Month: July 2021

Lady A will have to wait just a little bit longer to get back onstage in front of their fans.

Over the weekend, the trio was planning to play their first in-person live show since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic 16 months ago. Unfortunately, though, they never made it to the stage.  A day before the group planned to play Minnesota's Lakefront Music Fest, a bout of appendicitis sent singer Charles Kelley to the hospital.

When they announced the sad news to fans, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood — the other members of Lady A — explained that “there isn't much that could keep us from being with our fans.” They also added that they planned to resume performing “the minute [Charles] is cleared by his doctors.”

The following day, Charles posted a hospital selfie, reiterating how “bummed” he was about the unfortunate turn of events. “That's an understatement,” the singer said.

“But the ol' appendix had other plans. I didn't even know what an appendix was until Friday when it sent me to the ER,” he continued. “Love y'all and be back soon enough.”

According to their tour calendar, Lady A's next shows are a two-night stop at Forth Worth, Texas honky tonk Billy Bob's on July 16 and 17.

 

 

 

 

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Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs and Thomas Rhet have been confirmed as the headliners for next year's Stagecoach, which will take place in April 2022 in California. Each of the headlining artists will top a bill on one of the event's three days of music.

Other artists scheduled to perform include Maren Morris, Brothers Osborne, Midland, Cody Johnson, Jordan Davis, Tanya Tucker, Travis Denning and many more.

“There's nothing like a Stagecoach audience, and now more than ever, I can't wait to take that stage and be with the fans again,” says Carrie.

“It's a dream come true to headline the festival in 2022. It will be here before we know it, and I'm already looking forward to seeing y'all there!” adds Luke.

Thomas agrees, commenting “I've been looking forward to this for so long! I dreamed about headlining Stagecoach ever since I first played there in 2014. I cannot wait to get back out in the desert in 2022 and play for those fans.”

Additionally, next year's festival — Stagecoach's 14th event — will feature a new partnership between YouTube and music event promotions company Goldenvoice, enabling the festival to live stream all three days of music on YouTube.

Stagecoach 2022 is set to take place April 29 — May 1 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Passes go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. PT.

 

 

 

 

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Garth Brooks officially returned to the stage over the weekend, hitting Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium for the first post-pandemic stop on his Stadium Tour on Saturday.

And while he admits he was “nervous as hell” before the set began, Garth says he always had a sneaking suspicion that it was this show, on this date — July 10 — that would be the one to kick off his return to the road.

“When I saw the date — July 10 — that's my mom's birthday. And Mom — nothing was impossible,” he explains. “She was five foot tall, and nothing was impossible to her. So when I saw July 10, I said, I betcha 10-to-1 this is the one. It's gonna happen.'”

Once he got back onstage and got into the live show groove, Garth explains that the show kept building in momentum as he, his band and the audience were feeding off each other's energy.

“It was one of those things where you were out of body! And the band and they were going back and forth,” the singer gushes. “It was great! And everybody won!”

Garth will keep the party going in the days ahead, as his Stadium Tour is scheduled to hit Salt Lake City for a sold-out stop this Saturday, July 17. At the end of the month, he'll head to Nashville for a hometown show, which is also sold out. 

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Morgan Wallen has been relatively quiet on social media ever since being benched by the industry, following the early February circulation of a doorbell cam video that shows him shouting a racist slur at the end of a night of partying.

But this week, the singer shared a happier piece of his life, posting a series of pictures from a birthday party for his one-year-old son, Indigo “Indie” Wilder.

The rodeo-themed birthday party included lots of adorable cowboy memorabilia, including red bandannas and a flag reading “My 1st Rodeo.” In one image, little Indie cries as his mom, KT Smith, wipes cake frosting off his face.

“1 year of being a legend,” Morgan wrote in the caption of his post. “Happy birthday, son.”

For her part, KT also posted a string of snaps from the party. According to one image, guests enjoyed sugar cookies decorated to look like cowboy hats, horseshoes and boots. Another images reveals a close-up look at the details of Indie's custom cake.

Morgan announced Indie's birth last July, taking fans by surprise by announcing that he was a dad. “Since you came into the world Friday, I see mine differently now,” Morgan told his son in the caption. “It's not just me anymore, and I'm glad it's not.”

 

 

 

 

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This week, you can catch Brad Paisley performing an underwater show for sharks in his upcoming Shark Week special, Brad Paisley's Shark Country — and it may not be the last time the singer hits the waves to see his underwater fans.

“We all got in, and [the rescue divers and crew members] were like, It's gonna be okay,'” Brad recounts to USA Today of his nerve-wracking first dive filming the show. “I'm like, You promise?'”

But after taking the plunge — literally — Brad and his fellow celebrity guest, Curb Your Enthusiasm comedian JB Smoove, soon began to enjoy spending time with the reef sharks. One even swam over Brad's head, and “rubbed his belly on my head as he swam off,” the singer reveals. “Not in any aggressive way. Just sort of like, I got an itch; help me out.'” In fact, he added that he “felt no different than if you had taken me to a kennel to see a bunch of dogs.”

Still, Brad stayed smart in interacting with his new underwater pals, and he was warned not to pet them. “And I listened to what they said on that, cause I'm a guitar player and that wouldn't be a good idea,” he joked.

At the end of the dive, Brad says, he was already looking forward to his next encounter with the sharks.

“There'll be no way you can keep me away from this,” he said. “At the end of the show, to JB, I'm like, All right, next year, what are we doing, great whites?'”

Brad Paisley's Shark Country airs Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET on Discovery. 

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A stacked lineup of stars are confirmed to perform for the Country Music Association's newly announced CMA Summer Jam, a two-night outdoor event taking place in downtown Nashville on July 27 and 28.

Performing the first night will be Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Carly Pearce, Mickey Guyton, Cole Swindell, Dwight Yoakam and Lainey Wilson.

The following night, Jimmie Allen, Gabby Barrett, Luke Combs and Dierks Bentley will take the stage, as will Florida Georgia Line, Brothers Osborne, Miranda Lambert, Jon Pardi and Thomas Rhett.

The show will take place at Music City's Ascend Amphitheater, and it will be filmed as part of a three-hour primetime TV special, which will air later this summer on ABC. More details on that special, including additional performances filmed at other locations in Nashville, will be announced soon.

CMA Summer Jam marks the CMA's first new outdoor concert event in two years. The COVID-19 pandemic has halted the annual CMA Fest, which usually takes place in June, for both 2020 and 2021.

Tickets for the show go on sale beginning July 14 at 10AM CT, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the CMA Foundation, which supports music education programs across the country.

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On this date in 2014, “Somethin' Bad” — a duet between two of country music's biggest female artists — became a #1 hit. Neither singer was a stranger to the top spot on the chart, but the song was the first chart-topping duet between two female solo acts in two decades. Do you know who sang it? ANSWER: Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert.

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Mickey Guyton has shared plans for a full-length studio album called Remember Her Name. The singer co-wrote 15 of her new project's 16 tracks, and she says it's a personal reflection of her journey through Nashville and country music stardom.

“Remember Her Name is a culmination of the last ten years of my life in Nashville,” Mickey says. “…All those years ago, I set out to create music that would make people feel self-empowered, loved and comfortable with being themselves and this album holds true to all of that. I hope everyone who listens finds something that connects and speaks to them.”

Mickey's new album will include a number of songs already familiar to fans, including “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” and “Black Like Me” as well as “Rosé,” from her Bridges EP.

The project also includes Mickey's version of  Beyoncé's 2008 hit, “If I Were a Boy,” a cover version the country singer first shared earlier in 2021. It's also the only track on Remember Her Name that Mickey didn't have a hand in writing.

According to CMT, Remember Her Name‘s title track was inspired by Breonna Taylor, the Louisville, Kentucky Black woman who was unintentionally shot and killed by police officers in her home in March 2020.

“When I was thinking about…Breonna Taylor, and seeing inaction regarding her murder, I thought, I need to bring justice to her life,'” Mickey told CMT. “…The frustration that I've felt as an African-American has been a part of my process for a while. So the song, and album, are dedicated to Breonna Taylor and giving her the justice that she deserves.”

Remember Her Name is due out September 24. It's available for pre-order now.

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