The CMT Music Awards was a lot of fun last night. The performances were rocking and Kelsea Ballerini did a great job hosting for a fourth, and last, time. This was her first job doing it solo and she held up really well. Lost count after like eight outfit changes though. Also, halfway through the show Jelly Roll gave out free hugs to the crowd. And then he won all three awards he was up for: Video of the Year . . . Male Video of the Year . . . and CMT Performance of the Year from his smash hit “Need a Favor”. The highlight of the night was the Toby Keith tribute. Brooks and Dunn sang “Shoulda Been a Cowboy” . . . Sammy Hagar sang “I Love This Bar” . . . and Lainey Wilson sang “How Do You Like Me Now?!” And Roger Clemens ended it all with a red solo cup toast.
• Video of the Year: “Need a Favor” by Jelly Roll.
• Female Video of the Year: “Watermelon Moonshine” by Lainey Wilson.
• Male Video of the Year: “Need a Favor” by Jelly Roll.
• Duo / Group Video of the Year: “Save Me the Trouble” by Dan + Shay.
• CMT Performance of the Year: “Need a Favor” from the 2023 CMT Music Awards by Jelly Roll.
• Collaborative Video of the Year: “We Don’t Fight Anymore” by Carly Pearce and Chris Stapleton.
• Breakthrough Female Video of the Year: “Your Place” by Ashley Cooke.
• Breakthrough Male Video of the Year: “Pretty Little Poison” by Warren Zeiders.
• CMT Digital-First Performance of the Year: “It Matters to Her” by Scotty McCreery.
• The June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award: Trisha Yearwood.
Som of the best new music we could find that was just released recently:
1. “Southern Accents” by Dolly Parton. This is a Tom Petty cover off the soon-to-be-released album “Petty Country”.
2. “Love Me Like You Mean It” by Kelsea Ballerini.
4. “My Place” by Carly Pearce.
7. “Beat the Bottle” by Walker Hayes.
10. “Stranger to Me” by Waylon Wyatt.
12. “Devil I’ve Been” by Chayce Beckham.
Reba McEntire thinks “lots of great things” will come from Beyoncé making Country music. But she’s not willing to take sides when it comes to “Jolene”. A TMZ “reporter” asked Reba if she prefers Beyoncé’s version or Dolly Parton’s original. That’s when she shut the interview down and got into her car. She also laughed when she was told that Joy Behar from “The View” likes the new version, because Dolly’s is, quote, “anti-feminist.”
Jason Isbell says if you’re not a fan because you disagree with what he says online . . . that’s fine, and it can STAY that way. On social media, he wrote, “If you like my music but you’re turned off by my online presence, that means you’re one of the people I’m trying to eliminate from my audience.” He added, “I figured out a long time ago I don’t need everybody to love me. That [stuff] won’t make you happy anyway. I just need the ones who do love me to know me. He also recently shot down rumors that his divorce was caused by an affair with someone in his inner-circle. “I can’t believe I need to say this but my manager, business manager, tour manager, tour assistant, and both publicists are all women. I’m very grateful for each of them . . .”None of us have ever had any kind of romantic relationship in any kind of way. Please don’t make up misogynistic nonsense stories and post them online.”
The Turnpike Troubadours and Red Shahan raised $175,000 for the Texas Panhandle Wildfire Relief Fund at a benefit concert on March 28th. It’ll help recovery efforts for the farmers and ranchers affected by the Smokehouse Creek fire that started in February. In case you didn’t know, it was a record-breaking fire that took over two weeks to contain and burned over one million acres. It not only spread in the northeastern part of the panhandle, but also burned areas of Oklahoma . . . which is the Turnpike Troubadours’ home state.
Taran Noah Smith is 40. Mark from “Home Improvement”.
Taylor Kitsch is 43. Tim Riggins on “Friday Night Lights”,
Patricia Arquette is 56.
Robin Wright is 58. Jenny in “Forrest Gump”, Princess Buttercup in “The Princess Bride”, and Claire Underwood on “House of Cards”.
Julian Lennon is 61.
Richard Hatch is 63. Winner of the original “Survivor” who did time for not paying taxes on his winnings.
John Schneider is 64. The original Bo Duke on “The Dukes of Hazzard”.
Shecky Greene is 98.
