Finalists for the 2021 Billboard Music Awards were revealed Thursday, and The Weeknd leads with nods in 16 categories, including top artist, top male artist and top Hot 100 artist. DaBaby is a finalist 11 times in nine categories, and Gabby Barrett is a nine-time finalist and the female artist with the most nods.
The ceremony will air live on Sunday, May 23 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Click here for the complete list of nominated songs and albums.
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Gabby Barrett is up for nine awards at the upcoming 2021 Billboard Music Awards ceremony, making her the most-mentioned country artist and female artist overall.
Gabby's up in categories such as Top Country Album, Top Country Artist and the all-genre Top New Artist, according to the list of finalists announced Thursday. The BBMAs will take place on Sunday, May 23, airing from Los Angeles' Microsoft Theater beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
Another much-mentioned artist at this year's show is Morgan Wallen, but he won't be invited to the ceremony due to a late January incident in which he was filmed using the N-word as he said goodbye to friends after a night of partying.
“Morgan Wallen is a finalist this year based on charting,” dick clark productions said in a statement. “As his recent conduct does not align with our core values, we will not be including him on the show in any capacity (performing, presenting, accepting.)”
Morgan is nominated six times across five categories. His second studio album, Dangerous: The Double Album, achieved resounding success after its January release, spending a record-breaking 10 weeks atop the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.
Earlier this year, the singer's conduct also resulted in his exclusion from the 2021 ACM Awards, though both the ACMs and BBMAs have expressed that they're not counting him out for future awards shows.
“It is heartening and encouraging to hear that Morgan is taking steps in his anti-racist journey and starting to do some meaningful work. We plan to evaluate his progress and will consider his participation in future awards shows,” dick clark productions added in their statement.
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The Marfa Tapes, Miranda Lambert's stripped-down, acoustic collaborative album with frequent co-writers and fellow Texans Jack Ingram and Jon Randall, comes out next Friday, May 7.
The trio just announced that fans will get a visual element to go along with their new project. May 8, the day after The Marfa Tapes drops, they artists will share a full-length film to accompany the album.
Featuring candid interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and live performances, the film will also focus on the special West Texas town that lends its name to the album. The trio recorded much of the project outdoors in Marfa, Texas, where they’ve frequently gone to write over the years. In fact, it's where they wrote songs like “Tin Man,” Miranda's ACM Song of the Year-winning ballad, which first appeared on her 2016 album, The Weight of These Wings.
“I'll never forget pulling into Marfa that first night at four a.m.,” Miranda recounts of her first trip to the Texas town. “The stars were like nothing I'd ever seen before, just this endless blanket hanging so low you could reach up and touch them. I immediately understood why this place is so special.”
The Marfa Tapes' film will premiere at 7 p.m. ET, and will be available to view for the next 24 hours on Miranda's Facebook page.
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Happy birthday to the Red Headed Stranger — this outlaw country legend turns 88 today. He is among the genre's most prolific artists, putting out his 71st solo studio album — a tribute to Frank Sinatra called That's Life — earlier this year. Can you name him? ANSWER: Willie Nelson.
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The CMT Music Awards will take place in Nashville this summer. The show just announced that it will air on Wednesday, June 9 at 8 p.m. ET on CMT.
The timing is a change from last year's show, which took place in October 2020, but the format will be familiar. The two-and-a-half-hour event promises to feature a packed lineup of performances and collaborations set around Music City.
More details, such as host, performers and nominees information, as well as simulcast networks, are expected to be announced in the weeks ahead.
Last year, Kane Brown and Ashley McBryde co-hosted the CMT Music Awards, their first times hosting an awards show. Like other awards shows taking place in 2020, the event had to find creative ways to keep the party going despite social distancing protocols and COVID-19 restrictions. To that end, the show took place mostly outdoors and across multiple Nashville locations, a strategy it seems the CMT Music Awards might embrace once again this year.
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A North Carolina judge ruled Wednesday against publicly releasing the body-worn camera footage of the police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr., Pasquotank County Superior Court Judge Jeff Foster said immediate family members, including Brown’s son, Khalil Ferebee, and a family attorney, can view the videos within 10 days. Foster denied a media request for the footage to be publicly released, saying he’ll determine in 30 days to 45 days whether a copy of videos will be given to the family, who could then decide whether to release it to the public
There are four body cam videos and one dashboard camera video in question. The judge said the faces and name tags of the officers involved will be blurred out before the videos are shown to the family. The family said they’ve already seen one 20-second video clip of the shooting, and said it showed Brown had his hands on his steering wheel when officers opened fire on him April 21. Family attorney Chantel Cherry-Lassiter said Brown posed no threat to officers at the time he was shot, and his vehicle only stopped moving after the initial gunfire. A private autopsy released Tuesday determined that Brown was shot five times, including once in the back of the head.
Charlie Black, hit songwriter for Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson and more, has died, USA Today reports. He was 71 years old. His songwriting credits include a number of hits for Anne Murray, such as the 1983 single “A Little Good News,” which earned a Grammy Award.
Hunter Hayes has been announced as an ambassador for mental health non-profit One Mind. Throughout 2021, Hunter will work to normalize and bring awareness to a variety of mental health challenges, speaking from his own personal experiences.
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FBI agents executed search warrants at Rudy Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment and his office to seize electronic devices Wednesday. The New York Times first reported the on the search warrants.
Federal investigators have been looking into Giuliani’s dealings with Ukrainian officials. Last December, federal prosecutors discussed whether to make a legal request for Giuliani’s electronic communications. Prosecutors for the Southern District of New York were in contact with Justice Department officials in Washington about gaining access to his emails.
Giuliani was a key figure in the events that led to former President Trump’s first impeachment, relying on Ukrainian officials and members of their parliament to try to dig up dirt about Joe Biden as he ran for president. Democrats said that there was overwhelming evidence that Trump had abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to announce investigations into Biden and his son, Hunter, while withholding almost $400 million in aid.
This story is developing….
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Reba McEntire new ballad “Somehow You Do” serves as a soundtrack piece to the upcoming film, Four Good Days, starring Mila Kunis and Glenn Close. The song was written by Diane Warren and is McEntire’s third collaboration with the acclaimed songwriter, following “What If” (1997) and “I’ll Be” (2000).
“It’s an honor to get to sing a Diane Warren song anytime, but then to be associated with talented actors in a movie like Glenn and Mila is just icing on the cake,” says McEntire in a press statement.
Four Good Days will premiere this Friday (April 30) and comes to digital May 21. Take a look Reba’s video for “Somehow You Do” – here.
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Garth Brooks has added another date to his Stadium Tour, announcing a show at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday, July 17. The show will be the first concert at Rice-Eccles Stadium in 10 years. A press release notes that all COVID-19 rules apply to the show and that fans who purchase tickets assume the risk of COVID-19.
The show will be in-the-round seating and tickets will go on sale Thursday, May 6 at 10 a.m. MDT. There will be an eight ticket limit per purchase and fans have three purchasing options — at ticketmaster.com/garthbrooks or on the Garth Brooks line at Ticketmaster, 1-877-654-2784 or through the Ticketmaster App. Tickets will cost $94.95, all inclusive.
Brooks currently has Stadium Tour dates scheduled for July 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sept. 18 in Cincinnati, Ohio and Sept. 25 in Charlotte, North Carolina, along with a stop at Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming on July 23.
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