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Willie Nelson gives a thumbs-up after receiving first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine

• No Comments • Country Music News

Gary Miller/Getty ImagesWillie Nelson is among the many Americans who’ve signed up to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

During his drive-through vaccination this week, a masked Willie posed for a series of pictures, offering the camera a thumbs-up as he received his dose of the vaccine. The Texas-based Family Hospital Systems shared the images to Facebook, encouraging everyone to sign up for their shots and stating that “getting your COVID vaccine is Willie cool!”

Willie, who turns 88 in April, is among the first mainstream country stars to publicly receive the COVID-19 vaccine, though many of his fellow artists have battled the virus.

John Prine, Joe Diffie and Charley Pride all died of complications of COVID-19 in 2020, while dozens more country stars — Tyler Hubbard, Lee Brice, Runaway June’s Jennifer Wayne and Natalie Stovall and Parker McCollum, to name just a few — have spoken about their experiences contracting the disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Thursday, 383,351 Americans have died from COVID-19 since the outbreak began.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

CMA Foundation taps Lindsay Ell to be its next music education ambassador

• No Comments • Country Music News

Jeremy Cowart Lindsay Ell will take on ambassador duties for the CMA’s Unified Voices for Music Education initiative beginning this month. She’s the third artist to join the program, following Ashley McBryde — who was the inaugural artist ambassador, back in December 2020 — as well as Jimmie Allen.

Known both for her skills as a songwriter and guitar player, Lindsay will participate in the program by creating tutorials, meeting virtually with students and teachers, leading a songwriting workshop and more.

“Music education was such an important part of my childhood,” the singer explains. “Growing up, I learned to lean into music as an outlet thanks to the guidance and encouragement of some truly amazing teachers….Being able to teach the power of music to students in school at an early age is a gift that I believe will serve them in so many ways for the rest of their lives.”

The Unified Voices for Music Education is still a relatively new initiative, and Ashley helped forge a path during her time with the program by putting together a band lesson about building the musical note major scale.

Jimmie, meanwhile, met virtually with a third-grade class to share his musical journey with the young students, and also participated in a webinar series to discuss music education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jeff Bridges reveals his tumor has "drastically shrunk" in latest update on cancer battle

• No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Randy Holmes(LOS ANGELES) — Jeff Bridges shared some good news about his battle with lymphoma.

The Big Lebowski actor, who announced his cancer diagnosis in October, revealed his tumor has “drastically shrunk.”

In a post on his website, the 71-year-old Oscar winner said he learned the positive news after he went in for a CT scan on January 6 to evaluate how his “new protocol” is affecting him.

“Turns out, it’s working beautifully,” he wrote. “The thing has drastically shrunk.”

Bridges also wrote about receiving the news that his tumor shrunk amid the riots at the U.S. Capitol.

“I come home elated with the news. I turn on the TV to find out what’s going in the world, and….well…I don’t have to tell you what’s goin’ on,” he wrote. “To see our country attacking itself broke my heart. A question rose in me — what’s an individual to do in a situation like this? My mentor, Rozzell Sykes, came to mind. His manta was ‘Be Love.'”

Bridges has kept his fan base updated throughout his cancer fight. In December, he shared a photo revealing he’d shaved his head and was “feeling good.”

Lymphoma is cancer of the body’s lymphatic system, which helps fight germs, according to the Mayo Clinic. Treatment for the disease varies but may involve chemotherapy, immunotherapy medications, radiation therapy, a bone marrow transplant or some combination thereof.

When he publicly announced his diagnosis last year, Bridges shared, “Although it is a serious disease, I feel fortunate that I have a great team of doctors and the prognosis is good.”

By Hayley Fitzpatrick
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

President Trump awards National Medal of Arts to Toby Keith, Ricky Skaggs amid impeachment vote

• No Comments • Country Music News

Gary Miller/Getty ImagesOn Wednesday afternoon, President Trump awarded Toby Keith, Ricky Skaggs and three other people the National Medal of Arts.

A White House official reports that the ceremony began at 3:30 p.m. ET and lasted approximately an hour to an hour and a half.  At the same time, the House of Representatives was voting to impeach Trump for a second time.

Keith and Skaggs have both voiced their support of President Trump in the past. In 2016, Skaggs said “I believe Donald Trump is the right person in the right place, and that it’s prophetic,” according to Billboard. The bluegrass and country legend also explained at the time that he endorsed Trump due to his stances on abortion, job creation, the military and other issues.

For his part, Keith performed during the Make America Great Again Welcome Celebration and Concert ahead of Trump’s inauguration, back in January 2017.

It’s evident that Keith, at least, attended the White House’s Wednesday afternoon ceremony in person. An Instagram post from former White House press secretary Sean Spicer shows the singer standing beside the president.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

'C.S.I.' vet Gary Dourdan talks training to be a one-man army in 'Redemption Day'

• No Comments • Entertainment News

Saban Films(LOS ANGELES) — In his new film Redemption Day, former C.S.I. star Gary Dourdan plays a U.S. Special Forces vet suffering from PTSD, who gets back into the action after his wife is kidnapped by terrorists. 

Dourdan’s super-fit in the film and while he was already familiar with firearms, he tells ABC Audio how he prepared to accurately play the character before the cameras rolled in Morocco.

“What I do is I go to a…Thai boxing camp in Thailand, and I take as much time as I possibly can to just get my fight training…top-notch, and also get my my cardio there,” the laid-back actor explains.

“But while I was there, I also got to get gun training because…they have strict gun laws in Morocco and you just can’t be working around firearms unless you’re shooting that day,” he adds. “So I made sure I got a bunch of training in Thailand.”

He laughs, “They’re a bit more lax with the heavy artillery in Thailand.”

Once Redemption Day started shooting in Morocco, Gary explained he brushed up on-set with the firearms master.

“But everything happened so fast,” Dourdan explains, “So before you know it, you got stuff exploding around you and you’re doing flips and whatever else is going on and you’re diving away from the fragments that are being blown at you.”  

Redemption Day, which also stars Ernie Hudson, Andy Garcia, Tenet‘s Martin Donovan, and Marvels’ The Inhumans vet Serinda Swan, is now in theaters and streaming.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.