There are not many people who would pay a thousand bucks just to lose a poker game, although when the guy across the table is Willie freakin’ Nelson, you would be a fool not to ante up. Billy Strings did exactly that. The Grammy-winning bluegrass phenom found himself seated in a decades-old poker game with … Read more
You know the performance is legendary when, the moment it happened, the industry didn’t know whether to cheer or flinch. The year was 1999, and country music was at a crossroads. Pop-country acts were beginning to dominate the charts, pushing the fiddles and steel guitars farther and farther into the shadows. But right when Music … Read more
Some diamonds shine brighter because of the love behind them. When you think about Dolly Parton, you probably picture rhinestones, big hair, and even bigger vocals. But behind all that sparkle and glamour was a simple love story that started at a Nashville laundromat and lasted nearly six decades. Dolly and Carl Dean kept their … Read more
Only Luke Combs could roll into the CMAs without taking home a single award and still walk out as the most talked-about artist in the room. All he had to do was show up wearing a piece of American music history. While most fans and photographers were glued to the red carpet watching who wore … Read more
This one felt like buttered cornbread and a record spinning slow on a back porch in summer. Chris Stapleton and Miranda Lambert did not just perform “A Song to Sing” at the 2025 CMA Awards. They made it church. They made it groove. And they made sure country fans got a taste of something timeless. … Read more
Sometimes the most powerful moments at the CMA Awards have nothing to do with the spotlight and everything to do with the heart behind it. At the 2024 CMA Awards, Chris Stapleton might have walked away with a handful of trophies, but what truly stopped the room cold was not the music or the accolades … Read more
Sometimes, what you do not see at the CMAs tells you more than what you do. Country music’s rowdiest night rolled on without two of its biggest names, and it was loud in all the wrong ways. Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, the genre-bending, PDA-loving power couple, were nowhere to be found at the 2025 … Read more
On November 21, 1987, Merle Haggard released a song that would quietly mark the end of an era. It was called “Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star,” and it would go on to become his 38th and final Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. For the man who gave us “Okie from Muskogee,” “Mama … Read more
Well, well, well. It looks like the tabloids just picked the wrong country boy to mess with. Billy Ray Cyrus may have made a career out of singing about achy breaky hearts, but lately, it is the internet that has been trying to break his spirit. Between his whirlwind split from Firerose and his curveball … Read more
The streak is over, and the boys from Alabama ended it with a prayer and a punch. It is official now. The Red Clay Strays just shut down Old Dominion’s seven-year reign and walked off with the 2025 CMA Vocal Group of the Year trophy in hand. They earned it. If you had asked fans … Read more
Jelly Roll just revealed a face the world has not seen in over a decade. The man who has spent the last few years rewriting the rulebook on what country stardom looks like now has the cleanest jawline on Broadway, and fans cannot stop talking about it. On November 20, Jelly Roll, whose real name … Read more
Nothing says “country chaos” quite like Ernest casually torching the room with the most honest quote of CMA week. When Taste of Country asked Ernest who he thought should win Entertainer of the Year at the 2025 CMA Awards, the expectation was predictable. He and Morgan Wallen are practically musical blood brothers, with hits like … Read more
Zach Top might have just become the new face of neotraditional country, and he did it with a cold Coors Banquet in hand. The 2025 CMA Awards reminded us why country music is finally feeling like country again, and one of the most unforgettable moments of the night came when Zach Top walked on stage, … Read more
Sometimes, one voice and one spotlight is all it takes to shake an entire arena. Stephen Wilson Jr. might not have walked away with a trophy at the 2025 CMA Awards, but he left with something better. He walked off that stage with the crowd on their feet, goosebumps still lingering in the air, and … Read more
A song written as a joke in a bowl of spaghetti writing session just made CMA and ACM history. “you look like you love me” by Ella Langley and Riley Green capped off its run by taking home seven awards across two of country music’s biggest stages. What started as a playful and half-serious idea … Read more
You know it is a big night in country music when King George Strait walks onstage without a guitar in his hands. The 2025 CMA Awards gave fans plenty of moments to talk about, but none more meaningful than Vince Gill receiving the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. The moment hit even harder because the … Read more
The seats were filled, the lights were bright, but something felt missing at the 2025 CMA Awards. When the biggest night in country music rolled through Nashville this November, the red carpet may have looked the part, and Lainey Wilson brought the fire as host, but the energy inside Bridgestone Arena told another story. Not … Read more
The boots hit the floor, and country music never looked back. Lainey Wilson just claimed the 2025 CMA Entertainer of the Year award, and it felt more like destiny than a surprise. This win was not just a victory lap. It was a coronation. The kind you earn with grit, heart, and a streak of … Read more
Who will dominate the 2025 CMA Awards? The 59th CMAs are lighting up Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, and Lainey Wilson has the mic, the swagger, and six nominations to match. She is tied with Megan Moroney and Ella Langley at the front of the pack, which already signals where 2025 country lives. It lives in … Read more
Country’s biggest streaming story now has three chrome-plated receipts. Morgan Wallen just did what no other country act has done on Spotify. He crossed the billion-stream mark with three different songs, and the trio tells the whole arc of his rise. “Whiskey Glasses,” the barroom gut-punch that first kicked open radio doors. “Last Night,” the … Read more
Country lit the fuse, and the internet did the rest. Over the weekend, Keith Urban climbed on a small stage at Mar-a-Lago and worked through a loose medley that folded Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” into Bob Marley’s “Is This Love,” then slid into his own “You’ll Think of Me.” The private party took place … Read more
A simple song leveled a nation. The 2001 CMA Awards landed on November 7, less than two months after 9/11, when every living room in America still felt like a church pew. The plan was for Alan Jackson to sing his current single “Where I Come From.” The plan changed. Ten days earlier, Alan woke … Read more
Country fans have long memories, and nothing proved that more than the chaos that hit the CMA Awards in 2016. It was supposed to be a night that honored fifty years of country music, and for the most part, it started that way. Reba, Alan Jackson, Vince Gill, and others delivered the kind of performances … Read more
Some friendships in country music are just too rowdy for the front row. Word around the Bridgestone Arena is that Miranda Lambert and Ashley McBryde, two of country’s most unapologetically real women, are apparently not allowed to sit together at the CMA Awards anymore. The reason is simple. When these two get together, they turn … Read more
Bobby Bones did not ask for a dance floor legacy, but somehow he found himself at the center of one of the most talked-about wins in Dancing with the Stars‘ history. In 2018, the country radio personality and host surprised just about everyone when he won Season 27 of the glitzy ballroom competition. With partner … Read more
Brett Favre just entered the halftime show debate like he is throwing a bullet across the middle in the fourth quarter. With the NFL recently announcing Bad Bunny as the headliner for Super Bowl LX’s halftime show, reactions have ranged from fired-up excitement to straight-up disbelief. While no one questions Bad Bunny’s global popularity, the … Read more
Leave it to Dolly Parton to turn a quiet video acceptance into one of the most unforgettable moments in Oscar history. Dolly Parton has done a lot of things in her life, but on November 16, 2025, she added one more jewel to her crown when she finally snagged herself an Oscar. And she didn’t … Read more
Country music was never quite the same after this. On November 17, 1998, Garth Brooks released an album that did not just shake up the country charts but cracked the entire music industry wide open. Double Live, a two-disc recording from his massive 1996 to 1998 world tour, did not just sell, it exploded. In … Read more
Faith Hill meant to make people laugh, but she accidentally created one of the wildest CMA moments the internet will never let go of. The 2006 CMA Awards were already shaping up to be a big night. Carrie Underwood had exploded onto the scene after winning American Idol the year before, back when that show … Read more
Even country superstars have awkward first kiss stories, and Morgan Wallen’s might just take the cake. Country stars are full of stories, but some of the best come out when they are just shootin’ the breeze like a bunch of high school buddies sitting on a front porch. That is exactly what happened when Morgan … Read more