Photo: SoundExchange President & CEO Michael Huppe presents Carrie Underwood with a SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award at Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Carrie Underwood)

SoundExchange, the premier music tech organization powering the future of music, announced today that country superstar Carrie Underwood has been honored with the SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award as one of the most streamed artists in the organization’s 20-year history.

“Carrie Underwood made history right out of the gate with her 2005 debut single ‘Inside Your Heaven,’ which made her the first country singer to debut atop The Billboard Hot 100,” said Michael Huppe, President and CEO of SoundExchange. “Ever since she stole our hearts on American Idol, she has been soaring high, breaking records and excelling across industries. We are thrilled to honor Carrie with the SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award.”

Underwood was presented with her SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award by President and CEO Michael Huppe at Resorts World Theatre during the latest run of her ongoing REFLECTION: The Las Vegas Residency, which has been extended into 2024.

Photo: SoundExchange President & CEO Michael Huppe presents Carrie Underwood with a SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award at Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Carrie Underwood)

Praised by coach Blake Shelton as “the real deal” during his season-winning run on The Voice, Woodstock, GA native Bryce Leatherwood arrives in Nashville with sights set high. With his recently-filled team in stow, the Republic Records / Universal Music Group Nashville recording artist debuts the performance music video to compliment his first major label single, “The Finger,” today.

“I’ve had a blast playing ‘The Finger’ live all summer long and I’m excited for fans who haven’t had the opportunity to see one of my shows in person to experience what my show is all about through this music video,” shares Leatherwood.

The music video highlights Leatherwood’s natural charisma on-stage and in the studio, alternating between b-roll as the singer performs the witty, tongue-in-cheek breakup song. Offering “an authentic look at Leatherwood’s deep-rooted love for country music,” as noted by Country Now, the song spotlights his standout “Georgia-bred baritone vocals” as its narrator combines spite and humor to cope with the fact that his ex-lover found new romance, while all he got was the finger.

Leatherwood will return to The Voice to perform “The Finger” this Monday, Dec. 18 at 8/7c on NBC.

A Georgia Southern University alum, Leatherwood began honing his craft in college, playing local venues and fostering his country music repertoire. At Georgia Southern, he formed his band in late 2021 and began playing all around the Southeast. Leatherwood’s goal was to take the stage and play the best of country music to all ages and audiences.

After graduating college, he competed on the NBC hit television show The Voice and was crowned the Season 22 winner in December of 2022. Following his success on The Voice, Leatherwood began pursuing a full-time music career, signing with Republic Records and Universal Music Group Nashville in October. Leatherwood is currently hard at work on new music.

Dierks Bentley is helping those affected by the devastating tornadoes that hit Middle Tennessee over the weekend. He posted a link o his socials to donate to The Community Foundation of Tennessee. Click here for more information.

A lot of our neighbors here in #Tennessee could use some extra support after the catastrophic #tornadoes that hit our area. If you are able, please join us in donating to The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. Every little bit helps. Donate here: https://t.co/SHQdSzoybG pic.twitter.com/4KIAIF5YGu

— Dierks Bentley (@DierksBentley) December 13, 2023

Darius Rucker appeared on the season finale of Fox’s Snake Oil on Wednesday (December 13th).

It's going down on the season finale of #SnakeOil tonight!! Tune in to @RealityClubFOX at 8PM CST to watch me battle it out! pic.twitter.com/A1ZosQ1OmH

— Darius Rucker (@dariusrucker) December 13, 2023

Keith Urban will perform his hit “Blue Ain’t Your Color” during The Voice finale December 19th. In addition, Season 22 winner Bryce Leatherwood will perform his major record label debut song “The Finger,” while the show’s coaches — Reba McEntire, Gwen Stefani, John Legend and Niall Horan — will perform the Christmas classic, “Let It Snow!” Jelly Roll and Dan+Shay will also perform during the finale of The Voice, which will air December 19th at 9pm ET/8pm CT on NBC.

Kylie Morgan is among the performers for a benefit show, “Unplugged For Tennessee: A Tornado Relief Benefit Concert,” at Nashville’s legendary Exit/In. Hardy, Nate Smith, Dylan Marlowe, Alanna Springsteen, Chayce Beckham, Abby Anderson and Kylie’s husband Jay Allen will also perform during the acoustic show on Sunday (December 17th). Doors open at 6:30pm CT; show starts at 7:30pm CT. For more information, click here.

Jon Langston will headine the first annual Nashville Dance Fest January 26th – January 28th.

Excited to be headlining the inaugural #NashvilleDanceFest this January in Nashville! Get your passes at https://t.co/Dt9ve1ryUE pic.twitter.com/SDhxDMv6aJ

— Jon Langston (@JonTLangston) December 13, 2023

Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain and others reveal the iconic song that forever changed their lives and career during CMT’s Hot 20 Countdown this weekend. You can find out more on Saturday (December 16th) and Sunday (December 17th) at 9am ET/8am CT on CMT.

Dierks Bentley, who is the father of three children (Evie, Jordan, Knox), says you revert back to your childhood at Christmas when you start having a family of your own.

“Christmas didn’t lose any of its real meaning, as far as its religious meaning with Jesus’ birthday,” says Dierks. “But as far as like the whole tree and all of the Christmas spirit stuff, the secular stuff, it just kind of goes away, to be honest. But then you have a family, and all of a sudden it’s like I’m all Clark Griswold out there decorating the tree, putting lights up around the house, you know. So, all of those things that you did as a kid and appreciated as a kid, you get a chance to do over again when you have kids, because you kinda become one again.”

Dierks and his family of five enjoy Christmastime, especially looking at all of the lights. “One of our favorite Christmas traditions is just driving around looking at lights,” he says. “Love seeing all the lights back in the valley, back in Arizona and Phoenix where I’m from, and that tradition is carried over to here for me in Nashville. We’ve got a lot of lights up on the house. We’ve got a Grinch in the front yard, as well as a talking Santa, so new traditions here in Nashville and some old ones, as well.”

While Dierks didn’t have any white Christmases growing up in Arizona, he and his family weren’t short on having their own traditions and holiday activities. “I grew up in Arizona, so we didn’t have like a white winter kind of deal. It’s kinda…once you experience that, it’s hard to go back and like celebrate Christmas in the desert but…for us, we would…me and my family and a couple other families would go out to the desert and bring a big turkey and just kinda have a cookout in the middle of the desert…and drink beers and ride four-wheelers and…well, I wouldn’t drink beers, but they would. We’d ride four-wheelers and horses and just kind of spend it out in the middle of the desert, which was kind of a cool way to spend Christmas. So, whenever I think of Christmas, I always think of the desert, which is a little weird, but that’s just the way we did it out in Arizona.”

His nearly 13-year-old daughter, Jordan, was actually born on Christmas Day, so navigating the birth of his daughter with the holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus has been a little tough, but he says Jordan has been really good about it. “It’s tough kind of for Jordan because her birthday IS on Christmas, so it’s kind of one of those things where we try to give her an extra present or two,” says Dierks. “It’s kind of tough to share your birthday with Jesus. You can get a little overshadowed on that one, but she’s good about it, but we just tell her, ‘All these Christmas trees and lights, these are all for you.’”

Darius Rucker, who released his Christmas album Home for the Holidays in 2014, loves to take it easy during the holidays after being on the road all year long. One way he winds down is to watch Christmas movies…however, he can’t pick just one favorite.

“That’s such a hard question, favorite Christmas movie, because there are so many great movies that I can think of just off the top of my head that are great Christmas movies,” says Darius. “But it would be a tie between Miracle on 34^th Street, which is still just great acting, great movie. I just love it. I love watching it. I watch it probably four times every Christmas and cry at the end every time. And I love Elf. I just think Elf is one of the absolute great stories and just funniest movies I’ve ever seen, and it just happens to be a Christmas movie. It’s one of my favorite movies.”

Darius loves holiday music, but there’s one song in particular that he loves the most. “There’s a reason it’s called, ‘The Christmas Song,’” says the South Carolina native. “That’s my favorite Christmas song to sing and my favorite Christmas song to listen to.”

There’s always one thing that needs to be on the dinner table at Christmas…and in Darius’ belly, and that is sweet potato pie. “I’m a big food guy, as you can tell by looking at me up here. I like food a lot. But my favorite thing is my sister’s sweet potato pie,” he says. “I love sweet potato pie so much, and I don’t get it very often. And my sisters always make sure I get a couple during Thanksgiving and Christmas, so that’s my favorite thing – sweet potato pie.”

Brenda Lee is spending a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with her classic holiday standard “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” on her 79th birthday today (December 11th). Last week, the song hit the top of the chart for the first time — 65 years after its release. The song is Brenda’s third Hot 100 No. 1 and her first since 1960.

“A second week at No. 1 – this is so surreal!” said Lee. “As I celebrate this with my fans and everyone who has supported me over the years, I really wish I could celebrate with Johnny Marks, who wrote the song, and Owen Bradley, who brilliantly produced ‘Rockin’.’ The song has truly stood the test of time and I am so grateful that this has become my signature song. As I always say, Keep on Rockin’!”

Brenda spoke with Billboard last week after it was revealed she hit the top of the chart with “Rockin'” for the first time ever. She humbly said, “It’s not only for me that it means something. It’s for Johnny Marks who wrote the song, who was a dear friend

This year for the song’s 65^th anniversary, Lee released the first ever music video for “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” featuring cameos by country stars Tanya Tucker and Trisha Yearwood. She also released a new EP, A Rockin’ Christmas with Brenda Lee, featuring “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and other holiday favorites including “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” “Jingle Bell Rock” “A Marshmallow World” and “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” reimagined by Filous.

Last week, Brenda even received her “flowers” from the other Queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey, whose “All I Want For Christmas” has topped the chart for years.

https://twitter.com/BrendaLeeMusic_/status/1732829339467587628

Today, multi-platinum, eight-time GRAMMY® Award winner and Resorts World Theatre’s first resident headliner, Carrie Underwood, announced six new shows have been added in 2024 for her critically-acclaimed smash hit, REFLECTION: The Las Vegas Residency. The announcement comes on the heels of last week’s (Dec. 6, 8 & 9, 2023) sold-out performances of REFLECTION at the state-of-the-art venue. Tickets and a limited number of VIP packages and upgrades to this new set of must-see performances go on sale to the public this Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, at 10 a.m. PT.

https://twitter.com/carrieunderwood/status/1734256947086409732

Following her run of sold-out REFLECTION performances this past Sept., Underwood returned to the Resorts World Theatre stage on Nov. 29, 2023, to kick off her final run of residency shows for this year. Playing now through this coming Saturday, Dec. 16, the run of remaining 2023 performances includes various Christmas songs from Underwood’s beloved album, My Gift (Special Edition), and other holiday favorites, which she has added nightly to the show as a special treat to celebrate the season.

“To quote the song, Christmas is my ‘Favorite Time of Year,’ so it’s a lot of fun to get to perform some of my favorite holiday songs during our December shows – some of them for the first time live,” says Underwood.  “I’m thrilled to be announcing six more shows in October 2024, and can’t wait to be back on the Resorts World Theatre stage next year.”

Exclusively designed for the state-of-the-art venue, Underwood’s REFLECTION: The Las Vegas Residency continues to be a can’t-miss show in Las Vegas, garnering rave reviews by critics and fans alike and selling out runs since its premiere in December  2021. Underwood’s six additional performances of REFLECTION: The Las Vegas Residency in October 2024 will go on sale to the public on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, at 10 a.m. PT at AXS.com/carrieinvegas. Show dates include:

• October 2024: 16, 18, 19, 23, 25, 26

Previously announced dates that are currently on sale include:

• December 2023: 13, 15, 16
• March 2024: 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, 16
• May 2024: 22, 25, 26, 29, 31
• June 2024: 1
• August 2024: 14, 16, 17, 21, 23, 24

The 5,000-capacity theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas, exclusively programmed and operated by Concerts West / AEG Presents, is a state-of-the-art, multi-level venue designed by the award-winning international design firm, Scéno Plus. The intimate venue, with the furthest seat only 150 feet from the stage, features unparalleled comfort, unobstructed sightlines, and an unmatched spatial audio experience through more than 200 L-Acoustics speakers powered by L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology.

For the second year in a row, Resorts World Theatre has been named the world’s highest-grossing venue under 5,000 capacity on Billboard’s Annual Top Grossing Venues list for 2023. Based on reporting from November 1, 2022, to September 30, 2023, the 5,000-seat venue scored No. 1 on the 2023 year-end boxscore chart.

Carrie is currently climbing the country radio charts with her latest single, “Out Of That Truck.”

Brenda Lee performed her No. 1 iconic holiday song, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” during NBC’s Christmas At The Opry and was joined by an all-star cast, including Wynonna, Trace Adkins, Mickey Guyton, Chrissy Metz, Mitchell Tenpenney and more! You can watch Christmas at the Opry again on December 20th at 9pm ET/8pm CT on NBC  and streaming on Peacock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TYtvxUGfbw&t=132s

George Strait is spreading holiday cheer with his 12 Days of Christmas, giving away VIP experiences, front row tickets to some of his stadium shows and much more. All proceeds from donations and the online auction listed will benefit the Jenifer Strait Foundation, which serves the emotional, educational and medical needs of children. To enter the giveaway and bid on selected auction items, click HERE.

https://twitter.com/GeorgeStrait/status/1732488358075539606

Carrie Underwood and Parker McCollum are among the headliners at next year’s Windy City Smokeout Festival, taking place July 11th – 14th at Chicago’s United Center. Thomas Rhett and Cody Johnson are also headliners during the four-day festival, which also includes performances by Priscilla Block, Billy Currington, Lee Brice, Chase Rice, Ernest, Nate Smith and many more. For more information, go to windycitysmokeout.com.

Jon Pardi, The War And Treaty and Kip Moore are among the artists performing during the Legends of Music Row Country Music Festival taking place in Key West April 4th – 6th. Randy Houser, Ernest, Dean Dillon, Brian Kelley and Drake Milligan will also perform.

The War And Treaty performed “God Bless America” at WWE’s 21st annual Tribute to the Troops on Friday (December 8th).