Month: September 2021

Looks like Thomas Rhett won’t keep fans waiting too long for new music.  

On Tuesday, the country superstar shared a video of himself poised at the piano, playing a few notes of an unnamed song. Thomas only offered a few chords of the melody, and does not reveal a title or lyrics.

“Y’all ready for some new music???” he captions the video that appeared to be filmed on a set, sending fans into a frenzy. “Sooo excited,” one fan commented, while another wrote, “Beyond ready! Can't wait!”

This new music tease arrives weeks after Thomas scored his 18th #1 hit with “Country Again.” It’s featured on his latest album, Country Again: Side A, that reached #2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and the top 10 on the Billboard 200 after its April release. 

Thomas and his wife Lauren Akins are expecting their fourth child, a girl, in November.   

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Scotty McCreery is spending some “You Time” at the top of the country charts. 

This week, Scotty’s latest hit, “You Time,” clinches the #1 spot on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, marking his fourth consecutive single to achieve the feat. It follows in the footsteps of “Five More Minutes,” “This Is It” and “In Between.”

Scotty co-wrote the song, inspired by his wife Gabi, in 2019 with Frank Rogers and Aaron Eshuis, the singer telling Billboard that it still feels “brand new.” 

“Now that I’m back on the road, it’s been fun to see the audience get excited and dance when we play ‘You Time.’ It gets a great reaction from the crowd every night,” he expresses, extending thankfulness to country radio, his record label and management team. “Most of all, my gratitude is to the fans who are always there for me. Having ‘You Time’ hit #1 is a great way to celebrate 10 years of making music.”

“You Time” is the lead single off the American Idol winner’s new album, Same Truck, which debuted at #10 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. 

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Walker Hayes is pretty “Fancy” these days — and is making history in the process.

As his earworm track, “Fancy Like,” launches from #17 to #8 this week on the Mediabase Country chart, it marks the biggest jump into the top 10 in 17 years since Gretchen Wilson‘s “Redneck Woman” catapulted into the top 10 in 2004.  

Additionally, “Fancy Like” has claimed the #1 slot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for 11 consecutive weeks and has ascended to #5 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart. 

“Fancy Like” went viral after Walker posted a video of him and 15-year-old daughter Lela performing an original dance to the song on Tik Tok. The genre-bending track shows no signs of slowing down, as it’s front and center in a new Applebees commercial, the restaurant chain also bringing back the Oreo Shake, which is referenced in the song, for a limited time. 

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Zac Brown Band has cancelled a handful of upcoming dates on The Comeback Tour as Zac Browntests positive for COVID-19. 

The band’s frontman took to Instagram on Tuesday to share that “despite taking precautions,” he has tested positive for the virus and is hitting pause on the tour out of concern for the safety of their fans and crew. 

“I am deeply disappointed this has happened, as touring is our life and performing live for our fans is the best part of our job. The bottom line is that I want to take every precaution to put the health and safety of our fans and crew first,” Zac explains in the post. 

The singer says the tour will resume once Zac has completed his CDC-mandated quarantine and it’s safe for him to interact with his band members and crew. 

“I am grateful to our fans for understanding this decision, as well as everyone on the front lines who can't stay at home because their work is essential. I believe we can all overcome this together,” Zac continues. “As soon as we can, we'll see you back out on the road again. Nothing's better than the comeback.” 

Four upcoming tour dates have been cancelled as a result: September 30 in Clarkston, Michigan, October 1 in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, October 2 in Syracuse, New York and October 3 in Saratoga Springs, New York. Refunds will be issued at point of purchase. 

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Alan Jackson is opening up about a degenerative nerve condition he’s been living with for the past 10 years. 

In an interview on the Today show, the country legend shares that he’s been diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), a genetic neurological disorder that affects the nerves and muscles in his legs, arms and hands and has left him with mobility and balance issues.

CMT is related to muscular dystrophy and Parkinson’s disease. Though the illness gets worse over time and there’s no cure for it, the singer says CMT is not fatal.   

“It’s already affecting me tremendously,” Jackson reveals in an interview from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, adding that he’s been having trouble balancing in front of the microphone onstage. “It’s been affecting me for years and it’s getting more and more obvious. So I just feel very uncomfortable.” 

Jackson inherited CMT from his father, later finding out that his grandmother on his father’s side had it and his older sister is living with it.  

“This is not a condition that I would be complaining about typically, but it is going to affect me performance-wise onstage and I don’t know how much I’ll continue to tour,” he continues.

The “Small Town Southern Man” singer says he will try to tour “as much as I can” and plans to continue to release new music. 

Jackson released his 21st studio album, Where Have You Gone, in May. He’s scheduled to perform at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on October 8. 

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When Jimmie Allen took to the ballroom on Dancing With the Stars last night, he was equipped with one of his hit songs. 

During his second appearance on the popular ABC show, Jimmie and his partner Emma Slater rumbaed around the dance floor to his 2020 hit, “Make Me Want To.” Dressed in a purple ensemble, the country star glided his dance parter around the ballroom floor, as judge Bruno Tonioli could be seen mirroring their moves, dancing from his seat.   

The pair scored 27 out of 40 and will return for week three. 

“Still can't believe I got to dance to my song “Make Me Want To” with my amazing partner @theemmaslater on @dancingabc,” Jimmie shared on Instagram after the performance. “So honored to represent Country Music on this great show.” 

“Make Me Want To” was released as the second single from Jimmie’s debut album, Mercury Lane. It became his second consecutive #1 hit, following his debut single, “Best Shot.” 

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Today, Karen Fairchild of this Grammy-winning country group known for hits like “Pontoon,” “Boondocks” and “Girl Crush” is celebrating her 52nd birthday. Can you name the band? ANSWER: Little Big Town.

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Best-selling author Trisha Yearwood releases her fourth cookbook today, complete with a foreword by her superstar husband, Garth Brooks.

The first time Trisha cooked for Garth, she confesses she made a Fettuccine Alfredo so heavy he needed a nap immediately afterwards. But the first time Garth cooked for her, it was pretty much love at first bite. 

“I went to visit him in Oklahoma, and he asked me if I wanted pizza. I don’t think I’ve ever told this story,” Trisha reveals. “And I said, ‘Yeah, that’d be great.”

“And so he goes into the kitchen and he comes back with — first of all, they were the two for five dollar pizzas, which is fine. He still likes those,” she laughs. “He does. He came back with a pizza for him and a pizza for me. And I’m like, ‘I’m probably just gonna marry him. This is probably gonna happen…'”

“I did not eat my whole pizza, but he did eat his whole pizza, and some of my pizza,” she adds. “It was just really sweet.”

Since then, Trisha’s nicknamed her husband Gartha Stewart, he’s so good in the kitchen.

“He makes a hot pasta salad that I love,” she tells ABC Audio. “He’s got kind of a famous breakfast bowl in the second book that he makes a lot. He just made that for my birthday a couple weeks ago.”

“You know, he’ll get in there and do whatever you need,” she says. “If you want him to cook and take it over, he’ll take it over.”  

Trisha’s Kitchen: Easy Comfort Food for Friends & Family is available now and includes 125 recipes from the host of Food Network’s Trisha’s Southern Kitchen and her sister, Beth Yearwood Bernard.

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