In January, country music trio Rascal Flatts—comprised of Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney—revealed they will disband at the end of the year to tackle individual projects. While the COVID-19 pandemic put a kibosh on their Farewell Tour, the trio continued to entertain their fans by releasing a seven-song EP, How They Remember You,…
Led by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, the Outlaw Movement of the 1970s was a musical revolt against the so-called Nashville Sound, the polished country/pop fusion created to lure listeners back to country music in the late ’50s when rock came rolling along. Artists like Kris Kristofferson, Jessi Colter, Jerry Jeff Walker, David Allan Coe,…
Lee Brice’s “One of Them Girls” is No. 2 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart for the second straight week as Luke Combs’ “Lovin’ On You” continues its four-week reign atop the chart. The tune follows Lee’s No. 1 single, “Rumors,” which topped the charts in July 2019, and his collaboration with Carly Pearce, “I…
Keith Urban released his new studio album, The Speed of Now: Part 1, on Sept. 18. While the idea for the album’s title came to Keith in October 2019, many of the tunes on the 16-song project were created in 2020 when Keith immersed himself in music during his self-quarantine. Keith’s time at home—where he…
Lindsay Ell released her new concept album, heart theory, on Aug. 14. Produced by Dann Huff, heart theory is comprised of 12 tracks that journey through each stage of grief: shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing and acceptance. Lindsay co-penned 11 tracks on the new project with a host of top songwriters, including Brandy Clark,…
Lauren Akins released her new memoir, Live in Love: Growing Together Through Life’s Changes, on Aug. 18. The new book chronicles Lauren’s childhood friendship with husband-to-be Thomas Rhett, explaining how they reconnected as young adults, got married and are now raising three girls. The book also delves into many of the “challenges they faced as…
Luke Bryan may be busy hitting the talk-show circuit this week to promote his brand-new album, Born Here, Live Here, Die Here, but one month ago he was using his free time to check an item off of his bucket list. In July, Luke loaded up all of his boys—Til, 18, Bo, 12, and Tate,…
Lee Brice is trying to score his eighth No. 1 single with the release of “One of Them Girls.” Penned by Lee, Ashley Gorley, Dallas Davidson and Ben Johnson, “One of Them Girls” is currently No. 18 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart after 16 weeks. The new tune follows Lee’s previous No. 1 singles, “Rumors,”…
Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s 2017 collaboration, “Meant to Be,” spent a record-smashing 50 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 2017/2018. The tune’s closest competitor on the all-time list is Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road,” which spent 34 weeks at No. 1 in 2017. Co-penned by…
By sampling Webb Pierce’s 1953 No. 1 hit, “There Stands the Glass,” in his current single, “Hard to Forget,” Sam Hunt has introduced Webb’s iconic song to a new generation of country music fans. While hardcore, old-school country fans may liken Sam’s sampling to blasphemy, the closer truth is that Sam has opened up the…
Lauren Alaina welcomed her first baby, daughter Beni Doll Arnold, with her husband Cam Arnold on Wednesday (June 11), with the couple sharing the exciting news in a joint Instagram post on Friday. Alongside the baby announcement, Alaina also revealed the release of a heartfelt new song dedicated to her daughter, “Heaven Sent.” “I have…
On Sunday (June 14), Shooter Jennings announced the upcoming release of Songbird, a posthumous album by his dad, Waylon Jennings, that is set for release on October 3 via Shooter’s own Son of Jessi label through Thirty Tigers. He also shared the Greg Olliver-directed music video for the lead single and title-track from the project…
During a recent appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, best-selling author Taylor Jenkins Reid revealed that her new project is a jukebox musical based around the music of The Chicks. “We’re taking the story of ‘Goodbye, Earl,’ and we are making that a jukebox musical with all the discography of The Chicks,” said the 41-year-old…
Riley Green secures his third chart-topping hit on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “Worst Way” climbs two places to reach No. 1 on this week’s tally. The Jacksonville, Alabama native also becomes the first artist to lead the Country Airplay chart with a song they solely wrote and recorded since Chayce Beckham’s “23” in April…
On Thursday night (June 12), the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony brought together an impressive lineup of artists like Gracie Abrams, Garth Brooks, and George Clinton. Established in 1969 with over 400 inductees, the event is a blend of a trade-organization party that brings together the songwriting and publishing communities annually at the Marriott…