Month: September 2022

Kane Brown traveled a long way from home to entertain his fans. 

Following a four-day stint headlining arenas in Australia and New Zealand for the first time, Kane is flying high on the experience, recalling how he never imagined while growing up in the South that one day he’d be performing for fans across the globe. 

“A Boy from a small town in north Georgia who never really left until he started doing music went all the way to Auckland New Zealand , Sydney, Brisbane , and Melbourne Australia and had a freaking blast!” Kane writes in an Instagram caption alongside a gallery of photos that show him singing in front of massive crowds, greeting a young fan and drinking out of a cowboy boot. “I'm so over the moon! Y'all were amazing and I'll see y'all again soon.” 

The “Like I Love Country Music” singer ventured Down Under as part of his international Drunk or Dreaming Tour, which also takes him across Canada and Europe this year. 

His new album, Different Man, dropped on September 9. 

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Luke Combs is on top of the charts — again. 

For the second week in a row, Luke is at #1 on country radio with “The Kind of Love We Make,” his 14th #1 hit. It’s also the second single off chart-topping studio album Growin’ Up, which was released in June. Luke serves as co-writer and co-producer of the track.

“I wrote this song in Montana with Dan and Reid Isbell and my guitar tech Jamie Davis, who used to be in a band with Dan. I met Jamie through Dan. Jamie had the idea, and Dan and Reid brought it to me and I thought it was a killer melody,” Luke recalls in a statement. “It ended up being one of those songs that wrote itself.” 

“The Kind of Love We Make” was preceded by the album’s lead single that also reached #1, “Doin’ This.” 

Luke is currently embarking on his Middle of Somewhere Tour, with opening acts Lainey Wilson, Mitchell Tenpenny and Morgan Wade. It continues through December 10. 

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Jon Pardi is a soon-to-be father, and his tour openers Lainey Wilson and Hailey Whitters are celebrating the news in a humorous fashion. 

At a recent show, Lainey and Hailey donned a pair of baby costumes complete with giant diapers, a bonnet and a bib that reads “cry baby.” They ventured out onstage to surprise Jon in the outfits and present him with a black T-shirt that says “daddy.”

Jon also got in on the fun; he held the T-shirt and sprayed a yellow baby bottle all over the stage while Lainey took a fake sip.

The three then did some synchronized line dancing while singing his hit, “Beer Can’t Fix,” Jon laughing as Lainey put a pacifier in his fiddle player’s mouth.

“Y’all give it up for daddy!” Lainey shouted to cheers from the crowd. “#Prank 2: soon to be daddy @jonpardi gets double teamed by his tour babies,” she added in the video caption. 

“This is epic,” commented Ingrid Andress.

Jon and his wife, Summer, announced last week that they’re expecting their first child early next year. 

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Wynonna Judd has mixed emotions as she prepares to kick off The Judds: The Final Tour solo. 

On April 30, one day before The Judds were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, matriarch Naomi Judd died by suicide. Two weeks prior, the legendary duo had announced a final reunion tour, taking them to 11 cities across the country. 

Despite her grief, Wynonna says she’s continuing the tour solo to fulfill her mother’s wishes.  

“I think it’s important to do it,” the singer says to CBS Sunday Morning about getting back on stage, adding that she feels like she has “marching orders” from her mother. 

The tour will see Wynonna performing classic Judds hits like “Love is Alive” and “Give a Little Love.” She’s gathered an all-star lineup of opening acts, including Ashley McBryde, Kelsea Ballerini, Faith Hill, Martina McBride and more. 

The singer is expecting a wave of emotions when she hits the stage without her mother by her side but is staying strong for their loyal fans.   

“As I walk out on stage that first night I’ll probably say something like ‘it’s not supposed to be like this,’ because it’s not. It’s supposed to be the two of us and I’m going to be angry because she’s not there,” Wynonna expresses.  “I want to come out onstage and sing from my toenails a song that helps someone out in that audience. It’s about me singing to help someone feel better. That’s always in my spirit” 

The tour begins on Friday in Grand Rapids, MI and will wrap up October 29 in Lexington, KY.  

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Kelsea Ballerini is making sure her music reflects real life, by changing the lyrics to her songs.

The 29-year-old country star performed in New York over the weekend and notably changed the lyrics to reflect her split from Morgan Evans, from whom she filed for divorce last month. 

As seen in a video captured by The Sun reporter Rachael Ellenbogen, while performing her single “What I Have,” she swapped “I got a warm body in bed” with “I got my own body in bed.” 

The Tennessee native also changed the lyrics in “Get Over Yourself” to “I’m the crazy b**** that wrecked your life,” from the original, “I’m the crazy ex that wrecked your life,” according to Us Weekly. 

Kelsea also changed lyrics to her song “Miss Me More.” All of the tracks are from her new album, Subject to Change, which dropped Friday. 

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Maddie & Tae are completing their Through the Madness album cycle Friday, closing the chapter with its second and final installment, Through the Madness Vol. 2.

“We'll probably be done with Vol. 2. I don't think anyone wants Vol. 100 of Madness,” jokes bandmate Maddie Font, pointing out that the album cycle's title seems to have inspired some real-life “madness” in the duo’s personal lives.

For one thing, Taylor Kerr had a complicated pregnancy amid the release process, resulting in a lengthy hospital stay. Taylor wound up giving birth to her daughter, Leighton, about three months early. Fortunately, following a NICU stay, baby Leighton is home and healthy.

Still, the duo might come up with a slightly calmer name for their next album. “I think we manifested madness by naming this album that,” Maddie goes on to say.

Though the Madness might be over, a slew of songs from its album cycle remain. Maddie & Tae say that narrowing down the track list was a pretty grueling process, and they had to cut a lot of songs they loved.

“Oh my gosh, it's a tough process,” Taylor says of selecting songs for an album.

“We normally have staples for a record. Like, Madness' was a huge staple [for this one],” explains Maddie. “We kind of have our pillars, I would say, and everything else fits underneath that. But it was hard to say bye' to a lot of the songs.”

Through the Madness Vol. 2 is out now.

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