Just days before CMA Fest returns to Nashville, more performers have been added to the festival’s already massive lineup.
Brothers Osborne and Old Dominion will now take the main stage at Nissan Stadium during the four-day fest on a bill that includes opening acts like Randy Houser, Deana Carter and Shenandoah.
Nissan Stadium headliner Alan Jackson will no longer appear on the stage during the festival, which is set for June 9-12.
A number of performers have also been added to the Platform Stage at Nissan Stadium, including Maddie & Tae, Dylan Scott andPriscilla Block. Over on the CMA Close Up Stage, Russell Dickerson has been added to the bill on Thursday as the Artist of the Day at Fan Fair X.
For ticketing details and more information, visit the festival’s website.
The clip, which you can watch at Browne’s YouTube channel, features the 73-year-old singer/songwriter driving around Los Angeles during the day and evening while wearing mirrored sunglasses. The video was directed by Jackson’s son Ryan Browne.
“The song is about wanting to be somewhere else, but for whatever reasons, you’re tied to the place where you live and the things you do,” Jackson says about the tune. “So I wanted it to be me driving around. To me, the video has a distinctive feature, which is that nothing happens. You don’t arrive anywhere, right?”
Coinciding with the clip’s premiere, Jackson will kick off a new U.S. leg of his “An Evening With” tour Friday night with a show in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The summer trek, which features the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer performing with his full backing band, is plotted out through a four-show stand — July 26, 27, 29 and 30 — at New York City’s Beacon Theatre.
Jackson also has another leg of the tour lined up for later this year, which runs from an August 31 performance in San Diego through a September 25 concert at the famed Red Rock Park & Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.
Country superstar Mickey Guyton announced she recently contracted COVID-19 and will no longer make her scheduled Saturday performance at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia this weekend.
“After 2 1/2 years of dodging this virus, Covid has finally hit my doorstep,” she said in a note shared on Instagram. “I was SO looking forward to playing the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia on Saturday, but unfortunately, I’ve tested positive for Covid. It’s going to be such an amazing weekend and I can’t believe I have to miss it.” She added, “Hope to make it back soon, but until then, stay well!! ❤️ Mickey”
Guyton was among a list of stars and entertainers — like Mary J. Blige, Summer Walker, Tye Tribbett and G Herbo — who are set to take the stage in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park on Saturday and Sunday.
Although the four-time Grammy-nominated singer won’t make the music festival, she will appear in her CMTCrossroads episode alongside Texas-based band Black Pumpas, which airs on June 15.
Imagine the family that moved in next door to you was actually a bunch of famous evildoers in disguise. That’s the premise of Disney Channel’s new offering TheVillains of Valley View,and the cast explained what makes their show so relatable.
“It’s about a family of supervillains! What’s not to love about that?” Malachi Barton, who plays Flashform, asked ABC Audio. He thinks the show is relatable because it celebrates “a family being their unique selves while they’re having to learn how to work together.”
Reed Horstmann, who plays the villain Chaos, added the sitcom has “a lot of heart” because it’s about a family of once-powerful supervillains “finding their own self-confidence” after being “forced to adapt” to life on the run.
The family is forced to go into hiding after Havoc, played by Isabella Pappas, angers the League of Villains. The supervillains change their identities to the Madden family and move to a sleepy suburb in Texas.
Pappas said the show is not just about villains, it shares important life lessons. “It’s about taking control of your life and not letting people walk all over you,” she said, adding that’s an important message for young kids.
Kayden Muller-Janssen plays Hartley, the Maddens’ ultra-nice neighbor. She’s happy to see a show that sympathizes with villains instead of the “perfect” heroes. She said villains are allowed to have flaws, which makes them “really relatable” because “everybody makes mistakes. That’s a part of being human.”‘
British comedian Lucy Davis stars as the top-ranked villain Surge, the family’s matriarch, and found her “strong and confident” character very surprising. Teasing a midseason arc, she dished, “You almost wouldn’t have expected her to have insecurities.”
The Villains of Valley View premieres June 3 on Disney Channel.
R. Diamond/Getty Images; Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Jeff Beck has been joined by a very famous special guest on his current U.K. tour — guitarist Johnny Depp. At the British blues-rock guitarist’s latest concert, in Gateshead on Tuesday, he revealed that he and the Pirates of the Caribbean star will be releasing a collaborative album soon.
Stereogum reports that during the concert, Beck said to the audience, “I met this guy five years ago, and we’ve never stopped laughing since. We actually made an album. I don’t know how it happened. It will be out in July.”
According to Setlist.fm, Depp joined Beck at his last four U.K. concerts to perform several songs, including an original called “Hedy Lamarr.” They also covered John Lennon‘s “Isolation,” late Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson‘s “Time,” Marvin Gaye‘s “What’s Going On,” Jimi Hendrix‘s “Little Wing,” Killing Joke‘s “The Death and Resurrection Show” and The Beatles‘ “A Day in the Life.”
Beck and Depp actually released a collaborative studio version of “Isolation” as a digital single in 2020.
Depp’s latest performance with Beck came a day after Johnny scored a major legal victory against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, as jurors agreed that she defamed him with an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018.
Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages in the defamation suit, although the judge clarified that Virginia law caps the latter at $350,000.
Depp, 58, sued Heard, 36, for $50 million, claiming the article obliquely — and falsely — accused him of abuse, which, he maintained, devastated his film career.
Beck has four concerts left on his U.K. trek, but it’s not known if Depp will perform at the upcoming shows.
Kremlin Press Office/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — One hundred days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the unexpectedly prolonged conflict has created a political headache for President Joe Biden with no end in sight.
Historic inflation and sky-high prices at the gas pump in the U.S. have driven Biden’s popularity down ahead of midterm elections this fall.
He has to a large degree risked his political fortunes on the outcome of a war that he has pledged he will not send U.S. troops to fight — and which shows no signs of abating.
Russia has made recent gains on the battlefield. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Russian forces now control 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Biden said Friday that “it appears” there will have to be “a negotiated settlement” to end the war.
“What that entails, I don’t know,” the president said, speaking to reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. “I don’t think anybody knows at this time.”
But Biden would not say if he thought Ukraine had to cede territory to Russia to achieve peace.
“Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” he said. “It’s their territory. I’m not going to tell them what they should and shouldn’t do.”
The president has succeeded in largely keeping Western allies united, strengthening the NATO alliance in the face of Russia attempts to split it.
But as Russia continues to block Ukrainian food exports and sanctions drive up energy prices worldwide, Biden has found himself in the increasingly difficult position of balancing his desire to stop what he has called Russia’s threat to democracy, with Americans’ rising economic uncertainty.
Russia has also sought to present the conflict as a fight in which the United States is directly involved.
But while Biden insists he will not send American troops to Ukraine, as long as the war continues — and while the U.S. sends Ukraine increasingly sophisticated weaponry — the risk remains that the president could find himself more deeply involved than he wants.
The United States has sent billions of dollars in military and economic assistance to Ukraine. Last month, Biden signed legislation providing $40 billion more over the coming months.
And it has provided intelligence that the Ukrainians have used to target Russian forces.
The U.S. military assistance — combined with aid from other Western nations — have contributed to Ukraine’s successes in fending off the Russian invasion.
The level of weapons systems the U.S. has provided has become more and more advanced over time.
This week, Biden committed to sending even more powerful, longer-range missile systems useful for the battle in eastern Ukraine.
After Russia’s failures early in the war — not taking any major cities and finding itself forced to narrow its aims — it has now made steady progress in the east.
What Vladimir Putin thought might just take a matter of days — conquering all of Ukraine — didn’t happen due to Ukrainian resolve and increasing American help.
But his aggression continues, despite unprecedented heavy sanctions that Biden said would change his behavior — sanctions now in effect for months.
One hundred days in, how Biden’s face-off with Putin ends — and when — is still an open question.
Ari Lennox went Instagram official on Thursday with her rumored new boyfriend, Married at First Sight contestant, Keith Manley II.
The Grammy-nominated singer posted a photo of herself, later shared by The Neighborhood Talk, cozied up to the reality TV star and sitting comfortably with her leg propped up on his, while he snapped a picture of the two.
According to multiple reports, the duo appeared to be in San Diego together for a wedding recently, and even shared a series of pictures from the events and outings they attended.
The photos came as a surprise to many who remember Manley from the ninth season of Married at First Sight, as he went on to marry Iris Caldwell; they later divorced.
Lennox has publicly opened up about her relationship and dating life. Last year, she talked with singer Sevyn Streeter and choreographer Aliya Janell as part of Essence Magazine’sIf Not for My Girlsabout how she was “bored” with the men in her life.
“Or I’ll find someone incredibly interesting and then, like, the sex is terrible. And I’m sorry, but that’s important,” she said before adding that some potential partners were scared of her dog.
Seems like Manley might’ve passed both of those tests — if so, congrats to the new couple!
Revenge is a dish best served cold — but The Kid LAROI chose to enact his over a hot mic.
The “Stay” singer was in Adelaide, Australia, for a concert and opened up about his memories of living in the area. Telling the audience he went to school in the area “for, like, nine months,” he decided to call out the former teacher — by name — who told him he wouldn’t make it in music.
Claiming the teacher “sat me down one day” for a heart-to-heart, LAROI said he was told, “You’re not doing your work, you’ve got to quit music, it’s not going to do anything for you, you’re never going to go anywhere with it.”
Daily Mailreports a member of the audience said they had the same teacher, to which the singer quipped, “Tell her I said ‘F*** you,’ because look at me now!”
After taking a beat, the Grammy nominee said, “I only got love in my heart” for the teacher.
Despite a few claims from the audience, it is unknown if the teacher was at the concert to hear LAROI’s hot take.
Carrie Underwood and Maren Morris, two country stars who worked with the late Deborah McCrary in the studio, have posted remembrances of the gospel singer, who was one fourth of The McCrary Sisters.
“I was blessed to have worked with her on so many occasions,” wrote Carrie, who most recently brought The McCrary Sisters into the studio during the recording of her holiday album, My Gift.
“She was always kind…always professional…always the anchor in whatever it was we were singing!” Carrie added. “I know she will be missed by so, so many.”
For her part, Maren posted video of her performance of “My Church” from the 2016 CMA Awards. Not only did The McCrary Sisters join her for that performance, but the foursome also lent their vocals to the studio version of Maren’s breakout hit.
“It is such a loss to Nashville and the entire music industry to lose Deborah McCrary today,” Maren wrote. “I’m praying for her family.”
Deborah McCrary died on June 1 at age 67. Along with her sisters Ann, Regina and Alfreda, Deborah was a mainstay gospel performer who appeared on festival and awards show stages, on records for many artists across genres, and was part of the “house band” at the annual Americana Honors & Awards Ceremony at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.
Information about services and an honorarium is forthcoming, according to a statement from the vocal group.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 03, 12:39 pm
EU issues latest package of sanctions
The European Union announced a new package of sanctions targeting Russia on Friday. The EU is banning all sea transfers of crude oil from Russia after a six-month transitory period, to allow for the market to adjust.
The EU will also ban imports (sea transfers) of refined petroleum products from Russia, after an eight-month transitory period.
The EU also added 65 new individuals to its sanctions list, including retired Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva. She became chair of the board of the National Media Group and previously sat as a deputy in Russia’s State Duma.
Kabaeva was sanctioned by the U.K. on May 13, which said she is alleged to have a close personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but has not been sanctioned by the U.S.
Jun 03, 12:17 pm
Marriott suspends all operations in Russia
Marriott International announced Friday that it will suspend all its operations in Russia, after operating there for 25 years, due to the conflict in Ukraine.
It said the suspension comes as newly announced U.S., U.K. and EU restrictions will make it impossible for it to operate or franchise hotels in Russia.
Marriott closed its corporate office in Moscow and all upcoming hotels and future developments and investments were paused on March 10.
The company also announced it has given $1 million in disaster relief funds for associates and their families who have been directly affected by the war. Lodging is being offered to refugees from Ukraine at 85 hotels in neighboring countries.
Jun 03, 7:50 am
Russia now controls over 90% of Luhansk region
Russia now controls over 90% of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk Oblast and “is likely to complete control in the next two weeks,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Friday in an intelligence update.
“Russia is now achieving tactical success in the Donbas. Russian forces have generated and maintained momentum and currently appear to hold the initiative over Ukrainian opposition,” the ministry said. “Russia has achieved these recent tactical successes at significant resource cost, and by concentrating force and fires on a single part of the overall campaign.”
Russia has been unable to advance its other fronts or axes, “all of which have transitioned to the defensive,” according to the ministry. In fact, the ministry noted, none of the strategic objectives of Moscow’s original plan have been achieved.
Russian forces failed to achieve their initial objectives to seize Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and other major cities.
“Staunch Ukrainian resistance and the failure to secure Hostomel airfield in the first 24 hours led to Russian offensive operations being repulsed,” the ministry said. “Following the failure of the initial plan, through false planning assumptions and poor tactical execution, Russia adapted its operational design to focus on the Donbas.”
Russian forces are now battling Ukrainian troops for control of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which comprises Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.
“In order for Russia to achieve any form of success will require continued huge investment of manpower and equipment, and is likely to take considerable further time,” the ministry added.
Jun 03, 5:49 am
100 days of war
Friday marked the 100th day since Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine.
In a statement, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the “full-scale invasion” as a “continuation of Russia’s aggressive actions it unleashed 8 years ago by occupying Crimea and parts of territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.”
“Today, our people defend not only their right to exist and live in an independent state, but the security of Europe and the whole democratic world,” the ministry said. “Every day our defenders, at the cost of their own lives, bravely repel Russia’s war machine and fight for freedom and peaceful future of the continent.”
“For 100 days of war, the Kremlin has failed to reach its main goal — conquest of Ukraine,” the ministry added. “Instead, Russia has become the most sanctioned state in the world, and its activities within international organizations and participation in international events have been significantly limited or stopped. The Ukrainian army is bravely holding the line and has liberated territories in a number of regions. Ukraine is determined to have a complete victory over the Russian invader.”
The ministry thanked the “dozens of countries around the world who provide significant support” to Ukraine. It also called on the international community to support the establishment of a special tribunal to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.
“In order to stop Russia’s crimes against the Ukrainian people, destruction of our economy and blackmail of the whole world by famine, consistent support for Ukraine should continue. Assistance to our state today is the best investment in peace and sustainable development of all mankind,” the ministry said. “The main pillars for our victory remain unchanged: maximum sanction pressure on Russia, deliveries of necessary weapons and granting Ukraine the status of candidate on the way to full-fledged EU membership.”
Meanwhile, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova applauded progress that’s been made in the so-called special military operation in Ukraine.
“The special military operation will be continued until all of its objectives declared by the Russian administration, including denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine, are achieved,” Zakharova said at a press briefing Friday. “A lot has been done in this area: militants of the Azov nationalistic formation have surrendered in Mariupol and the liberation of Donbas has been consistently carried out.”
Jun 02, 1:34 pm
Russia controls about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, Zelenskyy says
Russia now controls over 46,300 square miles of Ukraine, which accounts for about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Since Russia’s invasion began, Russian forces have gained control of over 16,602 square miles, or roughly 7% of Ukraine’s territory — an area that’s comparable to the size of the Netherlands, Zelenskyy said Thursday in a speech to the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg. Combined with the territory from Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the war in the Donbas region, Russia’s control of Ukraine now accounts for 20% of its territory, he said.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Jun 02, 6:35 am
Ukrainian first lady sits down for exclusive interview with ABC News: ‘Don’t get used to our pain’
Since the start of Russia’s invasion, the Ukrainian first lady has been in hiding with her two children. A difficult question her 9-year-old son keeps asking is when the war will end, Olena Zelenska said in an exclusive interview with ABC News.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think any Ukrainian would be able to answer that question,” Zelenska told Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts in her first televised solo interview since the invasion began.
In discussing the state of the conflict nearly 100 days after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine, Zelenska said that conceding territory to Russia won’t stop the war.
“You just can’t concede … parts of your territory. It’s like conceding a freedom,” Zelenska, 44, said in the interview, airing on Good Morning America Thursday. “Even if we would consider territories, the aggressor would not stop at that. He would continue pressing, he would continue launching more and more steps forward, more and more attacks against our territory.”
Jun 02, 4:34 am
Russia takes most of key city in Donbas
Russian forces have taken control of most of Sieverodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Thursday in an intelligence update.
“The main road into the Sieverodonetsk pocket likely remains under Ukrainian control but Russia continues to make steady local gains, enabled by a heavy concentration of artillery,” the ministry said. “This has not been without cost, and Russian forces have sustained losses in the process.”
Sieverodonetsk, an industrial hub, is the largest city still held by Ukrainian troops in the contested Donbas region of Ukraine’s east, which comprises the self-proclaimed republics in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.
“Crossing the Siverskyy Donets River — which is a natural barrier to its axes of advance –- is vital for Russian forces as they secure Luhansk Oblast and prepare to switch focus to Donetsk Oblast,” the ministry added. “Potential crossing sites include between Sieverodonetsk and the neighbouring town of Lysychansk; and near recently-captured Lyman. In both locations, the river line likely still remains controlled by Ukrainian forces, who have destroyed existing bridges.”
Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk are the last major cities in the Luhansk area still controlled by Ukraine.
“It is likely Russia will need at least a short tactical pause to re-set for opposed river crossings and subsequent attacks further into Donetsk Oblast, where Ukrainian armed forces have prepared defensive positions,” the ministry added. “To do so risks losing some of the momentum they have built over the last week.”
Jun 01, 9:27 pm
Ukraine’s first lady tells ABC News that giving up land is ‘like conceding a freedom’
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska spoke about the state of the ongoing conflict with Russia and where the Ukrainian people currently stand as a country.
In her first televised solo interview since the invasion began, Zelenska, 44, told Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts that conceding territory to Russia won’t stop the war.
“You just can’t concede…parts of your territory. It’s like conceding a freedom,” Zelenska said. “Even if we would consider territories, the aggressor would not stop at that. He would continue pressing, he would continue launching more and more steps forward, more and more attacks against our territory.”
The interview with Zelenska will air Thursday, June 2, on Good Morning America and across ABC News. GMA airs at 7 a.m. ET on ABC.
