Music

The premiere of two CMT holiday specials will bring more than a dozen country stars and friends to television on Wednesday night (Dec. 8). Both CMT Crossroads Christmas: Brett Young & Friends and A Tennessee Kind of Christmas promise a joyful collection of hit songs and classic Christmas performances.The full setlist for both — revealed exclusively by Taste of Country — is below. Brett Young & Friends begins at 8PM ET on Wednesday night and will be followed immediately by CMT's A Tennessee Kind of Christmas at 9PM ET. The second program...

Dan + Shay brought a sense of holiday cheer to The Tonight Show with a heartfelt performance of their recent single “Officially Christmas.” Surrounded by Christmas decor and dressed in tuxedos, the pair and their live band offered a festive atmosphere as they declared, “It’s officially Christmas/ and I’m officially yours.” The duo released “Officially Christmas” back in November, but the upbeat number feels especially poignant now that it’s nearing the holiday. Dan + Shay’s most recent album, Good Things, dropped in August. Good Things, produced by the band’s Dan...

It's getting down to the wire on The Voice, and Lana Scott had some big shoes to fill on Monday night (Dec. 6) when she took the stage for the Live Semi-Finals Top 8 Performances. The country standout from Chesapeake, Va., bravely tackled mega-vocalist Carrie Underwood's 2014 smash, “Something in the Water."Scott chose the song as a way to showcase her gratitude for her mother, whom she says has loved her unconditionally.“I want to make this finale as this big thank you to my mom because she deserves this recognition,” Scott, 28, told viewers in a pre-recorded...

More than 30 women have stepped forward with claims Superfly actor and rapper Kaalan “KR” Walker raped or sexually abused them in a string of alleged assaults dating back to at least 2013, Los Angeles prosecutors told a judge in a Los Angeles courtroom Monday. The staggering number, which Walker’s camp disputes, was cited by Deputy District Attorney Yasmin Fardghassemi ahead of a trial set to start next month. The serial rape case stems from Walker’s initial arrest in 2018 on charges he lured aspiring models to photo shoots under...

George Strait played the first of two back-to-back Vegas stops on his Strait to Vegas residency on Friday night (Dec. 3), performing to a sold-out crowd at the city's T-Mobile Arena. During his set, he treated fans to a surprise special guest: Fellow Texan Miranda Lambert hopped onstage for a duet version of "Run," Strait's hit from 2001.Lambert was giddy as she stepped into the spotlight behind the country legend, saying "That's the King right there!" and giving Strait a hug."Texans are very, very proud that we all love to...

“For your family at home to love you,” Karol G said mid-concert Saturday night, “that’s worth gold.” The Colombian artist sang an intimate rendition of “Ocean” on a small circular lever that propelled her front and center of a crowd of over 50,000 people. The song’s lyrics took on new meaning as they bent to fit the occasion, as the 30-year-old Latin pop singer made history as one of the few women (joining Madonna and Beyoncé) – and the first female reggaeton artist – to perform at Medellín, Colombia’s beloved...

Talk about an anniversary to remember! Thirty-seven years ago today (Dec. 6, 1984), four of country music's reigning superstars -- Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson -- convened to record "Highwayman," a single that sparked an entire album, their name as a quartet and more than a decade of performing together."Highwayman," written by Jimmy Webb, was first recorded for Webb's own 1977 album, El Mirage. Glen Campbell also recorded the song, which became the title track of his 1979 album -- and it was Campbell who was...

Olivia Rodrigo and Phoebe Bridgers provided counterprogramming of sorts to their joint Austin City Limits episode Saturday as the two singers held a conversation over Instagram Live. Both singers made their Austin City Limits debut for the Dec. 4 episode, filmed during their October visits to the Moody Theatre; as Rodrigo told Bridgers during their conversation, the ACL set was the first time she’d ever been to Austin. While Rodrigo has staged a handful of concerts and festival performances following the release of her debut LP Sour — Number One...

Lainey Wilson, Granger Smith and Chase Rice come together for a windows-down good time on "Beer Song," the newest song to come out off of the upcoming Hardy-curated Hixtape: Vol 2.With a premise as simple and time-tested as its title, "Beer Song" celebrates the power of a cold beer to bring back memories of good times with good friends -- or to make new ones."I got a song for my people on back home / And when I'm missin' them I turn it up," the three sing in the chorus....

Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin delivered a xylophone-and-kazoo-heavy rendition of Billy Joel’s “Big Shot” to mark the sixth night of their Hanukkah Sessions 2021. The Foo Fighters frontman said of the cover, “While he claims a secular Long Island upbringing (and has songs full of Catholic and Italian imagery), Billy Joel remains one of the great Jews of musical scripture—here’s his ultimate ode to a true Macher: ‘Big Shot!’” Grohl and Kurstin’s Hanukkah Sessions find the rocker and producer celebrating Jewish artists; 2021 marks the second time the duo have...

Stonewall Jackson — the Grand Ole Opry's most senior member — has died. Jackson notched hit songs in three different decades and was a familiar face at the Opry for over 50 years. "Waterloo" and "B.J. the D.J." were his two No. 1 hits but he placed 11 songs inside the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.The 89-year-old was a member of the Grand Ole Opry for 65 years, making him the most tenured member until his death on Saturday (Dec. 4). He joined the Opry on Nov. 3,...

Tom Petty will receive a posthumous doctoral degree in music from the University of Florida after the school’s board of trustees voted unanimously to honor the late rocker Friday. While the Heartbreakers frontman never attended the University of Florida, he was born and raised in Gainesville — where the school is located — and worked as a groundskeeper at the university prior to hitting rock stardom, the Associated Press reports; Petty’s pre-Heartbreakers band Mudcrutch also frequently played the Gainesville area in the early-Seventies before relocating to Los Angeles and morphing...

Bill Anderson is the subject of a new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and a number of his celebrity friends and fans were on hand to help launch the exhibit at a special event in downtown Nashville on Thursday night (Dec. 2).Titled Bill Anderson: As Far as I Can See, the new exhibit traces Anderson's life and career from his early years in Georgia, where he got his start as a baseball pitcher and sportswriter in high school, through his college stint as a disc...

Le Tigre are reuniting in 2022 for Goldenvoice’s newest festival, This Ain’t No Picnic, running Aug. 27 through 28 at California’s Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The fest lineup also includes the Strokes, LCD Soundsystem, Phoebe Bridgers, IDLES, Courtney Barnett, Caroline Polachek, Honey Dijon, Four Tet x Floating Points for a combined DJ set, Yves Tumor, Descendents, Wet Leg, Genesis Owusu, Turnstile, Hana Vu, Grammy-nominated (Best New Artist) musician Arooj Aftab, and more. Tickets go on sale on Dec. 9. The Nineties electro-rock band — which comprises Kathleen...