Jada Pinkett Smith says the Oscar slap actually saved her marriage. In fact, she now calls it the “holy slap,” because “so many positive things came after it.”
Here are some random facts for you . . .
1. Henry Ford’s intense hatred of jazz drove him to pump tons of money into promoting country music, which was then called “old time music” . . . and helped establish country music culture as we know it today.
2. Billboard’s list of top played country music songs was originally known as the “Hillbilly Records” chart, later changing to “Country and Western” in 1949.
3. Troy Aikman released a country music song titled “Oklahoma Nights” in 1995.
4. Luke Combs was inspired by Tracy Chapman . . . but Tracy once said that her inspiration to learn guitar as a child came from “Hee Haw” . . . the old country variety show. (“Fast Car” was one of the first songs Luke learned on guitar.)
5. A 2019 study analyzed song lyrics from over a million songs, and found that country is the genre that most frequently references illegal drugs, at 1.6 mentions per song, on average. Jazz was next, followed by pop, electronic, rock, “other,” folk, and finally rap, which had the least references to illegal drugs. In country specifically, weed was the most common drug referenced, followed by cocaine and meth.
December is when everyone has “best of the year” lists, but someone on social media is asking people what they think the WORST country song is, over the past five years. The most popular answer seems to be “Fancy Like” by Walker Hayes, along with the new version, “Fancy Like Christmas”. The honorable mentions include: “Ain’t Enough Cowboy” by Jason Aldean . . . “Heart Like a Truck” by Lainey Wilson . . . “Like I Love Country Music” by Kane Brown . . . “Stars Like Confetti” by Dustin Lynch . . . “Thinkin’ Bout Me” by Morgan Wallen . . . and “anything Luke Bryan has done in the last five years.”
Zach Bryan made a little girl’s day in Australia this weekend. 4-year-old Laylah Tilley is being treated for leukemia, and she got an autograph and a face-to-face meeting with Zach during a show after he noticed her sign. It had a checklist, which included “meet Zack Bryan.” Laylah wasn’t the only person to get face-time with Zach . . . 50 Cent posted a photo alongside Zach in Australia, and said, “My boy Zach stopped by to see me last night. I told him, he [is] the best new everything in country music.”
Kelly Clarkson and Wynonna Judd teamed up to perform “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” on “Christmas at the Opry” last Thursday . . . and it’s being described as a “powerhouse” performance. The entire show is now available to stream on Peacock. And NBC will air an encore NEXT Wednesday.
Hailee Steinfeld is 27. Kate Bishop on “Hawkeye”, Emily in the “Pitch Perfect” movies,
Rider Strong is 44. Shawn on “Boy Meets World” and “Girl Meets World”.
Courtney Henggeler is 45. Sheldon’s sister Missy Cooper on “The Big Bang Theory”.
Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue is 65.
Jermaine Jackson is 69.
Teri Garr is 76. “Tootsie”, “Mr. Mom”, “Young Frankenstein” and Phoebe’s real mom on “Friends”. She announced in 2002 that she has multiple sclerosis.
Brenda Lee is 79. ’60s singing sensation. Biggest hits: “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and the country hit “I’m Sorry”. She’s the only female artist to be in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
John Kerry is 80. Obama’s Secretary of State.
Donna Mills is 83. Abby on “Knots Landing”.
David Gates from Bread is 83.
Rita Moreno is 92.
