Dollywood’s annual Flower & Food Festival kicks off today, bringing a dazzling array of blooms and flower sculptures to the park. Over 500,000 flowers make up the annual event, with a special show, called Bloom!, also on the way this year.

Once again, the festival will feature the park’s trademark Umbrella Sky, a walkway covered by a floating umbrella tapestry that provides one of the park’s best photo ops.

Last year, the Flower & Food Festival featured a sculpture that was particularly special to the park’s namesake, Dolly Parton: It paid tribute to her 1971 song “Coat of Many Colors,” and her late mother, Avie Lee.

The Flower & Food Festival will last through June 5. You can pick up your tickets now, and sample a wide array of foods while you’re there with a Festival Tasting Pass.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Sunday marks Barbra Streisand‘s 80th birthday. The legendary diva and EGOT winner has, of course, recorded many number-one hits, but one that she passed on was “Right Here Waiting,” which became a chart-topper for its writer, Richard Marx. In his memoir Stories to Tell, Richard reveals how Streisand thought the tune had an “interesting melody,” but wouldn’t record it because she didn’t like the message it sent.

“The way she put it to me was, ‘I’m not going to be right here waiting for anybody,’ which is hilarious, which is a great line,” Richard tells ABC Audio. “But I’ve actually had people say, ‘You think she regretted [it?]’ and I was like, ‘Are you kidding?'”

Richard, who describes Streisand as “a real good friend,” explains why he felt that way.

“One, Barbra Streisand doesn’t need help from anybody. Barbra Streisand’s career is second to none,” Richard laughs. “But number two, of course she doesn’t regret it…she even said to me recently — sometimes I thank her for rejecting my song because of what it did for my career — and she’s like, ‘Yeah, honey, I still wouldn’t cut that song, no matter what’…I would never say that!”

He adds, “But that’s Barbra. I mean, that’s an artist. I would be the same way.”

Richard and Barbra have actually worked together several times: He contributed to her albums One Voice and A Love Like Ours.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Parker McCollum is joining the lineup for an upcoming George Strait-helmed stadium show in Kansas City.

That means the show will be bookended by Texans: Parker is the first opening act, followed by Little Big Town and Chris Stapleton before George’s headlining set. A limited quantity of tickets remain for the event, which will take place July 30 at the city’s GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

It’s George’s first time playing the venue since 2001. During a rare interview, George recently told Pollstar that playing about eight shows a year is his sweet spot. “That’s about perfect,” he says. “I’ll have plenty of time off and still be able to scratch that itch I have for live shows.”

Even though his touring schedule isn’t as rigorous as it used to be, George’s fan base doesn’t seem to have diminished. Reports from Pollstar Boxoffice indicate that George has sold some 12 million tickets, dating back to 1983.

“It’s definitely not easy to process,” the singer says, when asked to reflect on his massive live appeal. “I’ve always said I have the best fans out there. They’ve been extremely loyal throughout my career — and they don’t seem to be slowing down any.”

When he’s not mounting his live shows, though, the King of Country is working on another aspect of his career. “I also want to make another record soon,” he notes. “I just re-signed with MCA Records, and I’m really excited about that and the fact that they still want me around.”

George’s most recent studio album was 2019’s Honky Tonk Time Machine. It was the singer’s 30th studio album.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Despite being a globally known pop star, Joe Jonas admits his fans don’t know much about his private life — and he would like to keep it that way.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the DNCE frontman explained why he and wife Sophie Turner have revealed very little about their family.  They welcomed a baby girl in 2020 but never publicly revealed her name, and now the two are reportedly expecting their second child, news they again have yet to confirm.

“It’s almost like in pandemic words, but like your bubble.  You’re protecting your family, your friends and those around you,” Joe said about his reasons to keep his private life under wraps. “It’s really being decisive on what you want.”

Added the “Cake by the Ocean” singer, “You wanna be really protective over how much you wanna share in your personal life, and I feel like as artists, we get the opportunity to express our heart through our music, and so that’s where I’m personal and honest as I can be.”

“I don’t really try to hide too much,” admitted Joe, “but I think it’s about protecting what you keep close to your heart.”

While he says he’s “sorta always been” private about his life, he added, “But, I feel like in the last two years, you wanna take a little more time off. I’d say I love what I do, and I’m so grateful I get to do this every day and still perform and make music for a living, so I’ll take none of that away.”

Although he loves his career and fans, Joe said family comes first because, “If I’m able to get home sooner, then I’m always a little happier.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Rock artists are marking Earth Day by speaking up about climate change.

Eddie Vedder has partnered with NASA to interview the astronauts aboard the International Space Station. In their conversation, which you can watch now on YouTube, the Pearl Jam frontman asks the crew about their insights into climate change looking down on Earth from outer space, and the lessons learned living aboard the ISS that might help those of us on the ground live more peacefully.

Vedder previously teamed up with NASA to release a video for his song “Invincible,” which appears on his new solo album, Earthling. The clip features footage from various pre-launch tests and animation related to NASA’s upcoming Artemis I lunar mission.

Meanwhile, Annie Lennox, Pretenders, Brian Eno, Bruce Cockburn, Tom Morello and funk legend Bootsy Collins are among 6,000 music industry figures who’ve signed on to support an environmental initiative called Music Declares Emergency US.

“We call on all those within the US music industry to join us in declaring a climate emergency and to work towards making the cultural and operational changes necessary to contribute towards a sustainable future,” the campaign says.

In a statement, Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde says, “This declaration needs to be the moment where music steps up and really pushes the truth to our audiences and confronts governments so that things happen much more quickly.”

For more info, visit musicdeclares.net/us.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jason Aldean drops his Georgia collection today, and with it comes his tender new ballad, “Your Mama.”

“The one that brought you in the world / You’ll always be her baby / The one that makes it all okay when everything goes crazy,” Jason sings in the chorus of the song, which is a father’s ode to his wife — as told to their child. It’s a stand-out emotional moment on the track list, but the singer admits recording “Your Mama” fell outside his comfort zone.

In fact, it’s “so outta left field for me, something I would typically never in a million years cut,” Jason tells Billboard, adding, “I really just wanted to record it for my son.” That’s four-year-old Memphis, whom Jason shares with his wife, Brittany.

“It’s probably the most personal thing I’ve ever done on a record,” Jason explains. “I’ve had this song for a few years and kept going back and forth on whether to record it. But with a double album, it was the perfect time to put it out there.”

Georgia is the second half of Jason’s double album. The first half, Macon, arrived last November.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.