Shania Twain and her husband, Frédéric Thiébaud, on their January 1, 2011 wedding day. Photo credit: Robert Evans, RobertEvans.com.

Several country stars tied the knot in 2011. Two of them even kicked off the year with New Year’s Day nuptials in tropical places! Shania Twain married husband Frédéric Thiébaud in Puerto Rico on New Year’s Day in front of 40 close friends and family. Shania announced their engagement on her website on December 21, 2010.

Kellie Pickler and husband Kyle Jacobs also tied the knot on New Year’s Day. The pair scraped their plans for a big Nashville wedding and eloped to Antigua where they were married at sunset. “We didn’t have anything but us and God and our minister,” Kellie told People, “and I can’t think of a word that can quite describe how perfect it was.”

LeAnn Rimes married actor Eddie Cibrian on April 22 at a private home in California. The 40 guests invited believed they were attending an engagement party but were surprised with a wedding ceremony. The couple exchanged personalized vows and Eddie’s sons Mason and Jake, from his previous marriage, were in attendance. “I’m looking forward to settling down,” LeAnn told People before her wedding. “Settling into our life.”

Chely Wright, who made headlines in 2010 when she came out, married her partner, Lauren Blitzer, during a ceremony at Lauren’s aunt’s home in Connecticut on August 20. Since Lauren is Jewish and Chely is Christian, both a rabbi and a reverend presided over the wedding. “The freedom of being out and open about who I am allowed me to find and fall in love with Lauren – the most amazing woman I’ve ever known,” Chely told People. Continue Reading

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Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/chelywright.

Congratulations to Chely Wright, who married her partner, Lauren Blitzer, during a ceremony at Lauren’s aunt’s home in Connecticut on Saturday, August 20, reports People. As Lauren is Jewish and Chely is Christian, both a rabbi and a reverend presided over the wedding. Both brides wore white wedding gowns and opted not to wear veils. “We like our hair too much!” Chely said to the magazine. They also did away with a live band and opted to have a deejay spin instead.

Chely Wright Opens Up to GAC >>

While it was easy for the pair to agree on a location, dresses, veils and music, the pair did need to compromise when it came to Continue Reading

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Country songs are often a mirror to the world, a reflection of the times. As a tribute to  the men and women who have served our country, we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite songs and videos that honor our troops – heartfelt compositions that look at war through the eyes of the men and women who fight, as well as the families who are left behind to pray that their loved ones return home safely.  If you don’t see your favorite on our list, leave us a comment below and let us know!

We at GAC extend our sincerest thanks and appreciation to all soldiers and their families!

“‘Til the Last Shot’s Fired” – Trace Adkins

This heartfelt song is about the life of soldiers through various wars, starting with America’s Civil War and continuing through our current conflicts in the Middle East. Trace Adkins conveys the soldiers’ fervent wish that their job would at some point be eliminated for good. Trace delivers as only Trace can.

“American Soldier” – Toby Keith

This song depicts the everyday life of a soldier, from not being able to call in sick to working through the holidays while standing up for liberty. Toby never fails to bring the soldiers to their feet when he performs this one on his many USO tours.

“Angel Flight” – Radney Foster/Darius Rucker

The title of this song refers to the flight on which a soldier killed in war comes home. Radney wrote the song with Darden Smith, then asked Darius Rucker to sing on it with him. The song was inspired by a series of Angel Flights that brought home a group of men known as the Red River Four. Proceeds from sales of the song benefit the groups who help families in crisis. Continue Reading

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Chely Wright's 2010 CD, Lifted Off The Ground. Photo courtesy of Vanguard Records.

There were plenty of skeptics when Chely Wright became the first star with a commercially successful history in country music to publicly announce she was gay.

“She’s doing it to sell a book,” some said. “She’s doing it to sell an album.” “She’s trying to revive her career.”

Her associates did, in fact, persuade Chely to wait until she had a product to hawk before she came out. But that didn’t change the fact that her decision to reveal her sexuality was a huge moment in country music and a huge personal moment for her.

Chely’s public confession is the No. 9 entry in GAC’s countdown of country music’s dozen biggest stories of 2010.

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Trace Adkins photo courtesy of Show Dog-Universal Music.

Kix Brooks, Trace Adkins and Buddy Jewell are among the latest acts taking time from their schedules to honor the soldiers who put their lives on the line for their country.

Kix is in the midst of a Middle East tour, Buddy just headed out with with a package of country singers that will visit four countries, and Trace is set to appear on a TV special with a military theme before his own USO journey.

Not that it’s anything unusual for country acts. Among the artists who’ve lent themselves to the USO in the past are Toby Keith, Neal McCoy, Chely Wright, Craig Morgan, Kellie Pickler and the Zac Brown Band.

Here’s what some of country’s stars are doing with the USO:

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Toby Keith photo courtesy of Show Dog Nashville.

The city of Boston was an important site in the course of the Revolutionary War, when Paul Revere rode through the streets to warn his neighbors that the British were coming.

This Sunday, the city gets invaded by an American friend, Toby Keith, who’s on tap to perform at the Hatch Shell near the Charles River for the CBS special “Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular.” It’s a little different way to spend Independence Day for Toby, who usually observes the holiday with his family in Oklahoma.

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Toby Keith photo courtesy of Show Dog-Universal Music.

By David Scarlett, with Sarah Wyland

If you want to hear patriotic songs, whether openly saluting the military or just extolling the virtues of everyday life in America, country music is a great place to start. In recent years we’ve heard heartfelt songs by several artists who may not be household names yet–like ex-soldiers Luke Stricklin (“American by God’s Amazing Grace”) and Keni Thomas’ (“Not Me”). But the tunes that made it on our list of the 20 Greatest Country Patriotic Songs are by some of country’s most influential artists, and these patriotic tunes are among their most enduring. For those counting, we even included an extra song. In no particular order, here they are:

“If You’re Reading This” (2007) co-written and performed by Tim McGraw

When Tim McGraw performed “If You’re Reading This” at the 2007 Academy of Country Music Awards, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. The song is a tribute to fallen soldiers and takes the form of a letter, meant to be read only if the soldier didn’t return home. Co-written with Brad and Brett Warren of the Warren Brothers, the track was inspired by an article the three men read about war casualties. After Tim’s performance at the ACM awards, one hundred relatives of soldiers who died in the line of duty appeared onstage under a banner that read ‘Families of Fallen Heroes.’ An emotional Tim rightly received a standing ovation from his fellow country artists.

“Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American)” (2002) written and performed by Toby Keith

Written just days after the attacks of 9/11, this tune makes no bones about it—Toby was fighting mad. Written partly as a tribute to his war veteran father, the song summed up the feelings of a lot of Americans who wanted a very forceful response to an assault by terrorists on innocent men, women and children. It became a rallying cry for our troops and a thorn in the side of people like Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks who called the song “ignorant” and Peter Jennings of ABC News, who uninvited Toby to be part of a patriotic television special after reading the lyrics of “Courtesy.” While Toby doesn’t describe himself as a very political guy, he is a “very patriotic” guy. “If you believe in it enough, it’s worth fightin’ for,” he’s been quoted as saying. “And if you’re not gonna fight for it, then you deserve to be dictated to, you know—and I’m not willing to do that.”

“God Bless the USA” (1983), written and performed by Lee Greenwood

Often called the “unofficial National Anthem,” in 2003—the 20th anniversary of its release—online voters named this powerful song the “most recognizable patriotic song” in the nation. And, after nearly 25 years, the song Lee wrote to show his appreciation for his country and his willingness to defend it still routinely brings crowds to their feet at the opening strains of the first chorus. While cynics may describe it as jingoistic, there are a good many citizens who, to this day, cannot hear its heartfelt championing of America’s virtues without getting misty. Continue Reading

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Chely Wright & SHeDAISY at the 10th Annual Reading, Writing and Rhythm benefit concert, held at TPAC’s James Polk Theater in Nashville, Tenn. on June 8, 2010. Photo by Melinda Norris, courtesy of Wortman Works Media & Marketing.

Chely Wright’s 10th Annual Reading, Writing and Rhythm benefit concert, held at TPAC’s James Polk Theater in Nashville on June 8, 2010 during the CMA Music Festival, raised thousands of dollars for local Kingston Springs Elementary School, which was devastated by flood waters. The concert also donated over one ton of food to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee.  

With over 800 in attendance, the star-studded event included performances by Trisha Yearwood, Rodney Crowell, SHeDAISY, Jamey Johnson, Bucky Covington, Justin Moore, Buxton Hughes, Jann Arden, and of course, Reading, Writing & Rhythm’s Founder, Chely.  Items were auctioned off throughout the evening, including a shopping spree with Chely to Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams furniture store and a Fly Away trip to a Keith Urban show. 

Chely signed her last autograph at 4:40 a.m. Continue Reading

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Chely Wright's 2010 CD, Lifted Off The Ground. Photo courtesy of Vanguard Records.

Falling in love is such a wonderful, exciting experience that songwriters devote vast amounts of time reminding fans how special it is. When Chely Wright fell in love, she feared it could cost her the job she’d always dreamed of doing. So she kept it to herself and covered her tracks. Her joy produced a huge amount of fear.

Breaking up, on the other hand, is a traumatic experience. But like falling in love, it’s a drama that songwriters feel compelled to write about. When people lose a relationship, they often have to share it — ad nauseum — with their very closest friends. When Chely broke up, she had to endure the pain in isolation. Her friends, family and business associates weren’t supposed to know about the relationship in the first place. She certainly couldn’t share her heartbreak.

That’s the mess in which Chely found herself in January 2006 when she came close to killing herself. She had split with a girlfriend, was broken-hearted and unable to share it. She was essentially a hermit with a fan club. It was a lonely, frustrating experience — particularly because she felt like a phoney. It’s why she announced she was a lesbian last week, finally breaking the chains that kept her from connecting authentically with the people around her.

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John Rich photo by Frank Ockenfels, courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

John Rich is in shock that a comment he made to Chely Wright years ago became a painful, life-changing moment for her and is now a point of public conversation.

Chely, who publicly identified herself this week as a lesbian, has recounted the comment in numerous locations, including her new book Like Me: Confessions Of A Heartland Country Singer and on “Access Hollywood.”

In the original conversation, John asked her about a rumor in Nashville’s music community that she was homosexual. It was, she has said, the first time she’d been confronted about it directly, and she insisted she was not.

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