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Many in Nashville’s music community are coming together for a night of music and to stand with The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville where six people, including three children and three staffers, were killed just over a week ago in a school shooting on March 27.
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On April 12, Belmont University’s The Fisher Center will host “A Night of Joy Celebrating the Covenant School” to honor the victims and their families as well as the church, staff and first responders, and bring an evening of music, hope and healing. The concert will begin at 7 p.m. CT.
Author/speaker Annie F. Downs will lead the evening, which will also feature performances from Chris Tomlin, Colony House, Dave Barnes, Drew Holcomb, Ellie Holcomb, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, Lady A, Matt Kearney, Matt Maher, Natalie Hemby, Sixpence None the Richer, Stephanie and Nathan Chapman, The Warren Brothers, Thomas Rhett, Trent Dabbs and Tyler Hubbard. Also on the bill are Brett Taylor, Luke Laird, Sandra McCracken, Dwan Hill, Jasmine Mullen and Sarah Kroger, with more special guests expected.
The six victims fatally shot by the shooter at Covenant School were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all age 9; Cynthia Peak, age 61; Katherine Koonce, age 60; and Mike Hill, age 61. A 28-year-old suspect was killed during an altercation with police.
Tickets for the event go on sale Wednesday, April 10, at 10 a.m. CT at thefishercenter.com, with all ticket proceeds benefiting The Covenant School.
Previously, artists including Sheryl Crow and Margo Price performed at a vigil for the victims that was held March 29 in downtown Nashville, while Lauren Daigle postponed an album preview party that had been set for March 27 and instead hosted a prayer vigil for the victims of the mass shooting. In addition to the vigils, protests have been held at the Tennessee Capitol building in downtown Nashville, as students and adults pleaded with legislators to enact gun reform in the wake of the shooting.
Diplo‘s country era continues! On Tuesday (April 4), the musician revealed the release date of his forthcoming album, Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley: Chapter 2 – Swamp Savant, along with a story of how the record came to be via Instagram.
“To prepare for this new Thomas Wesley project I went back to my father’s house in Florida. It all started in the swamps I was raised in and I spent six months learnin guitar, gettin in touch with nature, working his boat when the shrimp were running on full moons at the trailer park,” he said.
After calling in favors to rappers, attending Stagecoach for research, and befrending several Nashville-based A&R’s, the DJ confidently added that the new LP is “the greatest single piece of work I’ve ever done, I can promise you that. Thomas Wesley: Chapter 2 – Swamp Savant… out April 28.”
While fans will have to wait until then to hear the project in full, the LP’s first single “Wasted,” featuring Kodak Black and Koe Wetzel, arrived in late January. And according to an official press release, there is “more music imminent.”
Swamp Savant serves as the official follow-up to 2020’s Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley Chapter 1: Snake Oil. The set featured the singles “Heartless” with Morgan Wallen, “Dance With Me” with Thomas Rhett and Young Thug, and “Lonely” with Jonas Brothers. The album peaked at No. 50 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.
See Diplo’s album release date announcement below:
Kid Rock is taking out his frustration on a few dozen cans of Bud Light.
Late Monday night (April 3), the “Bad Reputation” singer posted a video of himself across his social media accounts, speaking directly to the camera. Wearing a white MAGA hat, the rock-rapper said that “Grandpa’s feeling a bit frisky today,” and promised to be as “clear and concise as possible” with his statement.
The “Devil Without a Cause” singer then lifted up a semi-automatic rifle and opened fire on three cases of Bud Light propped up on a wooden table. Ceasing his fire on the beer cans, Rock looked back into the camera to make his point clear: “F–k Bud Light, and f–k Anheuser-Busch.”
The video came shortly after trans activist Dylan Mulvaney teamed up with Anheuser-Busch to promote the brand’s Easy Carry Contest, posting a video of herself talking about the campaign and even receiving “possibly the best gift ever” — a commemorative can of Bud Light with her face on it.
Mulvaney’s video immediately sparked outrage from right-wing commentators, who lambasted the brand for working with a transgender influencer. Anheuser-Busch responded to the backlash in a statement to Fox News, saying the company works with “hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics and passion points,” and adding that Mulvaney’s commemorative can “was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”
The ongoing backlash comes at a time when transgender people are being targeted at a steady cadence by state legislatures around the U.S. Kentucky became the latest state to pass anti-trans legislation into law last week when lawmakers overrode Gov. Andy Beshear‘s veto of a bill banning gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 18, while also compelling physicians to cease any ongoing gender-transition care for minors.
Billboard has reached out to Kid Rock, Dylan Mulvaney and Anheuser-Busch for comment.
Watch the Instagram videos below:
Three top Universal Music Group Nashville executives have exited their roles: executive vp of promotion Royce Risser, evp of A&R Brian Wright and senior vp of A&R Stephanie Wright, according to Country Aircheck. Representatives at UMG Nashville did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Risser was promoted to evp in 2018. He began his career as an intern at MCA Records in 1991 and climbed the ranks as director, NE regional promotion, then director of national promotion and vp of promotion before assuming the role of svp of promotion for UMG Nashville in 2007.
Stephanie Wright joined UMGN more than two decades ago and previously served as vp of A&R. During her tenure with the label, Wright worked with artists including Kacey Musgraves, Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt, and was instrumental in albums including Musgraves’ Same Trailer Different Park and Hunt’s Montevallo.
Brian Wright also joined UMGN over two decades ago and was promoted to his evp role in 2018 and worked closely on albums including Jamey Johnson’s Lonesome Song, George Strait’s Troubadour and Chris Stapleton’s Traveller and From A Room Vols. 1 and 2.
The exits of the Wrights — who are married — and Risser come as Cindy Mabe officially began her role as UMG Nashville chairman/CEO on April 1, following former UMGN chairman/CEO Mike Dungan‘s retirement. Mabe was named president of UMGN in 2014 and with her rise to chairman/CEO, she becomes the first woman to serve as chairman/CEO of a Nashville-based major label group.
Earlier this year, Katie Dean left UMG after a two-decade tenure with the company; Dean had led MCA Nashville’s promotion team since 2015. In 2022, UMG Nashville’s Rachel Fontenot exited her role as vp of marketing and artist development, while vp of marketing Brad Turcotte left UMG Nashville to become partner at 615 Leverage + Strategy.
Meanwhile, former Arista Nashville artist Brad Paisley recently signed a deal with UMG’s EMI Nashville imprint.
After getting to know each other this weekend at the 2023 CMT Music Awards, country music legend Shania Twain said she’s totally down for a possible collaboration with rapper Megan Thee Stallion. The two got acquainted when Meg presented the Equal Play Honor to Twain at the show and Twain told ET Online that it got her thinking about how they might sound together.
“I love her… what a sweetheart!,” Twain said of the “Body” MC, who was seated near the country queen in the audience during the broadcast. She added that they got along “very well… I love her as a person.”
There is one question, however, Twain is very glad Megan didn’t ask her. “She is a great talent, I was just glad she didn’t ask me to twerk out there. I would had to have said no,” Twain said. “She was amazing and said so many sweet things and I was really flattered she was there for me.”
The bond was so immediate, Twain added, that she revealed she “was thinking” they might vibe in the studio as well. “I think that that would really work… I love her whole mind,” the singer said.
If it happens, it would mark a hip-hop crossover first for Twain, who has typically leaned into the country/pop vein in the past when it comes to sharing the mic, including songs with Orville Peck (“Legends Never Die”), Alison Krauss & Union Station (“I’m Gonna Get You Good”), Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath (“Party For Two), her musical hero Anne Murray (“You Needed Me”), and, at this year’s Coachella, Harry Styles for a live run through her “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”
It would also be a first for San Antonio-bred Megan, who has also mostly stayed in her lane, teaming up with Beyoncé for the “Savage” remix, Key Glock on “Ungrateful,” Juicy J for “Simon Says,” Dua Lipa for “Sweetest Pie” and, of course, Cardi B on their Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash “WAP.”
On April 4, 1998, Trisha Yearwood’s “Perfect Love” began a two-week run at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, marking her fifth of five leaders.
The song was penned by Sunny Russ and Stephony Smith and produced by Tony Brown. It was released from Yearwood’s (Songbook) A Collection of Hits, which in September 1997 debuted as her first of four No. 1s on the Top Country Albums chart.
Yearwood was born Sept. 19, 1964, in Monticello, Ga. In 1984, she graduated from Young Harris College with an associate degree in business. Prior to signing with MCA Records in 1990, she worked various jobs in Nashville, including as a receptionist at MTM Records, and attended Belmont University.
Yearwood’s debut single, “She’s in Love With the Boy,” ruled Hot Country Songs for two weeks starting in August 1991. In 2021, a 30th anniversary surprise celebration was held at the Grand Ole Opry (where she was inducted as a member in 1999). She was presented with a special award by Carly Pearce revealing that the song ranked as the most-heard country song by a woman since Luminate began in 1990.
Now 58 and married to superstar Garth Brooks since December 2005, Yearwood is active in music, TV and writing, having authored a series of cookbooks.
Her most recent Hot Country Songs hit, a remake of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born ballad “Shallow,” with Brooks, hit No. 27 in June 2021.
“You lose your filter … that’s not so good,” Yearwood, in 2019, told Billboard, with a laugh, about her current mindset at this point in her life and career. “But, you also lose your inhibitions. There’s a freedom that comes with time that allows you to just have fun.”
Kane Brown and Jelly Roll made history at the 2023 CMT Music Awards, which were presented on Sunday at Moody Center in Austin, Texas. The show aired on CBS for the second year in a row.
Brown became the first person in 20 years to both host or co-host the show and win the top award, video of the year. He co-hosted with Kelsea Ballerini for the third year in a row. He won video of the year for “Thank God,” his hit duet with his wife Katelyn Brown. The last person to accomplish this double feat was Toby Keith, who co-hosted the 2003 CMT Music Awards with actress Pamela Anderson and took the video of the year award for his post-9/11 song “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American).”
This is the third year in a row that a collaborative video has won video of the year. “If I Didn’t Love You” by Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood won last year. “Hallelujah” by Underwood featuring John Legend won two years ago.
Jelly Roll won both male video of the year and breakthrough male video of the year for “Son of a Sinner.” This marks the fourth time in the show’s history that someone has won the award for the year’s top male, female, group or duo video and a breakthrough award in the same year. In 2005, Gretchen Wilson took female video of the year for “When I Think About Cheatin’” and breakthrough video of the year for “Redneck Woman.” The following year, Underwood took both awards for “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” In 2013, Florida Georgia Line took breakthrough video and duo video of the year for “Cruise.”
Underwood didn’t add to her record-setting collection of 25 CMT Music Awards. She was nominated for video of the year for “Hate My Heart,” but lost to the Browns’ smash. She was nominated for female video of the year for “Ghost Story,” but lost to Lainey Wilson’s “Heart Like a Truck.” This marks the first time in 12 years that Underwood hasn’t won in at least one of those marquee categories.
Wilson, who led the pack with four nominations, won two: female video of the year for “Heart Like a Truck” and collaborative video of the year for her featured role on HARDY’s “wait in the truck.” HARDY and Wilson beat the Browns’ “Thank God” in the latter category, though there was a reversal of fortune in the video of the year category where the two videos again competed.
Zac Brown Band took group/duo video of the year for “Out in the Middle.” It’s their second win in the group video category, following a 2019 win for “Someone I Used to Know.” Rascal Flatts is the top winner in the category, with seven wins, followed by Lady A with five and Little Big Town with four.
Cody Johnson’s performance of “Til You Can’t” on last year’s CMT Music Awards won for CMT performance of the year. Johnson won male video of the year for the smash at last year’s show.
Megan Moroney’s “Tennessee Orange” won breakthrough female video of the year.
One last ride! The Voice unveiled a hysterical new promo on Monday (April 3) for a fake Blake Shelton biopic starring his fellow coach Niall Horan.
In the clip, the camera pans from the country singer’s signature outfit of boots, jeans and a simple black overshirt only to reveal that the former One Direction-er had stepped into his role as a coach. “This is my last season,” Horan says in a near-perfect imitation of Shelton’s Oklahoma drawl as he re-enacts contestant Grace West’s blind audition. “I’ve got somethin’ to say to Grace: People of America are gon’ love you. I would be honored to have you on the last Team Blake.”
The faux trailer also features coaches Kelly Clarkson and Chance the Rapper and longtime host Carson Daly as themselves, as well as Horan playing double duty — and switching accents — to play himself. (“It all comes down to this,” a narrator states to close out the trailer. “One last ride… Blake Shelton’s final season.”)
Of course, the parody is all in good fun, and Shelton finally appears to give Horan’s impersonation his stamp of approval, saying, “I do think Niall does a great impression of me, I gotta say. He’s got the accent down pretty good, but he’s got the words down perfectly. I’m kind of enjoying having this mini-me here, it’s flattering.”
The coaches are currently in the midst of overseeing the Battles of season 23 — whittling their teams down to groups of just six singers each to advance to the Knockouts.
Watch Horan’s spot-on take on Shelton in the latest promo for The Voice below.
Jelly Roll may have performed at the 2023 CMT Music Awards on Sunday night (April 2), but the performer he was most excited to see was none other than Gwen Stefani.
“My second concert ever was No Doubt,” he reveled to Entertainment Tonight on the award show’s red carpet. “We was at an amphitheater, it s–t storm rained, I mean just rain storm, we were mud sliding dancing to ‘Spiderwebs’ — it was awesome.”
Luckily for the rising country-hip-hop hybrid, he got a sneak peek of Stefani’s performance during rehearsals for the show, telling the outlet before her set, “I can’t say anything but I can say she looks like Gwen Stefani. What I seen was a real throwback.”
The throwback turned out to be the singer’s performance of No Doubt’s smash single “Just a Girl” from 1995’s Tragic Kingdom with help from Carly Pearce. For his own performance, Jelly Roll brought his song “Need a Favor” to the stage backed by a full gospel choir.
“This is my first everything,” he continued. “First live TV performance, first TV show performance, first award show nomination, first time I’ve done anything like this, this is a big night of firsts for me … I’m somewhere between nervous and cloud nine, so I’m just, I’m excited man. It feels so good, it’s like the return of the prodigal son, it’s like finally coming home, man.”
During the ceremony, Jelly Roll wound up taking home his very first awards show trophies as well, winning male video of the year, male breakthrough video of the year and the CMT digital-first performance of the year for “Son of a Sinner.”
Chase Stokes has definitely got the role of supportive boyfriend on lock. The Outer Banks star was captured on camera adorably rocking out to Kelsea Ballerini‘s performance at the CMT Music Awards Sunday (April 2) after the couple made their official red carpet debut at the ceremony.
In a clip posted by CMT’s official account, Stokes bops his head and claps his hands to the beat of “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too),” which Ballerini performed during the ceremony alongside a handful of drag queens — an act of protest against the recent anti-drag laws in Tennessee. At one point, the 30-year-old actor pulls out his phone and starts filming a home video of the three-time Grammy nominee.
Rumors of the pair’s romance started back in January, with Ballerini eventually confirming the relationship in a February episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast. “I’ve never seen his show, but I just knew of him, and I just swan dove right on in,” she told host Alex Cooper at the time. “His handle is ‘@hichasestokes,’ and I said, ‘Hi, Chase Stokes.’”
In addition to performing and being nominated for video of the year and female video of the year, Ballerini also co-hosted the awards ceremony for the third year in a row. She devoted her opening remarks to those impacted by gun violence following the recent school shooting in Nashville. “Tonight’s broadcast is dedicated to the ever-growing list of families, friends, survivors, witnesses and responders whose lives continue to forever be changed by gun violence,” she said, also telling the audience about her own personal experience with the issue.
“I pray deeply that the closeness and the community we feel through the next few hours of music can soon turn into action, like real action that moves us forward together to make change for the safety of our kids and our loved ones,” she added.
The country star also subtly shouted out her beau in her opening monologue, celebrating country music from “Nashville and Austin to Yellowstone and the Outer Banks.”
Watch Chase Stokes dance along to his country star girlfriend’s CMT Music Awards performance below: