After taking a week off to let Olivia Rodrigo have a turn at the #1 spot on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 with "Drop Dead," Ella Langley has now returned to the top with "Choosin' Texas," marking the song's eighth week in pole position.

But that's not all for Ella: She now has two other songs in the top 10. "Be Her" is at #5 and "I Can't Love You Anymore," her duet with Morgan Wallen, debuts at #7.

This makes Ella the first singer who's best known as a country artist to have her first three top-10 hits in the chart at the same time. Not even Taylor Swift can say that.

Plus, "I Can't Love You Anymore" is the first time a duet by two singers best known as country artists has ever debuted in the Hot 100 top 10. The last time a song fitting that description in general was in the top 10 was back in 1983: Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's iconic team-up "Islands in the Stream."

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Dolly Parton posted the most extensive update yet about her health on social media Monday. 

Talking for more than five minutes, the superstar was characteristically upbeat and funny as she delivered the "good news and a little bad news."

"I'm responding really well to meds and treatments and I am improving every day," she said first, before revealing "it's going to take me a little while before I'm up to stage performance level because some of the meds and treatments make me a little bit 'swimmy-headed,' as my grandma used to say."

"I am truly sorry that I'm gonna miss all of you that had tickets to see me in Las Vegas," she added later, going on to encourage fans to still take the time to visit Sin City even without her planned residency. 

Comparing herself to a classic car being restored, Dolly spent a lot of time lightening the mood while delivering some serious news.

"I've told you before that I've always had problems with my kidney stones," she began, in the most detailed section of the update. "Lord, they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tennessee. But seriously, my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past couple, three years, and they're working real hard on rebuilding and strengthening those."

Dolly went on to say she's still at work, with multiple projects still demanding her attention, including Dollywood and the opening of her Nashville hotel and museum sometime later this year. She's also busy writing and reworking her Broadway musical, which is still on track to open in New York in fall or early winter. 

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Russell Dickerson's much-wanted collab with rapper Fetty Wap, "BOOTS," will arrive on Friday, just in time for his birthday.

"I can't keep my hands to myself watching you dancing in those B-double-O-T-S/ Sun-D-R-E-double-S," he sings. "This ole boy all in a mess/ I never will forget she had those lips like a red corvette/ Heart sinking like a June sunset/ She got my head spinning like she was spinning all in them, all in them B-double-O-T-S."

The "Happen to Me" hitmaker debuted the new song in a clip that shows him standing inside the door of his bus wearing shorts and slides. When he jumps from the bus steps to the ground, the sandals change to boots. 

The unexpected collaboration was birthed when Russell's wife, Kailey Dickerson, posted a clip captioned "My husband when he found out Fetty was released" in January. In the video, Russell's washing a cup at the kitchen sink while echoing Fetty's vocals. 

More than 34 million views later, the collab written by Russell, Matt Dragstrem and Dylan Marlowe grew out of the viral campaign that organically followed. "BOOTS" will arrive Thursday at 11 p.m. CT.

Russell will turn 39 on May 7, the day before his Nash-Birthday Bash on Friday at Nashville's Ascend Amphitheater with Tyler Hubbard, Adrien Nunez and Kevin Powers. 

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Once you hear a clip of Miranda Lambert's new single, you may want to run to the store to get some "Crisco," but it's out of stock until May 15.

"We've been cookin' with Crisco/ Ain't we, it's in country and disco," the country superstar sings on what will be her first release with new label MCA. "Stir it around and give it a spin/ It's a rhinestone world we're living in/ We're talking 'Southern Nights'/ We could be like 'Islands in the Stream,' that's right/ Givin' in that rhythm with the radio and away we go/ Cookin' with that Crisco."

Glen Campbell's "Southern Nights" hit #1 on both the country and pop charts in 1977, while Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's "Islands in the Stream" did the same in 1983.

If the song happens to be a bit too poppy for you, it's important to remember it's an undeniable shoutout to Loretta Lynn, who did national commercials for the brand for a decade starting in the late '70s. (Crisco, of course, is a solid fat made of hydrogenated vegetable oils used for baking and frying that was hugely popular in the 1970s and '80s.)

“It has so many elements of the country music that I love that I’ve never put on tape,” Miranda says of the song. “There’s a looseness to it, a joy. It feels like dancing in your kitchen with the person you love, spinning old records, not overthinking a thing.”

You'll be able to taste Miranda's "Crisco" dish she cooked up with co-writers Aaron Raitiere, Jesse Frasure and Chill Fellacheck on May 15. 

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If you're a die-hard country fan, you probably already know there's a sisterhood behind the smash hit "Choosin' Texas," one made up of Ella Langley and Miranda Lambert.

Ella previously told ABC Audio she'd "put [Miranda] on my manifestation board to write a song with for two years in a row." Once that happened with "Choosin' Texas," the two were off and running.

"Me and her have become really close over this last year," Ella reflects. "She's been somebody who's just taken me under her wing and treated me like family, and just been somebody who, when I'm at a low or a high, she's there to talk me through either one because she's been there before."

Miranda went on to co-produce Ella's #1 album Dandelion, as "Choosin' Texas" propelled her to unprecedented mainstream success.

"It's a very small amount of people that have been through a situation like this before," Ella adds, "and she's definitely one that I could take advice from — and know I'm gettin’ good advice."

The two sing together on the Dandelion track "Butterfly Season."

They're also two of the most-nominated artists at the upcoming ACMs, with Miranda up for eight and Ella competing for seven, with noms in common for "Choosin' Texas." 

With both set to perform, who knows what surprises may be in store? Tune in to find out Sunday, May 17, when the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards stream live from Las Vegas on Prime Video. 

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Post Malone is the latest artist to scrap tour dates this summer, following high-profile cancelations by pop stars Meghan Trainor and Zayn Malik. The first six shows of his Big A** Stadium Tour Part 2 with Jelly Roll, which were to have started May 13, have now been called off: The tour will now start June 9 in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

In an Instagram Story post captured by Complex, Posty wrote, "Looking at the upcoming schedule after Stagecoach, I came to the realization that what we’re trying to do, and what’s possible, isn’t really lining up. The truth is, I promised y’all beautiful people new music, and I don’t have the time to finish it before tour starts. We ain’t ready for tour just yet, so I’m making the decision to push the tour back about 3 weeks to get this music done.”

Posty had previously been teasing a 40-track album called The Eternal Buzz. He went on to write that he's been "making some bada** s*** for this double album… and I can’t wait to perform for y’all again."

He also hinted that some of his new music, at least, may feature him returning to his rap roots. He added, "And to a lot of little stinkers that think I’ve forgotten about old Stoney, I haven’t." Stoney was the title of his 2016 debut.

Variety notes that according to recent reports, ticket sales have been "soft" for several dates on the tour, as opposed to last year's Big A** Stadium Tour, which completely sold out. Neither Post Malone or Jelly Roll have released an album since 2024, which may explain why Post is eager to put out new music ahead of the tour.

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Joe Nichols' new track, "High Notes," is a nod to Hank Williams Sr. and shares its title with the name of Hank Williams Jr.'s 1982 album. It's the third preview of Joe's next record, following "Fighting the Good Fight" and "Goodbyes Are Hard to Listen To."

Lee Brice's oldest son, Takoda Brice, stars in his dad's new video for "Truck Bed Mixtape," which is out now. 

Chris Janson performed his top 10 hit, "Me & a Beer," live from his home state of Missouri Friday on the Today show as part of the Route 66 Centennial Kick-Off Celebration. 

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Cody Johnson's new album won't arrive until June 26, but the CMA male vocalist of the year is rolling out a steady stream of new music in the meantime.

"Hello Lonesome" follows "I Want You," which came out two weeks ago.

"No agenda on this one," Cody said on Instagram. "Just wanted y’all to hear it and think, that’s a damn country song. Hello Lonesome is out now. Let me know what y’all think."

Cody's new album, Banks of the Trinity, follows his 2024 CMA album of the year Leather, which boasts his current top five hit, "The Fall." 

On the heels of headlining RodeoHouston and Stagecoach, the ACM entertainer of the year nominee plays an in-the-round show with George Strait on Saturday. The Clemson, South Carolina, concert will be the first one at Memorial Stadium since Strait's 1999 "Death Valley" stop.

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When it comes to new music from LOCASH, the message is an overwhelming "YES!"

"Yes, this is the beginning of a new era for LOCASH,” Preston Brust says in a news release. “Starting with ‘YES,’ we'll be releasing new music faster than we ever have. Yes, the song is called ‘YES’ — and yes, we’re excited to get this one out and rockin’ through y’all’s speakers!”

“I don’t know why you blush when you’re sipping Merlot/ Got 3 blankets and you’re still getting cold/ But I know, everything’s gonna be fine/ It can rain and the sun still shines," Preston and Chris Lucas sing on the track. “Every dollar, every breath/ Every minute of this life I got left/ Baby it’s yes."

Written alongside Thomas Rhett and Cole Swindell plus noted tunesmiths Ben Johnson, Ashley Gorley and John Byron, "YES" is the first new music from the duo in 2026.

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Get ready for the dawning of another California Sunrise, as Jon Pardi readies the 10th Anniversary Edition of his 2016 album.

“Ten years ago I made a record that would unknowingly change my life,” the Golden State native says. “Since then, it’s been one hell of a ride—my family has grown, I’ve seen the world, and I’m out here living my dream. It’s pretty damn cool to see how much people continue to embrace this project even all these years later. Thankful for the last ten and looking forward to the next.”

The new edition drops June 12 and adds three tracks from the vault: "Drinkin' and Dancin'," "If I Had Another Heart" and "How Did You Know," which is out now.

Just how successful was the triple-Platinum-selling #1 album? It launched five singles, all Platinum and beyond. "Head Over Boots" is seven-times Platinum, while "Dirt on My Boots" is six-times Platinum.

Stay tuned to see if Jon's current top-30 hit, "Boots Off," can walk a similar path.

Quadruple-Platinum "Heartache on the Dance Floor," three-times Platinum "Night Shift" and Platinum "She Ain't in It" are the other big sellers on California Sunrise (10th Anniversary Edition).

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Five-time ACM Awards host Blake Shelton will return to perform at the upcoming 61st ceremony, the Academy of Country Music revealed Friday.

ACM new male artist Tucker Wetmore and new female artist Avery Anna have secured stage time as well, along with newcomer and album of the year nominee Carter Faith. 

Dan + Shay, Ella Langley, Jordan Davis, Kane Brown, Thomas Rhett, Zach Top and The Red Clay Strays join the rundown, too.

Superstar Shania Twain will host the show, with previously announced performers Cody Johnson, Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert and Riley Green already on board.

The ACM Awards return to Las Vegas this year for the first time since 2022. The award show will also be back in its usual Sunday time slot as it streams live on Prime Video May 17 from MGM Grand Garden Arena.

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Tucker Wetmore's mom interrupted his London show to tell him he's the ACM new male artist of the year. 

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Tucker said as Sia Gould took over the stage to introduce a video clip from Thomas Rhett, who took Tucker on tour last summer. 

”I’m at a loss for words right now for the first time in a long time," Tucker said. "I can’t do any of this without you guys. I can’t do any of this without that woman [mom] right there… Y’all made this possible. Every single person in this venue. And there’s countless more outside of this venue that I can’t sit here and name because I’d be here all night. Thank y’all so much and thank you ACMs for this amazing honor.”

The moment, which you can check out on Instagram, took place on the final night of his three sold-out shows in the U.K., where "Brunette" just spent three weeks at #1.

Tucker's current single seems to be on track for similar success in the States, following his previous two chart toppers, "Wind Up Missin' You" and "3,2,1."

The 61st Academy of Country Music Awards will stream live on Prime Video on May 17 from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

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Keith Urban's getting into a Flow State, as he prepares for the arrival of his 13th studio album on June 12. 

If you weren't expecting his next record to be a collection of yacht rock covers, well, you're probably not alone. 

But what is yacht rock, anyway?

"It’s really a genre that’s been sort of created or criteriaed or whatever you want to call it by some guys, maybe in the 2000s or something, that had a YouTube channel," Keith explains. "They just sort of put together the fact that there’s a whole bunch of songs that came out in the late '70s, early '80s in a soft rock kind of vein that all seem to fit the vibe of being out in the water, kinda yacht rock vibe."

"They don’t have to be songs about sailing and water and waves and all that nonsense," he clarifies. "There’s just a vibe about them that just fits really good. And so this record called Flow State came about."

While it remains to be seen whether Keith will tour to support the album, he's already played a concert full of its songs. His pop-up show Wednesday at The Mil at Cannery Hall was a sell-out. 

You can check out Flow State's one original, "We Go Back" featuring Michael McDonald, and Keith's cover of "Summer Breeze" now. 

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Drew Baldridge will launch his Farm Faith Family Tour June 11 in Omaha, Nebraska. 

He'll play a total of 14 shows before he wraps Oct. 18 in Newport Beach, California, with Alyssa Flaherty and Chase Right joining him on the run. 

Meanwhile, fans can look forward to the arrival of his new song, "Love Needs You," on Friday. 

It was inspired by the beginnings of his romance with his wife, Katie Baldridge, in Patoka, Illinois. 

“We’d drive the backroads past the farm, windows down, listening to country songs like Randy Travis’ ‘Deeper Than the Holler’ and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s ‘I Need You,’” Drew recalls. “This song feels like a perfect blend of those two influences. It was in those honest, unfiltered moments that the foundation of our life together was built.”

Drew's latest radio single, "Rebel," follows his top-10 "Tough People" and his #1 "She's Somebody's Daughter." 

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The Opry NextStage Class of 2026 will get its moment to shine the week of CMA Fest, as members play a special show Wednesday, June 3, at Category 10 in downtown Nashville. 

Jake Worthington, Carter Faith, Tyler Braden, Emily Ann Roberts, Graham Barham, Alexandra Kay and Willow Avalon will each deliver a solo performance as part of Opry NextStage Live. Look for the evening's host and more performers to be announced later. 

Since the Opry launched the initiative to promote up-and-coming artists in 2019, members have gone on to chart 43 #1 singles, with Opry NextStage alum Lainey Wilson becoming the first to go on to be a member of the Opry. 

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Lainey Wilson presented Ella Langley with the Powerhouse Award at Wednesday's Billboard 2026 Women in Music event at the Hollywood Palladium.

“She comes from the kind of place where you learn early how to work hard, tell the truth, and stand 10 toes down in who you are and the stories you were born to tell. That’s what makes this Powerhouse Award feel so right," Lainey said as she introduced Ella. 

After performing her smash hit "Choosin' Texas," Ella accepted the accolade, admitting she was winging it since her efforts to write a speech had failed. 

"To me, Powerhouse is strength, resilience," she said. "It's coming back when you don't necessarily want to, but you feel like 'I'm going to, I'm gonna fight for this, I'm gonna fight for this thing that I love to do.' And this is something that I've wanted to do my whole entire life. There hasn't been another dream for me, there wasn't a day that I wanted to be anything else."

"So to get this award, I think all those years of kicking down doors to me — Powerhouse — didn't go to waste I guess," she closed. 

You can watch the entire Billboard 2026 Women in Music event on YouTube.

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Country rebel David Allan Coe passed away Wednesday at the age of 86, his booking agent David Wade confirmed to ABC Audio.

“One of the best singers, songwriters, and performers of our time [and] never to be forgotten,” his wife, Kimberly Hastings Coe, told Rolling Stone. “My husband, my friend, my confidant and my life for many years. I’ll never forget him and I don’t want anyone else to ever forget him either.” 

He's perhaps best known for the perennial bar sing-along "You Never Even Called Me by My Name," with its spoken word section that Ella Langley pointed to as one of the inspirations for her non-traditional smash "you look like you love me." 

Born in Akron, Ohio, in 1939, Coe did early stints in the penal system for a variety of charges, grand theft auto among them. 

By 1967 he'd moved to Nashville, where he was discovered by producer Shelby Singleton. By 1973, he'd written Tanya Tucker's #1 "Would You Lay With Me (in a Field of Stone)."

The top-10 success of his own "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" came in 1975, followed by another one of his major triumphs in 1977: Johnny Paycheck took Coe's "Take This Job and Shove It" to #1, as well. 

Though he continued making albums until 2006, collaborating with members of the rock band Pantera on the Rebel Meets Rebel project, his last major musical success was 1983's top-five hit "The Ride," an ode to Hank Williams.

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It turns out Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean's sold-out show at the University of Georgia's Sanford Stadium last Saturday night was just the beginning. 

The two will do four more stadium dates together, to be known as the Double Down Tour 2026. 

“If our time in Georgia was a barometric measurement of what’s ahead," Luke says, "these shows with Jason will make it one of the best touring years of my life. And the fans will hopefully feel the same way."

“Luke and I have each been at this, career-wise and as friends, for over twenty years, and have gotten to hit a lot of milestones along the way," Jason adds. "We’ve gotten to share the stage plenty of times over the years, and playing UGA was just a preview of what’s coming for the rest of these shows."

The Double Down Tour 2026 kicks off Aug. 1 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana, followed by two more August dates in San Diego and Washington, D.C. The final show will be Dec. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Gavin Adcock, Dasha, Chase Matthew, Jon Pardi, Dylan Scott and Lauren Watkins will be along at different times during the run, while Dee Jay Silver and DJ Rock are on all the dates. 

Fan club presales kick off Wednesday, before tickets go on sale to the public on Friday. 

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With songs like "She's Why," "Good Thing Going" and "Lovin' Me Too Long" — not to mention their duet "Easier Gone" — you might assume the title of Jason Aldean's new album, Songs About Us, refers to his wife, Brittany Aldean. 

But actually, it's his Peach State buddy Luke Bryan who has the co-starring role on the track "Songs About Us." 

"He sent it to me the good old-fashioned way: via text message," Luke says. "And, you know, it just felt like something that was really, really the right thing for he and I to be on. And I was really just honored that he called and asked me."

While neither superstar had a hand in writing it, Luke confirms "Songs About Us" is autobiographical.

"When you think about what the song says, you know, it kinda references these topics that he and I have [sung] about for many, many years," Luke says. "And these are songs about us, because back when he and I grew up in Georgia, we were doing those things, bar stools and cold beer and dancing and cover bands."

"And yeah, it says a lot about us," he adds. "And that's why it really works for us to be on it together."

Luke's currently enjoying chart success with another duet, "Ride Ride Ride" with George Birge, as well as his own "Country and She Knows It."  

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A new location of Blake Shelton's bar and restaurant, Ole Red, will open in Indianapolis in late 2027. The first opened in Nashville in 2018, beginning Blake's partnership with Opry Entertainment Group.

Natalie Stovall, known for her work with Runaway June and as a member of Keith Urban's touring band, is expecting her first child Aug. 26. She and her husband of 17 years, James Bavendam, are letting the baby's gender be a surprise.  

You can check out ERNEST performing "Boat Named After You" during his Today show debut on Wednesday online, ahead of the arrival of his Deep Blue album on Friday.

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