Country Music’s biggest names celebrate the holidays with an encore presentation of “CMA Country Christmas,” airing this Thursday, Dec. 21st at 9/8c on ABC.

The eighth annual “CMA Country Christmas” returns with first-time host and iconic entertainer Reba McEntire and features two hours of festive performances from Nashville’s famed Grand Ole Opry House by Luke Bryan, CB30, Dan + Shay, Brett Eldredge, Alan Jackson, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Dustin Lynch, Kelsea Ballerini, Reba, CeCe Winans, Trisha Yearwood and Chris Young. Don’t miss fantastic collaborations by Ballerini and Reba, Little Big Town and Reba, and Jackson and Young.

Visit CMApress.com for artist interviews and performance clips. For more information, visit CMAChristmas.com and follow us on Twitter @Countrymusic.

Luke Bryan debuted his What Makes You Country album at #1 on both the Billboard Top 200 and Top Country Albums charts this week. This is Luke’s third consecutive album to debut at #1 on the Top 200 and his fifth #1 debut on the Top Country Albums Chart. In addition, Luke’s 19^th career #1 single “Light It Up,” the first release from What Makes You Country, marked his 10th straight Billboard Country Airplay leader, the longest current streak among all artists which began with “Play It Again” in 2014.

“So much thought goes into creating new music and I really try to write and find songs that I feel are staying true to me while staying fresh and fun,” said Luke. “I try and imagine people singing along in their cars or with me at my shows. To have What Makes You Country go #1 is so exciting and rewarding for me, my team and my fans. It drives me to keep working harder and growing! Thank you so much for these opportunities!”

Critics are raving about What Makes You Country as the New York Times touted, “Bryan’s omnivorous approach to country production is arguably more ambitious and musically progressive; it’s certainly more in tune with the genre’s younger listeners.” And the Associated Press shares, “Bryan’s country is playful, inclusive, flirty and good-natured on the album.” “Luke makes country hit-making seem effortless,” shared Newsday. Radio.com said, “the 15-song project is a versatile one that includes the party songs Bryan is known and loved for as well as the more poignant and introspective ballads that take a look into who we are as people and where Bryan came from.”

Luke concluded his album promotional tour in Los Angeles last week with two appearances on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, fan events and performances with Citi, Spotify and iHeart radio. The week prior Luke performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Good Morning America and visited Lennox Hill Hospital with Musicians On Call to launch their Music Pharmacy program. He also performed songs from the new album for fans at events hosted by Pandora, NASH-FM and Samsung.

Watch Luke’s tv performances here:

Good Morning America

Tonight Show

Ellen DeGeneres Show

Over the Christmas holidays, fans can watch Luke on the “40^th Annual Kennedy Center Honors” gala in honor of his friend and idol Lionel Richie airing on Dec. 26, 9/8CT on CBS. Luke is also appearing on the encore presentation of “CMA Country Christmas” on Dec. 21, 9/8CT on ABC.

What Makes You Country was produced by Jeff Stevens and Jody Stevens and contains 15 songs, seven of them co-written by Luke including the title track.

Luke Bryan’s What Makes You Country album debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, as well as the top of the Country Album chart. The collection sold more than 107,000 copies with 7.8 million streams.

“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,” says Luke. “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. I want something driving, something to hit people in the face, and let’s make some big ole fun music and some big ole fun memories.”

Luke just hit No. 1 on the country singles charts with “Light It Up.” He’ll also light up the small screen on ABC’s reboot of American Idol beginning March 11th.

Luke Bryan will have a house full of family at Christmas. The Georgia native and his wife will host several, including their sons, nephew, nieces, Luke’s mom, and others, and they will all take part in the Bryan tradition by having chili dogs on Christmas Eve.

Find audio below of him talking about the unique tradition, his most meaningful Christmas gift, his favorite Christmas movie and much more.

By the way, if you’re looking for a great stocking stuffer, Luke’s new album What Makes You Country, is available now.

Luke Bryan scores his 19th career No. 1 hit with “Light It Up” tops both the Billboard and Country Aircheck  country airplay charts. The song is the first single from his new album, What Makes You Country, which was released on Friday (December 8th). He co-wrote “Light It Up” with Brad Tursi from Old Dominion.

The song is something that just about everybody can relate to, since we’re all so caught up with constantly checking our cell phones.

“You look at everybody, everybody is locked into their cell phones these days, their screen. They’re constantly jockeying between a million things on their phone, and so when you’re in limbo with your significant other and you’re fighting whatever – so many people break up, get back together, fight, argue, fall in love via text message, and this guy is just waiting to see if this girl wants his love, and if she wants it, just say, ‘Hey, just light it up.’ When your screen is dark and you see it light up and it’s got that text message you want on it, it’s a big deal,” says the Georgia native. “I think we were able to really capture that anxiousness, that anxiety, going to bed with it by your pillow, lying there if it buzzes. You want it to be that text message and you can’t rest, and finally you have to just put the phone on the floor or get it away from you because you’re in limbo.”

Catch Luke as he performs on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Tuesday (December 12th).

LUKE BRYAN WHAT MAKES YOU COUNTRY ALBUM AUDIO TOOLKIT

We have compiled an array of content — a variety of liners and soundbites – from LUKE BRYAN to equip you with everything you might need to put together your own album radio special; roll-out tracks leading up to –and following — the release of his new album, WHAT MAKES YOU COUNTRY, to use in news feeds, specials and much more. Check out all of details below (including audio liners and soundbites, as well as transcriptions) to create your own content surrounding LUKE’S album release.

Click HERE for audio and liners.

Luke Bryan releases his new album, What Makes You Country, Friday, December 8th. The collection was produced by Jeff Stevens and Jody Stevens and contains 15 songs, seven of them co-written by Luke including the title track. The album’s lead single “Light It Up,” written by Luke and Old Dominion member Brad Tursi, is the follow up to his 18^th career No. 1 single and sixth No. 1 from his Kill The Lights album. With this feat, Luke made Billboard chart history as the only artist in the 27-year history of the Billboard Country Airplay chart to garner six No. 1 singles from one album. Luke’s tailgates & tanlines and Crash My Party albums both generated five No. 1 singles.

“My favorite part of making a new album is getting to collaborate with the songwriting community in this town,” said Luke. “It is important to me to continue to push myself to grow on all levels and I feel like we did that on this project. Making and performing music never gets old and I can honestly say I am having the time of my life.  I will be forever grateful to every fan who sings along each night.”

Country music superstar Luke Bryan is a two-time Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year, a five-time host of the ACM Awards and the 2017 Super Bowl LI National anthem performer. He has more certified digital singles than any other country artist with 40 million tracks and 12 million albums with three Billion music streams. He has had 19 career No. 1 singles, 11 of which he co-wrote, and has headlined arena tours and sold-out stadiums across the U.S. performing for 1.5 Million fans this year.  Luke will launch “What Makes You Country Tour” in February and will join Lionel Richie and Katy Perry at the judges tables for ABC’s first season on American Idol next spring.

Visit www.LukeBryan.com or follow Luke on Twitter @LukeBryanOnline, Instagram and Facebook

What Makes You Country Track List:

1. ​What Makes You Country – Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Ashley Gorley
2. Out Of Nowhere – Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Ashley Gorley
3. Light It Up – Luke Bryan, Brad Tursi
4. Most People Are Good – David Frasier, Ed Hill, Josh Kear
5. Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset – Zach Crowell, Ryan Hurd, Chase McGill
6. Bad Lovers – Justin Wilson, Dallas Davidson, Kyle Fishman
7. Drinking Again – David Lee Murphy, Brad Warren, Brett Warren
8. Land Of A Million Songs – Luke Bryan, Jeff Stevens, Jody Stevens
9. Like You Say You Do – Luke Bryan, Michael Carter, Ashley Gorley
10. Hooked On It – Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, David Lee Murphy
11. She’s A Hot One – Michael Carter, Chase McGill
12. Hungover In A Hotel Room – Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins, Josh Kear
13. Pick It Up – Luke Bryan, Rodney Clawson, Matthew Dragstrem
14. Driving This Thing – Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip, Jody Stevens
15. Win Life – Rodney Clawson, Ross Copperman, Nicolle Galyon

Luke Bryan releases his new album, What Makes You Country, on Friday (December 8th). The album contains 15 songs, seven of them co-written by Luke, including the title track.

“I just try to go in the studio and record music that makes me happy, makes me feel something, makes me emotional at times, songs that I visualize my crowd reacting to,” says Luke. “I just try to go into albums believing in the songs, confident in the songs and controlling what I control. I can control how hard did I write, how many songs did I write and how many songs did I listen to and did I really do the best job I could at singing them and recording them. I couldn’t be happier with all of those aspects of this record.”

Luke is poised to hit the top of the country charts with his latest release “Light It Up,” which was written by Luke and Old Dominion member Brad Tursi.

Luke made Billboard chart history as the only artist in the 27-year history of the Billboard Country Airplay chart to garner six No. 1 singles from one album. Luke’s tailgates & tanlines and Crash My Party albums both generated five No. 1 singles.

Catch Luke on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday. He’ll perform the title track of his new album, What Makes You Country. He will also perform on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Tuesday (December 12th).

What Makes You Country track list:

1. What Makes You Country – Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Ashley Gorley
2. Out Of Nowhere Girl – Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Ashley Gorley
3. Light It Up – Luke Bryan, Brad Tursi
4. Most People Are Good – David Frasier, Ed Hill, Josh Kear
5. Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset – Zach Crowell, Ryan Hurd, Chase McGill
6. Bad Lovers – Justin Wilson, Dallas Davidson, Kyle Fishman
7. Drinking Again – David Lee Murphy, Brad Warren, Brett Warren
8. Land Of A Million Songs – Luke Bryan, Jeff Stevens, Jody Stevens
9. Like You Say You Do – Luke Bryan, Michael Carter, Ashley Gorley
10. Hooked On It – Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, David Lee Murphy
11. She’s A Hot One – Michael Carter, Chase McGill
12. Hungover In A Hotel Room – Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins, Josh Kear
13. Pick It Up – Luke Bryan, Rodney Clawson, Matthew Dragstrem
14. Driving This Thing – Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip, Jody Stevens
15. Win Life – Rodney Clawson, Ross Copperman, Nicolle Galyon

Luke Bryan will perform from the Opry City Stage on ABC’s Good Morning America on Friday (December 8th), the same day his new album What Makes You Country is available. Opry City Stage, which boasts a restaurant, bar and live performance stage, is also set to open Luke’s What Makes You Country Pop-Up Shop, featuring his new album, T-shirts and more…all in Times Square.

George Strait has been named the 2018 Texan of the Year by the Texas Legislative Conference. Strait will be presented the award at the New Braunfels Civic/Convention Center March 22nd on behalf of his efforts to help Texans year-round, but most especially for his relief efforts for Hurricane Harvey. To date, he’s helped raise more than $50 million..

Watch Darius Rucker’s concert special on the AT&T Audience Network on Friday (December 8th) at 9pm ET. He recently filmed the one-hour special at New York’s famed Apollo Theater.

Luke Bryan releases his new album, What Makes You Country, on Friday (December 8th). The four-time Entertainer of the Year has a list of what makes him country, which includes manners and growing up in Georgia.

“I think that what makes me country is where I was raised — Leesburg, Georgia — how I was brought up saying ‘Yes sir,’ ‘No sir,’ ‘Yes, ma’am,’ ‘No, ma’am,’ hopefully with manners and raised with a work ethic and raised in the outdoors fishing and hunting and playing sports,” says Luke. “I would say definitely it starts with my small-town upbringing and how we were raised; church on Sundays as much as we could. But just enjoying life and living life in a small town.”

Luke is poised to enter the top of the country charts with his latest song, “Light It Up,” which is the first release from his new album, What Makes You Country.

Luke is set to perform on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on December 12th.