Randy Travis photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

The GRAMMY Museum will host “An Evening With Randy Travis” on September 21. The event will honor Randy’s 25-year career with Randy on hand for a special discussion and acoustic performance. Randy recently released Anniversary Celebration, a duets CD featuring artists such as Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, George Jones, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood among others as well as new songs from Randy.

5 Things You Don’t Know About Randy Travis >>

Over the span of his career, Randy has sold more than 20 million albums. He has had 18 No. 1 singles, won 7 GRAMMY Awards, 10 ACM Awards, 5 CMA Awards and has a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, among other honors. He will sit down with GRAMMY Foundation Vice President Scott Goldman to discuss his career and new album before participating in an audience Q&A and performing two songs acoustically. Continue Reading

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Kenny Rogers as "The Gambler."

Tonight is the premiere of Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years – airing at 8:30 p.m. Eastern, only on GAC! In this special, Kenny is joined by superstars including Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, Wynonna, Billy Currington, Darius Rucker, Alison Krauss, Lionel Richie, Sheena Easton, Smokey Robinson, Chris Isaak and original members of the First Edition. They’re all singing songs from Kenny’s treasure trove of hits. Browse our exclusive photo gallery from the concert »

Kenny also performs his classics, including one of his best-known hits, “The Gambler.” In this latest trip in the “GAC Time Machine,” we thought we’d unearth a clip of the 1978 No. 1, played with scenes from Kenny’s 1980 TV movie of the same name. See if you can spot another country legend in the clip. Hint: she first appears at the 47 second mark. Continue Reading

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Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers perform at Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years at The MGM Grand at Foxwoods on April 10, 2010. Photo credit: Rahav Segev/ Retna Ltd.

For five decades, Kenny Rogers has been topping the country and pop charts. Tomorrow night, we’re honoring Kenny’s incredible achievements with Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years, premiering Tuesday, March 8 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern — only on GAC!

The show’s special guests include Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, Wynonna, Billy Currington, Darius Rucker, Alison Krauss, Lionel Richie, Sheena Easton, Smokey Robinson,  Chris Isaak and original members of the First Edition. They’re all singing songs from Kenny’s impressive catalogue of hits. But wait, there’s more! Kenny also performs his classics including  “The Gambler” and “Islands In The Stream.”

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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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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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Alan Jackson photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Twenty years after he first made waves in country music, Alan Jackson added an unexpected trophy Wednesday to what’s become a significant haul of riches. He was recognized with the ASCAP Founders Award, given by a major songwriting agency to reward a lifetime of creative work.

It’s a rare honor. Only a smattering of people have received it, and the previous winners are definitely major talents — Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, James Taylor, Smokey Robinson and Emmylou Harris, among them. Alan found out only recently that he’d be added to the Founders history.

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Kenny Rogers photo courtesy of Capitol Records.

A bevy of stars just dropped in on Connecticut Saturday to see what condition Kenny Rogers’ career was in. The tribute concert — shot for a forthcoming TV special, “Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years” — underscored what an incredible hit-making career it’s been.

Wynonna Judd kicked off the event, according to The Hartford Courant, with the original members of the First Edition in a version of Kenny’s psychedelic-era single “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).”

From there, it was a parade of stars and hits: Alison Krauss turned in “But You Know I Love You”; Linda Davis covered “Daytime Friends”; Billy Dean sang “Love Will Turn You Around” and the Oak Ridge Boys joined Kenny on “The Gambler.” The entire ensemble — including Smokey Robinson, Dolly Parton, Sheena Easton, Lionel Richie and Chris Isaak — closed the show with a mass rendition of “Islands In The Stream.”

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Tim McGraw photo by Danny Clinch, courtesy of Curb Records.

He’s touring, he’s finished work on a movie and has yet another on the way. Now Tim McGraw’s been added to the lineup for a concert TV special and there’s speculation that he — or another of his fellow country stars — could become the halftime entertainment at next year’s Super Bowl.

Fitting in more recording sessions might be difficult, but you can bet Tim will be doing that, too.

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Zac Brown Band photo courtesy of Atlantic Records.

Four-time winner Taylor Swift might have been country music’s most-honored figure at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, but she was hardly the only person in the genre to have a big time. The Zac Brown Band took the Recording Academy’s Best New Artist trophy during the three-and-a-half hour show, and Steve Wariner, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis were among the acts singled out during a streamed pre-telecast ceremony, where the bulk of the 109 victors were announced.

“It’s such a honor to be on stage and to be sharin’ in this big amalgam of music,” Zac told the star-studded Staples Center crowd. “We’re so honored and blessed to be here. We’re looking forward to playing for y’all.”

Play they did. The band whipped through a medley of songs with guest keyboard player Leon Russell, on stage less than three weeks after undergoing surgery to repair the leakage of brain fluid. The set ended with a wicked-paced instrumental after the last verse and chorus of “Chicken Fried.”

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Carrie Underwood rehearses on Sunday, Nov. 8 at the Sommet Center in Downtown Nashville for "The 43rd Annual CMA Awards," which will broadcast live on the ABC Television Network on Wed., Nov. 11th, 8-11PM/ET. Photographer: John Russell / CMA

You can do a little Grammy countdown for Carrie Underwood.

Four… the number of Grammys she’s won to date.

Three… she’s slated to perform on Sunday’s telecast in a Michael Jackson tribute that includes a 3-D segment.

Two… she’s nominated for a pair of trophies in that ceremony.

One… her first-year honor as Best New Artist is the one that really rocked her world.

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