Maren Morris is sharing acoustic versions of three of her biggest hit songs—“Girl,” “The Bones” and “The Middle.”
The acoustic versions are featured on Maren’s recent EP, Maren Morris: Reimagined. The three-song EP dropped in May, and was produced by Dave Cobb.
Click the links to listen to Maren’s acoustic versions of Girl, The Bones and The Middle via YouTube.
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Marshmello appears to be teasing a future collaboration with Demi Lovato, posting a photo on social media of himself on the telephone, hinting that he is asking Lovato to be featured on his new music. The anonymous DJ simply captioned his post on Instagram with: “hello? demi? (sic)” and tagged Demi in the comments.
Marshmello recently dropped ‘Be Kind’ with Halsey, and some other recent collaborations include ‘Tongue Tide’ with Yungblud and blackbear and ‘Been Thru This Before’ with Southside featuring Giggs and Saint Jhn.
Demi recently released the Sam Smith duet ‘I’m Ready’ in April, and the lead single from her upcoming seventh studio album, ‘I Love Me.’ ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ singer said it will give her the opportunity to “be as
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Dua Lipa has announced a star-studded lineup for her remix album Club Future Nostalgia: The Remix Album.
The 24-year-old singer said on Instagram that the album will include a remix of her track “Levitating” featuring Madonna and Missy Elliott, and a remix of the song “Physical” featuring Gwen Stefani and Mark Ronson. “Levitating” and “Physical” both appear on Lipa’s second studio album, Future Nostalgia, which was released in March.
Lipa will release the “Levitating” remix Aug. 14 and the full remix album Aug. 21.
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ABC/Image Group LAWomen have seen an uptick in airplay on country radio lately.
Published this week, a new study by Billboard shows that five female artists have had number-one singles on the Billboard Country Airplay chart so far this year, the most in a four-year span.
Additionally, women have accounted for 21% of number-one songs on the chart in 2020, the highest percentage since 2006, when women made up 23% of the chart-toppers.
Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris and Gabby Barrett are among the artists who have topped the charts this year — Miranda with “Bluebird,” her first solo number-one since 2014, and Maren and Gabby scoring multi-week hits with “The Bones” and “I Hope,” respectively.
Gwen Stefani and Carly Pearce also found themselves at the top with duet partners Blake Shelton and Lee Brice. Gwen and her longtime boyfriend Blake hit number one with “Nobody but You” while Carly and Lee reached the top with “I Hope You’re Happy Now” earlier this year.
The last time that five or more female singers had number-one hits on the Country Airplay chart was in 2016, when Carrie Underwood reigned with “Church Bells” and “Heartbeat,” while Kelsea Ballerini scored with “Dibs” and “Peter Pan.”
Karen Fairchild, Cassadee Pope and pop star Pink also made it to the top of the country charts alongside their male collaborators in 2016.
The data comes in the wake of multi-year conversations surrounding the lack of airplay for female artists on country radio.
Women saw a record high of airplay in 1998 when they accounted for 52% of number-one singles on the charts. Overall, women have accounted for 17% of all number-one singles on the Country Airplay chart since it launched in 1990.
By Cillea Houghton
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Beth GarrabrantTaylor Swift is back on the country charts.
The megastar’s countrified hit, “Betty,” off her new album, folklore, debuts at number six on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart this week.
The song off the wildly popular album — which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 846,000 units — marks the highest debut on the chart since Luke Combs‘ “Beautiful Crazy” ascended to number six in 2018.
“Betty” makes for Taylor’s highest entry on the chart since her duet with Tim McGraw on “Highway Don’t Care” peaked at number four in 2013.
This is the superstar’s 22nd song to reach the top 10 on the Hot Country Songs chart, seven of which have hit number one. She appeared in the top 10 last year with her heartfelt collaboration with The Chicks on “Soon You’ll Get Better.”
“Betty” also reached number one on the Billboard Country Streaming Songs chart, and the top 15 on the Country Digital Song Sales chart.
By Cillea Houghton
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
ABC/Stewart CookLaine Hardy is heading to NASCAR this weekend.
The American Idol season 17 winner will deliver a virtual performance of the national anthem ahead of the annual NASCAR Cup Series Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway. The race begins at 4:30 p.m. ET on Sunday and will broadcast on NBCSN.
“I can’t believe I’m getting to sing the national anthem before a NASCAR race,” Laine says in a statement. “Although I can’t be there in person during this time, I’m definitely looking forward to future races and watching the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway. It’s going to be a great race!”
Fellow country star Darius Rucker performed the national anthem before the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway in May.
Laine announced in June that he tested positive for COVID-19 with mild symptoms, but he has since recovered.
By Cillea Houghton
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Jason Kempin/Getty ImagesKane Brown has released a philanthropic version of his song “Homesick,” featuring three of our nation’s veterans.
Titled “Homesick (Veterans Version),” the remix of Kane’s chart-topping song showcases the voices of JW Cortes, a former Marine Combat fighter who is now an actor and philanthropist; Sal Gonzalez, who joined the Marine Corps in the wake of 9/11; and Generald Wilson, a Navy veteran turned gospel singer.
The new rendition is part of Kane’s partnership with the Crown Royal Purple Bag Project that provides care packages for veterans. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mission of the Purple Bag Project has also been extended to helping front-line workers.
For every stream of “Homesick (Veterans Version),” Crown Royal will donate one bag to Packages from Home that will then be delivered to healthcare workers and members of the military in accordance with Crown Royal’s goal of donating 1 million bags by the end of 2020.
Additionally, the Purple Bag Project will donate $1 for every stream of the song, with a cap of $100,000, to Minority Veterans of America.
The original video for “Homesick” also pays homage to veterans by showing footage of Kane’s performance of the song for members of the California National Guard.
“Homesick” became Kane’s fifth consecutive number-one song on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in March.
By Cillea Houghton
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Comstock/ThinkstockToday marks the 52nd birthday of this 90s country star, known for such hits as “Better Things to Do,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” and “When Boy Meets Girl.” Can you name her? ANSWER: Terri Clark.
By Cillea Houghton
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
As of Tuesday night, Tropical Storm Isaias killed at least six people as it made its way up the U.S. Atlantic Coast, including two deaths in North Carolina from a tornado due to the hurricane-strength winds.
Isaias was briefly a Category 1 hurricane when it made landfall in North Carolina. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said on Twitter that more than 172,000 homes remained without power, even as Isaias moved northward and skies cleared. Cooper said he had spoken with U.S. President Donald Trump, who had pledged aid.
Tornadoes in Cape May, Marmora and Long Beach Island along New Jersey’s southern shore, and tornado damage in Dover, Delaware were reported. New York City, much of New Jersey, all of Massachusetts and other parts of New England went under a tornado watch.
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Warner Music NashvilleDan + Shay had barely set The (Arena) Tour in motion in March before the COVID-19 pandemic brought it to a halt.
While Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney desperately wanted to be on the road, they had plenty to occupy them at home. Shay’s second son, Ames, was born in February, and Dan and wife Abby had just bought a new home.
“We moved into that house literally the week our tour started,” Dan recalls, “so it was just absolute madness. And that week was crazy in Nashville. There was a tornado…”
“So a lot was going on…” he reflects. “Had this tour continued, we may[‘ve] still be[en] scrambling to get the house ready and [to] figure stuff out.”
Of course, Dan and Abby’s new digs are also home to their beloved rescue pups.
“I feel like every decision we make in our personal lives is motivated by the comfort of our dogs,” Dan tells ABC Audio. “And we moved to a place with a little bit bigger yard, just so they could run around.”
“And I guess if you have a yard that tires out the dogs a little bit more, that really helps us, too. A tired dog is a good dog,” he laughs. “So, yeah, we got them a little bit bigger space and it’s been nice.”
Especially now that their new single, “I Should Probably Go to Bed,” has come out, Dan + Shay are more anxious than ever to get back to work.
“There’s been silver linings to it all,” Dan says. “Unfortunately, we’re missing the road, missing the fans. And we had a good thing going there.”
“But, you know, we’re fingers crossed hoping that it’ll pick back up just like it was in 2021,” he adds.
By Stephen Hubbard
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
