Country
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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.
Earlier this week, Billboard revealed its year-end Boxscore charts, ranking the top tours, venues, and promoters of 2024. We’re breaking it down further, looking at the biggest live acts, genre by genre. Today, we continue with country. Country music has been around for more than a century, but that doesn’t mean that it is outdated. […]
Morgan Wallen‘s Nashville bar, restaurant and music venue will soon have its neon sign, joining the slate of massive signs beckoning both tourists and locals to downtown Music City. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news On Dec. 17, the Metro Nashville City Council gave permission for the […]
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 […]
12/17/2024
Billboard offers its takes on the top country songs of 2024, including music from Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, Riley Green, George Strait & more.
12/17/2024
For this year’s update of our ongoing Greatest Pop Star by Year project, Billboard will be counting down our editorial staff picks for the 10 Greatest Pop Stars of 2024 all this week — having already revealed our Honorable Mentions, our Comeback of the Year and our Rookie of the Year artists all last week. Now, at No. 10, we remember the year in Jelly Roll — a late-blooming country superstar whose compelling hits, winning personality and relatable story helped him become one of the most unavoidable artists of 2024.
When he wasn’t taking his now-famous daily cold plunge in an ice bath, Jelly Roll was everywhere in 2024.
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Even if you can’t hum “I Am Not Okay,” which reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the closest Jelly Roll got to a pure pop hit this year, you’re still likely aware of the gregarious rapper-turned-country artist through his sheer ubiquity. Jelly Roll, who turned 40 on Dec. 4, performed on no fewer than 10 collaborations from across the musical spectrum in 2024, alongside the wide-ranging likes of Eminem, Falling in Reverse, Jessie Murph, OneRepublic, Machine Gun Kelly, Halsey, Post Malone, Dustin Lynch and Brooks & Dunn. He also landed three No. 1 songs on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart for the second year in a row, and topped both the Hard Rock Songs and Mainstream Rock Airplay charts.
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Here’s what it was like to be Jelly Roll in 2024: During one weekend in early February, he paid tribute to Bon Jovi at the 33rd annual MusiCares Person of the Year gala, followed by performing at the illustrious pre-Grammy gala hosted by Clive Davis the next night. And then to cap off the weekend, he also sang at the Grammy Awards, where he was nominated for two trophies and met his longtime crush, Taylor Swift.
Or fast forward to September, where in one four-day span he played his first-ever (sold-out) show at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The next day he headlined the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park in the afternoon and was the musical guest on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. Then two nights later, he not only performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, but he also got coveted couch time on the late night show, an indicator of his celebrity status.
Jelly Roll scored wins across the board as an entertainer in 2024. He may not have taken home any Grammys in February (he’ll get more chances in 2025 after being nominated for two Grammys in November), but the 2024 People’s Choice Awards named him male country artist of the year in February. In April, he snagged both best new artist (pop) and best new artist (country) at the iHeart Awards, and in April, he was the big winner at the CMT Music Awards, winning all three awards he was nominated for, including video of the year (“Need a Favor”)
The winning streak continued in May, two weeks after he had played Stagecoach for the first time (and paid tribute to Toby Keith by performing “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” with T-Pain), when he took home music event of the year for “Save Me” with Lainey Wilson at the ACM Awards. “This song saved me,” he said during his acceptance speech, which reflected his painful past. “I was in a dark place. I thought I would die and go to jail, and I’m standing here today an ACM Awards winner.”
He also won on the health front, losing 100 pounds in a journey he documented on social media (including the daily plunges), and undergoing major dental surgery. It felt like everything he did – no matter how large or small — made the news, from testifying before a Senate committee on the fentanyl crisis and revealing that he and wife Bunnie XO were trying to expand their family via IVF to announcing he regretted getting most of his plentiful tattoos or surprising kids running a lemonade stand with a $700 donation.
He also made musical strides on both the large and small screens, contributing “Dead End Road” to the Twisters: The Album and “Run It” as the only original song in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the third installment of the popular franchise. Meanwhile, new song “Get By” became the ESPN college football anthem for the 2024-25 anthem and “Dead End Road” and “Liar” served as the official theme songs for the WWE SummerSlam, with Jelly performing the atter at the event.
When it seemed like it couldn’t get better, Jelly Roll performed with his hero, Eminem in June at Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central. They sang “Sing for the Moment,” and a month later, Jelly Roll appeared on “Somebody Save Me” on Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady album.In September, he joined Eminem (via projection) to help open the VMA Awards when the rapper performed a medley of “Houdini” and “Somebody Save Me.”
On Aug. 27 in Salt Lake City, Jelly Roll kicked off his first headlining arena tour. The Beautifully Broken show was part concert/part gospel revival and fully sold out. The tour perfectly set up the Oct. 11 release of his album of the same name, the follow up to 2023’s Whitsitt Chapel, which came out through a new partnership between BMG and Republic. Like its predecessor, the set examined issues close to his heart, including addiction and mental health, that resonated with his growing millions of fans. His hard work paid off: Jelly Roll landed his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums, with sales of 161,000 units sold moved in its debut week,, according to Luminate.
Two nights before Thanksgiving, Jelly Roll wrapped his tour, which grossed $79.3 million and sold 685,000 tickets over 56 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore. Without even pausing to indulge in some turkey, two days later, Jelly Roll crashed Lainey Wilson’s halftime performance at the Dallas Cowboys game on Thanksgiving, for a powerful take on their Country Airplay-topping duet, “Save Me.”
Just as he was seemingly everywhere, Jelly Roll and his music were seemingly for everyone — especially anyone who has ever felt alone or desperate and yearning for redemption. Even The Rock declared that Jelly Roll’s music had helped him through rough times. Though his upbeat demeanor shone through every viral interaction, Jelly Roll’s music was still infused with a questioning darkness that lingers from his teens and 20s spent incarcerated and his 30s struggling to break through musically. But far from being depressing, it’s music that looks at frailties and imperfections not as weaknesses, but part of what makes us gloriously human and unites us.
Though it hardly feels possible, next year seems like it could get even bigger for the country superstar, as he ascends to festival headliner and stadium tour status. Already on the books: he will headline Stagecoach in April and then head out on The Big Ass Stadium Tour with Post Malone. In other words, look for Jelly to keep on rolling in 2025.
Check back for our No. 9 artist, to be revealed later today, and stay tuned all week as we roll out our top 10 — leading to the announcement of our top two Greatest Pop Stars of 2024 on Monday, Dec. 23!