RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Police say country music singer Scotty McCreery was the victim of an early morning home invasion near the campus of North Carolina State University, where he is a student.

Raleigh Police spokesman Jim Sughrue says officers were called shortly before 2 a.m. Monday to an apartment about a mile from campus. Three suspects armed with guns are reported to have taken wallets, cash and electronic items.

Police say the 20-year-old McCreery was among the victims. No one was injured.

A native of nearby Garner, McCreery won TV’s “American Idol” in 2011 and was named best new artist at the Academy of Country Music Awards the next year. In addition to being a recording star and a pitchman for Bojangles’ Chicken ‘n Biscuits, McCreery is wrapping up his sophomore year of college.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

Brantley Gilbert is partnering with Harley-Davidson and Folds Of Honor for a motorcycle ride from Athens, GA to Arlington, VA May 21-26. Gilbert will perform at several locations, concluding with a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. A bus accompanying him will be wrapped with graphics featuring names fans submitted of those who gave their lives in military service. Gilbert’s new album Just As I Am is out May 19. More here.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

Toby Keith is offering fans the chance to have “Drinks After Work” with him at one of his I Love This Bar & Grill locations. The sweepstakes runs through Aug. 31 and fans over 21 can enter daily here. Five grand prize winners will be announced Sept. 12.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

UNDATED (AP) – Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry says he’s had an interesting last few days. He tweets he married his girlfriend, Jennifer Belcher. He also says he got hit by a tornado. He posted a photo of what looks like debris and part of a roof in a patch of mud.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) – Mariah Carey will kick off the “Today” show’s concert series. She will play on the May 16 show. The concerts run every Friday through the summer. Other performers include Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Pharrell Williams, Sara Bareilles , Train, Fall Out Boy, Ed Sheeran, Jason Mraz, Jennifer Hudson, Aloe Blacc, Neon Trees, Maroon 5 and Usher.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

Alan Jackson has recorded the title track for the soundtrack to the upcoming movie A Million Ways to Die in the West. Writer, director, producer and co-star Seth McFarlane co-wrote the song and personally approached Jackson to cut it. The album drops May 27 and the film opens May 30. The song is available here.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

 

 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Clay Walker will perform at the OTHER horse race going on in Louisville, Kentucky, this weekend. He will sing the national anthem at the Kentucky Oaks on Friday. The race is held on the day before the Kentucky Derby every year. Walker will also sing the anthem before the Iroquois Steeplechase on May 10 in Nashville.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

NASHVILLE (AP) – Crystal Gayle’s custom white microphone with her name engraved in gold and the Grammy she won for “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” will be part of an exhibit about her at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The exhibit will also feature the Barbie doll based on Gayle that commemorated her 1984 flight aboard an F-16 fighter, the flight suit and boots she wore for the flight and a hand-stitched valentine she made for her mother in third grade. The exhibit opens on Friday. Gayle will participate in a museum program on Saturday.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Jo Dee Messina will sing the national anthem for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. She is only the sixth performer of the anthem at the derby. Messina calls it an “experience of a lifetime.”

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

Zac Brown Band have added Chicago’s Wrigley Field to their stops on the Great American Road Trip tour, which kicks off May 24 in Lincoln, NE. They’ve already sold out two nights at Boston’s Fenway Park. They’ll hit Wrigley Sep. 13. See the full list of tour dates here.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Eric Church has resold tickets to his Minneapolis show so the right people get them. Church’s management has identified 902 tickets to his Minneapolis show in September as being held by scalpers. That’s a violation of the sales limits for the show, so the tickets were canceled and put back on sale Friday. Church says in a statement a lot of acts just want to sell as many tickets as they can and they don’t care who buys them. Church says he can’t stop scalpers completely, but he can definitely make it harder for them.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry