Music

Just like his duet partner Ella Langley, Riley Green clinched his very first CMA nomination in 2024, taking home the trophy for musical event for “you look like you love me.” 

On Wednesday he competes in four more categories, including single, song and music video for the same hit. 

As you might imagine, nobody’s prouder than his mom and dad.

“They might be more excited than me. My parents might have a better seat than me at the show, like they go to everything. I don’t know how they get into all these places,” Riley teases.

His playful attitude continues when it comes to his performance of his #1, “Worst Way,” also famous for its steamy visuals.

“I’m keeping all my clothes on during the performance,” he adds. “It’s not gonna be anything like the music video, so it’ll be a very, very family-friendly performance.”

The award Riley covets most? His other nomination, also for musical event with Ella, this time for the self-penned title track of his album, “Don’t Mind If I Do.” 

“I wish either one of us could have seen it coming,” he says of the successful pairing. “I had no idea. But how cool is it to have two really big songs together with somebody?”

“And then also, we were on tour together getting to play those songs every night and you could just see the excitement of fans wanting to see us play those song together,” he recalls. “So it’s great that we’re still kinda riding that wave.” 

Tune in to see how far it can take them, as the 59th CMAs air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. You’ll also be able to stream the show Thursday on Hulu.

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Lamb of God has announced the release of a new song called “Parasocial Christ.”

The track, perhaps inspired by the Cambridge Dictionary’s newly announced 2025 word of the year, will premiere on Friday. It’s available to presave now.

“Parasocial Christ” will mark the second new Lamb of God song of 2025, following October’s “Sepsis.” The band’s most recent album is 2022’s Omens.

Lamb of God also just announced a U.S. headlining tour for 2026, kicking off in March. Presales are open now, and tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

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Old Dominion‘s taken home the CMA vocal group award every year since 2018. 

But the “Making Good Time” hitmakers put in a decade of work before they started routinely winning that CMA category. 

“We’ve been a band now for close to 20 years,” lead singer Matthew Ramsey says. “And we’ve been operating at this level, you know, successfully, for 10 now, so it has been quite a journey.”

Trevor Rosen is quick to affirm that OD was no overnight success.

“It seemed like it took forever,” he admits. “But we spent many years just learning how to write great songs in Nashville before we even thought about trying to go after it as a band. And then when we did decide to be a band, there [were] many years in a van and trailer just building it up fan by fan. So it is always funny to me when people observe it like it happened overnight.”

Perhaps the primary ingredient in the five-man band’s longevity is friendship.

“I don’t think we would have made it this far if we didn’t have such a good time just as friends,” Geoff Sprung says, “talking about the eight to 10 years where we were really kind of slugging it out. The reason we kept coming back was because when we got in that van, it was a lot of fun just to interact with these guys.”

OD will do a medley of their hits during Wednesday’s 59th CMA Awards, which air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena starting at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

“It’s a nice long performance, too,” Matthew says. “Sometimes those performances, they go by so fast and you don’t really remember what happened, but this will feel like a little mini-show and it should be a lot of energy.” 

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Summer Walker is finally over the baggage and stress, so much so she’s added more songs to her latest album. Finally Over It now has two new deluxe editions, continuing with the album’s wedding-themed rollout.

Finally Over It (Cocktail Hour) includes an unreleased version of “Session 32,” recorded live from one of the Breezy Bowl tour stops in Vegas. There’s also a new song titled “Session 34,” a breakdown of all three of Summer’s “Session” songs and the video for her song “Go Girl.”

Finally Over It (The After Party) officially brings previous vinyl exclusives “Take Me Out This Club” and “Drown In My Love” featuring Foggie Raw to streaming services. A solo version of “1-800 Heartbreak,” which features Anderson .Paak on the original album, is also on this deluxe edition.

Finally Over It (Cocktail Hour) is exclusively available on iTunes, while Finally Over It (The After Party) can be streamed on all DSPs.

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Cody Johnson is in the running for the first time this year for a CMA award he’s had his eye on for some time: the coveted entertainer of the year. 

What are the odds he walks away with the honor? The consummate showman won’t even begin to guess. 

“I think that everybody in that category deserves it,” Cody tells ABC Audio. “Close your eyes, throw a dart at the board, whoever it hits, I mean, it could have gone that way.”

Also in the running are Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, host Lainey Wilson and the reigning title-holder, Morgan Wallen.

“I think that being in the category this year, entertainer of the year is probably tighter than it’s been since the maybe mid- to late ’90s when it was in like the country heyday,” Cody says. “And I know all these people personally, they’re all my friends.”

“Yes, I want to win,” he reiterates, “but it’s hard not to be happy for any one of them if they do, because I admire their work so much.”

Whether it’s Cody’s year to claim the title or not, he continues on his path unaltered.

“Honestly, like I’m one of those guys that no matter what I want, no matter what life throws, you just gotta keep going and keep performing,” he says. “It’s not gonna change anything if I win or if I don’t, for me.”

“It might for my management, it might for my label or whatever else and all the logistics that go into booking shows, ’cause now you’re booking the entertainer of the year,” he adds. “But for me, I’m not changing anything.” 

Tune in to see if Cody can clinch the biggest CMA award of all, Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. 

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Starting Thursday, you’ll be able to support the Carolina Panthers and Luke Combs at the same time.

Die-hard Panthers fan Luke has partnered with the team for an exclusive merchandise collaboration, which will drop Thursday at 11 a.m. ET at the team store at Bank of American Stadium and online at shop.panthers.com.

Luke says in a statement, “It’s safe to say I bleed Carolina Panthers blue. They’ve been my team through thick and thin. I was born into this fandom. I met Sam Mills when I was 5 years old at a local restaurant during the team’s first season. I had a Panthers birthday when I turned 8.”

Luke adds, “I was able to hand pick each and every item in the collection. Talk about a full circle moment. This is it. Keep pounding.”

The collection features “vintage-inspired designs and a distinct ’90s aesthetic,” according to a press release. All net proceeds from the collection will go to Western North Carolina charities, including Second Harvest Food Bank NWNC.

Entertainer of the year nominee Luke will open the 59th annual CMA Awards Wednesday night on ABC.

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Megan Thee Stallion is expected to take the witness stand at a federal courthouse in Miami in connection with a defamation lawsuit that she filed in October 2024 against Milagro Cooper, a social media commentator and blogger known as Milagro Gramz.

Megan Thee Stallion, whose legal name is Megan Pete, alleges in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida, that Cooper participated in a targeted and coordinated social media campaign to harass, intimidate and defame Pete, in concert with rapper Tory Lanez, who was convicted of shooting and injuring Pete in a July 2020 incident.

Lanez, birth name Daystar Peterson, is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit but was asked to give a deposition ahead of the trial. ABC News has reached out to his attorneys, but requests for comment were not returned.

The complaint, which was reviewed by ABC News, accuses Cooper of defamation, promoting an altered sexual depiction of Pete, cyberstalking and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Cooper denied wrongdoing in legal documents responding to the lawsuit. ABC News reached out to Cooper’s attorneys, but requests for comment were not returned.

In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Cooper’s attorneys argued that “multiple allegations of ‘defamation’ are an overreach” and alleged that some statements made by Cooper are “substantially true,” while others are “clearly opinion and/or rhetorical hyperbole and therefore not actionable as a matter of law.”

The complaint argues that Cooper conspired with Peterson to “punish” Pete for testifying in Peterson’s trial where she named him as her shooter.

Peterson, who chose not to take the witness stand during the 2022 trial, pleaded not guilty, and his defense attorneys argued during the trial that he was not the shooter.

Peterson was sentenced to 10 years in prison without the possibility of parole on Aug. 8, 2023. His legal team appealed his conviction, but it was upheld on Nov. 12 by a federal court in Los Angeles.

Court records show that Peterson and his attorney were held in contempt of court by a magistrate judge earlier this week for failing to answer questions during a deposition related to Pete’s lawsuit against Cooper. Peterson was ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.

ABC News reached out to Peterson’s attorney Crystal Morgan for comment.

In her lawsuit against Cooper, Pete is seeking an unspecified amount in “compensatory damages, punitive damages, statutory damages, attorney’s fees, costs, interest, and all other damages as are just and proper as well as declaratory judgment to remedy Defendant’s unlawful behavior.”

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