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The Country Music Association has revealed the honorees for the 13th CMA Triple Play Awards, which celebrate songwriters who have earned three No. 1 songs within a 12-month period based on the Billboard Country Airplay, Billboard Hot Country Songs, and Country Aircheck charts.
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This year’s 16 honorees are Rhett Akins, Kurt Allison, Luke Combs, Jesse Frasure, Nicolle Galyon, Ashley Gorley (who contributed to six chart-topping hits during the 12-month period), Charlie Handsome, Michael Hardy, Ben Johnson, Tully Kennedy, Shane McAnally, Chase McGill, Thomas Rhett, Ernest Keith Smith, Josh Thompson and Morgan Wallen.
All of this year’s honorees will be feted during a ceremony to be held Wednesday, March 1 at Saint Elle in Nashville, and hosted by CMA Board member Jim Beavers.
Gorley will receive his 19th and 20th CMA Triple Play awards during the upcoming ceremony, while first-time CMA Triple Play award recipients this year are Allison, Handsome, Johnson and Kennedy.
In addition to honoring songwriters for crafting some of the year’s most-popular compositions, the CMA Triple Play Awards ceremony will honor longtime songwriter champion and Jody Williams Songs founder Jody Williams with the CMA Songwriter Advocate award.
This accolade recognizes an individual who has dedicated their life to supporting and advancing the art of songwriting and the careers of songwriters. The honoree accepting this award must have positively impacted and contributed to the growth of songwriting in country music over the course of several years, and has proven their unprecedented historical impact on the songwriting community.
“Being honored by the CMA with this award is the cherry on top of the incredible experience I have had serving on the CMA board,” Williams said via a statement. “Nashville’s songwriters have blessed me with a fulfilling career. I’m extremely grateful.”
For more than four decades, Williams has supported, uplifted and aided numerous songwriters, both during his tenure as the head of creative at BMI, as well as his time spent with both major publishers and at his own companies. Just a few of the songwriters and writer-artists Williams has supported over the years are Liz Rose, Ashley McBryde, Eric Church, Vince Gill, Maren Morris, Jeffrey Steele, Josh Turner, Carrie Underwood, Brooks & Dunn, Taylor Swift, Natalie Hemby and Alison Krauss.
See the honorees for this year’s CMA Triple Play Awards, as well as the songs they are being honored for, below:
Rhett Akins“To Be Loved By You,” recorded by Parker McCollum“Slow Down Summer,” recorded by Thomas Rhett“Half Of Me,” recorded by Thomas Rhett featuring Riley Green
Kurt Allison“Blame It On You,” recorded by Jason Aldean“If I Didn’t Love You,” recorded by Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood“Trouble With A Heartbreak,” recorded by Jason Aldean
Luke Combs“Cold As You,” recorded by Combs“Doin’ This,” recorded by Combs“The Kind Of Love We Make,” recorded by Combs
Jesse Frasure“Whiskey And Rain,” recorded by Michael Ray“One Mississippi,” recorded by Kane Brown“Slow Down Summer,” recorded by Thomas Rhett
Nicolle Galyon“Gone,” recorded by Dierks Bentley“half of my hometown,” recorded by Kelsea Ballerini“Thought You Should Know,” recorded by Morgan Wallen
Ashley Gorley“Sand In My Boots,” recorded by Morgan Wallen“Beers On Me,” recorded by Dierks Bentley featuring BRELAND and HARDY“You Proof,” recorded by Morgan Wallen“Slow Down Summer,” recorded by Thomas Rhett“Take My Name,” recorded by Parmalee“New Truck,” recorded by Dylan Scott
Charlie Handsome“I Love My Country,” recorded by Florida Georgia Line“More Than My Hometown,” recorded by Morgan Wallen“Wasted On You,” recorded by Morgan Wallen
Michael Hardy“Single Saturday Night,” recorded by Cole Swindell“Sand In My Boots,” recorded by Morgan Wallen“Beers On Me,” recorded by Dierks Bentley featuring BRELAND and HARDY
Ben Johnson“Take My Name,” recorded by Parmalee“Best Thing Since Backroads,” recorded by Jake Owen“New Truck,” recorded by Dylan Scott
Tully Kennedy“Blame It On You,” recorded by Jason Aldean“If I Didn’t Love You,” recorded by Jason Aldean“Trouble With A Heartbreak,” recorded by Jason Aldean
Shane McAnally“half of my hometown,” recorded by Kelsea Ballerini“23,” recorded by Sam Hunt“Never Wanted To Be That Girl,” recorded by Ashley McBryde and Carly Pearce
Chase McGill“Waves,” recorded by Luke Bryan“Never Say Never,” recorded by Cole Swindell and Lainey Wilson“Don’t Think Jesus,” recorded by Morgan Wallen
Thomas Rhett“Country Again,” recorded by Thomas Rhett“Slow Down Summer,” recorded by Thomas Rhett“She Had Me At Heads Carolina,” recorded by Cole Swindell
Ernest Keith Smith“Breaking Up Was Easy In The 90’s,” recorded by Sam Hunt“One Mississippi,” recorded by Kane Brown“Wasted On You,” recorded by Morgan Wallen
Josh Thompson“Whiskey And Rain,” recorded by Michael Ray“Wasted On You,” recorded by Morgan Wallen“Half Of Me,” recorded by Thomas Rhett
Morgan Wallen“Wasted On You,” recorded by Wallen“Thought You Should Know,” recorded by Wallen“You Proof,” recorded by Wallen
After seeing viral success in the two weeks of its release, Miley Cyrus‘ “Flowers” has received the country treatment. On Monday (Jan. 30), Lauren Alaina gave the song a spin while performing a vocal warm-up backstage before a concert and shared it to her Instagram.
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“We’re backstage at the Ryman [Auditorium], and Tico and I thought we would warm up by singing a little Miley Cyrus,” the country singer says with a wink before launching into a powerful, twang-filled rendition of the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping track. “Why acoustic when you can acousTICO?!” Alaina playfully captioned the post.
“I can buy myself flowers/ Write my name in the sand/ Talk to myself for hours/ Say things you don’t understand/ I can take myself dancing/ And I can hold my own hand/ Yeah, I can love me better than you can,” Alaina belts during her warm-up.
Released on Jan. 12, Cyrus’ “Flowers” debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100, and is currently holding the spot in its second week on the chart. The track marks Cyrus’ first track to ever debut at No. 1 over her 15-year career, and her second track to crown the Hot 100 behind 2013’s “Wrecking Ball.”
The pop star took to social media to thank fans for the song’s success in the first two weeks of its release. “Celebrating ‘Flowers’ being #1 around the world again this week,” she tweeted. “I love that this record is connecting in such a positive way & it’s a pleasure to continue creating music for you. These milestones are only made possible by the listeners & my incredible fans. Endlessly thankful.”
Listen to Alaina sing “Flowers” below.
Brad Pitt has a shelf full of awards and enough big screen highlights to spread across four careers. So when Shania Twain took away a tiny little bragging right embedded in her 1998 single “That Don’t Impress Me Much” during her performance at December’s 2022 People Choice Awards, well, that didn’t impact him much.
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One of the highlights of her performance — which included her breakthrough 1995 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Any Man of Mine,” her crossover late-’90s pop smashes “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” and “Impress,” as well as her latest single “Waking Up Dreaming” — was when the pink-haired singer swapped the famous spoken-word “Brad Pitt” line from “Impress” for a fellow Canadian star.
“OK, so you’re Ryan Reynolds!/ That don’t impress me much,” she said sassily as the cameras cut to the surprised Deadpool star, who was on hand to accept the People’s Icon award later in the evening. Reynolds mouthed, “Oh my God, me?!” from the audience.
During a new interview to promote his new film Babylon with the Movie Dweeb site, host Daniel Merrifield complimented director Damien Chazelle on the all-star film that tells the story of debauchery in the transition from silent to talkie films in the 1920s. He also jokingly said the only thing that would have made the soundtrack better is if it had featured Twain’s Pitt/Reynolds-hyping tune.
Pitt, 59, had a laugh about the celebrity crush swap during the chat when asked if he’d seen the moment and was then asked to look at a screenshot of Reynolds’ shocked reaction from the broadcast. “And I want you to tell him how you think he stole your thunder,” Merrifield said to Pitt.
“He didn’t steal it,” Pitt said confidently. “I think we can share the wealth there. Yeah, Ryan’s a good egg, too. He deserves some love.” In fact, Pitt helpfully suggested that next time Twain should update it again and swap in Golden Globe-winning Elvis star Austin Butler. “Maybe Leo [DiCaprio] in between, and then Austin Butler,” he added, shouting out his pal and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood co-star. Sadly, though, despite Merrifield’s suggestion, Pitt said the host and Chazelle aren’t likely to get in the mix anytime soon.
Check out Merrifield’s TikTok below.
What could’ve been. Shania Twain opened up in a new interview with Apple Music on Tuesday (Feb. 1) about the time she almost worked with Prince before his death.
“I missed out on that because Prince called me when I got divorced,” the country icon tells Zane Lowe in a clip shared exclusively with Billboard. “We’re on the phone and he said, ‘Shania, why don’t you come to Paisley Park? I want to make the next Rumors album with you.’”
“And that was the weirdest thing he could have ever have said,” she continued, “because Mutt [Lange], his standard of what he thought, of what I could live as a standard was that album, Rumors album. And he said that to me. So when Prince said that to me, I’m like … ‘This is way too ironic what you’re saying.’ Right? And I’m such a major Prince fan.”
However, Twain admitted she found herself “too insecure to go and get with Prince in the studio” because she was still in the process of finding her voice after splitting from Lange, who was not only her husband of 15 years, but also her longtime producer and collaborator on smash albums such as 1997’s Come on Over and its 2002 follow-up, Up!
On their phone call, Prince also laid out some ground rules for his would-be studio time with Twain — namely that there was no swearing allowed at Paisley Park.
“So that was another strike,” Twain joked. “I’m like, ‘Oh no, I love you so much, but I don’t think I could get through writing and recording an album without swearing, somewhere along the way! What are you going to do to me if I swear? I might have to stand in the corner or something.’ I wasn’t sure about that. I don’t think I was ready for what all that was going to mean for me. I didn’t give up on it or anything, but then he died.”
This weekend, the singer — who just dropped her galloping new single “Giddy Up!” — is set to serve as a presenter at the 2023 Grammy Awards along with the likes of Cardi B, Viola Davis, Olivia Rodrigo, Dwayne Johnson and more.
Watch Twain recall her fortuitous missed connection with His Royal Badness below.
Two sets start atop Billboard’s rock album charts dated Feb. 4, as HARDY’s The Mockingbird & the Crow and Måneskin’s Rush! open atop the lists.
HARDY’s Crow, a hybrid between the country and rock genres, debuts at No. 1 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Hard Rock Albums tallies with 55,000 equivalent album units earned Jan. 20-26, according to Luminate. Of that sum, 34,000 units are from streaming and 20,000 via album sales.
The former total is the best for any title on Top Hard Rock Albums since it adopted a consumption methodology in 2017, while Crow’s overall unit count is the biggest on the chart since Slipknot’s The End, So Far bowed with 59,000 units (Oct. 15, 2022).
Crow is HARDY’s first No. 1 on each chart, achieved in his first appearance on each (as his previous albums were more fully within the country genre). It’s also his first Top Country Albums ruler, surpassing the No. 4 debut and peak of A Rock in 2020.
On the all-format Billboard 200, Crow bows at No. 4, becoming HARDY’s first top 10. Its predecessor, A Rock, reached No. 24.
Meanwhile, Måneskin’s Rush! starts at No. 1 on the Top Alternative Albums chart with 18,000 units earned. It’s the Italian rockers’ first leader in their first appearance.
The set also begins at Nos. 2, 4 and 4 on the Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts, respectively.
It’s the band’s first top 20 title on the Billboard 200, beginning at No. 18.
Tracks from both new sets concurrently rank on the multimetric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, paced by HARDY’s “Radio Song,” featuring A Day to Remember’s Jeremy McKinnon, at No. 25. In the latest tracking week, “Radio” earned 2.3 million official U.S. streams and sold 1,000 downloads.
Seven songs from HARDY’s Crow appear on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, with “Radio” followed by “Jack” at No. 27.
Måneskin’s Rush!, meanwhile, boasts an appearance in “The Loneliest,” which lifts 40-34 with 2.3 million radio audience impressions and 1.9 million streams. Prior to the album’s arrival, two cuts included on Rush! reached Hot Rock & Alternative Songs: “Supermodel” (No. 13 peak last July) and “Mammamia” (No. 21, October 2021).
“Loneliest” is the current radio single from Rush!, concurrently charting at its No. 6 best on Alternative Airplay. Crow’s current rock radio single, “Jack,” ranks at its No. 11 high on Mainstream Rock Airplay. The latter’s country single, “Wait in the Truck,” featuring Lainey Wilson, likewise holds the No. 11 spot, its top rank so far, on Country Airplay.
After two pandemic-induced years of touring shutdowns, the return of the Country Music Association’s annual celebration feting country music’s touring industry was rung in with a heightened sense of joy and gratitude. On Monday evening (Jan. 30), members of country music’s touring elite gathered at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works for the much-anticipated event.
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“After two years away, we are glad to be back,” said CMA CEO Sarah Trahern in welcoming the industry members. “The touring industry was one of the hardest hit during the pandemic, and the individuals in this room know that better than anyone. In the midst of some really tough times as we all gather, I’m continually amazed at the resilience and passion that shine through from the people in this room, which I think is a true testament to how much you all recognize and value the power of music.” Trahern added that as touring ramped back up, the folks being saluted “didn’t miss a beat. You picked up right where we left off and delivered some of the biggest, most engaging tours we’ve ever seen. All of you continue to move the ball forward for country music, and I and all at the CMA are forever grateful for you.”
Twelve-time CMA Award winner and two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Keith Urban hosted the festivities. Following the evening, he told Billboard what the celebration of touring means to him. “It’s all about them, not the artists they work with,” he said of the evening. “It feels right. I’m so glad the CMA started this nine years ago. I was honored to be here to do this.”
Members from the touring organizations of Kenny Chesney, Luke Combs and Dierks Bentley took home the lion’s share of the award wins during the evening. Members honored from Bentley’s team were Chris Reade (lighting director of the year) and fiddle player Dan Hochhalter (touring musician of the year). The win represented a full-circle moment for Hochhalter, who was nominated in the same category as one of his heroes: Jimmy Mattingly, fiddle player for Garth Brooks.
“This is crazy,” Hochhalter said. “Back in 1998, I was a 16-year-old kid obsessed with country music. I got tickets to a Garth Brooks show and saw this guy shredding fiddle and electrifying the audience. I wanted to be that guy, so to be nominated in this category is crazy.” He also thanked Bentley for supporting his entire road family during the height of the pandemic. “You have done a lot for me and my family, especially when the world shut down and he did so much to [make sure] we knew we still had a job.”
Make Wake Artists’ Chris Kappy, who has guided Luke Combs’ career toward becoming a two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner, was named manager of the year.
“Seven years ago I moved to Nashville and met a young songwriter who was playing chicken wing restaurants named Luke Combs and started driving the van for him: selling merch, mixing ears, loading in and loading out… and came very close to going broke and insane,” Kappy recalled in accepting his honor. He added, “I get to look around this room now and see the amazing camp of Luke Combs’ team over here, and my team at Make Wake, and the amazing people that get to bring music to fans every night. We get the opportunity to let people escape from their worlds and from their cubicles and from the mundane things they have to go through … none of that happens without the people in this room. You are the superheroes, you are the great people who do this. Thank you for everything that you do.”
Additional members of the Combs touring crew that were recognized with CMA Touring Award wins were Tyler Hutcheson (tour video director of the year), Michael Zuehsow (monitor engineer of the year) and Jerry Slone (production manager of the year).
In Chesney’s camp, winners included John Stalder (coach/truck driver of the year), David Farmer (tour manager of the year), Jill Trunnell (tour videographer/photographer of the year) and Robert Scovill (front of house engineer of the year).
Farmer gave thanks to Chesney’s longstanding touring crew, saying the loyalty and camaraderie there is “a testament to Kenny and the culture he’s created, and I hope I can keep cultivating it.” He ended with what has become a mantra among Chesney’s touring family and longtime fans, leading members of Chesney’s touring crew in shouting, “Who lives like we do? We do!”
Essential Broadcast Media’s Ebie McFarland was named publicist of the year. The Essential Broadcast Media PR roster also includes Chesney, George Strait, Miranda Lambert, Eric Church, Morgan Wallen, and Ashley McBryde. Live Nation’s Brian O’Connell was named talent buyer/promoter of the year. O’Connell previously earned the CMA Touring Awards’ lifetime achievement award in 2018.
In his acceptance speech Monday evening, O’Connell shared the quote, “No individual whistles a symphony.” He added, “I have two symphonies: my staff and everybody in this room. I love this event. We usually see each other in parking lots.” (The last bit drew laughter from the room.)
He also nodded to the overall touring community, saying, “David [Farmer] works with Kenny, Kenny is an AEG client, but we are all together on the road. We all know what we go through. This trophy, this honor, will always be very close to my heart, and everybody in this room will be close to my heart, because nobody really knows what we really do out there — for good or for bad, mostly for good … In my mind everybody on this piece of paper [the nominees] are talent buyer/promoter of the year.”
Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium was named venue of the year. Talent agent of the year went to Austin Neal, who last year launched The Neal Agency, home to artists including Wallen, Bailey Zimmerman, HARDY, Ernest and more.
“I did not prepare a speech, because [WME’s] Jay Williams and Joey Lee were in the same category, as well as [WME’s] Nate Towne and [Wasserman Music’s] Mike Betterton — a lot of people that I look up to and have learned a lot from in this business. I’d like to thank my artists and their teams for supporting us and being crazy enough to go and start a little agency last year … it’s been a crazy year coming out of COVID … and here’s to another great year.”
Sarah Trahern, John Huie, Keith Urban, and Tiffany Kerns at the 2022 CMA Touring Awards on Monday, January 30, 2023 at Marathon Music Works in Nashville.
Hunter Berry/CMA
During the evening, Urban also shared that he knows well the hustle, determination and stamina involved in being on the road day in and day out.
“I only had one day job and it was working at a lighting company called East Coast Lighting in Brisbane, Australia,” he said. “We rented out lighting to bands. That was my day job and a band wanted me to join their band in case their guitar player didn’t show up one night. They didn’t have a job for me, so they hired me as their lighting operator, thinking I can watch the show every night and if one night he doesn’t show up, I can miraculously get up there and play. I quit my job at East Coast Lighting and became a lighting roadie. We were playing five nights per week. The crew would come pick me up, we’d cram in the front of this truck, drive to the club we were playing at, unload the truck, set all the stuff up, and at about 7:00 I would get changed and I was the opening act.
He went on to recount how he “would play 30 to 40 minutes then get changed and get behind the desk, operate lights, at the end of the night, pack it all up and get home about 2:00 in the morning and do it all again the next day. I did this week after week, hoping one day this idiot wouldn’t show up. And sure enough, one night he did not show up, and I got to get onstage and play [with the band]. Because of what I did for so long with my brothers on the road, I have enormous respect for all of the crews.”
Another sweet moment was the onstage remembrance of Randy “Baja” Fletcher, the inaugural recipient of the CMA Touring Awards’ lifetime achievement award and the production manager for Urban. Following Fletcher’s passing in 2021, his daughter Natalie joined Urban’s tour. Natalie took the stage to share a remembrance of her father and how being on the road impacted her. Backstage following the event, Urban shared with Billboard of Natalie joining the tour, “It was this divine intervention. We lose Baja and there is no one like him, and suddenly Natalie is there, representing every part of his personality and sunny disposition. It was like this continuation with her on the road. It was healing for us, and it was healing for her and that spirit was as strong as it was with Baja.”
The evening concluded with the presentation of the CMA Touring Awards’ lifetime achievement honor to CAA Music Nashville’s John Huie. During his career, Huie helped break artists/bands including R.E.M, The Police and Joan Jett, and revamped Christian music touring while working with artists including Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith. He has also worked with a who’s-who of country music artists, from Carrie Underwood to Faith Hill to Zac Brown Band.
A video montage featured artists including Grant, Smith, Jett, Lady A and Brown, all commenting on the impact he has made in their careers. Grant thanked Huie for “finding the best stages for me for almost 40 years,” while Lady A’s Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood and Hillary Scott thanked Huie for being an “honest champion” for their career.
Taking the stage, Huie thanked his wife of 37 years for her support, as well as many of those he has worked with along the way, and praised former CMA Touring Awards lifetime achievement honorees, including Tony Conway and O’Connell. He also noted that the first concert he attended, when he was 9 years old, was on Aug. 18, 1965 to see the Beatles. “Best gift my mom ever gave me,” he said. He recalled teaming with Ron Baird to launch CAA’s Nashville office, as well as working with Richard Lovett.
CAA Music Nashville Co-Head John Huie receives the CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 CMA Touring Awards at Marathon Music Works in Nashville on Monday, Jan. 30.
Hunter Berry/CMA
“Richard’s big thing is, ‘Take care of each other, associates first and good things will happen.’ I still today think, ‘Take care of the people you work with day in and day out and good things will happen,’” Huie said.
Huie also paid tribute to the late Ron Baird (“God bless Ron Baird, who passed away from Parkinson’s. It was a special time with Ron, Rod [Essig] and myself. We know Ron’s here in spirit as well”) and gave a special shoutout to Urban (“You talk about sustainability and fighting the fight, how hard he’s worked to become a successful artist … he did whatever it took to be successful, and those are the guys you want to root for.”) And finally, he closed with a tribute to his extended musical families.
“I do want to say that the family is the key to everything. Not only the CMA family, but the country music family. The CMA family, what Sarah [Trahern] has done in running that operation and Tiffany [Kerns] has done with the foundation — can you imagine the Rock Music Association? The Pop Music Association? You’d never get anybody in the room to agree on anything. But they created an organization where we drop our guard and bring our best selves to the table and make this industry better, not only for the consumer, but for each other and for the world. Thank you so much for this, it means the world to me.”
See the full list of CMA Touring Awards winners below:
Business manager of the year: Stephanie Mundy-Self – Farris, Self & Moore, LLCPublicist of the year: Ebie McFarland (Essential Broadcast Media)Manager of the year: Chris Kappy (Make Wake Artists)Venue of the year: Ryman AuditoriumTouring musician of the year: Dan Hochhalter (Dierks Bentley)Tour videographer/photographer: Jill Trunnell (Kenny Chesney)Tour video director of the year: Tyler Hutcheson (Luke Combs)Lighting director of the year: Chris Reade (Dierks Bentley)Production manager of the year: Jerry Slone (Luke Combs)Tour manager of the year: David Farmer (Kenny Chesney)Talent agent of the year: Austin Neal (The Neal Agency)Coach/truck driver of the year: John Stalder (Kenny Chesney)FOH (front of house engineer of the year: Robert Scovill (Kenny Chesney)Monitor engineer of the year: Michael Zuehsow (Luke Combs)Talent buyer/promoter of the year: Brian O’Connell (Live Nation Nashville)
Dierks Bentley will rally the crowd with a headlining set prior to the 65th Daytona 500 race on Feb. 19 at Daytona International Speedway.
“I’m ready to get back to Daytona with all the biggest NASCAR fans,” 14-time Grammy nominee Bentley said via a press release. “The energy there is unmatched and I know we will have a blast getting them ready for the race.”
Bentley has history with Daytona, previously performing at the 2011 Daytona 500 and during Speedweeks in 2009. He also played prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway in 2021.
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“We’re honored to welcome Dierks back to the World Center of Racing,” Daytona International Speedway president Frank Kelleher said via a statement. “Having an entertainer who knows how to start a party, preforming at the 65th DAYTONA 500 and kicking off NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season, is a combination fit for a fantastic Sunday.”
The concert will take place on pit road, and will be visible from the grandstands, but fans with a UNOH Fanzone Pass can watch Bentley’s set up close. A special VIP add-on is available for fans who want an exclusive view of the concert in an area next to the stage. The Fanzone Pass also grants access to driver and VIP appearances, a look into the NASCAR Cup Series garages, up-close access to driver introductions and more.
Bentley is also gearing up for the release of his 10th album, Gravel & Gold, on Feb. 24. The album includes his recent release, “High Note,” a collaboration with bluegrass-centric musicians including Billy Strings.
Music public relations veteran Jake Basden has been named president at the Jason Owen-led Sandbox Entertainment Group. The news was first reported by Variety.
In his new role, Basden will champion a roster of artists that includes Kacey Musgraves, Kelsea Ballerini, Little Big Town, Midland, Faith Hill, Dan+Shay and actress-singer Kate Hudson. He will also work with Sandbox’s various media and entertainment entities, including the Broadway musical Shucked, which premieres this spring.
“Jake is the sort of star executive who recognizes this is not a business of boxes and lanes,” said Owen, Sandbox founder and CEO, via a statement. “He is beloved by all and brings elevation to everything he touches. From conceptualizing events to executing campaigns, there’s no one [else] whose vision can see a project from conception through to not just success, but the highest awards recognition for whatever arena they’re in. Sandbox’s incredible team was formed as an entertainment firm whether it meant movies, television, touring or career direction. Jake excels in all of those spaces.”
“There is so much more to a successful launch, whether it’s an artist’s project, a Broadway show or long-term development,” Basden added via a statement. “Perception can define reality, but you have to back it up with solid strategy and execution. The opportunity Jason has provided allows me to both stretch and take topflight people, TV and motion picture platforms to new places. That thrills me because I believe that marketing done as a well-thought-out strategy yields exponential returns. The Sandbox team is comprised of the highest caliber executives whom I have long admired, and I am grateful for the opportunity to join them.”
Basden previously spent 12 years spearheading publicity efforts at Big Machine Label Group, championing artists including Thomas Rhett, Tim McGraw, Lady A, Glen Campbell and former Big Machine artist Taylor Swift. Basden was named senior vp of global communication for BMLG in 2017. He announced his departure from the label group earlier this month.
Basden, a University of Oklahoma graduate, joined Big Machine from the New York offices of public relations firm Edelman, where he served as a director in their sports and entertainment division. Basden’s career accolades to date include being named Country Music Association (CMA) publicist of the year. He was also named PRWeek‘s Young PR Professional of the Year, and was honored as one of the magazine’s “40 Under 40” in 2019.
Morgan Wallen‘s third album is officially on the way. The country star took to his socials on Monday (Jan. 30) to spread the news about his genre-blending upcoming LP, One Thing at a Time.
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Wallen revealed that the album, which contains a whopping 36 tracks — including two songs with features from HARDY and ERNEST — will be released via Big Loud / Mercury / Republic Records on March 3. The announcement also featured the album’s cover art — a photo of him posing in front of his grandmother’s home in Sneedville, Tenn. — and the album’s track list. To celebrate, Wallen will be dropping “Last Night,” “Everything I Love” and “I Wrote the Book” from the album on Monday night. Fans can pre-order the album now.
“This record represents the last few years of my life, the highs and the lows,” the country singer shared in a press release. “It also brings together the musical influences that have shaped me as an artist – country, alternative and hip-hop. There are 36 songs on this album because we just kept exploring with fresh lyrics, music and production ideas and these are the songs that felt right to me. It was a blast to create, and I was so grateful to be back in the studio to lay this out for my fans.”
“I just try to tell it how it is – the good, the bad, the love, the heartbreak. That’s all I know how to do,” Wallen added. “My hope is that this album makes my fans proud; makes ‘em laugh, smirk, cry, and think – just like it did for me.”
One Thing at a Time is the follow-up to 2021’s Dangerous: The Double Album, which spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 and a whopping 92 weeks (so far) atop the Top Country Albums chart. This will be Wallen’s first full-length project since he was caught on video saying the N-word in February 2021 and was temporarily suspended by his label and had his music pulled from streaming playlists and radio. He has since apologized and gone on to perform (and pick up prizes) at awards shows and returned to the road.
See Wallen’s album announcement below.
In its 40th week on the chart, Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” tops Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs survey for the first time, lifting from No. 2 to No. 1 on the ranking dated Feb. 4.
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“Orange” accumulated 17.2 million official U.S. streams (up 2%), 4.7 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 5%) and 4,000 downloads sold (up 1%) in the Jan. 20-26 tracking week, according to Luminate.
The song’s 40-frame trip to No. 1 is tied for the fourth-steadiest in the history of the chart, which began in 2009, alongside the rise of Bastille’s “Pompeii” in 2014. The only songs to build support over longer stretches? Glass Animals‘ “Heat Waves” (60 weeks, 2020-21), twenty one pilots‘ “Ride” (47, 2015-16) and Passenger’s “Let Her Go” (43, 2013-14).
Most Time to No. 1 From Debut on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs60 weeks, “Heat Waves,” Glass Animals (first week at No. 1 in 2021)47, “Ride,” twenty one pilots (2016)43, “Let Her Go,” Passenger (2014)40, “Something in the Orange,” Zach Bryan (2023)40, “Pompeii,” Bastille (2014)39, “Hey Look Ma, I Made It,” Panic! at the Disco (2019)39, “Whatever It Takes,” Imagine Dragons (2018)35, “Stressed Out,” twenty one pilots (2016)32, “Ex’s & Oh’s,” Elle King (2015)30, “Feel It Still,” Portugal. The Man (2017)
“Orange” is Bryan’s first No. 1 on the chart. Bryan first made the tally in 2020 with “Heading South,” which eventually peaked at No. 27 in March 2021.
“Orange” concurrently spends its fifth week atop the Hot Country Songs list. On the all-format Billboard Hot 100, it rises 13-11, after reaching No. 10 two weeks earlier. It also bullets at its No. 27 high on Country Airplay with 4.2 million impressions (up 5%).
“Orange” is the lead radio single from American Heartbreak, Bryan’s third studio album and major-label debut, released on Belting Bronco/Warner Records. The set debuted and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 last June 4 and ranks at No. 9 on the latest survey with 23,000 equivalent album units earned. It has earned 1.2 million units to date.
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