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Country

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Maren Morris is hard at work on a new album, but she’s not making fans wait for the album release to hear new music. The Grammy winner will release a duo of songs, under the collective project title The Bridge, on Friday (Sept. 15), she announced on Tuesday (Sept. 12).
The project contains the songs “The Tree” and “Get the Hell Out of Here.” Morris said in an Instagram post that the dual song release “honors where I’ve been and [sic] but also feels like a forward step into the sun.”

Morris added, “As I’ve been working on my record nonstop this year, I realized these two songs deserved a moment of their own – a story in their own right, written a day apart from each other – a tender duo and bridge to my next album. I welcome, celebrate and grieve the changes that have happened these last few years and these two songs say it better than I ever could in a caption or interview….hope you enjoy these. ‘Wherever I’m going, I hope I’m not the only one.’”

Based on the song title, it seems that “Get the Hell Out of Here” may be tied to an image Morris posted on Sept. 7, a visual that appeared may be positioned as a response to Jason Aldean’s recent controversial song “Try That in a Small Town.”

She captioned that post, “I’m done filling a cup with a hole in the bottom,” which was shared alongside a silent clip of a bucolic town with a billboard that reads, “Welcome to Our Perfect Small Town: From Sunrise to Sundown.”  (Her rep did not respond to Billboard‘s request for comment at the time.)

Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” garnered both support and criticism due to lyrics that advise people to refrain from burning the American flag, disrespecting police and committing robberies in small towns. (Sample lyric: “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face/ Stomp on the flag and light it up/ Yeah, ya think you’re tough?/ Well, try that in a small town/ See how far ya make it down the road.”) “Try That in a Small Town” was written by Kelley Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy and Kurt Michael Allison. The song’s video was pulled from CMT, a move that sparked both support and backlash.

Following CMT’s decision, Aldean posted a message to his Instagram Stories regarding the contrasting reactions that the song and video have faced. The controversy helped propel consumption of the song and its video. The visual for “Try That in a Small Town” now has over 35 million views, while the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in late July; it is currently in the top 10 on the Country Airplay chart.

Morris’ upcoming full-length album will follow her 2022 project Humble Quest and her 2019 album GIRL, which won a CMA Award for album of the year. GIRL‘s key song, “The Bones,” won Morris single and song of the year honors in 2020, while Morris also picked up her first CMA female vocalist of the year win.

See her new music announcement below:

As Kelsea Ballerini celebrates her 30th birthday today (Sept. 12) and gears up to perform at tonight’s Video Music Awards, she also celebrates nearly a decade of notching hit singles on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, showcasing her bravura as a singer, entertainer, songwriter and hitmaker.

From her debut album, 2015’s The First Time, Ballerini cemented herself as an adept songwriter, one capable of absorbing pop-fueled optimism and fusing it with heart-on-her-sleeve lyrics. The album garnered Ballerini a trio of Country Airplay No. 1 hits: “Love Me Like You Mean It,” “Dibs” and “Peter Pan.” She also earned a best new artist Grammy nomination, while her sophomore album, Unapologetically, earned a best country album nod.

That album title proved prescient, as she’s forged a career based on proving that vulnerability can be an audience-uniting super-strength. She offered a glimpse at the myriad emotions behind the concerts, fashion-forward styles, bright smile and effervescent personality, on songs such as “homecoming queen?”.

In 2021, Ballerini earned her first two CMA Awards, for musical event of the year and music video of the year, both for capturing the wanderlust of ambition that battles with the draw toward the comforts of home, as she honored her Knoxville, Tennessee hometown through her collaborative work with fellow Knoxville native Kenny Chesney, “half of my hometown,” a song Ballerini wrote with Jimmy Robbins, Nicolle Galyon, Ross Copperman and Shane McAnally.

That same year, she let fans further into her instincts as a writer, and her personal journey, when she released Feel Your Way Through: A Book of Poetry, a collection of poems that contemplated her musical ambitions, struggles with body image, and her own experience in 2008 of watching a classmate die from a shooting when she was in high school. In 2022, she also offered up the project Subject to Change, which contained her current top 20 Country Airplay hit “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too).” Another song from the album, “Heartfirst,” earned Ballerini a Grammy nomination for best country solo performance.

Through song and performance, she also stood for her convictions, as evidenced by a pair of 2023 CMT Music Awards appearances: She opened the show by addressing the mass shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School earlier this year, which left six dead, and called for change. Later in the evening, she performed “If You Go Down,” and welcomed several drag queens — including Manila Luzon, Kennedy Davenport, Jan Sport and Olivia Lux — to perform with her, using music to address a recent Tennessee anti-drag bill.

This year, Ballerini released what is arguably her creative magnum opus to date, the EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, which distills the complex range of emotions and experiences she navigated through a dissolving marriage, weathering a divorce as a public-facing person, and ultimately, finding personal freedom and reconnecting with her true self. The vulnerability and elegant writing funneled into Rolling Up the Welcome Mat was recently recompensed when the project earned an album of the year nomination for the upcoming Country Music Association Awards; Ballerini picked up her sixth female vocalist of the year nomination as well. She also shared her story with fans through discussions and screenings of her Rolling Up the Welcome Mat short film.

On Nov. 2, it is this mature, bold Ballerini, fully in control of her artistic capabilities, who will bring her music and journey back to her Tennessee roots, when she headlines her first headlining arena show in the city where it all began (and the city she has often referenced in her songs) — her hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee — when she performs at the Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

Here we look back at Ballerini’s top Country Songs hits.

Kelsea Ballerini’s Biggest Billboard Hits chart is based on actual performance on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, through Sept. 9, 2023. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower ranks earning less. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted to account for different chart turnover rates over various periods.

“I Hate Love Songs”

For more than four decades, Country Music Hall of Famer George Strait has proven himself as one of country music’s most dependable, elite entertainers. In 2023, Strait’s stadium shows — featuring Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town — have set new attendance records in several stadiums, including ones in Seattle, Milwaukee and Columbus, OH.

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Now, Strait, eight-time Grammy winner Stapleton and special guests Little Big Town are extending their record-setting slate of stadium shows into 2024, adding nine new dates.

The new shows are set for May, June, July and December of next year and will visit cities including Indianapolis, Detroit and Chicago, in addition to setting the 37th installment of the Strait to Vegas show, with a Dec. 7 gig booked at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.

“I’ve always said we have the best fans in the world, and to see so many of them show up for these shows just makes us want to keep bringing them more,” Strait said in a statement. “I’ve also missed performing in Las Vegas during NFR, so I’m happy to see that show come together in 2024. See you soon!”

Tickets to most shows go on sale on Sept. 22 at 10 a.m. local time via GeorgeStrait.com, with tickets to the Jacksonville show on sale on Oct. 20 at 10 a.m. local time. American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets before the general public beginning Friday (Sept. 15) at 10 a.m. local time through Sept. 21 at 10 p.m. local time.

See the full list of stadium shows below:

May 4 — Indianapolis, IN @ Lucas Oil Stadium

May 11 — Jacksonville, FL @ EverBank Stadium

May 25 — Ames, IA  @ Jack Trice Stadium

June 1 — Charlotte, N.C. @ Bank of America Stadium

June 8 — East Rutherford, N.J. @ MetLife Stadium

June 29 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Rice Eccles Stadium

July 13 — Detroit, MI @ Ford Field

July 20 — Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field

Dec. 7 — Las Vegas, NV @ Allegiant Stadium

Sawyer Brown was one of the most popular country groups of the ’80s and ’90s, charting such country No. 1s as  “Step That Step,” “Some Girls Do” and “Thank God for You” — and now, it’s getting a Blake Shelton-produced documentary.
As the band turns 40, the country star looks at Sawyer Brown’s compelling story in Get Me to the Stage on Time, a documentary Shelton executive produced that examines how the group left its mark on country music, despite reservations by the genre’s gatekeepers. Shelton has long professed his love for the band, noting the first concert he ever attended was by Sawyer Brown, and among the first singles he purchased was the group’s cover of George Jones’ “The Race Is On.”

The Joel Kraus/Madison Miller-directed movie, which will debut Oct. 1 at the Nashville Film Festival in Franklin, Tenn., features interviews with Shelton, Dolly Parton, Dierks Bentley and Mac McAnally, among others. As the title suggests, it also reflects on Sawyer Brown Band’s propulsive live performances, led by frontman Mark Miller.

“It’s pretty surreal to watch your life and memories and music play out in a film, but Get Me to the Stage On Time does an amazing job of capturing what this ride has been like,” Miller says in a statement to Billboard. “I think the film shows not only what it took to get our career going, but also what it took to keep the wheels from coming off a couple of times. It also shows why it means so much to us to be where we are now, still playing shows, with new music on the horizon. It’s a look at what it means to never give up, no matter what.”

The ACM Award-winning vocal group of the year’s journey started with winning Star Search in 1983, in an era before television talent competitions such as American Idol and The Voice became commonplace launching pads for country stars such as Carrie Underwood and Scotty McCreery. Though a fan favorite renowned for its live shows, even after a slew of hits, Sawyer Brown remained a polarizing force in Nashville and at country radio with some put off by their non-traditional, colorful presence.

In the trailer — which Billboard is premiering above — the band recounts being turned down by every label in Nashville before storming the Star Search stage with its high-octane performances. Even after winning and signing with a Nashville label and experiencing multiple hits, “the industry couldn’t really figure out why are these guys still here,” says Sawyer Brown keyboardist Gregg “Hobie” Hubbard. But the audience understood as the group played up to 250 concerts a year, entertaining fans with its vastly energetic show. The documentary attempts to answer “how a band turned 15 minutes of fame into 40 years.” For Miller, it simply boils down to “when you get us in front  of a live audience, we win.” 

Following the documentary’s premiere, Sawyer Brown, who are working on a new album produced by Shelton, will perform at the Franklin Theater. Distribution plans for the film are still pending.

A group of protesters gathered outside Jason Aldean‘s concert on Saturday in Tinley Park, Illinois, near Chicago. According to the Chicago Tribune, the group of nearly 2 dozen people were part of a protest led by Revolution Club Chicago, which aligns with Communist beliefs.
During the protest, members of the group chanted, marched and burned American flags. The outlet also reported that there were no major altercations between concertgoers and the members of the protesting group.

A representative for Aldean could not be reached for comment on the protest.

The protest comes as Aldean’s latest single, “Try That in a Small Town,” garnered both support and criticism due to lyrics that advise people to refrain from burning the American flag, disrespecting police and committing robberies in small towns. (Sample lyric: “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face/ Stomp on the flag and light it up/ Yeah, ya think you’re tough?/ Well, try that in a small town/ See how far ya make it down the road.”) “Try That in a Small Town” was written by Kelley Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy and Kurt Michael Allison.

“Guess what, Jason? We will try that in a small town,” one of the protesters, Rafael Kadaris, said, according to the Tribune. “We will try that in a big city. And we will try it right in front of your concert.”

The music video for “Try That in a Small Town,” which included imagery of protests and flag burnings and was filmed in front of a Tennessee county courthouse with a history of lynchings, was pulled by CMT, sparking both support and outrage from country music fans. The video has earned 35 million views on YouTube. In July, the controversy helped drive consumption of “Try That in a Small Town” and send it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data.

On the radio-driven Country Airplay chart, “Try That in a Small Town” currently resides at No. 11. Aldean’s headlining Highway Desperado Tour will make its next stop on Sept. 14 in Rogers, Arkansas.

The song – each singer-songwriter’s first Hot 100 leader – is from Bryan’s self-titled LP, which concurrently premiered at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

If you need a guide to follow along with Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves, find the lyrics below:Rotgut whiskey’s gonna ease my mind Beach towel rests on the dryin’ lineDo I remind you of your daddy in his ’88 Ford?Labrador hangin’ out the passenger doorThe sand from your hair is blowin’ in my eyesBlame it on the beach, grown men don’t cryDo you remember that beat down basement couch?I’d sing you my love songs and you’d tell me aboutHow your mama ran off and pawned her ringI remember, I remember everything
A cold shoulder at closing timeYou were begging me to stay ’til the sun roseStrange words come on outOf a grown man’s mouth when his mind’s brokePictures and passin’ timeYou only smile like that when you’re drinkingI wish I didn’t, but I doRemember every moment on the nights with you
You’re drinkin’ everything to ease your mindBut when the hell are you gonna ease mine?You’re like concrete feet in the summer heatIt burns like hell when two souls meetNo, you’ll never be the man that you always sworeBut I’ll remember you singin’ in that ’88 Ford
A cold shoulder at closing timeYou were begging me to stay ’til the sun roseStrange words come on outOf a grown man’s mouth when his mind’s brokePictures and passin’ timeYou only smile like that when you’re drinkingI wish I didn’t, but I doRemember every moment on the nights with you
Cold shoulder at closing timeYou were begging me to stay ’til the sun roseStrange words come on outOf a grown man’s mouth when his mind’s brokePictures and passin’ timeYou only smile like that when you’re drinkingI wish I didn’t, but I doRemember every moment on the nights with you
Rotgut whiskey’s gonna ease my mindBeach towel rests on the dryin’ lineDo I remind you of your daddy in my ’88 Ford?Labrador hangin’ out the passenger door
Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Kacey Musgraves, Zachary Lane Bryan

Greatest hits albums were once a key facet of the record business — a way for labels to repackage existing copyrights, for artists to make a statement about a body of commercial success and for consumers to get all their favorite hits by an artist in one collection.

The development of streaming hobbled that format. If a fan can create a playlist of all their favorite songs, why would they need to buy an album of those hits?

Best-of albums, though, are quietly hitting back — especially in the country format. MCA Nashville released Josh Turner’s Greatest Hits on Sept. 8, and Valory has Thomas Rhett’s 20 Number Ones scheduled for Sept. 29. Encore Music Group likewise issued Ricochet’s Then & Now on Aug. 18, with rerecordings of its four top 20 singles from the 1990s among the package’s 16 tracks.

“It’s kind of a milestone moment for me,” Turner says.

Indeed, in the old-school music business, hits albums carried a certain status. In their original, purest form, they signified that an artist had accrued enough successful individual titles that they could fill both sides of a vinyl release with familiar music. They sometimes expanded a fan base, too, as consumers who hadn’t necessarily kept tabs on a specific act suddenly recognized their accomplishments more fully. 

“The greatest-hits aggregate, whether it’s physical or even just a digital collection, is kind of a marketing banner for the body of work,” says Fisher Entertainment Consulting founder Pete Fisher.

If the hits package has a throwback vibe, that’s appropriate since nostalgic vinyl is the format that’s most likely driving its return. Fans who want to hear the hits from the turntable at home can’t mix and match the songs for a 12-inch disc as they could on Spotify. The disc needs to be manufactured in a fixed order, and the best-of package offers real value.

“We’ve been selling a lot of vinyl on the road at my shows, so that’s a good sign to show that people really want the physical product,” Turner says. “Everybody’s familiar with the digital stuff now. Sometimes it’s kind of cool to just unplug and go to the record.” 

There’s an irony to the development. Producers have been known to add programmed needle scratches to digital music to give it a ’60s or ’70s atmosphere. Avoiding those pops and crackles were one of the supposed benefits of shifting to CDs. The digital disc’s rise pretty much ended a 30-year reign for 12-inch pressings around the early 1990s. Now the sonic imperfections add a new dimension to several generations of music.

“Vinyls are making a comeback, and [they’re] making a comeback among the younger generation,” says Ricochet founder Heath Wright. “It’s the thing now.”

That shift is opening up new possibilities for most of the music from the last three decades as it appears on a warmer, less brittle configuration.

“It’ll be the first time I’ve heard Ricochet music on vinyl,” Wright says, anticipating the release of the band’s material on black and yellow plastic.

Plenty of recent hits projects marked the first time the songs were available in the format. Among the best-of collections unveiled in the last two years are Heads Carolina, Tails California: The Best of Jo Dee Messina, Luke Bryan’s #1’s Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 and a Justin Moore Greatest Hits originally offered in translucent red vinyl at Walmart. Much of Dolly Parton’s Diamonds & Rhinestones: The Greatest Hits Collection — including “Jolene,” “9 to 5” and “Coat of Many Colors” — was initially issued on vinyl back in the day.

But vinyl isn’t the only point. Digital service providers have created their own playlists dedicated to specific artists. However, that same act may prefer a different set of songs as a career overview, and the makeup of those titles on a hits compilation aren’t subject to revisions by DSP managers.

“It’s a nice way to roll up an era and curate the hits from a label-centric perspective for all time,” 615 Leverage + Strategy partner John Zarling says. “Apple constantly updates their Essentials playlists and prominently features those for every artist of note. But if you think about 10, 20 years removed, are those playlists going to properly document a specific era for an artist?”

Hits projects also give the act’s team a chance to elevate a song that was overlooked publicly. “Desperado,” for example, was never a charting single for The Eagles or Linda Ronstadt, but it rose in significance after being featured on both acts’ best-of compilations.

“Think about the songs that might have been important,” says Zarling, “but were never big chart successes, that because they were placed on greatest-hits records, it became a part of that artist’s repertoire.”

Plenty of artists who would have qualified for best-of albums in a previous era have never issued one during the last 20 years. That includes Brad Paisley, Cole Swindell, Taylor Swift, Chris Stapleton and Miranda Lambert. As the hits album hits back, a template has been established that makes a best-of compilation a good bet again. 

In addition to making a statement about the act, it’s also a good way to enhance the experience with fans. Turner and Rhett are both offering special packages that combine hits albums with other merchandise. Rhett’s 20 Number Ones can be purchased in two different collectible versions, including one with an autographed box set with a booklet for $125. Turner’s Greatest Hits is available in several configurations, including signed copies and/or Turner-branded clothing for up to $185.

“That’s a trend that’s not going to go away,” Fisher suggests. “The entertainment industry as a whole is just continuing to try and find very high-touch experiences and high-quality products for that premium consumer. There’s profit opportunities with the superfan, and I don’t think they’re disappointed to pay that way. It’s a way they vote in support of their favorite artists.” 

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Chris Stapleton, Tyler Childers, Colbie Caillat with Sheryl Crow, and more turn up stellar new releases this week. Tyler Hubbard aims to make his duo of chart hits into a trio, while bluegrass whizkid Wyatt Ellis and gravel-voiced J.R. Carroll continue forging their signature styles. See those and more Billboard country picks below.

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Tyler Childers, “Phone Calls and Emails”

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With albums like his breakthrough Purgatory and successors Country Squire and Long Violent History, Childers’s mix of country, folk and bluegrass elements has inspired a rise in counter-programming to mainstream country’s usual pop and hip-hop fusions. He continues that with latest album, Rustin’ in the Rain. At only seven tracks, Rustin’ in the Rain is succinct yet solid, melding originals with renditions of the Kris Kristofferson-written “Help Me Make It Through the Night” and S.G. Goodman’s “Space and Time.” Among the standouts in those originals is this solo write from Childers, whose vigorous vocal conveys the hurt and confusion when a loved one stops responding to his correspondences. “It’s so unnerving to get no reply,” he sings in a desperate attempt to gain closure. Piano and mournful steel capture the song’s arc from clinging to the last remnants of hopefulness, but giving way to angst and despair.

Chris Stapleton, “Think I’m in Love With You”

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Stapleton gets funky on this solo write, slightly quickening the pace, his signature guttural, husky voice working within the evergreen topic of love, registering romantic grit and ‘70s soul. Sonically, it’s a further confirmation of Stapleton’s genre-traversing capabilities, following his previous outing, “White Horse.” “Think I’m in Love With You” is the latest preview of Stapleton’s upcoming album Higher, out Nov. 10.

J.R. Carroll, “Diamondhead”

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Oklahoma native Carroll issued his debut project in 2020, ad followed with 2022’s Raging in the Dark and his OurVinyl Sessions EP which released earlier this year. Those projects largely put the spotlight on his gospel-inflected voice and acoustic-based songwriting. Carroll has been on the road playing keyboards for Zach Bryan, but on this chugging, percussion-fueled romp, he offers a potent reminder of his own songwriting and vocal prowess. Here, he sings of a woman whose romantic allure beckons him on a wild day spent near the river, with hours of booze and cigarettes, and dancing to Turnpike Troubadours tunes on the jukebox. “Ain’t much that I can do/ Can’t bear to see it stop,” he deadpans, with a voice filled with urgency and surrender.

Colbie Caillat feat. Sheryl Crow, “I’ll Be Here”

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These two laid-back vocalists team up in a mighty way for this rootsy, yet calmly uplifting anthem, which revamps “Never Gonna Let You Down,” a song featured on Caillat’s 2014 album Gypsy Heart. Caillat wrote this song 13 years ago, with Brett James, Jason Reeves and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, but the sunny production and timeless message here feel fresh and polished, while their intertwining harmonies feel familial. “I’ll Be Here” is included on Caillat’s upcoming country album, Along the Way, out Oct. 6.

Tyler Hubbard, “Back Then Right Now”

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Hubbard issues his third solo career single, following his No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hit “5 Foot 9” and the No. 2-peaking follow-up “Dancin’ in the Country.” He follows those two gratitude-filled, light-hearted tracks with a similarly-styled up-tempo track, a nostalgic ode that finds the singer reminiscing on youthful days, before various town developments put up big-box stores over old fishing spots and blacktop over gravel roads — times when “you took a pic and you didn’t have to post it.” This sounds like another solid, radio-ready single.

Wyatt Ellis feat. Jake Workman, “Get Lost”

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Wunderkind mandolin player Ellis, who has performed alongside music luminaries including Sierra Hull, Sam Bush and Bobby Osborne, continues his penchant for traditional-leaning bluegrass on this song he wrote with multi-instrumentalist Jake Workman, when Ellis was 12.

Together with Ellis and Workman on sprightly mandolin and guitar, this track offers up a loose jam-band feel, meshing fiddle from legendary instrumentalist Michael Cleveland, as well as bass from Mike Bub and banjo from producer Justin Moses. “Get Lost” is the second release from Ellis’ upcoming album, set to be released on Knee-High Records.

Ashley Anne, “She Ain’t Texas”

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Virginia native Ashley Anne is known for the track “Dear Dolly,” which was released earlier this year. But on her latest, she laments that an ex-lover has moved on — but this perspicacious lady also knows his new love lacks country bonafides. “if she ain’t country and she ain’t your cup of sweet tea,” Anne maintains she has something better to offer, singing with a honey-dipped-in-whiskey voice over a swirl of country and blues.

Alex Hall, “Her to Here”

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Singer-songwriter-guitarist Hall issued his debut EP, the star-studded Six Strings, in 2021, and is gearing up to follow it with his latest album, Side Effects of the Heart, out Sept. 15.

“Her to Here” previews the new album, as Hall sings of a lover who calls his bluff and leaves him in the dust. He copes by ruminates on the choices he made and should have made. “Her to Here” reads more polished than some of his earlier work, while this Hall/Todd Clark/Travis Wood co-write offers an evocative depiction of romantic loss.

Charlie Robison, the Texas singer-songwriter whose rootsy anthems made the country charts until he was forced to retire after complications from a medical procedure left him unable to sing, died on Sunday. He was 59.

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Robison died at a hospital in San Antonio after suffering cardiac arrest and other complications, according to a family representative.

Robison launched his music career in the late 1980s, playing in local Austin bands like Two Hoots and a Holler before forming his own Millionaire Playboys. In 1996, he released his solo debut, Bandera, named for the Texas Hill Country town where his family has had a ranch for generations.

When he was approached by Sony in 1998, Robison signed with its Lucky Dog imprint, which was devoted to rawer country. His 2001 album Step Right Up, which peaked at No. 27 on the Top Country Albums chart, produced the top 40 country song “I Want You Bad.” The single reached No. 35 on the Hot Country Songs chart.

In 2018, Robison announced that he had permanently lost the ability to sing following a surgical procedure on his throat. “Therefore, with a very heavy heart I am officially retiring from the stage and studio,” he wrote on Facebook.

Robison served as a judge for one year on USA Network’s Nashville Star, a reality TV show in which contestants lived together while competing for a country music recording contract.

He is survived by his wife, Kristen Robison, and four children and stepchildren. He had three children with his first wife, Emily Strayer, a founding member of the superstar country band The Chicks. They divorced in 2008.

Memorial services are pending.

Not many people can say that they’ve earned a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single, a Billboard 200 No. 1 album and a mug shot all in the same week — but most people aren’t Zach Bryan. The Grammy-nominated country/rock powerhouse was arrested Thursday evening in Oklahoma for obstruction of investigation, according to the Craig County […]