Country
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NBC announced the cast for the upcoming fall season of The Voice on Monday morning (May 15), revealing that former judge John Legend will be back in the mix in addition to returning castmate Gwen Stefani. The two will be joined by Niall Horan in his second season, with one-time Voice hold-out country icon Reba […]
This week’s column features a plethora of collaborations. Superb songwriters Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey team up to plumb the emotional depths of a relationship, while Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson’s power ballad details a relationship on its ragged edge. Top-shelf singer-songwriter Rebecca Lynn Howard, newcomer Zach Top and Texas artist Jason Eady also offer new music.
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See latest videos, charts and news
Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson, “Save Me”
Labelmates Wilson and Jelly Roll (born Jason DeFord) debuted their collaboration on last week’s Academy of Country Music Awards. This smoldering power ballad (written by DeFord and David Ray Stevens) melds and highlights country music’s breadth of current-day influences, from Jelly Roll’s gritty, rock-infused style, to Wilson’s twangy, R&B-flavored country. Lyrically, the song’s subject is mired in self-recrimination and despair, pleading with a lover to leave in order to find their own freedom, engendering a sense of angst and selflessness.
Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey, “Killing Me”
McKenna and Lindsey have long penned sterling hits with layered nuances, including Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush.” Their latest previews McKenna’s upcoming Dave Cobb-produced album 1988, out July 21 via CN Records/Thirty Tigers. “Would it kill you to be happy?” they ask, paring for this jangly, folk-rock track, excavating the emotional weariness wrought by carrying the weight of constant attempts to ensure a lover’s emotional equilibrium.
Rebecca Lynn Howard, “I Am My Mother”
Known for her 2002 top 20 Billboard Country Airplay hit “Forgive,” Howard possesses one of country music’s most powerful voices. Here, she pays tribute to the integral, enduring influence of the mother-daughter relationship on this sweet piano and strings-inflected ballad. Howard wrote this tender ballad with Jamie Floyd, Rachel Thibodeau and Carolyn Dawn Johnson. The song’s ability to convey teenage rebellion and a sense of empathy and understanding that comes with time and experience makes this Mother’s Day release a song that will touch hearts long after the holiday.
Zach Top, “The Kinda Woman I Like”
Top recently made his Grand Ole Opry debut and has been on tour with Dwight Yoakam. Both milestones are signifiers of the newcomer’s musical ambitions to carry the torch of beloved ’90s country music legends. His latest, the flirtatious barn-burner “The Kinda Woman I Like,” features Top’s twangy vocals, conveying the influence of artists such as Tracy Lawrence and the fiddle-soaked melodies and rhythms of Alan Jackson. Top joins a growing movement of artists inspired more by throwback country sounds than rock and pop ambitions.
Jason Eady, “Way Down in Mississippi”
Texas-by-way-of-Mississippi artist Eady retraces his musical journey and his deep Southern roots on this bluesy, gospel-infused track. Sparse rhythms, tinkling piano, energetic handclaps and soulful backing vocals that would feel right at home in a fervent church service bolster lyrics that namecheck bluegrassers Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley. This singular melding of musical synergies, layered with Eady’s husky voice, makes his latest musical iteration feel timeless. “Way Down in Mississippi” is from his upcoming Aug. 11 release, Mississippi, produced by Band of Heathens’ Gordy Quist.
After Sunday night’s (May 14) semi-final that cut the roster of American Idol hopefuls to just three — Colin Stough, Megan Danielle and Iam Tongi — season 21 of the series is gearing up for a major finale. Next Sunday’s (May 21) three-hour finale will air live coast-to-coast on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. ET […]
Jason Isbell jumped on social media Friday afternoon (May 12) to defend Janelle Monáe and the buzzy music video for her new single “Lipstick Lover.” “Wait there are people who DON’T like Janelle’s video?” the country singer tweeted. “Seriously I don’t know wtf you people want if it isn’t that.” In a follow-up tweet, he […]
Kimberly Perry’s first single as a solo artist, “If I Die Young Pt. 2,” bounds onto Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, dated May 20, at No. 31.
The song, on RECORDS/Columbia/RECORDS Nashville, drew 4 million in audience from May 5, its release day, through May 11, according to Luminate. While it did not receive a standard premiere from any of the large radio chains, RECORDS Nashville executive vice president of promotion and commercial strategy Josh Easler notes that select focus stations played the single multiple times its first day.
“Pt. 2” is the sequel to “If I Die Young,” The Band Perry’s first of four Country Airplay No. 1s, which led for a week in 2010. The original also crossed over, spending three weeks at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
The trio consisted of Perry siblings Kimberly, Neil and Reid. In March, the act announced its separation, with the members set to concentrate on individual projects.
“Pt. 2” is the first single from Perry’s five-song EP BLOOM, due June 9. She co-penned it – updating the original’s lyrics with the benefit of more than a decade’s hindsight – with Nicolle Galyon and Jimmy Robbins. Perry also co-wrote the other four tracks on BLOOM. She recently signed with RECORDS Nashville.
“The moment I heard ‘If I Die Young Pt. 2,’ I knew we wanted to be part of Kimberly’s solo project,” Easler tells Billboard. “She’s a true artist, a phenomenal songwriter, and her voice has been missing from country music. It’s been amazing to see the excitement from our partners at radio, DSPs and others. This is just the beginning.”
‘Last’ Still First
Meanwhile, Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” tops Country Airplay for a second week, up 13% to 33.4 million in audience. The song is the fifth of his nine No. 1s to reign for multiple weeks.
As previously reported, the track became the first to top Country Airplay and the multi-metric all-genre Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously.
The 58th annual Academy of Country Music Awards hit the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas on Thursday (May 11). It was good night for “wait in the truck” collaborators HARDY and Lainey Wilson, who each won four awards at the 2023 ACMs, including album of the year for Wilson thanks to her […]
Jimmie Allen‘s management company The Familie and booking agency UTA both announced they were suspending their work with the country singer-songwriter on Friday (May 12), following a new lawsuit alleging him of rape, sexual assault and battery.
“Given the nature of the allegations in the lawsuit filed on Thursday, The Familie has decided to suspend management activities with Jimmie Allen effective immediately,” a spokesperson for the management firm told Billboard in a statement. The Familie began working with Allen in 2022, after he parted ways with his former management company, Wide Open Music.
“We have suspended our representation of Jimmie Allen due to the recent allegations against him, which we take seriously,” said a UTA spokesperson in a separate statement.
In a civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Tennessee federal court, an anonymous “Jane Doe” accuser says that Allen “manipulated and used his power” over her job as a day-to-day manager in order to “sexually harass and abuse her” over a period of 18 months from 2020 to 2022.
“Plaintiff expressed in words and actions that Jimmie Allen’s conduct was unwelcome, including pushing him away, sitting where he could not reach her, telling him she was uncomfortable and no, and crying uncontrollably,” the woman’s attorneys wrote in the complaint. “However, Allen made clear that plaintiff’s job was dependent on her staying silent about his conduct.”
Allen denied the allegations in a statement to Billboard, saying, “It is deeply troubling and hurtful that someone I counted as one of my closest friends, colleagues and confidants would make allegations that have no truth to them whatsoever. I acknowledge that we had a sexual relationship — one that lasted for nearly two years. During that time she never once accused me of any wrongdoing, and she spoke of our relationship and friendship as being something she wanted to continue indefinitely.”
The artist continued to say he intends to “mount a vigorous defense to her claims and take all other legal action necessary to protect my reputation.”
Since the report came to light, Allen has also been suspended by his record label, BBR Music Group, which includes halting of promotion for his latest radio single, “Be Alright,” which fell 57-60 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart dated May 20. He has also been pulled from the performer lineup at CMA Fest, which is slated from June 8-11 in downtown Nashville.
The suit follows previous news that Allen and his wife Alexis Gale announced their separation on April 21; at that time, they also shared that Gale is pregnant with their third child.
Assistance on this story provided by Melinda Newman.
Stories about sexual assault allegations can be traumatizing for survivors of sexual assault. If you or anyone you know needs support, you can reach out to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). The organization provides free, confidential support to sexual assault victims. Call RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE) or visit the anti-sexual violence organization’s website for more information. (edited)
The 2023 ACM Awards featured some of the biggest stars in country descending upon the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas, on Thursday (May 11) to honor achievements in the genre and showcasing talent in a series of performances. Dolly Parton played a large part in the night’s success, as she co-hosted the […]
There are probably very few women in the world who could get away with joking about a threesome with another woman’s husband, but it’s no surprise that Dolly Parton is one of them. After the beloved country queen quipped about having a ménage à trois with her ACM Awards co-host Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood during the ceremony’s opening monologue on Thursday (May 11), the latter artist responded with lots of love for Parton.
“Everybody loves Dolly,” Yearwood told Entertainment Tonight, following her performance with Carly Pearce at the awards show.
“Actually, people think this is Dolce and Gabbana but it’s Dolly and Garth,” she added, referencing the designers of her red-carpet outfit. “Everybody loves Dolly. We love Dolly so much.”
The joke in question happened toward the beginning of the program, with first-time host Brooks praising Parton, an ACM Awards veteran, for being country music’s GOAT, which, of course, stands for “greatest of all time.” To really hit it home, Parton then brought a literal goat on stage with her, before leaving the audience at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas, breathless by joking, “I know why you are doing that GOAT thing … I think that stands for ‘Garth Organizes a Threesome.’”
Parton had also noted that both Brooks and Yearwood, who’ve been married since 2005, have said that the “9 to 5” singer is their shared “hall pass.”
“I thought I couldn’t love you any more,” a blushing Brooks replied.
That wasn’t Dolly’s only PG-13 joke of the night, though. She also squeezed in a jab at her voluptuousness while complimenting Brooks. “I’ll never forget when Garth came on the scene and just changed the game of country music forever. Like, in a flash, Garth became one of the biggest stars of all time,” she shared. “I remember when I came along, people were saying that I’m two of the biggest stars in music — I’m still milking it.”
HARDY and Lainey Wilson were the leading nominees going into Thursday night’s (May 11) ACM Awards and they were the top winners coming out. Both took home four awards, including music event of the year and visual media of the year for their dark duet, “Wait in the Truck.” But they were far from the […]