Music

Twenty-two years ago today (Sept. 24, 1999) was a big day for Lonestar: It was on that date that the band scored their first platinum album, signifying sales in excess of one million units, with their Lonely Grill disc.All four of the singles from Lonely Grill went to the top of the charts, including the song "Amazed," which was a No. 1 hit on the pop charts as well."Artists wait for a song like that to come along that can take their career to another level, and that song did that...

R. Kelly’s defense delivered their closing argument Thursday in the singer’s Brooklyn trial on federal racketeering charges. According to the Chicago Tribune, Kelly’s lawyer Deveraux Cannick used his closing arguments to make excuses for Kelly’s behavior, even though it was not what Kelly was on trial for. Cannick acknowledged that some of the singer’s relationships with allegedly underaged girls were of the “May to October” variety; the saying — used for couples with a significant age difference — is actually “May-December.”   Cannick also defended Kelly’s bedroom activities, and how...

The hook of Cole Swindell's new song "Some Habits" is perhaps the most memorable of his career thus far. The singer's easy new love song isn't one he wrote, yet somehow, it's his most personal since "You Should Be Here."Hearing Swindell work through the comparisons that lead up to his "I love you" moment brings about a real warmth. A slow, patient melody through the chorus is the type that any singer in town would love on a record. Scooter Carusoe, Josh Miller and Chris LaCorte paint a vivid landscape with their words, but...

Brandi Carlile and Sturgill Simpson were two of the night’s big winners at the 2021 Americana Honors and Awards, held Wednesday night at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Carlile won the Artist of the Year honor for a second time (she previously won the same award in 2019), while Simpson won Album of the Year for radically reworking his old material on Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 1 (The Butcher Shoppe Sessions). Carlile’s been on a white-hot streak since releasing By the Way, I Forgive You in 2018. In the last year,...

In her Artist of the Year acceptance speech at Tuesday night's (Sept. 22) 2021 Americana Honors & Awards, Brandi Carlile praised her peers and friends — Allison Russell, Yola and Joy Oladokun among them — for, during a difficult year, creating "music that has moved me, elevated me beyond where I thought I could go.""To be Artist of the Year in the one like we've all had," Carlile reflected, "... I think it's profound, and I don't take this for granted, because it was hard to be an artist this year."Carlile's words capped...

The defense for R. Kelly rested its case Wednesday in the singer’s federal trial on racketeering charges in Brooklyn, with Kelly’s lawyers calling only five witnesses to the stand over the three-day-long defense. However, Kelly opted to not testify in his own defense, avoiding the prosecutors’ cross-examination. According to the Chicago Tribune, After the defense called its fifth and final witness, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly asked Kelly, “You don’t want to testify, correct?” Kelly responded, “Yes, ma’am.” Kelly’s lawyers previously stated that it was unlikely that the singer would...

When one of your earliest hit songs becomes a popular social media trend, you just have to try it out yourselves, right Brooks & Dunn?Popularized on TikTok, the "Neon Moon" dance is based off the duo's classic country hit, but spiced up with a more electric sounding remix. Specifically, the dance was built around the lyrics: "When the sun goes down on my side of town/ That lonesome feeling comes to my door / And the whole world turns blue."Although their dance moves might not exactly match the trend, Brooks & Dunn have thrown their cowboy hats...

St. Vincent appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live to perform the title track from her recent film, The Nowhere Inn. The singer gave a soulful rendition of the tune, appearing with her live band, who wore matching Annie Clark wigs. The Nowhere Inn, a mockumentary written by and starring Clark and Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein, arrived earlier this month. Presented as a behind-the-scenes concert documentary directed by Brownstein and centered on Clark, The Nowhere Inn takes the depiction of a touring musician to its most psychological extremes, with the filmmaker and the artist’s working...

Ariana Grande has landed a country/Americana act for her team on Season 21 of The Voice. The pop superstar and actor signed on to coach Jim and Sasha Allen on Tuesday night (Sept. 21) after they auditioned with John Denver's classic song "Leaving on a Jet Plane."The father-son duo have an interesting back story. In their introduction video, Jim says he was involved in the bluegrass festival scene for years, and he has taught music for decades. Sasha grew up surrounded by music, and he was born female and transitioned...

Drake easily secured a record-extending 33rd week atop the Rolling Stone Artists 500 chart for the week of September 10th through the 16th. Still riding high off the release of his latest album, Certified Lover Boy, Drake pulled in 396.1 million song streams, the fourth highest weekly stream count the chart has ever seen. And not only did Certified Lover Boy notch a second straight week on the Top 200 Albums chart, picking up 286.5 million song streams, “Way 2 Sexy,” was Number One again on the Top 100 Songs...

Lil Nas X's cover of Dolly Parton's classic song "Jolene" stays faithful to the original. There's little of the musical grandeur that the younger artist has become known for, but he doesn't need it to deliver this performance successfully."This song is kind of, like, beautifully sad, you know?" Lil Nas X shared of "Jolene" during his performance at the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge (quote via Billboard). "I like the little twang, like the country twang in it. So I was like, 'Lemme try this out.'"Indeed, although he's backed by a full...

Metallica rocked Metro in Chicago on Monday with a set that included “Seek & Destroy” and “Master of Puppets.” Their intimate performance follows their surprise club concert at San Francisco’s The Independent last Thursday, where they played live last Thursday, delivering a 16-song set. “THAT was way too much fun last week as we finally played in front of real live fans for the first time in over two years in our hometown of San Francisco,” Metallica wrote. “So why not do it again?? This time we’re in Chicago and...

Mickey Guyton and Darius Rucker are among the all-star list of artists who contributed to Metallica’s recently released The Metallica Blacklist, an expansive project celebrating the metal band's influence. Both country artists offered covers of "Nothing Else Matters," each putting their own spin on the song.Guyton's "Nothing Else Matters" beautifully showcases the lower register of her voice and demonstrates her versatility as an artist. Get a listen below."This was so much fun to be a part of," Guyton writes on Twitter of the experience.Rucker's version of "Nothing Else Matters," meanwhile, is a bit more...

Certified Lover Boy was once again the biggest album of the week, remaining at Number One with over 232 thousand project units. The album saw more than twice the amount of project units as the biggest debut of the week, from country music artist Kacey Musgraves. Star-Crossed made a strong entry at Number Two, seeing almost 95 thousand project units. It was the highest-selling album of the week, with a little more than half its sales from vinyl. The Top 10 also saw a big debut from Baby Keem, at...