Jan
9
Reba McEntire photo courtesy of The Valory Music Co.
Reba McEntire will be featured on an episode of the new season of Oprah’s Master Class, which will profile actors including Jane Fonda, Goldie Hawn, Sidney Poitier and Morgan Freeman, media mogul Ted Turner, musician Jon Bon Jovi, and professional athletes Grant Hill and Laird Hamilton.
In Reba’s episode, she recalls the tragic 1991 plane crash that killed seven of her band members and her tour manager. Continue Reading
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May
5
Shania Twain shared more than she’s ever shared publicly on the Oprah Winfrey Show Tuesday, about her vocal problems, growing up in an abusive household, and most devastating, the breakup of her marriage. Shania said when she found out her best friend was having an affair with her husband, “I just wanted to go to bed and never get up.” With unbelievable composure, Shania described to Oprah the days following the revelation that her husband, Mutt Lange, was having an affair with her best friend, Marie-Anne Thiebaud.
“I didn’t like who I was,” Shania said. “I was angry. I was sitting there like you going, you know…I don’t want to be like that.” She then read a passage from her book, From This Moment On, giving an in-depth description of the first days after she learned about the affair. “So yes, I think I was dying,” she said after she finished the passage.
Shania wanted the details behind the affair, she told Oprah. She was responsible for dealing with the lawyers and insurance companies after her parents died in a car accident,and those details are what let her understand their death. She had hoped the details of the affair would bring her the same understanding. Continue Reading
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Apr
11
Brad Paisley photo by Jeremy Cowart, courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
Brad Paisley is frequently featured in our Top 10 Country Tweets of the Week. He’s found the perfect balance between letting fans peek behind the curtain into his private life and not sharing too much. And he does it all with humor. But Brad tells Billboard magazine that initially, he only signed up for Twitter because his label asked him to do it. His first tweet was at an awards show, when he tweeted “thank you” after winning a trophy.
“Then I was hooked because the followers started multiplying,” he told Billboard. “It’s a great tool. It’s not as effective as people thought at selling product. That’s not why I do it. They found in studies that it depends on the person. People following Charlie Sheen may not buy things because he tells you to, but people following Oprah [Winfrey] would be more likely to run out and do it if she tells you to do it. Continue Reading
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Dec
28
The Judds photo courtesy of Webster PR.
Their life is kind of a crazy train, so when Wynonna and Naomi Judd launch a reality series on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network in 2011, will it be a new version of “The Osbournes”?
Probably not. But they could have done that if they wanted.
“We were offered the VH1 slot after ‘The Osbournes,’” Wynonna remembers. “I was like, ‘I’d rather have a lobotomy.’”
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Dec
27
Merle Haggard joins several other entertainment giants in the spotlight on Tuesday’s CBS special “The Kennedy Center Honors,” an event that’s carried enormous weight ever since it was established in 1978.
Mixing celebrities and politicians, this year’s edition was shot earlier this month in Washington, D.C., with Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Broadway lyricist Jerry Herman and choreographer Bill T. Jones joining Merle among the honorees.
Merle, meanwhile, is frustrated with the treatment of another former Kennedy Center Honors recipient, Willie Nelson. Willie was arrested in El Paso over Thanksgiving weekend for possession of pot. It led to a lot of headlines, but Merle believes the laws surrounding weed are unfair, particularly in light of the way Americans abuse prescriptions.
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Dec
22
Loretta Lynn photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.
It was quite a year for the Coal Miner’s Daughter — 2010 marked the 50th anniversary of Loretta Lynn’s emergence as a national star, and she was honored in a slew of ways, including parties, awards and a tribute album by some of today’s top artists.
Loretta was joined by several other legends as 2010 honorees, including Merle Haggard, Jimmy Dean and now Dolly Parton. The recognition paid to the genre’s pioneering acts represents the No. 10 entry in our countdown of country music’s dozen top stories of the year.
Loretta’s first single, “I’m A Honky Tonk Girl,” came out in 1960, and it seemed like every few months during 2010, the music business found some way to pay homage to her impact. Early in the year, she was accorded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy, though she was unable to attend the Los Angeles ceremony. “Coal Miner’s Daughter” was added to the National Recording Registry, she was saluted with an anniversary party at her Tennessee home, she was celebrated with a Reba McEntire-hosted Recording Academy Salute at the Ryman Auditorium, and a bunch of her classics were remade in the album Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Tribute To Loretta Lynn.
That latter project brought Loretta the opportunity to sing the title track with Miranda Lambert and Sheryl Crow on the Country Music Association Awards. The album also features Lee Ann Womack, Kid Rock, the White Stripes, Alan Jackson and Carrie Underwood, among others. Loretta hand-picked all of the contributors — appropriate, because she’s not one of those veteran stars who dislikes newer versions of country music.
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Dec
21
Shania Twain photo by Bryan Bowen Smith, courtesy of UMG Nashville.
A day after numerous news outlets reported on Shania Twain’s engagement, the singer officially announced the news with a note to fans on her website Tuesday morning.
“I’m in love!” she wrote. “Frederic Nicolas Thiebaud has been a true gift to me as a compassionate, understanding friend and over time, an amazing love has blossomed from this precious friendship.”
Details? Well, Shania didn’t really offer a lot. She shed no wedding date, didn’t mention how or when Fred popped the question and didn’t specify where she was when she wrote the note — and knowing what a world traveller she is, that’s a very legitimate question.
Shania did, however, offer “seasons greetings to all” and suggested that the pain of her broken marriage forced her to break down some of the walls around her. In that process, she rediscovered the value of personal connection and renewed her faith in it.
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Dec
16
Jamey Johnson photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.
The record industry has been in a well-documented tailspin for several years, with album sales down and consumers buying more singles instead of the entire CD.
That doesn’t seem to be a problem for Jamey Johnson, who recently picked up the second gold album of his career with The Guitar Song. The project, which includes a whopping 25 tracks, led to two Grammy nominations: including Best Country Album and Best Country Male Vocal, for “Macon.” Additionally, Jamey is a finalist in the Country Collaboration category for “Bad Angel,” a song on Dierks Bentley’s Up On The Ridge album that features both Jamey and Miranda Lambert.
Not that Jamey’s making music just to pile up accolades.
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Dec
6
Merle Haggard got his due this weekend. Already a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, he received a Kennedy Center Honor alongside Oprah Winfrey, Sir Paul McCartney, choreographer Bill T. Jones and Broadway lyricist Jerry Herman.
It’s a bit ironic — Merle was the first country artist to perform at the Kennedy Center just six days after it opened in September 1971. Still, he’s not the first country artist to receive one of the Honors named after the venue. He’s been preceded by George Jones, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Roy Acuff and Willie Nelson.
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Sep
22
Shania Twain photo by Bryan Bowen Smith, courtesy of UMG Nashville.
Shania Twain became a superstar by writing and singing her own songs. Now she’s likely to become an inspiration by writing her life story.
Shania has signed a deal with Atria Books, affiliated with Simon and Schuster, to publish her autobiography in the spring. She writes about her difficult upbringing in rural Ontario, the deaths of her mother and stepfather, the obstacles she faced during her rise in country music and, according to a press release, “the recent struggles in her personal life.” That suggests that she will provide an account of her healing process after divorcing from songwriter-producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange, with whom she wrote her biggest hits, including “Any Man Of Mine,” “You’re Still The One,” “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” and “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?”
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