Kia is the first advertiser to sign on for Super Bowl 53. It’ll be the car company’s tenth year in the Super Bowl, which plays February 3 in Atlanta.
Star Wars: Episode 9 is still a year away from release, but the leaks are coming fast. The latest rumor claims to reveal a ton of details about Episode 9, including the destruction of Kylo Ren’s helmet. From The Last Jedi, Kylo smashes his helmet to pieces in a fit of rage. It’s a powerful scene but the annoying end result is that from this point on Kylo never wears a helmet. However, it appears that the helmet may return in Episode 9.
The Ron Burgundy Podcast is coming in early 2019 with Will Ferrell hosting the show as Burgundy. Guest names will be announced at a later date.
Friends is staying on Netflix. Fans of the classic ’90s sitcom got a scare Monday when the streaming service suggested that Friends would be leaving Netflix in 2019. Netflix was swift to put a stop to those reports, confirming that the show’s “departure is a rumor.”
GEORGE STRAIT and wife Norma celebrate their 47th wedding anniversary. Norma and George were high school sweethearts who eloped in Mexico on December 4, 1971. A few weeks later the two exchanged vows at a church in Pearsall, Texas. That same year George enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed in Hawaii.
KANE BROWN scores his third consecutive number one this week with Lose It (Billboard Country Airplay and Mediabase charts).
BLAKE SHELTON will help mark the 50th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s 1968 Comeback Special when he hosts the Elvis All-Star Tribute Special on February 17. Participating artists have not yet been announced, other than Blake.
DAN + SHAY guest this morning on ABC’s Good Morning America.
RICKY SKAGGS is the focus of AXS-TV’s The Big Interview with Dan Rather tonight
SHANIA TWAIN will guest on Live With Kelly and Ryan on December 7. She tells Billboard she hopes to do more acting in the future.
RANDY HOUSER’s album comes January 11 and will be titled Magnolia. He’ll launch a feature film of the same name based on the music from the album and will feature several live performances by Randy. Randy says the film “tells my story but also tells the story of running away from something while not knowing exactly what you’re running to.”
COUNTRY DATEBOOK: DECEMBER 4, 2018
- 1956: During a Carl Perkins recording session also involving Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, Elvis Presley visited the studio and jammed with Perkins and Lewis with the tape recorders rolling. The four men become known as the Million Dollar Quartet, and the complete tape from this legendary session was eventually released on compact disc in 1987.
- 1991: THE JUDDS gave what was then their final performance.
- 2003: TOBY KEITH’s album Shock’n Y’all surpassed the 1 million mark in sales in just four weeks on the chart.
- 2005: GRETCHEN WILSON said in an interview that she wore preppy clothing to avoid being noticed in public when she went to the store to buy toilet paper.
- 2012: FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE released its debut album, Here’s To The Good Times. It would produce the hits Cruise, Get Your Shine On, Round Here and Stay.
- 2017: A three-hour video of a nude RANDY TRAVIS under arrest for driving while intoxicated in Texas in 2012 was released to the public.
1998: The only U.S. factory making Scrabble tiles closed today. The Hasbro-owned Milton Bradley Wood Products Company in Fairfax, Vermont, which had churned out 1 million of the lettered tiles a day for 20 years, close and let an outside company produce the tiles.
Netflix said Monday that The Christmas Chronicles, starring Kurt Russell, had 20 million views in its first week, making it Russell’s biggest movie ever.
MADONNA and LADY GAGA have had beef for YEARS, and yesterday, things heated up again. During interviews for “A Star is Born”, Lady Gaga has repeatedly dropped versions of this quote: “There can be 100 people in a room and 99 of them don’t believe in you, but all it takes is one who does, and it just changes your whole life.” Well, Madonna posted a video on her Instagram story of herself back in the ’80s saying, “If there’s 100 people in a room and 99 say they liked it, I only remember the one person who didn’t.”
During a charity auction, KATY PERRY auctioned off lunch and a motorcycle ride with her boyfriend ORLANDO BLOOM. But when a woman bid $20,000 for it, Katy stole him back by bidding $50,000.
In an auction of HUGH HEFNER’s belongings over the weekend, someone paid more than $22,000 for one of his rings – gold and onyx, & it opens to reveal a secret compartment that contains a single Viagra.
LINDSAY LOHAN says, “I would love to know why I get constantly clobbered in the press. I could do 99 things right and one thing wrong, but it’s that one thing that will be focused on.”
“Forbes” magazine released their annual list of the highest-paid YouTube stars . . . and at the top is a seven-year-old kid who made $22 million this year reviewing toys.
“Esquire” put out a list of the ’10 Best Country Albums of 2018,’ and Pistol Annies’ “Interstate Gospel” is #1. Eric Church’s “Desperate Man” is next
WILLIAM MICHAEL MORGAN admits he made some bad choices after his breakup with JENNIFER WAYNE. And by bad choices, he’s talking about hitting the bottle hard, and then being fooled into thinking it helped. After weeks of hard drinking he woke up one day and said, “I felt like crap and I just kinda sat there for a minute and I realized everything that was going on in my life at that time. And I said, ‘If I want something to happen . . . I’ve got to be the one to do something about it, because it’s my life.'” He decided to completely give up alcohol, which was life-changing. Since then he’s been able to focus on writing new music and he’s tackling the tough stuff “I’m writing about quitting drinking. I’m writing about my failed engagement. [You have to be willing to be vulnerable to go out and try it again.”
EDDIE MURPHY is officially a father of TEN.
Check out DOLLY PARTON’s new version of “Dumb Blonde” that she recorded with MIRANDA LAMBERT. It’s from the “Dumplin'” soundtrack that dropped Friday.
If you ask KACEY MUSGRAVES to name a few of her favorite Christmas things, she’ll probably talk about those things hung by the chimney – “Stockings. I love stockings. They’re kind of my favorite, because it’s like all the little goodies in there are just fun.”
SCOTTY MCCREERY is covering Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” on his Seasons Change Tour. Somebody at a recent show got it on video, and was nice enough to post it on Twitter.
“The Voice” eliminations at 8:00 p.m. on NBC.
LILA McCANN is 37.
Tyra Banks is 45.
Jay-Z is 49.
DIAMOND RIO drummer Brian Prout is 63.
Jeff Bridges is 69.
Max Baer, Jr. is 81.
