State Champ Radio genre country
Page: 39
04/26/2025
Returning favorites and pleasant surprises marked the highlights from Friday (Apr. 26) at the California country festival.
04/26/2025
The more you watch of Lana Del Rey supposedly going country, the more apparent how ridiculous any talk of her pivoting to any genre really is.
For 15 years now, LDR has essentially been a genre unto herself: a unique and borderline-illogical blending of obviously classic influences with some game-changingly modern sensibilities, one that mostly befuddled critics and radio and the charts early on, even as she was inarguably becoming one of the most important pop stars of her generation. She’s been wildly influential without ever being less than unmistakable; no matter what sonic, thematic or characteristic elements other artists may borrow from her, none of them would ever risk being taken for Lana herself. This is all to say: no matter what style of music she’s making, Lana Del Rey has one genre and that’s “Lana Del Rey.”
But of course, Lana did lean into The Stagecoach of It All while making her debut performance at the Indio, Calif. country festival on Friday (Apr. 25). Singing in a white dress in front of a set of an idyllic-looking rural house at dusk, she looked like she walked on stage straight from an old Loretta Lynn album cover. Early on, she brought out George Birge — himself a Saturday performer at the festival — to duet on his current hit “Cowboy Songs,” an extremely country radio-friendly song Del Rey says she can’t get enough of. (You can certainly imagine a Lanafied version of the chorus, though it was strange to hear her singing on such a zippy and muscular hook in 2025.) And of course, she invoked two all-time genre classics during the show by covering Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man” (“You can’t do this set without it”), and then closing the proceedings with a family singalong to John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” a recent entry into the LDR cover canon.
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But the new songs? Country-ish in their tempo and in some of their thematic content (and occasional lyrics about “all these country singers”), perhaps, but not in any way that feels at a remove from what she’s done her whole career: Lana has long centered the emotional abandon and cinematic sway of country in her songs. You could hear that even in some of the crowd-elating classics Lana performed in the midst of her Grand Ole Opry moment — tweak a couple lyrics and add some banjo and “Ride” is basically a The Chicks single; turn down the sex and turn up the sarcasm and “Video Games” could’ve been penned by Kacey Musgraves. Nothing about the stately balladry and gender-role explorations of songs like set-opening duo “Husband of Mine” and “Henry, Come On” felt without precedent in her catalog; she could have introduced them as deep cuts from Blue Banisters or Chemtrails Over the Country Club and many of her fans probably would’ve bought it.
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If there was a pronounced difference with Del Rey in Country Mode on Friday night, it was that she seemed… maybe more polite and unassuming than we’re used to her being? Watching her express her very sincere-seeming gratitude at being invited to Stagecoach, and about the size and passion of her Friday night crowd, it was very easy to forget that she was once a highly divisive figure in popular music, one prone to controversy in both her lyrics and public statements. There was no trace of any of that in the smiling, hostly, happy-to-be-here performer who took the stage on Friday night.
Well, almost none. If you missed a little of the unpredictability and ostentatiousness that characterized early-years Lana Del Rey– and still informed highlights from her work up until this decade — then you probably loved “57.5,” a shuffling new song referring to her number (in millions) of monthly listeners on Spotify, which also includes a bridge which begins with LDR proclaiming “I kissed Morgan Wallen” and going onto advise listeners against going ATVing with him. It takes a lot of “yes, really” to explain, but it was still probably the best of the new songs that she debuted: some real country s–t, but more importantly, pure Lana through and through, in a way no other artist or genre could ever totally capture.
Ella Langley received her first Academy of Country Music Award, for new female artist of the year, on Friday afternoon (April 25). While onstage for her set at Rock the Country in Knoxville, Tennessee, Langley received the news via a congratulatory video from Miranda Lambert, the winningest artist in ACM history.
It was hardly a surprise because Langley was the most-nominated artist for the upcoming 60th ACM Awards, with eight nods. None of the other nominees for new female artist of the year – Kassi Ashton, Ashley Cooke, Dasha and Jessie Murph – had more than that one nomination.
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“I’m here to tell you how proud I am of you for being the top nominated artist for the Academy of Country Music Awards this year,” Lambert said in the video. “You are my friend, first and foremost, a fellow dog rescue advocate, you are a co-writer, you are my soul sister in country music and a partner in crime. We are gonna celebrate so big in Dallas, Texas! They ain’t even ready!”
Lambert won in that same category in 2007 – one year after Carrie Underwood took the prize, and one year before Taylor Swift did. (A pretty good run, there.)
This was the second nomination in the new female artist of the year category for both Ashton and Cooke, which means they cannot be nominated in the category again. Dasha and Murph can be, due to the generous policy at both the ACM and CMA Awards whereby new artists can be nominated twice in the category.
Langley, 25, is also nominated for female artist of the year and in four categories for “you look like you love me,” her breakthrough hit featuring Riley Green. The sexy duet is nominated for single of the year, song of the year, music event of the year and visual media of the year. Langley is nominated as both artist and songwriter in the song of the year category and as both artist and director in visual media of the year.
“you look like you love me” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, No. 7 on Hot Country Songs and No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100. Langley co-wrote all of the songs on her debut album, hungover, which reached No. 11 on Top Country Albums and No. 49 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
Zach Top was presented with the award for new male artist of the year on Thursday. The ACM has yet to present the award for new duo or group of the year. The nominees are Restless Road, The Red Clay Strays and Treaty Oak Revival.
Langley will be celebrated for her win at the 60th ACM Awards, hosted by Reba McEntire. The show will stream live for a global audience on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch on Thursday, May 8, at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. A limited number of tickets are available for purchase on SeatGeek.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
Kane Brown nets his 14th top 10 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “Backseat Driver” rides up to No. 10 on the survey dated May 3. The song increased by 7% to 16.4 million audience impressions April 18-24, according to Luminate. The single was written by Jacob Davis and Jordan Walker and produced by Dann […]
Texas rapper BigXthaPlug has carved out a nice career for himself over the past half-decade, amassing 16 hits and three top 20s on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, a handful of appearances on the back half of the Hot 100 and a successful touring base, emerging as one of the more distinctive voices of his generation of hip-hop artists. But he was always more than just a rapper, and his multi-genre Southern roots first came to the fore with his 2022 song “Texas,” the video for which saw him decked out in full cowboy regalia as he rapped about his home state over a country-inflected acoustic slide guitar.
The song, among other things, proved BigX’s versatility. But it also opened the door to something else: the country music community. And now, as his latest single “All The Way” featuring Bailey Zimmerman spends its second week in the top 10 of the Hot 100 after zooming in with a No. 4 debut last week, BigX has a bonafide smash hit country single, with a full country-infused project on the way.
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It’s a huge moment for BigX as he explores his country interests, and also a big pop moment for the Texas MC as well, representing far and away the biggest hit of his career so far. But it’s also a big moment for UnitedMasters, the company founded in 2017 by veteran record executive Steve Stoute that releases his music — and scored its own biggest hit so far with “All The Way,” too. (The song is officially credited as BigXthaPlug/UnitedMasters/Atlantic.) And it helps UnitedMasters vp of music/head of A&R Mike Weiss earn the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Here, Weiss talks about what went into making the record, BigX’s country “side quest,” the crowded distribution space of the music business and how UM has helped develop BigX by following his vision. “The plan is simple: stay true to BigX, lean into organic collaborations and let the music speak,” Weiss says. “We’re not mashing together genres for the sake of it. We’re building something that reflects all sides of who he is as an artist and a person.”
This week, BigXthaPlug and Bailey Zimmerman’s “All The Way” spends its second week in the top 10 of the Hot 100, at number eight. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?
This record didn’t happen overnight. It took a complete team effort to get us here with a vision for an overarching artist plan, rather than one single. My partner David Melhado and I sat down a year ago with the idea to start mapping out a course for a country-inspired BigX project. We knew from the start that authenticity had to be the foundation. If BigX didn’t feel it, it wasn’t going to happen and that filter guided every decision we made.
Around that time, BigX started spending time with a number of country artists who had become fans after his breakout single “Texas.” We knew there was an opportunity here. We have an amazing team of core producers in Charley Cooks, Tony Coles and Bandplay. They started working on ideas for a country direction that stayed true to BigX’s roots. The initial demo to “All the Way” was Ben Johnson’s vocals over a guitar that hinted at something special. We knew it needed to be “BigX-ified,” so Bandplay built a sound that was unmistakably BigX. We have an amazing A&R team that played it for BigX. He loved the record, and cut it immediately. BigX has some of the best instincts. He trusts his gut and doesn’t miss.
The song exploded out of the gate, debuting last week at No. 4 on the Hot 100 and soaring in at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs, Digital Song Sales and Hot Country Songs charts and at No. 3 on Hot Rap Songs. Why did the song have such a huge immediate impact?
Back in February, BigX teased an early version of the record on Instagram. There was no set release date at the time, but the response was immediate and explosive. Within days, fans ripped the sound from the Instagram post and flooded TikTok with tens of thousands of videos. It was clear we had something special on our hands.
Even with that momentum, we resisted the urge to drop the record prematurely. There was external pressure to release it fast and not “lose the heat,” but we knew that a moment this big deserved a proper runway. We took the time to create the right content, shoot the music video and prepare a full rollout that matched the energy we were seeing online. We were also mindful that this was the first single off the project, and once we launched, we needed to be ready to move with full force.
That patience and discipline paid off. By the time the song dropped, there was such pent up demand that the record exploded.
With a song like that with so much immediate interest, what can you guys do to keep the momentum going?
Our priority is building sustained momentum for BigX as an artist, not just capitalizing on a single moment. From the beginning, our focus has been longterm artist development, and this moment is just one chapter in a much bigger story that BigX is telling with this country-inspired project.
We have an incredible body of work lined up, and we’re deep in the process of mapping out the next singles and the full rollout. Consistency is everything. With BigX, we take the approach of always being on cycle. We’re keeping our foot on the gas and continuing to invest in the music, visuals and storytelling that got us here, while building towards the next big moment.
After landing 16 songs on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, this is BigX’s first song that touches the country genre. What are your plans to make sure that his crossover there works?
Our intention isn’t to fully cross BigX into country. This project is more of a creative “side quest” that allows him to showcase his versatility and explore new territory without abandoning his core. It’s about expanding, not switching lanes.
This isn’t a trend-chasing move, it’s rooted in who BigX is. Back in 2022, we released “Texas,” a country-inspired hip-hop record where he was literally in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat in the video. That record sparked early interest from the country community and planted the seed for what we’re doing now. This moment is a natural evolution of that foundation, not a sudden shift.
The plan is simple: stay true to BigX, lean into organic collaborations and let the music speak. We’re not mashing together genres for the sake of it. We’re building something that reflects all sides of who he is as an artist and a person.
This is the biggest song in UnitedMasters’ history so far. What does that mean for the company?
This is an exciting moment for the company and for our team. We’ve been a partner to BigX for four years with a deep belief in artist development and doing what’s best for our artists. This shows that we can compete with anyone. We touched every aspect of the A&R process, rollout, marketing, digital and overarching strategy. This win further affirms that our model works. That independent artists with the right support can not only compete, but lead.
Just last year, we had a major global success with FloyyMenor’s “Gata Only,” the fastest Latin song in Spotify history to hit a billion streams. That was a global moment. But with “All The Way,” we’ve shown we can dominate domestically, too, and drive immediate, culture-shifting impact in the U.S. market. Delivering on both fronts shows that our approach scales. The exciting part is we’re still just getting started.
The distribution space is getting crowded. How do you make sure UnitedMasters stands apart from the competition?
We don’t see ourselves as just a distribution company, and we don’t operate like one. At UnitedMasters, we’re aiming to reimagine what a modern music company can be. Our mission is to reshape the industry by building something that lives at the intersection of a forward-thinking label, a tech-driven platform and a premium distributor.
What sets us apart is the ability to support artists at every stage of their journey, from emerging creators to global superstars, with a tiered system that scales alongside their growth. We’ve invested in world-class technology and paired it with an elite label services team that delivers across A&R, marketing, strategy and beyond. We’re not focused on just getting music to DSPs, we’re focused on building careers.
Don’t try this at home. While exploring the great outdoors, HARDY decided to sneak up on a wild snake and grab it by the throat — after which the reptile reacted about exactly as you might expect: by biting down on the country star’s hand. In an Instagram clip posted Wednesday (April 23) set to […]
Shaboozey is celebrating his success with Friday’s release of Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going: The Complete Edition, an expanded version of his breakthrough March 2024 third LP Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where Going. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Among the bonuses accompanying the revamped album […]
Jelly Roll stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday night (April 24) to talk about the hardest part of being an American Idol mentor, leaving the continent for the first time on his upcoming tour with Post Malone and why he’s on the verge of jumping out of a plane and doing other wild stunts now that he’s nearing his goal weight.
Jelly, of course, talked about his recent weigh loss, which he said he couldn’t make sound cool, since it basically involves eating a “lot of protein and vegetables” and walking. It’s clearly working, with Jelly Roll saying he’s lost “an entire Jimmy Kimmel” to date, or around 200 pounds.
That means he’s nearing the ability to do the “fun stuff” he said you can do when you are under 250 lbs. “I want to skydive, I want to ride a roller coaster, I want to ride a bull. I know it sounds crazy [but] I want to wrestle an alligator,” he said.
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And, on the night when his beloved Tennessee Titans football team made news for snagging quarterback Cam Ward with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft, Jelly Roll admitted that his pep talk to the team before their dismal 3-13 season last year may have been a mistake. “I prayed you didn’t talk about this on TV!” Jelly laughed, swearing that he won’t go anywhere near Nissan Stadium until the team gets at least one win this year.
“Could you imagine that? I finally get to go talk to my lifelong favorite football team, Jimmy and I’m giving them what I think is the most inspirational speech of their careers,” he said. “I left there like, ‘we’re going to the playoffs, baby!’ And then we laid an absolute turd!” He also recalled being right up close to the legendary “Music City Miracle,” a vaunted Jan. 2000 moment during the Titans’ AFC Wild Card playoff game against the Bills at home when Kevin Dyson ran 75 years on a lateral to score the winning touchdown.
Well, Jelly wasn’t there there. He was locked up on the second floor of juvie across the street, where he could just make out half the field and half the scoreboard while sharing a peek through a window with a couple other guys. “I had a skybox. I was on level two. I had a bird’s eye view,” he joked.
With his felonious days long behind him, Jelly Roll crowed about his upcoming first international dates as part of Post Malone’s summer Big Ass tour. “This is a big deal… I think that y’all have already figured out that I’m a convicted felon by this conversation,” he said of the reason he’s not been able to tour in Europe before now. In fact, earlier this week, the singer was in Nashville to speak to the Tennessee Parole Board before they recommended that the state’s Governor consider pardoning Jelly (born Jason DeFord), a move that would make it easier for him to travel the world more freely.
“I got my passport last year and I was excited,” he said of his first venture out of the U.S. to play a handful of Canadian dates. “I said, ‘the United States of America has finally allowed me leave! I have redeemed myself!’ I didn’t know how many countries wasn’t gonna let me in! I had trouble getting into Mexico. It was bad. I’m not making this up!”
Jelly also talked to Kimmel about being the “internal hype man” on American Idol as a mentor to his “little Jelly Babies,” and not realizing how hard it was going to be for him when they get voted off. “I’m taking it worse than them. One of them came off last week and I’m, like, sobbing and she’s like, ‘I’m going to be okay.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry! I just really love you!’”
The singer returned later in the show to perform the country rock gospel anthem “Hard Fought Hallelujah” with Christian singer Brandon Lake.
Zach Top was named the winner of the Academy of Country Music Award for new male artist of the year on Thursday night (April 24) prior to taking the stage for a sold-out show in Wilmington, N.C. The news was revealed by Brooks & Dunn, the winningest duo in ACM history, through a congratulatory video.
Top beat strong competition, including Shaboozey, whose megahit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is nominated for an ACM Award for single of the year; Bailey Zimmerman, who was nominated for new male artist of the year for the second year in a row; Tucker Wetmore; and Gavin Adcock.
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“I couldn’t be more honored, and I can’t say a big enough thank you to my fans for loving music and loving what we do on the road and listening to the songs every day,” Top said after being handed his award. “It means the world to me, I’ve always wanted to just play and sing for a living, and I get to do that now and it’s cool to be able to get a little trophy every now and then to let us know that we’re doing good doing it. So thank you so much, this is beautiful.”
Top, 27, got the news before a stop on his Cold Beer & Country Music Tour. The tour was named after his debut album, which is nominated for an ACM Award for album of the year. The album peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
Top’s Cold Beer & Country Music headline tour features stops at Nashville’s iconic Ryman Auditorium (two nights), New York’s Terminal 5, and Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway. In addition, Top is supporting select dates with Alan Jackson on his Last Call Tour and will join Dierks Bentley’s Broken Branches Tour, when it kicks off next month.
Top was nominated for new artist of the year at last fall’s Country Music Association Awards. He lost to Megan Moroney, but the leading country awards shows allow artists two nominations in this category, so he could be nominated there again this year.
New artist of the year winners are typically issued invitations to perform on the ACM Awards telecast. Last year’s new male artist of the year winner, Nate Smith, performed (joined by Avril Lavigne), as did last year’s new duo or group of the year winner, Tigirlily Gold. Last year’s new female artist of the year winner, Moroney, did not.
The 60th ACM Awards, hosted by Reba McEntire, will stream live for a global audience on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch on Thursday, May 8 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. A limited number of tickets to the landmark 60th ACM Awards are available for purchase on SeatGeek.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
In a new interview, Billy Ray Cyrus is opening up about his unexpected relationship with Elizabeth Hurley and the text message that started it all.
The “Old Town Road” singer sat down with Apple Music’s The Ty Bentli Show this week, and in an excerpt previewed by People, Cyrus opened up about reconnecting with the actress after filming the movie Christmas in Paradise together back in 2022. (The pair caught the world off-guard on Sunday when they shared a photo of Cyrus kissing Hurley via Instagram with the simple caption “Happy Easter.”)
“We did very few scenes together but the couple times we were in the same scene there was a chemistry there,” Cyrus told Bentli. “We just laughed, and it was at a time I wasn’t laughing a lot.”
The movie was filmed the same year the country star separated from ex-wife Tish, with whom he shares five children: Brandi, Trace, Miley, Braison and Noah. (Cyrus also has two children, Christopher and Kristen, from a previous relationship.) Cyrus then went on to marry singer Firerose in 2023 before divorcing the next year.
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Cyrus has faced many public challenges in the past year, including allegations of domestic abuse from ex-wife Firerose and an apparent estrangement from some of his famous children, including Miley. “I felt like, ‘Wow, can life get any harder? Can it get any tougher?’” Cyrus told Bentli in the new interview. “For me, at a certain point it was like, you can’t get knocked down any flatter than laying on your back when life is kicking you. And in this moment… a friend reached out.”
According to Cyrus, the text from an unknown number read: “Hey, it looks like life might be a little bit tough and just wanted you to know I’m in your corner. You’ve got a friend in your corner.”
“So I text back, I go, ‘Who is this?’ And it’s like, ‘Elizabeth Hurley,’” Cyrus recalled. “Of all the people to reach out to me in that second that maybe I needed most… this friend who made me laugh.”
Cyrus likened the sentiment to a moment in 1992 when the late Johnny Cash supported him as critics were bashing his music. “Johnny said, ‘Hey, you know, just remember that all things that are good come from almighty God above and that stuff happens, and in your case… the good outweighs the bad. Let ‘em have it. I’m in your corner.’”
The “Achy Breaky Heart” singer went on to praise Hurley, telling Bentli: “She’s so impressively brilliant. She reminds me a lot of Dolly Parton. She’s a very smart businesswoman. If you can laugh together, you can make it through everything.”
He also said he has a relationship with Hurley’s 23-year-old son Damian. “No expectations of where we go from here other than her and her son — I do love him a lot, and it’s great that God brought them into my life when he did,” Cyrus said. “It’s just a good thing. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this happy.”
Hurley was previously married to businessman Arun Nayar from 2007 to 2011. She had Damian with businessman Steve Bing, who died in 2020. And Hurley famously dated British actor Hugh Grant from 1987 to 2000; Grant is Damian’s godfather.
