Country
Carly Pearce, Ashley McBryde Team Up for New Song ‘Never Wanted to Be That Girl’
“Nobody ever thinks it will happen to them,” Pearce said in a statement. “You never see it coming, but there’s always an explanation. You know, who’d ever want to think that way about someone they love? Why would you? And so, that’s where this song started: the things you don’t see, because you’d never look. “Ashley is such a great drop-into-the-moment writer, she was able to bring that reality bomb truth to what we were doing,” continued Pearce. “She’s fearless, and she understands human nature in a way that let us both really write to the hurt of realizing we’ve been lied to by someone we’re intimate with.” “Carly isn’t afraid to face the less potable subjects,” McBryde added. “As a writer she’s willing to get in there and get very honest. Writing this song together with Shane strengthen...
Kacey Musgraves Debuts “star-crossed” Live at the 2021 MTV VMAs: Watch
Fresh off the release of her fifth studio album, star-crossed, Kacey Musgraves made her long-awaited debut at the 2021 MTV VMAs and brought plenty of her country-pop charm with her. The singer gave the world-premiere performance of the album’s title track. Considering the song’s obvious reference to Romeo and Juliet — as well as Musgraves’ recent divorce, which inspired her new album — the live rendition of “star-crossed” was destined to conjure tears. Musgraves turned the Barclays Center stage into her own witchy boudoir, evoking the campy, fiery aesthetic of Baz Luhrman’s 1996 adaptation of the classic fateful love tale. That is literally fiery, as a heart behind her ignited during the closing refrain. Replay the full performance below, and see all of tonight’s VMAs performances here. Ad...
Miranda Lambert Jumps to No. 3 on List of All-Time CMA Awards Nominees: Who Else Is in the Top 10?
First nod: 1983 Most recent nod: 2014 Number of awards: 17 Did you know?: Hard to imagine, but Strait didn’t win the horizon award, the former name for new artist of the year. He was nominated in 1983, but lost to John Anderson. In addition to being the overall nominations leader, Strait is also the leader in several individual categories, including male vocalist of the year (25 nods), entertainer of the year (19), album of the year (19) and single of the year (nine). 2. Alan Jackson, 81 First nod: 1990 Most recent nod: 2012 Number of awards: 16 Did you know?: Jackson didn’t win the horizon award either. He was nominated in 1990, but lost to Garth Brooks. (Pretty stiff competition.) 3. Miranda Lambert, 58 (not counting two with Pistol Annies) First nod: 2005 Most recent nod: 2021 Number of...
Rascal Flatts’ Joe Don Rooney Charged With DUI in Nashville
Two weeks ago, Rooney and his Rascal Flatts bandmate Jay DeMarcus were at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium to accept the Academy of Country Music’s Cliffie Stone icon award, which honors leaders in the country music industry who have contributed significantly to the growth of the genre through their writing, recording, production and music works as well as through philanthropic contributions and other goodwill efforts. In 2020, Rascal Flatts announced their farewell tour, though that trek was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the group also released the EP How They Remember You, followed by a greatest hits collection. Over the past several months, some of the group’s members released solo music, with DeMarcus releasing the single “Music Man” in ho...
Kacey Musgraves Releases New Album star-crossed: Stream
Get ready to fall apart: Kacey Musgraves has unveiled her new album star-crossed via MCA Nashville/Interscope Records. Stream it below. In a sit-down with Rolling Stone, the superstar singer revealed that she was inspired by Greek tragedies and her divorce from ex-husband Ruston Kelly when conceiving the album. “This last chapter of my life and this whole last year and chapter for our country — at its most simple form, it’s a tragedy,” she explained. “And then I started looking into why portraying a tragedy is actually therapeutic and why it is a form of art that has lasted for centuries. It’s because you set the scene, the audience rises to the climax of the problem with you, and then there’s resolve. There’s a feeling of resolution at the end. I was inspired by that.” Advertisement Relat...
How to Watch Kacey Musgraves’ ‘Star-Crossed: The Film’
See below for how to watch Star-Crossed: The Film online, and how to see Kacey Musgraves live in concert. How to Watch Kacey Musgraves’ Star-Crossed: The Film Online for Free Star-Crossed: The Film will be available to stream on Paramount+ starting September 10. If you don’t have a Paramount+ account, the streaming service offers a seven-day free trial for new customers, which allows you to watch Star-Crossed for free online the same day. After your first week, Paramount+ costs $4.99 a month for its Essential plan. The monthly Essential plan does include ads, but you can pay $9.99 for Paramount+’s Premium package, which also includes a seven-day free trial and is mostly ad-free. Both plans include access to stream Kacey Musgraves’&nbs...
Nashville Music Manager Stan Moress Dies at 83
Moress founded Nashville-based management and consulting firm the Consortium in 2001, alongside partners Bernard Porter, Al Schiltz and Mike Martinovich. Among those artists The Consortium repped over the years were Joe Diffie, Sherrié Austin, Billy Ray Cyrus and Catherine Britt. In 2005, Moress, Schiltz and Martinovich helped launch Midas Records Nashville. Moress’ clients and colleagues remember him as a generous spirit, who often felt like a family member and was always willing to go out of his way to help. Black, a Moress management client in the early 1990s, tells Billboard, “He always had a special place in my heart. We tended to be a comedy team when together, he the straight man, and I the jokester. We always had fun and I held him in great esteem. On top...
Brandi Carlile Performs Gorgeous Cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock”: Watch
Brandi Carlile has always been upfront about her love for Joni Mitchell, often playing songs by the folk legend onstage while on tour. Over the weekend, though, Carlile played a particularly special set for SiriusXM’s Small Stage concert series where she broke out a show-stopping cover of “Woodstock,” an underrated Mitchell song from her 1970 album Ladies of the Canyon. Watch a replay of her rendition below. For her take on the cut, Carlile and her bandmates drew “Woodstock” out into a nearly six-minute-long scorcher. Over with some wavering keyboard notes, Carlile opened the Mitchell song with subdued gusto and heart — which is as to be expected, after all, considering she’s famous for putting on incredible live sets — before her bandmates kicked in with big country rock guitar riffs and ...
Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram, Jon Randall to Lead ‘Austin City Limits’ 47th Season
Austin City Limits will launch its 47th season on Oct. 2, welcoming Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram and Jon Randall for the new season’s hour-long premiere episode. Leading into the October premiere, Austin City Limits shared a video clip of the trio performing “In His Arms,” from the May-released collaborative project The Marfa Tapes, a set of acoustic songs written and recorded in tiny Marfa, Texas. “If it gets weird up here, it’s because we’ve all been friends for like, over 20 years,” Lambert says in the clip of the Austin City Limits performance. “I’ve grown up watching Jack since I was 15, been going to every club around Texas, following him around, one of my heroes. And Jon the same, we met … almost 20 years ago. He just sings...
CMA & ACM Respond to Bobby Bones’ Claims About ‘Manipulated’ Awards Show Voting
“For example, a Luke Combs song could be No. 1 for 10 weeks, but because of politics, the label will go, ‘Ah, let’s let somebody else get in that spot,’ and they’ll move Luke Combs to No. 2 and he’ll sit there for a few weeks. The same thing with like a Maren Morris.” Billboard reached out to several label representatives regarding Bones’ statements, though no labels would comment on Bones’ statements as of press time. On Tuesday (Aug. 31), Bones returned to TikTok to say he was “surprised at all the controversy” his comments were causing and to highlight a story from today’s Country Insider that featured some anonymous radio sources agreeing with Bones’ assessment, while others disagreed or said the issue was far more complicated. In a separate TikTok po...
Kane Brown & Nelly Bond Over Being Seen as ‘The Bad Guy’ in ‘CMT Crossroads’ Clip: Exclusive
“Like a lot of the country people,” Brown clarifies. “Traditional hip-hop looked at me like I was the bad guy,” Nelly responded. Since CMT Crossroads debuted in 2002, the series has become known not only for smart musical pairings of country artists with musicians from other genres, but also for bringing fans deeper into the creativity and mutual respect the artists have for music. The conversation with Brown, Breland and Nelly showcases a vulnerable, honest moment between the hitmakers on CMT Crossroads: Nelly & Friends, which also features Blanco Brown and Florida Georgia Line. Several of the performances featured during the 60-minute CMT Crossroads special will highlight Nelly’s collaborative, country-inspired Heartland EP, which came out on Friday...
Kacey Musgraves Announces 2022 Headlining Tour
Kacey Musgraves has announced a headlining tour in support of her newly announced album, star-crossed. The 15-city arena tour, officially titled “star-crossed: unveiled,” launches in January. Over the proceeding month, she’ll play shows at major venues including the United Center in Chicago, TD Garden in Boston, Madison Square Garden in New York City, and American Airlines Center in Dallas before wrapping up with a gig at Los Angeles’ Staples Center on February 20th. King Princess and MUNA will provide support for the entirety of the tour. Tickets go on sale starting Thursday, September 9th via Ticketmaster. Advertisement Related Video star-crossed, Musgraves’ fifth studio album to date, arrives officially on September 10th. In anticipation, she’s shared the album’s title track and a song ...
