Pulse – Country Music News

Blake Shelton joined Ryman Hospitality Properties on Thursday (January 19th) at Caesars Entertainment's Horseshoe Las Vegas to break ground and provide a sneak peek of the upcoming Ole Red Las Vegas location, currently planned for a late 2023 grand opening. The 27,000 square foot, four-story venue plans for 686 seats and is slated to be the brand's largest location to date and the first in the western United States.

Blake said, "If you are going to do something here, you've got to do it big. Every time I'm in Vegas, I want some country music and Ole Red is the remedy for that."

Current Ole Red locations include Nashville, Gatlinburg, Orlando, and Tishomingo, OK.

Thomas Rhett has released a new single called "Angels Don't Always Have Wings." Previously titled "Angels," the track first appeared on Thomas' most recent album, Where We Started, which was released last spring.

Thomas said, "This is my favorite song from the album. I wrote it from a personal perspective, but I think it will resonate with a lot of people. It's about how none of us are perfect, and how lucky we are to have those people in our lives who show up and love us despite our flaws. I often look at my wife and think she's truly an angel, for the love and grace she shows me every single day."

Thomas will kick off the Canadian leg of his Bring The Bar To You Tour with Jordan Davis and Kameron Marlowe on February 9th in Vancouver. His summer headlining Home Team Tour 23 featuring Cole Swindell and Nate Smith will play in 40 cities.

Tyler Hubbard has released the video for his current single, "Dancin' In The Country," and it features a special guest -- actor Terry Crews (America's Got Talent, Brooklyn Nine-Nine). The clip is set in a bar while Tyler performs "Dancin' In The Country," Terry and his group of biker friends walk in and get into a "bar fight" on the dance floor.

Tyler said, "This video is unlike any video that I've ever been a part of. We had the ultimate heavy hitter with Terry Crews on set – he was made for a video like this. One minute, he looked like he was ready to punch a hole in the wall, and the next, he's got the entire room laughing, just being himself. Terry is one of those guys that everyone wants to be around, and he was just perfect for this video."

Terry tells us he didn't hesitate to say yes when he was asked to be a part of Tyler's video. "When I got asked to be in a country music video with Tyler Hubbard, I was sitting there like, and what was funny is that everybody that when I told them, they were like, ‘Tyler? Really? Do it! Do it!' I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I know I'm gonna do it!' And it was so surprising because you wonder what they want you to do and then when I saw the concept, I was like there's nobody else I felt that could really pull this off, but me. You know what I mean? (Tyler) He was made for this. (Terry) I already knew. I knew it. I felt the pull, and they did a great job convincing me that it was gonna be done really well, and it was."

"Dancin' In The Country" is climbing the country charts.

Tyler's self-titled album will be released on Friday (January 27th).

The song and video from the upcoming film 80 For Brady, called "Gonna Be You," recorded by Dolly Parton, Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan and Debbie Harry was released on Friday (January 20th). It was penned by award-winning songwriter Diane Warren. The official music video features movie footage interspersed with segments of each singer performing and wearing a blinged out Tom Brady football jersey.

Dolly said, "I'm so excited to be a part of 80 for Brady and the Diane Warren title song for it. Working with Jane, Lily, and Sally Field again, my older pals that are in the movie, and then working with all the wonderful artists on the song and video, like Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan and Debbie Harry was a joy. This is very exciting to me. I love feeling like I'm still part of something great and being with those gals that we know are great was a thrill."

80 For Brady is inspired by the true story of four best friends who take a wild trip to the 2017 Super Bowl LI to see their hero Tom Brady play. The movie stars Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Sally Field, with 7-time Super Bowl Champion and producer Tom Brady. It arrives in theaters on February 3rd.

Prior to committing suicide, Naomi Judd handwrote a note on a yellow Post-It note stating, "Do not let Wy come to my funeral. She's mentally ill." Radar Online obtained a picture of the note from the Sheriff's Office in Williamson County, TN. Naomi died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on April 30th at the age of 76.

The word "not" was underlined in the note, and according to a source, Wynonna Judd was "crushed" by the writing.

Despite Naomi's death, Wynonna has continued on with their planned The Judds: The Final Tour and says it was just what she needed to deal with her grief. She told The Hollywood Reporter, "I have to admit, I've had an incredible, incredible opportunity to heal through all of this, to cry and to say things onstage that I'll never say again. This is a whole other level of deep, and I wasn't expecting it ... This is me with a broken heart being as open as I'll probably ever be, and other people are responding to that in a way that I wasn't expecting."

The second leg of the tour kicks off on January 26th with special guests including Tanya Tucker, Little Big Town, Brandi Carlile, Martina McBride, Ashley McBryde and Kelsea Ballerini.

A song on Shania Twain's upcoming album, Queen of Me, is about her scary brush with Covid. It's called "Inhale/Exhale Air" and was inspired by her struggle to breathe. Shania told InStyle magazine, "I wrote that song right after I had a very bad battle with COVID, and my lungs were filling up with COVID pneumonia and I was losing my air. I survived, but it was iffy."

The idea for the song came to Shania after watching a minister on social media preach about not taking air for granted. Of course, she took a lighter approach with the song, saying, "Air is in everything. Air is in the bubbles in our champagne. What would we do without air? If we didn't have air, we wouldn't have champagne. I know it's simplifying it. This is having fun with wordplay. We wouldn't have balloons if we didn't have air. Obviously, we wouldn't be alive without air. But I take a playful perspective on it and it becomes celebratory."

Shania's Queen of Me album will be released on is February 3rd. Her latest release is called "Giddy Up!"

Elle King could have gone in any musical direction, seeing as she's the first female artist in history to have scored Number One singles in four different formats, including Adult Pop Songs, Adult Alternative Songs, Alternative Songs and Country Airplay charts. But she chose to invest in the Country format, and as Elle tells us, she's here for the long haul. "I didn't understand how or why people would have tried to go from big careers in other genres and come to country until I saw it firsthand, like, it's the best. I just thought, that's where I want to live my life. You can go and play shows and make music, and then you have this awesome home community of love and supportive people that get it and are in it and they root for you. And it was something that I had never experienced before in any aspect of my life and once I kind of felt it. I dug my newly bought cowboy boots in and it would take a lot to- I'm- No, I'm never leaving!"

Elle's first full-length country album, Come Get Your Wife, will be released on January 27th.

Her latest single is "Worth A Shot" featuring Dierks Bentley. It's the followup to her chart-topping hit "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home) featuring Miranda Lambert.

Jimmie Allen will be among the performers at this year's 32nd annual MusiCares Persons of the Year benefit gala honoring Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson. The event will be held on February 3rd at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Other performers include Sheryl Crow, Brandi Carlile, Lionel Riche, Dionne Warwick, John Legend and Mumford & Sons.

Mitchell Tenpenny has released the music video for "We Got History." which was filmed near Cocoa Beach, Florida. The song is Mitchell's new radio single and the second release from his 2022 This Is The Heavy album.

Mitchell co-wrote "We Got History" which follows up his back-to-back Number One singles "Truth About You" and "At The End Of A Bar" with Chris Young. Mitchell made history with this feat for achieving the shortest time between Number One songs in the modern chart era with a three-week span.

He launched his headlining This Is The Heavy Tour last night (Thursday, January 19th) in Airways Heights, Washington.

Carly Pearce is finally part of Luke Bryan's annual Crash My Playa event in Riviera Maya, Mexico which begins today (Thursday, January 19th). She will join fellow performers Cole Swindell, Brian Kelley, Chase Rice, Dustin Lynch, Ashley McBryde and Chris Stapleton, among others.

Carly tells us Crash My Playa has been on her wish list for a while now. "I've been telling Luke for years I want to go to Crash My Playa. And so, he told me, ‘Alright, you're gonna go. I promise, I promise.' I always have FOMO that I'm not there, and so I'm really excited to go. Luke is one of the craziest, funniest people I've ever met in my life, so I can only imagine what you do when you get Luke down with tons of tequila and a beach. So, I can't wait."

Crash My Playa runs through Sunday (January 22nd).

Carly continues climbing the charts with her latest hit, "What He Didn't Do."

Kelsea Ballerini might be tight-lipped about her rumored romance with Outer Banks star Chase Stokes but he's not. When a TMZ photographer caught him out shopping in Los Angeles on Tuesday (January 17th), he seemingly admitted to the relationship when he replied "thank you" after the photographer told him he and Kelsea made a "cute" couple."

When asked if Kelsea will have to brush him up on Southern culture, he was quick to say he was already familiar, having been raised in the South.

For her part, Kelsea gave fans the option of asking her anything on an Instagram story yesterday (Wednesday, January 18th). One fan asked if she wanted to clear up any rumors, and she replied in part, "I'm just choosing to be in this new season of life and explore the feelings and do what sparks joy without the need to please, inform, or correct anyone other than my close lil world. subject to change, of course. but i'm happy."

The rumors began swirling when Kelsea and Chase were spotted together in a suite after she performed at the National College Football Championship at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Pictures of the couple and other friends were posted on Chase's social media.

Dolly Parton revealed some of the collaborations for her upcoming rock album while appearing on ABC's The View earlier this week. The all-star lineup includes Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, Brandi Carlile, John Fogerty, Cher, Pink, Steve Perry, and Steven Tyler.

Dolly said that she hopes Mick Jagger will agree to guest on the project, but she has already recorded a cover of a Rolling Stones song featuring both Pink and Brandi Carlile.

The new album, simply called Rock Star, is expected to be released sometime this year.

Dolly was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year.

The icon celebrates her 77th birthday today (Thursday, January 19th).

Past CMT Next Women of Country members Kelsea Ballerini, Mickey Guyton, Ingrid Andress, Maddie & Tae and Brittney Spencer were all present at Tuesday's (January 17th) night's 10th anniversary of CMT Next Women of Country held at City Winery in Nashville. The event was also attended by this year's 16 new members, which is the program's largest group to date, according to a release.

The 2023 class includes Alana Springsteen, Angie K, Ashley Cooke, Avery Anna, Carter Faith, Catie Offerman, Georgia Webster, Julie Williams, Kasey Tyndall, Kimberly Kelly, Mackenzie Carpenter, MaRynn Taylor, Megan Moroney, O.N.E The Duo, Pillbox Patti and Roberta Lea.

Tuesday's celebration will be featured in an upcoming episode of CMT Hot 20 Countdown scheduled to air on Saturday, February 11th at 8 a.m. ET with an encore on Sunday, February 12th at 9 a.m. ET on CMT.

Newcomer Tyler Braden has teamed up with Echosmith's Sydney Sierota for a duet version of his single "Try Losing One." Yesterday (Wednesday, January 18th) they released the song's official music video.

Tyler said, "This song has been special from the beginning. I've always loved learning how listeners all relate to my songs in different ways, and this one has been no exception. We've gotten so much amazing feedback from fans, and we felt like we owed everyone something special. Something big. This duet version is exactly that.

He added, "Sydney and Grant (Claire), our director, were both amazing to work with. Grant had a clear vision for this video, and we all collaborated to make it come to life. I can't wait to see the reactions!"

Sydney said, "Grant did an amazing job capturing the essence of ‘Try Losing One' -- the heartache, the reminiscing, the loss. Even down to the detail of the story being told in black and white shows how muted life can feel after heartbreak. I'm so grateful for the experience of making such a beautiful video with an incredible, collaborative team, and I can't wait for people to see it."

"Try Losing One" continues to climb at country radio.

Tyler was a finalist on the first season of NBC's American Song Contest. He will head out this weekend for the first dates of Mitchell Tenpenny's This Is The Heavy Tour, which includes stops in Los Angeles (1/28) and Nashville's Ryman Auditorium (2/3).

Madonna will embark on a career-spanning tour this July.

Madge made the announcement in a Truth or Dare style YouTube clip featuring Lil Wayne, Eric André, Jack Black, Judd Apatow, Diplo, Kate Berlant, Larry Owens, and Meg Stalter.

The worldwide Celebration Tour will kick off on July 15th in Vancouver and wrap its North American leg on October 7th in Las Vegas.

Dierks Bentley has released a performance video of the opening track, called "Same Ol' Me," from his upcoming album, Gravel & Gold. The clip was shot at the end of December at a well-known Nashville bar and performance venue called Exit/In which closed last year after more than 50 years.

Dierks said, "My first time playing Exit/In was just as meaningful to me as playing the Ryman and Bridgestone Arena. I opened for Asleep at the Wheel before I had a record deal or anything. A manager was supposed to come watch me play, but they didn't show up. I had a few too many Busch Lights and passed out under a bench. The last thing I remember hearing was Ray Benson's booming voice. I woke up around 4:00am and realized I was all alone! It was bittersweet to be in there during the last days of December as they were closing it down. I felt honored to take a shot with the guys and toast to the history there and turn the lights off."

Dierks' Gravel & Gold album will be released on February 24th.

The project includes 14 tracks and will be Dierks' 10th career studio album.

Dolly Parton has added to her line of Duncan Hines baking mixes with the addition of four new flavors, which include Dolly Parton's Buttermilk Biscuit Mix, Dolly Parton's Sweet Cornbread & Muffin Mix, Dolly Parton's Fabulously Fudgy Brownie Mix, and Dolly Parton's Caramel Turtle Brownie Mix. The products have already begun to arrive on store shelves.

Dolly shared the news with a video posted to her socials yesterday (Tuesday, January 17th). Her previous Duncan Hines offerings included Southern Style Coconut and Southern Style Banana Pudding and two flavors of buttercream frosting.

Dolly said, "I knew Duncan Hines and I were bringing something special to the baking aisle when we launched our partnership last year, and I've been thrilled by the response. I'm really excited to launch more baking mixes steeped in my Southern roots, like Cornbread and Biscuits. I think folks are really going to like them and hope they'll bake up some special memories with family and friends."

The suggested retail price of the Brownie mixes are $3.49 while the Biscuits and Cornbread are $3.29.

The new baking mixes will be available online at shop.duncanhines.com beginning on February 8th.

Jimmie Allen, Mickey Guyton and the masked country singer Orville Peck will be featured on the new Apple TV+ reality music competition, called My Kind of Country, debuting on March 24th. They will serve as talent scouts searching the globe to find the next big country star. The show will also feature appearances by its co-producers Kacey Musgraves and Reese Witherspoon, according to Billboard.

My Kind of Country consists of eight episodes, and the winner will receive what is described as a "life-changing prize" from Apple Music that will include "unprecedented support and exposure on the platform."

Gabby Barrett has the top streaming song total to date by a female artist currently on the Country radio charts, as her current Top Five hit, "Pick Me Up," goes platinum. Gabby was surprised with the official RIAA certification news while she co-hosted Country Countdown USA for the first time.

She said, "That's awesome . . . I have the best fanbase in the world. Country music lovers are seriously just the most loyal fanbase I've ever seen in my life, so I'm very grateful to be a part of this format. I love this song, so I'm glad other people do too."

"Pick Me Up" has surpassed 225 million global streams to date and the music video is quickly approaching five million views.

"Pick Me Up" is featured on the extended version of her debut album, Goldmine (Deluxe).

In addition to releasing new music this year, Gabby will also return to the road on select dates with Kane Brown this spring.

Thomas Rhett and his cousin, Jeff Worn, have again expanded their line of Dos Primos Tequila, this time to introduce Dos Primos Tequila Añejo. This is the third offering in their tequila line which debuted in 2021. Dos Primos Tequila Añejo will be available in a 750 ml bottle in select U.S. markets beginning in March.

Thomas said, "Bringing Dos Primos to life initially with our Blanco tequila, then with Reposado and now Añejo, has been an incredible journey. Our Añejo is a super-smooth and flavorful tequila that can be enjoyed year-round, and we can't wait for everyone to enjoy it with their friends and family."

Thomas admits that when he first started drinking tequila, he had a less than pleasant experience. He tells us he hopes people learn, like he did, that not all tequilas are created the same. "I remember I had my very first sip of tequila when I was 22 years old. And I won't say any brands, but it was just a rough experience. And I think a lot of people have those memories of college or, you know, early adulthood where you're like, I will never touch tequila again because of XYZ. And I think once I started gettin' into the craft of tequila and the process of it and the history of it, and how much time goes into making it, I just got really inspired to learn more about the product itself. And when I started tasting tequilas that were considered sipping tequilas, I was like, ‘Dang, this is not what I tasted when I was 21 years old.'"

Dos Primos Tequila is made from hand-harvested 100% blue agave sourced from estates in Los Altos and the valley area of Jalisco, Mexico, and aged for at least 13 months in used bourbon barrels.

Elvie Shane is among the headliners at this year's Tennessee Motorcycles & Music Revival returning to Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills on May 18 - 21. Elvie will be joined by fellow headliners Paul Cauthen, Nikki Lane, and heir of the original outlaw family, Whey Jennings. For tickets or for more information visit motorcyclesandmusic.com.

A memorial service for Lisa Marie Presley, has been announced for Sunday, January 22nd at 9:00 a.m. ET on the front lawn at Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. The general public is invited to attend. Lisa Marie, the 54-year-old mother of four and only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, died on January 12th after suffering a cardiac arrest.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages all who wish to send something to do so in the form of a donation to The Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation. The Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation (EPCF), a qualified 501(c)(3) organization, offers support to various charitable organizations, especially focusing on arts, education, and children's programs in the Memphis/Whitehaven area.

Like her father and his family, Lisa Marie will be laid to rest on the grounds of Graceland, next to her son Benjamin Keough, who committed suicide in July 2020 at age 27.

Lisa Marie Presley's reported $718 million dollar estate -- which includes Graceland, her father's personal belongings, and 15 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises -- has been left to her daughters; 33-year-old actress Riley Keough and twin 14-year-old daughters Finley and Harper Lockwood.

Gabby Barrett’s next album will include a song written by Luke Combs. Although she’s still technically on maternity leave following the birth of her son, she’s still working on new music.

She told Country Countdown USA that not only did Luke pitch the song himself, but he all but insisted she cut it.

She said, "I'm a big fan of his. As soon as I heard the song, I was like, 'It really strikes a chord with me.'”

Gabby will include it on her next album coming out later this year.

She didn’t mention a release date but did reveal that she and her husband Cade Foehner, whose also her guitar player, may record a duet together for her new record.

For the fifth time in his career, Jordan Davis has topped the country  charts with his latest single, “What My World Spins Around.”

He described it as a “manly love song” and said, “I think it’s just like I love a lot of things that I’m supposed to love, but when it comes to what truly gets me out of the bed in the morning is my family.”

Look for it on Jordan’s upcoming album, Bluebird Days, which will be released February 17th.