Chris Stapleton and his wife Morgane are scheduled to perform on NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday (November 10th).

George Strait is among the performers honoring Tom Petty as 2017’s MusiCares Person of the Year on February 10th. The event will be held in the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center, and will also feature performances by Jackson Brown, Foo Fighters, Don Henley, Norah Jones, Kings of Leon, Stevie Nicks and Elle King, among others. Proceeds will support the Recording Academy’s MusiCares Foundation, which provides assistance for members of the music community in need.

If you haven’t seen the latest country edition of Jimmy Kimmel’s Mean Tweets, then we’ve got a treat (or tweet) for you. Check out Little Big Town and Chris Stapleton tweets, as well as Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins, Florida Georgia Line, Randy Houser and Cole Swindell, among others.

Chris Stapleton had quite a few special moments at this year’s CMA Awards, and a couple of them were offstage. First, his video for “Fire Away” was named Music Video of the Year earlier in the day.

The clip was directed by Tim Mattia and starred actors Ben Foster (Lone Survivor, Inferno) and Margarita Levieva (Revenge, The Blacklist). The video concept, which Chris envisioned, centered on mental health issues and helped raise awareness for the Campaign to Change Direction.

He also took home the CMA Award for Male Vocalist of the Year for the second consecutive year. “What a wonderful night, I’ve gotten to be a fan tonight,” he said while accepting the award, saying that many of the legends in the crowd created “music I’ve grown up on…It means so much to get to be a part of country music, these are the best people in the world.”

One of his favorite moments of the night was performing “Seven Spanish Angels” with Dwight Yoakam. The song was originally recorded by Ray Charles and Willie Nelson. Before stepping onstage, Chris took a moment to thank Dwight.

“I looked at Dwight before walking onstage tonight, and he and I have gotten to know each other a little bit,” Chris told the press backstage. “We wrote a song a couple weeks ago and really hit it off. But I looked at him when we walked onstage tonight, and I try my best not to be a fan and freak people out, but I looked at Dwight and I said, ‘Man, I just want you to know you’re a hero, and I really appreciate you doing this.’ It got me, to get to do that.”

Chris is currently sitting inside the Top 20 on the country charts with “Parachute” from his album, Traveller, which has been nominated for Favorite Country Album at the 2016 AMAs. The American Music Awards will air Sunday, November 20th at 8pm ET on ABC, Live from the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles.

https://twitter.com/ChrisStapleton/status/794962111839563776

Even though the CMA Awards aren’t airing until tonight, a couple of awards have already been announced.

Dierks Bentley picked up his first award of the day for Musical Event of the Year for their No. 1 hit, “Different for Girls,” featuring Elle King. The award is a first for Elle, and the third career win for Dierks. He previously won the Horizon Award (now New Artist of the Year) in 2005 and Music Video of the Year for “Drunk on a Plane” in 2014.

He and Elle will perform together tonight at the CMA Awards.

Chris Stapleton, who won four awards last year, takes home Music Video of the Year for “Fire Away.” The clip, directed by Tim Mattia and starring Ben Foster (Inferno, Lone Survivor, Six Feet Under) and Margarita Levieva (The Blacklist, Revenge) (pr. Le-vee-va), was used as a conduit to help bring mental health awareness to light. In the video, a young couple battle with the woman’s mental issues until it finally drives her to commit suicide.

“It’s a subject matter that is very close to me and means a lot to me, and to be able to tell that story and to share it with so many people and to bring that character to life for me was tremendously important,” says Margarita. “So, as soon as I heard the whole outline and how we were going to shoot it and the story that we’re going to tell, I was immediately drawn and really looking forward to doing it.”

Chris, who is also up for several other CMA Awards including Entertainer of the Year, is currently sitting inside the Top 20 on the country charts with his latest single, “Parachute,” a song from his CMA award-winning album, Traveller.

The 50th annual CMA Awards will broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Wednesday (November 2nd) at 8pm ET on ABC.

Eric Church and Chris Stapleton, along with Maren Morris, top the list of final nominees for this year’s CMA Awards with five nominations each.

Chris is technically nominated for six awards, which includes single and he could win as both artist and producer. Keith Urban technically is up for five as both artist and producer of his album, Ripcord. Dierks Bentley and Carrie Underwood received four nominations, while Luke Bryan and Brothers Osborne each picked up two nominations.

Eric Church picked up five nominations for this year’s CMA Awards. The nods include Male Vocalist and Album of the Year for Mr. Misunderstood (produced by Jay Joyce and Arturo Buenahora, Jr., as well as Single of the Year for his recent No. 1 hit “Record Year,” Song of the Year for “Record Year,” which was written by Eric and Jeff Hyde and Music Video of the Year for “Record Year,” which was directed by Reid Long and John Peets. He now has a total of 22 career nominations since his first in 2011 for New Artist of the Year.

After Chris’ breakout year in 2015 when he had three nominations and went home with four trophies for Album (including producer), Male Vocalist, and New Artist of the Year, he is back in 2016 with five nominations, including his first for Entertainer of the Year. His list of nods this year also includes Male Vocalist; Single of the Year for “Nobody To Blame,” which was produced by Stapleton and Dave Cobb and mix engineered by Vance Powell; Music Video of the Year for “Fire Away,” which was directed by Tim Mattia; and Musical Event of the Year with life and stage partner Morgane Stapleton (her first nomination) for “You Are My Sunshine.” Stapleton only receives one nomination for Single of the Year, but can receive an additional trophy as producer.
Dierks, a 20-time nominee and two-time winner including the Horizon Award in 2005 (now New Artist of the Year) and Music Video of the Year in 2014 for “Drunk On A Plane,” will vie for Male Vocalist; Album for Black, which was produced by Ross Copperman and Buenahora; Music Video for “Somewhere On A Beach,” which was directed by Wes Edwards; and Musical Event of the Year for “Different for Girls” with Elle King (her first CMA Awards nomination).

Keith, who has been a nominee every year since 2004, received four CMA Awards nominations in 2016 including Entertainer of the Year, which he won in 2005 when the show went to New York City. Urban’s other nominations include Male Vocalist; Album of the Year for Ripcord, which was produced by Urban, Dann Huff, Jeff Bhasker, Tyler Johnson, Greg Wills, Nile Rodgers, busbee, K-Kov, Nathan Chapman, and Jonny Price; and Musical Event of the Year for “The Fighter,” featuring Underwood. Keith only receives one nomination for Album of the Year, but can receive an additional trophy as producer. Keith has won the Musical Event category four times including “Start A Band” with Paisley (2009); “Highway Don’t Care” with McGraw and Taylor Swift (2013); “We Were Us” with Miranda Lambert (2014); and “Raise ‘Em Up,” featuring Church (2015).

Luke, who is the reigning Entertainer of the Year, is nominated again in 2016 (he received his first nomination in the category in 2013). He is also nominated for Musical Event of the Year for “Home Alone Tonight,” featuring Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town.

Brothers Osborne are nominated for Vocal Duo and New Artist of the Year.

Little Big Town and Lady Antebellum vie for Vocal Group of the Year.

Kacey Musgraves, who won New Artist of the Year in 2013 and Song of the Year in 2014, is also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year.

Several of your favorite country artists – then, now and forever country – will take to the stage to perform at Wednesday night’s CMA Awards. Universal Music Group is representing with performances by George Strait, Alan Jackson, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Little Big Town, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, Vince Gill, Kacey Musgraves and Vince Gill.

The 50th Annual CMA Awards will be broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Wednesday (November 2nd) at 8pm ET on ABC.

The Final Nominees for “The 50th Annual CMA Awards” (by ballot category order):

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Garth Brooks
Luke Bryan
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban 

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist, Producer(s), and Mix Engineer(s))
“Die a Happy Man”
Thomas Rhett
Produced by Dann Huff and Jesse Frasure
Mix Engineered by Justin Niebank
The Valory Music Co. 

“Humble and Kind”
Tim McGraw
Produced by Byron Gallimore and Tim McGraw
Mix Engineered by Byron Gallimore
Big Machine Records 

“My Church”
Maren Morris
Produced by busbee and Maren Morris
Mix Engineered by Dave Clauss and busbee
Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville 

“Nobody To Blame”
Chris Stapleton
Produced by Dave Cobb and Chris Stapleton
Mix Engineered by Vance Powell
Mercury Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

“Record Year”
Eric Church
Produced by Jay Joyce
Mix Engineered by Jay Joyce and Jason Hall
EMI Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist and Producer(s))
Black
Dierks Bentley
Produced by Ross Copperman and Arturo Buenahora, Jr.
Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville

Hero
Maren Morris
Produced by busbee, Maren Morris, and Brad Hill
Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville 

Mr. Misunderstood
Eric Church
Produced by Jay Joyce and Arturo Buenahora, Jr.
EMI Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

Ripcord
Keith Urban
Produced by Jeff Bhasker, Tyler Johnson, Dann Huff, Greg Wells, Nile Rodgers, busbee, K-Kov, Nathan Chapman, Jonny Price, and Keith Urban
Hit Red Records/Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

Storyteller
Carrie Underwood
Produced by Jay Joyce, Mark Bright, and Zach Crowell
19 Recordings/Arista Nashville/Sony Music Nashville 

SONG OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Songwriter(s))
“Burning House”
Camaron “Cam” Ochs, Tyler Johnson, Jeff Bhasker

“Die a Happy Man”
Sean Douglas, Thomas Rhett, and Joe Spargur 

“Humble and Kind”
Lori McKenna 

“My Church”
busbee and Maren Morris

“Record Year”
Eric Church and Jeff Hyde 

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood 

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Dierks Bentley
Eric Church
Tim McGraw
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban 

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Old Dominion
Rascal Flatts
Zac Brown Band 

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Joey + Rory
Maddie & Tae 

MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to each Artist)
“Different For Girls”
Dierks Bentley feat. Elle King
Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

“Home Alone Tonight”
Luke Bryan featuring Karen Fairchild
Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

“The Fighter”
Keith Urban (featuring Carrie Underwood)
Hit Red Records/Capitol Records Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville 

“Think of You”
Chris Young (duet with Cassadee Pope)
RCA Nashville/Sony Music Nashville 

“You Are My Sunshine”
Morgane Stapleton with Chris Stapleton
Low Country Sound/Elektra Records 

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Jerry Douglas (Dobro/Lap Steel Guitar)
Paul Franklin (Steel Guitar)
Dann Huff (Guitar)
Brent Mason (Guitar)
Derek Wells (Guitar) 

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist and Director(s))
“Burning House”
Cam
Directed by Trey Fanjoy 

“Fire Away”
Chris Stapleton
Directed by Tim Mattia 

“Humble and Kind”
Tim McGraw
Directed by Wes Edwards 

“Record Year”
Eric Church
Directed by John Peets and Reid Long 

“Somewhere On A Beach”
Dierks Bentley
Directed by Wes Edwards 

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Brothers Osborne
Maren Morris
Old Dominion
Cole Swindell 

Brothers Osborne claimed Song of the Year at the 54th Annual ASCAP Awards on Monday night (October 31st) for “Stay a Little Longer.” Chris Stapleton was presented the Vanguard Award, which acknowledges the impact of an ASCAP member on musical genres that shape the future of American music.

Dierks Bentley performs live on Good Morning America on Wednesday morning (November 2nd) in advance of the 50th Annual CMA Awards.

Easton Corbin is set to perform during the 90th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which will air on NBC.

Chris Stapleton is among the latest list of performers set for Wednesday night’s (November 2nd) CMA Awards. Chris has five nominations, including Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Music Video (for “Fire Away”), Single (for “Nobody to Blame”) and Musical Event of the Year with wife Morgane Stapleton for “You Are My Sunshine.” The 50th Annual CMA Awards will broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena November 2nd at 8pm ET on ABC.

Keith Urban will perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live Tuesday night (November 1st). The show airs at 11:35p ET on ABC.

Keith Urban’s “The Fighter,” featuring Carrie Underrwood, is nominated for Song of the Year at this year’s ARIA Awards. The trophies will be handed out November 23rd in Sydney, Australia.

Jon Pardi and his band and crew dressed up as the cast of characters from Toy Story. Guess who Jon dressed up as? Yup-Woody!

Eric Paslay performed his song “Angels in This Town” on NBC’s Today show earlier this week.

The CMT Artists of the Year special airs Thursday (October 20th), and will include performances by Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild, Kelsea Ballerini, Meghan Trainor, jill Scott and Zara Larsson. They’ll pay tribute to honorees Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett and Carrie Underwood. Karen is expected to sing with Luke, while Kelsea, Meghan and Jill will honor Shania Twain, who will receive the Artist of a Lifetime Award.

Taped live at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, the CMT Artists of the Year special will air Thursday (October 20th) at 9pm ET/PT on CMT.

How would @ThomasRhett and each of our #CMTAOTY honorees describe #RamLifetime's @ShaniaTwain? Take a look… pic.twitter.com/PiXbfoplYO

— CMT (@CMT) October 17, 2016

George Strait is a grandfather once again. His son, Bubba, and daughter-in-law, Tamara, welcomed their second child Jillian Louise Strait on September 10^th. She joins big brother Harvey, who was born February 2nd, 2012.

Luke Bryan is up for Favorite Male Country Artist and his album, Kill the Lights, is nominated for Favorite Country Album, along with Chris Stapleton’s Traveller, at this year’s American Music Awards. The AMA’s will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles November 20th at 8pm ET on ABC.

Sam Hunt’s “Break Up in a Small Town” and Keith Urban’s “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16,” along with Eric Church’s “Like a Wrecking Ball” and “Record Year” are among “The 10 Songs I Wish I’d Written”  as voted on by NSAI members.

The Band Perry will perform their single, “Comeback Kid,” on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday (October 10th).

The Band Perry are set to perform at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship November 20th. Before the race begins at the Ford EcoBoost 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, the trio will perform a live show. The championship race will be broadcast on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio at 2:30pm ET.

Chris Stapleton’s Traveller album has been certified double-platinum for two-million albums by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Luke Bryan’s “Strip It Down” and “Kick the Dust Up” and Jon Pardi’s “Head Over Boots” have been certified platinum by the RIAA. Dierks Bentley’s “Different for Girls” featuring Elle King goes gold.