Kenny Chesney said “You’d have to be crazy to want to be a celebrity today.” during an interview at the Country Radio Seminar this week in Nashville. Someone asked about his marriage to Renée Zellweger in 2005, and the media circus surrounding their annulment the same year. They asked if it made him more private in general, and he said it definitely “changed a lot.” “Dealing with the way the world is today and how social everything is . . . yeah, you’d have to be crazy to want to be a celebrity today.” When asked if he ENJOYS being a celebrity, he said “Not really. I enjoy certain things about it, [but] I shy away from the celebrity thing.”
I’m giving Lainey Wilson the “Dolly Parton award” for knowing how to roll with the joke . . . AND embrace it. She’s still having a blast with all the attention being paid to her beautiful backside. During an after-hours celebration in Nashville she treated the crowd to Queen’s 1978 classic, “Fat Bottomed Girls”.
It’s been two years since T.J. Osborne of Brothers Osborne came out of the closet publicly. His family and friends already knew, and his brotherJohn never questioned supporting him . . . even if it damaged the band’s appeal. He said, “I had come to terms with the idea . . . long before . . . that if he DID come out one day, and it ruined our entire career . . . I wouldn’t care. I wouldn’t lose sleep over that, because it’s not nearly as important as his happiness.”
Keith Urban would like to show you videos of his 2006 wedding to Nicole Kidman. There is one catch. You have to go to one of his Vegas shows. The clips are shown on a screen behind him while he performs “Without You”. He says, quote, “I wanted to do it in an organic way and find the right song. It was more about choosing to do that song, and how that felt like the right time.” (You can get a good look at it, here.) By the way . . . Keith just added eight November shows to his Vegas run.
Would you be interested in hearing a live version of Prince’s “Purple Rain” featuring Darius Rucker on vocals, and Brad Paisley wailing on the guitar? A very lucky audience was treated to it at a private show in Nashville. There were other performers too, but Darius and Brad pretty much stole the show.
Did somebody say Darius Rucker? Looks like he’s about to release new music. He shared a video of himself sitting at a table singing lyrics to an unknown song. When someone off camera asks what he’s singing, he answers, “Wouldn’t you like to know.” Another clue is in the caption, “You’ll know soon.”
Bad weather has forced Willie Nelson to postpone his annual Luck Reunion, by one day. Instead of today, it’s going down tomorrow, March 17th. It’ll be the same venue, same vendors . . . and same Willie.
Epiphone released a Chris Stapleton edition Frontier acoustic guitar with cactus motifs. Only 300 were made and they went for about $5,000 each. He said, quote, “I’ve used this particular guitar every night that I’ve played onstage for the last year and a half, and it gets better and better the more I play it.”
Wolfgang Van Halen is 32. Son of Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli. He’s Van Halen’s current bassist.
Erik Estrada is 74. Frank Poncherello on “CHiPs”.
