State Champ Radio genre country
Page: 28
It all began with a song. In 2022, Goldenvoice/AEG executive vp Stacy Vee and Morgan Wallen’s booking agent, The Neal Agency’s Austin Neal, were planning the country superstar’s 2024 Stagecoach headlining gig. Wallen’s “Sand in My Boots” had recently become his fifth No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“I couldn’t get the song out of my head, and it inspired the concept,” Vee says, via email. “I brought up the idea of partnering on a [festival] and giving Morgan the keys on curation on a gorgeous beach and calling it Sand in My Boots. It turned out, they had been discussing the exact same idea at the exact same time.”
“Morgan has a wide range of musical tastes and influences, and we felt that would be cool to showcase on a big stage,” Neal says via email. “Plus, it felt like a legacy play and good opportunity to bring artists he likes and listens to all together at one time to play a show.”
Trending on Billboard
This weekend, that idea becomes a reality as the first Sand in My Boots festival takes place May 16-18 on the beaches of Gulf Shores, Ala., where the Hangout Festival was formerly held.
Headliners Wallen, Post Malone and Brooks & Dunn will be joined by an extremely varied lineup — many of them among Wallen’s personal favorites — that includes fellow country artists Ella Langley, Hardy, Ernest, Treaty Oak Revival, Riley Green and Bailey Zimmerman, as well as rappers Wiz Khalifa, 2 Chainz, BigXThaPlug and Moneybagg Yo and indie rockers The War on Drugs and Real Estate.
“When the idea of Sand in My Boots started becoming a reality, it was extremely important to me to build a festival of artists that I enjoy and listen to regularly,” Wallen says in an email interview. “Having a blend of different genres was exciting and I hope fans feel the same way.”
“It felt like something was missing in the space of a country-led multi-genre music festival,” Neal says. “Ours brings other genres to the format vs. the other way around and allows us to be a more eclectic, version curated around Morgan’s influences and tastes.”
There are few festivals as musically eclectic as SIMB that feature acts of from so many different genres. “We didn’t come up with this idea trying to fill a gap, but I believe that is what we have done,” Wallen says. “We created a festival that was centered around my country culture and that just so happens to include a variety of sounds. Sand in My Boots really was born out of building something that I was proud of, and also having a festival that these artists enjoy coming to.”
Wallen and Neal, who also began managing Wallen last summer, say their biggest challenge was wondering if people would buy into the multi-genre concept. “Will fans be receptive to it? Will the artists enjoy it? How do we put forth a weekend the fans will remember and want to come back to?” Wallen says.
They needn’t have worried. The festival’s 40,000 tickets sold out in under two hours, Vee says. But Neal admits there were a few lingering thoughts as to how it would sell. “The night before we went on sale Morgan and I laughed, ‘They’ll either love it or hate having that many styles of music with a festival built around that,’” he says. “It happened so quick, and that tells us there are more people out there that listen to all styles of music.”
“I think it’s just a testament to all the teams involved that helped build and deliver a bill that fans were excited to check out,” Wallen adds. “I wasn’t worried, more so curious how they would respond, and I am extremely grateful they responded the way they did by selling it out that fast.”
There is now a waiting list for all tiers of tickets ranging from general admission ($599 +$77.87 fees) up to Livin’ the Dream. ($7,999 +1,039.87 fees). As Wallen has done for the last few years with his concerts, $3 from every ticket goes to the Morgan Wallen Foundation, which supports sports and music programs for youths.
Wallen and Neal worked hand-in-hand with AEG on all facets of the festival. “We advise(d) on everything from production to curation and design graphically. Ticketing to influences, and merchandise and sponsorship are all done in partnership with AEG,” Neal says.
“Morgan was so collaborative,” Vee says. “He gave such great ideas, so hands on with activations, sponsors, the look and feel of it, the creative. He had his hand in everything. He’s a great promoter. He has such wonderful ideas. He never left us waiting, always quick with the feedback, through his manager.”
Of course, the one thing none of them can control is the weather. Luckily, as of publishing it looks like clear skies for the three days. When asked how often he’s consulting the weather, Neal says, “Every minute.”
The opening day of the festival coincides with the release of Wallen’s new album, I’m the Problem, but it wasn’t necessarily planned that way. “I would love to say it was, but it wasn’t originally,” Neal says. “The timeframe just worked out to fit the weekend and we felt it would be a cool tie to have uniquely Morgan experiences around the release of his fourth studio album.”
Wallen says he will highlight a few new songs in his set. Given all the demands on Wallen’s time with the festival and release, though, Neal says it’s unlikely Wallen will be popping up on stage to join other artists.
Even though this year’s event sold out immediately, Neal says there are no plans to expand to two weekends should there be future festivals. “We’re happy with where it is,” he says. “An exclusive event that exists in one weekend, where everything is highly curated.”
The only disappointment so far has been rock hitmakers 3 Doors Down having to drop out due to leader Brad Arnold’s cancer diagnosis. “It’s an incredibly sad thing, and I hate that Brad is going through that,” Wallen says. “I’m just praying that Jesus is with him and his family during this time and gives the strength to get through it.”
Post Malone has been tapped to headline the 2025 Cattle Baron’s Ball, the world’s largest single-night fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. According to a release, the reveal of Posty’s performance at the 52nd annual event was made on Wednesday night (May 14) during the Trailblazers and Headliner Reveal Party. This year’s Ball will take […]
Billboard Country Live is set to return to Nashville this summer, with the Bud Light-presented, two-day tentpole celebration highlighting rising country stars and industry tastemakers on June 5-6 at venue Category 10 in downtown Nashville.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The country music celebration will launch on Wednesday, June 4, with an exclusive gathering held on the rooftop of Category 10, honoring Billboard’s Country Power Players and recognizing the most influential executives shaping and leading the country music genre today.
On Thursday, June 5, a showcase concert presented by Bud Light will spotlight rising artists, with live performances from Alexandra Kay, Ashley Cooke, Drew Baldridge, Max McNown and Reyna Roberts. Inside Billboard’s video lounge, Major League Baseball will film exclusive interviews with the country stars featured in players’ walk-up songs.
Trending on Billboard
The celebration will continue Friday, June 6, with a second evening of music that will feature “Country on the Rise,” honoring the future of the genre with a lineup set to be announced in coming weeks.
Each of the artists featured in the showcase concert on June 5 have earned ever-heightening career milestones in recent years. In 2024, Baldridge earned a top five hit on the Country Airplay chart with “She’s Somebody’s Daughter (Reimagined).” Kay, who signed with BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville this year, also released her latest single “Cupid’s a Cowgirl.” Cooke earned a No. 2 Country Airplay chart hit with “Your Place” and recently teamed with Joe Jonas on the song “All I Forgot.” McNown broke through with his song “A Lot More Free,” while his song “Better Me for You (Brown Eyes)” cracked the top 30 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Roberts released her debut album, Bad Girl Bible Vol. 1, in 2023 and last year was featured on the song “Blackbiird” from Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning Cowboy Carter album, as well as providing background vocals on the album’s track “Tyrant.”
Since its origin in 1894, Billboard has become the essential barometer of music success, through its authoritative charts, news, detailed analysis, multi-platform storytelling and multiple events that celebrate artists and various industry sectors. Billboard’s annual events also include the Billboard Power 100, Billboard Women in Music, Billboard Latin Music Week and Billboard Live.
Sneedville, Tennessee native and reigning CMA entertainer of the year Morgan Wallen has been breaking chart records with regularity over the past few years as he’s evolved from a top country music hitmaker to a multi-genre hitmaker and musical supernova, on the strength of projects including Dangerous: The Double Album and his 2023 project One […]
Blake Shelton returned to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday (May 13), delivering a rousing live performance of his current single “Texas,” just days after releasing his new album For Recreational Use Only, which arrived May 9 via BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Accompanied by his longtime band, Shelton performed the rollicking, guitar-driven track, which chronicles a free-spirited woman who’s vanished from the narrator’s life, and is, in all likelihood, somewhere in Texas.
The track is the lead single from For Recreational Use Only, Shelton’s first full-length studio album in seven years. The 12-song collection includes collaborations with Gwen Stefani, John Anderson, and Craig Morgan, alongside tracks written by acclaimed songwriters Sarah Buxton, Zach Crowell, Shane McAnally, Greylan James, Pat McLaughlin and Bobby Pinson. The album also reunites Shelton with longtime producer Scott Hendricks.
Trending on Billboard
Before his performance, Shelton sat down with Jimmy Fallon and revealed that collaborating with Post Malone helped reignite his creative spark.
“Post Malone kind of got me, a fire lit under me,” Shelton said, referencing their duet “Pour Me a Drink.” “You know, it’s been four years since I put out a record… And just being around him, you can’t be around that guy without having a good time. He’s just so excited about everything.” Shelton added that the experience pushed him back into the studio.
“I was like, ‘Man, what am I doing? I need to make a record.’ He had me fired up again.” As for Malone’s country pivot, Shelton didn’t hold back: “Now he’s, like, doing the country thing. I don’t want him to go back to anything else. I just want him to do country music.”
Following “Texas,” Shelton released a brand-new song, “Let Him In Anyway,” a spiritual-minded ballad written by HARDY, Ben Hayslip and Jordan Schmidt. The song paints a redemptive picture of a man asking for divine forgiveness on behalf of a friend who “never fully went all-in on redemption.”
For Recreational Use Only marks Shelton’s first album under BMG Nashville, following his departure from Warner Music Nashville after a two-decade run.
Over the past four years, when Morgan Wallen releases an album, it has camped out at the top of the Billboard 200 for quite some time. Starting with the 10-week No. 1 Dangerous: The Double Album in 2021 and continuing with 19-week chart-topper One Thing at a Time in 2023, Wallen has a pretty unimpeachable […]
Candice Watkins has been named president of Capitol Records Nashville and executive vp of Capitol Christian Music Group.
Watkins’ new role comes as Capitol Music Group brings Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG) and its country division, Capitol Records Nashville, under the Capitol Music Group Nashville umbrella. Artists who were previously signed to Capitol Records Nashville will remain at the newly formed Music Corporation of America (MCA) Nashville label.
Capitol Christian Music Group, which includes Motown Gospel and Tamla and distribution operations, will continue to be led by its longtime president, Nashville-based Brad O’Donnell, whowill continue to report to Tom March. CCMG is home to artists including Chris Tomlin, Anne Wilson, Tasha Cobbs Leonard and Josiah Queen; it also publishes the song catalog for gospel music luminary Kirk Franklin.
Watkins previously served as senior vp of marketing at Big Loud Records, working with artists including Morgan Wallen, HARDY, ERNEST, Stephen Wilson Jr. and Hailey Whitters. Prior to her work at Big Loud, Watkins served in marketing and artist development role at UMG Nashville and held positions at Red Light Management, Mozes Inc., Borman Entertainment and Cross Point Church.
Trending on Billboard
Capitol Music Nashville is located on Martin Street in the Wedgewood Houston area of Nashville in a 40,000-square-foot space that includes state-of-the-art recording studios, a live performance space and content studios. It will have the support of the Capitol Tower in Los Angeles for all label services.
“This reorganization reflects our commitment to growing our Nashville operations as a core creative hub in Christian, gospel and country music,” said Capitol Music Group CEO Tom March in a statement. “We’re looking forward to signing and developing the next generation of country artists on Capitol Records Nashville and are thrilled to have an executive of the caliber of Candice Watkins to lead our ambitious plans in country music while also bringing her expertise to our gospel and christian music operations.”
“This new structure will empower our Nashville executives to better serve the incredible artists on our roster. Candice is a brilliant music marketing executive who has an amazing track record in developing career artists,” said John Janick, chairman of Interscope Capitol. “Having her lead our country music business in Nashville and also add her extensive artist development expertise to our CCMG team is going to be great for our artists and for the entire executive team.”
Watkins commented: “It’s a true honor to step into the role of President of Capitol Records Nashville and EVP of Capitol Christian. These labels have a rich legacy in partnering with some of the most brilliant artists of our industry and I look forward to contributing to its continued success and cultural impact. Excited to collaborate with John, Tom, Lillia and Brad in boldly championing creatives and visionaries.”
This year’s Country Music Assn. Awards will be held Nov. 19, keeping the 59th edition of the show in the same late November slot it occupied last year.
The CMA Awards ceremony was moved two weeks back from its usual early November time frame in 2024 to distance itself from the general election. The move also avoids any potential conflict with the World Series, in case the baseball series goes to game seven as it did in 2016 for the CMA Awards’ 50th anniversary. “Even a number of our board members who are Cubs fans went to the game and skipped the awards that year,” CMA CEO Sarah Trahern says.
Last year, “when we tested being out of that early window because of the election, we felt good,” Trahern says. “The ratings were strong. Also, ABC used to have another award show in that space where they no longer have it. So, getting through all of the end-of-the-season shows that tend to finale in November gave us a little bit of a window right before Thanksgiving. It was a good tune-in window, so we’re going to try it again.” The move also gives the show two extra weeks after the final nominations are announced for set up and pre-production. The show will air on ABC and Disney + Nov. 19 and then on Hulu starting the day after.
Trending on Billboard
The move could become permanent, Trahern says, “if the window continues to do well for us. Every year, ABC might make up their mind based on other competitive programming situations, but I think we’re feeling pretty good about that third week.”
The CMA has also examined its voting procedures and made significant changes this year to reflect the broadening reach of country music.
“One of the things that we’ve really spent the last year on culminated in some membership category changes to impact this year’s voting,” Trahern says. “It has to do with broadening the reach of some of the categories and being able to make folks [at] the coastal labels eligible to vote because more people are actually in the country music space.”
Though the changes weren’t implemented until this year, Tiffany Kerns, CMA senior vp of industry relations and philanthropy, stresses that discussions on how to incorporate New York and Los Angeles executives working in the country music space began a few years ago as artists like Zach Bryan, Warren Zeiders, Koe Wetzel and Megan Moroney began to emerge.
“We always have to look at not only the artists, but the teams that are behind those artists and what is preventing them from being engaged with us, because it is more than just voting,” Kerns says. “We need them to understand, especially if [they’re] not familiar with how we interact or what our voting process is.”
As the CMA had those conversations with coastal companies, they realized that many of the executives weren’t eligible to vote. It wasn’t because they didn’t meet the professional voting criteria of working full time in music and earning their income primarily from the country music industry, it was because there wasn’t room on their company’s voting roster. To maintain the integrity of the voting process and to avoid bloc voting, the number of voting members any company can have, whether it’s a label, management company or booking agency, is limited.
But Kerns says the need to expand was crucial, as long as it was done in the right way. “We need to make sure that we are not just thinking of preserving what we have but being inclusive and thinking about what we don’t. We have to be forward thinking. We have to be the membership organization that is helping drive the future of country music,” she says. “[We had] conversations with the label heads to make sure that they were on board with us, but we also wrestled with it a bit too. We want to make sure, again, that we’re upholding that integrity piece, [and] making sure when our current members see the changes, they’re not concerned.”
That meant reassuring the current members that the criteria to be an individual voter had not changed, only that the number of voters any label could have on its roster expanded. Previously, an eligible voter on a coastal label had to be included on its Nashville-based counterpart’s voting roster and often spaces were already filled. Now, coastal labels that work directly with country artists can have their own voting roster that is proportionate to the number of country artists it works with.
Kerns says that around 70% of CMA’s 6,468 voting members live in Tennessee, with the remainder largely coming from Texas, California and New York. “Texas was a really good model for how we needed to approach the coastals, because they have also operated really siloed from Nashville as well,” she says.
Kerns and her team also “got under the tent with all sorts of different businesses” to make sure they had appropriate representations on committees and voting, Trahern says, calling it the biggest membership realignment in at least 20 years. “The industry has changed so much so we want to make sure that not just for voting purposes, but for everything else we offer our members that we are reflecting the way the country music industry shows up today.”
The expansion for the coastal voters will not significantly alter the overall number of voters, Kerns says. “I don’t anticipate it having a big impact this year. There will definitely be a few 100, but the coastals are not going to provide 1000s of members,” she says. “If you think about a coastal [company] adding three to four, you’re not going to see this giant impact. We didn’t do it as a tactic to recruit or have a certain number of members. It was more about who is not able to participate right now that needs to be and then making sure that we are evolving to support that.”
As a way of further supporting and recruiting members, the CMA launched the Member Ambassador Program in April. The program empowers a selected number of CMA members to help recruit new members and answer questions any potential new members may have.
“There is going to be no better way to educate and inform potential members and or current members than by their peers,” Kerns says. “I think for us, we wanted to identify individuals that are eager, ready, comfortable and confident to essentially be extensions of the CMA staff.”
Veteran music journalist Gerry Wood died on Saturday (May 3) in Inverness, Fla. He was 87.
Wood was Billboard’s Nashville bureau chief and country editor in 1980 when he was promoted to editor-in-chief of the magazine, resulting in a transfer to the publication’s New York headquarters. He served in that capacity through 1983, when he left Billboard, only to return in 1986 as general manager/Nashville, a position he held into 1991.
Wood’s elevation to editor-in-chief coincided with the explosion of country music in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, when Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson and Alabama were among the top-selling acts in any genre and the film Urban Cowboy became a pop-culture phenomenon. Wood was there before, during and after the explosion, charting every bit of it. He could probably relate to the lyrics of a Barbara Mandrell hit in 1981: “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.”
Ken Schlager, former Billboard managing editor, paid tribute to Wood on Facebook: “When I joined Billboard as managing editor in November 1985 one of the first tasks was finding a new Nashville bureau chief. Our publisher, Sam Holdsworth (R.I.P.), had asked Gerry, who was no longer associated with Billboard, to check out the candidates that had emerged and scout for others. After several weeks, Gerry reported back that he, in fact, was the best candidate. It seemed like a whole lotta hubris, but it turned out he was right. That’s how Gerry ended up back at Billboard.
Trending on Billboard
“Some weeks later, when I made my first trip to Nashville, Gerry, now bureau chief, greeted me with a gift basket in my hotel room filled with GooGoo Clusters, Moon Pies, and airplane bottles of Jack Daniel’s.
“Gerry was a sweet guy. Smart, hard-working, knowledgeable and well-connected. I’m sorry to hear of his passing.”
Born Gerald Edmund Wood in Lewiston, Maine, on April 7, 1938, Wood began his career in radio. He was a news and sports reporter and DJ at WSON in Henderson, Ky., and at WVJS in Owensboro, Ky. He also served as news reporter and DJ at WAKY in Louisville, Ky.
Wood graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1960 and went on to earn a master’s degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville in 1965. He later worked in public relations at Vanderbilt (1966-69).
While attending Vanderbilt and after, Wood served as news reporter and DJ at WKDA in Nashville (1964-66). After working in public relations at Vanderbilt (1966-69), he shifted to working on Music Row, where he worked in public relations at ASCAP (1969-75), rising to associate director. Wood began his first stint at Billboard in 1975.
Wood left Billboard in 1983 when the editorial leadership was reorganized under group publisher Jerry Hobbs. He moved back to Music City to become editor-in-chief at Nashville magazine (1983-84) and a special correspondent for People magazine (1984). Like many others before and since, Wood returned to Billboard for a second tour of duty, rejoining the staff in 1986 as general manager/Nashville. In that capacity, he directed and coordinated editorial, chart and sales activities in the country sector. He held that position through 1990.
On local TV, Wood became known as “The Gamboling Gourmet” on WTVF-TV. He also worked under that identity for Nashville magazine. As a freelance journalist, Wood wrote for Country Weekly and many other publications. He was also a regular reviewer on the TNN cable channel in the mid-1980s.
Wood won a Journalistic Achievement Award from SESAC in 1981. He was a board member of the Nashville Entertainment Association and a member of the Country Music Association, the Gospel Music Association, the Recording Academy, the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and Sigma Delta Chi.
Wood was also a published author. Ain’t God Good (1975) and Let the Hammer Down (1978) were collaborations with country comedian Jerry Clower. Other titles included The Grand Ole Opry Presents the Year in Country Music (1997) and Tales From Country Music (2003).
Outside of his career, Wood was a travel enthusiast. Late in life, he moved to Florida and wrote books and articles for local publications on the Gulf Coast.
“I was just laughing with Ed [Morris] yesterday as we were reminiscing about our days at Billboard with Gerry at the helm of the Nashville bureau,” says Debbie Holley, who worked under Wood in the country department at Billboard in the 1980s.
“Ed and I never knew where he would be calling in his column from, to whichever one of us was willing to take it over the phone by dictation. If he wasn’t on a plane or boat, he was calling from a train making his way across the country!
“Ed and I truly loved Gerry Wood! If free-flowing, imaginative, intuitive, and emotional thought are characteristics associated with the right brain, his right hemisphere must have been double in size. Gerry Wood definitely encompassed and underscored ‘creative.’ He was full of original ideas, artistic works and new possibilities. He was unconventional and impractical at times, but that always led to even more interesting projects. He was more than willing to share the spotlight and pushed everyone around him to ‘be your best self,’ ‘try things without fear of judgment,’ and ‘go for it, or you’ll always wonder!’
“I’m sad that he has left us, but I bet there are a couple of one-way streets called ‘Music Row’ just inside ‘Heaven’s Gates!’ And, I bet Gerry Wood is right there with all of the songwriters, music publishers and record label execs on ’16th (and 17th) Avenue!’”
Ed Morris, who was Billboard’s country music editor from 1990-95, tells Billboard, “Gerry hired me in 1981 as he was leaving Nashville for New York to take the chief editor job. Having heard I was an atheist, he found it enormously amusing to name me gospel editor, thereby making me hostage to the Righteous for the next two years. Gerry lived to be entertained—by both by personalities and circumstances—and I never once saw him less than buoyant.”
Wood also had a good sense of humor about himself. At one Billboard staff conference, a staff member, Jean Williams, wasn’t able to be present, but sent in taped remarks. At one point she said, “Gerry Wood had a good idea. I think it was about a year ago.”
William paused just a little too long between those two sentences, creating the impression that good ideas from Wood were a rarity. Everyone in the room laughed at the unintended slight. No one laughed harder than Gerry.
On May 9, Beyoncé wrapped a historic run of five shows at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the Cowboy Carter Tour kick-off grossed $55.7 million and sold 217,000 tickets.
Beyoncé’s $50 million-plus run in Los Angeles is the biggest reported single-venue engagement of 2025 so far, eclipsing multiple stops on Coldplay’s tour through Asia and Shakira’s seven-night stay in Mexico City. Further, it’s the fifth-highest grossing tour stop in Boxscore history, only behind two legs of U2’s Sphere residency in Las Vegas (2023-24), Harry Styles’ 15 shows at Madison Square Garden in New York (2022), and eight nights of Take That at Wembley Stadium in London (2011). Notably, it’s the highest-grossing reported single-venue engagement ever by a woman.
Cowboy Carter Tour launched on Monday, April 28, with successive performances on May 1, 4, 7, and 9. On average, Beyoncé grossed $11.1 million per night, playing to more than 43,000 fans at each show. In completing this week-long run, she has now played more shows at SoFi Stadium than any other artist in the venue’s history – eight, including three in 2023 – since its opening at the beginning of the decade.
The L.A.-area shows may not even remain the tour’s peak, as an upcoming five-night stay at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (13 miles from New York) could challenge that $55 million take. Beyoncé will have her longest run at one venue in London with six nights at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, though ticket prices overseas often fall below the surging rates in the United States.
Using Cowboy Carter Tour figures in the Los Angeles area as a guide, with city-by-city comparisons to previous tours, it appears that Beyoncé’s 2025 run is barreling toward Billboard’s initial projections of $300 million. It will out-gross all of her previous tours with the lone exception of 2023’s Renaissance World Tour, which ran for 56 shows compared to Cowboy Carter Tour’s current routing of 32. According to Live Nation, total ticket sales will eclipse one million.
The initial reports for Cowboy Carter Tour push Beyoncé’s reported career Boxscore earnings past $1.4 billion, with 11.9 million tickets sold. Those totals will continue to rise until the trek closes on July 26 at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.
