Month: October 2022

Superstars from both the country and rock worlds showed up Sunday night at the Grand Ole Opry House to pay tribute to one of American music’s biggest icons, Loretta Lynn. 

Thousands of fans lined up starting at 4 a.m., braving a rainy Nashville day for a lineup that didn’t disappoint.  Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Sheryl Crow, Barbara Mandrell, Martina McBride, and Hoda Kotb all shared their memories, during a 90-minute celebration of life hosted by Jenna Bush.

Wynonna Judd kicked off the musical tributes with an unforgettable version of “How Great Thou Art,” backed by members of the Gaither Vocal Band and her stepfather Larry Strickland. Keith Urban pulled up a voicemail from Loretta herself before doing a banjo-fueled take on “You’re Looking at Country.” Tanya Tucker transformed herself into a “Blue Kentucky Girl,” before Darius Rucker took the crowd to “Fist City.”

Taylor Swift, Kid Rock, Kacey Musgraves, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Marty Stuart, and Sissy Spacek all offered recorded remembrances. 

George Strait made a rare appearance to do Loretta’s first #1, “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’,” while Alan Jackson did the song he’d composed for his own mother’s funeral, the emotional “Where Her Heart Has Always Been.” Little Big Town covered Dolly’s Honky Tonk Angels contribution, “Let Her Fly,” from the album she and Loretta did with Tammy Wynette. 

There was also Jack White’s “Van Lear Rose,” Margo Price‘s “The Pill,” and Brandi Carlile‘s take on Patsy Cline‘s “She’s Got You.” The Highwomen — with Brittany Spencer subbing for Maren Morris — closed with Lynn’s signature work, “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”

Loretta passed away October 4 at the age of 90 at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. The tribute’s set to re-air Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET and Sunday at 11 a.m. ET on CMT.

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Luke Combs dropped an official studio version of “Dive,” his cover of Ed Sheeran's hit, on Friday. He's been performing the song live for a while now, and Ed even joined him onstage for a performance of it in London back in March.

Jake Owen's Flamingo Jam, a benefit concert in support of his Jake Owen Foundation, will return to Vero Beach, Florida this December. Travis Denning, Tracy Lawrence and Alabama's Randy Owen are all on the bill.

Parker McCollum has announced a headlining tour for spring 2023. Larry Fleet, Corey Kent and Catie Offerman will be joining him on the trek, which launches early February in Columbus, Ohio.

Runaway June have a new single out today, called “Broken Hearts (Do Broken Things).”

Elvie Shane dropped his version of “Blue Christmas,” the holiday tune originally made famous by Elvis Presley, this week.

Randy Houser has a new song out called “Country Round Here Tonight.” The track comes off of his forthcoming album, Note to Self, which is due out on November 11.

Larry Fleet just surprise-dropped The Live Sessions: Vol. 1, a collection of live performances of some of his fan-favorite hits.

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Turns out, love and music are a good mix.

Kane Brown and his wife, Katelyn, teamed up for his new single, “Thank God,” which is rapidly climbing the country charts and becoming a fan favorite. Now, Kane tells E! News that he's planning on doing another duet with his wife one day and that it's just a matter of when.

“There will definitely be another song with us in the future,” the singer assures fans. “We're gonna write another song and release it. We just want it to be better than this one.”

In the meantime, they're enjoying the runaway success of “Thank God,” which Kane believes is resonating with listeners because of its authenticity.

“I think it's just because it's a true love story,” he notes. “It's not two artists who are singing it to each other and have no future with each other. I feel like people can relate to that. Plus, it's a beautiful song.”

Kane and Katelyn haven't yet debuted “Thank God” live, but they did head to Hawaii to shoot a tropical music video for the track.

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Keith Urban plays with the power of memory in the lyrics of his new song, “Street Called Main,” which dropped on Friday.

The song's lyrics conjure up an image of how a sight, sound, smell or location — in this case, a street called Main Street — can immediately transport a person back to a place in his or her memory.

“Some memories are triggered by the simplest things, like finding yourself anywhere in the world — even on a street called Main' — and suddenly she' comes flooding back,” Keith notes in a statement.

The singer's new song is a breezy, pulsing and summery preview of his next musical chapter. He's currently at work on a new album, due out in 2023.

In the meantime, Keith is continuing his 2022 Speed of Now World Tour. U.S. shows will wrap in early November, and after that, he's headed to his home country of Australia for more dates.

Before his trip overseas, Keith is scheduled to play a special Good Morning America stop from outside Nashville's Bridgestone Arena — the venue that hosts the CMA Awards — on the morning of the ceremony. It's a free show; fans wishing to attend can register for tickets here.

The 2022 CMAs air live from Nashville November 9 on ABC.

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Legendary rock act The Rolling Stones are celebrating their 60th anniversary as a band this year, and the country music community is taking notice.

Brothers Osborne, Eric Church and a slew of other stars have signed on for Stoned Cold Country, a new tribute album featuring country interpretations of some of the rock group's biggest hits.

Elsewhere on the track list, Ashley McBryde performs “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,” Maren Morris offers “Dead Flowers,” Little Big Town delivers a rendition of “Wild Horses,” and Lainey Wilson sings “You Can't Always Get What You Want.”

Brooks & Dunn, Jimmie Allen, Zac Brown Band, Elle King, Steve Earle, Elvie Shane, Koe Wetzel, Marcus King and The War and Treaty round out the track list for Stoned Cold Country, which is due to drop in 2023.

Ahead of release day, fans can check out Brothers Osborne and The War and Treaty's rendition of “It's Only Rock N' Roll (But I Like It),” which will arrive on November 4.

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Another round of country heavyweights have been added to CMT's Coal Miner's Daughter: A Celebration of the Life & Music of Loretta Lynn tribute show.

Miranda Lambert, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Kacey Musgraves and Alan Jackson are now all confirmed to join the bill. Marty Stuart and Gaither Vocal Band will also appear in the tribute to the late, great country legend.

Sissy Spacek — the actor who portrayed Loretta in the 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter — has signed on for the tribute show, too, as has TODAY show co-anchor Hoda Kotb. In addition, Patsy Lynn and Tayla Lynn — the singer's daughter and granddaughter, respectively — will join the lineup for the show.

Previously announced performers include Keith Urban, Darius Rucker, Tim McGraw, George Strait, Little Big Town and many others. The event will be hosted by Jenna Bush Hager, who is a close friend of the Lynn family and a colleague of Hoda's on the TODAY show broadcasting team.

CMT partnered with the Lynn family and Sandbox Productions to mount this memorial event. The public service will air live and commercial-free Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. ET on CMT. Two commercial-free encore performances have also been announced: one on Wednesday, November 2 at 8 p.m. ET and another on Sunday, November 6 at 11 a.m. ET.

Loretta died on Oct. 4 at her home in Hurricane Mills, TN. She was 90 years old.

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Pioneering rocker Jerry Lee Lewis died on Friday, Oct. 28, according to a statement from his publicist. He was 87 years old.

A singer, songwriter and pianist known to fans as “The Killer,” Lewis was the voice behind staple songs of rock n' roll such as “Great Balls of Fire,” “Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On,” “Breathless” and other classics.

He also had a sizable presence in the country genre, with multiple top-ten hits on the Billboard country chart during the 1960s and 1970s. Over the course of his career, he earned 30 top-ten country hits and several number-ones, including “To Make Love Sweeter For You,” “Me and Bobby McGee” and “There Must Be More to Love Than This.”

Lewis has been a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1986. Just days before his death, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The singer died at home in Mississippi with his wife, Judith Coghlan Lewis, by his side. No cause of death is immediately available.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by four children, a sister, a cousin and several grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Memorial information is forthcoming. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to the Arthritis Foundation or The Recording Academy's MusiCares.

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