Music

From judging (and sometimes performing) on American Idol to his upcoming Las Vegas residency and Farm Tour, Luke Bryan is just about everywhere these days. What secrets could he have left?Fans may soon find out. He's set to release Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary, a five-part documentary series, this summer. Upcoming from IMDB TV, the series will follow Bryan through many highs and lows — not only through the lens of where he is currently in his career, but also digging into who he really is when he's not onstage.Through interviews with family and friends, never-before-seen home...

Martina McBride, the country music singer whose rich voice informed Nineties radio hits like “Independence Day,” “Wild Angels,” and “A Broken Wing,” will be the focus of a new spotlight exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “Martina McBride: The Power of Her Voice” opens July 30th at the Nashville institution and runs through next summer. Originally slated to open last year but postponed because of the pandemic, “The Power of Her Voice” chronicles the Kansas native’s career, from her early days as a child singer in...

Twenty-eight years ago today (June 23, 1993) was a record-breaking day for Brooks & Dunn -- and for country music. It was on that date that B&D's debut album, Brand New Man, was certified triple platinum, making them the first country music duo to sell 3 million copies of an album.Brand New Man, which was released on Aug. 13, 1991, includes four consecutive No. 1 hits: the title track, "My Next Broken Heart," "Neon Moon" and "Boot Scootin' Boogie." Produced by Don Cook and Scott Hendricks, the record features 10 songs, all of which were written...

There have been great hip-hop albums since the Nineties, and that will continue on into infinity. But rarely do you find an album that makes you want to go back and decode every lyric. Especially in the past few decades, those sorts of releases have become increasingly rare. It isn’t that rap isn’t still great — it is — but genres evolve. Singalong tracks about feeling jilted by an ex-lover are what’s big. These days, songs that celebrate your soul in relation to your community and heritage don’t necessarily sell....

The story of George Birge's "Beer, Beer, Truck, Truck" is anything but conventional. It involves a '90s country icon and a social media influencer known more for her social justice messages than her critiques of country music.You could say it all started as a joke, but the speed at which the song caught fire was awe-inspiring. Birge (formerly of the country duo Waterloo Revival) was new to TikTok last December, and he had just 10 followers when he came across a video poking fun at country music. He posted his response, went to dinner and...

J. Cole has announced a U.S. tour in support of his new album, The Off-Season. The 17-date trek will launch September 24th at the FTX Arena in Miami and wrap October 21st at the Forum in Los Angeles. 21 Savage will provide support throughout the tour (save a September 27th gig in Atlanta), as will Morray. Tickets for all shows will go on sale June 25th at 10 a.m. local time via J. Cole’s Dreamville website. J. Cole released The Off-Season in May, and the album debuted at Number One...

Just a year after his full-length debut was re-released by John Prine’s Oh Boy Records, singer-songwriter Tré Burt will be releasing his second full-length album this August. You, Yeah, You was recorded in Durham, North Carolina with producer Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee, War on Drugs) and features contributions from Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Heath, Phil Cook, and Kelsey Waldon. The album’s lead single is “Sweet Misery,” a gentle acoustic ballad that Burt wrote by first coming up with the song’s plaintive chord progression. “When I was writing this song, I...

Shania Twain, one of the world's best-selling artists, is the whole package: an enviable singing voice, sassy personality, gorgeous looks and top-notch country-pop hits. The now-55-year-old shines in everything she does, from releasing diamond-certified albums to holding down a critically acclaimed Las Vegas residency ... and even carrying the Olympic torch!Since her debut record in 1993, which went on to be certified platinum six years later due to her success, Twain's fought hard for her career. Her zeal for performing is shown in her live shows and in her music videos,...

Before Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow sent their duet "Picture" to country radio in late 2002, the song caused a fair bit of behind-the-scenes drama.There were the rumors that Crow and Rock were romantically entangled, for one thing, which reportedly caused friction between the country-rock superstar and his then-girlfriend Pamela Anderson. But that wasn't all.Despite the fact that Crow was a co-writer on the song, her record label was not a fan of the idea of her releasing a duet with Rock, so much so that they blocked his plans...

Garbage have shared the new video for “The Creeps,” a track off the band’s recently released album No Gods No Monsters. Like the previous visuals for album tracks “Wolves” and “The Men Who Rule the World,” “The Creeps” was directed by Chilean film director, animator, and painter Javi.MiAmor. Like those videos, “The Creeps” combines footage of singer Shirley Manson with a hodgepodge of frenetic animation techniques. “This is a record I was supposed to make,” Manson said of the album in a statement. “Lord only knows what the fans will think,...

Florida Georgia Line and rapper Nelly revisit some old stomping grounds with their newest joint effort, "Lil Bit," a hard-partying track that combines call-and-response vocals, a hip-hop beat and a dash of backwoods twang.The song's lyrics invite a new love interest to climb up in a "big wheel," take a ride through the country and "have some fun" along the way. In the music video for the song, Nelly and the FGL guys do just that, with the rapper taking a trip to Nashville to spend some time riding back...

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of Blue, Joni Mitchell discussed her 1971 masterpiece, the album’s enduring legacy and the state of her singing voice in a rare new interview conducted by Cameron Crowe for the Los Angeles Times. “Like all of my albums, Blue came out of the chute with a whimper. It didn’t really take off until later. Now there’s a lot of fuss being made over it, but there wasn’t initially,” Mitchell told Crowe. “The most feedback that I got was that I had gone too far and...

Dads are the best: They'll take you fishing, teach you important life lessons ... and occasionally act pretty goofy. And judging by the photos above, country star dads are no different.While celebrities' private lives are just that -- private -- it's always fun to get a peek into what goes on offstage ... especially when adorable kids are involved. Jake Owen and Rascal Flatts' Joe Don Rooney aren't afraid to let their silly sides show around their children, while Granger Smith and Luke Bryan have bonded with theirs on the farm...

Sex and pop music have walked hand in hand since the days of Elvis’ swiveling hips. But the 1981 launch of MTV made the relationship even more explicit – eye-popping videos like Duran Duran’s “Girls on Film” got the controversy started early, while the likes of Madonna and Prince built their pop empires on their willingness to break through boundaries. These 30 videos, which range from the earliest days of MTV through the era of YouTube-enabled smartphones, turned up the heat, as well as the chatter. Sex and pop music...