Country
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Singer/songwriter HARDY, songwriter Ben Johnson and film/TV writer and producer David Alan Johnson are teaming up to give viewers an in-depth look at the industry that works to bring country music to the masses, highlighting songwriters and producers behind some of today’s most impactful country hits. They will executive produce the upcoming docuseries Music Row, […]
Willie Nelson will release his 153rd album, Last Leaf on the Tree, on Nov. 1. The Legacy Recordings LP features a mix of the country icon’s interpretations of songs by Tom Waits, Keith Richards, Beck, the Flaming Lips, Neil Young, and Nina Simone, among others, as well as a handful of tracks written by the singer and his son, Micah Nelson, who also produced the album.
The first single from the collection is a cover of Tom Waits’ “Last Leaf,” a melancholy meditation from Waits’ 2011 Bad As Me album about the autumn of life that speaks to the 91-year-old country icon’s legendarily indefatigable spirit and boundless energy well into his six decade as a performer. “I’m the last leaf on the tree/ The autumn took the rest/ But they won’t take me/ I’m the last leaf on the tree,” Nelson sings in a hushed voice over his signature nylon string guitar strumming in the song that confronts the vicissitudes of aging.
The collection, Nelson’s 76th solo studio album, marks the first time Micah — who performs and produces under the name Particle Kid — has produced one of his dad’s albums, though they have appeared together on family LPs such as 2017’s Willie and the Boys and 2021’s The Willie Nelson Family.
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“It’s an approach that I really love and have used a lot over the years — just throwing the clay down and stepping back, then maybe adding a little more, and then maybe shaving down here, and kind of building the tracks that way,” said Micah, 34, who said he used a “sculptor’s approach” to working on the album on which he played more than a dozen instruments, including guitar, piano and “sticks and branches, logs and dead leaves” according to a press release.
Micah also created the album’s cover illustration and made the animation for the “Last Leaf” video, as well as illustrating the album cover and creating the animation for the “Last Leaf” video along with his wife, Alexandra Dascalu Nelson; in addition to digital, CD and LP versions, Nelson’s webstore will also sell an exclusive, limited-edition version with a lithograph created by Micah.
The choice of “Last Leaf” was fitting according to Micah Nelson, as his dad has not shied away from addressing the unstoppable march of time before as well as facing his own mortality via a series of health scares, including on the title track of his 2018 album Last Man Standing, on which he lamented watching “my pals check out.” Micah said, “there are little side-quests, but that became the through-line — facing death with grace.”
That vibe makes sense given such song selections as Warren Zevon’s bittersweet ode to everlasting love “Keep Me In Your Heart,” as well as another haunting Waits song, “House Where Nobody Lives” and the Lips’ joyful meditation on the preciousness of life, “Do You Realize??” Another track that fits the theme of the fading of the light was chosen by Nelson’s longtime harmonica player, Mickey Raphael, jazz giant Nina Simone’s 1967 song “Come Ye.”
In addition to the Nelsons and Raphael, the album also features guest musicians Daniel Lanois on pedal steel, former Doors drummer John Densmore and Senegalese percussionist Magatte Sow.
Listen to Nelson’s “Last Leaf on the Tree” and see the album’s track list below.
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Last Leaf on the Tree track list:
1. “Last Leaf” (written by Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan)
2. “If It Wasn’t Broken” (written by Sydney Lyndella Ward)
3. “Lost Cause” (written by Beck David Hansen)
4. “Come Ye” (written by Nina Simone)
5. “Keep Me In Your Heart” (written by Warren Zevon & Jorge Calderon)
6. “Robbed Blind” (written by Keith Richards)
7. “House Where Nobody Lives” (written by Tom Waits)
8. “Are You Ready For The Country?” (written by Neil Young)
9. “Do You Realize??” (written by Wayne Coyne/Steven Drozd/Michael Ivins/David Fridmann)
10. “Wheels” (written by Micah Nelson)
11. “Broken Arrow” (written by Neil Young)
12. “Color Of Sound” (written by Willie Nelson & Micah Nelson)
13. “The Ghost” (written by Willie Nelson)
Over the past year, Post Malone has been integrating himself into Nashville’s country music circles, co-writing and recording songs with numerous country artists, writers, producers and musicians in Music City for his upcoming debut country album, F-1 Trillion, out on Friday (Aug. 16).
But on Wednesday night (Aug. 14), he was welcomed into the most prestigious of those circles — the six-foot circle of hardwood, originally part of the stage of the Ryman Auditorium, and which now resides in the middle of the stage at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House, as Post Malone made his Grand Ole Opry debut — and yes, he had some help.
Quite a lot of it, actually.
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Post Malone’s 18-song F-1 Trillion project brims with collaborations with artists including Tim McGraw, Luke Combs, Dolly Parton, Jelly Roll, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Morgan Wallen, ERNEST and Lainey Wilson.
Triple threat singer-songwriter-guitarist Paisley, a Grand Ole Opry member since 2001, took to the stage first with a warm introduction.
“He has a country heart and he is someone who immersed himself in the Nashville way,” Paisley said, while also laying down a challenge: “But you aren’t a country singer until you’ve played this,” Paisley said. He then welcomed Posty, who garnered an instant standing ovation as he walked onstage and stepped into the famous circle, in the process becoming part of the ongoing legacy of the longest-running radio broadcast in history.
“What’s going on Nashville? My name is Austin Richard Post and I’m here to play some songs tonight with some really amazing folks and I’m honored to call them friends,” six-time Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper Malone told the crowd as he joined Paisley.
“I’m terrified and honored to be standing right in this spot. My mom’s here tonight. Brad I remember going to see you [perform] when I was like six. I wanted to say how amazingly grateful and floored I am to have you bring me out tonight and I appreciate you.”
From there, the evening — hosted by WSM Radio’s Kelly Sutton — was a heart-warming mix of music and friendship. It was another Opry member, Vince Gill, who joined Posty for the first song, a rendition of Gill’s 1993 hit “One More Last Chance,” with Paisley also offering up some smooth guitar riffs.
Post Malone, clad in jeans, a white shirt, a blue blazer and cowboy hat, displayed a self-depreciating sense of humor, quipping early in the evening, “I was going for like a K-Mart George Strait [look],” drawing laughs from the audience.
He also noted, “how cool it is to rock out to people that I’ve listened to my whole entire life,” before welcoming John Michael Montgomery to join him on Montgomery’s 1994 hit “Be My Baby Tonight,” trading off high-octane verses and intertwining their voices on the chorus.
“I’m having the freakin’ best time of my life,” Malone said, clearly taking in the experience. He added, “We’ve been here in Nashville for a couple of months, like six or seven months, and I have made so many beautiful friends along the way. I’m so honored to be able to work with my friends.” He then welcomed reigning ACM and CMA entertainer of the year Wilson, who was inducted as an Opry member in June.
“Her heart is bigger than her hat,” he quipped, as she added, “What a special night.”
They debuted a song from F-1 Trillion called “Nosedive” about finding the beauty in the painful moments. The heartfelt ballad elicited cheers from the crowd and marked one of the evening’s more tender moments.
“Welcome to country music, Post Malone. We’re glad to have you!” Wilson said before exiting the stage. Paisley then returned to debut another new F-1 Trillion track, their collaboration “Goes Without Saying.”
“I’m honored to be on your album. This is one of my favorite records I’ve ever cut,” Paisley said, before deadpanning, “We’re going to mess this up. We’ve played this once.”
“Watching Brad growing up, I was always just mind-blown by someone who could play guitar like that,” Posty told the crowd, before telling Paisley, “You are the best living guitar player on the planet and I’m so honored to call you my friend, sir.”
From there, Malone delved into a slice of country-meets-’70s soul with “California Sober” — a song from the new album that features Chris Stapleton. Stapleton wasn’t at the Opry, but Posty welcomed two other stellar vocalists — The War and Treaty’s Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter — to perform the song, their voices soaring and swooping, marking one of the evening’s most musically-rousing moments.
“It’s unreal how y’all sound,” Malone told them.
Post Malone is known to drop a few curse words during his shows, but given that the Grand Ole Opry is also a radio broadcast, he did his best to keep things clean. In introducing The War and Treaty, he said, “I recently made some friends and I’m so honored to know these people and they can sing their a–es off,” before quickly asking, “That’s not a cuss, right? It’s in the Bible, right?”
He then closed by performing a solo version of his multi-week Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper, the Morgan Wallen collab “I Had Some Help,” before ending his set with a countrified, fiddle-laden version of his 2019 hit “Sunflower.”
The audience members swiftly rose to their feet to cheer and applaud, making it all but certain that given the audience’s approving reception, this could be but the first of many Opry performances for Texas native Malone.
In 2003, Josh Turner made his first foray onto Billboard’s Country Airplay chart with “Long Black Train,” a musical allegory of thwarting spiritual temptation that Turner was inspired to write while a student at Nashville’s Belmont University, after spending a night among dusty library book stacks, imbibing a 10-disc box set of Hank Williams Sr. songs. Turner’s bourbon-smooth, commanding bass voice immediately demanded the country music industry’s attention.
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Roughly two decades later, the title track and cornerstone of his 10th studio album This Country Music Thing, out Friday (Aug. 16) on UMG Nashville, takes stock of the South Carolina native’s career since then: a quartet of No. 1 Country Airplay hits including “Your Man” and “Would You Go With Me,” membership into the Grand Ole Opry, and a string of nominations from the Grammys, CMA Awards, and ACM Awards.
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When Turner and producer Kenny Greenberg began working on the album, the title track was the first Greenberg wanted for the project.
“I was surprised that Kenny wanted to put it on the record,” Turner tells Billboard, seated in a conference room at UMG Nashville. “I was like, ‘It’s kind of braggadocious on my part,’ and he was like, ‘That’s what I love about it. It’s like a rap song, kind of like, “Look at what I’ve done.’”
“I’ve always wanted longevity in this business,” Turner adds. “I feel like I have a lot of gas left in the tank, but it’s cool where I’m at because I can not only look forward, but I can look and see what I’ve accomplished. It’s far beyond what I imagined growing up. Nashville’s been good to me. I always say the music’s been good to me and I try to be good back to it.”
Amidst the scope of burnished love songs that Turner has made his calling card, the title track and a few others from the new album delve deeper into his journey.
Though Turner lived in Nashville for 25 years, his new album’s opening track, “Down in Georgia,” nods to his family’s recent relocation to Georgia.
“It was hard to leave,” Turner says. “This is where I went to school. It’s where I got my record deal, where I met my wife [Jennifer] and we had our four boys. But on the other hand, I just felt like I needed a change of scenery and I’ve just watched the Lord clear a path for that. The bus can still pick me up at my house, and it’s not far from Nashville if I need to drive to the Atlanta airport to fly wherever I need to go. And I have my own space down there to write.”
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The album closes with one of the project’s strongest tracks, another Turner solo write and a tribute to his grandfather, called “Unsung Hero.”
In 2014, Turner drove to South Carolina for a family get-together at his uncle’s home. Turner says that at the time he was diving deeper into the life of his late grandfather—a World War II veteran who had joined the Army in 1942– and he knew his uncle had once had possession of Turner’s grandfather’s Purple Heart.
“I was digging into my granddaddy’s story, because when he was living, he never really talked about it. He got shipped off to Europe where his medical battalion followed a tank battalion around France and Germany. So I asked my uncle if I could see my grandfather’s Purple Heart and he showed me all the stuff he kept—and he couldn’t find the Purple Heart,” Turner says with a slight chuckle. “I just wanted to strangle him right then and there—how do you lose a Purple Heart?”
Of the items his uncle had, a form letter from President Truman thanking Turner’s grandfather for his service stood out.
“It just sat in a dresser drawer his whole life. He never got rid of it, but he lived for decades after the war and raised a family. I’d never heard him utter a word about any of it,” Turner says. “I started writing one day and it just started flowing out of me—it just meant a lot that I could do a tribute like that to him publicly.”
Throughout his career, Turner has also paid homage to his musical forebears, featuring John Anderson, Ralph Stanley, and Diamond Rio on his sophomore album, and artists including Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart on 2012’s Punching Bag. On his new project, the title track features Turner singing snippets of classic songs including Anderson’s “Seminole Wind,” Randy Travis’ “Diggin’ Up Bones,” Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5,” and the Conway Twitty/Loretta Lynn collaboration “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man.”
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The upcoming Peter Zavadil-produced music video for another album cut, “Two Steppin’ on the Moon,” features artists who had their own “Moon” hits. Originally, the video treatment involved having Brooks & Dunn’s Ronnie Dunn sitting in a corner of a bar by himself in homage to B&D’s “Neon Moon” clip. When Brooks & Dunn couldn’t make the video shoot due to scheduling, he featured Travis (“Honky Tonk Moon”), The Gatlin Brothers (“Talkin’ to the Moon”), Anderson (“Mississippi Moon”), and Shenandoah’s Marty Raybon (“Moon Over Georgia”), all gathered around a table and discussing music and life.
“It was one of those moments where it’s like, ‘Okay, I’ve made it,’” Turner says. “I was literally just telling myself, ‘Just appreciate this moment, because I may never get this moment again.’ Just having all those guys together, sitting around a table and cutting up, knowing that it was in a music video is something that I’ll be able to cherish for years because you never know how much time these guys have left.”
Over the past 20 years, music fans’ avenues for consuming music have shifted dramatically with the rise of streaming and social media, which has impacted terrestrial radio. Turner hasn’t released a single to country radio since promoting his 2017 album Deep South; over the past few years, he’s released a gospel album, a holiday album, and a project of country music covers. He doesn’t have a song from his new album at country radio at present.
“My mindset [about radio] from early on in my career is that I don’t want the [label radio] promo department telling me how to make a record, and I don’t want to tell them how to promote a record at radio,” Turner says. “About 98% of the time, I’ve let them make the choice on what song needs to be the single.”
“The business has changed, and we’ve found ways to have success without having to bend over backward to country radio, which is a great thing,” Turner continues. “I feel like over the years, country radio had been given way too much control. I think they have a huge place in our business, but to have the control and say that they’ve had for so long — I think it wasn’t balanced. I’m glad there are ways artists can succeed without having to go through one gate, because that doesn’t work for everybody, and there are a lot of fans out there with different tastes and opinions.”
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At this junction in his career arc, the 46-year-old Turner has established himself as an artist whose commercial success has translated into an enduring impact on generations of artists who have followed in his footsteps—and with the spectrum of country music as open as ever, he’s bullish on several artists’ music.
“I just inducted Scotty McCreery into the Opry and I’m very proud of the way he’s carried himself. Lainey Wilson’s just knocking down doors and blazing a trail. Drake Milligan’s good, and Cody Johnson’s keeping it traditional and staying true to who he is as an artist. I respect that, and that’s what we need — instead of artists who do everything their label tells them to do. I feel like those artists end up having a lot of regrets, and I’ve heard them voice those regrets in the past, too. I don’t ever want to be in that position where I release so much control and so much of the decision-making to somebody else that I’m not happy with the result.”
As Post Malone prepares to release his country album F-1 Trillion on Friday, country artists who have worked with him on the album and other projects are singing his praises.
“He’s the real deal,” says Keith Urban, who sang Elvis Presley’s 1959 hit “Baby, What You Want Me to Do” with Post Malone on a 2019 NBC special in one of Post Malone’s first appearances with a country artist. It’s a sentiment shared by others who have worked with him.
The new Mercury/Republic set, produced by Charlie Handsome and Louis Bell, features duets with several country stars, including Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Chris Stapleton, Brad Paisley, Jelly Roll and Morgan Wallen, whose collaboration, “I Had Some Help,” topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and Country Airplay charts. Current single, “Pour Me a Drink,” featuring Blake Shelton, climbs to No. 14 with a bullet on Country Airplay for the chart dated Aug. 17, while the duet with Combs, “Guy For That,” is No. 36.
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HARDY, who duets with Malone on “Hide My Gun” and performed a Joe Diffie tribute with him and Wallen at last year’s CMA Awards, says the singer approached making a country album “the right way … He spent months and months of his time in Nashville and immersed himself into the songwriting world and put together a really great record that is amazing.””
“I just want to hang out, have a beer, listen to your ideas,” Post Malone told the New York Times, describing how he approaches collaborations. “I feel like there’s a lot of people set in their ways. I just want to make the song work in the best way for the song.”
The only drawback for some of his writing partners? His late night hours. In a December interview, Wallen confessed that Post Malone’s studio hours were hard for him. “[He] likes to write really, really late at night — and I can’t do that three nights in a row. I can do that one night,” he says with a laugh. “I can start about 5 p.m., but starting at 10 p.m. — that’s rough.”
For the last several months, Malone and his collaborators posted photos from writing sessions and snippets of new songs. The Dallas native has also done a series of country-only gigs, including at Stagecoach, a Bud Light-sponsored event in Nashville and, this past weekend, at San Francisco’s Outside Lands festival. On Wednesday (Aug. 14), he makes his Grand Ole Opry debut. A 21-date F-1 Trillion tour kicks off Sept. 8 in Salt Lake City.
At his Outside Lands set on Sunday (Aug. 11), Post Malone performed an endearing, if somewhat shambolic cover of Brooks & Dunn’s 1991 classic “Brand New Man,” where he forgot some of the words. Still, it met the approval of the original duo, who openly admit to being fans.
“We were going back and forth about it [Monday night],” says the duo’s Ronnie Dunn. “[Post Malone] goes, ‘I’m so sorry.’ I said, ‘You’ve killed it man.’ And he said, ‘I started reading some guy’s poster and got off on the track and eight Bud Lights didn’t help.’ He’s as cool as they come.”
Dunn notes what a number of country artists who have worked with Post Malone have observed: he’s a veritable country music jukebox. “You see him step out on stage — at The Bluebird Café and stuff — with his guitar and he sings every song verbatim. I’d have to have cue cards all over the floor, but he knows these country songs. He’s like a savant. He’s sincerely a country music fan.”
In addition to his Grand Ole Opry debut, Wednesday say Post Malone receive four nominations for the People’s Choice Country Awards, including song of 2024 with “I Had Some Help.”
Luke Combs has made a habit out of making history during his near-decade in the spotlight since breaking through with his multi-week No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hit “Hurricane” in 2017. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Now, the two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner has […]
If you weren’t lucky enough to attend last September’s all-star tribute to Bruce Springsteen‘s beloved 1982 solo album Nebraska in Nashville, you’re in luck. The show, Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska: A Celebration in Words and Music will air on PBS on August 31. The first trailer for the special — which is available now on the […]
Zach Bryan and Beyoncé are the leading nominees for the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards, with 19 and 17 nods, respectively. They are followed in the nominations tally by Kacey Musgraves (15), Shaboozey (12), Kane Brown and Morgan Wallen (11 each) and then Luke Combs (10).
Thus, three of the top six nominees are Black, something that would have seemed unlikely at a country music awards show not too many years ago.
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Wallen was the leading nominee for last year’s inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards, with 11 nods, though he received just three awards. Jelly Roll was last year’s top winner, with four awards.
The show has added six new categories this year, all of them song categories: female song, male song, group/duo song, cover song, new artist song and storyteller song.
Nine of this year’s 18 categories are devoted to songs. Six are artist awards and one each are for albums, music videos and concert tours.
Hosted by Shania Twain, the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards will air live Thursday, Sept. 26, at 8 p.m. ET/PT across NBC and Peacock from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. Twain is the only woman in the running for The Concert Tour of 2024. She is nominated for Shania Twain: Come on Over – The Las Vegas Residency – All the Hits!
Three of the eight artists nominated for the top award, The People’s Artist of 2024, are women: Beyoncé, Musgraves and Lainey Wilson. This is up from two women in the finals in this category last year. The five men nominated in the category this year are Brown, Combs, Wallen and Bryan (who were also nominated in this category last year) plus Jelly Roll (who is nominated in this category for the first time).
Bryan has two of the eight nominees for The Song of 2024: “I Remember Everything” (feat. Musgraves) and “Pink Skies.” He also has two of the eight nominees for The Collaboration Song of 2024: “I Remember Everything” (feat. Musgraves) and “Hey Driver” (feat. The War and Treaty).
Beyoncé has two of the eight nominees for The Female Song of 2024: “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ’Em.” She also has two of the eight nominees for The Cover Song of 2024: her updates of The Beatles’ “Blackbiird” and Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.”
Post Malone has two of the eight nominees for The Music Video of 2024: “I Had Some Help” (feat. Wallen) and “Pour Me a Drink” (feat. Blake Shelton). Musgraves has two of the eight nominees for The Storyteller Song of 2024: “Deeper Well” and “Too Good to Be True.”
With 12 nominations, Shaboozey is the likely front-runner to win The New Artist of 2024 (which Jelly Roll won last year). He faces Chase Matthew, Chayce Beckham, Dasha, Koe Wetzel, Nate Smith, Tucker Wetmore and Warren Zeiders.
The show bills itself as “an award show for the people and by the people.” Winners are chosen entirely by the fans. Voting begins now and runs through Friday, Aug. 23, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Fans can vote online at VotePCCA.com. Votes cast on Turbo Tuesday, Aug. 20, from midnight to 11:59 p.m. ET, will count twice, equaling a maximum of two votes per day, per category. (Complete rules can be found here.)
A limited number of show tickets and VIP packages are available now at Opry.com.
The People’s Choice Country Awards are produced by Den of Thieves. Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager and Barb Bialkowski will executive produce, along with RAC Clark as executive producer and showrunner.
A red carpet pre-show, Live From E!: People’s Choice Country Awards, will kick off the night at 6 p.m. ET/PT on E! The pre-show is produced by Den of Thieves with executive producers Ignjatovic, Prager and Bialkowski.
Here are the nominees for the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards. (Last year’s winner in artist categories identified.)
The People’s Artist of 2024
Beyoncé
Jelly Roll
Kacey Musgraves
Kane Brown
Lainey Wilson
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen (2023 winner)
Zach Bryan
The Female Artist of 2024
Beyoncé
Carly Pearce
Dolly Parton
Kacey Musgraves
Kelsea Ballerini
Lainey Wilson (2023 winner)
Megan Moroney
Miranda Lambert
The Male Artist of 2024
Bailey Zimmerman
Chris Stapleton
Cody Johnson
Jelly Roll (2023 winner)
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Zach Bryan
The Group/Duo of 2024
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay (2023 winner)
Old Dominion
Ole 60
The Red Clay Strays
The War and Treaty
Tigirlily Gold
Zac Brown Band
The New Artist of 2024
Chase Matthew
Chayce Beckham
Dasha
Koe Wetzel
Nate Smith
Shaboozey
Tucker Wetmore
Warren Zeiders
The Social Country Star of 2024
Bailey Zimmerman
Beyoncé
Dolly Parton
Jelly Roll
Kelsea Ballerini
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Reba McEntire
The Album of 2024
Cowboy Carter – Beyoncé
Deeper Well – Kacey Musgraves
Fathers & Sons – Luke Combs
Higher – Chris Stapleton
Highway Desperado – Jason Aldean
Leather – Cody Johnson
Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going – Shaboozey
Zach Bryan – Zach Bryan
The Song of 2024
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey (Songwriters: Collins Obinna Chibueze, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Mark Williams, Nevin Sastry, Sean Cook)
“Austin (Boots Stop Workin’)” – Dasha (Songwriters: Adam Wendler, Anna Dasha Novotny, Cheyenne Rose Arnspiger, Kenneth Travis Heidelman)
“I Had Some Help” – Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen (Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Austin Post, Chandler Paul Walters, Ernest Smith, Hoskins, Louis Bell, Morgan Wallen, Ryan Vojtesak)
“I Remember Everything” – Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves (Songwriters: Kacey Musgraves, Zach Bryan)
“Miles on It” – Marshmello & Kane Brown (Songwriters: CASTLE, Connor McDonough, Earwulf, Jake Torrey, Kane Brown, Marshmello, Nick Gale, Riley McDonough)
“Pink Skies” – Zach Bryan (Songwriter: Zach Bryan)
“Texas Hold ‘Em” – Beyoncé (Songwriters: Beyoncé, Brian Bates, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro, Raphael Saadiq)
“Wild Ones” – Jessie Murph feat. Jelly Roll (Songwriters: Feli Ferraro, Gregory Aldae Hein, Jason Deford, Jeff Gitelman, Jessie Murph)
The Female Song of 2024
“16 Carriages” – Beyoncé(Songwriters: Atia Boggs, Beyoncé, Dave Hamelin, Ink, Raphael Saadiq)
“Austin (Boots Stop Workin’)” – Dasha (Songwriters: Adam Wendler, Anna Dasha Novotny, Cheyenne Rose Arnspiger, Kenneth Travis Heidelman)
“Deeper Well” – Kacey Musgraves (Songwriters: Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves)
“Hang Tight Honey” – Lainey Wilson (Songwriters: Driver Williams, Jason Nix, Lainey Wilson, Paul Sikes)
“hummingbird” – Carly Pearce (Songwriters: Carly Pearce, Jordan Reynolds, Nicolle Galyon, Shane McAnally)
“No Caller ID” – Megan Moroney (Songwriters: Connie Harrington, Jessi Alexander, Jessie Jo Dillon, Megan Moroney)
“Texas Hold ‘Em” – Beyoncé (Songwriters: Beyoncé, Brian Bates, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nathan Ferraro, Raphael Saadiq)
“Wranglers” – Miranda Lambert (Songwriters: Audra Mae, Evan McKeever, Ryan Carpenter)
The Male Song of 2024
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey (Songwriters: Collins Obinna Chibueze, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Mark Williams, Nevin Sastry, Sean Cook)
“Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma (From Twisters: The Album)” – Luke Combs (Songwriters: Jessi Alexander, Jonathan Singleton, Luke Combs)
“Bulletproof” – Nate Smith (Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Ben Johnson, Hunter Phelps)
“Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson (Songwriter: Josh Phillips)
“I Can Feel It” – Kane Brown (Songwriters: Gabe Foust, Jaxson Free, Kane Brown, Phil Collins)
“Let Your Boys Be Country” – Jason Aldean (Songwriters: Allison Veltz Cruz, Jaron Boyer, Micah Wilshire)
“Pink Skies” – Zach Bryan (Songwriter: Zach Bryan)
“Take Her Home” – Kenny Chesney (Songwriters: Hunter Phelps, Michael Hardy, Zach Abend)
The Group/Duo Song of 2024
“Break Mine” – Brothers Osborne (Songwriters: John Osborne, Pete Good, Shane McAnally, TJ Osborne)
“Different About You” – Old Dominion (Songwriters: Brad Tursi, Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Zach Crowell)
“For the Both of Us” – Dan + Shay (Songwriters: Andy Albert, Dan Smyers, Jordan Reynolds)
“I Tried a Ring On” – Tigirlily Gold (Songwriters: Josh Jenkins, Kendra Jo Slaubaugh, Krista Jade Slaubaugh, Pete Good)
“Love You Back” – Lady A (Songwriters: Emily Weisband, James McNair, Lindsay Rimes)
“smoke & a light” – Ole 60 (Songwriters: Jacob Ty Young, Justin Eckerd, Ryan Laslie, Tristan Roby)
“Tie Up” – Zac Brown Band (Songwriters: Ben Simonetti, Chris Gelbuda, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Hoge, Zac Brown)
“Wanna Be Loved” – The Red Clay Strays (Songwriters: Dakota Coleman, Matthew Coleman)
The Collaboration Song of 2024
“Blackbiird” – Beyoncé, Brittney Spencer, Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy & Reyna Roberts (Songwriters: John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
“Can’t Break Up Now” – Old Dominion & Megan Moroney (Songwriters: Emily Weisband, Matthew Ramsey, Tofer Brown, Trevor Rosen)
“Chevrolet” – Dustin Lynch feat. Jelly Roll (Songwriters: Chase McGill, Hunter Phelps, Jessi Alexander, Mentor Williams)
“Hey Driver” – Zach Bryan feat. The War and Treaty (Songwriter: Zach Bryan)
“I Remember Everything” – Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves (Songwriters: Kacey Musgraves, Zach Bryan)
“Mamaw’s House” – Thomas Rhett feat. Morgan Wallen (Songwriters: Chase McGill, Matt Dragstrem, Morgan Wallen, Thomas Rhett)
“The One (Pero No Como Yo)” – Carin Leon & Kane Brown (Songwriters: Bibi Marin, Edgar Barrera, Elena Rose, Johan Sotelo, Jonathan Capeci, Julio Ramirez, Kane Brown, Oscar Armando Diaz de Leon)
“you look like you love me” – Ella Langley feat. Riley Green (Songwriters: Aaron Raitiere, Ella Langley, Riley Green)
The Cover Song of 2024
“Blackbiird” – Beyoncé, Brittney Spencer, Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy & Reyna Roberts (Songwriters: John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
“Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other” – Orville Peck & Willie Nelson (Songwriter: Ned Sublette)
“Dancing With Myself” – Maren Morris (Songwriters: Billy Idol, Tony James)
“Jolene” – Beyoncé (Songwriter: Dolly Parton)
“Perfectly Lonely” – Parker McCollum (Songwriter: John Mayer)
“Sun to Me” – mgk (Songwriters: Zach Bryan)
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” – Lana Del Rey (Songwriters: Bill Danoff, John Denver, Taffy Nivert)
“Three Little Birds (Bob Marley: One Love – Music Inspired by the Film)” – Kacey Musgraves (Songwriters: Bob Marley & The Wailers)
The Crossover Song of 2024
“Better Days” – Zach Bryan feat. John Mayer (Songwriter: Zach Bryan)
“Cowboys Cry Too” – Kelsea Ballerini feat. Noah Kahan (Songwriters: Alysa Vanderheym, Kelsea Ballerini, Noah Kahan)
“I Had Some Help” – Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen (Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Austin Post, Chandler Paul Walters, Ernest Smith, Hoskins, Louis Bell, Morgan Wallen, Ryan Vojtesak)
“II Most Wanted” – Beyoncé & Miley Cyrus (Songwriters: Beyoncé, Michael Pollack, Miley Cyrus, Ryan Tedder)
“Lonely Road” – mgk feat. Jelly Roll (Songwriters: Bill Danoff, Brandon Allen, Colson Baker, John Denver, Mary Danoff, Nick Long, Steve Basil, Taffy Nivert Danoff, Travis Barker)
“Midnight Ride” – Kylie Minogue, Orville Peck & Diplo (Songwriters: Christopher Stracey, Kylie Minogue, Marta Cikojevic, Orville Peck)
“Miles on It” – Marshmello & Kane Brown (Songwriters: CASTLE, Connor McDonough, Earwulf, Jake Torrey, Kane Brown, Marshmello, Nick Gale, Riley McDonough)
“My Fault” – Shaboozey feat. Noah Cyrus (Songwriters: Bailey Bryan, Collins Obinna Chibueze, Doug Walters, Nevin Sastry, Noah Cyrus, PJ Harding, Sean Cook)
The New Artist Song of 2024
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey (Songwriters: Collins Obinna Chibueze, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Mark Williams, Nevin Sastry, Sean Cook)
“Austin (Boots Stop Workin’)” – Dasha (Songwriters: Adam Wendler, Anna Dasha Novotny, Cheyenne Rose Arnspiger, Kenneth Travis Heidelman)
“Betrayal” – Warren Zeiders (Songwriters: Ali Tamposi, Blake Pendergrass, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Justin Ebach, Warren Zeiders)
“Bulletproof” – Nate Smith (Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Ben Johnson, Hunter Phelps)
“Devil You Know” – Tyler Braden (Songwriters: Graham Barham, Jon Hall, Sam Martinez, Zack Dyer)
“Sweet Dreams” – Koe Wetzel (Songwriters: Amy Allen, Gabe Simon, Josh Serrato, Ropyr Wetzel, Sam Nelson Harris)
“Tennessee Don’t Mind” – Kameron Marlowe (Songwriters: Charles Kelley, Daniel Tashian)
“Wind Up Missin’ You” – Tucker Wetmore (Songwriters: Chris LaCorte, Thomas Archer, Tucker Wetmore)
The Storyteller Song of 2024
“16 Carriages” – Beyoncé (Songwriters: Atia Boggs, Beyoncé, Dave Hamelin, Ink, Raphael Saadiq)
“Deeper Well” – Kacey Musgraves (Songwriters: Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves)
“Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson (Songwriter: Josh Phillips)
“Pink Skies” – Zach Bryan (Songwriter: Zach Bryan)
“Sorry Mom” – Kelsea Ballerini (Songwriters: Alysa Vanderheym, Hillary Lindsey, Jessie Jo Dillon, Karen Fairchild, Kelsea Ballerini)
“The Little Things” – George Strait (Songwriters: Bubba Strait, George Strait, Monty Criswell)
“The Man He Sees in Me” – Luke Combs (Songwriters: Josh Phillips, Luke Combs)
“Too Good to be True” – Kacey Musgraves (Songwriters: Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk, Anna Nalick, Kacey Musgraves)
The Music Video of 2024
“Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma (From Twisters: The Album)” – Luke Combs
“Austin (Boots Stop Workin’)” – Dasha
“Deeper Well” – Kacey Musgraves
“I Had Some Help” – Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen
“Let It Burn” – Shaboozey
“Lonely Road” – mgk feat. Jelly Roll
“Miles on It” – Marshmello & Kane Brown
“Pour Me a Drink” – Post Malone feat. Blake Shelton
The Concert Tour of 2024
Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour – Luke Combs
Highway Desperado Tour – Jason Aldean
One Night at a Time 2024 – Morgan Wallen
Shania Twain: Come on Over – The Las Vegas Residency – All the Hits! – Shania Twain
Stadium Tour – George Strait
Standing Room Only Tour ‘24 – Tim McGraw
Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour – Kenny Chesney
The Quittin Time 2024 Tour – Zach Bryan
Sheryl Crow is apologizing to her fans after not being at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium over the weekend for a previously announced opening slot on Zach Bryan’s The Quittin’ Time Tour. According to a social media post from Crow, it seems that fans who had anticipated seeing the singer/songwriter open those shows potentially were not properly […]
Jack White scores his seventh solo top 10-charting set on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart as his latest release, No Name, debuts at No. 8 on the chart dated Aug. 17. The effort was initially secretly released on July 19 as a free, unlabeled vinyl to unsuspecting customers at Third Man Records stores in Detroit, Nashville and London. It was then commercially released on Thursday, Aug. 1 as a blue-colored vinyl LP, exclusive to independent record stores, and then widely as a digital download album on August 2.
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In the tracking week of Aug. 2-8 (all Billboard album charts reflect a Friday-Thursday tracking week), No Name sold 7,000 copies – with nearly 4,500 on vinyl. (In the week ending Aug. 1, the album sold about 1,000 copies – all on vinyl.)
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No Name will garner a wider release on Sept. 13 when a standard black vinyl and a CD are due out.
Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department returns to No. 1 for a seventh nonconsecutive week, Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures 2 debuts at No. 2, Red Velvet’s Cosmic starts at No. 6, Orville Peck’s Stampede gallops in at No. 9 and X’s Smoke & Fiction launches at No. 10.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
The Tortured Poets Department jumps 6-1 on Top Album Sales with a 606% gain to 84,000 copies sold. The set’s sales were bolstered by a number of drivers during the tracking week. It was released in five new digital album variants via Swift’s official webstore for a limited time, each containing the standard album’s 16 songs, along with one exclusive bonus track for $4.99 each (one album contained a “first draft phone memo” version of “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys,” while the other four contained one live track each from recent stops during her The Eras Tour). In addition, for a limited time, the store restocked three previously available digital album variants with exclusive bonus cuts, and a signed CD edition. Her store also staged a brief sale pricing promotion, whereby 16 previously available physical variants of the album were all discounted by 13% (as 13 is Swift’s favorite number).
At No. 2 on Top Album Sales, Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s delayed Vultures 2 lands with 60,500 sold in its first week. The set’s opening-week sales were aided by its availability across a widely available standard explicit edition, and a late-in-the-week-released clean edition (on Aug. 8), but no physical formats. Vultures 2 was originally slated for release on March 8, but was released with little advance warning on Saturday, Aug. 3.
Ye’s official webstore also issued five additional explicit digital album variants of Vultures 2 on Wednesday (Aug. 7) and Thursday (Aug. 8), each containing the standard album’s 16 tracks, along with one exclusive studio bonus track per album. All digital albums on Ye’s webstore sold for $5 each. The Vultures 2 album, both clean and explicit, was also discounted to $4.99 in the iTunes Store in the tracking week.
Stray Kids’ ATE falls 1-3 on Top Album Sales in its third week after spending its first two weeks atop the chart. ATE sold a little more than 26,000 copies in the latest tracking frame (down 41%). ENHYPEN’s Romance: Untold is a non-mover at No. 4 with just over 12,000 sold (down 20%).
Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft climbs 11-5 with nearly 10,500 sold and a 35% increase – the set’s first weekly sales gain in its 12 weeks of release. (The gain is largely owed to sales generated by non-traditional retailers, inclusive of Internet-based sellers like Eilish’s official webstore.)
Red Velvet claims its first top 10-charting effort on Top Album Sales as Cosmic debuts at No. 6 with 8,500 sold – the group’s best sales week yet. The Korean pop ensemble previously got as high as No. 40 in 2020 with The Reve Festival: Finale. Cosmic was released as a digital download album, and through streaming services, on June 24. Its physical release, across five CDs, came on Aug. 2. The CD variants include collectible paper ephemera, including a photocard, sticker and a poster (some randomized).
Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess returns to the top 10 after three weeks, as the album bolts 17-7 with nearly 8,500 (up 34%). The album’s ascent comes after Roan’s rousing reception at Lollapalooza on Aug. 1.
Orville Peck notches his second top 10 on Top Album Sales as his new studio effort Stampede bows at No. 9 with 6,500 sold in its first week. The set’s sales were bolstered by its availability across eight vinyl variants, which collectively sold nearly 4,500 – enabling its debut at No. 4 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
Closing out the top 10 on the new Top Album Sales chart is X’s new studio album Smoke & Fiction, debuting at No. 10 with the veteran band’s best sales week in the modern era (since 1991, when Luminate began tracking sales), nearly 6,500 sold. It’s also the first top 10 for the act on the Top Album Sales chart. The new set is promoted as the final studio album from the band, which first dented a Billboard chart in 1981 when Wild Gift reached No. 165 in June of that year on the Billboard 200. Smoke & Fiction’s first-week sales were aided by the set’s availability across five vinyl variants, which collectively sold a little over 4,000 copies (enabling its debut at No. 6 on the Vinyl Albums chart).