Music

10 Nov 2022

TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s New EP Is Coming Soon

More music from TOMORROW X TOGETHER is on the way! On Thursday (Nov. 10), HYBE CEO Jiwon Park announced during a company briefing that the K-pop group — which consists of members Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Hueningkai — will be returning in January 2023 with brand new music.

Though fans will have to sit tight for a little while before learning more about the project’s concept, title and release date, it will be the first music release the quintet has released since the arrival of its fourth mini EP, minisode 2: Thursday’s Child. That project was a hit for the K-pop stars. It spent a total of 14 weeks on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, where it peaked at No. 4. The mini album achieved even more success on the Top Current Album Sales chart, where it spent 20 weeks on the chart and hit No. 1.

Speaking about Thursday’s Child in a May interview with Billboard, Soobin looked ahead to the future. “As we have more years and even more albums under our belts, we’re getting better outcomes and better numbers,” he said. “We have [also] tried many genres in music. As we work on more and more albums, [I feel like] we don’t have any limits. We’ve taken this musical journey step by step.” 

Up next for the group is a stop at the 2022 MAMA Awards. In addition to taking the stage for a performance, TOMORROW X TOGETHER is nominated for five awards in the best male group, best dance performance male group and song of the year (“Good Boy Gone Bad”), artist of the year and worldwide fans’ choice top 10 categories.

10 Nov 2022

Tierra Whack Arrested For Gun Possession at Philly Airport

Philly rapper Tierra Whack was arrested at the Philadelphia International Airport on Tuesday (Nov. 8) for possession of a loaded handgun. A spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office confirmed to Billboard that Whack, 27, was taken into custody at the airport after officials found a loaded firearm at a security checkpoint.

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DA office spokesperson Jane Roh noted that Whack had a permit to carry a concealed firearm, and that she was charged with a summary offense for having a loaded firearms at an airport security checkpoint. TMZ reported that law enforcement sources said Whack’s bag was searched by Homeland Security at an X-ray checkpoint, where they discovered the weapon with six live rounds in the magazine and none in the chamber.

Authorities told TMZ they believed that the gun was mistakenly carried by Whack to the airport; the handgun was confiscated and Whack was issued a citation and released. A spokesperson for Whack could not be reached at press time.

Philly magazine noted that licensed handgun owners are legally allowed to bring a gun on a plane if they check it in a proper container at the ticket counter. If you try to bring it through the TSA checkpoint on your body or in a carry-on, however, that is a no go, even though it happens all the time. The magazine reported that according to the TSA, agents discover 17 guns a day at airports around the U.S., with strapped travelers setting a new record in 2021, when a total of 5,972 guns were intercepted by the TSA.

As for how often people try to fly with a loaded gun, the TSA said that during a single week agents discovered 64 guns in carry-on bags, 55 of which were loaded; agents confiscated 39 guns at Philadelphia International in 2021 and so far this year they’ve already taken away 38 guns, 28 of which were loaded.

10 Nov 2022

Maren Morris Skips CMAs Red Carpet After Brittany Aldean Feud, Struts to Taylor Swift’s ‘Karma’

After previously saying she may not attend the 2022 Country Music Awards to go due to tensions with Jason Aldean and Brittany Aldean, Maren Morris was indeed present at the ceremony Wednesday (Nov. 9) to celebrate her March LP Humble Quest‘s nomination for album of the year. She did, however, skip the red carpet, and instead posted a video of herself jamming to Taylor Swift‘s new song “Karma.”

In the video, posted to her social media accounts the night of the awards, the 32-year-old singer-songwriter shows off her shimmery, plunging neckline gown, her hair styled in long, beachy waves. Holding a bottle of champagne backstage at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena — where the CMAs were held — and she struts to one of the sassiest tracks on Swift’s newest album Midnights.

“Karma’s a relaxing thought, aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?” Swift’s voice sings as Morris waves to the camera.

“BYOB, CMA,” she captioned the video.

The following morning, she posted another video of herself in her CMAs look, soundtracked by the same song and captioning it with a lyric fro the song. “Aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?” she wrote, along with a black heart emoji.

The “Middle” singer’s appearance at the ceremony comes just a couple months after she said in an interview that she may not be attending, as she felt unwelcome following her highly publicized online feud with fellow country star Jason Aldean’s wife, Brittany. In August, Brittany — whom Morris later dubbed “Insurrection Barbie” — made transphobic comments on social media, which the “Circles Around This Town” singer slammed in a string of subsequent posts.

“I’m very honored that my record is nominated. But I don’t know if I feel [at] home there right now,” she told the Los Angeles Times in September. “So many people I love will be in that room, and maybe I’ll make a game-time decision and go. But as of right now, I don’t feel comfortable going. I kind of feel peaceful at the notion of not going.”

The Grammy winner did end up making that “game-time decision” to attend after all, but it makes sense why she might have felt uncertain going in. In the aftermath of her spat with Brittany, Jason Aldean jokingly brought up Morris’ name at a concert and waited as his crowd booed her. Before that, Brittany sat for an interview with Tucker Carlson on his Fox News show, during which the conservative commentator labeled Morris a “lunatic country music person.”

Morris, however, took Carlson’s comment in stride, and went on to sell T-Shirts with his nickname for her printed on them. That raised more than $100,000 for GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program and Trans Lifeline.

“I hate feeling like I need to be the hall monitor of treating people like human beings in country music,” she told L.A. Times shortly afterward. “It’s exhausting. But there’s a very insidious culture of people feeling very comfortable being transphobic and homophobic and racist, and that they can wrap it in a joke and no one will ever call them out for it. It just becomes normal for people to behave like that.”

Watch Maren Morris strut to Taylor Swift’s “Karma” at the CMAs below:

10 Nov 2022

Mariah Carey Will Wish ‘Merry Christmas to All!’ in Prime-Time Holiday Special

Mariah Carey is bringing her Christmas cheer directly into your house this season. The singer announced on Thursday (Nov. 10) that she will sled through all her holiday favorites on Dec. 20 during an all-new two-hour primetime special, Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All!, slated to air on CBS and Paramount+.

The announcement came during an appearance on CBS Mornings on Thursday, where MC dropped by to promote her first-ever yuletide picture book, The Christmas Princess, as well to explain why she just can’t get enough of mistletoe and eggnog season. The special will be filmed at Carey’s upcoming two-night “Merry Christmas to All!” stand at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Dec. 13 and 16; she will also bring the show to Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena on Dec. 9 and 11.

With one of the most enduring modern Christmas classics of all time in “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” Mariah was asked if she feels like she has to continually up her holiday game in order to retain her Christmas Queen crown and whether she thinks the slow-rolling retail cheer creep is getting out of hand. “It is too early! Tell that to the stores,” she said about the slow Santa slide that finds some big box outlets pre-stocking jingle trinkets before the Halloween haunts even have left stores.

“Honestly, I think we need to get through Thanksgiving,” Carey added about when she thinks it’s appropriate to rev up our Rudolph game. And not for nothing she noted, her signature “it’s time” tweets were not originally her doing, but American Idol host Ryan Seacrest’s. “It was Ryan Seacrest, I believe, tweeted me and he said, ‘Hey Mariah, I wanna get festive, I wanna get into the holiday spirit. Do you think it’s time?,’” she recalled. “And I thought it was really funny, and I’m like, ‘not yet.’ So then we just started filming people asking me, or I’d be in the dentist chair [and they’d ask] ‘should we put Christmas music on for you?’”

Carey said she was super proud that her first announced “Merry Christmas To All!” show at MSG sold out in an hour. “I have no words,” she said, teasing that there will be a few “new sections” of the show she last performed in 2019, including fan requests of songs she hasn’t performed in the holiday showcase yet.

Check out Mariah’s announcement and interview below.

10 Nov 2022

RM’s First Solo Album Finally Has a Title & Release Date: Here’s When It Arrives

BTS ARMY, this is not a drill: RM promised that a solo album would be arriving in the imminent future, and now a date has been set, along with the project’s official title. On Thursday (Nov. 10), the rapper dropped the news via Instagram, sharing a photo of a bright blue patch of denim, along with the LP’s details.

“‘Indigo,’” RM captioned the post. “RM 1st Solo Album, 12/2.”

BTS’ music label, BigHit Music, also shared the news to its respective feeds, along with a photo of a blue fabric swatch with the album title bleached in white. The label also added that Indigo will be released on Dec. 2 at 12 a.m. ET and 2 p.m. KT.

“Indigo recounts the stories and experiences RM has gone through, like a diary,” a press release said of the project. “The album will present a different charm of RM with various featured artists.” (None of the featured artists have yet been announced.)

Though Indigo will be RM’s first full-length solo album, the rapper previously released two mixtapes. He was the first of the BTS members to share solo material, dropping his self-titled mixtape in 2015, which contained singles “Do You,” “Awakening” and “Joke.” RM then released a second mixtape in 2018 titled Mono. “Forever Rain” was released as the only single from this latter body of work, and the set debuted at No. 26 on the Billboard 200.

The announcement of RM’s solo album arrives shortly after fellow BTS member Jin released his own solo track titled “The Astronaut.” The track currently sit at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100.

See RM’s album announcement below.

10 Nov 2022

Bankroll Freddie Arrested on Gun, Drug Charges as Part of Major Federal Trafficking Bust

Bankroll Freddie was arrested in Jonesboro, Arkansas on Wednesday (Nov. 9) as part of a major federal drug and gun bust conducted across the state. The rapper (born Freddie Gladney III) and his father, Freddie Gladney Jr., were among more than 45 people swept up in the action according to a copy of the federal indictment.

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The indictment claims that from March 2021 through Oct. 2022 the defendants allegedly conspired to distribute and possess cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana and that Freddie possessed an arsenal of firearms that included at least three 9mm pistols, two rifles and machine guns “in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.”

Prosecutors claim that the Gladneys and their co-conspirators allegedly trafficked guns and drugs between Arkansas, Texas, California, Arizona, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Oklahoma and that the arrests were the culmination of three different investigations. According to the Associated Press, a statement from the U.S. Attorneys office in Little Rock said that two FBI investigations into gang violence and drug trafficking and a separate DEA investigation uncovered methamphetamine and fentanyl being mailed from California into Arkansas and then distributed in Little Rock, Pine Bluff and Houston; weapons, including machine guns, cash and drugs were all seized as part of the investigation.

At press time a spokesperson for Gladney, 28, had not returned a request for comment.

KAIT 8 reported that the FBI investigations focused on two rival Arkansas gangs: the “Every Body Killas Gang (EBK) and the “Loady Murder Mobb Gang.” After Pine Bluff detective Kevin Collins was shot and killed in Oct. 2020 while serving a warrant on an EBK member while assisting federal agents in their investigation into the gangs the information gleaned from his work allowed federal agents to obtain 12 wiretaps through June 2022 that helped prevent planned crimes and led to the arrest of Bankroll, his father and others.

According to court documents, Quality Control rapper Freddie is facing at least 11 charges, which include: possession of cocaine, possession of crack cocaine, possession of marijuana, two counts of intent to distribute marijuana, knowingly and intentionally possession firearms, three counts of providing false/fictitious information on a gun purchase form, using guns for gun trafficking, using a telephone to traffic drugs and knowingly possessing one or more machine guns.

Freddie was arrested in Arkansas in April on multiple charges, including resisting arrest/refusal to submit to arrest/active or passive refusal, “simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms,” as well as a felony count of possession of a schedule VI controlled substance with the purpose to deliver, speeding and an additional possession charge.

Arkansas native Freddie joined the Quality Control team in 2019 after releasing his single “Drip Like This” and the Saved By the Bales mixtape, followed by 2020’s From Trap to Rap album, had features from Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, Moneybagg Yo and Young Dolph. After singing to Motown Records in 2020, he dropped the 2021 single “Add It Up, followed by the Megan Thee Stallion collab “Pop It” from his 2021 album Big Bank. He released a collab with Icewear Vezzo, “Picking Sides,” around the time of the April arrest, followed by his From Trap to Rap 2 album.

10 Nov 2022

Paul McCartney Releasing Career-Spanning ‘The 7″ Singles Box’

Sir Paul McCartney will release a career-spanning box set that will feature 80 singles personally chosen by the singer from throughout his solo career. The collection, The 7″ Singles, is due out on Dec. 2 and will come in a wooden art crate and is limited to 3,000 copies.

With a total of 163 tracks totaling more than 10 hours of music, the set — which will also be released digitally — will feature such beloved singles as “My Love,” “Live and Let Die,” “Band on the Run,” “Silly Love Songs,” “Coming Up,” “Ebony and Ivory,” “Say Say Say” and “No More Lonely Lights,” among many others.

“I hope the songs in this box set bring back fun memories for you too. They do for me, and there will be more to come,” McCartney said in a statement announcing the set. The box spans the time from 1971’s “Another Day” to a 7″ version of McCartney’s 2022 Record Store Day song of the year, “Women and Wives” from 2020’s McCartney III. The collection brings together 65 singles with their original B-sides — using restored artwork from 11 different countries — in addition to 15 singles never before released on 7″ collected from previously released 12″, picture discs, CD singles and promos, digital downloads, music videos and two previously unheard demos and a previously unheard 7″ single edit.

In addition to the singles, the wooden box designed and built in Derbyshire, UK will also include a 148-page book with a personal foreword by McCartney, an essay from music writer Rob Sheffield and chart information, liner notes and single artwork. Each box will also include a randomly selected, exclusive test pressing of one of the singles.

McCartney celebrated the announcement by releasing a rare 1971 mono recording from the set of “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey [Mono]” and “Too Many People [Mono].”

Check out the track listing and the “Uncle Albert” single below:

1971, Sweden 
1A: Another Day  
1B: Oh Woman, Oh Why 

1971, US Mono 
Promotional Release 
2A: Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey [Mono]  
2B: Too Many People [Mono] 

1971, UK 
3A: The Back Seat of My Car
3B: Heart of the Country  

Previously unreleased on 7”
4A: Love Is Strange [Single Edit]
4B: I Am Your Singer  

1972, UK  
5A: Give Ireland Back to the Irish  
5B: Give Ireland Back to the Irish [Version]  

1972, UK  
6A: Mary Had a Little Lamb
6B: Little Woman Love  

1972, Belgium  
7A: Hi, Hi, Hi  
7AA: C Moon  

1973, Israel 
8A: My Love  
8B: The Mess [Live at The Hague] 

1973, Sweden 
9A: Live and Let Die  
9B: I Lie Around  

1973, Spain  
10A: Helen Wheels 
10B: Country Dreamer  

1974, Germany  
11A: Jet  
11B: Let Me Roll It  

1974, Germany  
12A: Band on the Run  
12B: Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five  

1974, The Netherlands  
13A: Mrs. Vandebilt  
13B: Bluebird  

1974, Belgium 
14A: Junior’s Farm  
14B: Sally G  

1975, Australia  
15A: Listen to What the Man Said
15B: Love in Song  

1975, Germany 
16A: Letting Go  
16B: You Gave Me the Answer  

1975, Belgium  
17A: Venus and Mars / Rock Show 
17B: Magneto and Titanium Man  

1976, France  
18A: Silly Love Songs  
18B: Cook of the House  

1976, Germany 
19A: Let ‘Em In  
19B: Beware My Love  

1977, Japan 
20A: Maybe I’m Amazed (Live)
20B: Soily (Live)  

1977, UK 
21A: Mull of Kintyre  
21AA: Girls’ School  

1978, Germany  
22A: With a Little Luck (DJ Edit) 
22B: Backwards Traveller/Cuff Link  

1978, UK  
23A: I’ve Had Enough  
23B: Deliver Your Children  

1978, The Netherlands  
24A: London Town  
24B: I’m Carrying  

1978, France  
25A: Goodnight Tonight
25B: Daytime Nightime Suffering  

1979, UK 
26A: Old Siam, Sir  
26B: Spin It On 

1979, UK 
27A: Getting Closer 
27AA: Baby’s Request  

1979, Japan 
28A: Arrow Through Me
28B: Old Siam, Sir  

1979, UK 
29A: Wonderful Christmastime
29B: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reggae  

1980, UK 
30A: Coming Up  
30B: Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)  
30BB : Lunch Box/Odd Sox  

1980, UK 
31A: Waterfalls  
31B: Check My Machine  

Previously unreleased on 7”
32A: Temporary Secretary
32B: Secret Friend  
[7” Single Edit]  

1982, UK 
33A: Ebony and Ivory 
33B: Rainclouds  

1982, UK 
34A: Take It Away 
34B: I’ll Give You a Ring  

1982, UK 
35A: Tug of War  
35B: Get It  

1983, UK 
36A: Say Say Say  
36B: Ode to a Koala Bear  

1983, UK 
37A: Pipes of Peace  
37B: So Bad  

1984, UK 
38A: No More Lonely Nights (Ballad)  
38B: No More Lonely Nights (Playout Version)  

1984, UK 
39A: We All Stand Together
39B: We All Stand Together (Humming Version)  

1985, US 
40A: Spies Like Us  
40B: My Carnival  

1986, US  
41A: Press [Video Edit] 
41B: It’s Not Ture  

1986, Art reformatted from US 12” promotional vinyl
42A: Pretty Little Head (Remix)
42B: Write Away  

1986, US 
43A: Stranglehold  
43B: Angry (Remix)  

1986, UK 
44A: Only Love Remains
44B: Tough on a Tightrope  

1987, UK 
45A: Once Upon a Long Ago
45B: Back on My Feet  

1989, US 
46A: My Brave Face 
46B: Flying to My Home  

1989, UK 
47A: This One  
47B: The First Stone  

1989, Australia 
48A: Figure of Eight [7” Bob Clearmountain Mix]
48B: Où Est le Soleil  

1989, UK 
49A: Party Party 
49B: Artwork etching  

1990, UK 
50A: Put It There 
50B: Mama’s Little Girl  

1990, Europe 
51A: The Long and Winding Road  
51B: C Moon  

1990, UK 
52A: Birthday  
52B: Good Day Sunshine  

1990, UK 
53A: All My Trials  
53B: C Moon  

Previously unreleased on 7” 
54A: The World You’re Coming Into  
54AA: Tres Conejos  
54B: Save the Child  
54BB: The Drinking Song (Let’s Find Ourselves a Little Hostelry)  

1992, Europe 
55A: Hope of Deliverance
55B: Long Leather Coat  

1993, Germany 
56A: C’Mon People  
56B: I Can’t Imagine  

1997, Reformatted from 7” picture disc 
57A: Young Boy  
57B: Looking for You  

1997, Reformatted from 7” picture disc 
58A: The World Tonight
58B: Used to Be Bad  

1997, Reformatted from 7” picture disc 
59A: Beautiful Night  
59B: Love Come Tumbling Down  

1999, UK 
60A: No Other Baby  
60B: Brown Eyed Handsome Man  
60BB: Fabulous 

2001, Europe 
61A: From a Lover to a Friend 
61B: Riding into Jaipur  

2004, Europe 
62A: Tropic Island Hum
62B: We All Stand Together  

2005, Europe 
63A: Fine Line  
63B: Growing Up Falling Down  

2005, Europe 
64A: Jenny Wren  
64B: Summer of ’59 

Previously unreleased on 7”
65A: Dance Tonight  
65B: Dance Tonight [Demo] 

Previously unreleased on 7”
66A: Nod Your Head 
66B: 222 

2007, Europe 
67A: Ever Present Past  
67B: House of Wax (Live) 

Previously unreleased on 7” 
68A: Sing the Changes  
68B: Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight [Radio Edit]  

Previously unreleased on 7” 
69A: (I Want To) Come Home
69B: (I Want To) Come Home [Demo]  

Previously unreleased on 7”
70A: My Valentine 
70B: Get Yourself Another Fool

2012, US  
Christmas Kisses 
71A: The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)  
71B: Wonderful Christmastime  

Previously unreleased on 7”
72A: New  
72B: Early Days  

Previously unreleased on 7”
73A: Queenie Eye 
73B: Save Us  

Previously unreleased on 7”
74A: Hope for the Future
74B: Hope for the Future [Thrash Mix]  

Previously unreleased on 7”
75A: In the Blink of an Eye
75B: Walking in the Park with Eloise  

2018, Global 
76A: I Don’t Know  
76AA: Come on to Me  

Previously unreleased on 7”
77A: Who Cares  
77B: Fuh You  

2019, Global 
78A: Home Tonight  
78AA: In a Hurry  

Previously unreleased on 7”
79A: Find My Way  
79AA: Winter Bird / When Winter Comes  

Previously unreleased on 7”
80A: Women and Wives
80B: Women and Wives (St. Vincent Remix)

10 Nov 2022

Chinx Posthumous Album ‘Chinx Drugz 6’ On the Way

A new Chinx posthumous album titled Chinx Drugz 6 is on the way, his label announced Thursday (Nov. 10). The release, set for Dec. 2, will come two days ahead of the late rapper’s Dec. 4 birthday.

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“It’s been 7 years since we lost Lionel Pickens P.K.A Chinx Drugz,” Chinx’s former manager Doug Ellison said in a statement. “To the people that know and love him it still feels like yesterday! As his friend, manager, and executive producer, I had the pleasure of witnessing his evolution into the artist many grew to love. With the release of CR6, we decided to approach the project with the same intensity that we approached his albums while returning to the street roots, club chants, and anthems Chinx was known for.”

While the album’s official track list isn’t out yet, a variety of collaborators have been announced, including Benny the Butcher and Quavo & Offset of Migos. Chinx’s brother JFK WAXX will also appear on the record.

Chinx, also known as Chinx Drugz, rose to prominence as a contributor to French Montana’s Coke Boys, a collaborative project that started in September 2010. Chinx’s song  “I’m a Coke Boy” later rocketed him to budding stardom.

The rapper was murdered in May 2015 while in Jamaica, Queens. The culprits reportedly targeted Chinx based on a six-year-long grudge that developed while Chinx was serving time on Rikers Island.

Chinx’s death is also being revisited in WE tv’s Hip Hop Homicides series, which is being produced by rapper 50 Cent. Other murdered rappers being explored on the series include Pop Smoke, XXXTentacion, and King Von. Chinx’s episode will air Nov. 24 on WE tv.

“This project shows his diversity and lyrical ability is still unmatched. It has been a four year journey that includes some of his most candid recordings. Our goal has been to keep the integrity of each recording while punching through with the finished product!

Fans can pre-save the album here.

10 Nov 2022

Watch Dermot Kennedy Talk ‘Sonder’ Album, Letting Go of Expectations & More

Dermot Kennedy is gearing up to release his new album, Sonder, on Nov. 18, and the artist sat down with Billboard News to discuss his musical journey so far.

“I found the word ‘sonder’ a few years ago, the meaning being just the awareness that everybody is living a life just as important and as complex as your own,” he says of his sophomore LP’s title. “At that point, I didn’t really have any part of my life or career to attach it to, so it was just a word that I appreciated and it meant something to me.”

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He adds that in the process of making his new album, he tried to “unlock the same honesty and power of a feeling” as his debut record. “You have to say something worth while and prove that you deserve to be around, and there’s added pressure in that sense,” he explains.

“These albums define the way I live, and I can already feel me putting pressure on myself in a healthy way,” he continues. “This album is about having empathy and being conscious of other people’s struggles and triumphs, so I can’t just say that and not live it.”

As for his writing technique, Kennedy says he captures a “time sample” of where he’s at in his life. “That’s quite a freeing, in a way, though,” he says, noting that it allows him to let go of the pressure to make an album that’s the best he’s ever created. “I should just trust what comes out of my brain, to some extent.”

Watch Billboard‘s full interview with Kennedy above.

10 Nov 2022

2022 CMAs: Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton & All the Record-Setters

Luke Combs was the big winner at the 56th annual CMA Awards, which were held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday (Nov. 9). Combs won three awards – entertainer of the year for the second year in a row and album of the year (he won two awards in that category – one as artist and one as a producer).

Combs is the first person to win entertainer of the year two years running since Garth Brooks won his final two awards in the category in 2016 and 2017. (Brooks subsequently removed himself from future consideration in that category.)

And Combs is the first person to win entertainer of the year and album of the year on the same night since Taylor Swift in 2009.

This is the 11th consecutive year that a male artist has won entertainer of the year. Swift was the last woman to win the award, in 2011. That 11-year stretch of nothing-but-male winners? It’s the longest since the 12-year all-male stretch between Reba McEntire’s 1986 win and Shania Twain’s 1999 victory.

The CMA Awards, co-hosted by Luke Bryan and football great Peyton Manning, aired live on ABC.

There were several record-breakers among this year’s winners.

Chris Stapleton became the first six-time winner for male artist of the year. He surpassed Vince Gill, Blake Shelton and George Strait, each of whom has won in that category five times.

“Buy Dirt” became the first song in CMA history that was written by as many as four songwriters to win song of the year. The song was written by two pairs of brothers (Jacob and Jordan Davis and Josh and Matt Jenkins). The single rendition of the song by Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan became a No. 1 hit on both Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay.

Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde won musical event of the year for “Never Wanted to Be That Girl.” They were the first all-female collaboration to win in 28 years — since Reba McEntire with Linda Davis’ “Does He Love You” (1994).

As noted, Combs won album of the year for Growin’ Up, his first studio album since What You See Is What You Get, which won the award two years ago. Combs is the first artist to win this top award with back-to-back studio albums since Stapleton won with Traveller (2015) and From A Room: Volume 1 (2017). In all of CMA history, just four other artists have won album of the year with back-to-back studio albums – Charlie Rich, Brooks, Strait (who did it twice) and Tim McGraw.

Lainey Wilson and Cody Johnson each won two awards.

Wilson, who led all nominees with six nods, won female artist of the year and new artist of the year. Wilson maintained the recent streak of first-time winners for female vocalist of the year. The last four winners in this category, Kacey Musgraves (2019), Maren Morris (2020), Pearce (2021) and now Wilson, have all been first-time winners in the category. Wilson is the first artist to win female artist of the year the first time she was nominated since Carrie Underwood in 2006.

Johnson’s “Til You Can’t” won single of the year and music video of the year. The single reached No. 1 on both Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay. Johnson’s video prevailed over strong competition that included Swift’s “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault),” which features Stapleton. Swift is a two-time winner in the video category.

Brothers Osborne won their fifth award for vocal duo of the year, becoming one of just three duos to win five or more times. Brooks & Dunn (who were nominated again this year) lead with 14 wins in the category. Sugarland won five times.

Old Dominion won vocal group of the year for the fifth year in a row. Only The Statler Brothers (nine wins), Rascal Flatts (six) and Little Big Town (six) have won as many as five times. In accepting the award, lead singer Matthew Ramsey paid tribute to Alabama’s Jeff Cook, who died on Monday. Alabama won vocal group of the year three times, from 1981-83.

Fiddle player Jenee Fleenor won musician of the year for the fourth year in a row. She’s the first and only female musician to win in the category. Her win means that steel guitarist Paul Franklin came up short in the category for the 30th time. (Of course, you can’t lose 30 times in a category without being nominated 30 times in the category, an amazing achievement.)

Alan Jackson received the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. Jackson, 64, is by far the youngest recipient of the award. The last three recipients, Kris Kristofferson, Charley Pride and Loretta Lynn, were in their 80s when they received the honor. Pride and Lynn died not long after.

The eligibility period for the 56th annual CMA Awards was July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022.