In case you missed it, rising act Jackson Dean made his Grand Ole Opry debut Tuesday night. There will be plenty of opportunities to see him live this summer, as he’s joining Lee Brice on tour.
“Achy Breaky” is now three decades old: Billy Ray Cyrus’ controversial, much-buzzed-about megahit “Achy Breaky Heart” turned 30 years old this week.
For the second year running, the Grand Ole Opry is partnering with the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix to mount a post-race music event in downtown Nashville. The 90-minute performance will take place on August 7; the lineup is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Kane Brown says that one of his favorite activities as a father to two young girls, Kingsley and Kodi, revolves around fashion — serving as their personal stylists.
“That’s one of my favorite things to do is shop for Kingsley and get her cool outfits,” Kane dishes to Entertainment Tonight. He shares 2-year-old Kingsley and 5-month-old Kodi with his wife, Katelyn.
Speaking of fashion, Kane admits that he stepped outside of his normal wardrobe in his newly released “Like I Love Country Music” video, wearing an outfit designed by Valentino that includes a pair of black leather pants, belt buckle and cowboy hat.
“It’s a really strong look, but very different for me,” he describes of the getup. “When it came to my wardrobe, I just let my stylist dress me up, and she has a blast doing it, so she usually does a pretty good job. This is just the way out of my comfort zone.”
Later this year, Kane will jet off on his international Drunk or Dreaming Tour, which takes him across New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Europe for 23 shows beginning in September.
Canadian actor and country singer-songwriter Alexander Ludwig, who starred in Vikings and Hunger Games, is opening up about a personal family struggle.
Earlier this month, he and his wife, Lauren, talked about their difficult journey to becoming parents, sharing that they recently suffered their third miscarriage. Alexander reposted his wife’s statement, in which she explains that she wanted to share because “we all need to start talking about the truth more.” She also describes how her experience has taught her that “if more of us talked about these things, maybe we would feel less alone and at fault.”
In his repost, Alexander praised his wife’s strength and told her that “your resilience through this just is one more of the countless reasons I love you.”
The Ludwig family’s story struck a chord with many of their followers who have been through similar challenges, including Jason Aldean, who jumped into the comments to offer his support.
“Britt and I went through a similar situation. Things will happen when it’s time,” Jason wrote, also offering his condolences. “U guys are gonna be great parents and can’t wait to meet that kid who will no doubt be a blessing. Y’all hang in there buddy. Thinking about y’all.”
Jason and his wife, Brittany Aldean, have been open about their own fertility struggles due to Brittany’s endometriosis. They are now parents to two children together, Memphis and Navy, who were both conceived through in vitro fertilization.
In music news, Alexander is gearing up for the release of his first full-length album, Highway 99, this August.
Vance Joy has shared a new song called “Every Side of You,” a track off his upcoming album, In Our Own Sweet Time.
“Every Side of You” is the fourth cut to be released off In Our Own Sweet Time, following “Missing Piece,” “Don’t Fade” and “Clarity.” The whole album is set to drop next Friday, June 10.
You can listen to “Every Side of You” now via digital outlets. Its accompanying video is streaming now on YouTube.
Vance is celebrating his album’s impending arrival with a run of North American shows over the next week, taking place June 2 in Nashville, June 4 in New York City and June 9 in Toronto. The Toronto performance will stream live online via Vance’s YouTube channel.
The wins keep coming for BTS:their dedicated radio station broke major records on Apple Music.
The music service announced their weekly limited series “broke the record for biggest show of the year with their debut episode of #BTSRadio on Apple Music 1.”
The three-part BTS Radio: Past & Present airs one episode per week to help hype fans’ expectations for the band’s forthcoming album, Proof, which drops June 10. Apple Music subscribers can download each episode, which features the septet speaking about their rise to stardom and hopes for the future.
BTS will also share some untold stories, in addition to revealing the life lessons that made them who they are today. Of course, the limited series will also treat listeners to some yet-to-be released songs off the new album.
The first episode, titled “Beginnings,” is streaming now on Apple Music. In that episode, the BTS members discussed the spiritual connections they had with certain songs.
Years before she shot to fame with the success of songs like “What Are You Gonna Tell Her” and “Black Like Me,” Mickey Guyton got her start with her 2015 debut single “Better Than You Left Me.”
Now, Mickey’s revisiting her powerful breakup anthem with a new acoustic version, which she shared on her social channels. Mickey performs the song accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, celebrating a song that’s still got emotional power all these years later.
“The song that started it all for me,” Mickey wrote in the caption of her post.
When it was first released, “Better Than You Left Me” cracked the Top 40 on the country radio chart, peaking in the mid-30s.
Mickey’s platform grew dramatically in 2020 as she began releasing songs that reflected her experience as a Black woman in the country genre and the world. Her long-awaited full-length debut, Remember Her Name, came out in 2021. The track list includes a rerecorded version of “Better Than You Left Me.”
For fans who might’ve missed out on Lil Durk‘s 7220 tour in April and May this year, have no worries because the “Ahh Ha” rapper is “running it back,” he says.
On Wednesday, the Chicago native announced a second leg of his concert series, The 7220 Deluxe Tour, set to kick off in Oklahoma City on Sept. 17. The 15-city tour will run through the middle of October, making stops in Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Nashville and more, before its final show in Seattle on Oct 17.
The announcement comes just a few weeks after Durk hinted at, then dropped, a deluxe version of his seventh studio album 7220, 7220 (Reloaded). Early Wednesday morning the rapper teased new music in an Instagram video he said would soon be deleted.
To purchase tickets and for the full list of tour stops, visit Livenation.com.
Parker McCollum’s got nothing but good things to say about Eric Church.
The rising country star was the opening act for Eric’s American Family Field show in Milwaukee over Memorial Day weekend, on a bill that also included Brothers Osborne. After the show, Parker felt so moved by how the headliner treated him that he jumped on social media to tip his hat to Eric’s tour-boss style.
“His entire crew treated us like we were headlining,” Parker gushed on Instagram, posting some snapshots of the show. “Unbelievably polite and accommodating the entire day. Even Eric himself took the time to say hello and make sure we were taken care of.”
While it might seem like a small kindness, that means everything to an opening act, he said. “They chose to make us feel like it was our show too…in a Major League Baseball stadium. Class act top to bottom. What a day!” Parker added.
As a tour boss, The Chief is setting the bar high for Thomas Rhett: Parker’s joining TR’s Bring the Bar to You Tour this summer.
With Journey set to release its latest studio album, Freedom, in a little over a month, the band has debuted an official music video for one of the tracks, “You Got the Best of Me,” a melodic rock tune that was made available as an advance single in April.
The clip, which you can watch now on Journey’s YouTube channel, features color and black-and-white performance footage of the band’s current touring lineup — founding guitarist Neal Schon, longtime keyboardist Jonathan Cain, lead singer Arnel Pineda, keyboardist/backing vocalist Jason Derlatka, drummer/singer Deen Castronovo and bassist Todd Jensen.
“You Got the Best of Me” showcases Schon’s fluid guitar riffs and Pineda’s soaring vocals.
As previously reported, Freedom will be released on July 8 and can be preordered now.
Two other advance tracks have also been released from Freedom, “The Way We Used to Be” and “Let It Rain,” which debuted in June 2021 and last month, respectively.
Shortly after Freedom arrives, Journey will play a series of four special symphonic concerts in Las Vegas — on July 15, 16, 22 and 23. The band has several other concerts lined up around the U.S. this summer. Visit JourneyMusic.com to check out their full schedule.
Ahead of his hosting duties for this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, LeVar Burton opened up about losing the bid to become the host of Jeopardy!.
In an interview with Newsy, the Reading Rainbow alum says he was “not just disappointed but wrecked” by not getting the hosting job.
“Experiencing a very public defeat, humiliation, if you will, was sobering,” he said. “I didn’t expect that I would not be their choice for host.”
Burton says he believes he was the best person for the job and claims the search for an Alex Trebek replacement was “fixed.”
“The truth is it was my favorite game show. It really was. I mean, I watched that show since I was in the third grade and Art Fleming was the host. And I honestly thought that I was well suited for it. As it turns out, it really wasn’t a competition, after all, the fix was in.”
On what the 65-year-old actor and host learned from the “humiliating” moment: “It reinforced my belief that everything happens for a reason, even if you cannot discern the reason in the moment. In the fullness of time, everything will be revealed.” He added, “I’m a firm believer in betting on myself, and I would encourage anyone and everyone out there to to believe.”
Regarding his upcoming hosting duties at the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee, airing live on ION and Bounce at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 2, Burton said, “I’m definitely one to go where I’m wanted and loathe to go where I’m not invited.”
