BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS

TAYLOR SWIFT WINS BIGGEST BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS

TAYLOR SWIFT won the first award of the night for Top Album Artist of the year,Country Artist of the Year and later the final a biggest award of the night, TOP ARTIST OF THE YEAR.

She said, “I’m just having the best time doing this. I want to thank Country Radio and the fans for letting me do what a love more than anything in the world, thank you!”

Taylor added, “I want to thank my family, my mother, father and my brother...and the fans that  go out and buy albums.”



LADY ANTEBELLUM won Country Song of the Year for “Need You Now.”
 Lady A said, “Thank you so much to Billboard, thank you so much to Country Radio for playing our songs..and all the fans, thank you, you changed out lives.”


KEITH URBAN PERFORMS ON BB AWARDS

With wife, Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban was on hand for the 2011 Billboard Music Awards. Urban performed his 2010 single "Long Hot Summer," which has so far been released in only Canada and Australia.
Not only was he rocking the guitar for "Summer," but in one of the funnier bits of the night, Urban had a little dueling banjos moment with Billboard host Ken Jeong. Urban showed off not only the infamous dueling banjos song, but also a little "Stairway to Heaven" and several other songs, if you were listening closely.


PAISLEY’S NEW ALBUM OUT 
Brad Paisley’s label says he’s put a lot of creative thought into how he made his new album...question, when has ever NOT done that?   For This Is Country Music Brad explains, “It seems like when we go in to record, I’ll think about both what we have covered in the past on other records and what we’ve either already written or are in the process of writing for the current album we’re recording. And I like to look for areas that I either haven’t explored fully or at least what’s going on around me that I feel like needs to be talked about — and that really dictates what we do. This album had the additional sort of thought process to it of ‘Okay, what is a big part of country music, or the country music that I grew up with and what I would consider, you know, fitting that description that we either haven’t done yet stylistically on this album or needs represented?’ Thought-process-wise, that’s sort of how I think, which is ‘What do I want to say, what would be fun to say, and what do I think will constitute something someone will relate to?’”


LUKE BRYAN’S “COUNTRY GIRL (SHAKE IT FOR ME)” VIDEO
TO PREMEIRE TODAY, MAY 23
 
Capitol Records Nashville recording artist Luke Bryan will premiere his new video “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” on TODAY, May 23 on CMT and Tuesday, May 24 on GAC.  The video, directed by award-winning director Shaun Silva, was filmed last month in Los Angeles at Siren Studios.   The video tells a story of a small-town girl coming to L.A. to audition and beat out all the big-city dancers.
 
“Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” is the lead single off Luke’s Tailgates and Tanlines album due out on August 9.  The song debuted at #1 in U.S. digital singles sales with 105,498 downloads and is the fastest moving single of his career.  It’s the follow up to Luke’s recent three back-to-back #1 singles "Do I," "Rain Is A Good Thing” and "Someone Else Calling You Baby," all from his GOLD-certified album Doin’ My Thing.   
 
Luke is currently nominated for two 2011 CMT Music Awards- Best Web Video of the Year for his video “It’s A Shore Thing” and as Best New Live Act, the Nationwide Insurance Award.   Fans can catch Luke on the road this summer on Tim McGraw’s “Emotional Traffic” tour.


REBA IS OFFICIALLY INDUCTED INTO THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME

Reba McEntire will finally be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum and few have so well deserved the honor more than this woman whose been a mega star for most of her years as a recording artist.

The Oklahoma native was discovered performing the National Anthem at a rodeo by the legendary Red Stegall, and despite all odds, has risen to the ranks of the Queen of Country Music, scoring 35 No. 1 hits, selling millions of albums, winning numerous awards and has been the toast of Broadway, television and the movies. “I am honored and thrilled beyond words to be inducted,” says Reba, adding, “There’s still a lot of people I will be going to bat for to get in there as soon as possible  – my

favorites and people that I love dearly who have done so much for the country music business.”


SARA EVANS TO PERFORM ON DANCING WITH THE STARS FINALE TUESDAY

Sara Evans is returning to Dancing with the Stars! Back in the fall of 2006, Sara became the first country artist ever to appear on the show as a contestant, but this time she’s back to sing, as she performs her two-week number-one blockbuster, “A Little Bit Stronger,” on Tuesday’s season finale. Sara says, “Being on Dancing with the Stars was such a fun experience and one of the highlights of my career. I’m so honored and excited to go back and sing for this season’s finale!” The performance marks another exciting event following the March release of Sara’s Stronger album. The album spent two weeks at number-one, the single is certified Gold, and Sara’s nominated for Female Video of the Year for “A Little Bit Stronger” at the 2011 CMT Music Awards. Sara’s Greatest Hits album came out the year after she was on Dancing with the Stars, and Sara recently looked back from her Greatest Hits ’til now to talk about how she’s changed since those days.




JUSTIN MOORE’S CHART RISING FIRST SINGLE FROM  SOPHOMORE ALBUM

Justin is currently scaling the country charts with his latest single, “If Heaven

Wasn’t So Far Away,” which is the first release from his forthcoming album, Outlaws Like Me, due in

stores June 21sT.
Moving on to a second album after being told his career could never happen is sweet news for the a guy from small town arkansas whose ambition to go to Nashville was deemed unattainable by lots of folks back home in Poyen, Arkansas.

Justin explains, “This just doesn’t happen to folks where I grew up, and people thought I was crazy for

going [to Nashville] in the first place. They were like, „You‟re gonna do what?‟ But they‟ve been extremely supportive.”




BRANTLEY GILBERT DOUBLES DOWN ON COUNTRY CHART

One of the best things about being a singer-songwriter is that if songs you write for yourself aren’t hitting for you, songs you wrote for other folks sometimes are. In Brantley Gilbert’s case he has both scenarios  going on for him.   Brantley’s debut release, “Country Must Be Country Wide,” is climbing the charts while he’s
also on the airwaves with a song he co-wrote, “Dirt Road Anthem,” which Jason Aldean is taking up the

charts.

RANDOM NOTES:  Reba  graces the June 13th cover of  Country Weekly, on-stands June

6th...Justin Moore  conducted an interview with Our Stage while in Los Angeles this week for media

appearances.

JUST IN: Rascal Flatts‟  “I Won’t Let Go” vaults #4-#1 on Mediabase’s Country Top 50 chart, as will be published next week!  The band’s latest #1 hit, their lucky 13th, is their second consecutive chart-topper from their #1-selling album Nothing Like This.  Don’t miss Rascal Flatts performing the song Monday 5/23 on the final week of the Oprah Winfrey Show!



TAYLOR SWIFT FINAL DRESS REHEARSAL RAISES OVER $750,000 FOR TORNADO VICTIMS
 
Taylor Swift took the unprecedented step of opening the last dress rehearsal for her Speak Now Tour to fans as a fundraiser for victims of recent deadly tornadoes in the Southeast. "Speak Now … Help
Now", the final dress rehearsal for Taylor Swift's Speak Now Tour, was held at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on

Saturday, May 21st, and was open to the public as a benefit event for tornado victims. Fans started lining up for

the special event at 6 a.m. on Friday, more than 36 hours before doors opened for the capacity crowd of 13,700

in attendance. Taylor expanded her fundraising efforts for tornado victims by streaming two performances during

Saturday's "Speak Now … Help Now" benefit event. 100% of ticket sales will go directly to help tornado victims

via the Speak Now … Help Now Fund established through the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

The event raised over $750,000! The open rehearsal and online stream gave fans around the world a first look at Taylor's new stage and her show for the North American leg of the Speak Now World Tour. Information on how to donate to help tornado victims was posted during the stream. During the two-hour show, Taylor played acoustic guitar, electric guitar, ukulele, banjo and piano. The North American portion of the Taylor Swift Speak Now World Tour 2011 kicks off this Friday, May 27th, in Omaha, Nebraska.



RASCAL FLATTS “WON’T LET GO” OF OPRAH

Rascal Flatts are one of the acts appearing during the final week of The Oprah Winfrey Show. The TV icon, who is ending her daily talk show after 25 years on the air, was surprised by her producers and staff with a star-studded concert last Tuesday night, featuring the talented trio, among others. The guys performed their latest hit, “I Won’t Let Go,” because Oprah’s producers and staff requested the song to express how they feel about the talk show queen. The guys received an amazing presentation by Hollywood A-lister Tom Cruise and wife Katie Holmes.
“It’s the end of something we’ll probably never see again with the ending of Oprah’s show and what she was able to do,” Rascal Flatts’ lead singer Gary LeVox says. “What was kind of amazing was we did the first show to kick off her last season here in Chicago, so to be called back to do one of the last shows of her season, it was so humbling and so honored and we feel so fortunate and so lucky to be a part of this.” Joe Don Rooney tells us it’s not over for Oprah; she’s got an amazing future ahead of her. “I think Oprah could run for president one day. I really do, and I think she could win,” he declares. “I think she’s very smart. I think people trust her, and I think people have looked to her for advice for so many years that I think she could be a wonderful president and a wonderful asset to this great nation.” Rascal Flatts’ appearance will air on Monday, May 23rd. Also appearing during Oprah’s farewell shows are  Madonna, Tom Hanks, Dakota Fanning, Beyoncé, Diane Sawyer, Halle Berry, Queen Latifah, Josh Groban, Patti LaBelle and more. The final episode of the  Oprah Winfrey Show airs Wednesday, May 25th.




JOHN RICH FIRST COUNTRY WINNER OF CELEBRITY APPRENTICE

Country singer John Rich went all the way on "The Celebrity Apprentice," claiming victory and $250,000 for charity. He was up against actress Marlee Matlin on Sunday's finale of the NBC reality show.
Host Donald Trump said it was his toughest "Apprentice" ruling yet.

"I've never had to go through something like this... You've both been amazing," Trump told the pair before announcing his choice on the live portion of the program.

For John Rich it all about earning big bucks for his charity. Rich added an unexpected additional donation of $250,000 from Dollar General and Reckitt Benckiser and $25,000 from The Melting Pot, which was delivered to him during the show’s final task for 7UP. As the newest Celebrity Apprentice winner, Rich received the $250,000 prize for his charity, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The show’s charity earnings for the season totaled $3,120,852 – the largest amount ever raised by a TV series.

“Today has been an unbelievable day!” said Rich. “I got Trump to put on a Stetson hat on national television and now I get to drive down to Memphis with a $250,000 check for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. This entire experience has been for the kids and I’m so excited to raise money for this cause and help save lives. Everyone, please purchase the song ‘For the Kids.’ All of the proceeds will go straight to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital!”