Country
Chris Young Surprises His Dad With a New Truck: Watch
Chris Young has had much to celebrate in 2021, including a Billboard Country Airplay No. 1 hit with “Famous Friends,” his collaboration with Kane Brown. The song was also the most-played song on country radio this year, topping Billboard‘s year-end Country Airplay chart. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Young also gave his father, Michael Harris, something to celebrate this year, when the artist surprised him with a new Chevrolet truck. The singer-songwriter shared the moment via a video on Instagram Dec. 27, as the Michael Bublé rendition of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas” plays. Young captioned the video, saying, “My dad has been driving the same truck for well over a decade. I decided he needed a new one this year. I love you dad!” In the clip, Young walks with H...
Matthew West Tops Billboard’s Year-End Christian Songwriters Chart: ‘I Fell in Love With Songwriting as Much as I Did Artistry’
Since first entering Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart with his 2004 chart-topper “More,” Matthew West has earned 11 No. 1 singles as an artist on that chart. But over the past 17 years, he’s also written songs recorded by artists including Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Scotty McCreery, Rascal Flatts, Maddie & Tae, Casting Crowns, Mandisa, Billy Ray Cyrus and more. Explore See latest videos, charts and news This year, West earned several hits as both an artist and a writer, co-writing hits for Casting Crowns (“Scars in Heaven”), Anne Wilson (“My Jesus”) and Tasha Layton (“Look What You’ve Done”), while notching a five-week No. 1 Christian Airplay hit with his own single “Truth Be Told” and following it with another No. 1, “What If.” West’s string of songwriting credits landed him at N...
CBS Highlights Nashville & Country Music’s Biggest Stars With New Year’s Eve Special
Nashville’s annual New Year’s Eve party will ring in 2022 with its biggest spotlight to date when the five-hour concert special New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash airs Dec. 31 via CBS Television Network, as well as Paramount+. The show, which begins at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT, will feature more than 50 performances from several of country music’s biggest stars, including Jason Aldean, Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Gabby Barrett, Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt, Elle King, Miranda Lambert, Carly Pearce, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Cole Swindell and Zac Brown Band — all airing from the heart of downtown Nashville. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Bentley will co-headline a free concert at Nashville’s Bicentennial Mal...
Abby Anderson on Leaving Her Record Label & New Music: ‘I Feel So Much More Confident Now’
“I was just coming out of my depression, so that was fun,” country singer-songwriter Abby Anderson tells Billboard of writing her latest single, “Bad Posture,” which released in October. “My hair was black. I was going through it, man.” It was a different image than country music fans had come to know of Anderson—a gregarious, charming singer-songwriter. Since her debut in 2018, Anderson released the ballad “Make Him Wait,” and collaborated with Jimmie Allen on a cover of the A Star Is Born hit “Shallow,” with their collaboration reaching No. 21 on Billboard‘s Country Digital Song Sales chart in 2019. That same year, she opened shows for Rob Thomas on his Chip Tooth Tour. Explore See latest videos, charts and news But in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced artists away from the road. ...
Watch Ariana Grande ‘Audition’ for Blake Shelton’s ‘Come Back as a Country Boy’ Music Video
Ariana Grande, wannabe country girl? That’s the premise behind the amusing skit posted by the superstar on Tuesday showing her “audition” for Blake Shelton‘s “Come Back as a Country Boy” music video. In the comical clip, the “Santa Tell Me” singer dons a cowboy hat, flannel shirt and high-heeled boots while talking to off-camera casting agents. “Blake doesn’t think I’m ‘country enough,’ but I told him he’s so wrong so hopefully this’ll really show him what he needs to see,” she deadpans with her fingers crossed. The pint-size superstar then proceeds to fail miserably at various country-fied activities like catching a beer can, starting up a chainsaw (“Are you sure it’s charged? I think this one is defective…”) and kicking over a tree. “Still waiting to hear but i feel like no news is good ...
Garth Brooks Will Return to Las Vegas for Two Shows in 2022: Details
Garth Brooks is headed back to Las Vegas next year with the launch of Garth Brooks: The ONE Man Show, an intimate set of two concerts slated to take place on Feb. 4 and 5 at Dolby Live at Park MGM. “I look forward to celebrating my birthday early that weekend in Vegas. Getting to sing and hear everybody singing is my favorite thing,” Brooks said via a press release. The singer will turn 60 years old on Feb. 7, 2022. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Brooks previously led a residency at Las Vegas’ Encore Theater between 2009 and 2014. At both those previous Vegas shows and his Nashville shows, Brooks took the stage with only a guitar and entertained the audiences with a mix of his own hits, as well as songs from James Taylor, George Strait, George Jones and Bob Seger that influence...
CMA-Commissioned Study Examines Country Music’s Multicultural Audience Opportunities & Barriers
As country music grapples with how to become more inclusive, a study commissioned by the Country Music Association reveals that while the number of people of color enjoying the genre is rising, 20% say they experienced racial profiling and/or harassment at a country music live event. That was one of the key takeaways from “Country Music’s Multicultural Opportunity,” a Horowitz Research study commissioned by the CMA, whose results were presented during a Dec. 7 webinar by CMA senior director of market research Karen Stump and Horowitz’s chief revenue officer and insights & strategy lead Adriana Waterston. The study also found that while 50% of overall respondents who had listened to country music at a live music venue reported perceiving events as “family-friendly” and 43% said th...
Stonewall Jackson, Longtime Grand Ole Opry Member, Dies at 89
Stonewall Jackson, a Grand Ole Opry member who had a longtime career in country music, has died. He was 89. Jackson passed away on Saturday (Dec. 4) following a battle with vascular dementia, the Grand Ole Opry confirmed. Born in Tabor City, North Carolina, Jackson was then raised in Georgia before heading to Nashville. Jackson was known for his classic country singles that charted on the Hot Country Songs chart, including the country No. 1s “Waterloo” (1959) and “B.J. the D.J.” (1963), as well as songs like “Life to Go” (1958) and “Don’t Be Angry” (1964). Explore See latest videos, charts and news In an interview with Music Charts Magazine, Jackson recalled the excitement of being offered a five-year contract with the Grand Ole Opry on his first invitation to play there in 1956, after Wes...
Billboard’s Top New Country Artist Of 2021 Lainey Wilson on the 10 Years Leading Up to Her First No. 1
In the country music industry, there’s a saying that Nashville is a 10-year town — meaning it usually takes artists a decade to achieve success. Lainey Wilson, Billboard‘s top new country artist of 2021, hit that date almost on the nose. “It’s crazy — when I first got here, everyone was saying, ‘It’s a 10-year town, it’s a 10-year town,’ and I thought, ‘I’m going to do this in less time,’” she says. “But you know what? It’s like 10 years and one month later [that] I get my first No. 1.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Wilson, originally from Baskin, La., scored her first No. 1 when her first charting single, “Things a Man Oughta Know,” rose 2-1 on the Country Airplay list dated Sept. 19. Concurrently, it peaked at No. 3 on the airpl...
Miko Marks Offers Acoustic Performance of ‘Long Journey Home’: Video Premiere
In October, Miko Marks & The Resurrectors released the Redtone Records EP Race Records, a collection that finds the singer reinterpreting classics such as Willie Nelson’s “Whiskey River” and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Long As I Can See The Light.” Explore Explore Miko Marks See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The set includes “Long Journey Home,” a take on a Monroe Brothers classic. Above, Billboard premieres Marks’ acoustic video for the track. “‘Long Journey Home’ is about finding peace and comfort in the midst of many life storms that come our way. For me, the two dollar bill represents grace and mercy,” Marks tells Billboard, referencing the song’s opening lyric: “Lost all my money but a two dollar bill.” “Hope shines through the st...
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Announce 2022 Tour
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have reunited for Raise the Roof, the follow-up to their 2007 blockbuster covers album Raising Sand. The duo’s second record is out now via Rounder Records. What’s more, the pair has announced an international tour for next year. Recorded right before lockdown with Raising Sand producer T Bone Burnett, Raise the Roof features covers of classic blues, country, folk, and soul music originally sung by the likes of Merle Haggard and The Everly Brothers. The pair first announced the album back in August with the song “Can’t Let Go,” a Randy Weeks composition that Lucinda Williams made famous in 1998. And while the golden-voiced singers have been praised for their covers — Raising Sand won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, after all — Rais...
Garth Brooks Brings The Hits, Salutes His Heroes at Nashville Show
Garth Brooks’s concert Thursday (Nov. 18) at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville was billed as “an intimate evening” with the superstar — and with just an acoustic guitar, no band, and a lengthy list of iconic songs, Brooks certainly lived up to the promise. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news At one moment soon after making his way onto the austere Opry House stage, Brooks gestured to the center stage circle of wood that was taken from the Grand Ole Opry’s former home at the Ryman Auditorium and installed when the Opry House opened in 1974—calling it “the same floorboards that the greatest of all have stood on.” From there, he offered a snippet of “Three Wooden Crosses,” which Randy Travis turned into a hit in 2002. Throughout the evening, Brook...
