Country
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...
Kane Brown Banks 10th Hot Country Songs Top 10 With ‘One Mississippi’
Brown has scored three No. 1s among his 10 Hot Country Songs top 10s. “What Ifs,” featuring Lauren Alaina, dominated for five weeks starting in October 2017; “Lose It” led for a week in November 2018; and “One Right Thing,” with Marshmello, reigned for a week in October 2019. “Mississippi” grants Brown his third Hot Country Songs top 10 of 2021. “Memory,” with blackbear, debuted at its No. 9 best in July and “Famous Friends,” with Chris Young, reached No. 2 in June (and led Country Airplay in July, becoming Brown’s seventh No. 1 and Young’s 10th). ‘DIDN’T’ DID IT AGAIN Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood’s “If I Didn’t Love You” rebounds from No. 2 for a third total w...
Kelsea Ballerini Writes About Eating Disorder, High School Shooting & More in Vulnerable Book of Poems
In “Half of My Hometown,” Ballerini sings about a sense of connection she will always feel to her hometown. Since releasing her debut album, The First Time, in 2015, Ballerini has notched four No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay singles — and as a writer on every song on her albums, her music has become more intimate and personal with each subsequent release, whether she’s writing about a new romantic crush (“Yeah Boy”) or finding courage to choose vulnerability over perfection (“Homecoming Queen?”). On Tuesday, Ballerini’s writing will take on a new patina as she releases her first book, Feel Your Way Through, a collection of poems chronicling her 28 years of life so far and lessons learned along the way. “It feels like a cannonb...
Destructo’s Version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” Is The Country Queen’s New Favorite Remix: Listen
With his new remix of Dolly Parton‘s “Jolene,” Destructo is officially EDM’s latest superstar to pop on a pair of cowboy boots and try his hand at a lil’ country twang. Only in this case, the boots are probably pink, paired with rhinestones and a V-neck for good measure. Out via RCA and Sony Music, Destructo’s version is one of the only official “Jolene” remixes to ever grace the ears of the public and, according to Parton in a press release, it’s her favorite. “It makes me want to dance!” she said. Notably, this isn’t the Queen of Country’s first foray into electronic music. In 2019, her collaboration with Galantis and Mr. Probz, “Faith,” topped the charts with its of-the-moment tro...
Taylor Swift Crashes a Wedding in Video for “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version): Watch
“I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version)” is one of nine new songs taken “From the Vault” and added to Taylor Swift’s recently refreshed album Red (Taylor’s Version). The country-pop kiss-off features vocals from Chris Stapleton, and it now has a new music video directed by Blake Lively and co-written by Lively and Swift. Check it out below. The visuals open with a groom reciting his vows, though it turns out to be a rehearsal in the bathroom mirror, and his groomsmen are all wiggling in front of urinals. At the black and white reception, Swift appears as an apparition in red, dropping cherries into drinks and toppling the groom from the top of the wedding cake. At one point, she returns in a flowing white wedding gown, tempting her ex away from his bride. But this ...
Taylor Swift Calls ‘I Bet You Think About Me’ the ‘Drinking Song’ of ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’
Boston-area radio station Country 102.5 tweeted an audio clip of Swift speaking about “I Bet You Think About Me” — and what her intentions were when writing it back in June 2011 with Lori McKenna. “This is a song I wrote with Lori McKenna, who’s one of my favorite sing-songwriters ever. I’d always wanted to work with her … I wrote this with her at her house when I was playing Foxboro [Gillette Stadium] on the Speak Now Tour,” Swift said in the clip, setting the scene. “We wanted this song to be like a comedic, tongue-in-cheek, funny, not caring what anyone thinks about you sort of breakup song because there are a lot of different types of heartbreak songs on Red — some of them are very sincere, some of them very stoic and heartbre...
