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Dan + Shay have been performing during the Academy of Country Music Awards since the 50th anniversary show at AT&T Stadium in Dallas in 2015, just as they’ll be Sunday for the 61st ceremony in Vegas.

But the hitmaking duo admits they still get some butterflies — and with good reason.  

“The last time we performed at the ACMs, we opened the show,” Dan Smyers recalls. “It was the Songs of the Decade moment and we did ‘Tequila’ for the 2010s. And I looked out and George Strait was out there. I feel like that definitely makes you nervous.”

“But I think it makes you step up your game a little bit. It makes you rise to the occasion,” he reflects. “When you look out and see George Strait, it’s like, ‘We gotta bring it!’ And I feel good about that performance. It was good.”

“Knock on wood, we haven’t had any total, crazy mess-ups yet,” he adds. “But I think it’s inspiring to look out and see your peers.”

But Dan also says it goes even deeper than that. 

“Country music is such a family. Everybody’s so supportive of each other. You know, you look out and see our friends Cody Johnson or Megan Moroney or whoever it is singing the words to your songs, and you’re like, ‘This is awesome, man!’ Like, it kinda makes you feel like you belong.”

Dan + Shay go into the 61st ACM Awards with seven trophies to their credit and another nomination for duo of the year.

You can tune in to watch their performance live from MGM Grand Garden Arena Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on Prime Video. 

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Was Taylor Swift searching for some wedding inspiration when she popped up in Greece for the wedding of one of Travis Kelce’s teammates?

Taylor and Travis were seen in London last week dining out, going to the theater and attending the birthday party of Cara Delevingne’s sister Poppy. But according to People, the couple later touched down in Glyfada, Greece, on Saturday to attend the wedding of Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis and his bride, Kaia Harris.

The couple — especially Taylor — reportedly kept a low profile throughout the traditional Greek Orthodox celebration. According to Huff Post Greece, Taylor “danced the night away, chatted with guests, waited alone in line for food at the buffet, and impressed those who met her with her simplicity and friendliness.”

The publication also claims that Taylor and Travis arrived in Greece by private plane and stayed on “her boat near the hotel where the reception took place.”

“We have such cool friends, and the people we invited were just the best,” George told People of the three-day celebration, which featured 220 guests. “Everyone got along, made new friends, and danced together. I couldn’t have asked for a better day and night, honestly.”

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Josh Groban’s new album, Cinematic, features his takes on famous songs from movies like The Lion King, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and The Godfather. But while figuring out what songs he wanted to put on the album, he also had to acknowledge that while there were songs he would like to include, he simply couldn’t get away with singing them.

“I would have loved to have done more comedy. I don’t have a comedic singing voice,” Josh tells ABC Audio. “I do sing comedy seriously, like on the Oscars and stuff, that’s always fun. But I would’ve loved to have done some Monty Python, you know? I would have loved to have done one of the big rock ballads.”

However, he explains, “There’s a lot of stuff that might be good on paper, but it’s just not meant for me to sing.”

As for the songs he did include, Josh says he and his producer would sit together “with just a piano and no mic” so he could “learn what felt good in my voice.” He notes, “We wanted to represent different eras. So if we felt like we’d already tackled a certain style of song, a Disney song, or a song from a classic era, or a song from the ’80s, then we’d kind of move on.”

But since there are only 10 tracks on Cinematic, is a sequel possible?

“Yes, there’s actually one extra song that we recorded that we’re going to release sometime next year,” he says, adding that there “may be” a Cinematic 2 at some point. He also says he’d like to do an encore of his Stages album, which features Broadway show tunes.

But that’s in the future. As he tells ABC Audio, “I’m going to work on new music next.” 

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Switchfoot has announced a U.S. tour in support of the band’s upcoming album, Forever Now.

The headlining trek launches Sept. 17 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and concludes Nov. 21 in Seattle. Anberlin will also be on the bill for select dates.

“We poured everything we have into making Forever Now, but we always say that an album isn’t finished until you take it on tour,” says bassist Tim Foreman in a statement. “Playing new songs on the road and seeing them connect with fans every single night is a gift. These songs are incredibly meaningful to us… increasingly relevant in the ‘strange, strange times’ we live in.”

Presales begin Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time, and tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit Switchfoot.com.

Forever Now, the follow-up to 2021’s interrobang, is due out June 26. A new song from the album called “Absolution” will be released Friday.

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On their single “Drag Me,” From Ashes to New started from slightly above the bottom, now they’re here very much at the bottom.

“Maybe you’re not at the best place, but you’re not necessarily in a bad place,” vocalist Danny Case tells ABC Audio of the message of “Drag Me.” “And then it’s like, boom, you get dragged down.”

“That’s usually how, I think, tragedy strikes,” Case continues. “You’re just kinda going about your life, you’re going about your day, and then, boom, something bad happens and you’re in the bottom.”

Ironically, “Drag Me” has now risen to the very top of the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, giving From Ashes to New their first #1 on a Billboard radio chart. They previously peaked at #2 with the song “Barely Breathing.”

“We don’t necessarily write to try and make #1 radio rock songs,” Case says. “But if it does happen organically, I think that’s just a testament to how good the songs are.”

In addition to hearing “Drag Me” on the radio, you can hear it as the opening track on the new From Ashes to New album, Reflections.

“I think the song tonally, metaphorically, everything, sets the album up really nicely,” Case says. 

Reflections is out now. From Ashes to New is currently on tour with Black Veil Brides and will hit the road with Shinedown in July.

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Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz continue to take their Giants art exhibit around the world, with the collection now on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Breaking into the art world came with challenges, as they had to learn to navigate the space as new Black collectors from the music industry.

“At least 75% of this show, we had to fight for. A lot of the artists who are our friends fought for us to have these masterpieces and it’s a blessing,” Swizz tells GQ about the obstacles they faced while building the exhibition. “But at the end of the day, we’re not using that as an excuse.”

Instead, Swizz emphasized the importance of creating change through action rather than frustration.

“How can we fix what we don’t like or what doesn’t feel comfortable? How can we change that landscape? And that’s through the work, not through complaining, like, ‘Oh, they’re not doing this,'” he continues. “Let’s stop giving they so much power on things that we need to do for ourselves. Why are we depending on they? Who are they? We know who we are.”

The Giants exhibition officially launched in 2024 and has since showcased the work of Black diasporic artists, but the plan is to eventually expand.

“Yes, we’re Black collectors—but we’re art collectors and we feel that we can represent our tribe and also shine light on other people’s tribes. It was only right to start with our own tribe,” Swizz explains to GQ, before teasing future exhibits.

“We have artists of all colors in our collection, but it was only right to highlight our tribe,” he says. “But we plan on doing Giants 2, 3, 4, 5, 6—keep changing the shows up, maybe change the titles.”

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