Country is completely absent from Grammy nomination . . Best Album . . . Best Song . . . Best Record . . . and Best New Artist. The Recording Academy CEO, Harvey Mason Jr., said the focus is on having balanced voting across genres . . . and not controlling the outcome. When he was asked if the decision was political, he said, “It really is not that.”
Fans have been watching a mysterious countdown on Ella Langley’s website all week. And when the clock hit zero yesterday, the news dropped. Her sophomore album “Dandelion” is on the way. The album will have her new smash-hit “Choosin’ Texas” that’s co-written with Miranda Lambert. In fact, the whole album is co-produced by Miranda. The title track from “Dandelion” will be released on Friday. She’s hitting the road this year with Eric Church and Morgan Wallen.
Ashley McBryde just covered the hardest song in all of country music. It’s “I’ve Been Everywhere” . . . made famous by Johnny Cash. It’s gotta be one of the hardest songs ever to memorize. And she did the best she could. Before starting, Ashley joked about being offered twenty bucks to learn the song in just a few hours. That means she had to cram dozens and dozens of towns into one verse without tripping up. She nailed the opening cities, then the rest got a bit wild. But when the lyrics got shaky, she made up her own version, and swapped town names for beers and cocktails. And even though she flubbed some of the lyrics, it was still impressive.
Reba McEntire just shared a hilarious anniversary moment with her fiancé, Rex Linn. The couple is celebrating six years together, and apparently, that means scaring each other whenever possible. In a new Instagram video, Reba is posing during a photoshoot when Rex sneaks up behind a door and lets out a growl. And it works. Reba jumps, screams, and even scares the photographer, too. Then, when she sees it’s Rex, Reba immediately bursts out laughing. In the caption she wrote: “6 years together and he’s still scaring me every chance he gets! You know what they say about payback . . .”
The Heimlich maneuver has been saving lives for over 50 years. And we have Potsie from “Happy Days” to thank. Anson Williams, who played Potsie, was second cousins with Heimlich, although he’s always referred to him as an uncle. After the Heimlich was invented in 1974, Williams used his Hollywood connections to get Dr. Heimlich onto “The Merv Griffin Show”, where he demonstrated it for millions of people.
Barry Manilow is returning to Reading this year, as part of his 2026 tour. He has announced seven new arena dates, including a performance at Santander Arena on April 17, Tickets are on sale Friday, at 10 a.m. Manilow last performed at the Santander Arena in 2023.
The Chicago Bears sweater vest that Mike Ditka wore during the Bears’ Super Bowl 20 victory 40 years ago is on the auction block. As of last night, the bidding was up to $82,000.
TV Tonight: The Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista movie “The Wrecking Crew”.
Ariel Winter is 28. Alex on “Modern Family”.
Will Poulter is 33. “Guardians of the Galaxy 3”.
Elijah Wood is 45.
Nick Carter is 46. The Backstreet Boys
Joey Fatone is 49. ‘N SYNC
Sarah McLachlan is 58.
Barbi Benton is 76. “Hee Haw” “Playboy”
Alan Alda is 90.
