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Ingrid Andress made headlines — and garnered considerable backlash — last summer after her botched performance of the national anthem at the MLB Home Run Derby in Arlington, Texas. Andress swiftly issued an apology on social media, saying, “I’m not gonna bullsh– y’all. I was drunk last night. I’m checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need. That was not me last night.”
The “More Hearts Than Mine” hitmaker sought treatment and, more recently, made a comeback, singing the national anthem at a Colorado Avalanche hockey game.
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She’s been making the media rounds, and during an appearance on the podcast The Viall Files, Andress opened up about the support she’s received from other artists — and she noted, in particular, how other women country music artists encouraged and championed Andress during her time in rehab.
“That was actually the other really meaningful thing that happened after the anthem. I was expecting no one to reach out,” she said. “But there was just so much outpouring of love from female country artists in Nashville. I actually felt so loved and seen going into rehab.”
She continued, “Elle King was like, ‘This is just all part of it, girl,’ and she’s obviously been there before, too, and you know, Kelsea Ballerini was like, ‘Welcome to the worst parts of this job.’ It was mostly women. Karen Fairchild from Little Big Town, and that really meant a lot to me, because I feel like women in country music have had to stick together based on very obvious things because it’s a very male-dominated genre, but for them to be like, ‘Hey, we’ve all been there,’ it was very meaningful.”
Country music’s female artists weren’t the only artists to reach out with love: Andress recalled how artist-guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana reached out with support.
“Have never spoken to him before in my life, and he asked my management, ‘Hey, can I get Ingrid’s number?’ … He was so kind and so supportive. He was like, ‘If you ever want to do a song, you know where to find me,’ and he sent me flowers.”
Andress continues to cement her return with the recent release of her new song “Footprints.”
“As I’ve gotten older and experienced more life, I think the most human thing on earth is failing. It’s getting kicked off, feeling the sting of it, but getting back on the same d**n horse anyway,” Andress wrote in an Instagram post revealing the song. “The sister, daughter, and human I want to be is resilient. Without the mistakes in my life, I would not be the person I am today, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have the stories to pass on about my journey. We have to talk about our mistakes in order for our success to make sense. ‘Footprints’ is a reminder to all the people I love the most, and also to myself, that I’m out here trying my best at this “life” thing, and if there’s any helpful guidance anyone can take from it, it’s all worth it. Here’s to making it worse, making it right, and making it.”
See the full podcast below:
Morgan Wallen gets personal about his anxieties on an unreleased song titled “I’m a Little Crazy,” a snippet of which the country superstar shared Thursday (March 6) on Instagram. In the short clip, Wallen’s crackling voice soars over resonant finger-picked guitar as he sings about the lengths he goes to in order to feel safe […]
The star-studded lineup for NBC’s upcoming Opry 100: A Live Celebration just keeps expanding, with the network announcing Thursday (March 6) that Post Malone, Keith Urban and a slew of other musicians will be joining the special. In addition to the “I Had Some Help” singer and Australian musician, the three-hour showcase — which will […]
Dolly Parton has spoken out with another statement following the death of her husband of 60 years, Carl Dean. In a message posted to her Instagram Thursday (March 6) — about three days after she first revealed the Nashville businessman’s passing at the age of 82 — the country superstar wrote, “This is a love […]
Though Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan just kicked off their eighth season behind the iconic American Idol judge’s desk, they told Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night (March 5) that newcomer Carrie Underwood is already shaking things up just one week into her tenure.
“She was the number one at the beginning,” Richie said of Underwood, 41, who memorably won the fourth season of the show when she was 21 and said she still has her “14887” contestant sticker from her audition. Asked what it’s like to have an OG Idol on the show, pop icon Richie said their new partner is a “jukebox… she knows every song that the contestants are singing,” joking that Underwood can’t help joining in.
“I go Carrie, ‘they’re competing. It’s not you. You already won,’” Richie joked, as Underwood defended herself by explaining that if a nervous contestant flubs a lyric she is happy to be their human “Teleprompter. I got you. I will help you.”
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As for whether contestants still try to “butter up” the panel by covering their songs, Underwood said they’ve all had it happen so far, for good or ill. “They think it’s to compliment us, but some days we’re just praying, ‘Please God, just let them be able to sing it.’ And sometimes they nail it and sometimes it goes south real fast,” Richie admitted.
Replacing fan favorite Katy Perry, Underwood appears to have slipped into the pump-up pal seat with no hiccups. Richie said the country star immediately said yes to the first singer the panel saw, then again for the second one, only to reach a crossroads for singer number three out of nearly 200. “Luke and I were laughing, ‘well, she’s gotta say no,’” Richie recalled. “And she said, ‘well, she’s so cute… she’s so adorable.’ I said, ‘the answer is no!’”
“I care a lot and it’s people’s hopes and dreams,” Underwood said in her defense. “I’m trying to evaluate, ‘is there more in there,’” she added, as Richie flashed some performative exasperation at his co-star’s gentle nature. “There was not any more in that woman’s [inaudible]… it was a firm ‘no,’” Bryan said.
Asked if some of the singers get nervous in front of the superstar panel, Bryan said he’s basically become an amateur psychologist at this point. “I can read a fainter when they’re about to faint… we had one kid and I went behind him and kind of patted him down and he was 157 degrees, his body temperature,” he said.
The trio kicked off their visit with a competitive, trash-dancing showdown in the “Name That Song Challenge,” during which Bryan and Richie faced off against Underwood and Fallon. Racing to guess which instrumental versions of pop songs house band the Roots were playing while adding one instrument at a time, UnderFallon shot out to an early lead when the host quickly guessed Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”
Fallon rubbed in his correct guess with a hip-shaking dance and impromptu duet with Underwood, cheekily asking his rivals, “isn’t this the best game ever?” A not-amused Richie rolled his eyes and shot back sarcastically, “this is so much fun,” with Bryan pointing to the other team and saying, “she’s a jukebox and all you do [Fallon] is listen to music!”
The next one was trickier, with Fallon incorrectly guessing the Commodores’ “Brick House,” as the band’s former singer Richie snagged the obvious answer: the Jackson 5’s “ABC,” which set him and Bryan off on their own touchdown dance routine. They all struggled with the third track, with Fallon finally humming out Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” for the win, then fanning himself theatrically.
After Underwood nailed Huey Lewis & the News’ “Power of Love” to Bryan’s chagrin, Richie rocked back with a correct guess on Heart’s “Barracuda,” setting off a friendly twin air guitar solo with Fallon that lead to a celebratory couple’s waltz for the team that correctly guessed the last song. American Idol airs at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday (March 9) on ABC.
Click below to find out who won the guessing game and to hear Underwood, Bryan and Richie talk about the new season of Idol.
Ingrid Andress is ready to move on from her controversial national anthem performance.
In her first interview since going to rehab after her botched take of the “Star-Spangled Banner” at the 2024 Home Run Derby served as a wakeup call to her issues with alcohol, the country singer-songwriter opened up to Rolling Stone about everything that led up to her “worst moment” — and how she’s grown from it since. “I am sorry you had to witness that horrific rendition of our nation’s anthem,” she began in a piece published Thursday (March 6) .
“Whoever that was is not an accurate representation of who I am at all,” she continued. “You got to see me in my worst moment, so now, everything from here will be great.”
Andress went on to explain that, by the time she stepped onto the field in Arlington, Texas, last July, she’d already been accustomed to drinking before gigs to numb unresolved feelings about her career and a certain breakup — and that day was no exception. Up until then, however, she’d “never let it get in the way of my performance,” she told the publication. “I liked the numbness … That’s part of how it got out of control.”
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This time around, the “More Hearts Than Mine” singer said she was too “blacked out” to hear the anthem’s starting pitch in her in-ear monitors, which contributed to the pitchiness and questionable melodic choices viewers witnessed that day. “If you don’t start on the note that it gives you, you’re screwed,” she explained. “It was my voice fighting with the tuner, which is a losing battle.”
Andress didn’t immediately realize how badly the performance went, but the online vitriol that followed quickly opened her eyes to how serious the issue was. She quickly drafted a statement at her team’s suggestion — “I’m not gonna bulls–t y’all, I was drunk last night … That was not me last night,” she wrote — and was on a plane to a rehab facility outside of her home state of Tennessee mere hours later.
“I didn’t run that statement by anybody,” she said in the interview, adding that she received messages of support from fellow women country artists such as Elle King, Kelsea Ballerini and Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild in the aftermath. “I needed to let people know that it’s not just this one incident that I messed up. ‘I need to get better. I’m at such a low place, I’m not gonna lie about it.’”
The four-time Grammy nominee has since completed treatment and, after spending months reconnecting with herself in her native Colorado, redeemed herself with a second national anthem performance at a recent Colorado Avalanche hockey game. On Monday (March 3), she also released her first song since the debacle: “Footprints,” a musical “reminder to all the people I love the most, and also to myself, that I’m out here trying my best at this ‘life’ thing,” she wrote on Instagram this week.
Of what her redemption arc has taught her, Andress told Rolling Stone, “I learned to not ever let your past dictate what you can do in the future.”
She added, “Sometimes it takes a little public humiliation to turn your life around.”
Country Music Hall of Famer Randy Travis‘s life and career will be spotlighted in the upcoming biopic Forever and Ever, Amen, which will also star his fellow country singer Clay Walker, Travis announced on Wednesday (March 5) during his performance at the Grand Ole Opry.
The film is currently being cast by Anne McCarthy, Kellie Roy and Morgan Robbins at Engine Casting; the role of Travis will be portrayed by three actors. Walker will play Travis in his 40s and 50s, while casting is underway for actors to portray him as a child (around 9-12 years old) and at 20-30 years old, according to the press release.
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Writer-director Andrew Hyatt will direct from his own script, while Travis and his wife, Mary Travis, will serve as executive producers alongside Walker.
“We’ve been approached many times through the years about doing a movie … but the timing or team has never felt quite as good as it feels right now,” Randy Travis said in a statement. “With Clay on our side, and the creative direction he and the producers have, I feel good about telling my story through this medium.”
Walker added: “Randy Travis is the voice of a generation and one of the greatest country singers of all time. I am truly honored to be a part of this project, and cannot believe I get to play one of my heroes.”
The biopic will spotlight Travis, who sparked a time of surging sales success in country music in the mid-1980s, when he ushered in his traditional country sound and unmistakable, burnished voice on hits such as “Forever and Ever, Amen,” “Diggin’ Up Bones,” “1982,” and “On The Other Hand.”
The biopic’s titular song earned single of the year honors from the Country Music Association in 1987, while his album Always & Forever was named CMA album of the year, stayed at the pinnacle of Billboard‘s top country albums chart for 43 weeks, and sold 5 million copies. Travis’s subsequent five projects also reached platinum sales status. Along the way, he won numerous accolades, including the CMA’s horizon award (1986) and male vocalist of the year honor (1987-1988), the ACM’s male vocalist honor (1986-1987) and Grammy accolades for best country vocal performance, male, in 1987 and 1988.
Beyond music, Travis made his mark as an actor in film and television, with roles in films Black Dog, Maverick, The Rainmaker, The Legend of O.B. Taggert and The Wager, and television series including Touched by an Angel, King of the Hill and Matlock.
He made a music comeback in the 2000s, thanks to his country-gospel hit “Three Wooden Crosses,” which won song of the year at the CMA Awards and a GMA Dove Award for country song of the year. He released country-leaning gospel albums including Rise & Shine, Inspirational Journey and Passing Through.
Nearly 12 years ago, Travis suffered a stroke which limited his ability to sing and perform, but he has continued to release original music with the help of new AI technology.
Rascal Flatts announced their upcoming star-studded collabs album Life Is a Highway: Refueled Duets on Thursday (March 6). The project due out on June 6 through Big Machine Records will feature 10 re-imaginings of the country trio’s most beloved hits with guests including Kelly Clarkson, the Backstreet Boys, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean and Carly Pearce.
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“It was such an honor to create this project with such incredibly talented artists, it’s a pretty indescribable feeling having your colleagues and friends do your songs in such unique ways and knock your socks off with the results,” said lead singer Gary LeVox in a statement. “This album is just another attempt for us to thank our fans for the blessings they’ve given us on this crazy journey the past 25 years, thanks for riding along with us!”
Rascal Flatts teamed up with the Jonas Brothers in January for the first single from the collection, “I Dare You,” which was written by the JoBros’ Nick Jonas with Dan + Shay’s Shay Mooney along with Dewain Whitmore Jr. and Tommy English. The song gave the Jonas siblings their first hit on the country charts after “I Dare You” spent a week on the Billboard Hot Country Charts (No. 31) last month; it is currently charting at No. 37 on the Country Airplay chart.
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Among the other acts who team up with LeVox, bassist/singer Jay DeMarcus and guitarist/vocalist Joe Don Rooney on the album are: Brandon Lake, Ashley Cooke, Jordan Davis and Halestorm singer/guitarist Lzzy Hale.
The country group is gearing up to kick off their Life Is a Highway tour in their hometown of Columbus, OH at the Nationwide Arena on Thursday night.
Check out the track list for Life Is a Highway: Refueled Duets album below.
1. “I Dare You” (with Jonas Brothers)
2. “Fast Cars And Freedom” (with Jason Aldean)
3. “My Wish” (with Carly Pearce)
4. “Mayberry” (with Blake Shelton)
5. “Stand” (with Brandon Lake)
6. “Summer Nights” (with Ashley Cooke)
7. “What Hurts The Most” (with Backstreet Boys)
8. “Yours If You Want It” (with Jordan Davis)
9. “Life Is A Highway” (with Lzzy Hale)
10. “I’m Movin’ On” (with Kelly Clarkson)
Since bluegrass artist and mandolin virtuoso Sierra Hull signed her first label deal at just 13 and released her Rounder Records debut in 2008, she’s long since grown used to shattering glass ceilings.
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In 2016, Hull became the first woman named the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s mandolin player of the year — and went on to win in the category five more times. She is also part of the acclaimed assembly The First Ladies of Bluegrass, who were the first women to win IBMA musician accolades in their respective instrument categories — in addition to Hull winning mandolin player of the year, her cohorts include Missy Raines (bass player of the year), Alison Brown (banjo player of the year), Becky Buller (fiddle player of the year) and Molly Tuttle (guitar player of the year).
So, the title of Hull’s new album, A Tip Toe High Wire, out Friday (March 7), nods to the ambition and uncertainty that comes with high-flying acrobatics—a feeling familiar to Hull, who is stepping out onto her own highwire, as the album marks not only her first release in five years, but Hull’s first as an independent artist after parting with Rounder.
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“It is so wild to think how different the landscape was for an artist releasing music than what it is now,” Hull tells Billboard, adding, “I’m so grateful to Rounder and the experience I got to have there. I feel like a lot of people start out their careers more independent, hoping to get signed or go the label route and then go back independent. But for me, [making records independently] is brand new.”
When Hull’s contract with Rounder had been fulfilled, she says, “I just felt like I wasn’t in a rush to make any decisions. I felt like it was a good opportunity to have a clean slate. I didn’t have an album that was about to come out, so I thought, ‘Let me take a moment of pause and see what happens.’ I don’t know if I’ll forever be independent. Who knows? But I felt like I owed it to myself to have this moment to experience it and learn from it.”
The album takes its title from one of the project’s songs, “Spitfire,” which Hull wrote for her late grandmother over two years ago. The song touches on the hardships Hull’s grandmother faced, including becoming a widow by 18 after her husband died in a drowning accident roughly a month after their wedding.
“There’s a lyric, ‘Tougher than thorns on a brier.’ That was her, this country woman who grew up in the boonies of Tennessee,” Hull says. “She grew up poor and never had a lot of education and things like that in her life, but she was just an instinctually smart woman. So much of what she had to endure, she fought her way through. When I think about something that I feel down about, sometimes I think of Granny and knew she would’ve been tough. She would do anything for her family and fight for all of us in the most beautiful way, but she ain’t going to take no crap from nobody.”
It’s a song that has fueled Hull as a creator and as a businesswoman in her new space as an independent artist.
“It can be a little scary stepping into this space,” says two-time Grammy nominee Hull, who pulled together a supportive team around her that includes TMWRK Management’s Paddy Scace and Dylan Sklare, and Wasserman for booking. “It felt like I didn’t have to ask too many questions to anybody else… It was me calling the shots. It’s different investing your own time and vision and financially, and all those things. I’m kind of putting everything on myself, but there’s freedom in that, too.”
Her first session for the new album stretches back to December 2021, when Hull did basic tracking for a couple of songs. But the project was sidelined as Hull took on roles providing instrumental work on a range of albums including Sturgill Simpson’s Passage du Desir, a John Anderson tribute album, Béla Fleck’s Rhapsody in Blue and My Bluegrass Heart, Tuttle’s Crooked Tree, and some of Brad Paisley’s recent music releases. She also toured with Simpson’s and Devon Allman’s bands, in addition to helming her own shows.
Those live performances informed A Tip Toe High Wire, which features Hull’s touring band, including Shaun Richardson on guitar, Avery Merritt on fiddle, Erik Coveney on bass and Mark Raudabaugh on drums. Hull had intended to tour with a full band to promote 2020’s 25 Trips, but the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered those plans. So, when the opportunity to hit the road reopened, Hull took advantage and those performances prompted Hull to draw in the tightknit feel of the live band into the new project.
“Just the inspiration of working with those guys [made me think] about what the music would feel like if they were part of it in the recorded setting as well,” she says. “It was the first time where I had written specific songs, thinking about how this group of musicians would sound playing on it.”
Hull and her bandmates worked to create a balance on A Tip Toe High Wire, upholding her reverence for bluegrass traditions, while simultaneously looking forward with unique collaborations.
“I wanted something fresh, new and maybe innovative feeling,” Hull says. “That’s always the desire for me as an artist to grow and learn, especially as an instrumentalist. I’ve been able to do fun collaborations, but I also just love good, simple songs. The other part of me is not trying to rewrite the script. I just want to do music that feels meaningful to me, and kind of lean into my roots all at the same time.”
The fleet-fingered instrumental track “E Tune,” an older tune on the album that features Fleck, was previously considered for Hull’s 2016 album Weighted Mind, and the 25 Trips album, but didn’t make the cut until now.
“It became a staple of our live show. Once we recorded it, I thought it would be cool with banjo. I’ve done so much with Béla Fleck over the past few years that I asked him to be on this track with us. When he played on it, it just kind of clicked in a way that I was like, ‘Okay, this is making the record. This is the moment.’ We needed that Béla Fleck magic on there.”
Hull produced the album with longtime friend and engineer Shani Gandhi. Other collaborators include Tim O’Brien on the balmy “Come Out of My Blues,” and Aoife O’Donovan on the harmony-drenched “Let’s Go.” The project’s lead single, “Boom” has been a frequent inclusion in Hull’s live shows for the past couple of years.
“It has a few versions of it,” she says. “There’s a real relaxed thing when we get to play this song, something joyful that you can lean into that relaxed nature.”
In May, Hull and her band will take the new music on the road, joining Willie Nelson’s 10th anniversary Outlaw Music Festival Tour, with a lineup that also includes Bob Dylan, Billy Strings, Lake Street Dive and Lily Meola.
There are a few things we know about Post Malone. The “I Had Some Help” singer is unfailingly polite, can 100% rip a Nirvana cover anytime you need him to and is a self-proclaimed master beer pong player.
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Except, that is, when he isn’t.
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According to Taste of Country, in a recent chat on CMT, Kane Brown revealed the story behind the picture that circulated a few months ago of himself, Posty, Jason Aldean and Jelly Roll playing beer pong at last year’s ACM Awards. Brown said he was teamed up with Jelly and, not for nothing, they beat Post and Aldean.
Because the internet is filled with haters, Brown took the opportunity to clear a few things up about the victory. “A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, who do you think won?’ A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, it’s Post and Jelly, ’cause they play all the time,’” Brown said. “Wrong! Man, I was killin’ ’em!” he added unequivocally before sharing the price Malone paid for the loss.
“It was water in the cups, it wasn’t beer,” Brown said. “But, he [Post Malone] was dumping his cigarettes in the last cup, and the table was super long. I was like, ‘I’m gonna hit this cup.’ He said, ‘If you hit this cup, I’ll drink it.’” Brown said he then made eye contact with Aldean and knew exactly what needed to happen.
“I looked at Post, and I said, ‘Drink up,’” Brown said he told Malone after landing the ball in the cup. “Jason just went, ‘Oh my God.’”
Watch Brown tell the story below.
