Country Music

It was joy and pain for Jelly Roll at the Grammys ... he says he crashed an ATV and broke his collarbone just before the show.

Yup ... despite picking up 3 awards at this year's Grammys on Feb. 1 ... JR was in pure agony the whole time!

The singer posted a video to Instagram, saying, "I was just thinking, I was out there running all over the Grammys with a broken collarbone. Every time I hugged somebody that week, I wanted to scream. I just didn't say it, but every time somebody squeezed me, dude, I thought I was gonna cry."

Brantley Gilbert is divin' headfirst into the non-alcoholic beer boom ... the country music star linked up with the late Hulk Hogan's Real American Beer brand, and he's launching his own beer!

41-year-old Gilbert has been sober for 14 years, and he wanted to create something for all the people who don't consume alcohol, but still want to be part of the party.

“This is for people who want to show up, be part of the moment, and enjoy the same experiences with friends and family while staying true to their lifestyle,” Gilbert said. “Real American Beer ZERO allows everyone to be included, while keeping the taste and culture people love about beer."

Huge break for country singer Conner Smith ... prosecutors in Tennessee withdrew the charge against him that stemmed from a fatal car accident where the truck he was driving killed a woman in a crosswalk.

The Davidson County District Attorney's Office tells TMZ they withdrew Conner's misdemeanor citation at the request of the victim's family.

Worrick G Robinson IV, attorney for Conner Smith, tells TMZ ... “This devastating accident was a profound tragedy for the family of Dot Dobbins and the larger Germantown community. Over the past several months, Conner has been grateful for the opportunity to get to know Dot’s family personally and be able to voice his deep and sincere grief. While he is grateful that this legal chapter has concluded, he will continue to steadfastly lift her family up in prayer.”

As we first reported ... Conner got hit with a misdemeanor traffic offense -- failure to yield resulting in a fatality -- back in July 2025 ... a couple weeks after he was involved in a fatal car accident.

Zac Brown scored a major federal court victory ... a judge just ordered his estranged wife to return the documents she took when the country star fired her from his company.

A Georgia federal judge ruled in Zac's favor last week ... finding Kelly Yazdi breached her employment contract by taking and retaining more than 170 confidential business emails and files possibly containing info the judge said she could use to publicly attack Zac.

According to the ruling, obtained by TMZ, the judge granted Zac Brown Collective a permanent injunction, ordering Yazdi to return all confidential materials within seven days, certify under oath that she's done so, and permanently stop using or further disclosing any of Zac's business information.

Ludacris is pulling out of Kid Rock's country music festival after some of his fans threw a fit when his name showed up on the lineup poster.

The "What's Your Fantasy" rapper originally appeared on the "Rock the Country" tour's lineup Monday this week -- along with Nelly -- but by Friday his name was removed from the poster.

Some folks view Kid Rock's music festival as part of the MAGA movement ... and Ludacris was getting roasted in some corners of the internet for seemingly getting on board.

A rep for "Rock the Country" told Rolling Stone Luda is no longer part of the festival ... and a rep for Ludacris told the outlet it was all a "mix up" and "lines got crossed and he wasn't supposed to be on there."

Joe Ely, a country-music singer-songwriter widely admired by artists across a spectrum of genres, has died.

Ely died at his home in Taos, New Mexico, on Monday after suffering complications from Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s disease and pneumonia, according to a statement on his Facebook account. His wife Sharon and their daughter Marie were by his side when he died.

Ely was born in Amarillo, Texas, and he later moved to Lubbock, where he spent his formative years and began his musical career. He formed The Flatlanders alongside Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, and they released a single album in 1972 before disbanding the following year.

Rising country music star Tucker Wetmore is feeling the love from the ladies lately ... and the singer tells us it's all in the moves he dishes out on stage.

We spoke with Tucker at LAX as he's preparing to perform at Dick Clark's New Year’s Rockin' Eve this year. He has thoughts about women sliding into his DMs and the endless TikTok admiration of his gyrating dance moves in concerts.

Check the clip ... when asked if he’s planning out his best moves to impress female fans, Tucker laughs and tells us it’s not conscious ... "I just move. I don't know how to explain it."

It's no secret Dolly Parton's proud of her work with Dollywood ... but she wasn't able to attend a ceremony honoring the park's achievements earlier this week.

The country music legend was supposed to show up at an event Monday where her theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, was inducted into the the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Hall of Fame ... but she ended up not making it, reports WCNC-TV.

Dolly addressed her absence Wednesday in a video on Dollywood's official Instagram account, apologizing for not being able to attend.

She said she'd been dealing with unspecified "health challenges" throughout the fall, and her doctors told her to "take it easy" -- which meant skipping the ceremony.

Dolly said she's still feeling great about her park being inducted into the Hall of Fame and thanked the park's team for their hard work.

Dolly's been open about dealing with issues related to her health over the past few months, although she's never specified what she's had to work through.

The 2025 CMA Awards red carpet came in hot the second Shaboozey showed up. He hit the carpet in full Western style ... leather, metal, and swagger -- instantly setting the tone for the night.

Billy Ray Cyrus and Elizabeth Hurley served up sexy looks with Hurley in a plunging red glittery dress while Billy Ray rocked an all black look. Kenny Chesney and Megan Moroney rolled in, proving simplicity still wins. Kenny in a black suit with a cowboy hat, tan, and chill.

CMA host Lainey Wilson shut everything down with a massive hat, bold bell bottoms, pure headliner confidence, and a cape. She looked every bit the queen of the night!

Todd Snider -- known for majorly influencing the alt-country and Americana music genres -- has died.

His label, Aimless Records, shared the sad news on Facebook Saturday morning after his family revealed Friday he had been hospitalized due to an "undiagnosed case of walking pneumonia."

Aimless said he passed on Friday and remembered him as "the one who always had the right words, who knew how to distill everything down to its essence with words and song while delivering the most devastating, hilarious, and impactful turn of phrases."

Kelsea Ballerini hasn't been afraid of letting her fans into her personal life through her music ... and she just dropped a bit of juicy info about her plans for the future in a new track.

The singer-songwriter released her newest song, "I Sit In Parks," on Friday -- just a day after revealing she has an EP, "Mount Pleasant," set to debut later this month -- and the track covers some pretty heavy material ... including her desire to become a mother.

The song deals with Kelsea making observations about a happy family, and she openly wonders if she's missed out on a big opportunity after "chasing things a body clock doesn't wait for" in the song's chorus.

At another point, Kelsea ponders whether the song character wants her freedom "like I wanna be a mother."

Kelsea's had brushes with the potential of motherhood before, and she admitted in a 2023 episode of "Call Her Daddy" the breaking point in her marriage with Morgan Evans was when she realized she wasn't ready for kids.

Kelsea said she told Morgan she was open to freezing her eggs once she turned 30 -- she was 29 when they had their conversation about parenthood -- but he apparently didn't want to wait, and they ended up divorcing in 2022.

Americana singer-songwriter Todd Snider has been arrested in Salt Lake City, Utah, after being hospitalized to treat injuries he apparently sustained from an alleged assault outside his hotel.

According to the arrest affidavit, the Nashville-based musician was angry he was discharged from the Salt Lake City Regional Hospital and began yelling and cursing at the hospital staff. Cops say he was told to leave the property, which he did ... but they say he returned and "made verbal threats" to the alleged victim by getting in the person's face and saying he was going to "kick [their] ass."

Snider was subsequently arrested Sunday evening and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for disorderly conduct, trespassing, and making a threat of violence. He was released Monday to pretrial services, per a Salt Lake City Sheriff Department spokesperson.

Luke Bryan's finally opened up about what really happened to his late sister Kelly, who died back in 2007.

The country star made his comments during his appearance on Tuesday's episode of the "All There Is with Anderson Cooper" podcast, and he revealed his sibling died of sudden death syndrome.

Sudden death syndrome encompasses a variety of fatal cardiac conditions, according to Healthline.

Luke said Kelly had unexpectedly died while doing laundry, and said her death was as if "somebody just turned the switch off on her."

Luke said it took an extended period of time to find out exactly why his sister had died, and said everything surrounding her death was "inconclusive." He also recalled Kelly had suffered an orbital bone injury, which he surmised was the result of her falling and knocking herself out.

Tragedy revisited Bryan's family ... Kelly's husband, Ben Cheshire, died after suffering a heart attack eight years after his wife's death, according to Us Weekly.

The singer subsequently adopted their three children, Jordan, Kris, and Tilde, who were raised alongside his children, Thomas and Tatum.

Keith Urban played off a potentially awkward situation like a champ at his concert Friday night ... when a fan told him her name is Nicole!

Check out the clip from the country star's show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena --the fan tells him he won't like her name before revealing it's the same as his estranged wife's.

He hilariously reacts by dramatically falling backward onto the stage, lying there for a few moments as fans cheer and clap.

George Strait's played some of the biggest stages out there, gaining plenty of fans along the way ... and it looks like his supporters in South Carolina are going to get their chance to see the country star real soon.

The country star is planning on heading back to Clemson Memorial Stadium -- also known as Death Valley -- to play a show on May 2, 2026, according to Billboard.

Strait's not the only performer of the night, as he'll be supported by both Cody Johnson and Wyatt Flores at the concert.

It's worth noting the last time a concert was held at Clemson Memorial Stadium was all the way back in 1999 -- and it was headlined by Strait, too!

Strait shared an announcement about the planned event on Instagram Friday ... the post's caption said the "King" would be returning after a quarter-century.

Clemson Memorial Stadium can accommodate more than 80,000 fans, and we're thinking Strait's probably gonna fill most of those seats ... FYI, he formerly held the record for having the largest single ticketed concert crowd in U.S. history ... although his record was beaten by Zach Bryan in 2024.

5:30 PM PT -- Maggie Baugh posted a teaser on Instagram of her new song -- 'The Devil Win' -- revealing some of the lyrics, and some fans are connecting them to the rumors that Baugh was somehow involved in Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman's divorce.

MB is heard singing "I don’t know what the hell I believe in / I don’t know how to heal my soul / Or how to fight this feeling and it’s a damn good place to go / No matter how close I get to the burning edge / Tempting as it is, I won’t let the Devil win."

It's unclear what the song is about -- especially since the clip is just a portion of the full track -- but fans stop at nothing to hype up the rumors circling around online.

Maggie Baugh is breaking her silence as romance rumors swirl around her and Keith Urban ... but she's not talking about the elephant in the room -- instead, she's plugging her new music.

The rising country star hopped on Instagram Wednesday and posted a snippet of her upcoming single, "The Devil Win." She'd teased an announcement Monday, and this seems to be what she was referring to.

A source with knowledge tells TMZ ... Keith was not involved with any aspect of the album ... and he's not listened to it.