Randy Owen and John Rich. Photo courtesy of St. Jude.

Randy Owen presented John Rich with the first-ever Randy Owen Angels Among Us Award during the annual songwriter’s dinner at the Country Cares for St. Jude Kids seminar over the weekend. The award recognizes a member of the country music industry who has demonstrated commitment and dedication to kids battling cancer and other deadly diseases at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Last year, John won NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice, where he competed on behalf of St. Jude and raised more an $1.4 million for the organization.

“St. Jude holds a very special place in my heart,” John said. “It’s like no other place and I’m just so honored to help raise awareness for this organization and to receive the first-ever Angels Among Us Award from Randy.”

“This past year John really embodied what Country Cares for St. Jude Kids is all about,” Randy said. “It’s really unbelievable to look back over the past 23 years and see what the country music industry has helped us accomplish for St. Jude. This award is a way for us to say thank you to select members of the industry for their continued commitment and support.”

Randy organized Country Cares for St. Jude Kids in 1989 when he appealed to fellow country music artists, radio stations, and country fans to help support St. Jude’s mission. Since it began, Country Cares has raised more than $400 million for St. Jude. Continue Reading

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Martina McBride with St. Jude patient Christian. Photo courtesy of St. Jude.

Randy Owen, Martina McBride, Kix Brooks, Lauren Alaina and Edens Edge were among more than 25 country artists who made their way to Memphis over the weekend to tour St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and visit with several patients and their families as part of Country Cares for St. Jude Kids Seminar. The seminar kicks off Country Cares for St. Jude Kids’ radiothon season.

Country Cares was started by Randy Owen in 1989 after he appealed to his fellow country artists, radio stations, and loyal fans to help support the lifesaving mission of St. Jude. Since it began, Country Cares has raised more than $400 million for St. Jude.

“There’s no way you can walk through the halls at St. Jude and not think of your own children,” Martina McBride said. “I’m going to hug them a little tighter when I get home, I can tell you that. This is such a wonderful place of hope. Anything that we can do to help St. Jude, we should just do it, because they are literally saving lives and finding new cures for cancer that they share with the whole world.” Continue Reading

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Country music stars sure love Twitter! This week, Rascal Flatts hangs with the quarterback of the moment, David Nail reflects on his first No. 1 single, John Rich shares the aftermath of his birthday bash, Jo Dee Messina tweets from labor and delivery and Jake Owen posts a hilarious video after his wisdom teeth extraction! Here are our picks for the Top 10 Country Tweets Of The Week.

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/JayDeMarcus.

Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts – JayDemarcus: With our buddy Tebow yesterday… Great game!!

Taylor Swift – TaylorSwift13: Thank you so much for my People’s Choice Award! Favorite Country Artist! PARTY!!! Seriously- thank you for voting.

David Nail – DavidNail: Wife is in Vegas, so it’s me and the dogs tonight! Finally some time to myself to reflect just how amazing this week has been! Thank u!!!

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/DierksBentley.

Dierks Bentley – DierksBentley: somehow the #redsolocup disco ball from the video wound up on my table at the studio I work out of. suggestions??! Continue Reading

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Edens Edge photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Have you made your New Year’s Eve plans yet? Check out where you can catch some of your favorite country stars ringing in 2012, both live and on TV:

Edens Edge will perform at the third annual “Bash On Broadway” in Nashville along with The Farm, Jeffrey Steele and headliner Lynyrd Skynyrd.The free show will take place on Broadway beginning at 7 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and will be broadcast live to a national audience on Sirius XM Radio. GAC’s Storme Warren will serve as emcee.

The Band Perry will close out the year with a performance on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, as part of the Los Angeles celebration. The special will air on ABC December 31.

Rodney Atkins, Joe Nichols and Lauren Alaina will perform live from the Las Vegas strip during FOX’s American Country New Year’s Eve Live special. Hosted by Rodney Carrington, the special will also feature performances by Eli Young Band and Toby Keith and include coverage from the ball drop at New York City’s Time Square. Tune in to FOX at 11/10c December 31 to catch it.

Chris Young will be headlining a New Year’s Eve show at Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, Texas.

Sarah Darling will headline the 4^th annual New Year’s Eve Beach Ball Drop at Pier Parkin Panama City Beach, FL. Taking the stage at 10:45 p.m., Sarah will be the final performer before the 800-pound glowing beach ball begins its descent and final countdown to 2012.

The Grand Ole Opry will ring in 2012 with Friday and Saturday night Opry performances at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. John Conlee, Craig Morgan, Mandy Barnett, Jeannie Seely, Jimmy Wayne, Little Jimmy Dickens and Jean Shepard are all on the schedule for the December 30 show, while Little Jimmy Dickens, Jimmy Wayne, Jett Williams, Jan Howard, Mandy Barnett and Dailey & Vincent are all scheduled to appear on December 31.

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Reba McEntire photo courtesy of The Valory Music Co.

Reba is heading across the pond in 2012. She will headline the four-day International Festival of Country Music, which kicks off Feburary 26 at Wembley Arena in London. She will then travel with the festival to Belfast, Zurich, and Germany. Reba is looking forward to playing for her European fans.

“It’s been a decade since we’ve been out of the United States and Canada, out of North America,” she said. “The promoter put it together, said ‘Are you willing to come over?’ and I said, ‘Absolutely!’ We wish we could do more than four shows over there. We’d love to do more.”

Martina McBride will also be hitting the road in 2012. She’s set to head out with George Strait in January. “It’s been probably six or seven years since we’ve toured with him and that experience in itself was amazing, but we were doing stadiums,” she said. “I think this tour will be even more intimate, and it’s just great.”

One of the things Martina is looking forward to while out on the road is being able to spend some time with King George. “I don’t know if he still does this, but when we toured together before there was a tent every night,” she said. “You could go and hang out with him if you wanted to. He kind of likes to hang out, and I took advantage of that. I’m thinking if I get to hang out with George Strait, I’m gonna do that.”

One of Justin Moore’s goals in 2012 is to give back. Ever since he started his music career, he has wanted to organize a hometown event to raise money for charity. It looks like he’ll be able to accomplish that goal in the new year. “I wanted to wait until I had what I thought was a legitimate platform, instead of just going down there and raising a few hundred dollars,” he said.

He’s in planning mode for the event now and is looking to call in a few favors from some of his famous friends. “We’ve been trying to find a date for it,” he said. “Darius [Rucker] owes me a bet. We bet on the South Carolina/Arkansas game last year. He lost it, so he’s gotta come do a charity event for free for me. We just gotta find a date.” Continue Reading

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Rascal Flatts photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

The guys of Rascal Flatts are all dads, so for them, Christmas is all about their kids. Joe Don Rooney is especially looking forward to Christmas with his wife Tiffany and their two kids.

“For me this year, having a little baby, Rocky, she’s 15 months old, and having Jagger who’s three and a half, and Tiffany and I, we‘re just gonna sit at the house and chill out,” he said. “It’s gonna be really good to be home and to have nothing to do but just love on each other and bring in the New Year.”

Watch Rascal Flatts perform “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” >>

“We are gonna fly our families in on Christmas Day,” Joe Don added. “We’re gonna spend Christmas Eve just the four of us at the house, which will be really fun, first time ever. And then Christmas day the family will all get in and we‘ll ring in the New Year with our family, so I‘m looking so forward to this Christmas.”

Jay DeMarcus and his wife, Allison, will celebrate with their one-year-old daughter, Madeline, while Gary LeVox will spend the holidays with his wife, Tara, and daughters Brittany and Brooklyn. Continue Reading

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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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GAC host Nan Kelley & Martina McBride on the set of Top 20 Country Countdown. Photo courtesy of Jessica Robbins.

Martina McBride and Edens Edge both stopped by GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown this week! Martina caught host Nan Kelley up on her busy schedule since the release of her new album, Eleven, while Edens Edge talked about their debut single, “Amen.” If you missed Friday’s premiere, check the schedule for re-airs throughout the week!

Watch Edens Edge’s debut video, “Amen” >>

On the charts this week,  Scotty McCreery and Blake Shelton  continue to own the Top 5 with two videos each. Luke Bryan’s latest video, “I Don’t Want This Night To End,” debuts at No. 11 while videos from Pistol Annies and Eric Church return to the countdown.

Watch Martina McBride’s “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” video! >>

This Week’s Chart:

1. Scotty McCreery – “The Trouble With Girls”
2. Scotty McCreery – “I Love You This Big”
3. Kellie Pickler – “Tough”
4. Blake Shelton – “Footloose”
5. Blake Shelton – “God Gave Me You”
6. Lauren Alaina – “Like My Mother Does”
7. Chris Young – “You”
8. Martina McBride – “I’m Gonna Love You Through It”
9. Reba McEntire – “Somebody’s Chelsea”
10. Taylor Swift – “Sparks Fly” Continue Reading

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Country music stars sure love Twitter! This week, Josh Kelley, Taylor Swift and Reba are tweeting about the American Music Awards, Chuck Wicks hangs with Tom McMillan of Tom’s Wild Life and an Eagle lands in Brad Paisley‘s house. Here are our picks for the Top 10 Country Tweets Of The Week.

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/JoshBKelley.

Josh Kelley – JoshBKelley: Me Katie and taylor swift together at last. AMAs were killer!! Thanks Becky for the pic

Taylor Swift – TaylorSwift13: I had one of the most magical nights with my friends tonight! Hopping on a redeye to play our last 2 shows at Madison Square Garden!!

Blake Shelton – BlakeShelton: Quote of the day.. “That’s what friends are for… So why don’t you go find yourself one?!!!” – Miranda Lambert

Photo courtesy of Twitter.com/ChuckWicksMusic.

Chuck Wicks – ChuckWicksMusic: The First and Last “planking” I will ever do just happened with @tmkansas…Lordy Continue Reading

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GAC host Nan Kelley & Martina McBride on the set of Top 20 Country Countdown. Photo courtesy of Jessica Robbins.

It’s a busy week on GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown! Host Nan Kelley welcomes both Martina McBride and Edens Edge  to the show. Martina dropped in to catch up with Nan now that her new music is in stores while Edens Edge talks about their debut single, “Amen.” Tune in tonight at 8/7 CT to catch both Martina and Edens Edge as well as this week’s Top 20 videos!

Watch Martina McBride’s “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” video! >>

Watch Edens Edge’s debut video, “Amen” >>

GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown is chosen by you, the viewers, so head over to our voting page and cast your votes daily for your favorite videos! Continue Reading

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