Country Music

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MORE THAN 50 YEARS LATER, “LOVE ME LIKE A MAN” STILL HAD SOMETHING LEFT TO SAY. At Echoes Through the Canyon, Brandi Carlile stood beside Bonnie Raitt and sang “Love Me Like A Man” like she knew exactly whose song she was stepping into. Bonnie didn’t need to prove anything. She just carried the song the way only she can — easy, sharp, and full of life. Then Brandi came in, not trying to outshine her, just meeting her there. And that was the part that stayed with people. Because for a moment, it wasn’t about a big stage or a perfect performance. It felt more like one woman handing a song to another, and both of them knowing how much it still meant. A blues song from 1972, still breathing in 2026. Some songs don’t get old. They just wait for the right voices to remind us why they mattered.

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More Than 50 Years Later, “Love Me Like A Man” Still Had Something Left to Say At Echoes Through the…

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85,000 PEOPLE GATHERED OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE. AND WHEN ZAC BROWN BAND PLAYED “CHICKEN FRIED,” SOLDIERS WALKED ONSTAGE. Saturday night, June 13. The Ellipse, just south of the White House. Zac Brown Band took the stage at the UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest with tens of thousands of fans spread across the grounds. But the moment everyone kept talking about had nothing to do with the setlist. When they played “Chicken Fried,” soldiers from the U.S. Army Ceremonial Band walked onstage and joined in. Then ZBB did what they’ve done at nearly every show for years — they paused the music, brought service members forward, and gave a full salute to the men and women who serve this country. With 8,000 active-duty troops in that crowd, the whole place went still. The very next night, Zac Brown stood on the White House South Lawn without his signature hat, wearing a patriotic striped suit, and sang the national anthem alongside the United States Marine Band — right before the first sporting event ever held at the White House.

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Zac Brown Band, Soldiers, and a Night the White House Won’t Soon Forget On Saturday night, June 13, the Ellipse,…

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85,000 PEOPLE GATHERED OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE. AND WHEN ZAC BROWN BAND PLAYED “CHICKEN FRIED,” SOLDIERS WALKED ONSTAGE. Saturday night, June 13. The Ellipse, just south of the White House. Zac Brown Band took the stage at the UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest with tens of thousands of fans spread across the grounds. But the moment everyone kept talking about had nothing to do with the setlist. When they played “Chicken Fried,” soldiers from the U.S. Army Ceremonial Band walked onstage and joined in. Then ZBB did what they’ve done at nearly every show for years — they paused the music, brought service members forward, and gave a full salute to the men and women who serve this country. With 8,000 active-duty troops in that crowd, the whole place went still. The very next night, Zac Brown stood on the White House South Lawn without his signature hat, wearing a patriotic striped suit, and sang the national anthem alongside the United States Marine Band — right before the first sporting event ever held at the White House.

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Zac Brown Band, Soldiers, and a Night the White House Won’t Soon Forget On Saturday night, June 13, the Ellipse,…

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85,000 PEOPLE GATHERED OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE. AND WHEN ZAC BROWN BAND PLAYED “CHICKEN FRIED,” SOLDIERS WALKED ONSTAGE. Saturday night, June 13. The Ellipse, just south of the White House. Zac Brown Band took the stage at the UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest with tens of thousands of fans spread across the grounds. But the moment everyone kept talking about had nothing to do with the setlist. When they played “Chicken Fried,” soldiers from the U.S. Army Ceremonial Band walked onstage and joined in. Then ZBB did what they’ve done at nearly every show for years — they paused the music, brought service members forward, and gave a full salute to the men and women who serve this country. With 8,000 active-duty troops in that crowd, the whole place went still. The very next night, Zac Brown stood on the White House South Lawn without his signature hat, wearing a patriotic striped suit, and sang the national anthem alongside the United States Marine Band — right before the first sporting event ever held at the White House.

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Zac Brown Band, Soldiers, and a Night the White House Won’t Soon Forget On Saturday night, June 13, the Ellipse,…

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“I’VE GOT ONE ALBUM LEFT IN ME.” — RAY PRICE CALLED HIS PRODUCER AFTER BEING DIAGNOSED WITH PANCREATIC CANCER. That was November 2012. Ray Price picked up the phone, called Fred Foster, and said those words. No drama. No goodbye speech. Just a man who knew his time was running out and still wanted to sing. He was 86 years old. And what most people didn’t know — he made the long trips from Texas to Nashville to record his vocals while still on cancer treatment. The album was called “Beauty Is… The Final Sessions.” 12 songs. Vince Gill sang on it. Martina McBride sang on it. And Ray Price gave every note everything he had left. He finished recording in October 2013. He died on December 16th — less than two months later. He never saw the album released. But he knew exactly what he’d made. He told people it was one of the greatest things he’d ever recorded. After 65 years in music, Ray Price chose his own last note.

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Ray Price’s Last Album: A Final Session Filled with Grace In November 2012, Ray Price made a phone call that…

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68,000 COPIES SOLD IN ONE WEEK — AND THE SINGER WAS IN HOSPICE WHEN SHE HEARD THE NEWS. Joey Feek always dreamed of recording a hymns album. But there was never the right time. Then came stage 4 cervical cancer — and suddenly, time was the one thing she was running out of. So they started recording. In Nashville studios when she could stand. In hotel rooms between chemo sessions when she couldn’t. Rory set up a microphone wherever they were, and Joey sang. What nobody expected was what happened next. Hymns That Are Important to Us debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country chart and #4 on the Billboard 200. When Rory brought her the news, Joey was lying in hospice in Indiana. She looked at him with tears and whispered — “No, honey, this is God’s record.” Less than a month later, on March 4, 2016, Joey passed at 40. The album later won a Grammy. Rory accepted it alone — keeping a promise she made him make.

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Joey Feek’s Final Album: How a Long-Awaited Dream Became a Chart-Topping Farewell Joey Feek always dreamed of recording a hymns…

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“THIS LADY TAUGHT ME TO SING.” — HARRY STYLES SAID THAT ABOUT SHANIA TWAIN. NOW SHE’S OPENING FOR HIM AT WEMBLEY. Harry Styles just started a 12-night residency at Wembley Stadium — the longest solo run in the venue’s history. And he chose one person to open every single night. Shania Twain. She’s 60. She’s been performing for over three decades. But here’s what people don’t realize — playing Wembley was still on her bucket list. She walked out in front of 80,000 people, hit “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” and the whole stadium sang it back to her. These two first shared a stage at Coachella in 2022. That night, Harry looked at the crowd and said, “This lady taught me to sing.” Four years later, she’s standing on his stage, at his invitation, in front of the biggest crowd of her career. She wrote afterward: “Can’t believe at 60, I tick a really big one off.”

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Harry Styles Gave Shania Twain a Wembley Moment Fans Will Remember Harry Styles has begun a 12-night residency at Wembley…

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“I STILL WANT TO BE GEORGE STRAIT SO DAMN BAD.” — THE MAN WHO SOLD 170 MILLION RECORDS SAID THAT. OUT LOUD. IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. Garth changed country forever. Lasers, smashed guitars, flying over crowds on a rope. He sold 170 million records doing it — more than Elvis, more than anyone except The Beatles. George Strait changed nothing. Same boots, same hat, same spot on that stage. Just opened his mouth and sang. And somehow stacked up 60 number ones — more than anyone in country history. The whole ’90s, these two were running completely different races. But here’s what nobody expected. When Garth stood at his own Hall of Fame induction in 2012, he didn’t talk about himself. He talked about a night in college when he first heard “Unwound” on the radio. Said from that moment he knew what he wanted to do with his life. Then he said it, right there on stage: “I still want to be George Strait so damn bad.” 170 million records. Nine diamond albums. And the man still saw himself as second. Strait’s response was so quiet most people missed it. Just one line — “Garth has always treated me with the utmost respect… to have somebody look at me like I looked at George Jones is pretty special.” And then, nothing. Just silence. The way Strait always did it.

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I Still Want to Be George Strait So Damn Bad: The Quiet Rivalry That Defined a Country Era In country…

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In 1999, Alan Jackson and George Strait stepped onto the CMA stage and did something nobody expected. Both had spent the entire ’90s proving traditional country could still sell — hit after hit, no pop gimmicks. Then they walked out and performed “Murder on Music Row,” a song written by Larry Cordle and Larry Shell that flat-out said Nashville was killing the genre. The steel guitars disappearing. The fiddles getting swapped for pop drums. And here’s what made the whole room uncomfortable — the people the song was accusing were sitting right there in the front rows. The crowd jumped to their feet. Standing ovation. But the executives who’d been pushing country toward pop barely moved. The song was never officially released as a single. It still charted at #38 from radio requests alone. Then it won CMA Vocal Event of the Year in 2000 and Song of the Year in 2001. Two men told Nashville the truth to its face. And Nashville had no choice but to hand them the trophies for it.

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When Alan Jackson and George Strait Sang the Truth on the CMA Stage In 1999, the Country Music Association Awards…

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“SHE HAD MILLIONS OF FANS, AND I’M ONE OF THEM.” — DOLLY PARTON, ABOUT THE WOMAN THE PRESS CALLED HER BIGGEST RIVAL. The press had their favorite story for decades — two mountain girls from Appalachia, fighting over the same Nashville crown. Dolly against Loretta. Every magazine, every interview, same angle. Meanwhile, Dolly was writing the foreword to Loretta’s book, where she said they both “eclipsed their male counterparts” — and it caused friction with everyone except each other. Loretta was calling Dolly her “mountain sister” every birthday, every milestone. And in 1993, the two of them walked into a studio with Tammy Wynette and recorded Honky Tonk Angels — an album that sold 500,000 copies. If you listen closely, some of the songs they each wrote over the years almost sound like quiet answers to each other. Not arguments — just conversations that Nashville never got to sit in on. After Loretta passed in 2022, Dolly didn’t write a long statement. She just said: “She had millions of fans, and I’m one of them.”

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“She Had Millions of Fans, and I’m One of Them”: Dolly Parton on Loretta Lynn and a Friendship Nashville Misread…

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BEFORE “WALKIN’ AFTER MIDNIGHT” MADE PATSY CLINE A STAR, SHE WAS SINGING ON A REGIONAL TV SHOW HOSTED BY JIMMY DEAN — AND THE TWO DIDN’T ALWAYS SEE EYE TO EYE. Beginning in the fall of 1954, Patsy became a featured singer on Connie B. Gay’s Town and Country television broadcasts around Washington, D.C. Jimmy Dean was the host. Roy Clark, George Hamilton IV and Billy Grammer were part of that same circle. Patsy was still years away from “Crazy” and “I Fall to Pieces.” She had the voice, but national stardom had not arrived yet. And she and Jimmy weren’t exactly close. Years later, Bill Anderson remembered their relationship as “not quite oil-and-water” — two strong personalities sharing the same stage without always fitting comfortably together. That is what makes the old footage matter. Before either name became part of country music history, Jimmy Dean was introducing the show, and a young Patsy Cline was standing nearby, still fighting to be heard.

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SHE GAVE UP HER OWN SINGING CAREER AND TAUGHT FOUR CHILDREN TO HARMONIZE IN A CAR WITH NO RADIO. AT NINETY, REBA McENTIRE’S MOTHER FINALLY GOT HER NAME ON A RECORD. Jacqueline Smith wanted to be a country singer. People in Oklahoma said she could have been as big as Patsy Cline. She was teaching school by sixteen. She married Clark McEntire, a three-time world champion steer roper, and raised four children on a ranch in Chockie, Oklahoma. The family car had no radio. So on the long drives to her husband’s rodeos, Jacqueline taught the children to sing harmony in the backseat. One of them was Reba. Reba went on to sell tens of millions of records. Her mother stayed a teacher, a librarian, a school secretary. Then, more than fifty years after those car rides, Reba made a gospel album. She refused to record “I’ll Fly Away” until her mother and her sisters could get to Nashville. When they arrived, all three sang harmony behind her — exactly the way Jacqueline had taught them. On another track, her mother suggested a change to the words. Reba put her name on it as a co-writer. “Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope” came out in February 2017. Jacqueline McEntire was ninety years old. She died three years later, at ninety-three.

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THE BUCKLE RONNIE DUNN WORE TO ACCEPT HIS 18TH ACM AWARD ISN’T AN AWARD AT ALL. Every artist who performs at Cheyenne Frontier Days walks away with one, and Brooks & Dunn have played the Daddy of ’em All several times over the years. You don’t beat anybody for it. You show up, you play the rodeo grounds in Wyoming, and the silver is yours. That is what sat on his belt on May 17 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, when Brooks & Dunn won Duo of the Year at the 61st ACM Awards. Second year running, and the eighteenth time in that category. No duo has ever won it more. “I don’t know why y’all aren’t getting sick of us,” Kix Brooks said at the podium. It was the second time in seven months the buckle made national television, because Dunn had it on in November too, when they took Vocal Duo of the Year at the CMAs in Nashville. So a man with closets full of trophies keeps reaching past all of them for the one piece of silver he didn’t have to win. On August 19 the ACM hands Cheyenne Frontier Days a trophy of its own, Fair/Rodeo of the Year, at the Honors ceremony in Nashville. Ronnie Dunn was wearing that place on his belt long before anyone thought to give it an award.

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On November 19, 2007, Charlie Daniels was at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for his annual Christmas For Kids benefit concert, an event created to help children in need enjoy a better Christmas. During the show, Martina McBride walked onto the stage carrying a small gift box. Inside was a card with news Charlie had waited decades to hear. He was being invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Charlie stepped back, clearly overwhelmed as the audience rose to its feet. For a man who had come to Nashville years earlier with his wife and young son, it was one of the highest honors country music could give him. “This is very emotional for me,” he told the crowd. The moment was especially fitting because Charlie had spent that evening trying to give something to other people. He came to the Ryman to help children at Christmas. Before the night was over, country music had given Charlie Daniels a gift of its own.