Month: December 2021

2021 found Jason Aldean celebrating his 26th chart-topping hit, with his multi-week #1 duet with Carrie Underwood, “If I Didn’t Love You.”

The Georgia native’s the first to admit he’s come a long way since he put out his first single, “Hicktown,” more than fifteen years ago. 

“Man, it’s been so wild,” Jason tells ABC Audio. “Honestly, you know, I remember coming out in 2005 and the first single came out and just not knowing, like, I didn’t know if I was gonna be around for one record, two records, five records, I didn’t know.”

“You know, it’s just like, man, [I] just kind of took it one day at a time,” he continues. “And you know, it just all of a sudden, everything kind of took off for us. And you know, you turn around and you’re this many years into it and that many number ones.”

“If I Didn’t Love You” is the lead single from Jason’s Macon album — and he warns he’s not even close to being done.

“It’s been crazy. When I really sit down and think about it, and how things have gone and how everything had to kind of line up the right way for me to have the career I’ve had, it’s been pretty amazing,” he says. “And you know, it’s been a wild ride at times, but it’s been a lot of fun.”

“And I don’t know,” he adds, “I hope it doesn’t end any time soon, because I feel like I’ve got a lot left in the tank.”  

The second half of Jason’s double Macon album — titled Georgia — is set to arrive April 22, taking its name from his hometown.

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Chris Young gave his dad the ultimate Christmas present this year. 

On Monday, the hit singer shared a video that shows him gifting his father, Michael Harris, a new truck. In the clip, Chris is seen leading his dad outside where he’s surprised to see a new silver Chevrolet sitting in the driveway. A look of disbelief is splashed across Michael’s face as he realizes it’s for him.

The video also includes a close-up shot of the shiny new truck in a parking lot before it’s delivered to Michael. The father and son share a heartfelt hug as Michael Buble‘s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” plays in the background. 

“My dad has been driving the same truck for well over a decade. I decided he needed a new one this year. I love you dad!” Chris writes alongside the heartwarming video. 

“You are the best,” one fan praises in the comments, while another writes, “The way he looked at you! You're a good son!”

“Beautiful truck! I am sure your dad is very deserving of your gift,” shares another fan. 

Chris has been open about his close relationship with his dad, who battled lung cancer in 2009 and has since been in remission.

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Walker Hayes has had a whirlwind year, thanks to the success of “Fancy Like.”

After posting a video of him and his 16-year-olddaughter, Lela, performing an original dance to the track on TikTok, the video soon went viral, so much so the song and dance was featured in an Applebee’s commercial. “Fancy Like”also became Walker’s first #1 song and scored him his first Grammy nomination, for Best Country Song at the 2022 ceremony.

Looking back on where he was on January 1, 2021, Walker admits he never could have predicted that by the end of the year, he’d have a massive hit on his hands.

“It’s just crazy. [I] didn’t foresee that in my future when I woke up last year on the first of January, and so it’s just insane how this year my life has changed the most,” Walker reflects. “It’s pretty incredible.”

The singer shares that his favorite 2021 memories surround “Fancy Like” and the ripple effect that the song’s success is having across his life, noting that his wife, Laney, and their six children are at the center of it all.

“Biggest memory to me will probably be me and my daughter doing the dance to ‘Fancy Like’ and the adjustments that the catapult of my career has, the impact that it’s made on my family and how we’ve had to adjust,” Walker explains. “I’ve gotten so busy, but they’re able to come out with me, so we’re making memories left and right.”

Walker will perform “Fancy Like” and his new single, “AA,” on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2022, airing December 31 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Kane Brown finds solace in “Whiskey Sour,” a new song he’s releasing on January 14.  

Kane shared a sample of the track on Instagram, featuring traditional country elements of fiddle and tear-in-your-beer lyrics. It tells the story a couple preparing to get married, only to break up a month before the wedding. The chorus follows the heartbroken groom to a bar where he drinks his whiskey sour alone.

“So now I take my whiskey sour/Sittin’ bar side after hours/Thinkin’ how can I get over/If the love was never ours/And I know you got my message/All my x’s and my o’s/And it kills me by the hour/Now I take my whiskey sours alone,” Kane sings over the mournful, fiddle-led melody. 

“I love getting to sing other people's stories!” Kane writes alongside the video, which shows him singing along to the tune at his kitchen counter. 

“Whiskey Sour” is set to arrive as Kane’s current single, “One Mississippi,” continues climbing inside the top 10 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.

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