Month: November 2022

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Go Country 105

Alabama bandmates remember Jeff Cook: “I'm hurt in a way I can't describe”

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Alabama's Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry are mourning the loss of their longtime bandmate and friend Jeff Cook, the group's co-founding guitar player, who died on Monday, November 7, at age 73.

“I'm thankful we got to create music together for over 50 years! Wish we could play My Home's in Alabama' one more time,” says Randy in a prepared statement. “I'm hurt in a way I can't describe!”

“Closer than brothers, we lived together more than with our immediate families,” adds Teddy, who also speaks to Jeff’s passion for music. “None of us were perfect, but together we had something so special it will never die. No other guitar player I've known had the range of styles Jeff had. No one can take your place. Ever.”

Jeff died at his beach home in Destin, Florida, surrounded by his family. He had been living with Parkinson's disease for 10 years, though no official cause of death has been given.

The Cook family has requested that in lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Jeff's memory do so with donations to The Jeff and Lisa Cook Foundation, which works to secure housing for orphaned children around the world.

Arrangements for a memorial service have yet to be announced.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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Go Country 105

Morgan Evans opens up about “lonely” experience going through divorce from Kelsea Ballerini

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Morgan Evans is reflecting on a difficult personal chapter — and finding solace in connecting with others who've been through similar experiences — as he opens up about his recent divorce from fellow country artist Kelsea Ballerini.

“One of the hardest parts [of going through a divorce] is how lonely it feels,” Morgan told All Access on the red carpet of the 2022 CMA Awards this week.

But speaking to others who've gone through the same thing makes him feel a little less alone. “It's strangely comforting to realize that so many other people have been through it, which I didn't,” he continues.

Kelsea broke the news of their divorce in late August, and Morgan subsequently confirmed the split on his social media, writing, “I wish it were otherwise but sadly it is not.”

He has since debuted a powerful new ballad called “Over For You,” which chronicles the loss and devastation he felt after being blindsided by a breakup.

“It's been a rough few months in my life,” Morgan went on to say. “Writing this song just really helped me sort through a lot of that.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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Go Country 105

Jimmie Allen will help reveal the nominees of the 65th Grammy Awards

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The nominees for the 65th Grammy Awards haven't even been announced yet, but country music is already being represented at the show.

The Recording Academy is planning to reveal its list of nominees on November 15; on Thursday, it revealed a list of artists who have history with the Grammys who will help reveal the nominations.

Among them is Jimmie Allen, who was nominated for Best New Artist at last year's ceremony. He's repping country music in an all-genre cast of acts in the big reveal, including John Legend, Olivia Rodrigo, Luis Fonsi and Smokey Robinson.

The 65th annual Grammy Awards will broadcast on February 5, 2023, on CBS. Once again, the ceremony will take place at Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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Go Country 105

Carly Pearce says she would “for sure” get married again after going through divorce

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Carly Pearce's 29: Written in Stone chronicles her journey through heartbreak and a very public divorce from fellow artist Michael Ray.

Now, on the other side of that heartbreak — and with a new man in her life — Carly says that she's open to the possibility of getting married at some point in the future.

“Yes. For sure,” Carly told Access Hollywood on the carpet of the 2022 CMA Awards last night, when asked if she'd consider saying “I do” again someday. “Maybe not, like, now. But I would. It's on the table.”

In the meantime, the singer celebrated her powerful female friendships at Wednesday night's awards show, taking home the Musical Event of the Year trophy for her collaboration with Ashley McBryde, “Never Wanted to Be That Girl.”

She also hopped onstage for a performance of the Kelsea Ballerini-led collaboration “You're Drunk, Go Home,” along with Kelly Clarkson. It was an uptempo, honky tonking, girl power moment at the ceremony, with an extra layer of meaning due to the fact that all three women have now gone through highly public divorces.

“We've all had very different experiences over the last few years and I think we've all handled it really well,” Carly noted. “I'm proud of us. And I think there's just an extra strength that comes from within when you go through struggle, and also when you're looking these women in the eyes that you walked it with…and you just go, God, we got this.'”

The 2022 CMAs aired live from Nashville on ABC.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Categories
Country Daypop

2022 CMA Awards: See the full list of winners

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Luke Combs took home the coveted “Entertainer of the Year” award at the 56th annual Country Music Association Awards Wednesday night, co-hosted by Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning on Wednesday night at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

Lainey Wilson, Chris Stapleton, and Cody Johnson were also among the big winners of the evening: Wilson was awarded New Artist of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year, while Stapleton won the CMA for Male Vocalist of the Year.  Combs’ LP ‘Growin’ Up’ was voted Album of the Year, while Johnson earned the award for Single of the Year for his song, “Till You Can’t.” Old Dominion won for Vocal Group of the Year, while the Brothers Osborne were voted Vocal Duo of the Year. 

This year’s ceremony opened with Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert paying tribute to the late Loretta Lynn, who died on Oct. 4 at the age 90. The artists performed a medley of several of Lynn’s hits, including “You Ain’t Woman Enough (to Take My Man),” “Don’t Come Home a-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind,)” “You’re Lookin’ at Country” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

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News Daypop

Judge orders Newt Gingrich to testify before Georgia grand jury investigating 2020 election

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A judge in Virginia ruled Wednesday that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich must testify in front of a special grand jury in Georgia before the end of the month.  Siding with prosecutors, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Robert Smith said Gingrich must testify in front of the special grand jury in Atlanta before Nov. 29. The 79-year-old Gingrich has repeatedly attempted to avoid testifying in the probe, arguing that the appearance in Atlanta was “not necessary and would impose an undue hardship.”

The probe, which was launched last year by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, is investigating possible interference by then-president Donald Trump and others in the 2020 election in Georgia. Willis is seeking to question Gingrich about contact he had with Trump’s campaign in 2020, when Gingrich is accused of pushing for television ads to promote “the false narrative that election workers had smuggled suitcases containing fake ballots” into a location where ballots were being counted. In court filings, Willis has called Gingrich a “necessary and material witness for the investigation.”

Gingrich’s attorney John Burlingame said his client would likely appeal the decision, arguing that Gingrich’s upcoming appearance before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol should spare Gingrich from the separate probe in Georgia. That interview is scheduled for Nov. 21.

Editorial credit: Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com

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News Daypop

Mark Zuckerberg announces Facebook parent company Meta to lay off 11,000 employees

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Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has announced over 11,000 layoffs. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a message to employees Wednesday: “Today I’m sharing some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta history. I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go.”

According to the the message from Zuckerberg, employees who are laid off will receive “16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service, with no cap.” The layoffs follow a cost-cutting trend among big tech companies; Amazon recently announced that they would be extending a hiring freeze, and Apple is instituting a partial hiring freeze in October. Twitter announced drastic layoffs after being purchased by Elon Musk last month.

Zuckerberg, who attributed the layoffs to poor investments in the wake of COVID-19, also said: “We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1 … At the start of Covid, the world rapidly moved online and the surge of e-commerce led to outsized revenue growth. Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended. I did too, so I made the decision to significantly increase our investments.”

Zuckerberg said in his statement that the strategy of increased investments backfired: “Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected.”

Editorial credit: pcruciatti / Shutterstock.com

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Country Daypop

Caroline Jones joins Zac Brown Band as full-time member

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Singer and musician Caroline Jones has joined the Zac Brown Band as a full-time band member, making her the first and only female in the eight-member group.

Jones first opened for Zac Brown Band on their 2017 tour and continued as an opener for the next two years. The band asked her to join their 2021 The Comeback Tour as a guest band member, and welcomed her back as a guest member for their current Out in the Middle Tour.  Brown has become a mentor for Jones and is a co-producer on her song “So Many Skies,” featured on her album Antipodes. Jones also previously opened for Kenny Chesney on his 2019 Songs for the Saints Tour and teamed with Chesney and Jimmy Buffett for her song “Gulf Coast Girl.”

Jones shared on social media: “BIG news folks!!!! After 3 years as their opening act and 2 years touring in the band, I am honored to announce that I’ll be joining the @zacbrownband as an official member. Exciting (and busy!) times ahead as I perform and create with ZBB while continuing to build my own career. Thank you all for your support. Playing with ZBB makes me a better musician, vocalist, songwriter, performer, and human. I live for each of those things and I am humbled that they believe I add to the outfit.”

Editorial credit: Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com

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Pop Daypop

Bebe Rexha and David Guetta to perform at Detroit Lions Thanksgiving halftime show

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Bebe Rexha and special guest DJ David Guetta are slated to perform at the Detroit Lions 83rd annual Thanksgiving Day Classic against the Buffalo Bills.  Rexha and Guetta earned themselves a global hit with the track “I’m Good (Blue),” which is a riff on Eiffel 65’s seminal “Blue (Da Ba Dee),” after the song went viral on TikTok earlier this year.

Rexha made the announcement in an Instagram Reel, sharing in the caption: “Excited to announce that I will be performing at the @detroitlionsnfl Thanksgiving Halftime Show on November 24th featuring @davidguetta Show presented by @Verizon!”

The Thanksgiving Halftime Show will be nationally televised on CBS November 24 at 12:30 p.m. EST. Tickets for the Thanksgiving Day Classic are still available for sale on the Detroit Lions’ website.

Editorial credit: DFree / Shutterstock.com

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Pop Daypop

Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds announces new project

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Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds is sharing his work on the music for a new Showtime series called Spector, which tells the story of Phil Spector, the infamous record producer who was convicted of murder and died in jail in 2021.

Reynolds wrote on Instagram: “I had the absolute pleasure of working on the score/soundtrack for this incredible series with @ajavolkman @waynesermonid It debuts this evening on @showtime at 9pm and was done by the talented and wonderful @dargott and @sheenamjoyce”

As Reynolds mentioned, he worked on the score and soundtrack with his wife and fellow musician Aja Volkman. Unfortunately, in September the couple announced they had split, after attempting to reconcile. The couple — who shares three children (Arrow Eve, 10, twins Gia James and Coco Rae, 5, and Valentine, 2) — initially split in April 2018 and attempted to reconcile their marriage that November.

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