also to what has become her signature ‘70s hippie style – comes out. “This record is still me sayin’ what I’m thinking, but in a different way,” the Baskin, Louisiana, native says in her distinct Southern drawl, while seated at Red Light Management’s Nashville office. “I feel like I’ve grown leaps a...
