Chris Stapleton is the number-one name on Billboard's year-end chart of 2016's Top Country Artists. The list combines results from the Hot Country Songs chart, album sales, touring revenue, Social 50 chart activity and ringtone sales. Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett and Carrie Underwood round out the top 5 respectively.
Chris Stapleton's Traveller is also the best-selling album of 2016. Also making the year-end list are Joey and Rory’s “Hymns” at #2, Blake Shelton’s “If I’m Honest” at #3, Carrie Underwood’s “Storyteller” at #4 and Sam Hunt’s “Montevallo” is at #5.
Thursday, 12/8
Tim and Faith help out with Christmas...
Alan Jackson is back to touring in 2017...
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill made Christmas a little easier for some families in Florida.
They paid off $5000 in layaway bills for random Walmart customers. Tim and Faith sent Tim's mother Betty into a Jacksonville-area store to do the deed.
Each paid receipt came in a Christmas card with holiday wishes from the McGraws.
Alan Jackson will hit the road again in 2017. He unveiled his Honky Tonk Highway Tour, on which he will be touring the country for the better part of the new year.
The tour will see the legend playing arena and ampitheatre shows, as well as several festivals. Lee Ann Womack will join the him on select dates. The 2017 Honky Tonk Highway Tour kicks off on Jan. 20 in Tulsa, Okla., and runs through October. While currently only 13 cities have been announced, Alan promises more dates to be added in the coming weeks.
Wednesday, 12/7
Maren Morris earns 4 Grammy nominations...
Maren Morris is getting Grammy love this year -- she scored four nominations, including the all-genre Best New Artist award. She's also up for Best Solo Country Performance and Best Country Song for "My Church," and Best Country Album for Hero.
Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Brandy Clark and Sturgill Simpson pick up two apiece. Miranda is up for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for "Vice." Keith gets nods for Best Country Solo Performance for "Blue Ain't Your Color" and Best Country Album for Ripcord. Brandy takes her place in the Best Country Solo Performance category for "Love Can Go to Hell," as well as in the Best Country Album category for Big Day in a Small Town."
Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Brothers Osborne, Kelsea Ballerini, Kenny Chesney, Chris Young and Cassadee Pope, Thomas Rhett and Loretta Lynn have one nomination each.
The 59th annual Grammy Awards, hosted by James Corden, will air live from Los Angeles on February 12th on CBS.
Tuesday, 12/6
Florida Georgia Line is back at #1...
Garth Brooks has lots of albums in the Top 10...
The boys of Florida Georgia Line and Tim McGraw are busy celebrating yet another number-one hit, after "May We All" peaked at the top of the Mediabase Country Airplay chart over the weekend.
"May We All" nabbed the top spot from Brett Young's "Sleep Without You." Tim is in the top-10 on the chart twice. "How I'll Always Be" is at number-six this week.
Garth Brooks holds three places in the Top 10 on the Top Country Albums of the Week chart.
The Ultimate Hits Collection clocks in at number-one, Garth and Trisha's Christmas Together takes the number-three position, and Gunslinger comes in at number-eight.
Garth kinda did the same thing back in 1992, but instead he held the Top 3 spots on the album charts with Ropin' the Wind, No Fences and Garth Brooks.
Monday, 12/5
Tim McGraw’s new movie has a trailer...
Granger Smith was injured when he fell during a concert this weekend...
The trailer has been released for Tim McGraw's next movie, The Shack- which is an adaptation of the Christian novel by Canadian author William P. Young. Tim and Faith Hill, Lady Antebellum and Brett Eldredge all provided songs for the soundtrack. The film, which stars Sam Worthington and Octavia Spencer, will be in theaters come March.
Granger Smith was rushed to the hospital over the weekend after suffering a terrible fall during a concert performance in New Jersey.
According to a statement from his publicist, while performing he was standing on a monitor when it unexpectedly gave way, sending him plummeting from the stage, where he crashed into a metal barricade.
Granger recovered and got back onstage almost immediately, and played the rest of his set through excruciating pain. After the show, he went to hospital were he was admitted with two completely separated broken ribs, as well as a punctured and partially collapsed lung.
Despite his serious injuries, the latest reports from his doctors are encouraging, and Granger hopes to return home to his family in Texas to rest soon.