Morgan Wallen did his best Taylor Swift impression this past weekend when he re-recorded one of his songs, after his former label released old music without his consent. The new version is called, “Spin You Around (1/24)”, which Morgan wrote 10 years ago, when he was first starting out. He said, “Back in 2014, I went to Florida to try my hand at making original music for the first time. This led to a recording and management deal . . . and unfortunately, I signed both without any legal representation. We made 13 songs. Some were ok, most were terrible . . . And those colleagues that I parted ways with ten years ago, plan to release a ’10th Anniversary’ edition . . . It’s gross, greedy and an example of how the dark side of the music business can suck the soul out of artists. I want you to know this is NOT my new music and I cringe when I listen to these songs. Trust me, when new music is ready, you’ll hear it from me directly.” One of the cool things to come out of this, was that Morgan donated $100K to the Volunteer Lawyers and Professionals for the Arts (VLPA), to hopefully prevent this from happening to other artists in the future. Here are four country artists who fought their own label . . .
1. Kenny Rogers vs. Capitol Records. seeking $400K due to accounting errors, and unpaid digital royalties the label had intentionally under-reported. Capitol and Kenny kept it close to the vest though, and no one knows how it turned out.
2. Brad Paisley vs. Sony Nashville. Brad filed suit in 2010 claiming that he was owed at least 10 million bucks for unpaid royalties. It’s unclear whether the case was ever settled, but last year Brad announced a new deal with EMI Nashville.
3. Garth Brooks vs. Liberty Records. No suit was filed. Instead, Garth sat in on the negotiations with his attorneys and eventually came to terms on a deal that won Garth a massive 50% royalty on each unit sold.
4. Taylor Swift vs. Big Machine Records. This fight was very much out in the open, with Taylor and Scooter Braun going after it for years. She triumphed and has been releasing re-recordings of her earlier works ever since.
Charges against Chris Young stemming from his arrest at a Nashville bar last week have been dropped. Chris had been charged with disorderly conduct, assaulting an officer, and resisting arrest, following a dispute with agents from the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission at the Dawg House. But Young didn’t “shove” an officer, as the police report claimed. In fact, he was pretty calm during the whole thing, and it was the officer who shoved him.
Glen Campbell’s 2011 album, “Ghost on the Canvas”, is being reimagined with duets using his original vocals and different guests. It’s called “Glen Campbell Duets – Ghost on the Canvas Sessions”. It includes contributions from Dolly Parton, Eric Church, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Carole King, Brian Wilson, and Sting. It comes out April 19th.
Nate Smith’s song “World on Fire” just clocked its SEVENTH week at #1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart. And that puts him in VERY good company. Seven weeks ties him for third most all-time. Only five others have done it: “Beautiful Crazy” by Luke Combs . . . “Live Like You Were Dying” by Tim McGraw . . . “Have You Forgotten?” by Darryl Worley . . . and two songs by Kenny Chesney: “The Good Stuff” and “There Goes My Life”. “You Proof” by Morgan Wallen still holds the overall record with 10 weeks at #1. His song “Last Night” is next with eight.
Martha Stewart is working on a tell-all documentary for Netflix.
Eric Paslay is 41. Country singer who wrote a “Song About a Girl”.
Adam Lambert is 42. “American Idol” runner-up
Justin Hartley is 47. Kevin on “This Is Us”.
Sara Gilbert is 49. Darlene on “Roseanne”. Creator and co-host of “The Talk”.
Edward Burns is 56. “Saving Private Ryan”.
Greg Louganis is 64.
Judy Norton-Taylor is 66. Mary Ellen Walton on “The Waltons”.
Irlene Mandrell is 68. Barbara’s sister.
Oprah Winfrey is 70.
Tom Selleck is 79. Commissioner Frank Reagan on “Blue Bloods”, Thomas Magnum on “Magnum P.I.”, and Monica’s older boyfriend Richard on “Friends”.
Katharine Ross is 84. Elaine Robinson in “The Graduate”, the star of the original “Stepford Wives”, and Jake Gyllenhaal’s shrink in “Donnie Darko”. She’s been married to Sam Elliott since 1984. He’s her FIFTH husband.
