Give us a minute, and we’ll give you five things you might want to know in country music. It’s your new favorite fix for all the latest news headlines in one place. Here’s what you need to know for Wednesday (April 10):
-
AJ McLean Talks Going Country with CMT Radio Live
Backstreet Boy AJ McLean told CMT’s Cody Alan backstage at the ACM Awards that while he’ll never leave the beloved boy band that broke his career, fans are resonating with his first country single “Boy and a Man.” It’s the first release from a forthcoming album that’s in the works. “Country will always have a very near, dear place in my heart,” McLean told Alan. “Some of the production that’s on my album may be a little more on the urban/pop side, but the lyrical content and the melodies are definitely country.”
-
Artists Weigh in on “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X
Many reporters dedicated valuable red-carpet time at the 2019 ACMs by asking artists their definition of country music following the Lil Nas X controversy involving the rapper’s song “Old Town Road.” Unfortunately, the subject was unavoidable with the song debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart this week and bumping Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” to No. 3.
Brothers Osborne’s TJ and John Osborne told Billboard they think the issue with “Old Town Road” isn’t on the genre citing their own struggles getting their songs played on country radio. “For me,” TJ Osborne said, “if music makes someone feel good that’s really the whole point of it. However, I don’t like that there’s this controversy around it particularly once again, John and I, we’ve had success at radio, but we still struggle at radio all the time. To complain about that, it’s like, dude, c’mon. Get in line.”
Jimmie Allen weighed in on Wednesday’s (April 10) CBS This Morning and said he thought the song should be on “every chart.” “Either way it’s a good song,” he said. “It’s catchy, and people are talking about it, and they’re playing it. And at the end of the day, that’s all that artists want. So, Lil Nas, bro, [thumbs up].”
-
CMA Fest Adds Stadium Headliners
Brett Young and Chris Janson have been added to CMA Fest’s Nissan Stadium headliners on June 8 and 9, respectively. Stadium openers include Marty Stuart, Jo Dee Messina, Billy Ray Cyrus and David Lee Murphy. The National Anthem performers are Lindsay Ell, Runaway June, Jimmie Allen and students from Nashville School of the Arts, a beneficiary of the CMA Foundation. Tickets to the stadium shows are still on sale through the festival’s website hand proceeds will support music education initiatives nationwide through the CMA Foundation.
-
Army veteran and staunch American patriot Craig Morgan is back from his 11th USO Tour, which was the final senior military tour for the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Paul J. Selva. The week-long military entertainment tour visited military bases in five countries including Germany, Afghanistan, Qatar, Iraq and Italy. Celebrity chef Robert Irvine, surfer Makua Rothman and former MLB player Shane Victorino along with UFC fighters BJ Penn, Felice Herrig and Christopher Weidman were also part of the tour. This was Morgan’s 16th military entertainment tour overseas overall.
-
Just because Tanya Tucker and Dennis Quaid take an excellent prom photo on the red carpet, doesn’t mean they’re dating. A rep for Tucker tells People, “They are not a couple! They are longtime friends and having a blast collaborating and making music together.”
