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Members of Rascal Flatts got the surprise of their lives on Tuesday night when in the midst of an Opry performance at the Grand Ole Opry House, Vince Gill walked out and invited the guys to become the Opry’s newest members. Joe Don Rooney, Jay DeMarcus and Gary LeVox all teared up at the invitation. “I’m usually not at a loss for words, but I definitely am tonight,” said bassist Jay DeMarcus. “We came here on family vacations growing up over the summer, and just to go from the nose bleeds and watching some of my favorites on the stage to 20-some years later to be asked to be a part of it … is completely emotionally overwhelming. I don’t even know what to say or do.” Rascal Flatts will be inducted into the Opry Oct. 8 during the Opry’s 86th birthday celebration.

Do you care how much moneyToby Keith has?  If you do, he sure would like for you to stop caring. It was a big deal last week when "Forbes" named TOBY KEITH as the highest-earning country star at $50 million banked in a year. When asked about it, Toby says, “I don't understand why people care. I guess they do. I don't know. It's just goofy. I guess it sells magazines."  Toby also questioned how Forbes got their figures.  He didn’t confirm or deny that they were right on the money( pun intended.)
 

 

It’s week #2 for Rodney Atkins at the top of the country singles chart with ‘Take A Back Road.’ Toby Keith is #2 with ‘Made In America.’ Long Hot Summer, Keith Urban; You And Tequila, Kenny Chesney; and  Barefoot Blue Jean Night, Jake Owen round at the top 5.

 

 

 

 

Toby is getting some flack for importing the liquor for his Mexcal from Mexico while his song, Made In America, nears the top of the charts. But in classic Toby style, he makes no apologies, saying “Can they make mescal in Milwaukee? You know, if you can find me some good Mexican moonshine here in the U.S. that we can bottle up and sell and it's good, I'll go for it." Toby adds, "Until then, if someone wants to drink mescal, we gotta import it."

 

Jason Aldean says he has about two dozen songs that are under consideration for his next album.  He tells Billboard.com he expects to begin recording sessions for the project next month. Jason says for the first time people are now writing songs specifically for him, which he calls "pretty cool."  He admits that it’s something that's never happened to him before, and as a result he feels like he already has "a great record."  Jason has said fairly recently that he plans to record some hip hop and rap in the future, but we’ll have to wait to see if that’s what he has in mind for the new album.
 

Lady Antebellum‘s Charles Kelley says he would have tried out for American Idol if the trio had not taken off. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Kelley says he supports those types of shows.
“I think it gives a lot of people a great opportunity who might otherwise not have the chance or know how to go about it. A lot of is being in the right place at the right time. There’s a good chance I would have auditioned.”

This Saturday night (Oct. 1), look for Lady Antebellum as the musical guest on the new season of NBC’s ‘Saturday Night Live’.

 

The Footloose soundtrack has finally hit stores and you can hear two versions of the title track. In addition to Blake Shelton's, there's also a JaneDear Girls version. Could it be that the Jane Dear Girls were the movie makers' first choice to sing the title song? Even Blake hinted at that when he said recently that he was first approached to record a song for the movie he was asked to do a different song but he said no, it was Footloose or nothing.

The soundtrack is heavily country and features other songs recorded by Zac Brown, Whitney Duncan, Big & Rich (featuring Gretchen Wilson) and newcomer Hunter Hayes (who sings the iconic love song "Almost Paradise." Footloose, the movie, opens October 14th and stars Julianne Hough.

 

So, have you heard of Cady Groves? Me either. But she somehow talked Blake Shelton into appearing as a greasy tow truck driver in her video for a song called, This Little Girl. It's not a country song by any stretch, so we aren't quite sure what he connection to Blake might be. Blake plays the part of a greasy tow truck driver who is worried about little Cady being out on a darkened street late at night all alone, where she just happens to be because she's stalking her boyfriend. Video is below. Blake shows up at about the 1:32 mark.

LeAnn Rimes' new album "Lady and Gentlemen" has the stamp approval of at least two of the country legends who did original versions of songs on the cd. LeAnn sent the album to Merle Haggard and George Jones for their review before releasing it. The feedback was all good,LeAnn says.  "To hear Merle Haggard say that I floored him, or to hear that George Jones listened to the album from front to back and was emotionally moved by these songs is humbling.”  LeAnn sings George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and Merle Haggard’s "The Bottle Let Me Down" to name just a couple.