NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — George Strait is releasing a new single today. It’s called “Give It All We Got Tonight.”
He recorded the song in Nashville, and it’s the first from his upcoming album. Strait says “the song has a very unusual melody and very cool phrasing,” which is something he’s always been drawn to.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Taylor Swift better rest while she can. She’s launching the “Red” tour next year with 58 headlining shows at stadiums and arenas across the country. She’s making stops in 45 cities in 29 states and three provinces. She’ll be playing nine stadiums, including Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field, the Dallas Cowboys’ Stadium, and Detroit’s Ford Field.
The tour kicks off March 13th in Omaha, Nebraska, and runs through September.
British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is the opener for all shows. They have a duet together on Swift’s new album, “Red,” called “Everything Has Changed.”
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Taylor Swift will co-host the Grammy nominations television special.
Grammy officials say the pop star will join LL Cool J as hosts of the Dec. 5 special, airing live on CBS from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. This is the first year the nominations special has been broadcast from Music City.
Grammy officials also announced Monday that rising country star Luke Bryan has been added to the telecast as a performer, joining Maroon 5 as the only acts announced so far. More performers will be revealed at a future date.
Swift has won six Grammys. She released her latest album, “Red,” last week.
The 55th annual Grammy Awards will be held Feb. 10 in Los Angeles.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A foundation created by pop music star Lady Gaga has chosen a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor to help with its research efforts.
School psychology professor Susan Swearer will lead a research board that advises Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation on its youth empowerment and tolerance programs. Swearer will serve as chairwoman of the six-member group.
Gaga’s foundation recruited Swearer to help with its launch in February. Swearer co-directs the Bullying Research Network, which promotes cooperation among bullying and peer-victimization researchers.
CLEVELAND (AP) – Chuck Berry’s advice to young performers: “keep rocking, keep rocking.” After that, he says, “Be kind to your fans.” Berry is following his own advice, because he’s hinting even though he’s 86, he’s still got some new music. He told reporters at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland Saturday he’s got six new songs, some written 16 years ago. He says the songs may be old but they’re the kind of songs he’s known for playing. Berry says he’ll release them as soon as he finds someone to guide him. Berry was given a tribute concert Saturday that included Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run-DMC, Rick Derringer, David Johansen and Merle Haggard.
LONDON (AP) – Paul McCartney believes it’s someone besides Yoko Ono who should be blamed for the breakup of The Beatles. UK’s The Observer published an excerpt from an interview McCartney gave to David Frost in which he says Ono did not break up the band. McCartney says while he was uncomfortable with Ono sitting in on studio sessions, he feels John Lennon could not have written “Imagine” without her avant-garde influence. So who’s to blame? McCartney says it’s Allen Klein, the manager who took over after Brian Epstein died. He says Klein got them fighting with each other, and during the interview McCartney throws a mock punch at a photo of Klein.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The new number-one movie isn’t a new movie. Ben Affleck’s “Argo” climbs to the top spot — after three weeks in theaters. The story of the rescue of American hostages in Iran in the late 70s takes in nearly $12 and a-half million dollars.
“Hotel Transylvania” is second.
“Cloud Atlas” has a disappointing opening weekend. Tom Hanks and Halle Berry are among the stars. But the movie, with an estimated 100 million dollar budget, only manages a third-place debut.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say a security guard at Tom Cruise's Beverly Hills, Calif., mansion used a stun gun on a trespasser who turned out to be an intoxicated neighbor who may have mistakenly entered the property.
Police say 41-year-old Jason Sullivan was shot with a Taser at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday at the home on Calle Vista Drive. He was then treated at a hospital and arrested on suspicion of trespassing.
Police say neither Cruise nor his family were at the home when a guard saw a man climbing a fence to get onto the grounds.
A guard shocked the man and held him for police.
It wasn't immediately known if Sullivan has an attorney.
In what might be considered a country music version of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, singers Joe Diffie, Sammy Kershaw, and Aaron Tippin are currently on what they’re calling the Roots and Boots tour…and they’re bringing it to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation this Sunday…playing in the Prairie Wind Casino at 7:00.
Diffie…whose dozen #1 hits include If the Devil Danced in Empty Pockets, Pickup Man, and Third Rock From the Sun…they’ve been having a lot of fun, but admits the idea of the three of them coming together wasn’t theirs.
He says they all have the same booking agency and while each of them was looking for something different to do, someone at the agency suggested touring and singing together.
In addition to having three headliners working together, the Roots and Boots tour features Diffie, Kershaw, and Tippin working acoustically. He says both aspects…being part of a team instead of a lone wolf and using the softer acoustic sound…have been a lot of fun.
Diffie recently re-recorded 20 of his biggest hits into a CD titled The Ultimate Collection. He says there were a couple of reasons he decided to redo them instead of just re-releasing the original versions.
One dealt strictly with a business reason: he would own the new recordings and have more control over their use.
Another was to eliminate a few aspects of the originals he thinks are dated, such as a heavy use of reverberation on his songs from the early part of the 90s.
Diffie says he didn’t know if he could catch “the magic” that made the songs hits originally, but thinks the result was a good updating that’s a good representation of his hits.
As for what fans can expect Sunday night at the Roots and Boots concert at the Prairie Wind Casino, Diffie says good music and good fun with he, Tippin, and Kershaw on stage together with a lot of comradery.
Ticket prices for Sunday’s concert are $20, $30, and $40.
We talk to Joe Diffie:
(AP) — Jason Aldean says he’s “curious” about things like album sales and chart positions, but those aren’t the most important things in his career. He told a group of reporters recently that he “hasn’t even called his record company in four years.”
They probably don’t mind too much because his new album, ‘Night Train,’ debuted at the top of both Billboard’s country albums chart and its multi-genre albums chart, selling 409,303 copies its first week. Aldean wraps up his “My Kinda Party” tour this Saturday in Dallas with his annual Concert for the Cure to benefit breast cancer research. He then heads to Nashville for the CMA Awards, where he’s nominated for three trophies, including Entertainer of the Year.
