Month: April 2025

The trailer for The Judd Family: Truth Be Told, a four-part Lifetime documentary, is here, featuring Wynonna Judd and Ashley Judd.

It opens with footage of Wynonna and the late Naomi Judd as the mother-daughter duo The Judds doing interviews and performing together onstage.

Ashley comments on their fame in one clip, saying, “I was so proud of their success.”

But amid the stardom, Wynonna said, “It was magical on stage, but off stage … .”

The trailer touches on Naomi’s story and shows footage and photographs from her life, with clips where others who knew the family talk about their secrets.

In another clip, Wynonna says, “I was old enough to know that something was wrong.”

She adds, “It’s a blessing and a burden to be that close to your mother.”

Naomi died on April 30, 2022. She was 76.

At the time, Ashley took to Instagram to share the tragic news that her mother had been lost “to the disease of mental illness.” She died just one day before her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The Judd Family: Truth Be Told will debut on May 10 at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.

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The iconic PBS show Austin City Limits is marking its 50th anniversary with an hourlong special inducting Garth Brooks into the ACL Hall of Fame.

Garth first appeared on the show in 1990.

“You can bring all the smoke and mirrors you want, and trust me – I've used em all, but you come here and it's the real deal,” he says. “Always try to associate your name with a name greater than your own. Being associated with ACL has been one of the greatest assets of my career.”

Garth’s wife, Trisha Yearwood – who’s in the ACL Hall of Fame, as well – also appears in Austin City Limits Hall of Fame Honors Garth Brooks, which premieres Saturday, May 3, at 8 p.m. ET on PBS.

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You’ll soon be able to call her Dr. Ashley McBryde. 

The “One Night Standards” hitmaker recently found out she’s getting an honorary doctorate in music from her alma mater, Arkansas State University. You can watch the emotional moment on her socials. 

“Everybody called my dad Doc and everybody called his dad Doc. I always wondered what that felt like — the pride that filled their chests when they were addressed by that title,” Ashley says. “I am beyond grateful and so humbly honored to be recognized by my Alma Mater with a Doctorate in Music. To know I now carry that title in a field that has been my life’s passion and purpose is a feeling I will cherish forever.”

Ashley will accept the honor during Arkansas State’s spring 2025 commencement ceremony May 10 in Jonesboro.

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Believe it or not, HARDY‘s never played the Grand Ole Opry. But that’s something he plans to change on April 29, as he prepares to launch his new EP, COUNTRY!

The first two tracks from the collection, “Favorite Country Song” and “Buck on the Wall,” arrive on Friday.

“Two new songs — I’m extremely excited,” HARDY says. “Both songs remind me of a very special place, the place where I grew up, the place where I became who I am — my deer camp. It’s now the only place I have to go home to since somebody lives in my childhood home.”

“I feel like it’s been a long time coming to put out some music that gets back to my roots,” he adds.

While HARDY hasn’t revealed how many tracks are on the COUNTRY! EP, it’s set to drop May 2. Later in the month he launches his Jim Bob World Tour, with Koe Wetzel joining him on most of the dates. 

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Jelly Roll has been keeping fans updated on his weight-loss journey. Back in November he said he’d lost 120 pounds … and he’s still losing.

While appearing at sports analyst Pat McAfee‘s Big Night Aht event in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Jelly was asked by McAfee to reveal how much he’d lost so far. “I started at 540 pounds, and I was 357 pounds this morning,” he said. That’s a total loss of 183 pounds.

He then yelled, “I’m gonna lose another 100 pounds and go sky-diving with my wife in Sweden!”

It’s not clear when Jelly plans to do this; while he will be touring Europe this summer and fall, he doesn’t have a show scheduled in Sweden. 

Prior to his shows in Europe, Jelly will play the Stagecoach Festival on April 26 and then join Post Malone for their Big A** Stadium Tour starting April 29 in Salt Lake City.

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Jordan Davis was named artist-writer of the year at the 2025 AIMP Country Music Awards Tuesday in Music City.

“I moved to this town to chase a dream of writing songs for a living,” he wrote on his socials. “Winning Artist – Writer of the Year at the @AIMPnashville Awards is an honor. Thank you.”

Jordan performed Keith Urban‘s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” as part of the 10th anniversary awards from the Association for Independent Music Publishers. 

The star-studded performances continued, with more artists doing previous song-of-the-year winners. HARDY tackled Little Big Town‘s “Girl Crush,” Hailey Whitters did Midland‘s “Drinkin’ Problem” and Carly Pearce interpreted Kacey Musgraves‘ “Rainbow.”

Jackson Dean took on Lee Brice‘s “One of Them Girls,” while Lee performed Maren Morris‘ “The Bones.” Ashley McBryde interpreted Chris Stapleton‘s “You Should Probably Leave,” while Old Dominion did Morgan Wallen‘s “Sand in My Boots.”

Married singer/songwriters Hannah Ellis and Nick Wayne paid tribute to Jordan’s “Next Thing You Know.”

Cody Johnson‘s “The Painter” took home this year’s song of the year honor, while Zach Top was named rising artist writer of the year. 

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A husband-and-wife singing cowboy duo, and groundbreaking Black and Tejano artists are the voices behind country’s contributions to the National Recording Registry in 2025.

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans‘ iconic “Happy Trails” from 1952; Charley Pride‘s signature song from 1971, “Kiss an Angel Good Morning”; and Freddy Fender‘s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” from 1975 are just three of the 25 works chosen this year.

It’s also worth noting that Tracy Chapman‘s self-titled debut album from 1988 was chosen. Of course, Luke Combs had a massive hit with his 2023 cover of “Fast Car” from that record.  

The Library of Congress chose the “audio treasures worthy of preservation for all time” out of more than 2,600 nominations made by the public.

Elton John‘s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and Celine Dion‘s “My Heart Will Go On” become part of the registry, as well, along with a couple of quirkier entries: the soundtrack to the Minecraft video game and the Microsoft Windows Reboot Chime.

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