Country
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Two years ago, Dustin Lynch deepened his collection of hits with the six-week Billboard Country Airplay chart-topper “Thinkin’ ‘Bout You,” a collaboration with MacKenzie Porter. On Killed the Cowboy, out Friday (Sept. 29) via Broken Bow Records, Lynch keys up another collaboration — this time with Broken Bow Records label mate and “Need a Favor” hitmaker Jelly Roll, interpolating the melody and groove of Dobie Gray’s 1973 hit “Drift Away.”
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Lynch says that he and Jelly Roll met through a mutual producer, Zach Crowell. “Jelly and Zach started making music years ago, before I even moved to Nashville, when Zach was making beats for Jelly when he was rapping,” Lynch tells Billboard. “When we couldn’t tour for those couple of years around the pandemic, Zach and I were staying connected and heard this song,” he says, noting that he first recorded the song in late 2022.
Lynch tested out the song during Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa festival in January, with Jelly Roll adding his vocals a few months later in Austin, Texas. “I related to the lyrics so much, and we get to name-check Brooks & Dunn in there, so literally, it’s a perfect scenario,” Lynch says. “And with Jelly, ‘Drift Away’ is such a classic melody, and we kept this super loose and had some grit and rough edges to it, and Jelly has the perfect voice for it, with the soul he has in his voice.”
With Killed the Cowboy, Lynch is six albums deep into a career that has earned the Tennessee native eight No. 1 Country Airplay hits, including “Small Town Boy” and “Where It’s At (Yep Yep).” He’s steadily built a catalog ranging from tender tracks such as “Cowboys and Angels” to more sultry fare like “Seein’ Red.”
Much of his new album delves into heartbreak, from the title track to “Breakin’ Up Down.” But it’s the meticulously detailed, small-town love story “Only Girl in This Town,” written by Devin Dawson, Josh Thompson and Kyle Fishman, that launched the making of Killed the Cowboy. “This was a song that my ears perked up on making another album,” Lynch says. “It was one of those songs that stuck around and stood the test of time. I kept finding myself coming back to it and loving it even more.”
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Lynch is a writer on nearly half of the album’s dozen songs, including the evening romance-propelled “George Strait Jr.,” which nods to the Country Music Hall of Famer (though Strait’s son is named George “Bubba” Strait, Jr.). “He’s my hero, personally and professionally,” Lynch says of Strait. “He’s a class act. I wanted to tip my hat to him, but do it in a fresh way. I took us a while to really nail down how to do that without getting too heavy. We wanted to capture that late-night vibe.
“I think over the years I’ve learned to be in a present frame of mind and creative flow to really offer something to my co-writers,” Lynch adds of his writing process. “I’ve found a good balance of how much I like to write. I kind of need a break whenever we get done with an album to just reset a little bit. But then once I start writing, I fall back in love with the process of creating that magic that writing songs is and there’s no better feeling than getting in my truck and playing a new one and it making me feel something.”
Between tour stops on his 2023 Party Mode Tour, writing and recording sessions, Lynch has found that rejuvenation in the Rocky Mountains and in Canada, as well as on his farm outside of Nashville.
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“I’ve learned that’s important for me as an artist to go out there on the farm and have that time to myself,” he says. “I’ve left a lot of it wild and continue to improve the habitat for the native wildlife there. I’m a nerd when it comes to animals and conservation.”
Lynch, who studied chemistry and biology in college, also runs a small cattle operation. “I remember my first job was in middle school, helping out and making $5 an hour working down the street from my house on an angus [beef] farm. It’s great to be back in the game, kind of relearning a lot about that world.”
On record, his sound may run from traditional-minded country to sleeker pop fare, but when he’s on his farm or in the mountains, his musical tastes run the gamut from rootsy to R&B. “I’m listening to Mount Joy, Noah Kahan, Colter Wall, but then also, I’ve been for a long time obsessed with H.E.R. and SZA. I love R&B. But musically, that’s kind of where I’ve been living, in that Americana space. It probably just stems from the fact that, this time of year, I love being in the mountains and that music goes well with it.”
Looking ahead to 2024, Lynch will launch his Killed the Cowboy Tour featuring pop/R&B/country artist Skeez as an opening act.
“He’s kind of been a chameleon and able to pull the country fans and some top 40, hip-hop type of collabs off,” Lynch says. “I know he’s going to bring a lot of his fan base, which are going to be new eyes and ears for our show. Country music is as wide open as I can remember it being. We’re in a spot right now where we can be in front of a lot of new eyes and ears and blend those lines in the sand of genre, and just go off of good vibes and good music.”
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Kelsea Ballerini has an important PSA. After some viewers were convinced that the 30-year-old country pop star had lip-synched her performance of “Mountain With a View” at Thursday night’s (Sept. 28) inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards, she took to Instagram Stories to defend her vocals.
“I just want to say, if I was lip-synching, I would’ve sounded a lot better,” Ballerini joked in a video.
The “This Feeling” singer also provided a reason for why her performance may have seemed out of sync, something viewers tuning in to the broadcast pointed out. “One of the cameras was off,” she explained. “Thank you, and good night.”
Then, just to make sure she’d gotten her point across, Ballerini reshared a glammed-up photo from Thursday evening in her Stories, showing her looking slyly at something off camera on her left side. “Me singing live watching people thinking otherwise,” she captioned the snap.
Also on Ballerini’s side is NBC, the network home to the People’s Choice Country Awards. “nobody does live vocals like her!” it captioned an Instagram video of the star’s intimate performance, calling it “FLAWLESS.”
In addition to performing, Ballerini was nominated for several awards at the inaugural event, including people’s artist, female artist, social country star and album of 2023. Before the awards ceremony started, the singer shared her thoughts on a subject that’s on just about everyone’s minds right now: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s rumored romance.
“I love Travis,” she gushed. “We did SNL together. I love Taylor. We were close for many years. I want happiness for everyone, so vibe.a
“I ship happiness!” she added in a separate red carpet interview. “Whoever is happy with whoever is what I ship. I adore Taylor. I adore Travis. So if they’re happy, I ship it. Period.”
Watch a clip of Kelsea Ballerini singing “Mountain With a View” at People’s Choice Country Awards below:
Morgan Wallen is doubling up on his One Night at a Time 2024 tour, adding back-to-back shows in each city and making his May Nashville stop a three-peat with a trio of consecutive nights at Music City’s Nissan Stadium.
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In addition to bringing a plethora of country radio hits, Wallen will welcome a slate of artists to open various shows on the trek, including Bailey Zimmerman, Jelly Roll, Jon Pardi, Lainey Wilson, Nate Smith, Bryan Martin, Lauren Watkins and Ella Langley. For his July 26 headlining show in Arlington, Texas, a special guest from the state will perform; direct support acts for the added Nashville shows will be announced soon.
Among the tour stops is a show in Oxford, Miss., making up for a concert that Wallen canceled just before showtime earlier this year. Fans who previously purchased tickets for the canceled April 23 show will have access to an early presale, and details will be sent directly to ticketholders via email.
Fans wanting to get their hands on tickets for the One Night at a Time Tour 2024 will need to register at Ticketmaster.com, through Sunday, Oct. 1. Once registration closes, fans will be randomly selected to receive a day/time of the presale along with a code that grants them access to the presale. Fans who previously registered for the presale now have the option to update their show preference to one of the newly announced dates.
Wallen is also using the tour to give back, with $3 from every ticket sold for his U.S. shows going to the Morgan Wallen Foundation, which supports programs for youth, focusing on sports and music. The organization recently donated $500,000 to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashville’s Parkwood community project, and has supported revitalization efforts at ballparks in Boston and Chicago.
On Thursday (Sept. 28), Wallen was one of the evening’s biggest winners during the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards, picking up honors for artist, album and tour of 2023 (for his One Night at a Time World Tour).
The Live Nation-produced trek’s namesake album, One Thing at a Time, was issued in March and debuted atop the all-genre Billboard 200 and held the top spot for 12 consecutive weeks. His song “Last Night” remained atop the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 non-consecutive weeks, and was the most streamed song of the summer, becoming the first tune by a country artist to earn the top spot in Spotify’s “Songs of the Summer” list.
For the full list of 2024 concert dates, visit morganwallen.com.
On Thursday night (Sept. 28), the Grand Ole Opry House hosted the inaugural, fan-powered People’s Choice Country Awards, hosted by Little Big Town. The awards ceremony — which aimed to add a fourth major country music awards show to the annual country awards circuit — thrust many of today’s top crop of stars and timeless […]
Toby Keith, who received the Country Icon award at the first ever People’s Choice Country Awards on Thursday night (Sept. 28), shared an update on his battle with stomach cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2021. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I’ve walked some dark hallways. Almighty’s […]
Kelsea Ballerini is on the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce train. “I love Travis. We did SNL together. I love Taylor. We were close for many years. I want happiness for everyone, so vibe,” the country star told Extra on the red carpet at the first People’s Choice Country Awards. Ballerini was also discussed Swift’s […]
Music legend Willie Nelson may be best known for as a country superstar, but some might not realize he’s visited many other Billboard album genre charts outside of the Top Country Albums chart — where’s racked up a record 53 top 10s, with 18 of them hitting No. 1. Over the years, Nelson has placed high-charting efforts on these genre-specific album rankings: Blues Albums, Kid Albums, Reggae Albums, Traditional Jazz Albums, Jazz Albums, Americana/Folk Albums and Top Christian Albums.
Now, Nelson’s new Bluegrass album, released on Sept. 15, appropriately debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Albums chart (dated Sept. 30), marking his first appearance on the 21-year-old tally. On the album, Nelson reinterprets a dozen of his older songs, joined by a bluegrass ensemble. Billboard’s Bluegrass Albums chart ranks the top-selling bluegrass albums of the week in the U.S., based on traditional album sales, as tracked by Luminate. In the week ending Sept. 21, Nelson’s Bluegrass sold 3,000 copies.
Below is a recap of Nelson’s history on Billboard’s major album genre charts, aside from Top Country Albums. (In addition, Nelson has logged 83 entries on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.)
Chart NameAlbum Title, Peak Position, Peak Date
Blues AlbumsMilk Cow Blues, No. 2, Oct. 7, 2000
Kid AlbumsRainbow Connection, No. 7, June 30, 2001
Reggae AlbumsCountryman, No. 1 (nine weeks at No. 1), July 30, 2005
Traditional Jazz AlbumsTwo Men With the Blues (Nelson and Wynton Marsalis), No. 1 (four weeks), July 26, 2008Here We Go Again: Celebrating the Genius of Ray Charles (Nelson & Wynton Marsalis featuring Norah Jones), No. 1 (five weeks), April 16, 2011Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin, No. 1 (five weeks), March 19, 2016My Way, No. 2, Sept. 29, 2018That’s Life, No. 1 (two weeks), March 13, 2021
Jazz AlbumsTwo Men With the Blues (Nelson and Wynton Marsalis), No. 1 (four weeks), July 26, 2008Here We Go Again: Celebrating the Genius of Ray Charles (Nelson & Wynton Marsalis featuring Norah Jones), No. 2, April 16, 2011Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin, No. 1 (three weeks), March 19, 2016My Way, No. 2, Sept. 29, 2018That’s Life, No. 1 (two weeks), March 13, 2021
Americana/Folk AlbumsLast Man Standing, No. 1, May 12, 2018Ride Me Back Home, No. 1, July 6, 2019First Rose of Spring, No. 1, July 18, 2020The Willie Nelson Family, No. 12, Dec. 4, 2021A Beautiful Time, No. 3, May 14, 2022
Top Christian AlbumsJust As I Am: 18 Hymns and Gospel Favorites (Willie Nelson and Bobbie Nelson), No. 37, Aug. 27, 2022
Bluegrass AlbumsBluegrass, No. 1, Sept. 30, 2023
The very first People’s Choice Country Awards are going down live from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House on Thursday night (Sept. 28).
Going into the show, Morgan Wallen led all nominees with 11 nods, trailed by Luke Combs and HARDY with nine nods each; Jelly Roll with eight; Lainey Wilson with seven; Zach Bryan and Kane Brown with six each; and Megan Moroney with five.
But who will be the night’s big winner? Follow along with Billboard’s full winners list below:
The People’s Artist of 2023
Blake Shelton
Kane Brown
Kelsea Ballerini
Lainey Wilson
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Old Dominion
Zach Bryan
The Male Artist of 2023
Bailey Zimmerman
Blake Shelton
HARDY
Jelly Roll
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Zach Bryan
The Female Artist of 2023
Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Carrie Underwood
Elle King
Kelsea Ballerini
WINNER: Lainey Wilson
Megan Moroney
Miranda Lambert
The Group/Duo of 2023
Brothers Osborne
WINNER: Dan + Shay
Lady A
Little Big Town
Maddie & Tae
Old Dominion
Parmalee
The War and Treaty
The New Artist of 2023
Bailey Zimmerman
Corey Kent
ERNEST
Ingrid Andress
Jelly Roll
Megan Moroney
Priscilla Block
Zach Bryan
The Album of 2023
Bell Bottom Country – Lainey Wilson
Different Man – Kane Brown
Gettin’ Old – Luke Combs
One Thing at a Time – Morgan Wallen
Religiously. The Album. – Bailey Zimmerman
Rolling Up the Welcome Mat – Kelsea Ballerini
the mockingbird & THE CROW – HARDY
Whitsitt Chapel – Jelly Roll
The Song of 2023
“Fast Car” – Luke Combs; Songwriter: Tracy Chapman
“Last Night” – Morgan Wallen; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, John Byron, Ryan Vojtesak
“Love You Anyway” – Luke Combs; Songwriters: Dan Isbell, Luke Combs, Ray Fulcher
“Need a Favor” – Jelly Roll; Songwriters: Austin Nivarel, Jason DeFord/Jelly Roll, Joe Ragosta, Rob Ragosta
“Tennessee Orange” – Megan Moroney; Songwriters: Ben Williams, David Fanning, Megan Moroney, Paul Jenkins
“Thank God” – Kane Brown, Katelyn Brown; Songwriters: Christian Stalnecker, Jared Mullins, Jaxson Free, Josh Hoge, Kyle Fishman
“Thinkin’ Bout Me” – Morgan Wallen; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, John Byron, Ryan Vojtesak, Taylor Phillips
“wait in the truck” – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson; Songwriters: Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt, Michael Hardy, Renee Blair
The Collaboration Song of 2023
“Beer With My Friends” – Kenny Chesney & Old Dominion; Songwriters: Bryan Simpson, David Lee Murphy, Shy Carter
“Cowgirls” – Morgan Wallen feat. ERNEST; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Ernest Keith Smith, James Maddocks, Milan Modi, Rocky Block, Ryan Vojtesak
“red” – HARDY feat. Morgan Wallen; Songwriters: Michael Hardy, Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip, Jacob Rice
WINNER: “Save Me” – Jelly Roll with Lainey Wilson; Songwriters: David Ray, Jason DeFord/Jelly Roll
“Thank God” – Kane Brown, Katelyn Brown; Songwriters: Christian Stalnecker, Jared Mullins, Jaxson Free, Josh Hoge, Kyle Fishman
“wait in the truck” – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson; Songwriters: Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt, Michael Hardy, Renee Blair
“We Don’t Fight Anymore” – Carly Pearce, Chris Stapleton; Songwriters: Shane McAnally, Carly Pearce, Pete Good
“You, Me, and Whiskey” – Justin Moore, Priscilla Block; Songwriters: Brock Berryhill, Jessi Alexander, Cole Taylor
The Crossover Song of 2023
“Dawns” – Zach Bryan feat. Maggie Rogers; Songwriters: Maggie Rogers, Zachary Lane Bryan
“Just Say I’m Sorry” – P!nk, Chris Stapleton; Songwriters: Alecia Moore, Chris Stapleton
“Life Goes On” – Ed Sheeran feat. Luke Combs; Songwriter: Ed Sheeran
“Seasons” – Bebe Rexha, Dolly Parton; Songwriters: Bebe Rexha, Ido Zmishlany, Sarah Solovay
“Texas” – Jessie Murph feat. Maren Morris; Songwriters: Alex Niceforo, Amy Allen, Jessie Murph, Warren “Oak” Felder
“That’s Not How This Works” – Charlie Puth feat. Dan + Shay; Songwriters: Jordan Reynolds, Charlie Puth, Dan Smyers
“UNHEALTHY” – Anne-Marie feat. Shania Twain; Songwriters: Anne-Marie Nicholson, CASTLE, Connor McDonough, Riley McDonough
“Wasted” – Diplo feat. Kodak Black & Koe Wetzel; Songwriters: Bill K. Kapri, Richard Cook Mears IV, Ropyr Wetzel, Thomas Wesley Pentz
The Music Video of 2023
“In Your Love” – Tyler Childers
“Need a Favor” – Jelly Roll
“Tennessee Orange” – Megan Moroney
“Thank God” – Kane Brown, Katelyn Brown
“Thought You Should Know” – Morgan Wallen
“wait in the truck” – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson
“Where We Started” – Thomas Rhett, Katy Perry
“You Proof” – Morgan Wallen
The Concert Tour of 2023
Blake Shelton: Back to the Honky Tonk Tour
Carrie Underwood: Denim & Rhinestones Tour
Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show Tour
Kenny Chesney: I Go Back 2023 Tour
Luke Combs World Tour
Morgan Wallen: One Night at a Time World Tour
Shania Twain: Queen of Me Tour
Zach Bryan: The Burn, Burn, Burn Tour
The Social Country Star of 2023
Bailey Zimmerman
WINNER: Blake Shelton
Carrie Underwood
Dolly Parton
Kelsea Ballerini
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Shania Twain
The inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards have arrived! Lainey Wilson, HARDY, Kelsea Ballerini, Lady A, Brothers Osborne and more country stars hit the red carpet outside Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House. Little Big Town were also in the house, as the night’s first performers and hosts. Ahead of the show, LBT’s Phillip Sweet told Billboard […]
He’s country, he’s rock, he’s a superstar. Zach Bryan wrapped the Burn Burn Burn Tour at the end of August after touring the continent all summer. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the trek grossed $43.9 million and sold 475,000 tickets across 32 dates.
The Burn Burn Burn Tour took Bryan around the U.S. and Canada in a mix of amphitheaters and arenas, promoted by AEG Presents. The routing mixed primary markets such as New York and Los Angeles with secondary markets including Wilkes-Barre, Penn., and Grand Rapids, Mich., just as his music fuses genres and eschews traditional demographic lines.
With that, the biggest shows on the tour were not major pop stops such as Chicago or San Francisco, nor country hot spots Nashville or Dallas (he didn’t play anywhere in Tennessee). Instead, with roots in each city, double-headers at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center (May 30-31) and Tulsa’s BOK Center (Aug. 10-11) shone the brightest, with earnings of $3.7 million and $3.2 million, respectively.
The Burn Burn Burn Tour was Bryan’s second live outing in two years. Just last year, he mounted the American Run Tour. Each tour was almost identical in length (32 shows in 2023 vs. 31 in 2022) but the results were dramatically different. The average attendance scaled from 5,735 tickets on last year’s run to 14,841 this summer, jumping by 158%. While his reach grew, so did demand. All while endeavoring to control a ballooning ticketing market, the average price jumped from $51 in 2022 to $92.52 in 2023.
Those are stellar improvements for any artist, but even more stark considering the six-month break between tours. And while the Burn Burn Burn Tour ended last month, Bryan has already plotted his next live venture. The Quittin’ Time Tour kicks off in Chicago on March 6, scheduled to run through mid-December with two final hometown shows at the BOK Center.
Even at his current pace, Bryan is already situated to do bigger business in 2024 than 2023. The initial Quittin’ Time announcement included 53 shows, more ambitious than this year’s 32. Just by adding 20-plus dates, next year’s run is on track to land in the $70 million to $75 million range. But he’s unlikely to top out there, as his ’24 routing is bulked up not just in length, but in size.
Bryan will return to some of the arenas from this summer’s tour, coming back to Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena and the Desert Diamond Casino in Glendale, Ariz., playing two shows at each venue rather than one. In other markets, there are clever extensions, like playing two shows at the Prudential Center, N.J., and two at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, compared to this year’s double header at Forest Hills Stadium in New York City’s Queens. Despite its name, the latter venue functions more like a scaled amphitheater, smaller than either of next year’s New York-area arenas.
Elsewhere, it’ll be a whole different ball game. Two 2023 arena dates in Philadelphia will translate to a night at the city’s football stadium (Lincoln Financial Field) in 2024. More stadiums fill out his routing in Atlanta; Foxborough, Mass.; Minneapolis; and Tampa, some of which will be new concert markets for Bryan altogether.
It’s easy to plot Bryan’s transformation from theaters to arenas to stadiums over such a short window. This year’s Burn Burn Burn Tour was plotted, announced and went on-sale amidst the lingering success of American Heartbreak, which debuted and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and then stayed in the top 20 for all but one of the 70 weeks since.
Next year’s Quittin’ Time Tour was announced at the tail end of this year’s run, upon the release of his self-titled album. That one debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spawned a No. 1 arrival on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves. Just last week, he followed it with Boys of Faith, an EP that is currently posting major streaming numbers that are atypical for a seemingly casual release.
Following post-pandemic stadium transformations for Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen, Bryan will likely mount one of the biggest country tours in Boxscore history. The expanded and fortified routing could lead the Quittin’ Time Tour toward $100 million and one million tickets in 2024.