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Charley Pride will receive the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2020 CMAs

• No Comments • Country Music News

Joseph LlanesLegendary country trailblazer Charley Pride is set to be honored at this year’s CMA Awards ceremony with the 2020 Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.

The new accolade comes in recognition of Pride’s life’s work as a trailblazer in music and beyond. As country music’s first Black superstar, Pride has notched over 50 top-ten hits and 29 chart-topping songs over the course of his career, including 1971’s “Kiss an Angel Good Morning” and 1970’s “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone.”

Pride was also the first Black man to co-host the CMA Awards, which he did in 1975 alongside Glen Campbell. He was named the awards show’s Entertainer of the Year in 1971.

“Charley Pride is the epitome of a trailblazer,” comments CMA chief executive officer Sarah Trahern. “Few other artists have grown Country Music’s rich heritage and led to the advancement of Country Music around the world like Charley. His distinctive voice has created a timeless legacy that continues to echo through the Country community today.”

The Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award is dedicated to honoring artists who have achieved “both national and international prominence and stature through concert performances, humanitarian efforts, philanthropy, record sales and public representation at the highest level,” according to the CMA.

Pride joins a small, illustrious group of honorees. Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Kris Kristofferson have all taken home the honor in years past.

The 2020 CMA Awards will take place on November 11. The show will broadcast live from Nashville on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.

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

Kimberly Van Der Beek revealed the names she and James gave their unborn sons

• No Comments • Entertainment News

David Livingston/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Kimberly Van Der Beek, wife of Dawson’s Creek alum James Van Der Beek, broke her silence regarding her two recent miscarriages.

Speaking on Instagram live on Tuesday, the 38-year-old opened up about losing two pregnancies, both at 17 weeks, in the span of a year.

“They were so tough,” she recounted of her fall 2019 and June 2020 miscarriages, and added, “one of them almost killed me.” 

Van Der Beek revealed not only where she buried her sons, but what she wanted to name them.

The mom of five revealed she buried her sons in a passion fruit vine that mysteriously turned up in a pile of plants she had purchased.  Soon, it was dubbed the “mama plant” and became an important fixture in the household.

When she suffered her first miscarriage, she “was told exactly where to bury it” — the passion fruit vine.

“So we have two fetuses in our mama plant, and we named them John and Zachariah,” Van Der Beek explained. “And so John and Zachariah are buried in the mama plant, and I decided today to have an artist make some sort of wood structure.”

The intent is that, when it’s time to plant the passion fruit vine “in the earth,” “she can grow up around it.”

Van Der Beek remains thankful for the plant that she believes came to her by fate, “The cool thing is I had this whole spiritual awakening that happened and the next day, mama plant had her first flower.”

She also added that November 17 is now an important date for the family: the day of John’s miscarriage and, later, Zachariah’s due date.  

To honor their memory, Van Der Beek will host a blood drive that day and vowed, “If I’m feeling strong, I’ll also be giving blood.”

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Felicity Huffman wants her passport back once supervised release ends

• No Comments • Entertainment News

JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Desperate Housewives alum Felicity Huffman is almost finished with her court ordered supervised release stemming from the massive “Varsity Blues” college entrance scam.

Now, with her punishment set to expire soon — which also included 14 days in prison, a $30,000 fine and 250 hours of community service — the Academy Award-nominated actress is requesting the return of her passport. 

Huffman was ordered to turn it over to the probation department at the start of her sentence.

TMZ obtained court documents of Huffman’s request, which has not been objected to by prosecutors, meaning it will likely be returned to her.

Huffman and more than 30 other wealthy parents were caught in the largest college cheating scam ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice, which was dubbed Operation Varsity Blues.

Huffman was accused of making payments to William “Rick” Singer, a college-entrance tutor guru whom prosecutors identified as the ringleader of the nationwide scam, to help her daughter Sophia cheat on the SAT.

The 57-year-old actress pleaded guilty and admitted that she paid Singer $15,000 to falsify her daughter’s score by arranging for a college entrance exam proctor to correct the answers.  The payment also arranged for Sophia to have more time to take the test.

While Huffman’s sentence is winding down, another celebrity linked to the cheating scandal is about to begin hers — Lori Loughlin.

As previously reported, Loughlin was sentenced to two months in prison and has until November 19 to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons.

Loughlin, along with husband Mossimo Giannulli pleaded guilty to paying $500,000 to a sham charity enacted by Singer to get their daughters into the University of Southern California as rowing team recruits despite that their girls never participated in the sport.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Miranda Lambert is “Settling Down” in her home-inspired new video, with help from her hubby

• No Comments • Country Music News

Blythe ThomasMiranda Lambert strikes a balance between her wandering spirit and a happy home life in her new music video for “Settling Down.”

The clip is an especially personal one, as it was filmed at Miranda’s farm and features her husband, Brendan McLoughlin, as co-star.

“My mom always called me a wild child and a homing pigeon,” the singer reflects. “I always have an itch to find a new adventure, but I’m also always ready to walk through my front door. I feel like a lot of people feel that way, and ‘Settling Down’ tells the story of being caught between those two feelings.”

Aside from Brendan, Miranda’s horse, Gibson, makes an appearance in the video, as does Delta Dawn, one of her several rescue dogs.

Mirroring the lyrics of “Settling Down,” the song’s video follows Miranda as she enjoys both sides of what life has to offer. She sips red wine while writing lyrics in the grass, and gallops through fields on Gibson’s back, but she also cuddles up with her husband in a hammock and watches adoringly from afar as he fishes in the couple’s pond.

Miranda has a long history of highlighting her handsome husband’s shirtless physique on Instagram, so of course no Brendan cameo would be complete without a shot of him shirtless in the kitchen. In that segment of the video, he chops vegetables and shares a stiff drink with his superstar wife.

“Settling Down” is climbing the charts, and is currently a top-40 hit. It comes off of Miranda’s latest album, Wildcard.

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

Jennifer Lawrence admits she "was a little Republican" until Trump became president

• No Comments • Entertainment News

Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit(LOS ANGELES) — Jennifer Lawrence opened up about her voting habits and her changing political beliefs in a rare interview on Wednesday.

Sitting down for the Absolutely Not podcast, the 30-year-old Hunger Games star revealed that, up until recently, she had considered herself a Republican.

“I grew up Republican. My first time voting, I voted for John McCain. I was a little Republican,” Lawrence dished, adding that she was attracted to the party because of “the fiscal benefits of some of the Republican policies.”  

However, as she grew older, she realized that she and the Republican Party held differing opinions when it came to social issues that she found important.

Lawrence added that her beliefs were consistently challenged over the past few years not by friends or family — but by her own observations of President Donald Trump.

“I don’t want to support a president who supports white supremacists,” said the Academy Award winner, referencing the most recent political debate where the president appeared to dodge condemning groups with links to white supremacy, such as the Proud Boys.

During the Chris Wallace-moderated debate, President Trump seemingly told the Proud boys to “stand back and stand by” when pressed to disavow them.  Lawrence says that moment was “a line drawn in the sand.”

“This is an impeached president who’s broken many laws,” she added.

Lawrence also noted how much things have changed since former President Barack Obama left office, adding that while he was in power, Americans used to “go days, maybe weeks, without thinking about the president because everything would generally be okay.”

The actress previously announced via V Magazine that she will be voting for former Vice President Joe Biden and running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.