New mothers have so many things to worry about and juggle after bringing their little miracle home. The very last thing they need is some rando offering unsolicited parenting advice on what they are doing wrong.

Just ask season 10 American Idol runner-up and country singer Lauren Alaina, who took to her Insta on Monday (July 7) to clap back at a nosy Nancy who seemed to know exactly what the 30-year-old new mom should be doing to help month-old daughter Beni Doll Arnold. In a since-expired Instagram Story, Alaina posted a video of her washing baby bottles for Beni when Nancy tried to shame the “Road Less Traveled” for not breastfeeding her child.

“Just because I posted a video of myself washing my daughter’s bottles does not give you the right to shame me and harass me and tell me that I should be breastfeeding my child when in reality I’m triple feeding my child,” Alaina said in the video in which she’s shading her mouth with one hand, pretending to whisper the comments to someone unseen. “Because my number one goal is to breast feed her. But she can’t latch properly, so we’ve been seeing lactation specialists, and feeding specialists to try to resolve the problem,” she added.

According to Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, it is “common in the first days of life to have trouble latching on or maintaining sucking at the breast.” There are a number of factors that can cause the issue, including jaundice, infection or other issues that can affect a baby’s ability to stay alert or coordinate the “suck-swallow-breathe” actions necessary to breastfeed. The causes are not always obvious, so some parents supplement whatever breast milk they can deliver with formula.

“So, I am having to bottle-feed her, try to latch her, and pump every two hours,” Alaina said. “So, mind ya business, Nancy. You don’t know me and I don’t know you and lets keep it that way.” Dropping her hand and looking at the camera with an incredulous smirk, Alaina added with a smile, “Who said that?”

Alaina got plenty of props from her fellow country stars and supporters on the video, including mother of three singer Martina McBride who commented, “Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!👏👏👏” and The Bachelor veteran Colton Underwood, who wrote, “Nancy you better CHILL.” Another fan offered some helpful advice after experiencing similarly frustrating issues.

“As a momma who triple fed for MONTHS until we could get a tongue and lip tie revision done, I feel you momma,” she said. “We tried all the things, I was established with lactation before I ever had him, we worked on exercises and triple fed every 2.5-3 hours, but sometimes it still isn’t as easy as we would hope. You’re doing great.”

Alaina released a new song, “Heaven Sent,” to celebrate her daughter’s birth, a co-write with labelmate HARDY and Ben Johnson that also pays tribute to the singer’s father, who died a year ago.

Check out Alaina’s video below.

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A post shared by Lauren Alaina (@laurenalaina)

Two months after the bulk of the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards were presented at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, the ACM announced the winners of the ACM Industry Awards and Studio Recording Awards via social media on Tuesday (July 8).

All ACM Industry Awards and Studio Recording Awards winners will be celebrated at the 18th Academy of Country Music Honors on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at The Pinnacle, located at Nashville Yards. The event will also recognize previously announced artist-songwriter of the year winner Lainey Wilson and songwriter of the year winner Jessie Jo Dillon, as well as this year’s Special Award recipients, which will be announced on Wednesday July 9. Performers will be revealed in the coming weeks. 

Among the winners of the Studio Recording Awards, Dave Cobb wins his sixth ACM Award by winning producer of the year (his third win in the category). He has also won album of the year three times as producer of Chris Stapleton’s Traveller, From A Room: Volume 1 and Starting Over. He was nominated for single of the year at this year’s ACM Awards for producing Stapleton’s “White Horse.”

Studio guitarist Brent Mason wins his 12th Studio Recording Award – electric guitar player of the year. First-time winners include Drew Bollman (audio engineer of the year), Alex Wright (piano/keyboards player of the year), and Craig Young (bass player of the year).Young tied for the latter award with co-winner Mark Hill.

Among the winners of the Industry Awards, Ed Warm takes home his 18thand 19th ACM Industry Awards – club of the year (Joe’s on Weed St.) and festival of the year (Windy City Smokeout). First-time winners include The Caverns (theater of the year), The Theater at Virgins Hotels (casino of the year – theater), and Aaron Spalding (promoter of the year).

“We are thrilled to bring the Country Music industry’s favorite night, ACM Honors, to The Pinnacle, Nashville’s newest live music venue, next month,” Damon Whiteside, CEO of the Academy of Country Music, said in a statement. “This is an exciting time for the Academy as we reimagine this special night through new partnerships and a new format that will elevate the show’s impact.”

Tickets for ACM Honors will be available to ACM A-List email newsletter subscribers and Academy members through an exclusive pre-sale beginning Thursday, July 10, with general on-sale beginning Friday, July 11, through AXS. Fans can subscribe now to the A-List to gain access to Thursday’s pre-sale.

Below is a complete list of the nominees for the Industry Awards and Studio Recording Awards from the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards, with winners marked: 

Studio Recording Awards

Producer of the Year

    WINNER: Dave Cobb

    Ian Fitchuk

    Charlie Handsome

    Jon Randall

    Alysa Vanderheym

Audio Engineer of the Year

    Brandon Bell

    WINNER: Drew Bollman

    Josh Ditty

    Buckley Miller

    F. Reid Shippen

Bass Player of the Year

    J.T. Cure

    WINNER (TIE): Mark Hill

    Rachel Loy

    Tony Lucido

    WINNER (TIE): Craig Young

Drummer of the Year

    Fred Eltringham

    Tommy Harden

    Evan Hutchings

    WINNER: Aaron Sterling

    Nir Z

Acoustic Guitar Player of the Year

    WINNER: Tim Galloway

    Todd Lombardo

    Mac McAnally

    Bryan Sutton

    Ilya Toshinskiy

Piano/Keyboards Player of the Year

    Dave Cohen

    Ian Fitchuk

    Billy Justineau

    Gordon Mote

    WINNER: Alex Wright

Specialty Instrument Player of the Year

    Dan Dugmore

    WINNER: Jenee Fleenor

    Josh Matheny

    Justin Schipper

    Kristin Wilkinson

Electric Guitar Player of the Year

    Kris Donegan

    Jedd Hughes

    WINNER: Brent Mason

    Sol Philcox-Littlefield

    Derek Wells

Industry Awards

Casino of the Year – Theater

    Deadwood Mountain Grand – Deadwood, S.D.

    Foxwoods Resort Casino – Mashantucket, Conn.

    Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort – Cherokee, N.C.

    WINNER: The Theater at Virgin Hotels – Las Vegas, Nev.

    Yaamava’ Theater – Highland, Calif.

Casino of the Year – Arena

    Golden Nugget Lake Charles – Lake Charles, La.

    Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena – Atlantic City, N.J.

    WINNER: Harveys Lake Tahoe – Stateline, Nev.

    Mystic Lake Casino Showroom – Prior Lake, Minn.

    Turning Stone Resort Casino – Verona, N.Y.

Festival of the Year

    C2C Country to Country – London

    CMC Rocks – Ipswich, Queensland

    Stagecoach Festival – Indio, Calif.

    Two Step Inn – Georgetown, Tex.

    WINNER: Windy City Smokeout – Chicago

Fair/Rodeo of the Year

    Calgary Stampede – Calgary, Alberta

    California Mid-State Fair – Paso Robles, Calif.

    Cheyenne Frontier Days – Cheyenne, Wy.

    Minnesota State Fair – Falcon Heights, Minn.

    WINNER: Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – Houston

Club of the Year

    Billy Bob’s Texas – Fort Worth, Tex.

    Brooklyn Bowl – Nashville

    Cain’s Ballroom – Tulsa, Okla.

    Georgia Theatre – Athens, Ga.

    WINNER: Joe’s on Weed St. – Chicago

Theater of the Year

    WINNER: The Caverns – Pelham, Tenn.

    MGM Music Hall at Fenway – Boston

    The Met Philadelphia – Philadelphia

    The Rave/Eagles Club – Milwaukee, Wisc.

    Tennessee Theatre – Knoxville, Tenn.

Outdoor Venue of the Year

    WINNER: BankNH Pavilion – Gilford, N.H.

    CMAC – Constellation Brands Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center – Canandaigua, N.Y.

    Saint Augustine Amphitheatre – St. Augustine, Fla.

    The Wharf Amphitheater – Orange Beach, Ala.

    Whitewater Amphitheater – New Braunfels, Tex.

Arena of the Year

    Dickies Arena – Fort Worth, Tex.

    WINNER: Moody Center – Austin, Tex.

    TD Garden – Boston

    Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center – Knoxville, Tenn.

    Van Andel Arena – Grand Rapids, Mich.

Don Romeo Talent Buyer of the Year

    Deana Baker

    Bobby Clay

    WINNER: Gil Cunningham

    Weston Hebert

    Stacy Vee

    Taylor Williamson

Promoter of the Year

    Brent Fedrizzi

    Alex Maxwell

    Patrick McDill

    Anna-Sophie Mertens

    Rich Schaefer

    WINNER: Aaron Spalding – Live Nation

The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.

Kesha may now be a free and independent artist, but up until just a couple of years ago, she was contractually obligated to work with the same person she was suing on allegations of sexual assault.  

And in an emotional interview on Monica Lewinsky’s Reclaiming podcast posted Tuesday (July 8), the singer opened up about what it was like to be forced to finish out her deal with Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe Records, even as she and the producer were embroiled in a bitter legal battle stemming from Kesha’s 2014 claim that he drugged and raped her at a 2005 party. Dr. Luke, who has always vehemently denied the accusations, countersued her for defamation; the two parties finally reached a settlement in June 2023, with the producer continuing to deny the allegations. 

“The recordings of my voice did not legally belong to me in the universe in perpetuity,” Kesha explained to Lewinsky. “To then be delivering music to someone that you’re in litigation with … they’re in control of the promotion, of the budgets, all of it, the release, everything. For years. For 10 years. That was the only way I’d get out of the deal [with Kemosabe], was if I delivered the music.”

“In my mind, it just felt like the biggest head-f–k of all time,” the musician continued. “It still perplexes me, because it kind of makes no sense how the legal system could just watch this be happening and be like, ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’ It felt inhumane.”

“And in the middle of it all, it was like, ‘Well, go on stage and smile and sing ‘Tik Tok,’” Kesha added, referencing her 2013 Billboard Hot 100-topping hit. “I was dying. I was truly dying inside.” 

Despite her appeals to the court, Kesha would ultimately have to release three more albums under Kemosabe over the course of her legal battle with Dr. Luke: 2017’s Rainbow, 2020’s High Road and 2023’s Gag Order. All the while, she was consumed by the preparations for the pending trial, which she says forced her to relive the trauma of her alleged assault over and over.

“Every day, all day for 10 years,” she said on the podcast. “I couldn’t sleep. I would just sit and think about, like, ‘Make sure you don’t forget this, make sure you don’t forget that when you’re at trial. Write down every traumatizing thing.’ Journals on journals on journals. In the shower, I would just cry and spiral down.” 

Kesha’s luck finally turned in 2023, when Gag Order failed to match the chart prowess of her previous albums — something she says turned out to be a blessing in disguise. “Because that didn’t chart well, that then led to the fact that my option didn’t get picked up [by Kemosabe],” the musician said of the LP, which peaked at No. 168 on the Billboard 200, a stark contrast to her past streak of top 10 entries.

That December, Kesha says she received a phone call with the label’s decision to drop her. “‘In three months, you’re going to be free,’” she recalled hearing on the other end of the line. “Every f–king thing changed.”

Kesha is now fresh off the release of her very first independent album, . (Period), which dropped on the Fourth of July. The star has been open about how fulfilling the process of reclaiming her voice has been, telling Billboard in a recent interview, “I really do feel like it’s been a homecoming in a lot of ways — not only legally, to the rights of my voice, but to letting go of that internalized shame, of letting all that go and coming home to my own body, my joy, myself.”

Watch Kesha’s full interview on Reclaiming above.

Justin Bieber had a very special visitor during a recent studio visit. The singer’s 10-month-old son with wife Hailey Beiber, Jack Blues Bieber, made a cameo in a pair of pics JB posted on Monday morning (July 7) from what looks like a jam session in a recording studio. In the first snap, Jack is up on his feet leaning into the wooden table as proud pop Justin beams at him from a seat on a couch.

The caption on the post was a series of heart emoji and at press time Bieber had not commented further on the action, which appears to include two unidentified men strumming acoustic guitars and another man listening in. In a second snap, the jam goes on as Jack slips down to one knee while grabbing at something on the table. The weekend also brought an adorable Instagram video of Bieber smiling and laughing as a jumper-wearing Jack rolls around on the floor.

The post is the latest in a year-long series of missives from the studio from Bieber, who appears to be toiling away on the long-awaited follow-up to his most recent studio album, 2021’s Justice. While the other three men in the newest post were not identified, in an earlier Instagram Story chronicling a similar jam sesh, Bieber tagged several other musicians and friends, including singer-songwriter Jensen McRae, pastor Judah Smith, Josh Mehl, DJ Taylor James and producer Camper.

The singer has kept a relatively low public profile over the past year since revealing that he was struggling with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which caused him partial facial paralysis and resulted in him canceling all this tour dates in 2022. In addition to some emotional recent posts in which he told fans he felt like he was “drowning” in “hate” and struggling with feeling “unworthy,” Bieber recently fessed up to being “broken” and having “anger issues.”

Over the weekend, Bieber shared a series of pictures with Hailey in which he was seen smiling and hugging her at sunset with the caption, “My forever n always [heart emoji].” That update was accompanied by another series, this time close-ups of the singer’s sweaty face shrouded under a towel with the caption: “Detoxxxxxxxxxxx.” He also shared yet another studio snap over the weekend, this one featuring a black and white image of rapper Lil B and skater/stylist Burberry Erry. Based on other Instagram post recently, Bieber appears to have logged time in the studio with rappers Sexyy Red and Yung Killa.

Though he’s uploaded the series of studio shots, at press time Bieber has not yet announced his next musical project or a release date for new music.