November 7, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Scott Olson/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — ABC News can characterize Joe Biden as the apparent winner in Pennsylvania, giving him 273 total electoral votes — a win that makes him president elect. Based on these numbers and those in other states, Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States.

ABC News was able to characterize Biden as the apparent winner of Pennsylvania after the state, as of 11:35 a.m., put Biden ahead with 49.6% of ballots cast (3,345,724) over President Trump’s 49.1% (3,311,310 votes).

Biden said in a statement Saturday, “I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris. In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America. With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It’s time for America to unite. And to heal. We are the United States of America. And there’s nothing we can’t do, if we do it together.”

Saturday marks 48 years to the day that Biden, then 29 years old, was elected in his first Senate race on November 7, 1972.

For first time in history, the first and second in line to the presidency will be women: Sen. Kamala Harris as vice president, followed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, tweeted, “So proud of you” with a photo of him embracing his wife, the vice president elect.  Sen. Harris’ win makes her husband the first ‘second husband’ in U.S. history.

For his part, President Trump released a defiant statement through his campaign, claiming, “this election is far from over” and blasting Biden for “rushing to falsely pose as the winner.”

Trump also promised a coming legal fight.  “Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated,” he said. “The American People are entitled to an honest election: that means counting all legal ballots, and not counting any illegal ballots.”

The president again pushed unfounded claims that “Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the count room — and then fight in court to block their access.”

Check ABCNews.com for continuing election coverage and updates.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

November 6, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Image Group LADolly Parton and her duet partner Michael Bublé become animated characters in the music video for their Christmas song, “Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas.”

The cartoon clip, which is available to watch exclusively on Facebook, finds the pair holed up by a fire at “Holly Dolly’s Ski Resort” as a blizzard rages outside. Michael’s cartoon self plays piano as an animated Dolly, decked out in seasonal red, sings along.

Elsewhere in the video, the pair take on the role of Santa’s helpers, seeking out anyone who’s not in the holiday spirit and helping them to, y’know, “Cuddle Up” and “Cozy Down.”

The song comes from Dolly’s A Holly Dolly Christmas, the singer’s first full Christmas album in three decades. Her duet with Michael isn’t the collaboration on the project: Willie Nelson, Jimmy Fallon, Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley Cyrus and more also sing with Dolly on the record.

A Holly Dolly Christmas reached number one on Billboard’s Top Country Albums and Top Holiday Albums chart after its early October release.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

November 6, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

Courtesy of The Valory Music Co.Thomas Rhett is back, and he’s bringing a new chapter of music with him.

The singer has announced that he’ll return next week with a new single, “What’s Your Country Song,” which comes out on Wednesday. It’s the first taste of the “Beer Can’t Fix” star’s upcoming fifth studio album.

Thomas penned “What’s Your Country Song” alongside some of Nashville’s most in-demand songwriters, including his dad, Rhett Akins. It’s a feel-good anthem that the singer’s hoping will bring together fans from across the country.

“We wrote this song on the road last year in Dallas, Texas,” Thomas explains. “It’s really about how I was noticing that no matter where you live or where you’re from, everyone has a little bit of country inside their bones.”

Fans can expect to see a whole lot of Thomas next week: On the same day he releases the song, he’s also set to perform his “Be a Light” at the 2020 CMA Awards.  Also on Wednesday, the singer’s planning to make a stop on ABC’s Good Morning America.

What’s Your Country Song – next Wednesday 11.11.2020

Pre-save now: https://t.co/p7MPJX0vZZ
:30 second preview on tiktok pic.twitter.com/UBkgIOclaW

— Thomas Rhett (@ThomasRhett) November 6, 2020

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

November 6, 2020 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Alysse GafkjenDarius Rucker, the South Carolina native who first found fame with pop-rock group Hootie & the Blowfish, is no stranger to encountering racism.

“And you know, getting older and doing the things I was doing, in the world I was doing it in, I would say to myself, ‘That’s just the way it is,’” he explains in a new episode of the Color Me Country with Rissi Palmer podcast.

When he entered country music in 2008, Darius says he thought about another country performer who had broken down race barriers in the genre before him: Charley Pride.

“I remember saying to myself, ‘You can put up with whatever happens here because whatever happens to you is not going to be 1/10th, 1/100th of what Charley Pride went through,’” Rucker recalls.

When Darius co-hosts the 2020 CMA Awards next week, that inspiration will come full circle when Charley accepts the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.

“I remember having a Charley Pride record in my mom’s collection that I don’t think my mom ever put on, but she bought that record because he was a Black man singing country music,” Darius recalls, going on to remember watching Charley perform on Hee Haw.

“And now, decades and decades later, to be part of him getting an award…There’s nobody that deserves it more than Charley. Nobody,” Darius declares.

Darius also says recently, he’s felt compelled to be more vocal against racism.

“It was Charlottesville, it was a whole bunch of stuff. Just watching the world we knew change,” the singer reflects. “I just felt like it was time for me to say something, because I was feeling different.”

Listen to Darius’ full conversation with host Rissi Palmer on Sunday, November 8 at 7:00 p.m. ET on Apple Music Country.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.