Month: September 2020

Brent Harrington/CBSMickey Guyton made history at the 55th ACM Awards Wednesday night.

The 37-year-old performed “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” with Keith Urban on piano, making her the first Black female country artist to play her own song at a major awards show.

Many were taken by the emotional lyrics and the message of the song.

“She thinks life is fair and / God hears every prayer / And everyone gets their ever after,” Mickey sings. “She thinks love is love and if / You work hard, that’s enough / Skin’s just skin and it doesn’t matter / And that her friend’s older brother’s gonna keep his hands to himself / And that somebody’s gon’ believe her when she tells.”

“But what are you gonna tell her / When she’s wrong,” the lyrics continue. “Will you just shrug and say it’s been that way all along / What are you gonna tell her / When she figures out / That all this time you built her up just so the world could let her down.”

Following the performance, Mickey was praised on social media by viewers and fellow country artists.

Kelsea Ballerini wrote, “Wow. @MickeyGuyton that is a performance that will make people listen, think, and change. Me included. You are a force.”

Trisha Yearwood described the performance as “beautiful.” Tenille Townes said Mickey’s debut was “incredible.” Many attached the hashtag “#MickeyMakesHistory” to their comments praising the singer.

“What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” is just one of the tracks from Mickey’s recently released Bridges EP.

Brent Harrington/CBSAfter taking home an ACM trophy for Female Artist of the Year and performing on the award show just months after welcoming her first child, Hayes, Maren Morris is quickly learning how to balance being an artist and being a mom.

But she admits that even though she’s got thick skin when it comes to Internet trolls who hate her music, it’s harder to handle when someone shames her for her parenting style. For example, Maren was criticized earlier this year when she posted a picture of herself holding Hayes on her lap on an inflatable float in a lake without putting a life jacket on him.

“For some reason it’s an extra betrayal when it’s another mother shaming another mother,” Maren said in a virtual press room on Wednesday night.

“I just feel like we all need to give each other some grace,” she continued, pointing out the fact that becoming a mom has shaped her own perspective on how she treats others.

“I would never [shame another mother], and I’ve learned to be less judgmental all around just by being a mom, because it’s extremely humbling,” she added.

“And yeah, I just think let’s all love each other and give each other good advice. Even if it’s unsolicited, at least it’s good advice.”

Maren ended her thoughts by calling on all moms to be kind, and think before commenting on other people’s decisions.

“I would just say let’s do better,” she mused. “And not put someone down that’s obviously trying their best.” 

Maren performed her new single, “To Hell & Back,” from the Ryman stage during the ACM Awards.

By Carena Liptak and Andrea Dresdale
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Brent Harrington/CBSThe winners of the ACM Awards are supposed to be kept secret until the show, but sneaky Old Dominion figured out that they’d won the Song of the Year trophy just a little bit ahead of time before last night’s ceremony.

It all started on their tour bus, as the band prepared to mask up and head into the Grand Ole Opry House. They knew they would be taking the stage to perform, and they knew that they were nominated at the ceremony, but they weren’t yet sure whether they’d be getting up to give an acceptance speech.

The gears starting turning, though, when the bandmates saw songwriter Josh Osborne on their bus. Josh co-wrote “One Man Band,” which was nominated for Song of the Year, and would also be accepting the trophy as one of its writers.

He tried to play it cool on the bus, saying “I just came over to wish you guys good luck.”

But Old Dominion knew better: They soon figured out that Josh’s presence meant they’d won the award. They shared a private toast on the bus before heading in to watch the ceremony.

While they may have guessed one win ahead of time, Old Dominion at least got one surprise during the show: They also took home the trophy for Group of the Year.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

This video is edited for time. But it took WAY too long to figure out the reason @ohmyjoshosborne was there was because we won @ACMawards #songoftheyear. #acmawards pic.twitter.com/1OylAImCtW

— Old Dominion (@OldDominion) September 17, 2020

CBS

Gwen Stefani revisits her past — with a twist — in a photo she posted to Instagram this week.

The picture shows a very young Gwen posing in a crop top and low-slung jeans, victory rolls in her hair and classic ‘90s makeup. Beside her is a young Blake Shelton, decked out in his early-career look of cowboy hat and mullet.

The only problem? The superstar couple weren’t together during this era of their lives. In fact, Billboard made the eagle-eyed discovery that this photo originally featured Gwen and her ex-husband, Gavin Rossdale. The singer posted the original version of this photo back in 2014, just under a year before she and Gavin parted ways.

Following their split, Gwen found love again when she and Blake –(who had also recently gone through a very public divorce from fellow country star Miranda Lambert — were coaches together on The Voice. Blake and Gwen made their relationship public in late 2015.

Gwen’s revamped throwback pic celebrated last night’s ACM Awards ceremony, where the power couple performed their new single, “Happy Anywhere.” Blake also took home the Single of the Year trophy for his hit, “God’s Country.”

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

me and my ??gx ?? pic.twitter.com/es41qAEsES

— Gwen Stefani (@gwenstefani) September 17, 2020

“Happy Anywhere” with @gwenstefani on the @ACMawards. Head to @CBS and @CBSAllAccess to make sure y’all don’t miss any of the performances! #ACMawards – Team BS pic.twitter.com/r8ep6Patyi

— Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton) September 17, 2020

Brent Harrington/CBSWhen Kelsea Ballerini wasn’t rocking the Ryman Auditorium last night with her new song, “hole in the bottle,” at the 2020 ACM Awards, she was live-Tweeting the show with hilarious commentary and high praise for her country music peers and pals.

But no one got a bigger compliment from Kelsea than Dan + Shay’s Shay Mooney, when the duo performed their new single, “I Should Probably Go to Bed.”

“If a genie ever came into my life, I’d spend all 3 wishes on having the vocal control and range of [Shay Mooney] GOOD LORD,” she Tweeted.

The Academy of Country Music seemed to agree with Kelsea: Dan + Shay won the trophy for Duo of the Year during Wednesday night’s awards show. beating out Florida Georgia Line, Maddie & Tae, Brooks & Dunn and Brothers Osborne to snag that title.

On Twitter, Kelsea also sang the praises of Kane Brown, Maren Morris, Mickey Guyton and Taylor Swift. She also made it clear early on in the show that she was rooting for Carrie Underwood to win Entertainer of the Year.

When that award ultimately turned out to be a tie between Carrie and Thomas Rhett, Kelsea wrapped up her ACM Awards live-tweet series by quoting Carrie’s own acceptance speech.

“…2020, man,” she wrote.

For her part, Kelsea was nominated in the Female Artist of the Year category, but the trophy ultimately went to Maren.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

If a genie ever came into my life, I'd spend all 3 wishes on having the vocal control and range of @ShayMooney GOOD LORD

— Kelsea Ballerini (@KelseaBallerini) September 17, 2020

Brent Harrington/CBSMaren Morris brought home the Female Artist of the Year trophy at the 2020 ACM Awards Wednesday night, marking the first time she’s ever won in that category. Of course, her victory called for a celebration, but since it’s 2020, the party looked a little different.

This year has posed some challenges for the show itself; the ACMs are typically held in April in Las Vegas, but in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony was pushed back by five months and moved to Nashville.

But Maren’s team got to enjoy a little bit of Vegas in her own backyard, from the looks of a series of post-show photos she shared on social media.

“My team made my back porch Vegas-themed for when we got home,” she explained, alongside a picture of dice, chips, $100 bills and a cocktail.

The singer also showed off a series of images of herself getting ready for the awards show, as well as one snapshot in which she posed with her new trophy.

“I am completely floored (and a little hungover) from last night,” she wrote.

Also during the awards show, Maren took the Ryman Auditorium stage for an intimate performance of “To Hell & Back,” the third single from her most recent album, Girl.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

I am completely floored (and a little hungover) from last night. Also, since we’re usually in Vegas for the @acmawards , but you know, 2020, my team made my back porch Vegas themed for when we got home. ????? pic.twitter.com/7jDOfR5qrk

— MAREN MORRIS (@MarenMorris) September 17, 2020

ABC/Image Group LAKeith Urban’s wife, actor Nicole Kidman, is a supportive partner who always tries to be there to cheer her husband on during big career moments.

At the ACM Awards on Wednesday night, in true 2020 fashion, she had to do so through a screen.

Nicole is currently in Australia, according to People, filming her upcoming Hulu limited series, Nine Perfect Strangers. Sadly, that means she couldn’t be in Nashville during the 2020 ACM Awards, where Keith served not only as show host but also gave a performance.

Still, Nicole found time to watch the show on her laptop. The actor posted a video of herself on social media cheering on Keith from afar, watching her husband’s monologue with a smile on her face as he kicked off the event.

“Wishing I was there,” she wrote alongside her post.

On the day of the show, Nicole also celebrated her husband’s upcoming ACMs performance: The world television premiere of “One Too Many,” his new duet with pop star Pink. Nicole posted a throwback photo of herself and Keith with Pink, sharing how excited she was for the two artists’ new collaboration.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Comstock/ThinkstockToday marks the birthday of one of country music’s most influential artists. Though he only lived to be 29, this honky-tonk hero achieved legend status with hits like “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Hey, Good Lookin’” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” Can you name him? ANSWER: Hank Williams.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.