It’s Women’s History Month, so “Everything Nash” posted a list of the most influential female artists in country music history. See if you agree with their Top Ten . . .
1. Loretta Lynn. Their opening line about her pretty much says it all. Quote, “It’s hard to imagine where country music would be without Loretta Lynn.”
2. Dolly Parton. She and Loretta were longtime friends. When Loretta passed away in October, Dolly said they were more “like sisters.”
3. Reba McEntire. She’s put out over 60 albums . . . more than 120 singles . . . and had a hit in every decade since the 1970s.
4. Tammy Wynette. She had a ton of hits in the ’60s and ’70s, including her biggest hit, “Stand by Your Man” in 1968.
5. Carrie Underwood. She brought in a ton of fans and gave country a big boost after winning “American Idol” in 2005.
6. Dottie West. Younger fans might not know a lot about her, but she was a big deal in the, ’60s, ’70s and early ’80s. She did a bunch of duets with Kenny Rogers, including “Every Time Two Fools Collide”. Sadly, she died at 58 after a car crash on her way to the Grand Ole Opry in 1991.
7. Patsy Cline. Some people might argue she belongs higher up on the list. She also died young, in a plane crash in 1963 when she was just 30 years old.
8. Trisha Yearwood. She was huge in the 1990s. Her very first single, “She’s in Love with the Boy”, was a #1 hit in 1991.
9. Jeannie Seely. Her biggest hit was “Don’t Touch Me” in 1966. She was also the first woman to regularly host segments on the Grand Ole Opry, and the first to wear a mini-skirt on stage . . . a big deal back in the day.
10. Shania Twain. Her first album in 1993 was too poppy for some fans. But then her second album two years later had six #1 hits and help make country more mainstream.
Two more honorable mentions: They put Tanya Tucker at #11. She was only 13 when her first single, “Delta Dawn”, came out in 1972.
And at #12, Miranda Lambert. She holds the record for most ACM Awards, and has more CMAs than any other female artist.
Don’t know exactly how Morgan Evans is handling his divorce from Kelsea Ballerini . . . but she seems to be doing just fine. Kelsea and her new guy Chase Stokes were spotted kissing and hanging out at a New York Rangers game on Thursday. It was their first public outing as a couple. And then on Saturday, during her performance of “Blindsided” on “SNL” . . . she added a NEW verse that took a direct shot at Morgan’s breakup song “Over For You”.
Morgan Wallen’s new album is HUGE . . . but instead of celebrating with a big industry bash, he went back to his roots, for real. Last Thursday . . . the day before Morgan’s new album “One Thing at a Time” was released . . . he performed a surprise concert at his high school. The crowd included members of the senior class, faculty, and the baseball team. The show was about an hour long, and it took place on the baseball field. It included the first-ever live performances of several new tracks, including “I Wrote The Book”, “Dying Man”, “Last Night” and . . . despite this being at a high school . . . “Born with a Beer in My Hand” and “Whiskey Friends”. Morgan also invited the principal on-stage, and presented him with a $35,000 donation to the school. It’s going to go toward musical instruments . . . and also repairing the field after the concert. Also: Morgan’s new songs were dominating the charts before the album even came out, so this isn’t surprising: He set a new single-day streaming record on Spotify on Friday . . . with more than 52 MILLION streams.
A windstorm knocked out the electricity at Jon Pardi’s house in Tennessee on Friday. Terrible timing because Jon and his wife Summer just had a baby daughter [Presley] a couple of weeks ago. Luckily, he had a backup plan. On Saturday, he posted a photo of himself holding Presley, and he wrote, “In the shop with no power from the bad windstorm, but the Hobart welder generator giving us power.”
Blake Shelton was asked to name his most impactful tour gift, and I won’t even ask you to guess, because you’d get it wrong. It happened back in 2002 when he was performing at a fair. People left gifts on the stage. There were flowers and stuffed animals, plus one paper bag. He took the bag backstage, and when he opened it an IGUANA jumped out and onto his shirt. He said it was one of the prizes that kids could win at the fair.
Dierks Bentley rolled out the dates of his Gravel & Gold tour. It picks up June 1st in Toronto, and wraps August 26th in Auburn, Washington. Jordan Davis will open all the shows, and there’s a rotating cast of special guests that will join them. You can grab dates and details at Dierks.com.
Brantley Gilbert announced an album release party for “So Help Me God (Deluxe Edition)” with group trail rides in Tennessee. There will also be acoustic performances from Brantley, and his friends like George Birge and Josh Phillips. It takes place April 22nd and tickets are already on sale.
Shaquille O’Neal is 51.
Tom Arnold is 64.
Kiki Dee is 76. Biggest hit: 1976’s “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart” with Elton John. She also rocked out on the song “I Got the Music in Me”.
Rob Reiner is 76. Director of “This Is Spinal Tap”, “The Princess Bride”, “When Harry Met Sally” and “A Few Good Men”. But your grandparents know him as Meathead on “All in the Family”.
