Country music chart-topper artist, Granger Smith, will perform an upcoming episode of ABC’s The Bachelorette. The episode will feature a special one-on-one date during a Granger Smith concert with the newest Bachelorette, Becca Kufrin, and one of the men vying for her heart.
Smith serenaded the couple with his hit single “Happens Like That,” a song based on his own true, personal love story. The crowd erupted as Becca walked in with her beau and Smith delivered the fitting tune with all the energy and showmanship his fans know and love. The episode of The Bachelorette, currently celebrating its 14th season,is scheduled to air Monday, June 18TH, 2018, at 8/7c, on ABC.
The loudest night in country music kicked it up a notch as the biggest stars in the genre and beyond took on Nashville for the “2018 CMT Music Awards.”
In a night of firsts, Blake Shelton won his first-ever Video of the Year Award for “I’ll Name The Dogs;” Little Big Town hosted for the first-time; and Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Florida Georgia Line, Kelly Clarkson, Little BigTown, Sam Hunt and Backstreet Boys seized the moment to debut new music for the first-time anywhere. A slew of new artists walked away with their first buckles, including Dan + Shay (Duo Video of the Year), Carly Pearce (Breakthrough Video of the Year), Kane Brown (Collaborative Video of the Year with Lauren Alaina), Backstreet Boys (CMT Performance of the Year with Florida Georgia Line) and Ludacris (Female Video of the Year with Carrie Underwood). Carly Pearce and Kane Brown won the first awards of their careers. Carrie Underwood’s win for “Female Video of the Year” extends her record for most “CMT Music Awards” wins with a grand total of 18.
Following is a complete list of winners for the 2018 CMT Music Awards.
VIDEO OF THE YEAR Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line – “Meant To Be” Blake Shelton – “I’ll Name The Dogs” – WINNER Brett Young – “Mercy” Brothers Osborne – “It Ain’t My Fault” Carrie Underwood feat. Ludacris – “The Champion” Dan + Shay – “Tequila” Jason Aldean – “You Make It Easy” Justin Timberlake feat. Chris Stapleton – “Say Something” Kane Brown feat. Lauren Alaina – “What Ifs” Kelsea Ballerini – “Legends” Luke Combs – “When It Rains It Pours” Thomas Rhett – “Marry Me”
MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR Blake Shelton – “I’ll Name The Dogs” – WINNER Dustin Lynch – “Small Town Boy” Jason Aldean – “You Make It Easy” Jon Pardi – “Heartache On The Dance Floor” Luke Bryan – “Light It Up” Thomas Rhett – “Marry Me”
FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR Carly Pearce – “Every Little Thing” Carrie Underwood feat. Ludacris – “The Champion” – WINNER Kelsea Ballerini – “Legends” Lauren Alaina – “Doin’ Fine” Maren Morris – “I Could Use A Love Song” Miranda Lambert – “Tin Man” From 2017 ACM Awards
DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR Big & Rich – “California” Brothers Osborne – “It Ain’t My Fault” Dan + Shay – “Tequila” – WINNER Florida Georgia Line – “Smooth” High Valley – “She’s With Me” Tim McGraw & Faith Hill – “Speak To A Girl”
GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR Lady Antebellum – “You Look Good” LANco – “Greatest Love Story” Little Big Town – “When Someone Stops Loving You” – WINNER Midland – “Make A Little” Old Dominion – “No Such Thing As A Broken Heart” Rascal Flatts – “Yours If You Want It” Zac Brown Band – “My Old Man”
BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR Carly Pearce – “Every Little Thing” – WINNER Danielle Bradbery – “Sway” Devin Dawson – “All On Me” LANco – “Greatest Love Story” Russell Dickerson – “Yours” Walker Hayes – “You Broke Up With Me”
COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line – “Meant To Be” Carrie Underwood feat. Ludacris – “The Champion” Cole Swindell feat. Dierks Bentley – “Flatliner” Justin Timberlake feat. Chris Stapleton – “Say Something” Kane Brown feat. Lauren Alaina – “What Ifs” – WINNER Thomas Rhett feat. Maren Morris – “Craving You”
CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR From 2017 CMT Artists of the Year: Andra Day, Common, Little Big Town, Lee Ann Womack and Danielle Bradbery – “Stand Up For Something” From CMT Crossroads: Backstreet Boys and Florida Georgia Line – “Everybody” – WINNER From 2017 CMT Music Awards: Charles Kelley, Jason Aldean, Darius Rucker and Derek Trucks – “Midnight Rider” From CMT Crossroads: Earth, Wind & Fire and Lady Antebellum – “September” From 2017 CMT Artists of the Year: Jason Aldean, Keith Urban, Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town – “I Won’t Back Down” From 2017 CMT Music Awards: Keith Urban feat. Carrie Underwood – “The Fighter”
The Country Music Association has announced Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini will return for a second year as hosts of “CMA Fest,” the three-hour special that brings Country Music’s Ultimate Fan Experience to a national television audience. “CMA Fest” airs Wednesday, Aug. 8 at 8/7c on the ABC Television Network and is executive produced by Robert Deaton.
“This year’s CMA Fest is our biggest yet, with many artists debuting full festival sets on the Nissan Stadium stage,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “We’re thrilled once again to broadcast ‘CMA Fest’ and bring the festival to millions of Country Music fans not only here in the U.S. but all around the world.”
“Thomas and Kelsea are the embodiment of the summer fun that is CMA Fest, and we are so excited they’ll be back for year two,” said Rob Mills, ABC Entertainment Senior Vice President, Alternative Series, Specials & Late-Night Programming.
Filmed during Nashville’s annual CMA Fest Thursday through Sunday, June 7-10, the television special features more than 25 of Country Music’s biggest names as they hit the stage during the four-day event. 2018 marks the 15th consecutive year of the broadcast, a feat no other U.S. music festival has achieved. Last year’s broadcast of “CMA Fest” achieved three-year ratings highs.
Thomas Rhett returns to host “CMA Fest” for a third year, first hosting the special in 2016. Ballerini will perform at Nissan Stadium Saturday, June 9, in addition to appearing as Artist of the Day at Xfinity Fan Fair X Sunday, June 10. A limited number of four-day tickets for the nightly concerts at Nissan Stadium, which also includes four-day access to Xfinity Fan Fair X, are still available at CMAfest.com/tickets or through the CMA Box Office at 1-800-CMA-FEST.
Cold River Records’ Drew Baldridge and his philanthropic mission to use his music platform for the greater good just hit a high note. Announced earlier this week, the country music up-and-comer has chosen W.O Smith Music School as the WERD of the Month. All proceeds from the WERD t-shirts sold in the month of June will benefit Nashville’s longstanding music school. Visit www.drewbaldridgemusic.com/werd for more information.
Inspired from his addition to the all-star line-up for the Eight Annual “Music City Gives Back” concert on June 4 that will benefit the W.O. Smith Music School, Baldridge decided to “give back” all month long. He explains, “I truly believe in the power of music and for children, the lessons they learn from creating music can be life-changing. The mission of the W.O. Smith Music School is not just important for our community, but also for developing our youth. I am excited to raise some funds and give back to the kids here in Nashville.”
“We are very thankful for Drew’s support and to be the recipient of the Werd of the Month donations,” says Jonah Rabinowitz, Executive Director, W.O. Smith Music School. “For the students at W.O. Smith, weekly lessons provide more than music instruction. The consistent dedication from teachers, families, and staff create community. Drew’s generosity will help W.O. Smith with essential resources to provide a place where our community can come together to make music.”
Founded in 1984, W.O. Smith Music School makes affordable, quality music instruction available to children from low-income families. The school serves over 650 children annually in the Metropolitan Nashville area. Students are provided with an instrument of their choosing, a volunteer teaching artist, and any necessary musical materials for their studies. For more information on the school, visit http://www.wosmith.org/.
Later this week, fans can catch Baldridge perform on the Chevy Breakout Stage at the Walk of Fame Park on Thursday, June 7 at 11:50am, with an autograph signing to follow, as well as at 2:00pm signing inside Fan Fair X. The Patoka, IL., native will then travel north for the Taste of Country 2018 music festival in downtown Lansing, MI.
CMT Music Award nominees and performers Dan + Shay(Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney) shared the brand new song “Alone Together” (LISTEN HERE) as their current and fastest-rising country radio single “Tequila” arrives inside the Top 10 with over 100 million on-demand streams. “Alone Together” is the fourth new track released from their upcoming self-titled LP due June 22 via Warner Bros. Records/Warner Music Nashville (PRE-ORDER HERE).
This comes as the music video for “Speechless,” another recently released new song and a favorite by fellow artist Demi Lovato, surpasses 2.5 million YouTube views and approaches 3 million on-demand streams in just under two weeks. Currently featured on The Knot (READ HERE), “Speechless” was inspired by both Smyers and Mooney’s recent weddings, using actual footage for the accompanying music video.
Praised by Billboard, as “ambitious” and “multi-layered,” “Tequila” is currently nominated for Video of the Year and Duo Video of the Year at the 2018 CMT Music Awards and has tallied 20 million video views. Performing the song at both the 53rdACM Awards (WATCH) and ELLEN earlier this year (WATCH), the global hit continues to gain momentum, earning coveted slots on multiple playlists including Spotify’s Global Viral 50.
All four tracks from their forthcoming album – “Tequila,” “All to Myself,” “Speechless” and “Alone Together” – have earned a spot on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist upon release.
With their self-titled third studio album due out in less than one month, Dan + Shay are treating fans to an exclusive preview party during CMA Music Fest. The duo will host a select number of fans at their Warner Music Nashville label home on Thursday, June 7 to listen to never-before-heard songs, hear behind-the-music stories and hang with the guys before they perform at Nissan Stadium later that evening. Tickets to the event are available on their website (PURCHASE HERE). The Platinum-selling duo, performing on TODAY’s Summer Concert Series June 25, will be out on the road with Rascal Flatts for their “Back To Us” Tour through the summer.
DAN + SHAY TRACK LIST: 1. “Alone Together” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Jesse Frasure, Hillary Lindsey) 2. “Tequila” (Dan Smyers, Jordan Reynolds, Nicolle Galyon) 3. “What Keeps You Up At Night” (Jordan Reynolds, Jordan Minton, Chase Foster) 4. “All To Myself” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Jordan Reynolds, Nicolle Galyon) 5. “Keeping Score” feat. Kelly Clarkson (Dan Smyers, Jordan Reynolds, Laura Veltz) 6. “Make or Break” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Emily Weisband, Jordan Reynolds) 7. “Speechless” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Jordan Reynolds, Laura Veltz) 8. “Stupid Love” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Jgon Nite, David Hodges) 9. “No Such Thing” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Matt Dragstrem, David Lee Murphy) 10. “My Side of the Fence” (Shay Mooney, Benjy Davis) 11. “Island Time” (Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, Andy Albert, Jimmy Robbins)
