By Becca
Lady Antebellum
Last night Lady Antebellum traveled to Louisville, Kentucky to put on a benefit concert for Henryville, Indiana, a town that was devastated by tornados. They announced during the show that over $285,000 had been raised for the community as of 9:30p last night. It was a special day that started out with a prom event for Henryville High School juniors and seniors for winning the Lady Own the Night prom contest. At one point they even invited some lucky students on stage for a slow dance. Then the group was expected to put on an acoustic show for members of the community and fans to help raise money for the tornado relief effort, but when the curtain dropped as the concert started, Lady Antebellum had surprised everyone by bringing their full stage show.
“This event started as an idea we had in the studio last year to crash someone’s prom we had no idea at the time it would fill such a nee,” said Hillary Scott. “We are amazed by the support we’ve gotten from our fans, sponsors and the press. This is one of the proudest moments in our career!”
Fans who weren’t able to attend the concert, but would still like to contribute towards the cause can make a donation here.
By Becca
Taylor Swift
Forbes has published their list of The World’s Most Powerful Celebrities and Taylor Swift was the highest ranking country star, coming in at number 11. The list was based on pre-tax earnings, TV/radio exposure, press coverage and web & social media presence. Toby Keith ranked 49th on the list, Kenny Chesney was 53rd and Brad Paisley landed at number 68. You can see the complete list, which was topped by Jennifer Lopez, and all the data that factored into the list here.
By Becca
Carrie, Oprah and Mike
Carrie Underwood sat down with her husband Mike Fisher to talk to Oprah this week for an interview that will air on Oprah’s Next Chapter this Sunday night on OWN. They talked about a wide variety of topics including what Carrie still insists on doing for herself even though she could get someone to do it for her. Carrie told Oprah, “Laundry and grocery shopping. And it makes tour life a little difficult because those are things I really don’t have time to do, so that’s what I do on my days off. I get my quarters and go to the laundry mat.” Clearly surprised by her answer, Oprah said, “You are kidding me! Oh I’d pay to see that.” Carrie explained, “I just don’t like other people doing my laundry. It freaks me out.”
Oprah also asked Carrie if she’s used to being married yet and Carrie admitted, “At first it was weird… and sometimes I still have those moments where I can’t believe I’m married. I spent 27 years not being married and I kinda got used to it, but now the more I do it the more I’m able to think more of ‘we’.” One thing that took getting used to was speaking for two. “For the first year of our marriage I still would give people gifts and write ‘Love, Carrie,’” she says. “And I’m like, ‘Now I’m Carrie and Mike. There’s two of us now.’ I’m getting better all the time.”
You can see Carrie and Mike’s entire interview on Oprah’s Next Chapter on OWN this Sunday night at 9pm/8pm CT.
By Becca
Little Big Town
Little Big Town will host their sixth annual Ride for a Cure motorcycle ride to benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation on June 10th, the last day of the CMA Music Festival, in Nashville. After the ride their will be a live auction and a concert featuring Little Big Town, Lauren Alaina, Love and Theft and Dean Alexander. To date Little Big Town’s Ride for a Cure has raised over $260,000 for the T.J. Martell Foundation.
For more details and to purchase tickets click here.
By Becca
Easton Corbin
Easton Corbin has a new single on the radio called “Lovin’ You Is Fun.” It’s his first release in 18 months and he says one of the reasons it took so long is because he was having some vocal issues. “I was having some problems – basically what it was, was a lot of muscle tension in my throat and stuff, but with a lot of therapy and stuff I’ve gotten through that,” he tells The Country Vibe. “But you know really honestly it was kind of a blessing in disguise cause we got out there and it gave us more times to find better songs out there. So I look at it as a blessing in disguise cause we really took the time to find the right songs for this record instead of just throwing stuff on there. Of course you never want to do that, but I’m really proud of this new project.” Easton’s new album featuring “Lovin’ You Is Fun” will be released later this year.
By Becca
Lee Brice
Lee Brice has had quite a bit of success as a songwriter and he just celebrated his first #1 song with “A Woman Like You,” so when it came time to splurge and celebrate his good fortune he says, “Honestly I’ve never owned a house and so I bought my first house and every bit of everything that’s going into that.” For Lee having the financial ability to buy the house and furnish it and decorate it has been a real blessing. “I’m so proud of it to have something of my own and I want to make it my own,” he says. “It just feels good to be able to go, ‘You know, we need a new bed or we need to paint this …’ and like I can just go, ‘You know what? We can go to Lowes and pick it up.’ I don’t have to worry and stress about that money because there’s a little bit there to be able to go do that stuff and that’s honestly splurging for me. If I get to go to Lowes and pick up a tool that’s awesome. I need this for this one project, I need this big tool right here. That’s my splurge. I enjoy it.”
By Becca
Carrie Underwood continues to dominate with her Blown Away album, which is #1 for a second consecutive week on Billboard’s Top Country & all-genre 200 albums sales chart. She is the first country artist since 2010 to debut for two consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard’s all-genre 200 albums sales chart. Blown Away is also #1 on Canada’s Top 100 Country albums sales charts for the second straight week. She is currently in Canada making the media rounds, but she’ll be back in the U.S. this weekend to perform on the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday on ABC.
By Becca
Tonight is the night Lady Antebellum will host the Rebuilding Henryville Charity Ball. What started out as a contest to give one lucky high school a memorable prom event became something much bigger when Henryville High School entered the contest supported by several other high schools. The town of Henryville and the high school had been devastated by a tornado, so when they were chosen as the winners of the Own the Night Prom contest, Lady Antebellum decided they wanted to do more to help the town. Dave Haywood explains, “Although we couldn’t make the actual prom date, we’re gonna do a special, and bigger and better event actually, for the entire community and also have something special for the junior and senior high students there as well to kind of commemorate their prom this time of year.”
Charles jokes that for the prom performance, “Dave’s gonna give out free kisses, first kisses to anybody who has yet to have their first kiss, and to anybody who makes a sign.” Hillary laughs, “I’ll be standing on the wall waiting for someone to ask me to dance.”
The benefit concert will take place tonight in Louisville, Kentucky, with all ticket sale proceeds going to the Tornado Relief Efforts in Henryville, Indiana. They’ll also be selling t-shirts and posters with a special winning design by Nic Johnson of New Orleans at the show and on their web site, with those proceeds also going to the Tornado Relief fund.
By Becca
Loretta
Miranda Lambert’s animal rescue efforts continue. On Saturday morning she tweeted, “Found another dog this am on the side of the road. In sad shape. I’m about to start kicking someone’s ass.” As of last night Miranda had the new dog cleaned up, wearing a hot pink collar and had given her a name. She tweeted a picture of her and said, “New puppy I found last week. Loretta! She will go to a new good home soon I hope.:) or maybe she is already. Hehe” Incidentally, the adorable black and white dog Miranda found a few weeks ago that she named Batman has found a new home. The same day she posted about finding Loretta, she also shared a picture of Batman on her tour bus and said, “Batmans first bus ride! He is going to his new home today with Chris Kline and family!”
By Becca
Brantley Gilbert
Brantley Gilbert has seen his popularity grow and it’s believed that he may be responsible for the growth in the popularity of the name Brantley. According to a new report from the Social Security Administration, the name Brantley skyrocketed 416 places on the list of most popular names for baby boy names moving from 736th place to 320th place, and they do believe that Brantley Gilbert is partly responsible for that growth in popularity of the name.
By Becca
Miranda Lambert is featured on the cover of the newest Self magazine in a feature called “Love Your Body, Tone It Up and Rock Your Curves.” In a slide show entitled “15 Things I’ll Never Apologize For” on Self.com, Miranda talks about her thoughts on fitness, guns, her relationship and more. Miranda has always been proud of her curves and she says, “I don’t care about being stick-thin. I don’t want stuff to jiggle. Really skinny actresses make me hungry—I see them and think, Honey, you need to eat! I’m lucky I don’t have to live like that. I feel my best when I’m a toned, not flabby, size 8.” But she does admit that sometimes she gets a little bigger than she wants to be, like over the holidays. “I gained about 10 pounds over the holidays,” she confesses, “and when I got onstage in January, I realized I wasn’t feeling great. I didn’t have the energy or lung capacity I needed. It was a good idea to get strong again.”
We had to laugh when Miranda said, “I asked Blake, ‘Dude, why didn’t you tell me I got fat?’ He said, ‘That would go over like a lead balloon. It’s not my job to tell you you’re fat. It’s my job to tell you you’re beautiful.’” Smart man. Ultimately, Miranda says, “I absolutely hate exercise. I love it afterward, of course. But my trainer is so nice, I want to do push-ups to please him!” And she explains, “I won’t give up what I enjoy to look perfect. I want to find a happy medium between feeling good about my body and still having a beer and some barbecue.”
You can read more about the things Miranda won’t apologize for on Self.com.
By Becca
Blake Shelton released a new DVD exclusively through Walmart and Walmart.com yesterday without a whole lot of fan fair. Live: It’s All About Tonight features several live performances, including All About Tonight, Who Are You When I’m Not Looking, That Thing We Do, Draggin The River (Featuring Miranda Lambert), Suffocating, and Got a Little Country that were filmed during his 2010 “All About Tonight” concert. There are also a few of Blake’s videos featured on the DVD, which you can buy in Walmart stores or here through their web site.
By Becca
John Rich
John Rich is continuing his support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital after raising $1.3 million for them on Celebrity Apprentice. Next month he will headline the St. Jude Presents John Rich & Friends concert on June 5th at the Cannon Center in Memphis. John will be joined by Kellie Pickler, Darius Rucker, Jeff Foxworthy, and his Big & Rich partner, Big Kenny. The event will serve as the first-ever concert kick off for the 2012 FedEx St. Jude Classic.
“St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital holds a very special place in my heart, that’s why I’m excited to kick off the FedEx St. Jude Classic with the John Rich & Friends concert,” said John Rich. “I don’t know how you could spend your time any better on this earth than to support something like St. Jude. It’s truly God’s work – taking care of them babies.” All proceeds from the concert will benefit St. Jude.
By Becca
John and Martina McBride
Martina McBride and her husband John are celebrating their 24th wedding anniversary today and Martina says their marriage has lasted so long because, “Well first of all I got lucky and chose well,” she laughs, “and we just have a lot of respect for each other and we are really good friends, and I think that that’s really important. We’ve grown together instead of apart. So it’s all worked out. He’s a great partner and I try to be a good partner back.”
Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton celebrated their one year anniversary yesterday, and undoubtedly look forward to the day they can celebrate 24 years together. Blake opted to stay home and spend the day with Miranda while the rest of the cast from NBC’s The Voice was in Los Angeles announcing the networks new fall line-up.
By Becca
Oprah was in Nashville yesterday to sit down and talk with Carrie Underwood and her husband Mike Fisher for this weekend’s edition of Oprah’s Next Chapter. According to a tweet from Oprah, the interview took place at Mike and Carrie’s cabin. Touted as their first television interview together, the episode of Next Chapter will air this Sunday, May 20th on OWN. Look for Carrie to perform “Good Girl” tonight on Dancing with the Stars.
First Look: Oprah Interviews Carrie Underwood and Her Husband, Mike Fisher
With five Grammys, 15 number one singles and more than 14 million albums sold, Carrie Underwood is one of the most successful American Idol winners of all time. Now, Oprah travels to Nashville to talk to Carrie Underwood and her husband, Mike Fisher, in their first television interview together. Tune in Sunday, May 20!
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By Becca
Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band have been announced as the first round of performers for the CMT Music Awards. More performers will be announced as the awards get closer. Tickets for the awards will go on sale this Monday, May 21st at 10am CT through Ticketmaster. The awards will take place June 6th at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, and fan voting for the CMT Music Awards is open here through June 4th.
By Becca
Tim McGraw
As part of his partnership with Pennzoil, Tim McGraw will be at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 27th to announce the top 10 qualifying drivers prior to the 53rd running of NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600. Tim will introduce the Top 10 drivers based on qualifying times from LiftMaster Pole Day on May 24. Plus, as a brand ambassador for Pennzoil, he will help shed light on the company’s Long Live Cars campaign. As part of the campaign, Pennzoil will donate $100,000 over the next two years to Paralyzed Veterans of America’s Mission: ABLE, which retrofits vehicles for handicapped veterans.
By Becca
Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green
It looks like the television show The Voice could be getting some new judges, although that doesn’t mean that Blake Shelton and the show’s current judges will be losing their jobs. Bob Greenblatt, the head of NBC, has confirmed that not only will The Voice be returning this fall for a third season, but the network is planning to run two seasons of the show per year, in the spring and fall from here on out. According to Vulture, the plan is to have Christina on board for both seasons of the show, but they would likely hire three additional judges to join her for one of the seasons each year, since Blake, Cee Lo and Adam’s schedule would likely prevent them from being available twice a year. NBC’s executives love the chemistry of the four current judges, so they would love to have them all on board for every season, but they also understand that it may be too much for them to do two season of The Voice each year.
The third season of The Voice will begin airing this fall, on September 20th on NBC.
By Becca
Tonight’s the night Taylor Swift’s song “Mean” will get the Glee treatment on FOX. The two-hour episode will feature the character of Coach Bieste singing Taylor’s song in the first half of the show. Lindsay Lohan will make a guest appearance in the second half of the show.
By Becca
Jason Aldean is celebrating his fifth consecutive #1 song off of his My Kinda Party album with “Fly Over States.” Jason reveals that the song has actually been around for a while. “That song was around when we got ready to record the Wide Open album,” he told The Country Vibe, “and it was kind of in our pile of songs for that album and for whatever reason we just didn’t cut it but it wasn’t because I didn’t like it.” Jason says after he finished his Wide Open album he would still ride around in his car listening to the demo of “Fly Over States,” which is how he knew it needed to be on one of his albums eventually. Jason says he’s a big fan of the song because, “It’s just one of those songs that kind of reminds me of where I’m from and a lot of the stuff that I grew up visually seeing in my part of the country. And I think it kind of just sheds some light on farming and things like that. I think a lot of people don’t give those guys enough credit for what it is they do.”
