Country
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Morgan Wallen will soon have a triumphant homecoming when he performs at the University of Tennessee (UT)’s Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. later this year as part of his One Night at a Time Tour.
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Wallen is bringing the tour to his hometown show at Neyland Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 22. He’ll be joined by HARDY and his fellow Tennessee native Ernest.
Wallen, an 11-time Billboard Music Award winner, grew up in Sneedville, Tennessee and then moved to Knoxville as a teen. In 2011, he graduated from Gibbs High School, located just outside of Knoxville, and has often nodded to his love of UT’s Tennessee Vols in songs including “Had Me By Halftime” and “Tennessee Fan.”
Wallen — who deleted his Instagram account back in June — reinstated his account just before revealing the news of the upcoming Neyland Stadium show.
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“I’m coming home,” Wallen wrote on Instagram, the text accompanying a video that featured the song “Rocky Top” (one of Tennessee’s state songs, which has also been associated with UT since the 1970s) as well as footage of Neyland Stadium, performance shots of Wallen and images of Wallen wearing an orange Tennessee Vols jersey.
“I’ve had the honor of playing in a lot of college, MLB and NFL stadiums the past two years, but getting to play to my hometown at Neyland Stadium, nothing tops this for a boy from East Tennessee,” he further added in a statement.
Wallen’s collaboration with Post Malone, “I Had Some Help,” is currently at No. 3 on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100, and previously spent six weeks at the chart’s pinnacle.
Tickets for Wallen’s Neyland Stadium show will go on sale at 11 a.m. ET starting Wednesday, July 17 on the singer’s website.
The oak is a symbol of strength.
So when Oak Ridge Boy Joe Bonsall, 76, died July 9 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, formerly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, it came as a shock to many. He was the most active Oak onstage during the bulk of a sturdy, 50-year membership in the group, installed in the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry.
Bonsall was a dedicated runner into his 50s and, after that, routinely walked five miles when the bus reached a concert destination, insistent on maintaining his fitness in a touring lifestyle that makes that difficult. He determinedly worked on his farm in Middle Tennessee until recent years, when battles with blood clots and later ALS damaged his physical capabilities.
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“A lot of those ships have sailed,” he told Billboard Country Update in a 2023 interview while celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Oaks’ most successful lineup, and contemplating how the group’s future might unfold.
The Oaks’ history is one of innovation, though many current country artists and executives may not fully grasp the impact that the quartet — including Duane Allen, Richard Sterban and William Lee Golden — had on the genre. In October 1973, Bonsall was the last of that lineup to join the group, which was originally known as The Georgia Clodhoppers and, later, The Oak Ridge Quartet, following its 1945 formation.
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The Oaks experienced several conversions in the decade after Bonsall’s arrival. They moved into country music in the mid-1970s, Bonsall’s tenor soaring over the ensemble as he took command of the closing choruses on the group’s first country hit, “Y’all Come Back Saloon,” in 1977. In 1981, the act evolved further, becoming a leading ambassador for the format during one of its biggest crossover eras with the novelty “Elvira” hitting No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and high-energy “Bobbie Sue” rising to No. 12. Bonsall’s voice imbued both those singles with a cutting quality, though he was also quite capable of more thoughtful performances, including the tender “I Guess It Never Hurts To Hurt Sometimes,” a lullaby to a late father.
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Not that Bonsall was the lone Oak voice. Each of the members took the lead on different releases during their career, amassing 17 No. 1s among 34 top 10 country singles. Teamwork among four voices of distinction was a hallmark of the act.
“That’s been one of the secrets to our success,” Bonsall said. “All four guys can actually sing, and we feature them all on different leads, so the show was not boring.”
The Oaks’ approach to concerts was particularly groundbreaking. A few rock acts, such as KISS and Alice Cooper, employed elaborate staging in the late 1970s, though video screens were not yet invented and multicolor lighting was crude and somewhat random. Most country artists were content to stand behind a microphone and re-create their hits. The Oaks, led by Bonsall’s high-energy personality, were more freewheeling onstage, and they were much more aggressive in securing advanced lighting systems and paying spotlight operators who could hone in on specific locations from near the front of the stage instead of back-of-house light directors with wider, more diffuse effect.
“Even in the gray days, when the Oaks went onstage, we invested,” Bonsall remembered. “I think we borrowed money to buy a huge logo of the Oak Ridge Boys [for a] lighted sign that came down behind us, no matter where we were playing. We were already ahead of it, production-wise.”
The Philadelphia-born Bonsall immersed himself in vocal harmony at a young age, playing with various local groups until he landed in The Keystones, a gospel act that included Sterban, a bass singer who was born in nearby Camden, N.J. In addition to performing, Bonsall promoted concerts in the area, and when he booked The Oaks, he hit it off with both Allen and Golden, who had joined the group in the mid-1960s. The Keystones soon signed with a gospel label, and Allen produced a string of albums for the group. When Sterban left The Keystones to join Elvis Presley’s tour in 1972 as a member of J.D. Sumner & The Stamps Quartet, Bonsall was unable to find a suitable bass vocalist. Instead, he made The Keystones more of a rock-edged ensemble.
After Bonsall joined The Oaks in 1973, that forward-thinking mentality fit their approach as they became a significant country act. Their instrumentation and presentation made them competitive with pop and rock artists on the arena circuit in the ’80s.
“We made sure that we went out there with smoke and lasers and a big set,” Bonsall recalled. “When we’d do ‘Dancing the Night Away,’ man, I could run around on my own ramp. I mean, it was so cool. We had a big production. I don’t know how it compares to the kids today — probably not as much. But for those days, it was big-time production.”
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As The Oaks made the inevitable shift from country newcomers to A-list headliners to veteran status, Bonsall expanded into new outlets, writing 11 books and periodically playing banjo with other artists. The group determinedly continued its road-dog lifestyle.
“We don’t even know how to slow down,” said Bonsall last year. “I guess we feel as Christian men that God will tell us. God has guided our career, he’s guided our personal lives and our families. We’ve been very, very blessed. I think God will tell us when it’s time, and he may be whispering in my ear.”
Indeed, Bonsall played his last concert with The Oaks on Dec. 17, announcing his retirement from touring in January. It was a difficult decision — he was completely committed to being one of the mighty Oaks. He recalled a typical encounter at a grocery store:
“Some guy says, ‘Aren’t you one of the…’ ‘Yep, that’s my middle name: of the.’ Our middle names are all ‘of the.’ ”
Bonsall, of the Oak Ridge Boys, chose not to have a funeral. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The ALS Association or Vanderbilt Medical Center ALS and Neuroscience Research Center.
On QUIT!!, HARDY’s new rock album released Friday (July 15) via Big Loud Rock, several of the characters are, to put it mildly, not quite right in the head. “Jim Bob” is a disillusioned pill-popping veteran who “has a breakdown every 45 seconds,” according to the singer-songwriter, while the protagonist on “Psycho” becomes unhinged at the thought of his girlfriend leaving him.
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But HARDY warns not to confuse the characters working out their demons in his songs with their creator. “I’m a pretty tame, surprisingly soft-spoken dude,” he says. That may be, but he’s far from soft-spoken on Quit!!, on which he shows he can unleash a rock-and-roll howl worthy of the best heavy metal singer.
In addition to the songs featuring fictional characters, a number of the tunes are deeply autobiographical, including the title track, which relays the true story of how a patron wrote the word “quit” on a napkin and put it in HARDY’s tip jar while he was playing a bar more than 10 years ago. That insult fueled HARDY’s ambition and put a chip on his shoulder that still drives him today.
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“Feeling like you have something to prove to somebody always I think is important— at least for me for my creative spirit,” he says. “Complacency kills.”
The album also tells the upbeat tale of how he met his wife, Caleigh, on “WHYBMWL,” which stands for “where have you been my whole life,” and the set closer, the deeply romantic (yet fatalistic “Six Feet Under (Caleigh’s Song).”
“I surprised her with ‘Six Feet Under’ and didn’t play her that until my entire record was done and and she like lost it, which was the reaction that I needed,” he says. “I wanted so bad to make her cry. [Laughs.] I mean it was so special, and it was just such an emotional time for us. I’m so thankful that she loves it as much as she does.”
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HARDY came to Nashville more than a decade ago to be a country songwriter and had considerable success, penning hits for artists like Florida Georgia Line, Morgan Wallen and Blake Shelton, before releasing his first album, 2020’s A Rock, which included the multiple ACM and CMA Award winner’s first Billboard Country Airplay No. 1, “One Beer” (featuring Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson).
He followed with 2023’s The Mockingbird & The Crow, whose tracks were half country and half rock, and established his rock bona fides by topping Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart and with singles “Jack,” the title track and “Sold Out” all reaching the top 5 of Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart.
Over the last several years, HARDY, who was named BMI’s 2022 country songwriter of the year, has become one of Nashville’s most reliable and successful writers He credits his way with words to having “a knack for English and the rules of the English language ever since [I] was a kid,” he says. “I was terrible at math. I was okay in science, but only because I thought it was neat … when it came to using your words, I swear to God, it was just from birth, or God-given, or whatever you want to call it.”
Despite the outsider status that many of the album’s character inhabit, HARDY says his experience in Nashville has felt embracing, even as he has toggled back and forth between rock and country, landing on more than a dozen different Billboard charts.
He’s encountered no naysayers discouraging him from following his wandering musical muse, HARDY says. “Not one time,” he says. “I’ve got to say being in [Nashville] for 14 or 15 years, I’ve heard the creative horror stories or people being held back and I give all of the props in the world to Big Loud and to [his publisher] Relative Music Group for never, not one time ever, holding me back.”
Even on a song like “Orphan,” which sounds like a treatise against the country music industry as HARDY sings that he feels like “somebody left me in a basket on the front steps/screaming bloody murder at the church door … the orphan of this country music town,” he stresses he is fighting an “internal battle,” not an external one. “I have not been oppressed in any way. Let’s put it that way,” he says.
The exception is his first publishing deal early in his career, which left a grudge that he can conveniently draw upon to this day over his predilection for drawing on redneck themes in his music (After all, this is someone whose first single in 2019 was titled “Rednecker.”)
“Some of the people that I was working with told me verbatim, ‘This song is good, but that redneck s–t ain’t my jam and it’s gonna be hard for me to pitch those kinds of songs,’” he says. “That lit such a huge fire under me. I think to this day that chip on my shoulder is just constantly coming out because I’m like, ‘I’m gonna prove to you that this redneck s–t works.’ There are a ton of people who grew up like me and want to hear that stuff. There’re a few moments early on in my songwriting career that I felt like maybe I believed in myself more than anybody else did. But some of the stuff is just so deeply cut that it’s just there’s no like healing from it.”
Though his rock songs may sound more visceral and raw because of the intense, defiant delivery, Hardy says country songs allow him to tap more into his emotions.
“There’s more poetry in country,” he says. “I think there’s more demons in country than come out in rock. The country stuff is actually where I get more emotion out into the world with songs like ‘Wait in the Truck,’ ‘Give Heaven Some Hell,’ that kind of thing.”
He’s also pleased that fans seem to accept all sides of his artistry, even though he admits he avoids reading the comments on social media and other posts about him: “I don’t really go in too deep and try to dig into the comments or the articles or anything, because I just am afraid of the one bad comment, and I try to keep that negative energy out of my life. But the reception seems like it’s been pretty good so far.”
HARDY didn’t worry about cohesion when creating the album. “I know it’s a little all over the place sonically,” he says. “At the end of the day, I just wrote a bunch of rock songs that I love and love the sound of.”
And songs that he thought would appeal to his fans — especially in concert, including “Jim Bob.” “I wanted a song that everybody in the crowd would be like, ‘This is who I am, I want to go get drunk and shoot my pistol in the sky and all that kind of s–t,’” he explains. “But I don’t pop Percocet and I didn’t damage my knee in the war and s–t like that. I’ve stuck pretty true to who I am and the best way to do that was to make that song about somebody else.”
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In a career that tolerates, if not encourages, “Jim Bob”-type indulgences, HARDY works to keep himself in check, especially since, as he has previously mentioned, alcohol issues run in his extended family. “Every so often [I] kind of take a look and [am] like, ‘What am I doing? How much am I doing? Let’s maybe back off, take a break.’ You just gotta be aware,” he says. “You can’t let it take control of you too much. Sometimes you can be too late, or you can get in a mess, so just keeping myself in check every now and then.”
The album features high profile guests including Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, who plays on the ‘90s pop-punk-inspired “Good Girl Phase,” as well as Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst on “Soul4Sale.”
HARDY met Smith through Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger at this year’s Super Bowl — Nickelback and HARDY share producer Joey Moi — and in a playful tribute to Nickelback, HARDY wrote Quitt!! song “Rockstar,” which name drops the band, while paying tribute to its 2005 hit of the same name.
“I didn’t have that on my Bingo card,” HARDY jokes of getting to work with musical inspirations like Kroeger and Durst. “To meet people that like who truly influenced the s–t out of me growing up and then to become friends with them, it’s a very cool thing.”
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The rocker who tops his wish list to share a stage and a scream with is Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl. “I don’t even know if he even knows I exist, but he would be cool. Alex Terrible from Slaughter to Prevail, he’s a pretty big deal right now. That’s a big one too. But Dave Grohl is definitely No. 1.”
While music is keeping him very busy, HARDY convincingly plays an institutionalized, straight-jacketed mental patient in the “Psycho” video, and says acting is something he would also like to pursue as time allows. “I was actually surprisingly comfortable in that video, which is kind of dark and disturbing,” he admits with a laugh. “I think the further away from myself that I can act, the more comfortable I am doing it. It’s really hard to act like yourself, in my opinion … But I love acting.”
In a milestone moment, HARDY will headline his first stadium gig Sept. 12 in Starkville, Mississippi, 45 minutes from his hometown of Philadelphia, Mississippi.
“It won’t really hit me until I get out there and it’s full of people hopefully,” he says. “It will be really emotional. There’s always a little part of me that’s like, ‘How did I get here?’ But I’m truly ready for this one and I’m truly looking forward to it.”
In this most recent crop of new country releases, Charley Crockett issues a somber look at “the American Dream,” while Drew Parker draws on his traditional country roots. “Austin” hitmaker Dasha makes a bid for her latest hit with “Didn’t I,” while Russell Dickerson and Wynn Williams also offer up new music.
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Check them out in our roundup below.
Charley Crockett, “America”
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For years, musical troubadour and Americana Music Awards winner Crockett has crisscrossed the country, rising from busking on the streets of small towns to selling out headlining shows. Along the way, he’s gleaned keen perceptions from across America’s heartland, and he distills the stories and views into this swaggering, pleading track from his recently-released $10 Cowboy album. Soulful horns, bluesy guitar and Crockett’s distinct, commanding voice are front and center, adding a sonic lift to the song’s somber petition of a man who spends his days laboring in the fields and hopes to be seen and heard, and that the dreams that he’s toiled for will come to fruition. Another well-crafted, thoughtful outing from this musical luminary.
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Drew Parker, “Tomorrow”
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Georgia native Drew Parker is known for co-writing hits for Luke Combs (“Doin’ This”) and Jake Owen (“Homemade”), but for the past four years, he’s etched his own artist path as a singer-songwriter steeply influenced by traditional-minded country artists such as Alan Jackson and Ronnie Dunn. “Tomorrow” gleams with a radio-friendly, softly enhancing production, and lyrics packed with sentiments of gratitude for life and love, all led by Parker’s muscular twang, placing him squarely in the path of today’s new crop of country neo-traditionalists. “Tomorrow” is featured on Parker’s newly-released Warner Music Nashville project Camouflage Cowboy, which released July 12.
Dasha, “Didn’t I”
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Dasha saw a surge in her pursuit of stardom this year with her boot-stomping, ex-lover-skewering sensation “Austin.” With her latest, “Didn’t I,” she’s out to prove she has plenty more ammo in her musical arsenal. This plucky mix of acoustic guitar and crisp production elevates the underlying tension in Dasha’s vocal, as she sings of a couple who toss aside their previous pledges to end the relationship, as neither can deny the mutual draw to one another during a boozy night of passion — or, as Dasha sings, “We’re backsliders/ Bad liars.” The production here is leaner and sparse when compared to “Austin,” but retains the dancefloor-ready (and TikTok-ready) grooves that pair deftly with the singer’s throaty, sultry voice. Dasha wrote the song with Ben Johnson and Emily Weisband, with production from Johnson.
Russell Dickerson, “Bones”
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Tennessee native Dickerson is known for a string of No. 1 Country Airplay hits including “Love You Like I Used To” and his top 5 hit “God Gave Me a Girl.” He returns with this gracefully sung romantic vow of enduring devotion. On this personal track, he recounts key moments in his relationship with his wife Kailey, before asserting that his is a love that will last a lifetime. Dickerson wrote “Bones” with Chase McGill, Chris LaCorte and Parker Welling and seems aimed at further building his reputation as a top-notch vocalist and earnest songwriter.
Wynn Williams, “Country Therapy”
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Texas native and former steer wrestler Williams has already released four projects to date and on his latest, brings a mesh of acoustic guitars and fiddle to this slice of ’90s country nostalgia, which he wrote with Ryan Tyndell and Jeff Hyde. He takes a respite from the workweek via what he calls “old-school country therapy”: enjoying fishing and the outdoors, or downing shots of liquor while absorbing classic country music at a local bar. Williams sings this lively honky tonk track with believability, while the swirling production makes this a summertime jam.
Country star Jason Aldean turned up the political heat at his recent concert in Nashville on July 13, dedicating his controversial hit “Try That in a Small Town” to former president Donald Trump.
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The singer, who has long been a vocal Trump supporter, took his admiration to new heights during the performance.
In a TikTok video shared by user @susanelizabethphoto, the “Dirt Road Anthem” singer is heard saying, “What happened in Pittsburgh today with our former president, Mr. Trump, you guys know about this, right?
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“President Trump’s a friend of mine so I want to send this next song out to him. We all know what’s going to happen come November, so it’s all good.” He continued, “Just goes to show you there’s a lot of bullshit in the world, and that’s kind of what this song right here was about, so this one goes out to the pres.”
Aldean also shared his support via Instagram, “This is what a warrior looks like! This is MY guy,” sharing the famous photo of a bloodied Trump raising his fist in defiance.
“Donald Trump, we are thinking about you and praying for you and your family. God has a bigger plan for you, my friend, and I think we all know what that is by now.” He also extended his condolences to the families of the victims affected by the incident, calling it a “cowardly act.”
The dedication aligns with Aldean’s ongoing support for Trump. He and his wife Brittany have been fixtures at Trump events and recently promoted merchandise supporting Trump’s campaign.
Aldean wasn’t the only musician to rally behind Trump following the apparent assassination attempt. Kid Rock posted a fiery video on social media, declaring, “You f— with Trump, you f— with me,” and shared a link to a GoFundMe page for the victims of the shooting, which has raised over $2 million.
“Try That in a Small Town” has been at the center of heated debate since its release, with critics arguing the lyrics promote vigilantism and contain racial undertones.
Aldean has consistently defended the song, maintaining it celebrates small-town community values.
The controversy surrounding the track, however, has not hindered its success; the song rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Aldean’s first leader on the chart. It generated major buzz after CMT pulled its video after some labelled it as pro-gun, pro-violence and akin to a “modern lynching song”.
“Try That in a Small Town” also topped the Digital Song Sales chart and vaulted up the Streaming Songs chart, and topped Google’s 2023 Trending Musicians list, with “Try That in a Small Town” leading song searches.
Watch Jason Aldean dedicate “Try That in a Small Town” to Donald Trump in Nashville below.
Jelly Roll performed a surprise club show in Tampa, Fla., on Friday (July 12) after Morgan Wallen postponed his stadium concert.
The “Need a Favor” singer-rapper, who was scheduled to open for Wallen at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium on Friday night, announced the intimate gig after Wallen called off his concert due to an illness.
“TAMPA! Dallas Bull tonight— doors open at 7pm. If you have a ticket to the show you get in for free. (This is for ticket holders only) FIRST COME FIRST SERVE,” Jelly wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
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Hours before gates were set to open at his Tampa stadium show, Wallen announced on social media that we was too sick to perform.
“I hate to reschedule shows but I powered through being sick in Tampa last night, and unfortunately woke up feeling way worse today,” Wallen wrote on X.
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As a result of the illness, the “Last Night” singer postponed his concert at the city’s Raymond James Stadium to Oct. 4. He also moved his upcoming shows at Charlotte, N.C.’s Bank of America Stadium to Oct. 18 and 19. Wallen’s next performance is scheduled for July 25 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Wallen’s global One Night at a Time tour has been a concert juggernaut, often selling out multiple stadium shows in various cities, such as his three-night, sold-out stint at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium earlier this year. Openers on select dates include Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Nate Smith, Bryan Martin, Bailey Zimmerman, Ella Langley and others.
The Tennessee native recently had a five-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his and Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help” collaboration, which dropped mid-May. The track was dethroned by Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” in late June.
See Wallen and Jelly Roll’s announcements on X below.
I hate to reschedule shows but I powered through being sick in Tampa last night, and unfortunately woke up feeling way worse today. I would not give you guys anywhere near 100% tonight and as a result, I need to move tonight’s Tampa show to Oct. 4 and next week’s Charlotte shows…— morgan wallen (@MorganWallen) July 12, 2024
TAMPA! Dallas Bull tonight— doors open at 7pm. If you have a ticket to the show you get in for free. (This is for ticket holders only) FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. pic.twitter.com/QedPCmZZNF— Jelly Roll (@JellyRoll615) July 12, 2024
Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen, commands Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated July 20) for a fourth week, becoming the first song to lead that long among the 15 singles that have scored their initial weeks atop the tally in 2024.
The collaboration increased by 1% to 33 million audience impressions July 5-11, according to Luminate.
The song became Post Malone’s first Country Airplay No. 1 (and Wallen’s 13th), after he notched 10 leaders on Rhythmic Airplay and five on Pop Airplay beginning in 2016. His new album, F-1 Trillion, is due Aug. 16; second single “Pour Me a Drink,” featuring Blake Shelton, ranks at No. 34 on Country Airplay (3 million, up 37%).
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Post Malone “deserves to be a superstar in country music, primarily because he is being real,” WJVC Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y., program director Phathead tells Billboard. “He’s put together a team that created one of the best songs we’ve heard, while singing it with the biggest act in the format. And he has a monster to follow with Shelton. A good boss in any business is only as good as the people around them. Great to see Post put his ego aside.”
Wallen 1, 2 for 3rd Week
For the first time in Country Airplay’s 34-year history, an act has ranked at Nos. 1 and 2 simultaneously for three weeks, as Wallen’s “Cowgirls,” featuring Ernest, holds at its No. 2 high (31.6 million, up 4%). Luke Bryan locked up the top two spots for two weeks in May-June 2014, while Luke Combs landed such a double-up for a week in September 2023.
Speaking of Combs, he earns his 21st consecutive career-opening top 10 single on Country Airplay as “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” pushes 11-10 (17.5 million, up 8%). The song introduces the soundtrack to the film Twisters, with both due July 19.
Baldridge Makes History
Drew Baldridge’s “She’s Somebody’s Daughter (Reimagined)” rises 10-8 on Country Airplay (19.3 million, up 5%). After becoming only the second self-released single ever to reach the top 10, it’s now the sole highest-charting, passing Aaron Watson’s “Outta Style,” which peaked at No. 10 in 2017.
Jelly Roll‘s “Save Me” is getting a second life on Eminem‘s new album The Death of Slim Shady, which dropped Friday (July 12) and features a surprise duet with the country star on its final track, an emotional open letter to the rapper’s children.
The song, titled “Somebody Save Me,” heavily samples Jelly’s 2023 hit, which reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November after Lainey Wilson jumped on the remix. The Detroit rapper’s new track opens with a recording of him shrugging off a younger version of his 31-year-old daughter Alaina’s pleas for him to come eat with her, after which the “Son of a Sinner” musician’s voice jumps in.
“Somebody save me, me from myself,” Jelly sings in the snippet. “I’ve spent so long living in Hell.”
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Em proceeds to dedicate bars to all three of his kids — he’s also Dad to 28-year-old Hailie and 22-year-old Stevie — openly apologizing for his past history of choosing drugs over his children. “I don’t even deserve the father title/ Hailie, I’m so sorry/ I know I wasn’t there for your first guitar recital,” he raps. “Alaina, sorry that you had to hear me fall in the bathroom … Stevie, I’m sorry, I missed you grow up and I didn’t get to be the dad I wanted to be to you.”
In between Slim’s verses, Jelly’s emotional chorus fades in and out. “They say my lifestyle is bad for my health,” he belts. “It’s the only thing that seems to help.”
The surprise collaboration comes about a month after Eminem and the “Need a Favor” artist teamed up for a live performance of the former’s “Sing for the Moment” as part of NBC’s Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central special. Jelly sang the portion of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” sampled in the hip-hop titan’s The Eminem Show hit.
“Em reached out, his team reached out and said, ‘Would you be interested in doing this?’” Jelly gushed to Entertainment Tonight of the performance in June. “I couldn’t believe it. I thought it was a joke until I met Eminem himself … As soon as I met Eminem, it was like the coolest moment ever, man.”
The Death of Slim Shady features a total of 19 tracks, including the previously released singles “Houdini” and “Tobey,” the latter featuring Big Sean and BabyTron. It comes four years after 2020’s Music to Be Murdered By, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Listen to Eminem and Jelly Roll’s surprise duet “Somebody Save Me” below.
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On July 13, 2019, Blanco Brown’s “The Git Up” began a 12-week reign on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
Brown’s debut entry, released as the first single from his album Honeysuckle & Lightning Bugs, was sparked by a viral dance challenge on TikTok and YouTube. He helped spur the craze by personally posting a tutorial.
“I grabbed spoons, tambourine, anything I could find that made a nice sound,” Brown told Billboard in 2019 of solely writing “The Git Up.” “When I got finished, it was so full of joy. I was doing the dance as I was writing it. I said, ‘This is going to be a song that makes people dance and brings joy.’ ”
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While the single marked Brown’s first hit as a recording artist, he had previously produced songs for pop acts including Chris Brown, Fergie and Pitbull.
Brown followed “The Git Up” with “Just the Way,” his collaboration with Parmalee that led Country Airplay in March 2021 and hit No. 3 on Hot Country Songs.
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In 2020, Brown, who hails from Athens, Ga., was involved in a motorcycle accident, breaking his wrists, arms, legs and pelvis, resulting in a 12-hour surgery. “I was broken, but it didn’t break my spirit,” he told Billboard in his first interview after the accident six months later.
In June, Brown released a four-song EP, Cedar Walls & Whiskey. “I’m gonna keep on manifesting everything I do in life,” he mused to Billboard at the 2024 ACM Awards on May 16. “I’m gonna stay positive no matter what and just keep thriving and striving to get where I need to go.”
Shania Twain is set to host the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards airing live from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville on Thursday, Sept. 26. The two-hour show will air at 8 p.m. ET/PT across NBC and Peacock.
“Country has some of the most passionate fans in music and us artists are so lucky to be supported in doing what we love,” Twain said in a statement. “I am honored to host an award show that celebrates these awesome fans. Get ready for an unforgettable show with lots of big hair, glamour, rhinestones, hats, boots and incredible performances. Giddy Up!”
“With a proven track record of creating music that stands the test of time, Shania is a beloved member of the country community,” said Jen Neal, executive vice president, live events and specials, NBCUniversal Entertainment.
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Twain is no stranger to the People’s Choice Awards franchise. In December 2022, she received the People’s Music Icon Award at the OG People’s Choice Awards, from which the People’s Choice Country Awards is a spin-off. She performed a medley of “Any Man of Mine,” “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” “Waking Up Dreaming” and “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”
Little Big Town hosted last year’s inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards, on which Toby Keith received a Country Icon Award. Keith also performed for the first time since the end of his treatment for stomach cancer. The country legend died a little more than four months later, on Feb. 5.
Other performers on last year’s show were Wynonna Judd, who received a Country Champion Award, Little Big Town, Blake Shelton (who presented the award to Keith), Carly Pearce, Dan + Shay, HARDY, Jelly Roll, Kane Brown and Kelsea Ballerini.
Jelly Roll was the top winner on last year’s show, with four awards, followed by Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson, with three wins each.
The telecast was seen by 4.4 million viewers across all platforms. Content from the show reached 25 million cross-platform users (linear, digital and social).
This year’s show will air a little more than a month before the 2024 Country Music Association Awards, which are set for November in Nashville. CMA nominations will be announced later this summer.
People’s Choice Country Awards is produced by Den of Thieves in partnership with Opry Entertainment Group. Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager and Barb Bialkowski will executive produce, along with RAC Clark as executive producer and showrunner.
The OG People’s Choice Awards debuted on CBS on March 3, 1975. The show remained on that network through 2017. It moved to E! in 2018. NBC came on board in 2021; Peacock in 2024.