Country
6 Best Moments From the 2022 CMT Awards
More than two years into the pandemic, we should all be used to curveballs by now, but Monday night’s (April 11) CMT Awards got a lot thrown at them at the last minute: Co-host Kelsea Ballerini pulled out as on-site co-host Monday morning show after testing positive for COVID-19, while live outdoor performers had to deal with a raging rainstorm. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news But that couldn’t stop the good vibes for the CMT Awards, which aired for the first time on CBS (and streamed on Paramount +) after airing on CMT from 2002-21. It assumed the broadcast slot after the Academy of Country Music Awards, which had aired on CBS for years, moved to Amazon’s Prime Video. Ballerini gamely chipped in remotely from her house, while Kane Brown genial...
Billy Ray Cyrus Performs With Snoop Dogg Days After Tish Cyrus Filed for Divorce: Watch
Billy Ray Cyrus took the stage with Snoop Dogg on Saturday night days after Tish Cyrus had filed for divorce from the singer. “Dallas!!! What a crowd last night! Y’all raised the roof! A Hard Working Man LIVE with @snoopdogg & @the_avilabrothers. Let’s do it again!!” he captioned a video of his performance with the rapper and the Avila Brothers of their collaborative single “A Hard Working Man.” “Papa told me/ You gotta work hard to get your hustle on/ Mama told me/ You gotta be smart to get what you want/ I’m a hard working man/ Cause I’m a hard working man,” Cyrus sings on the chorus of the track in between verses by Snoop. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The star’s estranged wife had filed for divorce three days earlier, citing “irreconc...
Audacy Plans Nashville Presence With Upcoming Studio Space
Audacy is increasing its commitment to Nashville by opening a content studio in Music City, marking the Philadelphia-based radio and podcasting company’s first physical presence in town. To be located at 100 Broadway, in the three-story brick building in front of the Hard Rock Cafe (which the Hard Rock also owns), the roughly 800 square-foot studio should open by November’s CMA Awards, and further cements Audacy’s partnership with Hard Rock International. The second-floor space, which also contains an area for performances, will serve as the home for Audacy’s nationally syndicated country music radio show Katie & Company, hosted by Katie Neal, as well as other Audacy events (though larger events will be held in the Cafe’s own performance space). “I’m thrilled that we have a space in th...
2022 CMT Awards Red Carpet: See the Best Pics
The 2022 CMT Music Awards red carpet is open, drawing in some of the biggest names in country music. The 2022 CMT Music Awards, taking place at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium on Monday (April 11) night, made headlines well before the country awards show even got underway when Kelsea Ballerini – co-hosting alongside Anthony Mackie and Kane Brown – revealed she tested positive for COVID-19 and would have to pitch in remotely. “I cannot be there in person anymore and I am devastated. I am gutted,” Ballerini said. “But the good news is that I’m feeling a lot better and the incredible CMT family and my team have brought part of the CMT set to my house, to my little bubble, and set it up to where I can still host and perform.” Regardless, it’s a big night for the genre. The Judds, one of count...
The Judds Announce 2022 Reunion Tour
This fall, Wynonna and Naomi Judd will regroup for their first tour as The Judds in over a decade. The ten-date outing — which they’re billing as “The Final Tour” — kicks off in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 10th. The tour’s itinerary also includes dates in Toledo, Ohio; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Ft. Worth, Texas; Biloxi, Mississippi; and Nashville, Tennessee. Martina McBride will appear as a special guest on select dates. Tickets go on-sale to the general public beginning April 15th at 10:00 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster, but fans can sign-up for a special pre-sale via the group’s website. Related Video On Monday night, Wynonna and Naomi Judd will perform “Love Can Build a Bridge” at the 2022 CMT Music Awards. In May, they’ll be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Adve...
Halle Berry Reacts to Reba McEntire Hairstyle Comparison
Halle Berry responded to an unexpected Reba McEntire comparison this week. The actress, who at one time rocked short, auburn hair in the style of Reba’s signature look, had no problem being compared to the country icon. “Halle looks like she about to sing ‘a single mom who works too hard, who loves her kids and never stops,’” one Twitter user captioned a photo of Berry circa the late ’90s on Tuesday (April 5). The lyrics were lifted from McEntire’s “I’m a Survivor,” the theme song to her Reba sitcom that premiered on The WB in 2001. “… and what about it?” Berry responded the next day, along with a crying-laughing emoji. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news McEntire is still offering a message of strength in 2022: The country star recen...
Orville Peck Unleashes New Album Bronco: Stream
After sharing its first two chapters earlier this year, Orville Peck has dropped his new album Bronco in its entirety. The alt-country musician’s sophomore LP is out now via Colombia. Building upon the themes of heartache and loneliness from Peck’s 2019 debut Pony and 2020 EP Show Pony, Bronco sees him “breaking free from that which binds us and all that is wild and untamed.” Its 15 tracks pull from elements of classic outlaw country, though all polished off with a 2022 twist. “This is my most impassioned and authentic album to date,” Peck explained in a press release. “I was inspired by country rock, ’60s and ’70s psychedelic, California and bluegrass with everything being anchored in country. Bronco is all about being unrestrained and the culmination of a year of touring, writi...
Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic to Return with Jason Isbell, Brothers Osborne, Allison Russell
Willie Nelson is set to bring back his (nearly) annual 4th of July Picnic this summer. A Texas tradition since it first launched in 1973, the event took 2020 off and went virtual last year; now, it’s set to take place at Austin’s Q2 Stadium (home of the Austin Football Club) with a heavy-hitting nine-act bill. In addition to Nelson himself performing with his Family Band, the 10-hour concert will see sets from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, recent Grammy winners Brothers Osborne, Allison Russell, Tyler Childers, Charley Crockett, Micah Nelson’s band Particle Kid, Steve Early & The Dukes, and Asleep at the Wheel. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 15th at 10:00 a.m. CT, with Club Luck Members getting pre-sale access beginning today. Grab your tickets here. Advertisement Related Video At 8...
Dolly Parton Says Climate Change Is “Like Being Ugly to Your Mama”
Dolly Parton, the reigning queen of Tennessee and charitable efforts, recently stopped by National Geographic to discuss two of her favorite things about her home state: its music and its nature. Just in time for Earth Day, the country legend spoke with National Geographic Travel’s Amy Alipio about her thoughts on climate change, the music of the Smoky Mountains, and how the state’s landscape played into her tune “My Tennesee Mountain Home” — which was just unanimously voted as Tennessee’s new state song. “We should pay more attention to how we’re treating our mountains, how we’re treating our world, how we’re just treating everything,” Parton said. “We’re just mistreating Mother Nature. That’s, like, being ugly to your mama, you know? That’s like being disrespectful, you know? Seriously. ...
Roland White, Bluegrass Legend With a Playful Mandolin Style, Dies at 83
In 1968, while square-dancing during his boss Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Festival in Bean Blossom, Indiana, guitarist Roland White turned the wrong way and ran face-to-face into Monroe himself. Monroe grabbed him, gave him a spank and sent him back on course. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I never could square-dance. If they said go left, I’d go right,” White told Tom Ewing in 2008’s “Bill Monroe: The Life and Music of the Blue Grass Man.” “I could never follow directions.” White, who died Friday at 83, after complications from a heart attack, had a long career of masterfully not following directions in bluegrass. A member of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, he played in the late ’60s and early ’70s with two of the genre’s most importa...
Lauren Alaina Parts Ways With Longtime Record Label
Singer-songwriter Lauren Alaina has parted ways with her longtime record label home, Billboard has confirmed. Alaina first shared the news on social media, with a lengthy statement thanking UMG Nashville and Mercury Records for being her label home from the beginning of her career, after she came in second place on the 10th season of American Idol in 2011 (fellow country entertainer Scotty McCreery was the winner that season). “I want to thank the staff at Mercury Records and UMG Nashville for everything they have done for me over the last 11 years,” Alaina said. “They have been my label home since the day I walked off the American Idol stage as a really young, wide-eyed, eager 16-year-old kid. Now, at 27 years old I look back and see just how much I have changed and grown in to the woman ...
5 Things to Know About Brothers Osborne, 2022 Grammy Nominees and Performers
“I’m not for everyone.” This mantra, a lyric stripped from their latest release Skeletons, has become a rallying cry for Brothers Osborne’s most recent album cycle. The simple, defiant phrase leads press releases, dons their merch, and titles their current expansive tour. But as their profile continues to grow and they rack up additional award nominations, it’s starting to feel more and more like everyone loves those “not for everyone” brothers. Made up of T.J. Osborne, who takes lead vocal responsibilities, and John Osborne, the group’s lead guitarist, Brothers Osborne’s unflinching attitude has been garnering them unlikely success in the famously rigid Nashville country scene. While they break the country music mold in numerous ways, from their mix of genres to their politics, the band b...
