Brooks & Dunn announced yesterday that the final show on their upcoming tour, The Last Rodeo, will be a benefit concert for the Country Music Hall of Fame and
Museum, similar to the All for the Hall benefit show that Keith Urban hosted back in October. The concert will take place at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, and is being billed as Brooks & Dunn and Friends, with the special guests to be announced shortly. According to Kix and Ronnie, “For several years, we have tossed around ideas for the best way to make a contribution to the Museum. We have a tremendous appreciation for the road that was traveled by the great stars that came before us. Their long nights in station wagons with instruments strapped on the roofs built an industry that allowed us to cruise around in big tour buses. Our last show together will certainly
be a historic point in our lives and careers, and we feel it’s only right that the proceeds from this concert go to a place where all history in our business is so reverently preserved.” And with this being Brooks & Dunn’s last show ever as a duo, you know it’s going to be a party. Ronnie says, “It’s good that it’s going to be in Nashville, and we’re going to have all our friends backstage. They’ll be more people backstage than there will be out front probably, and that’s fine with us. We’ll just go out with a big party and have a cab take us home.” All tickets for the event will be $25 and go on sale Saturday, March 6th at 10am through Ticketmaster.
Last night Sony Records hosted their annual boat cruise as part of the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, and as usual, they had a full line-up of entertainment from all of their labels – RCA, BNA, Arista and Columbia. Brad Paisley kicked things off performing his new single, “Water,” and “She’s Her Own Woman.” He announced that this
May he will kick off his water-themed H2O tour, featuring several supporting acts, including Justin Moore, Darius Rucker, Easton Corbin, Steel Magnolia and Josh Thompson. Kellie Pickler sang two songs from her current album. Carrie Underwood performed two songs and was presented with a plaque celebrating 20 million digital sales. Plus, she joined Miranda Lambert to sing Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Travelin’ Band.” Newcomer Josh Thompson
performed, and the grand finale of the evening was Brooks & Dunn who sang a couple of their own songs before they brought Bryan Adams on stage and sang “Summer of ‘69”. Then Bryan sang “Run to You,” followed by “Cuts Like a Knife” with Brad Paisley and “It’s Only Love” with Carrie Underwood.
Luke Bryan and his wife Caroline have announced that they are expecting their second child in August. Luke says, “We are so excited about the baby. Since our son Bo was born in 2008, our life has been so full- and crazy! – but we cannot wait to add to our family.” And since this will be their second child it takes a little bit of the pressure off. Luke tells People magazine, “When you successfully brought one in the world, you are a little more confident in your ability to do it the second time. We’re a little more relaxed – you know everything that can come at you.” When they’re able to, Luke says he and Caroline will find out the sex of the baby because, “I’d lose too much sleep wondering otherwise!”
Trace Adkins was honored with the CRB Artist Humanitarian Award during the welcome session of the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville on Wednesday. Trace was recognized for all of his work with the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to educating others about potentially life-threatening food allergies. Trace has been a national spokesperson for the organization since 2005, and since raising thousands of dollars for FAAN on The Celebrity Apprentice, Trace has gone on to support legislation sponsored by U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker that would help schools protect the more than 2.2 million children nationwide who suffer from food allergies.
For the second year in a row fans are being given the chance to vote for their favorite new artists for the ACM Awards. Beginning today fans can log onto VoteACM.com to choose either Jamey Johnson, Luke Bryan or Chris Young for Top New Solo Vocalist, Bomshel, Steel Magnolia or Joey + Rory for Top New Vocal Duo and Eli Young Band, Gloriana or The Lost Trailers for Top New Vocal Group. Voting will close on March 12th. Then the winner in each category will move on to compete for overall Top New Artist. Voting for Top New Artist will begin April 1st on VoteACM.com and will close on April 18th, with the winner being announced live during the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on CBS.
Carrie Underwood spoke out at a news conference on Wednesday in support of dog adoption. Carrie recently joined the sixth annual Pedigree Adoption Drive , and during the news conference Pedigree presented Carrie with a check for $50,000 to help build an animal shelter in her hometown of Checotah, Oklahoma. The shelter will be built by the Checotah Animal, Town and School Foundation (C.A.T.S.), which Carrie established in 2009 to help with general causes, needs and services in the Checotah community.
Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan have been announced as the first participants in the 20th Anniversary Nashville Celebrity Softball Challenge, which will take place in the week leading up to the CMA Music Festival on June 7th. Many more celebrities will be named in the
coming months to play on either the Grand Ole Opry team or the After MidNite with Blair Garner team in the game that is notorious for lots of softball stunts and pranks. Tickets are available now for $20 per person or $60 for a “Family Four Pack” at www.cityofhope.org/softballtickets or through Ticketmaster, with all ticket proceeds going to City of Hope, one of the nation’s leading cancer research, treatment and education centers.
Tickets for the new round of Garth Brooks at the Wynn Las Vegas shows go on sale tomorrow. If you’re hoping to catch any of his shows through August you’ll have to purchase your tickets tomorrow at 8am PST/11am EST. Garth will play March 26, 27, 28; April 9, 10, 11; June 25, 26, 27; July 16, 17, 18; and August 6, 7, 8. He’ll play one show on Fridays, two on Saturdays and one on Sundays. Tickets will be available through the Wynn Las Vegas box office, but be aware that there are some strict rules and regulations about purchasing tickets. To learn more or to purchase tickets log onto wynnlasvegas.com/boxoffice or call 702-770-1000.
Blake Shelton will host his first headlining show in Nashville at the historic Ryman Auditorium on March 18th. Prior to that, on March 2nd, Blake will release his first SIX PAK album, Hillbilly Bone. Tickets for his Ryman show go on sale March 5th through Ticketmaster and the Ryman box office.
Steel Magnolia will appear on the CBS Early Show’s “Second Cup Cafe” tomorrow morning. They’ll perform an acoustic version of their current single, “Keep On Lovin’ You” plus other songs from their recently released STEEL MAGNOLIA EP.