Little Big Town, Minus One Member, Hits the Nashville Streets For ‘Wine, Beer, Whiskey’ at the 2021 ACM Awards

Assisted by a backing marching band — and down one usual member — Little Big Town performed their 2020 hit “Wine, Beer, Whiskey” outdoors in downtown Nashville at the 2021 ACM Awards on Sunday night (April 18).

One of the quartet’s founding members, Phillip Sweet, introduced the performance by explaining that he would not be joining, as he had recently tested positive for COVID-19. In good spirits and “on [his] way to a full recovery,” Sweet wished for a full return to live music — and Little Big Town gave viewers a taste of that with their roaring performance of the Nightfall single, strutting down the streets of Nashville with drums and horns providing able support behind them.

“Wine, Beer, Whiskey” peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in 2020, while also gracing the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Little Big Town were nominees at this year’s ceremonies in the group of the year category, but the award was won by Old Dominion for the third year in a row.

The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by MRC. MRC and Penske Media are co-parent companies of Billboard.

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Blake Shelton Revisits His 2001 Debut Single ‘Austin’ at the 2021 ACM Awards

On Sunday night (April 18), Blake Shelton turned back the hands of time and revisited a classic from his acclaimed catalog. Not only did he perform his 20-year-old hit “Austin,” but he also gifted fans his new record “Minimum Wage.” 

Backed by his band, Shelton kicked off his two-song medley with his first-ever debut single. Released in 2001, “Austin” zoomed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, where he reigned supreme for five weeks. “She left without leaving a number / Said, she needed to clear her mind / He figured she’d gone back to Austin / Cuz she talked about it all the time,” he sang. 

Following his fun-filled rendition of “Austin,” Shelton sped to the present-day and whipped out his latest song, “Minimum Wage.” Though the song initially received backlash upon its arrival earlier this year for being “tone-deaf,” Shelton addressed the controversy in an interview with CMT in January. 

“Just like probably 95 percent of artists out there, I struggled for so long to get by,” he relayed. “But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t trade those times for anything. Those days when the big struggle was, ‘Man, do I pay my rent or my electric bill, or do I just say screw it and go buy some beer?’ You had to decide because you didn’t have enough to go around. But those really were some of the best days of my life that I still think about all the time. And I think about all the jobs and things that I did over the years, just so I could play music for free somewhere.”

The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by MRC. MRC and Penske Media are co-parent companies of Billboard.

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Brothers Osborne Rock Out With ‘I’m Not For Everyone’ at the 2021 ACM Awards

Six months after delivering their acclaimed third studio album Skeletons, Brothers Osborne brought one of its brightest gems, “I’m Not For Everyone,” to the 2021 ACM Awards on Sunday night (Apr. 18).

Backed by a six-piece band, T.J. and John Osborne rocked the Ryman Auditorium during an ACMs ceremony that bounced around Nashville. Their rendition of “I’m Not For Everyone” was no-frills and sumptuous, with T.J. swaggering through the first verse and his brother scooping up the second.

The performance of “I’m Not For Everyone” comes days after Brothers Osborne released their affecting new single, “Younger Me,” in which T.J. addresses his younger self after recently coming out as gay. Released last October, Skeletons is nominated for album of the year at this year’s ACMs ceremony.

The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by MRC. MRC and Penske Media are co-parent companies of Billboard.

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Keith Urban Rolls Out a Performance of ‘Tumbleweed’ at the 2021 ACM Awards

After hours of hosting, Keith Urban finally grabbed his guitar and stormed the stage of the Grand Ole Opry House at the 2021 ACM Awards for a rollicking performance of his single “Tumbleweed.”

In a bit of banter before starting off the song, Urban’s co-host Mickey Guyton jokingly yelled at Urban for abandoning her in order to sing his song. “So you’re leaving me right now? Keith freaking Urban!” she exclaimed, giggling.

Urban brought out the upbeat, rocked-out country single, which he said he was performing for the first time with his band, complete with special effects, flashing lights and his stratospheric vocals. “Hey, Miss Tumbleweed/ Well, I believe two tumbleweeds is better than one,” he sang. “Everybody needs a buddy when they’re on the run.”

Along with hosting the event, Urban also received two nominations at the ACM Awards, both in the music event of the year category — though he ultimately lost out to Carly Pearce & Lee Brice’s “I Hope You’re Happy Now.”

Check out a clip of Urban’s performance of “Tumbleweed” below:

The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by MRC. MRC and Penske Media are co-parent companies of Billboard.

 

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Kelsea Ballerini and Kenny Chesney Celebrate Their ‘Hometown’ at the 2021 ACM Awards

Kelsea Ballerini and Kenny Chesney put on a sweet and sincere performance of “Half of My Hometown” at the 2021 ACM Awards on Sunday (April 18).

Seated on stools, the pair hit every note of the nostalgia-inducing ballad, which appears on Ballerini’s 2020 album Kelsea. Ballerini and Chesney’s ACMs performance served as the single’s live debut.

“Half of my hometown’s still hangin’ around/ Still talkin’ about that one touchdown/ They’re still wearin’ red and black/ “Go Bobcats” while the other half/ Of my hometown, they all got out,” they sang.

Jimmie Allen, Brothers Osborne, Carrie Underwood, Dan + Shay, Mickey Guyton and many more will also be performing tonight. Check out the full ACMs winners’ list here, and keep checking back at Billboard.com throughout the night for updating coverage.

The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by MRC. MRC and Penske Media are co-parent companies of Billboard.

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Kourtney Kardashian Shows Off a Romantic Birthday Gift From Travis Barker

Kourtney Kardashian offered a glimpse at how Travis Barker is helping to ring in her 42nd birthday.

The reality star took to Instagram on Saturday (April 17) to show off a grand floral arrangement that included an intricate hanging installation, giving Barker credit with a tag on the Instagram Story. She posted a black heart next to his name.

Barker shared the celebration with his followers the day before her birthday, too, re-posting the clip as an Instagram Story on his own account.

The couple have been sharing bits and pieces about their relationship on Instagram over the past couple months.

Last weekend, the Blink-182 drummer made a not-so-subtle comment on one of his posts to Kourtney — “All day I dream about sex w/ you,” he wrote — and he recently got her name tattooed on his chest. In February, they made their relationship official on Instagram with a photo of intertwined hands.

See the lavish birthday flowers on Instagram.

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Diane Warren Performs Her 12 Oscar-Nominated Songs in 5 Minutes

The legendary songwriter Diane Warren has accumulated a dozen best original song Oscar nominations across five different decades, but she has never taken home a statuette.

No other woman in history, across all Oscar categories, has ever remained winless through this many noms.

This could all change at the 93rd Oscars on April 25, as the 64-year-old’s latest nominated tune — “Io si (Seen)” from the film The Life Ahead, which she cowrote with Laura Pausini — has already won the best original song Golden Globe award, and is competing in a distinguished but wide-open Oscar race (unlike when previous tunes of hers came up against steamrollers like “My Heart Will Go On” and “Shallow”).

Warren sat down this week with The Hollywood Reporter at RealSongs, her Hollywood music publishing headquarters, and agreed to provide a high-speed trip down memory lane, playing a medley of all 12 songs that have earned her invitations to Hollywood’s biggest night.

Watch her performance on The Hollywood Reporter here.

This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.

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Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne ‘Considered Quitting Music’ Amid Mental Health Crisis: Watch

John and T.J. Osborne, known as the country music duo Brothers Osborne, are opening up about their personal lives and career struggles.

In a preview of their upcoming interview on CBS Sunday Morning, the “I’m Not For Everyone” singers revealed that John, 38, experienced a mental health crisis in 2019 while working on the group’s third album, Skeletons.

“I remember calling our manager at the time,” John said. “And I told him, I’m like, I mean, ‘We can’t go into the studio. I don’t know what’s wrong with me — I don’t know why I’m not happy. I’m depressed. My anxiety is through the roof. I can’t sleep. My ears are ringing.’”

He added, “I was very reluctant to say anything. We grew up in a culture where if you fell over and skinned your knee, you just get up, don’t cry and walk it off. There comes a point in your life where you can’t do that anymore and you need to stop and sort your s— out.”

T.J. noted that he was concerned about his brother’s well-being at the time.

“I remember we were on stage and I could just look at him and tell he did not wanna be there. And that’s when I was like, ‘Wow, like, we need to go home now,’” the 36-year-old said, adding that Brothers Osborne canceled live dates as a result.

John eventually received the help he needed, but said that he contemplated leaving his music career behind.

“With a lot of therapy, a lot of self-help, a lot of love from my friends and family — I was able to kinda get to a better place so we can finish the album,” he said. “This is the God’s honest truth, going into this record, I considered quitting music … which is something I never in my life thought I would want to do.”

During the interview, which airs April 18 at 9 a.m. ET, T.J. also touched on coming out as a gay earlier this year.

“Once I finally made the decision to do what I was going to do, I felt very sure in that,” the musician said. “But it’s just really the fear of the unknown. … Do we lose fans?”

T.J. said he’s received strong support since making the announcement. “I’ve had an incredible amount of support,” he said. “And there’s been some people saying some off-color things to me. But it was a lot, a lot less than I expected.”

Watch a preview of Brothers Osborne’s appearance on CBS Sunday Morning below.

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