Month: December 2025

Ever since Brandon Lake released his song “When a Cowboy Prays,” fans have urged him to record a version  of it with Cody Johnson. Now it’s finally happening: Cody shared a photo Thursday on his Instagram Story showing himself in the studio, the song’s lyrics on a music stand and a section of lines marked off with his name beside them.

Miranda Lambert is among the performers for the 2026 Music City Rodeo, which will take place in Nashville from May 28-30. Each night closes with a concert: Miranda will perform on May 28, Charley Crockett on May 29, and Jon Pardi will close out the event on May 30.

The 25th anniversary of the now-iconic O Brother, Where Are Thou? soundtrack will be celebrated at the Grand Ole Opry on Feb. 28, featuring yet-to-be announced artists from the original album. A new vinyl edition will also be released on Feb. 20. O Brother, which was named album of the year at the Grammys, CMAs and ACMs, reached #1 on the Billboard 200 and has sold more than 8 million copies. Featuring Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, The Whites and the late Ralph Stanley, the soundtrack of the George Clooney film has been credited with sparking a roots music revival in the U.S.

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Tucker Wetmore has released “Proving Me Right,” his first new music since his debut album, What Not To. Some fans think it’s about his real-life ex-girlfriend, who is allegedly dating another country artist. “Keep on puttin’ it on now, baby/ Find some guy with a song now, baby,” Tucker sings. “Go do what you wanna/ But all you’re doin’ me wrong is just proving me right.”

After many teases, Luke Combs has released the touching ballad “Giving Her Away.” It’s written from the point of view of a groom talking to his soon-to-be father-in-law on his wedding day. “Giving Her Away” comes with a video of Luke recording the song in the studio. “Man, you brought your baby/ I brought a ring,” he sings. “And I'm giving her my name/ And you're giving her away.”

Cory Kent has teamed up with Koe Wetzel for a song called “Rocky Mountain Low.” In a statement, Corey, who co-wrote the song, says, “It has all the rock and roll elements I grew up on and all the country influences I love. I asked my buddy Koe to jump on the second verse, and he was the person I pictured when writing that part, so having him on the track just makes it feel even more authentic.”

Dasha has teamed up with singer Ricky Manning to record a duet version of his viral hit “Someone Else & Jesus.” She says in a statement, “My ex-situationship actually played me this song in his car last year, and I instantly became obsessed. A few weeks later, I randomly ran into Ricky and totally had a fangirl moment because of how much I loved the track.” That led to the collaboration. (Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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This season of The Voice featured Zac Brown as a mentor for the teams coached by Snoop Dogg and Michael Bublé. Now he’ll return to the show to perform on its season finale, along with Riley Green.

Billboard reports that during the Dec. 16 finale, Riley will perform the song “Jesus Saves” from his latest album, Don’t Mind If I Do. It also appeared on his 2024 EP, Way Out Here.

Zac will perform “Butterfly,” a song that was originally recorded as a duet with Dolly Parton. It appears on Zac Brown Band‘s new album, Love & Fear, which came out Friday. Standing in for Dolly on the song will be Noah Cyrus.

The two-night season finale starts Dec. 15 on NBC. 

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Michael Bublé has duetted with quite a few country stars over the years, like Shania Twain, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Carly Pearce. But now he’s diving headfirst into the genre with a new country album.

Michael appeared on the latest episode of the Not Gonna Lie podcast, hosted by Kylie Kelce – Taylor Swift‘s future sister-in-law. He revealed, “I love country music, and I have loved country music my whole life. … I went to Nashville. I have a producer named Dan Huff … and I have made a love letter to country music. And it’s old school. It’s not, like, modern. It’s my interpretation.”

“I have never had an experience that has been better musically,” he raved. “I’m so excited to put out this record. I don’t know if 10 people are going to love it, but I don’t care because I feel like I earned the right to make a beautiful record.”

Michael listed some of his country bona fides, like those duets with Willie and Dolly; the fact that he’s recorded songs by Kris Kristofferson and Hank Williams; his friendship with Blake Shelton, who scored a huge country hit with Michael’s song “Home“; and the fact that the first song he ever recorded was one by Patsy Cline.

Michael said he has no idea when the record will come out because it isn’t finished yet.

Carly told ABC Audio in 2024, after she recorded a Christmas duet with Michael, that he was a true country fan. “I feel like a lot of people just come in [to country] because they’re like, ‘Country’s easy … put a banjo on it. It’s fine.’ And I take great offense to that,” she said. By contrast, she insisted that Michael “absolutely understands what the genre is [and] what these songs mean.”

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Post Malone played halftime at the Dallas Cowboy’s Thanksgiving Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs, and in February he’s heading to San Francisco to perform during Super Bowl weekend.

Posty will kick off the weekend of the big game on Feb. 6 with a special concert event, Bud Light Presents Post Malone & Buddies – though his “buddies” haven’t been revealed yet. If you’re over 21, you can enter to win tickets at BudLight.com. 

Post, who’s partnered with Bud Light for nearly 10 years, says, “Getting back on the Bud Light stage during Super Bowl weekend is like coming home. I love it! We've got something really special planned for this year!”

That special thing may be the debut of new music. Posty tells Billboard that he’ll “a hundred percent” be performing new songs at the gig. He says, “We've been working very, very diligently on new music. And we have 45 songs. It's just a matter of finishing said songs. And the schedule has been so very busy. So we're working and working, but there will be new music by then.Allegedly.”

He added, “Allegedly a hundred percent maybe, definitely. Keep your ears [open].”

Not much is known about Posty’s new music; he told Billboard in April that it will be country, like his star-studded, CMA-nominated release F-1 Trillion.

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Jelly Roll‘s birthday was Thursday, and his daughter, Bailee DeFord, gave him and his wife, Bunnie Xo, a gift they’ll never forget.

Bunnie posted an Instagram video documenting the surprise. She wrote over the footage, “I learned a powerful lesson as a parent this week. Bailee has always hated school dances. But because J and I never went to ours, we've always pushed her: Go make memories. Go have the experiences we missed.'”

“This year has been heavy – schedules, mental health, burnout.all of it,” she went on. “We've kept to ourselves, and we hate surprises. So when Bailee texted saying she had one for us, I spiraled. Especially after we swore there'd be no surprises for J's birthday. But we showed up for our girl anyway.even with tired hearts.”

In the video, we see that Bailee has arranged a mock prom for the couple. They arrive all dressed up and walk into a space filled with family and friends, decorations and music.

“What we walked into stopped us in our tracks … a night she called Under the Stars,'” Bunnie wrote. “A prom/birthday party she created for us. She crowned us King and Queen, and we danced and sang like teenagers who finally got their moment.”

In the video, Jelly and Bunnie are seen slow-dancing to the song “Uneven Trade” by the group Sunday Best.

“All because our baby wanted us to smile,” she added. “She did it all herself & didn’t miss one detail.” 

Bunnie then shared the lesson she learned: “Time is the most precious thing we own. Spend it on your people. The memories you make with them will outlive everything else.”

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Thomas Rhett sold out a concert at Boston’s Fenway Park earlier this year, which had long been a dream of his. If you weren’t able to make it, you can hear some of it now on his new release, Thomas Rhett Live From Fenway Park.

The EP features six live songs, as well as audio of TR reading a letter to the Boston audience about how much the city means to him. “Pretty sure I've played most every venue that this town has to offer,” he recalled, before running down a list. He also noted that his favorite show in Boston was one he played two years ago at TD Garden.

“I've drank most of your bars out of beer. I've eaten my weight in lobster rolls. … Thrown my guts up on a whale-watching tour. And attended my fair share of Red Sox games,” TR continued. “Needless to say, this place has always been and always will be one of my favorite places to play on the planet. I have a lot of history in this city and I love y'all so much.”

The EP includes live performances of “Make Me Wanna,” “Beautiful As You,” “T-Shirt,” “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Woman” with special guest Teddy Swims, “Die a Happy Man” and “She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” the Cole Swindell hit that he co-wrote. There are also videos of all those performances on YouTube.

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