George Jones has been admitted to a Nashville hospital for observation due to a slight fever and irregular blood pressure. The condition was discovered during a routine checkup. As a result, George’s shows this weekend in Atlanta and Salem, VA will be rescheduled for a later date.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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Kenny Chesney lets down his guard more than ever in the songs on his next album, Life on a Rock. The tracks on the project give real insight into Kenny’s life away from the spotlight down in the Caribbean, and there’s a good reason he felt the freedom to be so honest in these songs.
“I was able to make a record where I didn’t edit myself like you usually do for a record. I guess because, I approached this record unlike any other I’ve ever done. I wrote all these songs knowing that the majority of them would never see the light of day on a radio station or in my show.”
While “Pirate Flag,” the lead single from Life on a Rock, is climbing the country chart fast, Kenny is alright with going against the grain of grinding out album after album simply to keep having massive hits. He thinks the more quiet, private approach he took writing Life on a Rock served him well.
Says Kenny, “It allowed me to really be honest with my fans and tell them stories and open up some doors that I haven’t, and that felt really good.”
Kenny is currently on the road with his No Shoes Nation tour, which will continue through a two-night stand at Gillette Stadium near Boston this August. Kenny has a long-standing love for Beantown, so the attacks at the Boston Marathon this week led him to stress the importance of security at his live shows.
“It’s always in the back of our mind, but we have as much security as we possibly can,” Kenny explains. “We play a lot of these football stadiums, and it’s the same security that they would have at a sporting event. And, I mean, you can’t overdo it either. What is too much security? What is too little security? So, it does make you think about it.”
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Toby Keith will celebrate the 10th anniversary of his Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic May 10 and 11 in Norman, OK. The event benefits the OK Kids Korral, a cost-free place to stay for pediatric cancer patients in Oklahoma.
Toby says, “Our tenth year event is really a ‘thank you’ to all of those people who have supported us over the years. Ten years goes by fast when you are working toward a goal this big.”
In addition to a big golf tournament, the Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic includes live and silent auctions with tickets to the ACM Awards and the Emmy Awards as well as memorabilia from Taylor Swift, Toby and more up for grabs.
For more information, go to TobyKeithFoundation.org.
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Brad Paisley scores his seventh consecutive #1 debut on Billboard‘s Country Albums chart this week with Wheelhouse. The set sold more than 100,000 copies in its first week and lands at #2 on the overall Billboard 200 albums chart.
Wheelhouse includes Brad’s recent #1 hit “Southern Comfort Zone” as well as his latest single, “Beat This Summer,” which is now racing up the charts. Of course, all the media attention generated by Brad’s duet with LL Cool J, “Accidental Racist,” raised the project’s profile significantly in the past week.
Brad will support Wheelhouse with his Beat This Summer tour, launching May 9 in Maryland Heights, MO.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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Kix Brooks has signed on to host The Tug McGraw Foundation’s 2nd Annual Celebrity Sporting Clay Pro-Am Tuesday, June 4 at the Nashville Gun Club in Music City. The event brings together stars from the country music and the sporting clay communities for the competition. Proceeds go to The Tug McGraw Foundation in their work to improve the lives of service members who have been affected by post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
For more information on the sporting clay shoot, go to TugMcGraw.org.
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If you’re looking for a good time as the temperature heats up, you may want to pick up a copy of the new NOW That’s What I Call a Country Party compilation, due out May 7. The set features modern up-tempo hits like Jason Aldean‘s “My Kinda Party,” Jake Owen‘s “Barefoot Blue Jean Nights” and “Country Girl (Shake It for Me)” by Luke Bryan. Rocking selections from Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Dierks Bentley and Alan Jackson round out the collection.
Here’s the track listing:
“Red Solo Cup” — Toby Keith
“Country Girl (Shake It for Me)” — Luke Bryan
“My Kinda Party” — Jason Aldean
“Barefoot Blue Jean Night” — Jake Owen
“Beer in Mexico” — Kenny Chesney
“Alcohol” — Brad Paisley
“Tip It on Back” — Dierks Bentley
“Kick It in the Sticks” — Brantley Gilbert
“Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off” — Joe Nichols
“Pretty Good at Drinkin’ Beer” — Billy Currington
“It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” — Alan Jackson
“One in Every Crowd” — Montgomery Gentry
“Summer Nights” — Rascal Flatts
“Hillbilly Deluxe” — Brooks & Dunn
“Here for the Party” — Gretchen Wilson
“Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” — Big & Rich
“Here for a Good Time” — George Strait
“One More Drinkin’ Song” — Jerrod Niemann
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Gary Allan‘s 2013 has been pretty spectacular so far, with his last single “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain),” topping the country chart and his latest album, Set You Free, bowing at #1 as well. Now Gary is celebrating another milestone: he’s kicking off his two-night stand at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium Wednesday.
The Ryman was the home of the Grand Ole Opry up until 1974, and it is now considered one of the foremost music venues in the nation. “It’s the coolest place to play in town,” Gary says of The Ryman. “I mean, it’s my favorite. Feels great, though, and that’s a huge mark. You know, especially sold out two nights so fast.”
Gary will play the second of his two shows at the Ryman on Friday night. For a full list of tour dates, go to GaryAllan.com.
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Country fans have watched Tim McGraw and Faith Hill‘s romance since it first began in the mid-’90s, so it may be hard to believe their oldest daughter, 15-year-old Gracie, is a high school sophomore and is is already looking at colleges.
Tim admits his daughters have had just as big an impact on his personal growth as he’s had on theirs. He tells ABC News Radio, “When they’re younger, You don’t think about ’em getting older so much, and you don’t think you could ever imagine it. But, you know, it’s a growing process that you go through as well as a parent. You grow right along with ’em.”
Now that his kids are getting ready to leave the nest in the next few years, Tim feels his daughters are ready to face the world. “The best you can hope for is you make ’em strong,” he says. “You make ’em confident. You make ’em self-assured, and that’s what you hope. Especially young women. You want ’em to have all those attributes, and I think our girls are really well-adjusted girls.”
Tim and Faith wrap up their short-term residency at the Venetian in Las Vegas on April 27. Tim launches his Two Lanes of Freedom tour May 2 in Birmingham, AL.
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Kenny Chesney‘s new album, Life on a Rock, lands in stores April 30, and he’s lined up a special performance on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that night to celebrate the release. Life on a Rock features a song called “Spread the Love,” which Kenny co-wrote with reggae legends The Wailers. Kenny’s Fallon appearance gives him a chance to perform the song with the show’s in-house band, The Roots, featuring drummer ?uestlove.
Kenny says, “What ?uestlove and his guys do is beyond what most people would even begin to think of. They push all music beyond…and you can feel them getting under a song and really lifting it up.”
Kenny thinks the hopeful message of “Spread the Love” will give some encouragement to his fans. He says, “I wanna take it to the world… But I wanna do it with people who musically can bring that higher sense of being to the song. Which is everything The Roots do, no matter who they’re working with.”
In addition to “Spread the Love,” Life on a Rock also features Kenny’s latest hit, “Pirate Flag.”
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Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift are among the ladies being honored in Elle magazine’s Women in Music Portfolio. Alicia Keys and Adele are among the other women included in the spread, hitting newsstands April 23 in the magazine’s May issue.
Each featured artist shares some insight into their creative process as part of the portfolio. Taylor opens up about the inspiration behind her songwriting, saying, “All these emotions, everything that’s said and all your experience, that’s what inspires the first flicker of a song. It’s hard being a human being.”
Miranda stresses the importance of being yourself. She says, “My message is to be your own person, always- whether you’re a stay-at-home mom or a superstar…We all bring something different.”
For a first look at photos from the Women in Music Portfolio, go to Elle.com.
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Faith Hill has performed the opening theme of NBC’s Sunday Night Football for the past six years, but she won’t be around for a seventh season.
Faith posted a message on Facebook Monday morning, declaring “Amazing 2 have been part of SNF – an honor. I’ve just let everyone there know it’s time 2 let someone else rock the open.”
Faith adds that it was a “difficult decision,” and she is “kinda emotional” about it.
She says, “Love all u guys at SNF – I’ll b watching!!!”
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Garth Brooks is on the receiving end of a very colorful and unflattering lawsuit filed by former business associate Lisa Sanderson. According to TMZ, Garth hired Sanderson from the TV world to help launch his TV and movie career, but Sanderson claims Garth’s outrageous demands killed potential deals with several media outlets, including Disney and FOX.
Sanderson says Garth turned down acting roles in high-profile films such as Saving Private Ryan and Twister because he demanded and didn’t get the lead roles in those films. The suit says of the Saving Private Ryan deal, “He wanted to be the star and was unwilling to share the limelight with…Tom Hanks, Matt Damon and Edward Burns.” As for Twister, Sanderson says Garth wasn’t willing to be upstaged by the tornado in the film.
Sanderson goes on to call Garth a “paranoid, angry, deceitful and vindictive man who will turn against those closest to him on a dime.” She’s seeking $425,000 in allegedly unpaid bonuses and salary from Garth, as well as punitive damages.
A rep for Garth’s company, Red Strokes Entertainment, released this statement Monday afternoon: “Mr. Brooks, of course, denies everything in the lawsuit filed today by Lisa Sanderson. Mr. Brooks and Red Stokes Entertainment Inc. will continue to take the necessary steps toward resolving this matter through the legal system.”
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The Band Perry has signed on to perform on the Dancing with the Stars results show Tuesday night on ABC. The sibling trio will sing a selection from their new album, Pioneer, which currently sits at #1 on Billboard‘s Country Albums chart. The results show begins at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Kellie Pickler continues competing on Dancing with the Stars Monday night at 8 Eastern on ABC.
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