Music

It's possible Miranda Lambert and Brendan McLoughlin had a late night after the 2022 CMA Awards, but he didn't forget that Thursday (Nov. 10) was his wife's birthday.Lambert turned 39 years old this week. Winning one (or both) of the two CMA Awards she was nominated for surely would have been a nice early birthday gift, but seeing messages like this couldn't have been a bad consolation."Happy Birthday @mirandalambert," McLoughlin begins. "It’s always an honor to be called your husband. You’re the most beautiful person inside and out. You have...

Joni Mitchell has granted very few interviews since suffering a brain aneurysm in 2015, but she just sat down with Elton John for an in-depth conversation that will air appear Saturday on his Apple Music 1 show Elton John’s Rocket Hour. In the interview, Mitchell revealed that she’s working on a live record to document her surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in July alongside Brandi Carlile, Taylor Goldsmith, Wynonna Jude, and Marcus Mumford. “ didn’t have any ,” she says, noting that she played electric guitar on her...

Born Sept. 30, 1958, Mississippi native Marty Stuart has become one of the most accomplished and beloved figures in country music, bluegrass and beyond.Before making a name for himself as a solo artist, he honed his skills while touring with legendary artists like Lester Flatt and Johnny Cash in the 1960s and 70s. In 1985, he released his first solo self-titled album, but his fourth album, 1989's Hillbilly Rock, helped catapult him into stardom.During the early 1990s, Stuart enjoyed a streak of top 10 hits on country radio, including "Tempted,"...

Louis Tomlinson is ready to find his voice as a solo star. His second solo album, Faith in the Future, comes 7 years after the end of One Direction. When he released his excellent solo debut Walls in 2020, he was admirably open about the difficulty of making an album on his own. “It took me a second to get here,” Louis told Rolling Stone. “Because there was a lot of treading water.” But this time feels different for him. As he says now, “I’m just in a more confident...

Toby Keith worked the BMI Country Awards stage like a paid public speaker in accepting his BMI Icon Award on Tuesday (Nov. 8). The full 12-minute acceptance speech includes several stories and lessons for the next generation. It's also heavy on gratitude.The moment also marks his first country music industry appearance since last June, when he revealed he'd undergone treatment for stomach cancer since late 2021. The 61-year-old appears strong and confident as ever, if a bit thinner as he jokes with an audience there to celebrate him.“They tell you...

Rauw Alejandro has been known to spin off in unexpected directions. The Puerto Rican star, recognized for his quick-footed, anti-gravity choreography, has danced his way through a dizzying mix of genres: Risque, racy raps on his two-part EP Trap Cake, thudding old-school reggaeton on Afrodisiaco. Last year’s Vice Versa was his biggest triumph yet, a sharp sophomore effort that somersaulted between pop, drum ‘n’ bass, and Brazilian funke while delivering the mammoth hit “Todo De Ti,” which is nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year at...

The higher a star's career soars, the farther they have to fall — and Luke Combs admits that the pressure was getting to him as he walked into Wednesday night's CMA Awards ceremony (Nov. 9).Combs' career so far has been historic: He's got an unprecedented 14-single streak of No. 1 hits at country radio, he just ramped up his tour plans to include stadium shows in 2022 and — still in his early 30s — he won Entertainer of the Year at the 2021 CMA Awards.At this year's ceremony, Combs...

Sofía Reyes takes us into a utopian, otherworldly paradise in her new video for “Luna.” On Thursday, the Mexican singer premiered her song’s visuals with Rolling Stone, and teased the start of a new album era following her excellent, cumbia-filled album Mal De Amores. The video, directed by Mamo Vernet, follows Reyes sitting nude in a field of moss as she sings about the beauty of finding new love. As the song’s beat picks up, she’s surrounded by dancers as she asks à la Frank Sinatra, “Why can’t we go...

Brantley Gilbert may be one of country music's most progressive hitmakers of the last 10 years, but with "Heaven by Then," he's making it clear that there are certain lines he will not cross.The new single — a collaboration with Blake Shelton and Vince Gill — makes a pledge to traditionalism.Gilbert and his co-writers (Brock Berryhill, Hardy, Jake Mitchell, Randy Montana, Hunter Phelps and Taylor Phillips) include country boy touchstones like NASCAR, Hank Williams, John Deere and chivalry in describing a world — no, the world — they want to live in. The...

The 2022 CMA Awards started slow and a little sad, but by the end of the night, the artists involved had proven how cool country can be.Traditional performances from Chris Stapleton and Cody Johnson, fiery moments from Carrie Underwood and (literally) Elle King and a tribute to Alan Jackson were among the highlights from the 2022 CMAs. The Loretta Lynn tribute came first, with Underwood making her first of two CMA appearances.Newcomers like the War & Treaty and Hardy also had a place to shine, and each delivered a sterling performance on...

The 2022 CMA Awards were a mostly predictable affair with a few pleasant little surprises — and we’re so grateful for it. Between the maelstrom known as Ye, the upending of the already chaotic Twitter, and the high stakes of the midterms, there’s enough wacky shit afoot without having to endure some stupid drama unfolding on country music’s biggest night. Sorry Garth, but thank God for answered prayers. With that in mind, the dream of the Nineties (and some even more distant decades) was alive in Nashville on Wednesday, as...

Carrie Underwood and Eric Church were among the contemporary hitmakers to celebrate Toby Keith with a song at the BMI Country Awards on Tuesday (Nov. 8).Singing "Should've Been a Cowboy," Underwood paid tribute to a fellow Oklahoman on a night when Keith became a BMI Icon.He joins an elite group of songwriters who've earned the honor, like Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams Jr. and more. During his remarks, he talked about why songwriting — and his decision to join BMI — is the foundation of his success.attachment-Carrie...

Christine and the Queens’ frontperson, Chris, has spent most of his life yearning for simplicity — to understand his own sexuality and gender but longing mostly for the simplest emotion: love. Unfortunately for Chris, yearning is what he does best. That anxious feeling is what makes his music so invigorating. Two years ago, Chris captured the quintessence of lockdown loneliness with “People, I’ve Been Sad,” a prayer for human contact with a moving chorus. Two years before that, he rejected gender roles (and maybe gender as a whole) by responding...

Jason Aldean is among the many country stars, fans and friends who turned to social media on Tuesday (Nov. 8) to react to the death of Alabama's Jeff Cook, sharing that he had gotten to play with him several times over the years."So sad to hear of the passing of Jeff Cook," Aldean writes on Twitter. "I spent a lot of my life listening to him play guitar, what an iconic sound he had. I got a chance to perform with him multiple times over the years and I will...