Month: February 2023

“Ain’t No Harmin’ Me” is the new single from The War and Treaty‘s new album, Lover’s Game, which arrives March 10.

Breakout newcomer Bailey Zimmerman‘s just put out a new track, as his current single “Rock and a Hard Place” continues its run in the top 10. You can check out the lyric video for “Fix’n to Break” now.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of his 11th album, Next Big Thing, Vince Gill‘s released a remastered version of the video for his hit “Someday,” which he wrote with pop star Richard Marx.

“I’m Not Pretty” is the new track from “Tennessee Orange” hitmaker Megan Moroney. 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

This Sunday, country superstar Chris Stapleton will take the stage to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl. He’s the third country star to do the honors in three years, following Eric Church, who sang it with Jazmine Sullivan in 2021, and Mickey Guyton, who sang it in 2022.

You may not know, though, that the first chart-topping solo star ever to sing the anthem was a country star, too: Charley Pride in 1974. Prior to that, the anthem was performed by marching bands, instrumentalists and choirs. The first major pop star to do it was Diana Ross in 1982. The first male pop star was Barry Manilow in 1984.

The first pop group to sing the anthem was the Backstreet Boys in 2001. The first country group to do it was the Chicks in 2003, who were also the first female group to do it. Since then, no other groups have been tapped for the honor. Only two stars have sung the anthem twice: Billy Joel, in 1989 and 2007, and Aaron Neville, in 1990 and 2006.

Many cite the late Whitney Houston‘s performance of the national anthem in 1991 at Super Bowl 25 as one of the best renditions ever. It made a big impact, not just because Whitney sang it so well, but also because it took place during the Gulf War. Her rendition was so popular it was released as a single, was included on her greatest hits album and was rereleased to capture the patriotic spirit after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Here’s a list of everyone who’s ever performed or sung the national anthem at the Super Bowl:

1 — Universities of Arizona & Michigan bands (1967)
2 — Grambling University Band (1968)
3 — Anita Bryant (1969)
4 — Al Hirt (trumpeter) (1970)
5 — Tommy Loy (trumpeter) (1971)
6 — U.S. Air Force Academy Chorale (1972)
7 — Little Angels of Holy Angels Church (Chicago) (1973)
8 — Charley Pride (1974)
9 — Grambling University Band (1975)
10 — Tom Sullivan (1976)
11 — Vicki Carr (sang “America the Beautiful”) (1977)
12 — Phyllis Kelly of NE Louisiana State University (1978)
13 — The Colgate Thirteen (1979)
14 — Cheryl Ladd (1980)
15 — Helen O’Connell (1981)
16 — Diana Ross (1982)
17 — Leslie Easterbrook (1983)
18 — Barry Manilow (1984)
19 — Children’s Choir of San Francisco (1985)
20 — Wynton Marsalis (1986)
21 — Neil Diamond (1987)
22 — Herb Alpert (1988)
23 — Billy Joel (1989)
24 — Aaron Neville (1990)
25 — Whitney Houston (1991)
26 — Harry Connick Jr. (1992)
27 — Garth Brooks (1993)
28 — Natalie Cole (1994)
29 — Kathie Lee Gifford (1995)
30 — Vanessa Williams (1996)
31 — Luther Vandross (1997)
32 — Jewel (1998)
33 — Cher (1999)
34 — Faith Hill (2000)
35 — Backstreet Boys; “America the Beautiful” performed by Ray Charles (2001)
36 — Mariah Carey (2002)
37 — The Chicks (2003)
38 — Beyoncé Knowles (2004)
39 — Combined choirs of the U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, U.S. Coast Guard Academy and U.S. Army Herald Trumpets (2005)
40 — Aaron Neville with Dr. John and Aretha Franklin (2006)
41 — Billy Joel (2007)
42 — Jordin Sparks (2008)
43 — Jennifer Hudson (2009)
44 — Carrie Underwood (2010)
45 — Christina Aguilera (2011)
46 — Kelly Clarkson (2012)
47 — Alicia Keys (2013)
48 — Renee Fleming (2014)
49 — Idina Menzel (2015)
50 — Lady Gaga (2016)
51 — Luke Bryan (2017)
52 — Pink (2018)
53 — Gladys Knight (2019)
54 — Demi Lovato (2020)
55 — Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan (2021)
56 — Mickey Guyton (2022)
57 — Chris Stapleton (2023)

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, ERNEST is sending you Two Dozen Roses.

That’s the subtitle of his FLOWER SHOPS album, which includes his breakthrough hit of the same name.

The singer/songwriter’s debut effort came out last March, and the expanded edition adds 13 new tracks.

“It’s great to finally have this continuation of the FLOWER SHOPS album out,” he says. “I wrote almost all of these over the last year.”

“I hope everyone listens to it from the beginning all the way through if they have the chance to,” he says. “I track-listed it intentionally to follow a story that I think a lot of people can find themselves in at one point or another, so I hope people take the time to hear it in order.”

ERNEST co-wrote all 24 songs on FLOWER SHOPS (THE ALBUM): Two Dozen Roses, with help from folks like Lady A‘s Charles Kelley, FGL‘s Brian Kelley and the legendary Dean Dillon.

This spring, ERNEST heads out on the One Night at a Time Tour with Morgan Wallen.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Luke Combs just can’t stop writing love songs about his wife, Nicole.

The beginnings of his new track, “Love You Anyway,” go back to Valentine’s Day 2020, when the two were engaged but had not yet tied the knot. At a show, Luke dedicated “Beautiful Crazy” – one of his number ones – to his fiancée, saying: “If you're in here, I love you. If not, you know I do anyway.”

That struck a chord with co-writer Dan Isbell, who already had the title “Love You Anyway” as an idea for a song in his phone. Later, when the two got together with Ray Fulcher, the “heartbreak and love song all in one” was born. 

“We loved the idea as a title and decided to write about loving someone so much that even if you knew from the beginning they were going to break your heart, you'd love them anyway,” Luke explains. “It came off very poetic and we wanted to find the words that could really give meaning to what we were trying to say, but as we say in the song, we didn't know if there were deep enough words made for that.”

“Love You Anyway” is out now, ahead of the March 24 release of its accompanying album, Gettin’ Old.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Zac Brown Band and Dierks Bentley hope you’ll meet them for a concert in the den – the Artists Den, that is.

Zac and Dierks are just part of the new 11-show season of Live from the Artists Den, set to air Wednesdays on AXS TV at 9 p.m. ET. The respected series is known for taking big artists and letting them do intimate concerts in historic venues. 

The ZBB episode premieres February 22, while you’ll have to wait until April 26 to see Dierks.

Big names like John Legend, Mumford & Sons, Ed Sheeran and Elvis Costello are also part of the show’s new run.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Priscilla Block‘s debut album is getting the deluxe treatment. 

The expanded edition of Welcome to the Block Party adds four new tracks: “Getting Even,” “Me Pt. 2,” “Little Bit” and “Off the Deep End.” Of course, it also includes her breakthrough “Just About Over You” and her hit, “My Bar.” 

“This past year was really big for me, especially releasing my debut album,” the North Carolina native reflects. “When we were selecting songs for Welcome To The Block Party we had so many songs to choose from, which is why I'm super excited for the deluxe album.”

The four new songs complete the Block Party era, she adds.

The original album came out almost exactly a year ago, on February 11, 2022.

Priscilla’s duet with Justin Moore, “You, Me, and Whiskey,” is currently making its way up the chart as the two continue their tour of the same name. Later this year, she’ll open for Shania Twain on some of her Queen of Me dates.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Matt Stell‘s proving he’s One of Us with his new six-song EP.

In addition to the title track, the collection includes his current hit, “Man Made,” as well as three songs Matt co-wrote: “Shut The Truck Up,” “Roots in This Ground” and “Somewhere Over the Radio.” Tyler Hubbard and HARDY contribute “This One’s Gonna Hurt.”

The “Prayed for You” and “Everywhere But On” hitmaker also co-produced most of the album.

Here’s the full track listing for Stell’s One of Us: 

“One of Us”
“Shut The Truck Up”
“Man Made”
“This One’s Gonna Hurt”
“Roots in This Ground”
“Somewhere Over the Radio”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On a typical Super Bowl Sunday, Chris Stapleton would be “sitting at home with the kids on the couch,” having snacks and watching the game.

Of course this year, he won’t be doing that: he’ll be at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, performing the national anthem before the Chiefs take on the Eagles. 

In a news conference Thursday alongside actress Sheryl Lee Ralph — who’ll do “Lift Every Voice and Sing” — and Babyface — who’ll perform “America the Beautiful” — Chris said he definitely views it as a career milestone.

“It’s one of those calls you think you’re not gonna get,” he admitted. “And then you get the call and you’re like, ‘Okay, let’s do this!'”

Chris had previously said the Super Bowl is the only place he’d want to attempt the notoriously difficult “Star Spangled Banner.”

“The national anthem’s not an easy song for singers,” he points out, “and it’s one that can go horribly wrong as we’ve seen many times in the past.”

“Hopefully it won’t happen for me, knock on wood,” he adds. “But yeah, if you’re gonna do it, this is the place to do it.”

So what will Stapleton’s twist on the anthem be? 

“I’m gonna go out there and play, and play it like I would play it. If that’s a twist, then so be it,” he laughs. 

Kickoff for Super Bowl LVII is at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX. Rihanna‘s set to perform the halftime show.  

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.