Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

Chris Stapleton has kicked off 2018 in a big way, sweeping the GRAMMY Awards by winning three awards and also dominating Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart (dated February 10th) with the top three spots, marking the first time the feat has been achieved in over 25 years.

The Kentucky native is the first artist to hold the three top spots on the Top Country Albums since Garth Brooks achieved this accomplishment in 1992 with Ropin’ the Wind, No Fences and his self-titled debut, according to Billboard. Following the GRAMMY Awards, the singer’s latest release From A Room: Volume 2, holds tight at No. 1, followed by Traveller and From A Room: Volume 1.

Chris’ latest song, “Broken Halos,” has reached the Top 10 on the country singles charts.

You can catch Chris on his All-American Road Show Tour with special guests Marty Stuart and Brent Cobb when it resumes June 16th in Brandon, Mississippi.

Jon Pardi  has released the music video for his latest song, “She Ain’t In It.” The song is the follow-up to three No. 1 songs — “Head Over Boots,” “Dirt on My Boots” and “Heartache on the Dance Floor” — from his sophomore album, California Sunrise.

Jon is currently on the road with Miranda Lambert on her Livin’ Like Hippies Tour. The next stop on the trek is Sacramento, California on Thursday (February 8th).

Alan Jackson takes his place among music’s most-notable composers and lyricists as it was announced today that he is among the 2018 inductees to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He’ll formally become a member during this year’s Induction & Awards Gala June 14 in New York City.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame is dedicated to recognizing the work and lives of composers and lyricists who create music. To qualify for induction, a songwriter must be a published writer for a minimum of 20 years with a notable catalog of hit songs. Jackson will become one of just over 400 songwriters so honored.

Jackson’s induction to the Songwriters Hall of Fame comes just months after he was enshrined as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the latest in a long line of accolades that include three CMA Entertainer of the Year honors, more than 25 years of membership in the Grand Ole Opry, a 2016 Billboard ranking as one of the Top 10 Country Artists of All-Time, induction to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Heritage Award as the most-performed country songwriter-artist of ASCAP’s first 100 years.

“I started writing because somebody told me I needed some original material. I’d never even thought about writing or studied songwriting,” Jackson recalls. “There are different aspects of your career, and they all bring different rewards and feelings…but the songwriting is very fulfilling,” the humble Georgian has said. “Songwriting is definitely the most creative part.”

Jackson is one of the most successful and respected singer-songwriters in music. He is in the elite company of Paul McCartney and John Lennon among songwriters who’ve written more than 20 songs that they’ve recorded and taken to the top of the charts. Beginning with his first hit, “Here in the Real World,” Jackson’s pen has given us some of country music’s most-memorable songs of the past 30 years – the immediately-recognized “Chattahoochee,” the haunting “Midnight in Montgomery,” the touching “Remember When,” the autobiographical “Livin’ On Love,” “Drive,” and “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow” and the inspired “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).”

The man from rural Newnan, GA has sold nearly 60-million albums worldwide and ranks as one of the 10 best-selling male vocalists of all-time in all genres and one of the best-selling artists since the inception of SoundScan. He has released more than 60 singles – registering 50 Top Ten hits and 35 #1s (including 26 Billboard chart-toppers). He has earned more than 150 music industry awards – including 18 Academy of Country Music Awards, 16 Country Music Association Awards, a pair of GRAMMYs and ASCAP’s Founders and Golden Note Awards.

Jackson’s membership in the Songwriters Hall of Fame is a career-defining moment. The Songwriters Hall of Fame celebrates and honors the contributions of our great popular music songwriters, while developing new writing talent through workshops, showcases, scholarships, and digital initiatives. Established in 1969, the Songwriters Hall of Fame honors those whose work represents a spectrum of the most beloved songs from the world’s popular music songbook. Out of the tens of thousands of songwriters of our era, there are just over 400 inductees who make up the impressive roster enshrined. The list includes Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier & Brian Holland, Hal David & Burt Bacharach, Bob Dylan, Carole King, Merle Haggard, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Elton John & Bernie Taupin, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Dolly Parton, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond and Loretta Lynn. Jackson’s fellow 2018 inductees are John Mellencamp, Kool & the Gang members Robert “Kool” Bell, Ronald Bell, George Brown & James “JT” Taylor, Jermaine Dupri, Allee Willis, Steve Dorff and Jackson’s fellow Opry member Bill Anderson.

Jackson recently released new music for his fans. “The Older I Get” – a first taste of what’s to come on Jackson’s next album – is his first new studio recording since 2015.

Mercury Nashville’s promising new artist Travis Denning is set to join Justin Moore on six dates along his Hell On a Highway Tour later this month. A native of Warner Robins, Georgia, Travis moved to Nashville in 2014 and has previously written for platinum-selling country artists Justin Moore, Jason Aldean and Chase Rice. Travis is currently in the studio working on his debut album.

To learn more about Travis and his music, click HERE.

Fans can purchase tickets to see Travis open for Moore at the following shows by visiting www.travisdenning.com  

Feb 15 / BMO Harris Bank Center / Rockford, IL

Feb 16 / Allen Country Memorial Coliseum / Fort Wayne, IN

Mar 15 / Hartman Arena / Park City, KS

Mar 16 / Brady Theater / Tulsa, OK

Apr 27 / Covelli Centre / Youngstown, OH

Apr 28 / Knoxville Civic Coliseum / Knoxville, TN

About Travis Denning
A native of Warner Robins, Georgia, Travis Denning vividly remembers the moment he realized he wanted to pursue music for a living. He was seven years old sitting in his Dad’s truck and heard AC/DC for the first time. From then on, he was hooked and devoured all types of music from country, pop, rock and heavy metal. Travis started playing local bars at the age of 16 and built a solid following from his distinctive songs and raucous guitar licks. He moved to Nashville in 2014 and within a year signed a publishing deal with Jeremy Stover’s RED Creative Group. After securing outside cuts by Jason Aldean, Justin Moore and Chase Rice he caught the attention of Universal Music Group where he eventually signed a record deal in 2017. Travis recently opened shows for Lanco and will hit the road with Chase Rice as well as Justin Moore later this year. He is currently in the studio working on his debut album.

Keith Urban’s latest hit, “Female,” is a song he gravitated toward when he first heard it and just felt the urge to record it. The song, written by Nicolle Galyon, Shane McAnally and Ross Copperman, spoke to him and made him grateful to be able to put “good into the world.”

“I want to put good into the world when and where I can, and this song felt like that to me,” he says. “It doesn’t cover the whole subject, narrative, situation, feeling; no song can, but it’s a color in the rainbow that I was very grateful that I got to bring into being, a very small part of it.”

Catch Keith on the road when he launches his Graffiti U World Tour June 15th in St. Louis, Missouri.

Luke Bryan’s What Makes You Country will be released on vinyl on March 9th and will include a bonus track, “I Can’t Even.” The 16-track collection will be available as a double LP.

Luke says he wants his music to connect with fans, and hopefully come to one of his shows. “My hope for every album is to put songs out that drive people to want to come see the shows. It drives people to want to listen to it on the radio, and obviously have these songs incorporated in their life,” he says. “I always want to have a rollercoaster of emotions through the albums – the sad songs, the love songs, the happy songs, the drinking songs, the party songs. I want to have songs that people can come to big outdoor stadium like concerts and rock and party and have a blast.”

The Georgia native is sitting inside the Top 20 with his latest song, “Most People Are Good.”

Luke is set to launch his 2018 What Makes You Country Tour on February 16th in Springfield, Missouri.

Catch Luke as one of three new judges on ABC’s reboot of American Idol beginning March 8th.

What Makes You Country vinyl track listing:

1-What Makes You Country

2-Out Of Nowhere

3-Light It Up

4-Most People Are Good

5-Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset

6-Bad Lovers

7-Drinking Again

8-Land Of A Million Songs

9-Like You Say You Do

10-Hooked On It

11-She’s A Hot One

12-Hungover In A Hotel Room

13-Pick It Up

14-Driving This Thing

15-Win Life

16- I Can’t Even (BONUS TRACK)- Only Available On Vinyl

Chris Stapleton joined pal Justin Timberlake on the Super Bowl version of NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Sunday night (February 4th). The duo performed “Say Something” from JT’s new album, Man of the Woods. The pair released a video for the duet last week.

Chris is climbing the country charts with his latest song, “Broken Halos,” from his album, From A Room: Volume 1.

Tune in tonight. #FallonLIVE pic.twitter.com/jK0ZygQLnV

— Chris Stapleton (@ChrisStapleton) February 5, 2018

Easton Corbin is closing in on Top 5 on the country charts with his latest hit, “A Girl Like You,” and fans at his shows are making it a moment to remember for the singer.

“It’s so cool to watch a song as it evolves up the charts because you get more people, as it goes up, they sing along, and it’s so rewarding, man, when you can just throw that mic out there and people can sing it back to you,” says Easton. “And that’s what’s been, the last few months has been happening.”

“A Girl Like You,” written by Ashley Gorley, Jesse Frasure and Rhett Akins, is the first single from his upcoming fourth album, due out later this year.

This year’s Super Bowl kicked off Sunday on NBC with a video of Carrie Underwood‘s “The Champion.” The video for the anthemic song, which was filmed last year, honors the rich legacy of the event featuring Super Bowl moments on a grand scale with cameos from NFL greats, such as Joe Namath, Hines Ward, Roger Staubach, as well as Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Nick Foles of the Philadelphia Eagles.

.@carrieunderwood kicks us off on the biggest Sunday Night of them all.

Watch the #SuperBowl now on NBC or stream: https://t.co/Q1JrUmZiy2 pic.twitter.com/Awxc9zikfF

— Super Bowl on NBC (@SNFonNBC) February 4, 2018

Carrie, who has opened Sunday Night Football for the past five years, wrote “The Champion” with Brett James, Chris DeStefano and Christopher Bridges PKA Ludacris.

“The Champion” will also be used for NBC’s coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Competition will kick off on Thursday, February 8th, a day before the Opening Ceremony on Friday, February 9th, and runs through Sunday, February 25th, the day of the Closing Ceremony.

Carrie is currently in the studio working on her next album which will be released on Capitol Records Nashville.

– Reigning CMA New Artist Of The Year and ACM New Male Vocalist Jon Pardi’s re-recorded version of “I Like Beer” is the new anthem for Michelob ULTRA’s second ad spot that will broadcast during the Super Bowl. USA Today and “Extra” exclusively debuted the commercial, which includes celebrity Chris Pratt, US Open Golf Champion Brooks Koepka, 11-time World Surf League Champion Kelly Slater and 2017 NYC Marathon winner Shalane Flanagan singing the song together. View USA Today (HERE) and on “Extra.”

“This past year has been filled with so many milestones and bucket list items, and when Michelob Ultra reached out with an opportunity to be part of this Super Bowl commercial, I was all in. It was such a fun experience to record this version of the song and it’s awesome to be a part of it,” says Pardi.

“I Like Beer” is one of two ads kicking off Michelob ULTRA’s “You Can Do Both” campaign, which demonstrate how it’s possible to be fit and still enjoy beer. Originally recorded by Tom T. Hall, “I Like Beer” was rearranged and re-recorded by Pardi. This marks the second large event TV commercial for the award-winning singer/songwriter. Earlier this week, Pardi also made an appearance during the truth campaign’s prime-time Grammy commercial, which can be viewed HERE.

Pardi’s single “She Ain’t In It” is currently Top 30-and-climbing on the Billboard Country Airplay charts. “She Ain’t In It” follows three consecutive #1 hits including “Dirt On My Boots,” Platinum-selling “Head Over Boots” and “Heartache On The Dance Floor.” He is currently performing nationwide with Miranda Lambert’s Livin’ Like Hippies Tour and it was just announced that Pardi will join Luke Bryan’s What Makes You Country Tour this summer. Pardi is also nominated for iHeartRadio Music Awards Country Song Of The Year (“Dirt On My Boots”) and Best New Country Artist.

About Jon Pardi
Jon Pardi’s GOLD-certified album California Sunrise (Capitol Records Nashville) debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart earning him CMA New Artist Of The Year and ACM New Male Vocalist Of The Year. Pardi dominated the top of the country music charts with consecutive #1 hits including “Dirt On My Boots,” Platinum-selling “Head Over Boots” and “Heartache On The Dance Floor.” Fourth single, “She Ain’t In It” is currently Top 30-and-climbing. California Sunrise is the follow up to Write You A Song (Capitol Records Nashville), which debuted at #3 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and yielded Top 10 GOLD-selling song “Up All Night,” “What I Can’t Put Down,” “Missin’ You Crazy” and “When I’ve Been Drinkin” (all co-written by Pardi). Pardi made National TV appearances on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” NBC’s “TODAY” and ABC’s “Good Morning America,” and landed on several Best Of lists including the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone Country, Rhapsody and more. Since then, Pardi has toured with country music forerunners; Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Zac Brown Band and Dwight Yoakam. Pardi’s third headlining tour “CMT On Tour Presents Jon Pardi’s Lucky Tonight Tour” marked the fastest-selling CMT On Tour series to date with record-breaking numbers featured in Pollstar Magazine. The West Coast native and fast-rising newcomer received multiple first-ever nominations at the 2017 CMA Awards, CMT Awards, ACM Awards and AMA Awards. For more information, visit www.jonpardi.com.