Universal Universal Music Group Nashville Pressroom

Brothers Osborne has been labeled by Larry King as “country music’s newest hit duo” in a special Nashville episode of the famed broadcaster’s online interview series Larry King Now. The GRAMMY-nominated duo discuss their rural, blue-collar upbringing, their unique musical influences ranging from Merle Haggard, Bob Seger and Gregg Allman as well as the release of their critically-acclaimed debut albumPawn Shop during the in-depth interview which is available now on both Hulu.com and Ora.tv, watch HERE. John and TJ Osborne find themselves in good company as past country artists featured on Larry King Now include Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Tim McGraw.

Brothers Osborne recently received dual nominations for the upcoming 50^th Annual CMA Awards for both New Artist of the Year and Vocal Duo of the Year. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be attending the 50^thAnniversary of the CMAs, much less attending with nominations in two categories along with some of our greatest friends. It’s just simply unreal” says TJ. John notes, “we are so honored to be part of a special night for country music and to be nominated with some of our dear friends.”

This month, the real-life siblings wrap up touring with Miranda Lambert as part of the Keeper of the Flame Tour and will head out on their first headlining THE DIRT RICH TOUR kicking off at Joe’s Live in Rosemont, IL on September 22. Additional upcoming notable appearances for the Maryland natives include Pilgrimage Festival September 25 along with Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell and Daryl Hall & John Oates as well as the Emmy-nominated online music series Skyville Live on September 26 with Emmylou Harris and other special guests.

For a full list of tour dates, news, images and more, visit: www.BrothersOsborne.com

George Strait will release Strait Out of the Box: Part 2 exclusively with Walmart on November 18th. This impressive three-disc, 56-track collection features 36 hit singles including 26 No. 1s plus two brand new songs, his latest radio single “Goin’ Goin’ Gone” and 18 choice album cuts, all personally selected by the King of Country Music.

Strait Out of the Box: Part 2 spans 20 years of Strait’s career from 1996 to 2016, following the highly successful, 8x Platinum-selling 1995 release, Strait Out of the Box. Strait is one of the most celebrated country music stars in history and Billboard recently named him No. 1 on the Greatest of All Time: Country Artists list. With 60 No. 1 singles and more than 70 million records sold, Strait has more No. 1 songs than any other artist and is third only to Elvis Presley and The Beatles with the most Gold and Platinum albums in history. He is the most-nominated artist in CMA Awards history and was the first country music artist honored with Billboard’s Legend Of Live Award.

Strait Out of the Box: Part 2 is now available for pre-order HERE and will only be available at Walmart and Walmart.com.

Luke Bryan stopped by the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday (September 28th) to talk about his Farm Tour EP, Here’s to the Farmer, and perform his latest single, “Move.” What he didn’t expect was to talk about how many times fans clutch his rear and how his team has invoked a “no butt-touching rule,” or the fact that he would get soaking wet in a game called “Oops! My Water Broke.” Ellen also presented Luke a check for $10,000 from Shutterfly for Luke’s Farm Tour Scholarship Fund. Check out all of the action below.

You can also catch Luke on the CMA Awards 50th Anniversary song, “Forever Country.”

Mickey Guyton will perform her hit single “Heartbreak Song” on NBC’s Today Show on September 21st.  Mickey co-wrote the single with Mark Trussell and April Geesbreght and it is the answer to her debut single “Better Than You Left Me.”

Recently selected as a CMT Next Women of Country featured artist, Mickey’s acoustic performances and interviews can be viewed here.

Mickey was recently touted as one of Billboard Magazine’s female game-changers in country music.  She has also been highlighted as an artist to watch by NPR, Billboard and Rolling Stone, as well as, being featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and on ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS This Morning.

Powered by an unprecedented gathering of Country Music talent, a never-before-seen radio roadblock, and unanimous industry support, CMA’s historic “Forever Country” has vaulted to the top of multiple charts in its first week.

Fans around the world got their first listen Sept. 16th, when CMA partner radio groups nationwide came together to premiere the single simultaneously during Friday morning drive time, and their first look on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” last Tuesday. Fan response was immediate and overwhelming in their approval of the project, showing their support in sales, streaming, and downloads of the music video and single.

Thanks to participating artists sharing the video through their individual social channels, fans raved across social media, watching the video online more than 31 million times in the first five days and commenting across the internet in celebration of the project, which pays tribute to the 50^th Anniversary of the CMA Awards.

“Forever Country” makes its Billboard Hot Country Songs debut exploding into the No. 1 spot. This makes it only the third song to debut at No. 1 since Hot Country Songs began as a multi-metric chart in October 1958.

“Forever Country” also debuted at No. 1 on Nielsen’s Country On-Demand Streaming Chart with 5.68 million streams (one million audio/4.7 million video), and also posts on the sales charts with debuts at No. 2 on Nielsen’s Digital Songs chart and No. 1 on the Country Digital Songs chart with just over 93,000 tracks sold. It is also trended as the No. 3 most popular Country song on Shazam.

“Forever Country” has been the No. 1 selling single of all music genres at iTunes and the corresponding music video is ranked No. 1 among videos for all music genres, outpacing typical video sales at a rate of eight to one.

The project is also a global phenomenon, posting on 25 international iTunes charts and 18 international Spotify charts. The song ranks at No. 1 in sales in Canada; No. 2 in Australia and New Zealand; Top 25 in Scandinavia; and Top 40 in the United Kingdom, of all music. On television, the music video is a hit in Australia, Brazil, Canada, and the U.K. Digitally, the song debuted on the Spotify Global Viral 50 chart and has been holding steady at No. 2.

The music video is also going into heavy rotation on CMT and CMT Pure, and was featured in this weekend’s Top 20 Countdowns on GAC and CMT. The frenzy hit the mainstream as the project was the topic of media coverage on ABC News, ABC’s “Good Morning America,” ABC’s “Nightline,” NBC’s “TODAY,” Billboard, CNN/HLN, “Entertainment Tonight,” E!, People, Entertainment Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Associated Press, Rolling Stone, POPSUGAR, Forbes.com, and many more.

• “Those are some of my favorite all time songs,” Amy Robach – “Good Morning America”
• “Maybe the most elaborate, star-studded singalong in recent memory,” – “Nightline”
• “Standing ovation! That is so good,” Hoda Kotb; “That is so fabulous,” Kathie Lee Gifford; “Hoda’s been playing [it] on repeat,” Carson Daly – NBC’s “TODAY”
• “Not since ‘We Are the World’ have so many superstars blended their voices on one recording.” – Rolling Stone
• “The video for ‘Forever Country’ has all your favorite singers and songs in just 4 minutes.” – POPSUGAR
• “What do you get when you combine 30 of the biggest Country stars on the planet and three of the most beloved songs of all time? ‘Forever Country,’ an impressive video mash-up of talent dreamed up by the Country Music Association to help promote ‘The 50th (Annual) CMA Awards,’ which air live on Nov. 2.” – Forbes.com

“Forever Country” is CMA’s history-making single and music video in honor of “The 50^th Annual CMA Awards” that features 30 CMA Award-winning acts performing a medley of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again,” and Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” Denver, Nelson, and Parton are all former CMA Entertainers of the Year.

Universal Music Group Nashville is exclusively partnering with CMA to market and distribute “Forever Country” worldwide. The song is available at all digital retail and streaming outlet partners. CMA profits from the sales and streaming of “Forever Country” will benefit music education causes through the CMA Foundation.

“Forever Country,” the single, was produced by CMA Award winner and CMA Board member Shane McAnally and the video was directed by Grammy Award-winning director Joseph Kahn.

The rollout of “Forever Country” will continue in the weeks leading into “The 50^th Annual CMA Awards.”

“The 50th Annual CMA Awards” will be hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood and broadcast live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Wednesday, Nov. 2nd (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on  ABC.

For more information on “Forever Country” visit ForeverCountry50.com.

For more information on “The 50th Annual CMA Awards” and to sign up for CMA emails and exclusives, visit CMAawards50.com.

LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 09: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Recording artist George Strait performs during one of his exclusive worldwide engagements, “Strait to Vegas” at T-Mobile Arena on September 9, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Essential Broadcast Media)

Early Friday afternoon, before the doors opened at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena for only its second pair of Strait to Vegas shows of 2016, George Strait stood in the nearly-empty arena thumbing his Merle Haggard Signature Telecaster, contemplating his set list for the night. As his Ace in the Hole Band ran through selections from the man the Dallas Morning News dubbed as “the most influential genre artist of the last 30 years,” BMI Icon Award winner and longtime collaborator and friend of Strait’s, Dean Dillon, sat in for the rehearsal, almost as if an extension of the tight-knit, 11-piece backing band for the King of Country. For those few witnesses in the soon-to-be-at-capacity, less-than-a-year-old arena, it was a sign of what was to come – a night where Strait’s smooth vocals spotlighted the poignant writing and influencers that have contributed to his storied career  – one that has amassed 60 No. 1 singles and counting. 

As the arena filled to capacity, the energy was palpable. With nearly five months since his last show, Strait’s fans were brimming with anticipation. Seemingly appropriate, he met their excitement and kicked off the night with “Here For A Good Time,” a song Strait penned with  Dillon and his son Bubba that became Strait’s first No. 1 as a songwriter.

“You have no idea how good your voices sound tonight,” Strait commented before taking a detour just a few songs in to pay tribute to one of his biggest influences, Merle Haggard, again enlisting the telecaster he teased in rehearsal. “I’m going to play a few songs from someone who was my musical hero and probably the reason I’m standing on this stage right now…” Strait shared before playing a medley of “Mama Tried,” “Workin’ Man Blues” and “My Life’s Been Grand.”

Next, Strait pulled up two wooden stools and invited the man with whom he shares 55 songs with, Dillon, up to the stage, only insisting he sit adjacent to him this time and share the spotlight and tales. The pair swapped memories – and praise for each other – while the crowd relished in their storied exchange.

“I’ll never forget. A buddy of mine pulled his car up on the sidewalk on Music Row one day playing George Strait [in the car stereo] and asked, ‘who does he sound like?’,” shared Dillon. “I said, ‘well, I think he’s got his own thing.’ We had this thing; we just wrote and was gonna pitch to Johnny Paycheck, but he was in jail, and so instead we pitched it to George. And that song was ‘Unwound,’” Dillon continued, candidly revealing the song’s origin while grinning. “I don’t get nervous [saying that] until I’m sitting up here with the King of Country Music.”

Strait was quick to return the admiration, “That’s nice of you to say that, but I’m a bit nervous up here with you! I’ve been really fortunate to write some songs with Dean, and hopefully we’ll do that some more,” he said while smiling at his friend. With that, they traded verses while performing “Honky Tonk Crazy” and “Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her” before Dillon left the stage to a standing ovation.

Strait retired the stools after those two songs with Dillon and went into the latter part of his 30+ song set before reinvigorating the crowd with a four-song encore that closed with his hit from 1984, “The Cowboy Rides Away.”

For an artist with so many celebrated successes and hits, it was clear from tonight’s show that Strait’s focus right now is on the craft, the songs and the stories. For the five-time Entertainer of the Year, it was a chance to celebrate his influences as well as look ahead to some things he’s yet to say. For the 17,000+ crowd, it was a night they won’t soon forget.

Vince Gill, Kacey Musgraves and Chris Stapleton shared the same stage in a songwriters’ round with James Taylor and Joe Walsh Tuesday night (September 27th) for the Country Music Hall of Fame’s All For the Hall Los Angeles benefit.

Me & my new friend, Mr. James Taylor. ❤️ Tonight was indescribable. #AllForTheHall pic.twitter.com/CjK3TzBBDd

— KACEY MUSGRAVES (@KaceyMusgraves) September 28, 2016

Since Darius Rucker performs a lot of shows, he doesn’t get to see a lot during his downtime. However, he made an exception the other night to catch the Violent Femmes.

Don't go to alot of shows but couldn't miss the @violentfemmes!!!! pic.twitter.com/xqvVGIUR2i

— Darius Rucker (@dariusrucker) September 28, 2016

The  members of Lady Antebellum are currently in Los Angeles, staying in the same house and writing songs for their upcoming project.

Doing some writing out in LA all in the same house again. Can't wait for y'all to hear these songs! -ck pic.twitter.com/fVUEC89gqA

— Lady Antebellum (@ladyantebellum) September 28, 2016

Brothers Osborne‘s “Stay a Little Longer” helped The Voice contestant Josh Gallagher get picked by Blake Shelton.

Ahhh just heard this on the @NBCTheVoice @brothersosborne!! pic.twitter.com/EreKtgWFum

— Rachel Pixton (@RachiePix5) September 28, 2016

Speaking of TJ and John Osborne, the two have recorded a video urging folks to register to vote. Check it out below.