Month: April 2022

The CMT Awards has added a social-only category, “Trending Comeback Song of the Year,” that spotlights country hits from years prior that have seen a rise in popularity online due to social trends.

The nominees are: Taylor Swift‘s “Love Story,” “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” by Shania Twain, Dolly Parton‘s “9 to 5,” “Neon Moon” by Brooks & Dunn, “I’m a Survivor” by Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson‘s “Freight Train,” and “Suds in the Bucket” by Sara Evans. Voting takes place on CMT’s Instagram Story through April 9.

Darius Rucker‘s annual Darius and Friends concert in benefit of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will return to the Ryman Auditorium on June 6. The lineup will be announced in the coming weeks. 

Lauren Alaina has left her longtime label, UMG Nashville. She made the announcement in a social post on Monday. 

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It’s official: Garth Brooks is opening a new entertainment complex and bar in Nashville. 

Garth is now the proud owner of a three-story, 40,000-square-foot property on Lower Broadway in downtown Nashville that he will transform into the venue.

After reports surfaced that Garth had purchased a property on Broadway, it’s now been confirmed that the sale was through 411 LLC, which is connected to the singer’s lawyer, Russell A. Jones. 

The country icon has teamed up with Strategic Hospitality to create the concept. The Nashville-based company is also behind popular Nashville eateries including Merchants, a Southern fare-meets-formal dining restaurant in a historic building on Broadway. 

“We feel very lucky to have the chance to be part of Lower Broad, which is arguably THE hottest spot in the country,” Garth says in a statement. “The goal is a classic honky-tonk that welcomes all and encourages love and kindness while playing the greatest music in the world in the home of Country Music!”

Garth is the latest in a long line of his country peers who have opened bars on Broadway, includingLuke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and, most recently, Miranda Lambert.

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Scotty McCreery is returning to the stage that started it all. 

The singer is set to return to American Idol for its 20th anniversary special, dubbed “The Great Idol Reunion,” on May 2. Scotty was crowned the season 10 winner in 2011.  

Deadline reports that Scotty will perform with fellow contestant Lauren Alaina, who was runner-up that season. Laine Hardy, who won season 17, will also perform, along with other American Idol favorites Jordin Sparks, Ruben Studdard, Maddie Pope, David Cook and more.

Scotty’s single, “Damn Strait,” is in the top 20 on country radio, and he recently wrapped up his headlining Same Truck Tour. 

American Idol aired for 15 seasons on Fox before the series concluded in 2016. The show was then rebooted in 2018 on ABC, with Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie joining the judges panel.

American Idol airs on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Kelsea Ballerini is getting ready to release a new single, “Heart First,” and she promises that it’s a “bop.” 

Kelsea shared that she finished writing her upcoming album while on vacation, and when asked by actress Laverne Cox on E! News if we can expect “vacation vibes” from the new music, the singer hinted that the single will be a deviation from her most recent hit, “Half of My Hometown.”

“I just had a song go #1 at country radio and it was very songwriter, about my hometown, ballad,” Kelsea says in reference to her duet with Kenny Chesney. “This one is the other side. It’s like a bop, breezy, windows down, go for a drive, get right.”

“Heart First,” which the Knoxville, TN native co-wrote with Little Big Town‘s Karen Fairchild, will be released on Thursday.

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Luke Combs may have new music on the horizon. 

The singer shared a snippet of the studio video version of “The Kind of Love We Make” on Instagram, an unreleased song he previously teased last year. The recorded version features a smooth melody accented by a twangy steel guitar as Luke sings with smoky vocals, “let the passion take us to a higher place/Making the kind of love we make.” 

“Listen to what I just got.#TheKindOfLoveWeMake,” Luke teases in the caption. 

Unsurprisingly, the country superstar’s fervent fan base was quick to share their responses, with one sharing, “Already obsessed with this new one,” with another echoes the sentiment, writing, “need this to drop!” “Can’t make a bad song,” praises another listener.

Luke originally shared a video of he and one of the song’s co-writers, Dustin Nunley, performing the song acoustically in October 2021. In December, the hit singer revealed that he is “putting the finishing touches” on his highly anticipated third studio album.

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Sam Hunt has collected another #1 song, and he’s celebrating in the most country way. 

This week, the Georgia native tops the charts with “23,” his ninth #1 single. Sam took to the great outdoors to celebrate, sharing a video on Instagram of him and some friends skeet shooting in the woods of Tennessee. 

“Thank you to everyone who helped make ’23’ a number one song this week!! We're celebrating in TN!” the superstar writes alongside the video that shows him successfully hitting the clay target. 

“23” is the first new song Sam has released since his latest album, Southside, dropped in 2020. It features back-to-back hits “Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s,” “Kinfolks,” “Hard to Forget” and the record-breaking smash, “Body Like a Back Road.”  

The chart success comes weeks after it was announced that Sam’s estranged wife, Hannah Fowler, has filed for divorce after five years of marriage. She is also pregnant with their first child, who is due in May.

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