January 18, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCGabby Barrett and her husband, Cade Foehner, are days away from welcoming their first child, and Gabby admits that the third trimester has “definitely been the hardest” of her pregnancy.

In addition to mood swings, the country chart-topper is also experiencing fatigue, with daily activities such as tidying up the house exhausting her energy. 

“I can’t do normal things that I want to do. I get so tired so quickly. I want to clean the house and make sure everything’s so clean, but it’s so hard to bend down and it’s hard to roll over when you sleep,” she explains to People. 

In spite of the inconveniences, welcoming a baby girl is a lifelong dream come true for the country star, who met her husband when they both competed on season 16 of American Idol. 

“I always wanted to be a mom. It was something that was always ingrained in me from a very young age. I remember being in high school and I would always pray about my future spouse and my future kids,” Gabby recalls. “I just can’t wait to see what she looks like. It’s insane to me that we are literally right around the corner from this; that she’s coming very soon.”

Gabby is due later this month. 

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

January 18, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Trae Patton/NBCBlake Shelton admits that he put on several pounds because of quarantine and lockdown.  However, he says he’s not trying to quickly lose the weight because of a New Year’s resolution — he wants to look good for his big wedding to Gwen Stefani.

The “God’s Country” singer recently confessed to pal Luke Bryan on Apple Music that his waistline expanded during the pandemic and now he’s working hard to melt off that quarantine weight.

His current goal is to shed about 20 pounds and, when asked about his chances, the Grammy-nominee asserted, “I feel like if I say 10, I have to do it… So 10. It’s out there now. I can’t let people down.”

As for how he’s psyching himself up for his new diet, Shelton touched upon his unconventional methods to boost his self esteem. 

“I’ve readjusted all the mirrors in the house, so they look like when you’re taking a selfie from up above, because I can’t even stand to look at myself in the mirror,” Shelton admitted. “So I’ve rearranged them where they’re kind of angled down, looking down on me, so I’m looking up and it’s not so bad.”

Previously, Shelton joked with Ellen DeGeneres in September that he feels like he “gained 117 pounds” while hunkering down at his Oklahoma ranch.  

While Shelton nor Stefani have revealed when they intend to walk down the aisle, Bryan tried to get his buddy to name him best man.

“You know I told you earlier that I’m not good at saying no,” Shelton huffed. “Perhaps I’ll just blame this on COVID, again, and say, well, I don’t know, Luke. Maybe we’re just going to have a private ceremony.”

Shelton and Stefani publicly announced their engagement in late October.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 18, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

ABCMorgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album, which boasts a whopping 30 tracks, is the new leader of the Billboard 200.

This is the country singer’s first number one album.  His 2018 debut If I Know Me peaked at number 13.

Dangerous, which dropped January 8, moved an impressive 265,000 units in its first week, amounting to the album’s songs being streamed 240.18 million times.  In addition, the album moved 74,000 physical copies in stores and was downloaded 50,000 times, reports Billboard.

The album has scored the best reception since Carrie Underwood‘s Cry Pretty, which came out in 2018.  Cry Pretty moved 266,000 units in its first week of release.

Dangerous is also the 11th country album in music history to hit number one on the Billboard 200.

Not only is Wallen’s sophomore effort his first chart-topper, it also smashed several streaming records.

By accomplishing over 240 million streams in its first week, Dangerous blows past the previous record held by Luke Combs to become country music’s top streaming album.

Combs’ What You See Is What You Get notched 102.26 million streams in a week, which is less than half of Wallen’s record-breaker.

Billboard acknowledged that Wallen’s 30-track outing helped secure the accomplishment, but found that Dangerous‘s 18 least-listened to tracks racked up 105.08 million streams — still more than what Combs’ What You See had.

In addition, Wallen notches the third-largest streaming week for a non-R&B or hip hop album — following Ariana Grande‘s Thank U, Next and Taylor Swift‘s Folklore.

Overall, Dangerous holds the title for the 22nd largest streaming week ever and boasts the ninth-best week for any album in the past 12 months.

Wallen, 27, previously announced a “little hiatus” to focus on raising his six-month-old son, Indigo Wilder.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 18, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Capitol NashvilleAs Dierks Bentley works on his tenth studio album, the Arizona native’s been splitting time between Nashville and his home in Colorado. 

While not everyone loves that writing sessions via Zoom have become a necessity because of COVID-19, Dierks is embracing the efficiency of it.

“Nobody wants to be on Zoom any longer than they have to be, so I think it forces songwriters to get after it,” he explains. “So I’ve really enjoyed it, been writing a lot of great songs.”

“But as always, when I’m trying to make a record, you know, I just want to pick the best two-by-fours when you’re making a house, whether you made ’em or not,” he adds.

That’s why Dierks decided to go with the outside cut, “Gone,” as the album’s lead single.

“When it came time to go cut some stuff, this song just kind of rose to the top,” he says. “And I gravitate towards it because I love the title. I love [the] good classic country wordplay of ‘ever since you left, I’ve been gone.’ But he actually hasn’t gone anywhere.”

As “Gone” nears the top twenty, it’s clear it’s a sentiment that’s resonating with fans.

“I feel like I’ve been gone,” Dierks reflects. “I feel like we’ve all been gone. So it touches on a little bit of the idea of what’s been going on here with COVID, but it does it in a metaphorical way through a relationship… I don’t think anybody wants to hear anything too directly written about what’s happening right now, it’d be too depressing… But I just love the groove, I love the way it feels.”

So far, Dierks hasn’t revealed the title or release date for his follow-up to 2018’s The Mountain.

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

January 15, 2021 • No Comments • Country Music News

Yee Yee Apparel/NPG PRGranger Smith’s clothing line, Yee Yee Apparel, launched its winter collection on Friday. With a varied selection of sweatshirts, tees, hats and more, the new merchandise comes with another added perk: its focus on charitable efforts.

A portion of the proceeds from each item sold from the winter collection will benefit Release Recovery Foundation, a program for sober and transitional living founded by The Bachelorette alum Zac Clark. Zac has a personal connection to Yee Yee Apparel: Granger’s brother and brand co-founder, Tyler, got to know Zac on the set of the show, where they were both contestants during the same season.

“The minute I met Zac, we connected. I could see his heart,” says Tyler. “He’s a great human. After learning a little about Zac’s story, where he came from, how he overcame certain struggles and now being in the position he is to help so many others, I knew I wanted to do anything we could as a company to help further his mission.”

Over the years, Yee Yee Apparel has provided over $250,000 to charities the brothers feel passionate about.

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