Category Archives: Artists

Taylor Swift Raises $750,000 For Relief Efforts

Posted on by

Taylor Swift’s Speak Now…Help Now Raises Substantial Funds for Tornado Relief Efforts. With more devastating storms hitting Oklahoma and Missouri Sunday night, it is comforting to see so many country stars, including Taylor Swift, doing what they can to aid in relief efforts. Saturday, May 21st, Taylor opened her final dress rehearsal for the North American leg of the Speak Now tour to fans to raise funds for tornado relief programs. With only two weeks notice, she managed to pack the arena, and the ticket sales alone accumulated $750,000. Taylor also told the audience during the performance all merchandise sales from the evening would also be donated. “I felt like if it was possible to help them in any way, we should do it.” -Taylor Swift As a bonus, fans received a complementary red souvenir t-shirt. All of the sales from the concert event were donated directly to help tornado victims via the Speak Now … Help Now Fund established through the Community Foundation of Middle Tennesse.

2011 Billboard Music Awards Country Winners

Posted on by

Country Wins 2011 Billboard Music Awards! The 2011 Billboard Music Awards took ABC by storm Sunday night, and the country nominees were on the scene to represent! Beyond multiple award nominations and wins for country artists the show featured country performances including Keith Urban‘s “Long Hot Summer“. Taylor Swift dominated in the country only categories winning Top Country Album for “Speak Now“, and Top Country Artist. Additionally, Taylor beat out artists in other genres including Eminem, Susan Boyle, and Justin Bieber winning the Top 200 Album Artist of the Year. Taylor had also been nominated for both Top Artist and Top Female Artist. Lady Antebellum received recognition for their hit single “Need You Now” winning Top Country Song. The group was also nominated for Top Duo/Group and Top Streaming Song but were beat out by The Black Eyed Peas and Nelly respectively. Many other country artists were acknowledged for their talents as well including Miranda Lambert, Sugarland, The Band Perry, Jason Aldean, Zac Brown Band, and Kenny Chesney being nominated in various categories. The forty-six award categories were based on measures provided by Billboard’s data partners including sales data from Nielsen SoundScan, radio airplay monitored by Nielsen BDS, streaming data measured by Tubemogul and Nielsen BDS, social media consumption gauged by Next Big Sound and tour grosses tracked by Billboard Boxscore.

John Rich Wins Celebrity Apprentice

Posted on by

John Rich Final Winner of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. John Rich was named the winner of Celebrity Apprentice on the show’s Sunday night season finale. The celebrity version of the hit series differs from the original Apprentice in that the celebrities featured on the show are competing for the charity of their choice versus trying to win a prestigious position working for Donald Trump. As such, John managed to surpass his goal of $1 million raised, raking in a whopping $1.25 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Well done, John! In other news, John Rich is teaming up again with Big Kenny as the two are collaborating on a new single “Fake I.D.” to be featured on the soundtrack of the upcoming Footloose. So, keep an ear out for that!

Blake Shelton Announces New Album Title

Posted on by

Blake Shelton Shares Title of Upcoming Album. Blake Shelton has had quite an eventful life as of late, personally and professionally! After releasing two EPs last year in addition to a greatest hits compilation, Blake recently announced he would be generating yet another album. The due date for this album is set for July 12th, and we now know that it will be titled Red River Blue. It’s amazing that in between his wedding with Miranda Lambert last Saturday in Texas, his role as judge on NBC’s hit show The Voice and participating in relief efforts with Reba that Blake has had time to complete and polish an album for release! Yet, that’s exactly what he has done, and the album has already produced his fastest rising single to date, Honey Bee. So, keep your ears open for more details on Blake’s upcoming album, Red River Blue!

Taylor Swift to Stream “Speak Now…Help Now” Concert

Posted on by

Taylor Swift Will Stream Excerpts for “Speak Now…Help Now” Concert. Taylor Swift announced earlier this month that she would be opening up the final dress rehearsal of her “Speak Now” tour to fans in an effort to raise funds for victims of the storms which devastated much of the region. Taylor has also recently announced plans to stream two songs from the performance, and will include information for how fans watching online can also get involved with relief efforts. The dress rehearsal takes place at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 2. Tickets are available now for $50, and all proceeds will go to the Speak Now…Help Now Fund established through the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. The live stream will be available for viewing on Taylor Swift’s homepage. Get there now by clicking here.

Kid Rock Hosts 2011 CMT Music Awards

Posted on by

Kid Rock Announced as Host for 2011 CMT Music Awards. Kid Rock will be reprising his role of host for the 2011 CMT Music Awards. Apparently, CMT thinks they’ve got a sure thing going on as Kid Rock was last year’s host as well. Word on the street has it that Kid Rock had a pretty good time himself, and will be enjoying his second turn on the CMT stage. “Hosting the CMT awards was a wonderful bridge to a great after party. I’m looking forward to crossing that bridge again this year.” -Kid Rock While he may be excited about hosting the show, fan reactions have been mixed with some truly excited, and others ready to make alternative plans for the evening. I guess we will see how the fan turn-out pans out, and whether or not the country superstar line-up for the evening, including performances by Jason Aldean, Sugarland, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum, Kieth Urban and more, will be enough to overshadow some fans’ distaste for Kid Rock! In addition to his hosting duties, Kid Rock has also been nominated in the collaborative video of the year category for his single “Collide” with Sheryl Crow. Tickets to the 2011 CMT Music Awards go on sale this Saturday, May 21st. The show will air live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on CMT and cmt.com on Wednesday, June 8th.

Alabama Announces Bama Rising Benefit Concert

Posted on by

Alabama to Host Bama Rising Benefit Concert to Support Tornado Recovery. Alabama is spearheading efforts for the event “Bama Rising: A Benefit Concert for Alabama Tornado Recovery” intended to aid victims of the tornadoes which raged through the area on April 27th. Sponsored by Verizon, the concert will take place June 14th at Birmingham’s BJCC Arena. This concert is set to be an all-star event with several of country’s brightest slated to perform including Brad Paisley and Martina McBride (a complete list of performers is included below). “My hope is that this will bring happiness and help to my fellow citizens in Alabama. I believe it’s extremely important that we do this benefit, and I want everyone in the state to feel like they are part of it. I hope we all can pull together to help get through the worst natural disaster I’ve ever seen in Alabama. I appreciate my friends in country music, everyone that’s been involved, and anyone that’s helped in any way.”- Randy Owens on behalf of Alabama A Bama Rising Fund has been established in conjunction with the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham. All decision regarding the proceeds from the concert and any other contributions made to the Fund will be made by an advisory committee including representatives of the artists, promoters and the Community Foundation. Tickets will be available Friday, May 20th at 11:00am CST and range in price from $25- $150. The complete list of performers is as follows: Alabama Rodney Atkins Dierks Bentley Bo Bice Luke Bryan Sheryl Crow Sara Evans Taylor Hicks Little Big Town Martina McBride Montgomery Gentry David Nail Jake Owen Brad Paisley Kellie Pickler Darius Rucker Ashton Shepherd For more information and details click here.

Gary Allan at 2011 CMA Music Fest

Posted on by

Gary Allan Kicks-Off 2011 CMA Music Festival. Gary Allan will be performing on the Chevrolet Riverfront Stage in the first round of daily performances at the 2011 CMA Music Festival, Thursday June 9th at 10am. Interestingly, this will mark Allan’s first appearance at the Festival since 2006. The daily concerts on the Chevrolet Riverfront Stage are intended to highlight country talent from the past, present and future (rising stars!). This year’s CMA Fest will be held from June 9th-12th in downtown Nashville, and tickets are still available! For more ticket info click here. Gary Allan will also be participating in the NASCAR Rev’d Up concert and festival sponsored by Sprint along with singer-song writer Josh Kelly. This is a free concert, and it will be held at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. on May 18th at 7:30pm. You can find more details here.

Ronnie Dunn’s How Far to Waco Video

Posted on by

Ronnie Dunn Releases Video for How Far to Waco from Upcoming Album. Ronnie Dunn is set to release his first ever solo album, Ronnie Dunn, on June 7th, and he is giving fans a little taste of what’s to come with recent single debuts and corresponding videos. The album includes twelve tracks, eight of which are either written or co-written by Ronnie, and it has given him the opportunity to really delve into subject matter that holds meaning for him and express himself as an individual. In January, he introduced his first single, “Bleed Red“, which so far has been a huge success, and he has subsequently released the video for this track in addition to a video for “I Can’t Help Myself“. While both of these songs are reflective and a little mournful, his latest video release “How Far to Waco“, out May 17th, is jam-packed with energy and fun. Of the three tracks released so far with it’s mariachi influences, fast beats and an out-on-the-road-with-the-wind-in-my-hair vibe “How Far to Waco” definitely has the feel of a summer hit. You can check out the video now and let us know what you think of Ronnie’s new music! [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW3rOXiIVCY]

Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton Wedding Pictures!

Posted on by

Can’t wait to see Miranda Lambert’s wedding dress, the cake, or the handsome groom in pictures? Neither can we! The pictures from Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton‘s Saturday night wedding are still trickling in, with this first shot coming out in this preview from Us Weekly. I absolutely LOVE Miranda’s dress and think she looks WONDERFUL! The photographer they hired had this to say on his blog: “Blake & Miranda’s wedding images will be published in Us Weekly magazine coming later this week. I have to say that Miranda & Blake’s wedding images are really beautiful. One big reason they have great wedding photographs besides their genuine down to earth personalities which made my time behind my camera easy, was the fact that they cared more about great wedding photography, then old traditions. They took my advice and saw each other before the wedding and took all their photos before their nuptials, so after they said “I DO” and walked down the aisle, they could go do whatever they wanted, instead of spending time taking photographs. Spending time alone or spending more time with your guests is a smarter choice, especially when your normal human reaction after you kiss and travel down the aisle is “Let’s go party and be with our friends and family” A wedding is a celebration and when the months of planning are over, It’s time to PLAY! “- Robert Evans, Photographer We promise as the pictures come out we’ll have em for you here… right here… right in this very spot! For now let’s enjoy some blurry paparazzi shots from the British Daily Mail. We just got the dish on the newlyweds bling. Both Blake and Miranda’s rings were custom made by Beverly Hills jeweler Johnathon Arndt who also handcrafted Carrie Underwoods’ engagement ring and wedding band. Miranda’s ring is a 5-carat white diamond eternity ring, and Blake’s ring features a black diamond mounted on the inside (a detail specifically requested by Miranda) and a hand engraving based on one of Shelton’s tattoos. For the reception, Miranda changed into a strapless silk dress from Priscilla of Boston… my guess is this design right here. Stay tuned for more details!