Dolly Parton's Smokey Mountain Rise telethon for the victims of the East Tennessee wildfires has so far raised $9 million.
The raised funds will help Dolly make good on her pledge to pay $1000 for six months to all of the families who lost their homes. More than 1,300 homes are said to have been destroyed in the fire which also killed 14 people.
Brad Paisley's Life Amplified tour stop filmed earlier this year in his home state of West Virginia will be available on CD and DVD on December 23rd.
The show, which was shot with 20 cameras, will also air on January 27th on PBS.
Thursday, 12/15
Maren Morris didn’t make the cut for Idol, and she’s ok with it...
Drake White to head out on his first headlining tour in 2017...
Several years ago, Maren Morris tried out for American Idol and didn't even make past the first cut. In retrospect, she's glad she didn't take the reality show route to fame.
She said, "I'm actually really happy I didn't make it onto any of the shows I tried out for because I took a much longer road, but it's on my terms now."
Drake White and his backing band The Big Fire will launch his first solo tour next year.
Drake says, “I couldn’t be more excited to get out on the road for my first headlining dates. The Big Fire and I are road warriors. We have been playing together for many years, so to be out there on our own tour is really special for us.”
He'll hit 17 cities starting in Bangor, Maine on February 2nd.
Wednesday, 12/14
Brad Paisley is extending his tour...
Florida Georgia Line had a big year with H.O.L.Y. ...
Brad Paisley has extended his Life Amplified tour into 2017 with a swing through Canada before he heads back stateside to do a few dates in Pennsylvania and New York.
He'll bring Chase Bryant and Lindsay Ell as openers on this round of dates.
Florida Georgia Line made a huge impact on the country charts this year with "H.O.L.Y." The song takes the top spot on Billboard's Top Country Songs of 2016 chart, which was compiled using airplay, sales and streaming data. "Die a Happy Man" by Thomas Rhett is at #2, "Humble and Kind" from Tim McGraw comes in at #3, "Somewhere on a Beach" by Dierks Bentley is at #4 and rounding out the top 5 is "Head Over Boots" by Jon Pardi.
Tuesday, 12/13
Reba is headed back to TV...
Old Dominion scores another #1...
Carrie Underwood went sky diving...
Reba McEntire is set to star in a new soap in development for ABC.
The untitled show is said to be Southern Gothic soap opera centered on a terrorist act in a small Kentucky town.
This will be Reba's first dramatic role. Her most recent TV series was the sitcom Malibu Country, which lasted only one season.
Old Dominion have racked up their second number-one hit with "Song for Another Time" -- which almost didn't make it onto their debut album, Meat and Candy.
Matt Ramsey said, "We wrote that after we thought we were done with the album, and we were kind of pitching it to a couple different artists and the more people passed on it the more we were falling more and more in love with the song."
Carrie Underwood's concert tour of Australia took an adventurous turn when she went skydiving in Sydney. Fearless Carrie posted photos of her dive on social media along with the caption, "I can't believe I did this!"
Monday, 12/12
Country stars join the tribute to Randy Travis...
Dolly Parton’s TV movie to air again...
Country stars including Alabama, Kenny Rogers and Josh Turner will take the stage at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on February 8th to pay tribute to one of their heroes, Randy Travis.
Also on the bill for the Heroes and Friends Tribute are Rodney Atkins, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, Michael Ray, Ricky Skaggs, Michael W. Smith, The Randy Travis Band and Tanya Tucker.
Proceeds from the night benefit the Randy Travis Foundation, which raises money for stroke research and rehabilitation.
Dolly Parton’s TV movie, Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love, was such a success that NBC is set to re-air the special the day before Christmas Eve.
The TV film starring Jennifer Nettles and Ricky Schroder as Dolly’s mother and father drew more than 11 million people to the network. It also marked the highest-rated Wednesday night of the 2016-2017 television season for NBC when it originally aired on Nov. 30. Its second showing will take place on Dec. 23.