During an appearance on Friday Night Takeover with Rob + Holly, Keith Urban reflected on his recent performance at Opry 100, while also discussing his latest album, HIGH, and his forthcoming new TV series with Blake Shelton, The Road. Urban said that it was a unique experience singing one of Crystal Gayle's hits in front of the legendary singer at the Opry’s 100th anniversary celebration. "They asked me to do a song from one of the Opry members, and then one of my own songs," Urban recalled. "For some reason I just thought about Crystal Gayle, and I was like, 'oh, I might do 'Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.' I love that song, and, so I did it and they invited Crystal to be in the audience. It's a little intimidating. It's very strange when the artist is sitting in the audience watching you play their song." Urban also shared his excitement about his upcoming music competition reality show, The Road, which is set to premiere on CBS in fall 2025.

Photo:  Riley Mau

Chris Stapleton and festival co-founder Tyler Childers have been announced as the headliners for the 2025 edition of Healing Appalachia, which bills itself as “the largest recovery-based music festival.” The event is relocating to eastern Kentucky after five years in West Virginia, and is set to take place at “a mountaintop near the Boyd County Fairgrounds” in Ashland on September 19-20. Both Childers and Stapleton are native Kentuckyans, making this somewhat of a hometown show for both country stars. The festival aims to raise addiction and recovery awareness, while highlighting empathy and inspiring life-saving action globally. Attendance at the annual festival has grown significantly since it first started, attracting top artists like Jason Isbell, Margo Price, and last year’s headliner, My Morning Jacket. Funds raised by the festival support various life-saving programs across Appalachia and beyond. Tickets are available for purchase, with general admission at $199 for adults and $25 for children, and VIP passes at an early-bird price of $650. 

Pic: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Brad Paisley has been announced as the headliner for the NFL Draft Concert Series on April 26, which will bring an end to the 2025 NFL Draft held in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Paisley will perform at the Draft Theater near historic Lambeau Field, offering fans a free concert following Round 7 of the draft. “There’s nothing like football to bring people together, and the NFL Draft is where it all begins,” Paisley said in a statement. “As a lifelong fan, I can’t wait to help close out an unforgettable weekend—with a little music and one heck of a party.” The concert series will also feature a drone show on April 25, that will pay homage to the draft's history and the legacy of the Packers legendary football field. Paisley joins past performers at NFL Draft events including Kings of Leon, Marshmello, Ice Cube, and Fall Out Boy, and the country singer is getting set to launch his headlining Truck Still Works World Tour on May 21. 

On Wednesday (April 16), Morgan Wallen announced the track list for his highly-anticipated fourth album, I'm the Problem. The country star revealed that there are a total of 37 songs on his upcoming record, which is due out May 16 via Big Loud / Mercury. The project includes an impressive list of special guest collaborators, including pop singer Tate McRae – Wallen’s first female duet partner – along with fellow country stars Eric Church, HARDY, ERNEST, and Post Malone. Wallen, whose last album, 2023's One Thing at a Time, spent 19-weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, co-wrote 22 songs on the new record, which includes the previous shared singles, “Lies Lies Lies,” “Love Somebody,” (which debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 in October), “Smile,” the title track (which landed at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs), and “Just in Case.” Wallen’s newest collaboration with Post Malone, “I Ain’t Comin’ Back,” was released on Friday (April 18). Wallen’s I'm the Problem Tour is scheduled to begin on June 20 at Houston’s NRG Stadium, and will conclude in September with four dates in Canada. 

Jackson Dean, known for his high-energy live performances, will be releasing his new single "Be Your Man" on May 9. The country rocker's intense stage presence, highlighted by moments of pushing himself to the point of blacking out, has fueled his successful career following his 2022 chart-topping debut single, "Don't Come Lookin'." With a distinct voice and songs reflecting a restless spirit, Dean stands out in the crowded country music scene. Embracing a truth-telling approach in his music, he has steadily built his fan base and garnered critical acclaim with albums like Greenbroke and On The Back Of My Dreams. Dean is currently on tour in Europe, and will soon return to the US for a series of summer festivals across the country. The rising country star remains focused on maintaining his momentum with the promise of new, more "groovy" music on the horizon while cherishing the addictive thrill he finds in performing live. “I want to make music ‘till I’m dead,” Dean says. 

Chart-topping Nashville country duo LOCASH recently joined Rob + Holly on the Friday Night Takeover to discuss their forthcoming album, Bet The Farm, which is set to be released on Friday (April 18). LOCASH members Chris Lucas and Preston Brust shared insight into their highly-anticiapted new record, which features their current hit single, “Hometown Home,” that spent multiple weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. The pair shared stories about the famous people they have run into lately, from the President to Richard Marx. The humorous musicians talked about the making of the album, and shared some of the incredible moments that they have experienced on their way to country stardom. Bet The Farm is LOCASH’s first full-length album since 2019, and is coming out on their own record label, Galaxy Label Group, in partnership with BMG. 

Zach Bryan recently took to his Instagram Stories to salute Bon Iver's latest album, SABLE, fABLE, expressing his admiration for the project that was released on April 11 to praise from fans and critics alike. Noteworthy for his consistent support of music he appreciates, the country superstar revealed that he has “Been with the record for a few days.” Bryan went on to gush about his overwhelmingly positive response to the record as well as Bon Iver’s mastermind, Justin Vernon. “I'm so proud to be alive when u are @boniver” he wrote. Bryan and Vernon have collaborated together in the past, with the duo joining forces on the title-track from the country singer’s celebrated 2023 Boys of Faith EP. With Bryan preparing to release a new EP and full-length album at some point in 2025, fans are hoping for another potential collaboration between the two award-winning songwriters sometime in the future. 

CMA

Information from CMA Press Release

During Thomas Rhett’s surprise appearance at Forrest Frank's sold-out show at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on Sunday night (April 13), the country star ended up leaving the stage in a wheelchair due to a severe injury. As Frank began performing his hit collaboration with the eight-time ACM Award winner, “Nothing Else,” he asked the crowd, “I can’t sing Thomas Rhett’s verse, can I?” While the crowd cheered, a spotlight shone on Rhett sitting in the crowd, who fell as he ran down the steps toward the stage, resulting in a broken ankle. Despite the mishap, Rhett pushed through the pain to deliver an energetic performance of the duo’s hit – which reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart – with fans unaware of his discomfort as he powered through the song. In a video shared on Instagram, Rhett made light of the incident as his wife, Lauren, pushes him in a wheelchair backstage. “@hiforrest told me to pull up and I left in a wheelchair,” Rhett humorously captioned his post. 

On Tuesday (April 15), Morgan Wallen and Post Malone announced the release date of their newest collaboration, “I Ain’t Comin’ Back,” which is due out this Friday (April 18). The country superstars are aiming to replicate their chart-topping success of their previous collaboration, “I Had Some Help,” which ruled at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks back in 2024. Anticipation is building as Wallen prepares for the upcoming release of his eagerly awaited new album, I’m the Problem, on May 16, which features the hit singles “Lies Lies Lies,” “Just in Case,” and “Love Somebody,” followed by a stadium tour this summer. Post Malone just played a triumphant headline set at Coachella on Sunday (April 13), and is set to do it again next weekend. Posty has already “made probably 35 songs” from his next country music project, and will launch his Big Ass Stadium Tour with Jelly Roll on April 29 in Salt Lake City. 

Photo from Instagram

North Carolina native Eric Church continues his commitment to aid in the area’s recovery from Hurricane Helene as he helped break ground on a new housing development named Blue Haven on Friday (April 11). The project aims to provide 45 energy-efficient homes for displaced families, with Church's nonprofit Chief Cares contributing to covering housing costs for three years. “Dignity and community are key to the long-term success of the blueprint," Church says, while calling the project “a generational shift in a response to a generational disaster like Helene.” North Carolina Governor Josh Stein also took part in the groundbreaking, and emphasized the tangible hope such initiatives bring to a community that has endured significant loss. The goal is to have families moving into Blue Haven by the end of summer, marking a pivotal milestone in the region's recovery from the hurricane. “We’re attempting something that has never been done, but it has the potential to affect the lives of so many — and we’re doing it together,” Church said. 

Ahead of Post Malone’s headlining set at Coachella on Sunday (April 13), the music superstar opened up to Billboard about the new material he’s working on. Posty reveals that he’s already made two trips down to Nashville, and that he’s “made probably 35 songs,” while promising “we’ll have some music releasing very, very soon.” “I’m pretty excited for the new record already,” Post says. The new project will again be a country album, like his chart-topping 2024 record, F-1 Trillion, which debuted atop the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts, and ultimately earned Post an Album of the Year nomination at the upcoming Academy of Country Music Awards. “It was so fun to make,” Post says of F-1 Trillion. “I think finally bringing the fun back into what I was doing really showed on the record. And I think a lot of folks had fun listening to it. And we’re going to attempt to do it again. I’m excited to keep going.” 

Jason Aldean claims his 40th Top 10 hit on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “Whiskey Drink” climbs three spots to reach No. 8. The song is lifted from Aldean’s 2023 album, Highway Desperado, which was the singer’s 12th career Top 10 on the Top Country Albums chart. He also secures his first simultaneous Top 10 as his collaboration with John Morgan, “Friends Like That,” reaches a Country Airplay peak of No. 4. Also on this week’s chart, Megan Moroney earns her second career Top 10 with “Am I Okay?,” which follows “Lucky,” which hit No. 10 in May 2023. Moroney’s current hit single is the title track from her recent album, which entered the Top Country Albums chart at its No. 3 peak last July. Meanwhile, LOCASH celebrates a career-high second week at No. 1 on Country Airplay with “Hometown Home.” The duo of Preston Brust and Chris Lucas previously topped the chart with “I Know Somebody” for one week in October 2016.

During a recent interview with the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, Vince Gill discussed audience behavior at his concerts, noting that the preference for standing or sitting varies by location and the type of song being performed. "A lot of it is people pay so much money for those seats that the last thing they want to do is have somebody standing up in front of them and they can't see the show," Gill explained. "There's times where everybody's rocking and everybody gets up, and it's fine. All those sweet little ballads and stuff, it's not the time to do that.” The 67-year-old country superstar emphasized the importance of getting some response from an audience, whether they are sitting or standing. "When you're performing, all you want all you want people to do is respond," he said. Gill is currently on tour throughout 2025, with upcoming shows scheduled in Las Vegas (with Eagles), followed by a series of solo appearances in Nashville, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, and New York City.