Country
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Morgan Wallen ended 2024 on a somewhat somber note with the surprise release of the contemplative ballad “Smile” on Monday (Dec. 30). The song — written by Wallen along with Rocky Block, John Byron, Ernest Keith Smith, Ryan Vojtesak and Luis Witkiewitz — is described in a press release as being a continuation of themes established in the singer’s previous lovelorn singles, “Lies Lies Lies” and “Love Somebody.”
In the accompanying video directed by Justin Clough, Wallen plays himself gearing up to perform on a New Year’s Eve-style broadcast. Sitting nervously in his green room as the announcer teases his set, Wallen stares anxiously at a woman sitting silently across the way before getting his call. Glumly marching to the stage, Wallen appears to tune out the anxious producer’s notes about looking at the camera and remembering to smile. “People will love that,” he says as Wallen seems to ignore him completely.
Introduced as one of the “biggest pop stars in the world,” the host tells viewers that Wallen is gearing up to perform “Love Somebody,” the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single he released in October that is slated for his upcoming fourth studio album. Wallen pulls an Elvis Costello, though, snapping on his Field & Stream baseball hat and staring at the song’s lyrics in the Teleprompter before going rogue and playing “Smile” instead.
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“I can’t remember the last time/ You looked as happy as you did tonight/ Your tipsy friend grabbed that bartender/ Gave him her phone and pulled us over there with her,” he sings over gentle acoustic guitar as the TV show’s crew freaks out about the bait-and-switch while the prompter reads “[OFF SCRIPT].”
Wallen is unbothered, though, crooning the song’s gentle, pleading chorus, “It was good to see you smile/ Girl you know it’s been a while/ It was good to see you smile/ Even if it was just for the picture,” lamenting that after all the good times what’s left is only happy memories caught in photos.
Though it was an unplanned detour, Wallen’s sincerity appears to click, with the network brass turning from exasperated to elated as they watch the viewing numbers spike during the performance. As he sings about capturing a precious moment in time, Wallen’s love comes out to watch the performance, with the two sharing a last, longing look before she walks away.
“Smile” is the third single Wallen has release this year from his as-yet-untitled fourth album, the follow-up to 2023’s Billboard 200 No. 1 double LP One Thing at a Time.
Check out the “Smile” video below.
Kristin Cavallari is dishing on her past romance with Morgan Wallen.
In a teaser for an upcoming episode of Bunnie XO‘s Dumb Blonde podcast, released Sunday (Dec. 26) on TikTok, the 37-year-old actress revealed some spicy details about her brief relationship with the 31-year-old country music star.
“Morgan’s a good guy. He has a big heart, he really does,” Cavallari says in the two-minute clip, following some gentle prodding from host Bunnie.
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The Hills alum then agrees with Bunnie’s description of Wallen as a “playa from the Himalayas.” The host adds, “The amount of women that have sat on my couch who have been with Morgan Wallen is crazy.”
While Cavallari had seemingly confirmed her romance with Wallen earlier this year in a video on social media, she went on to share details about her first time going out with Wallen.
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“The first date that we went on, he was a true gentlemen,” the Very Cavallari star says. “He was like, ‘I’ll pick you up, I’ll pick the place.’ Like, just f—ing handled business. He came and picked me up, he met my kids. My kids were so excited, it was so cute.”
Cavallari shares three children — Camden, 12, Jaxon, 10, and Saylor, 9 — with her ex-husband, former NFL star Jay Cutler.
“He got us a private room, you know he had like his bodyguard and whatnot, dropped me off, kissed me in the rain, and it was like the sweetest thing,” Cavallari continues.
In mid-November, Cavallari appeared to confirm her relationship with Wallen during a viral trend with her best friend, Justin Anderson. The trend had loved ones reveal truths about one another, and in the clip, Cavallari is seen jogging as Anderson, speaking off-camera, says, “Suspect let Morgan Wallen hurt her feelings, and she kept going back.” Cavallari bursts into laughter and covers her mouth, reacting to the playful remark.
In the Dumb Blonde teaser, Cavallari says she and Wallen “hung out thereafter” following the first date and admits he didn’t hurt her feelings as much as he damaged her ego.
“Morgan was the first guy in my entire f—ing life that wasn’t just completely enamored with me. I was like, ‘What in the f— is going on?’ It really threw me,” Cavallari says. “I love having the upper hand, and I felt like with him, I didn’t have the upper hand. It was the only time in my life, so it really f—ed with me.”
She also reveals she wasn’t looking for anything serious at the time. “I was like, I kinda just want a f— buddy in Nashville,” Cavallari says. “He’s a great f— buddy.”
At the end of the clip, Bunnie jokes that Wallen might be reaching out to her husband, country music star Jelly Roll, with a request to never discuss him on the podcast again.
Check out the teaser for Cavallari’s appearance on the Dumb Blonde podcast on TikTok here.
Taylor Swift and Dolly Parton have fans working 9 to 5 trying to figure out if a collaboration between the two blonde country–pop crossover superstars is in the works.
That’s because the “Jolene” singer appears to have given the Eras Tour headliner a “follow” on Instagram, as reported by Uproxx and a number of fan accounts on social media. That tiny movement alone has sparked a wave of speculation that Parton may be gearing up to get in the studio with Swift — or, better yet, that the former might just be featured on the latter’s highly anticipated Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version).
“I’ll never shut up if Queen Dolly is on Debut TV,” one Swiftie tweeted Wednesday (Dec. 25), while another person commented, “IF DOLLY IS ON DEBUT TV I WILL NEVER RECOVER IT WILL BE THE BEST THING THATS EVER HAPPENED.”
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“IF DOLLY IS ON DEBUT TV IM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PERSON I’LL BECOME,” wrote a third fan.
Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version) is one of two re-records — the other being 2017’s Reputation — that Swift has left to release in her Taylor’s Version series, which has found the star dropping revamped versions of her first six albums since 2021. So far, she’s unveiled re-recordings of 2008’s Fearless, 2010’s Speak Now, 2012’s Red and 2014’s 1989.
Released in 2006, the 14-time Grammy winner’s self-titled debut LP marks the most distinctly country-sounding album in her discography — so it only makes sense that she would enlist Parton, one of the genre’s biggest legends, to help out. Swift has previously tapped other stars to duet on From the Vault tracks for her Taylor’s Version projects, including Keith Urban for “That’s When” from Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Phoebe Bridgers for “Nothing New” from Red (Taylor’s Version) and Paramore’s Hayley Williams for “Castles Crumbling” from Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
Plus, Parton and Swift are openly fans of each other. In November 2023, the “Anti-Hero” singer told The Hollywood Reporter, “Dolly is a force of evolution and transformation in our industry, but she does it with such playful levity it almost looks effortless. Her sense of humor and mischief are easily my favorite things about her, because I think it forces the world to reconcile that a woman can be a serious artist and writer who also has raucous fun with it, can make people laugh and be in on every joke.”
“Taylor Swift is amazing what she has done with her career,” Parton said of Swift in an interview with Variety the following September. “I just admire her very much and how she’s handled her business, her personal life and what all she has meant to so many young people. [She’s] been a great inspiration.”
The couple that plays together, stays together. During the Christmas holiday break, Bunnie XO attempted to make some gluten-free biscuits, and the venture turned into a cute and funny moment between the entrepreneur and her husband, country singer Jelly Roll. In a video Bunnie XO posted to Instagram on Christmas Day, the couple playfully pokes fun at Bunnie XO’s seeming lack of baking skills.
BunnieXO wrote over the video, “When you can’t bake to save your life but your hubby requests gluten free biscuits & he knos how terrible they’re about to be.”
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While singing and rocking along to Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the country star gives the Dumb Blonde podcaster a hug as she shapes dough into biscuits and places them on a baking tray.
“These are gonna be awful. Those look like sugar cookies,” he teases with a chuckle as they both laugh.
“Should I make them bigger? I’m not a baker,” she asks Jelly Roll. He responds with a bit of advice: “I’d give them more than an inch. I’d give them an inch and a half.”
Later, Bunnie XO says, “Out of my comfort zone here,” as Jelly Roll teases from off camera, “They look like little sugar cookies!”
Clearly, the couple is having fun together, enjoying the holiday season and spending quality time together.
Jelly Roll has previously opened up about his dedication to his health goals, and his journey to losing more than 100 pounds. While he’s been headlining his The Beautifully Broken Tour this year, Jelly Roll has been staying on track with his lifestyle changes, not only for his career, but for his health. In October, he shared a post on Instagram which showed the “Son of a Sinner” hitmaker’s personal chef detailing the star’s exercise regimen.
“Jelly’s been crushing it,” nutrition coach Ian Larios said in the video, interspersed with clips of the singer working out and performing. “Walking the arenas, playing basketball, boxing. He just surpassed his 100-pound weight loss.”
More recently, Jelly Roll appeared on Dumb Blonde, and the couple talked in-depth about not only his health journey while on tour, but the musician also declared his latest goal of appearing on the cover of Men’s Health magazine in 2026. Meanwhile, not only is Bunnie XO spearheading her popular podcast, but she also recently revealed she has a book set to release in fall 2025.
See Bunnie XO and Jelly Roll’s baking video below:
Hillary Scott and her daughter Eisele Kaye, who released the holiday single “Hard to Wait for Christmas” on Nov. 15 and debuted it live at Nashville’s legendary Grand Ole Opry in December, commemorated the special occasion with a sweet mother-daughter interview led by 11-year-old Eisele on behalf of Billboard Family, for our new Kids Interviewing Their Famous Parents video series. On the eve of Christmas Eve, enjoy their Q&A, filmed backstage at the Opry and premiering in the video above.
Dad Chris Tyrrell, who co-wrote the charming Christmas tune with his wife and daughter, even joins in for an exclusive mini family performance.
It’s “Hard to Wait for Christmas,” even when it’s just two days away. Just ask the mother-daughter duo, who have a whole song about practicing patience and keeping in mind what Christmas means to their family — underneath the dazzle of holiday season gifts and treats.
Eisele leads the convo with Hillary, delving into her mother’s personal Christmas memories from childhood and those that the two have made together with their family of five. (Hillary Scott and Chris Tyrrell have three children, Eisele, Betsy and Emory.)
One fun highlight from their chat is Hillary recalling the best Christmas present she received as a kid, and how magical it felt to be so surprised.
“I was not expecting Santa to bring that,” she says of a big, bewildering Barbie gift that arrived from the North Pole. “Because how in the world could it fit in the sleigh? Somehow it did.”
Hillary, who used to go Christmas caroling around the neighborhood with her family when she was younger, remembers that the first time she got to sing in a studio was for a Christmas record when she was 15. Eisele upheld her mom’s tradition with her first studio experience being vocals on a Christmas song, “Hard to Wait for Christmas” (now available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Amazon Music and YouTube Music).
“I feel like circling back to doing Christmas music now, with you, just feels right,” Hillary tells her daughter in the interview.
“I got to experience it with you for the first time, so it felt new again, which is really exciting — and I got to just stand by and be a proud mom watching you be so comfortable and sing so beautifully in that environment … I mean, I’m proud of [Lady bandmates] Charles [Kelley] and Dave [Haywood], but like, I’m really proud of you, ’cause you’re my girl,” Hillary shares with Eisele.
Two decades ago, Carrie Underwood auditioned for American Idol, during the reality music competition’s fourth season in 2005. Now a multi-award winning, multi-faceted singer, songwriter, entertainer, author and actress, Underwood will return to where it all began next year, as a judge on American Idol, where she will replace former Idol judge Katy Perry.
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On March 9, she will join Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie at the judges’ table, when the American Idol season premiere launches on ABC and streams on Hulu.
A new video previewing the upcoming season shows the moment Underwood stepped into the audition room as a judge for the first time, juxtaposing the moment with footage of Underwood’s American Idol audition in 2005. When Underwood auditioned on American Idol, she performed the Bonnie Raitt classic “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” and auditioned for then-judges Paul Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson.
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“Twenty years ago I was standing on a stage just like this one,” Underwood can be seen saying in the video.
“And now you’re sitting here with us,” Richie replies.
“That’s the power of American Idol,” Bryan adds.
Host Ryan Seacrest then asks, “So, should we save some lives together?”
“Let’s do this,” Underwood replies with a smile.
Since her own win on American Idol, Underwood has earned 16 No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits, as well as eight Grammy trophies and 16 ACM Awards. She’s spearheaded her own Reflection: The Las Vegas residency (which continues through April 2025), released the book Find Your Path, launched the fitness app Fit52, and starred in the show open for NBC’s Sunday Night Football for 12 consecutive seasons. She also launched the SiriusXM channel Carrie’s Country, followed by Carr-dio by Carrie’s Country, and Savior Sunday Daily by Carrie’s Country, both of which stream on the SiriusXM app. Underwood recently made a guest appearance on comedian Nate Bargatze’s holiday special, which aired on CBS.
If there’s one thing Brad Paisley can relate to it’s the mortal fear a performer has when their voice just won’t cooperate after they’ve gone too hard. That’s why when his wife, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley, felt her voice failing at her annual Alzheimer’s Association event in 2022, his first thought was “man, she’s overdone it.’ Because I only had my own experience to deal with,” the singer told People magazine in a cover story.
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“I remember thinking, ‘You are going to be fine. Give a few days and it’ll come back,’” he recalled telling the Father of the Bride star, who said she first noticed her voice pitching higher more than five years ago. Over the next two years, Paisley readily admitted that he “stepped in it so much” during the time when his wife could barely speak above a whisper.
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Paisley leaned into what he knew, or thought he knew, asking Kimberly to project, clear her throat and counseling her to, “‘learn to power through it.” Looking back, though, he’s realized he was “so stupid and naive” to give such advice. As it turns out, a few months after that event, Kimberly was diagnosed with a partially paralyzed vocal cord and had to undergo surgery to correct it.
While his initial tough love tips were not super helpful, Paisley did come up with a fun, somewhat silly solution to Kimberly’s inability to be heard above a whisper, even in her own home. “It was really hard because she would yell upstairs, ‘Hey, boys, come downstairs, dinner’s ready,’” and they could never hear her,” Paisley said of their sons, Huck, 17, and Jasper, 15.
For Christmas, Paisley gave Kimberly a bright pink megaphone she could bust out when she needed to call the boys. “It was one of the kindest things Brad did for me — it was really hilarious and so necessary,” she said. “I started using it immediately. He is so good at keeping me laughing.”
She said the boys also tried to help out, always eager to step in to be a voice for her. She recalled being at events where, if they noticed that someone she wanted to talk to was walking away and she couldn’t call out, they would go fetch them for her. “They’re used to assisting me, which is really sweet,” she said.
In an accompanying video, Kimberly noted that “so much of our personality” is expressed in our voice, especially for an actor/public speaker like her, who uses her voice as part of her “value system.” So, when it wasn’t there, she wondered, “who am I?”
Though she has battled back since her surgery in August, Paisley said it was “heartbreaking” to watch his wife — who “lives to talk to to people” — struggle to be heard. “Seeing her fight to figure it out was amazing. There was never a moment where she was just going to give up. It was inspiring,” he said.
Watch the People magazine cover story interview below.
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Jelly Roll was spotted shaking hands and smiling with president-elect Donald Trump at a UFC match New York City’s Madison Square Garden last month, leading to controversy surrounding the country star’s political opinions. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news However, Jelly cleared the air alongside his wife […]