TYLER, Texas (AP) – Country music star Ray Price is in what his wife calls his “final days.” The musician has ended treatment for pancreatic cancer and is now receiving hospice care at home. Price was discharged from the East Texas Medical Center in Tyler – and the hospital says the cancer has now spread to Price’s liver, intestines and lungs. His wife says her husband is “alert and aware of his surroundings”- but is losing his two-year-long fight against the disease. She says her husband’s “final message” to fans thanks them for their support – and she says he hopes he hasn’t let them down. Price started in the 1950s as a honky-tonk singer and branched out toward pop with hits like “For the Good Times.”

Fans may leave message for Price on his Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ray-Price/368389809921178

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NBC Olympics has teamed with The Voice and Republic/Big Machine’s Danielle Bradbery for a promotional campaign featuring her song “My Day,” which debuted Tuesday night on the network. Sixty and 30-second spots featuring her performance will air across NBC’s family of networks leading into the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Watch here. The song was written by Ross Copperman, Tom Shapiro and Mallary Hope.

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WASHINGTON (AP) – Veteran country star Ricky Skaggs will be coming to Washington next week. And like most people who come to DC on official business, he’ll be there mostly to talk, not to perform. He’s to be the featured luncheon speaker at the National Press Club a week from today. He will share memories of his 50-year career in country and bluegrass music. And it’s expected he will break out his guitar and sing some of his biggest hits for the audience.

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Billy Currington will take his We Are Tonight Tour on the road in the Spring. The run starts March 6 in Tulsa, OK and features openers Brett Eldredge and Chase Rice. See full list of dates here.

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Garth Brooks is firing up the machine with tour announcements and a new single release from his current Walmart exclusive box set. “You know what, since it’s you and since we’ve had a history forever, let’s announce it,” Brooks told ABC-TV‘s Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts Monday morning. “We’re going on a world tour in 2014. I can’t believe I just did that but you are a doll.” Later on CBS-TV‘s The Talk, Brooks revealed plans for a three-year world tour that will make everything else he’s ever done “look small.” As for radio, Brooks’ new single is “The Call” and features Trisha Yearwood. Watch the GMA interview here. Brooks retired from the road in 2000.

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The final stop for George Strait‘s The Cowboy Rides Away Tour 2014 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX sold out within hours of going on sale December 6, according to organizers. The June 7 show will wrap up the two-year finale tour with more than 100,000 fans in attendance. Asleep At The Wheel will open, with Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride and Lee Ann Womack each performing three songs before Strait plays a full set. “To see this response from the fans to our final show is humbling and exciting at the same time,” says Strait. “This is going to be an incredible night and I feel very blessed this holiday knowing how many of you we’ll get to see next year on our final tour.”

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NEW YORK (AP) – Carrie Underwood was sweet music for NBC. Her turn in the live production of “The Sound of Music” drew 18.6 million viewers. The three-hour telecast of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical was NBC’s best Thursday average, excluding sports programming, since the series finale of “Frasier” aired in May 2004. It was also the most-watched non-sports night since the Golden Globes broadcast seven years ago. Underwood starred in the role of Maria.

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Garth Brooks is back on top of the country albums sales chart with the Black Friday release of his eight-disc box set Blame It All On My Roots. In just three days, the set – available only at Walmart – garnered more than 163,000 in sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set came in third on the all-genre chart.

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Garth Brooks will return to Las Vegas in 2014 and this time he’s bringing his band. The Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas will host Garth Brooks: The Man, His Band And His Music Jan. 3-4. The shows will focus on Brooks’ own catalogue instead of featuring songs by artists that influenced him, as he did with his one-man show. Details here.

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Dolly Parton‘s “Jolene” and Kris Kristofferson‘s self-titled debut album are among the recordings to be inducted into the 2014 Grammy Hall Of Fame. They’ll join Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight,” The Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women,” U2’s The Joshua Tree and more from the 2014 class, which marks the Hall’s 40th anniversary. A 150-plus-page collector’s edition book to commemorate the event is available here.

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