Month: November 2023

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Go Country 105

Luke Bryan hopes to “bring a lot of smiles to everybody's faces” at this year's CMA Awards

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With the CMA Awards just around the corner, Luke Bryan is taking time to reflect on how he’s grown as a co-host alongside National Football League Hall of Famer Peyton Manning.

“I just love getting more comfortable in the role. I mean, the first year [I] hosted by myself, [and it was] pretty, pretty stressful, pretty nervous,” Luke recounts. “To have Peyton come in was, you know, he and I being able to work back and forth together. And I know how he works, he knows how I work now.”

Since it’s the second time Luke and Peyton are co-hosting, fans can naturally expect an augmented onscreen chemistry between both hosts. 

“I think if anything’s different, [it’ll be] our chemistry on TV [since] it’ll be one year further down the road,” notes Luke. “Peyton was a rookie last year and now he’s in his second year.”

As Luke gears up to host Country Music’s Biggest Night once again, he knows what’s most important for him to focus on. “Always be more comfortable in the moment, be loose, be fun, and bring a lot of smiles to everybody’s faces,” he shares.

The 57th CMA Awards airs live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Wednesday, November 8, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Categories
Country Daypop

2023 CMA Awards: Luke Bryan, Jelly Roll, Carly Pearce among performers

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The Country Music Association has announced a first round of performers for the 2023 CMA Awards, with Luke Bryan, Jelly Roll and Carly Pearce set to perform, along with K. Michelle, Little Big Town, Megan Moroney, Old Dominion, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson.

The news broke on X: “BREAKING NEWS!! 🤩 Performing LIVE at the #CMAawards –
@LukeBryan, @JellyRoll615, @KMichelle, @LittleBigTown, @_MegMoroney, @OldDominion, @CarlyPearce, @ChrisStapleton, @TanyaTucker, AND @LaineyWilson! Stay tuned for even MORE stars announced soon! 🎶
Additional performers will be announced soon.”

Wilson leads this year’s nominees with nine nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year for Bell Bottom Country. Jelly Roll follows with five nominations, while Luke Combs and Hardy have four nominations each.

The 57th annual ceremony will take place Nov. 8 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and air at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

Editorial credit: Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Country Daypop

Tanya Tucker to be honored on inaugural ‘CMT Smashing Glass: A Celebration of the Groundbreaking Women of Music’

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CMT has announced that Patti LaBelle and Tanya Tucker are being honored during the first-ever CMT Smashing Glass: A Celebration of the Groundbreaking Women of Music television special set to air on November 15 at 9/8c. CMT Smashing Glass will also pay respect to the late women of music with memorial tribute medleys to Aretha Franklin, Sinead O’Connor and Tina Turner.

The new multi-genre musical event recognizes women ‘who have smashed stereotypes, broken records and defiantly blazed trails for future generations of female artists.’   Smashing Glass will merge performances with documentary-style storytelling leading up to LaBelle and Tucker each taking the stage to deliver a performance. Additional show details, performers and special guests will be announced soon.

Margaret Comeaux, CMT’s Senior Vice President of Production, Music & Events and Executive Producer, shared: “We’re beyond excited to bring this electrifying and empowering new franchise to life by honoring iconic women who’ve fearlessly ‘smashed glass ceilings’ and kicked in doors, holding them wide open for past, present and future generations. Both Patti and Tanya deserve to be celebrated for continuing to set the industry gold standard with boundary-breaking crossover success, bold, uncompromising lives and careers, and creating timeless music and impact that remains as powerful and relevant as ever.”

Patrizia DiMaria, Executive Producer added: “Inspired by so many other women who have smashed glass ceilings before us, we’ll also pay homage to three other female juggernauts with in-show ‘Moments of Respect,’ nodding to Aretha Franklin, the ‘Queen of Soul’ who forever altered the path for women with her legacy of demanding ‘R.E.S.P.E.C.T,’ the ‘Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,’ Tina Turner, who empowered the world with her resilience, and Sinead O’Connor, who broke the traditional ‘pop star’ mold and used her life and music to illuminate the world’s burning issues.”

Editorial credit: Sterling Munksgard / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

New Kids on the Block to launch 2024 ‘Magic Summer Tour’

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New Kids on the Block will embark on Magic Summer Tour 2024, announcing on Instagram: “Check out the Magic Summer 2024 Tour Dates ⬆ Tickets on sale to the public this Friday at 10am local Block Nation Members get FIRST access to tickets & vip packages starting THIS WEDNESDAY at 10am local time. Go to NKOTB.com for all the details on VIP Packages and to sign up to become a Block Nation member today. #MagicSummerTour”

Featuring guests Paula Abdul and DJ Jazzy Jeff, the tour serves as a ‘re-imagining’ of the group’s sold-out tour of the same name back in 1990. The North American tour is slated to kick off next year on June 14, starting in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, at the town’s Blossom Music Center. It will make stops in Denver, Salt Lake City, Philadelphia, Toronto and more before concluding on Aug. 24 at the Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, Ind.

Donnie Wahlberg in a press release about the tour: “The true ‘magic’ of this tour is in the music, the moments and the memories that we get to create – and recreate – with our amazing fans each night. Feeling all the nostalgic feels of the original Magic Summer, with the bond that we’ve shared throughout the years, will make for a most magical time indeed.”

Fans looking to get tickets for the tour will be able to do so starting on Wednesday (Nov. 1) through the New Kids on the Block’s official fan club and Citi pre-sales. More pre-sales will hit throughout the week before tickets become available through Live Nation’s general on-sale on Nov. 3 at 10 a.m. local time. Citi cardmembers will receive access to pre-sale tickets starting Nov. 1 at 12 p.m. local time until Thursday, Nov. 2 at 10 p.m.

Editorial credit: Tony Norkus / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

Charli XCX and Sam Smith team up for “In The City”

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Charli XCX and Sam Smith have collaborated for the first time on their new single, “In The City,” co-produced by Charli XCX alongside Ilya, PC Music founder A. G. Cook, Omer Fedi and George Daniel of the 1975.

Charli XCX said of the track: “The song is about finding the people you truly love and connect with through wild nights out and partying in magical places. It’s about feeling accepted, the magnificence of being welcomed into queer spaces and those once in a lifetime people you get to meet when you’re there.”

Smith added, “Charli is a force and getting creative with her is so much fun. This track is about freedom and those unforgettable nights of abandon. I loved every minute we spent together making it.”

Listen to Charli XCX and Sam Smith’s “In The City” – here.

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com