This Week in Country News: The Ram Country Report
If you were too busy to catch all the best news out of Nashville these past few days, here's a helpful rundown for you of the week's best country-music tidbits.
The biggest news, of course, came right here on Yahoo during a worldwide livestream with Taylor Swift. She debuted a new single, and announced she’s releasing her first official pop album in October.
Swift, of course, made her name as a country artist, and as she’s grown into a global superstar, she’s been one of the genre’s finest ambassadors – something the Country Music Association honored her for last year when she received the Pinnacle Award at the CMA Awards ceremony.
And even though she’s stepping into official pop territory now, she’ll always have a friend in the CMAs. After her announcement, the organization tweeted: “Good luck on your new venture; we’ve LOVED watching you grow." However, after some fans interpreted it as more of a kiss-off than congrats, CMA deleted the tweet and replaced it with this one: "We will never, ever say goodbye to Taylor Swift. We’re still dancing," referencing her new single, “Shake It Off.”
Moving on – another big star also had some big album news: Trisha Yearwood revealed that she’s releasing her first record in seven years. It’s called “Prizefighter” (and, needless to say, Yearwood did not make any references to it being a pop project!).
Yearwood she says she chose the title because the album is about "fighting for what you believe in and never giving up, even when it's hard.” No exact release date has been announced yet, but she will be touring with husband Garth Brooks starting September 4.
And finally, Carrie Underwood is just one of the latest country stars to take the ubitquitous ALS Ice Bucket challenge; she and husband Mike Fisher were challenged by a group including Band Perry frontwoman Kimberly’s husband, baseball star JP Arencibia.
They join Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Hunter Hayes and pretty much every star in the genre now who have helped raise over $20 million for the cause. Even Nashville star Hayden Panettiere got in on the action – as well as finally confirmed her pregnancy in a video while getting iced.
Be sure to visit Ram Country next week so you won't miss our exclusive performances and interviews with Jana Kramer, Charlie Worsham and Ashley Monroe that are coming up!
