Eric Church and Luke Combs are wrapping up a very successful benefit concert for their home state of North Carolina. The country stars raised over 24.5 million dollars during their "Concert for Carolina" event on Saturday night.  Scotty McCreery, Chase Rice, and Parmalee were scheduled to kick off the show with a songwriters' session at 5:15, but were held back due to rain. After the weather delay, it was headliner Eric Church who started the show alone onstage with Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” in front of the crowd of more than 80,000. Other artists who performed include Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban, and Bailey Zimmerman.  The monies raised will benefit victims of Hurricane Helene. 

photo credit: ABI imagery from NOAA'S GOES-16 Satellite - September 2024

Old Dominion is the newest recipient of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's "Angels Among Us" award.  It's presented annually to a country act that supports the hospital's life-saving mission.  Since their first visit to St. Jude early in their career, the group has felt drawn to support its life-saving mission.  Old Dominion was honored with the award on the final day of the 35th Annual Country Cares Seminar in Memphis.

Check out the video to their brand new single, "Coming Home":

photo credit: Old Dominion

Post Malone's debut country track, "I Had Some Help," with Morgan Wallen, is featured in the latest trailer for Sony's upcoming film, "Venom: The Last Dance." Billboard's Song of the Summer topped the charts and is up for (4) CMA's next month, including for Single and Song of the Year. 

Venom: The Last Dance hits theaters Friday.

TW: Video may contain foul language

 

 

 

 

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photo credits: Chrisallmeid / U.S. Army photo by Spc. Robert Vicens

Toby Keith was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame Sunday night alongside James Burton and John Anderson. The world learned that Keith would join the Hall of Fame just one day after his death in February. Keith’s widow, Tricia Covel took the stage to accept her late husband’s medallion and deliver a 16-minute speech in his honor, her first-ever public speech. Keith’s induction featured performances from Post Malone, Eric Church, and Blake Shelton. Toby Keith, John Anderson, and James Burton became the 153rd, 154th, and 155th members of the Hall of Fame. Keith entered in the Modern Era category, Anderson was the Veteran Era inductee, and Burton was in the Recording/Touring Musician category. The ceremony took place at the CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.

 

 

 

 

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photo credit: Staff Sgt. Miles Elder

Reba's new comedy series premieres tonight on NBC.  "Happy's Place" is about a woman named Bobbie, played by Reba, who inherits a restaurant from her father.  Along the way, she meets a half-sister who she never knew she had. Melissa Peterman co-stars, she played Barbara Jean and the WB series, "Reba," in the early 2000s.  

photo credit: Gage Skidmore 

Hardy and his wife, Caleigh, are expecting their first child.  The singer plays this weekend at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, but his schedule is wide open through June, keeping him off the road and home with the new addition through the spring.  Baby Hardy is due in February 2025.

 

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Photo credit: Tanner Gallagher

Lainey Wilson is headed to Dallas for Thanksgiving. The reigning ACM and CMA Entertainer of the Year is announced as the halftime performer during the Cowboys' matchup against the New York Giants at AT&T Stadium.  She'll be joined by an unnamed "special guest" on November 28th.  The halftime show also serves as the kickoff of the Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign, which helps more than four-and-a-half-million people during the holiday season.  

The secret’s out! The iconic @laineywilson and a special guest will ring in The @SalvationArmyUS’s famous #RedKettleKickoff at the Dallas Cowboys halftime show this Thanksgiving on @NFLonFOX. Are you ready for this “Whirlwind” of a night? pic.twitter.com/CJwVQp3stF

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) October 13, 2024

photo credit: Broken Bow Records

Brantley Gilbert stopped the show in Tupelo Friday night to help his wife deliver their son!  Gilbert announced his wife Amber's pregnancy last spring, and Friday while he was on stage he got the word the baby was coming. Amber was in the tour bus with a midwife in a backstage parking lot when he paused the show and rushed off to be with her.  Gilbert was emotional when he later returned to the stage, saying he got to catch his son as he was being born. He called his mom to tell her the news before he rushed back onstage and finished the show. Abram Howell Gilbert is the couple's third child.

 

 

 

 

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photo credit: Eve Baker

Taylor Swift is now the richest female musician in the world with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion dollars.  According to Forbes magazine, Taylor Swift has passed Rihanna (worth $1.4 billion). Swift's Eras Tour, which generated an estimated $600 million in royalties and touring, her music catalog (worth north of $600 million) and real estate (worth an estimated $125 million) are part of the reason.  Last year, she became the first-ever billionaire solely on songwriting and performing. Swift also took the 25th position on Forbes' Highest-Paid Entertainers list. "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson topped that list. 

photo credit: iHeartRadioCA

Jason Aldean held a benefit concert last week to raise money for the children’s hospital in his hometown of Macon, Georgia.  Aldean presented a check for a whopping $618,000 alongside his wife Brittany and children Memphis and Navy,

But that’s not all…

To close out his Highway Desperado Tour in his hometown, Aldean teamed up with Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones to present a check for over $6.5 million dollars to Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian disaster relief organization currently focused on hurricane relief. Those funds were actually raised through Donald Trump’s Go Fund Me. Aldean added another $500 grand of his own money on top of it, bringing the total to more than $7 million.

The Aldeans join Morgan Wallen, Miranda Lambert, Dolly Parton and more in making large monetary donations following the disaster Hurricane Helene left behind.

photo credit: www.instagram.com/jasonaldean/

Country music legend Garth Brooks is accused of raping a hair and makeup artist. The woman identifies herself in the suit only as Jane Roe and claims Brooks attacked her in 2019 in a Los Angeles hotel.  The woman worked as Trisha's makeup artist and hairstylist for years, then started working for Garth as well in 2017. TMZ broke the story of his response yesterday, claiming he's been "hassled to no end with threats, lies, and tragic tales" of what his future would be if he "did not write a check for many millions of dollars." Garth filed his own lawsuit against the woman about a month ago, accusing her of "extortion and defamation of character." He had filed it anonymously "for the sake of families on both sides." Brooks' original lawsuit claims the woman made the allegations after he denied her requests for salaried employment and medical benefits.

His statement: "I trust the system, I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be.” 

photo credit: Freddie Everett/ Public Domain 

U.S. Department of State  

Rascal Flatts is reuniting.  The country music supergroup will go on tour in 2025 after a multi-year hiatus. Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney, and Jay Demarcus broke the news yesterday after days of cryptic social media messages.  They'll kick off their 25th anniversary Life Is A Highway Tour in February. The trio will make nearly two-dozen stops, starting with Evansville, Indiana.  Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am.  Fans were disappointed in 2020 when the group's Farewell Tour was sidelined due to the pandemic. 

photo credit: Redfires23

tour photo credit: Facebook

Morgan Wallen is doing what he can to help Hurricane Helene victims.  The East Tennessee native donated a half a million dollars to the American Red Cross in support of their relief efforts.  "The Knox News" revealed the donation yesterday, three days after Helene barreled through the south, killing at least 128 people and leaving behind a trail of destruction.  In an Instagram Story posted on Sunday, Wallen shared an update on the safety of his family and sent his "prayers" to those who weren't as lucky.

photo credit: Cameron Baird