This Sunday (February 5th), millions of people around the world will be tuning in to Super Bowl 51 (the Big Game), including some of your favorite country artists. Some will be rooting for the Atlanta Falcons, while others will be pulling for the New England Patriots to win the Big Game. Billy Currington, Canaan Smith, Darius Rucker, Lady Antebellum, Easton Corbin, Keith Urban, Lauren Alaina and Little Big Town are definitely fans of football…as is Luke Bryan, who is set to perform the National Anthem at the Big Game at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Sunday (February 5th) at 6:30pm ET on FOX.

Just before the game, Lady A will take part in the official pre-game party at the NRG Center, while Sam Hunt, a former University of Alabama Birmingham quarterback, headlines a rather cool venue – Club Nomadic, a collapsible traveling nightclub – on Thursday (Feb. 2nd).

Lady Antebellum will perform their new single, “You Look Good,” on the Ellen DeGeneres Show Tuesday (January 24th).

Little Big Town picked up the award for Favorite Country Group at this week’s People’s Choice Awards.

Keith Urban talks about his song, “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. Check it out here.

Sam Hunt will join The Chainsmokers will perform at Club Nomadic in Houston surrounding the festivities leading up to Super Bowl 51 February 2nd. Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift are also scheduled to perform during the temporary club’s run before closing February 4th.

Kacey Musgraves will be a guest on a live broadcast of Prairie Home Companion, hosted by Chris Thile. Joining her at the Pasadena (California) on Saturday (January 21st) will be Ryan Adams and Kevin Nealon. Click here for more information.

Keith Urban is scheduled to perform at the annual Legends Day concert before the start of the Indy 500 on Saturday, May 27th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He’s also set to play the Country 500 festival May 28th at Daytona International Speedway. Kid Rock, Kip Moore, Easton Corbin, Eric Paslay and many more will also perform.

Shania Twain will be the subject of a new exhibit set to open at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum June 26th. “Being able to revisit favorite costumes, photographs and memories from my career has been a special feeling, especially as this year will see a new stage for me with a brand-new album,” says Shania of her upcoming exhibit.

Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” will be included on this year’s Grammy 2017 Nominees album, which is set for release January 20th. The compilation also features songs by Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert and Thomas Rhett, as well as Adele, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber and The Chainsmokers, among others.

Keith says he wanted “Blue Ain’t Your Color” to be different than a traditional waltz, and he accomplished it by using a drum machine. “It’s a waltz, basically Mmm, da da, mmm da da da It’s a waltz, it’s a waltz. It’s a slow waltz, and I didn’t want it to sound like a typical waltz would sound,” he said. “We played it with drums and bass and a few other things, and it just always sounded kind of like I’ve heard it before. And the drummer I was using – Matt Chamberlain – programmed this drum machine he had, and the sort of machinery sound of it was much more appealing with the acoustic instruments. So, what you really hear is a drum machine and real drums. Real drums do come in at the chorus and play along with I t, but sort of like those old Casio keyboards that had those dink, dink, dink, those things in there, ‘cause I was interested in kind of keeping it a bit minimal and robotic, really.”

A portion of the album’s proceeds will benefit the MusiCares Foundation and the GRAMMY Museum Foundation.

Keith is nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best Country Album (Ripcord), Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song for “Blue Ain’t Your Color.”

The 59th Annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast live from the Staples Center in L.A. February 12th at 8pm ET on CBS.

Keith Urban scored his 22nd No. 1 on Mediabase and 21st chart-topper on Billboard with his latest SMASH hit, “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” during the holidays, and it’s still going strong! Last week, the tune, written by Steven Lee Olsen, Hillary Lindsey and Clint Lagerberg, was No. 1 on three Billboard charts – Country Airplay, Hot Country Songs (which is airplay, sales and streaming) and Country Digital Song Sales.

He said he wanted to record it the first time he heard it. “When I heard ‘Blue Ain’t Your Color’ for the first time, it just struck me as one of those rare songs that encompass so many things in it. I couldn’t even label what it was, what style it was. It’s got a bit of soul, it’s got a bit of blues, it’s got a bit of country, it’s got just a big mix of all good things,” says Keith. “Lyrically, it’s just an incredible song, incredible song. [It’s got] great melody, great lyric. I was so hopin’ I could do the song justice when we got in the studio.”

“Blue Ain’t Your Color” is also the No. 1 Country Digital Download, No. 1 Most Shazam Country Song (for 17 Weeks – and it set the record for most weeks at the top on the Country Shazam Charts for 2016), and it’s the No. 1 Most Streamed Country Song.

The song follows three previous No. 1 songs from his latest album, Ripcord, including “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16,” “Break on Me” and “Wasted Time.”

Little Big Town will perform the National Anthem at the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship between the Alabama Crimson Tide (winner of the Peach Bowl) and the Clemson Tigers (winners of the Fiesta Bowl). The game takes place at the Rayond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on Monday (January 9th) at 8:30pm ET.

Nominations were announced for the iHeart Music Awards on Wednesday (January 4th). Luke Bryan has nods in a couple of categories, including the all-genre Male Artist of the Year, as well as Country Artist of the Year, alongside labelmate Keith Urban. Dierks Bentley’s “Somewhere on a Beach” is up for Country Song of the Year, while Chris Stapleton has a Best New Country Artist of the Year nomination.

Chris Stapleton earned some heavy metal. His songs “Traveller,” “Fire Away,” “Nobody To Blame” and “Parachute” have all been certified gold.

Keith Urban, Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt are up for Favorite Male Country Artist, while Little Big Town and The Band Perry are up for Favorite Country Group at this year’s People’s Choice Awards, airing live January 18th at 9pm ET on CBS.

Keith Urban started working with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital several years ago, and he hasn’t stopped since. Like most, if not all, country artists, he paired up with country radio to help with radiothons, as well as donated his time and money to St. Jude. Since 2003, his fan club at KeithUrbanFans.com have put together a limited edition, one-of-a-kind  Keith calendar to raise money for the hospital.

“I think the first year I went down to see the hospital and St. Jude was 1999, and I met all the staff down there and saw what they were doing, and it just really hit me,” says Keith. “So, we’ve been involved with them in all different manner of ways over the years, even my fan club has taken it upon themselves to do a calendar each year. They do this all themselves and they raise all the money and they give it to St. Jude.”

Also, last year Keith partnered with the company Cisco and became the founding Artist Ambassador for the company’s Connected Caring program, which created private, one-to-one experiences for children battling cancer and other life-threatening diseases via video connections.

“We partnered with a company called Cisco who have this technology called Telepresence which is basically like Facetime for adults with a big beautiful screen, it’s crystal clear. They set up a Telepresence unit in our house in Nashville, and they have one down at the hospital at St. Jude, and every month [last] year, I’ve done a live chat with a chosen family down there. The St. Jude people figure out who they’ll do it with, and I do like a half-hour, 40 minute chat with someone and it’s been an amazing year for that.”

What really struck Keith about St. Jude is that it’s full of hope and light. “They’re not trying to deny the situation, but what they are trying to do is make sure that hope doesn’t get buried in the midst of it, and they do a remarkable job of that.”

Keith is currently sitting at No. 1 on the country charts with his latest hit single, “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” which is also the No. 1 Country Digital Single, the No. 1 Shazam Country Song (16^th Week at No. 1) and the No. 1 Most Streamed Country Song.

*Keith is nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best Country Album (Ripcord), Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song for “Blue Ain’t Your Color.” The 59th Annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast live from the Staples Center in L.A. February 12th at 8pm ET on CBS.

Following his impressive New Year’s Eve medley paying tribute to some of the musicians we lost in 2016 during his headlining show at Nashville’s Bicentennial Mall, Keith Urban posed an acoustic version to include George Michael’s “Careless Whisper,” as well as Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and the Eagles’ “Take It Easy,” (Glenn Frey, who died last January), David Bowie’s “Heroes,” Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” and Prince’s “Purple Rain.”

Keith is currently sitting at the top of the country charts with his single, “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” and is poised to stay there for another week.

*Keith is nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best Country Album (Ripcord), Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song for “Blue Ain’t Your Color.” The 59th Annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast live from the Staples Center in L.A. February 12th at 8pm ET on CBS.

During his New Year’s Eve concert in Nashville, Keith Urban paid tribute to many of the iconic performers who died in 2016. The set included a medley of songs by Leonard Cohen (“Hallelujah”), Glenn Frey’s “Take It Easy,” David Bowie’s “Heroes,” Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” and “Purple Rain” by Prince. Helping him out was wife Nicole Kidman who came out on stage prior to midnight to sing backup and dance while her husband performed for thousands.

Watch @KeithUrban’s New Year’s Eve tribute to the many great musicians we lost in 2016 https://t.co/rEfVsRYaY2 https://t.co/gaSwYME8bZ

— CNN (@CNN) January 1, 2017

Keith Urban is set to headline the Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve in Nashville (#NashvilleNYE) event. Keith, who’s making his way up to the top of the country charts with “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” will lead a cool night of music which will also include rock band Styx, A Thousand Horses, Charlie Worsham and the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The event is free and open to the public.

“What could be better than New Year’s Eve in downtown Nashville,” said Keith. “It’s an awesome way to ring in 2017, and I can’t wait for the party!”

The event will take place at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park for the first time to accommodate growth and enhance security. Last year’s New Year’s event on Lower Broadway attracted a record 150,000 to downtown, generating $22.2 million in direct visitor spending.

Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve in Nashville event site will open at 4pm with a DJ. The raising of the Music Note by Mayor Megan Barry and the Fisk Jubilee Singers® will follow at approximately 6:15pm.

Follow the NCVC on social media for event updates, information and answers to your #NashvilleNYE questions:
Twitter: @VisitMusicCity – http://twitter.com/visitmusiccity
Instagram: @VisitMusicCity – http://instagram.com/visitmusiccity
Facebook: Visit Music City – http://facebook.com/nashvillemusiccity