March 1, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Chris HolloHillary Scott is helping to empower women during Women’s History Month. The Lady A singer is one of the 31 businesswomen taking part in Dress for Success‘ “31 Days of Women in Power.”

It’s an expansion of the nonprofit’s annual “Your Hour, Her Power” initiative where donating one hour of pay helps support Dress for Success’ programs and services that aim to stop poverty by giving women access to employment and economic independence, as well as gain needed resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The campaign, which takes place throughout the month of March, shares the stories of “inspiring women in leadership positions who are making an impact in their industries and beyond,” Dress for Success describes in a statement. 

“As a businesswoman and working mom, I think it is so important for us to rally together to support the Your Hour, Her Power campaign,” Hillary tells O Magazine. 

The country star is featured alongside many others business leaders and entrepreneurs including Janessa Cox-Irvin of Nashville-based research firm AllianceBernstein, Verizon Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Rima Qureshi, Stephanie Chung of Wheels Up, Blue Apron President and CEO Linda Findley Kozlowski and more. 

By Cillea Houghton 
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

March 1, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Mitch Haaseth/ABC via Getty ImagesBlanco Brown is opening about his near-fatal motorcycle accident in 2020. 

Last August, Blanco was riding his motorcycle in Atlanta when he crashed head-on with a pickup truck. In an interview with Billboard, Blanco shares that multiple parts of his body were “shattered” as a result, including his arms, wrists and pelvis, and that he almost lost one of his legs. 

After a 12-hour surgery, the singer was in the hospital nearly a month recovering. “I couldn’t move at all. I couldn’t turn in the bed. I had external pipes sticking out of my body holding my pelvis together. I had to learn how to do simple things. I couldn’t feed myself,” he recalls. “I was broken, but it didn’t break my spirit.”

Music proved to be a source of healing for “The Git Up” singer, especially when a group of nurses came into his room one day playing his 2019 hit.

Blanco also received a special gift from Tim McGraw, who sent him one of his signature black cowboy hats signed “Love ya, Blanco.” 

“What’s so crazy is that day I was really down, just thinking like, ‘Will I heal in time? Am I going to heal at this rate?’ To tell you the truth, I got the hat and it made me feel great about everything. It made me want to get up, but I couldn’t!” the Atlanta native says. 

As he continues to recover, Blanco remains optimistic. “The accident, it solidified that you’re here for this purpose. Keep it going. Don’t stop what you’re doing. Don’t let this put a damper on what you do and how you shine and the joy you have,” he reflects. “Just continue to be a blessing.”

Blanco’s song with Parmalee, “Just the Way,” is in the top five on country radio. 

By Cillea Houghton 
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

March 1, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

John Shearer Scotty McCreery is looking for a little “You Time” in the video for his latest single. 

The clip follows the story of a young couple, beginning on their wedding day and following them as they move into a new home and settle into newlywed life. But a musician can’t stay off the road for too long, as Scotty pulls up to the house in a vintage VW van to pick up the husband, who’s a guitar player in his band. After days apart, the husband-and-wife pair reunite with a loving embrace.  

Scotty’s wife Gabi, who inspired the song, also makes a surprise appearance at video’s end, watching from the wings as her husband performs on stage, the two walking backstage hand-in-hand.  

“You Time” is the lead single off the American Idol season 10 champion’s forthcoming album. It follows three consecutive #1 hits from his 2018 album, Seasons Change, with “Five More Minutes,” “This Is It” and “In Between.” 

By Cillea Houghton 
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

March 1, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCCarrie Underwood celebrated her son Isaiah turning “six whole years old” over the weekend with an epic cake. 

The powerhouse singer took to Instagram to share a photo of the awe-inspiring Power Rangers cake her friend and professional baker Ivey Childers made for the six-year-old. The three-layer cake features a red Power Rangers figurine posed on the top tier, adorned by a pair of swords, ninja power stars and shields made of frosting. 

Isaiah even got a “happy birthday” shout-out from the official Power Rangers account.

“Isaiah, you are kind, funny, smart, the best big brother, a lover of cuddles and crafts and you have the biggest heart and the best imagination!” Carrie writes, alongside another photo of her hugging her son.

“You love to make people feel good and you especially love to make them laugh!” she adds. “God has given you so many gifts and every day, I thank Him that I get to be your mom! I love you, Monkey! Happy birthday!” 

Fans flooded the comments section of the post with celebratory messages, including one from a woman who shared a personal story of how her son passed away at the age of 18 and was a “Power Ranger fanatic.”

“Your cake for Isaiah brings back a flood of memories! Thanks for posting Carrie…I never want to forget,” the fan reflects. 

Isaiah is Carrie and husband Mike Fisher‘s oldest child; his brother Jacob is two years old.

Today, we celebrate Isaiah…because today, he is 6 whole years old! Isaiah, you are kind, funny, smart, the best big brother, a lover of cuddles and crafts and you have the biggest heart and the best imagination! You love to… https://t.co/D85PVwoVPS pic.twitter.com/d2Uf9dCvDp

— Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood) February 27, 2021

By Cillea Houghton 
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

March 1, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

NBCIt was a family affair for Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman at the 2021 Golden Globe Awards. 

During the opening monologue by hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Poehler gave a shout-out to Kidman’s performance in the HBO crime thriller The Undoing.

“The Undoing was a sexy and dramatic mystery where Nicole Kidman’s coat is suspected of murdering her wig,” Poehler quipped from the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. The camera then cut to Keith and Nicole and their two daughters, 12-year-old Sunday Rose and 10-year-old Faith Margaret, on Zoom.

The family was stationed on the couch of their Australian home, Kidman in a gorgeous black gown and Urban in a classic suit and tie. Their daughters both wore white dresses, and the family of four all laughed at Poehler’s joke.

Kidman was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for her role as Grace Fraser, the wife of Hugh Grant‘s character Jonathan Fraser, in The Undoing. 

By Cillea Houghton 
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.