The CMA Awards are less than a month away, and Lainey Wilson is getting ready.

After cohosting last year with Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning, the nine-time CMA Awards winner will be the sole host for the 59th annual CMA Awards, slated for Nov. 19 on ABC.

In a clip exclusive to Billboard — which you can watch above — Wilson shows how she’s getting ready for the awards, declaring, “All right! Looks like I’m running the show!” She then reveals how she’s putting her own spin on the proceedings, from supersizing the speakers to making sure her wardrobe is on point.

Wilson is only the third woman to solo host the awards — which bills itself as “Country Music’s Biggest Night” — following Dolly Parton in 1988 and Reba McEntire in 1991.

She is not only the host, but she is one of the leading nominees, tying with Ella Langley and Megan Moroney with six nominations each. Zach Top follows with five nominations, and Riley Green and Cody Johnson have four each. Performers and presenters will be announced shortly.

“I grew up watching the CMA Awards like it was the Super Bowl, so to be hosting for a second year is a true honor,” Wilson said in a statement in September. “I’m humbled that CMA has trusted me with this role, and I can’t wait to love on this genre that has given me so much.”

CMA Awards nominees and winners are determined by more than 7,000 professional voting members of the Country Music Association, representing every sector of the industry.

The CMA Awards, which will air on live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, are the longest running annual music awards show on network television, having first aired in 1967. Robert Deaton serves as executive producers.

Taylor Swift may be headed for a Songwriters Hall of Fame record. Swift, who received the Hal David Starlight Awards from the SHOF in 2010, is nominated for full membership in the organization. She would be the first person to graduate from the Starlight Award (which dates to 2004) to full membership status.

A songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for induction 20 years after the first commercial release of a song. Swift’s first single, “Tim McGraw,” was released in June 2006. The SHOF gala is typically held in June, so she just makes it.

The list of nominees also includes three people who have won Grammys for song of the year – Terry Britten and Graham Lyle (“What’s Love Got to Do With It”) and Kenny Loggins (“What a Fool Believes,” a cowrite with Michael McDonald).

The list includes several songwriters who have often collaborated with people who are already in the Hall: Walter Afanasieff (best known for his collaboration with 2022 inductee Mariah Carey); Andreas Carlsson (who cowrote Backstreet Boys’ megahit “I Want It That Way” with 2017 inductee Max Martin); Tom Snow (who has often collaborated with 2024 inductee Dean Pitchford); and Richard Carpenter (who cowrote many Carpenters hits with 2011 inductee John Bettis).

Several of the nominees have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: LL Cool J (who received a 2021 award for musical excellence from the Rock Hall); David Byrne (whose band Talking Heads was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2002); Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine and Jane M. Wiedlin (of Go-Go’s, who were inducted into the Rock Hall in 2021) and Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (of KISS, who were inducted into the Rock Hall in 2014).

Other members of prominent groups, not already mentioned, on this year’s ballot include Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings (The Guess Who); Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell (America); and Harry Wayne Casey (KC and the Sunshine Band).

News of Simmons and Stanley’s inclusion comes days after the death of Ace Frehley, KISS’ original lead guitarist and founding member. Frehley, 74, died Oct. 16 in New Jersey.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1969 to honor those creating the popular music. The 2026 inductees will be announced in early 2026. The Induction & Awards Gala is typically held in New York City in June.

Eligible voting members will have until midnight ET on Dec. 4 to turn in ballots, with their choices of up to three nominees in each of the songwriter and performing songwriter categories.

The 2025 class consisted of George Clinton; Ashley Gorley; Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins; Mike Love; Tony Macaulay; Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald and Patrick Simmons of The Doobie Brothers and the late Bert Berns.

Here’s the full list of 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame nominees. The songs listed as examples of the songwriter’s work were supplied by the SHOF.

Non-Performing Songwriters

Walter Afanasieff – All I Want For Christmas Is You * My All * Hero * Love Will Survive * One Sweet Day

Pete Bellotte – Hot Stuff * I Feel Love * Love To Love You Baby * Heaven Knows * Push It To The Limit

Andreas Carlsson – I Want It That Way * Bye Bye Bye * It’s Gonna Be Me * That’s The Way It Is * Waking Up In Vegas

Steve Kipner – Physical * Hard Habit To Break * Genie In A Bottle * These Words * Breakeven

Jeffrey LeVasseur p/k/a Jeffrey Steele – What Hurts The Most * My Wish * Knee Deep * The Cowboy In Me * I’d Give Anything/She’d Give Anything

Patrick Leonard – Like A Prayer * Live To Tell * Nevermind * You Want It Darker * Yet Another Movie

Terry Britten and Graham Lyle – What’s Love Got To Do With It * We Don’t Need Another Hero * Typical Male * Devil Woman * I Should Have Known Better

Bob McDill – Everything That Glitters Is Not Gold * Good Ole Boys Like Me * Gone Country * Don’t Close Your Eyes * Song Of The South

Kenny Nolan – Lady Marmalade * My Eyes Adored You * I Like Dreamin’ * Masterpiece * Get Dancin’

Martin Page – We Built This City * These Dreams * King Of Wishful Thinking * Faithful * Fallen Angel

Vini Poncia – Do I Love You * I Was Made For Lovin You * Oh My My * You Make Me Feel Like Dancing * Just Too Many People

Tom Snow – He’s So Shy * Let’s Hear it for the Boy * Dreaming of You * Don’t Know Much * After All

Christopher “Tricky” Stewart – Umbrella * Single Ladies * Obsessed * Just Fine * Break My Soul

Larry Weiss – Rhinestone Cowboy * Bend Me Shape Me * Hi Ho Silver Lining * Your Baby Doesn’t Love You Anymore * Darling Take Me Back

Performing Songwriters

Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell (America) – A Horse with No Name * Ventura Highway * Sister Golden Hair * I Need You* Tin Man

David Byrne – Once In A Lifetime * Psycho Killer * Burning Down The House * Naive Melody (This Must Be the Place) * Strange Overtones

Richard Carpenter – Goodbye To Love * Top Of The World * Yesterday Once More * Only Yesterday * Merry Christmas Darling

Harry Wayne Casey – Rock Your Baby * Get Down Tonight * That’s The Way (I Like It) * (Shake Shake Shake) Shake Your Booty * Please Don’t Go

Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings (The Guess Who) – These Eyes * Laughing * No Time * American Woman * No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature

Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (KISS) – Rock and Roll All Nite * I Love It Loud * Calling Dr. Love * Shout It Out Loud * Christine 16

Kenny Loggins – Danny’s Song * Footloose * Celebrate Me Home * Return to Pooh Corner * What A Fool Believes

Sarah McLachlan – Angel * Sweet Surrender * I Will Remember You * Building A Mystery * Adia

Alecia B. Moore p/k/a P!nk – Glitter in the Air * Just Like A Pill * Raise Your Glass * So What * What About Us

Boz Scaggs – Lido Shuffle * Lowdown * We’re All Alone * Thanks To You * Look What You’ve Done To Me

James Todd Smith p/k/a LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out * I Need Love * Around The Way Girl * Going Back To Cali * Illegal Search

Taylor Swift – All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) * Blank Space * Anti-Hero * Love Story * The Last Great American Dynasty

Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine and Jane M. Wiedlin (The Go-Go’s) – We Got The Beat * Our Lips Are Sealed * Vacation * Head Over Heels * This Town

Bruce Springsteen is continuing to speak out against Donald Trump, with the rock star offering up a “prayer” for “no kings” amid the ongoing protests against the president.

At the American Film Institute Opening Night Gala on Wednesday (Oct. 22) — where Springsteen was in attendance to support new biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere — The Boss performed his song “Land of Hopes and Dreams.” Before diving into the track, however, he called it a “prayer for America, our community and no kings,” according to USA Today.

“Outside, all hell is breaking loose in the United States,” Springsteen added at the event. “For 250 years around the world, despite all the faults that we’ve had, the United States has served as a beacon of democracy and hope and freedom.”

Despite how “terribly damaged” he thinks the country is, though, Springsteen also noted that the nation’s “ideals remain worth fighting for.”

Billboard has reached out to the White House for comment.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s comments prove he’s making good on his pledge to keep calling out the faults he sees in the Trump administration. “I’m going to stay true to who I’ve tried to be,” he told TIME in September. “I can’t give these guys a free pass.”

Though countless musicians have voiced opposition to the twice-impeached POTUS’ policies, Springsteen stands out as one that Trump has addressed directly — multiple times. After the songwriter slammed the U.S. government’s “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous” leadership at a concert in May, the president called him “dumb as a rock” and a “pushy, obnoxious JERK” in a heated Truth Social post.

That didn’t stop Springsteen from calling Trump a “moron” in a June interview. “It’s an American tragedy,” he told The New York Times at the time. “I think that it was the combination of the deindustrialization of the country and then the incredible increase in wealth disparity that left so many people behind. It was ripe for a demagogue.”

Watch a clip of Springsteen’s performance below:

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The Foo Fighters are gearing up for their next era. After teasing a typically hard-hitting new song earlier this month with a brief fist-pumping instrumental snippet, the veteran Dave Grohl-led band dropped the blistering “Asking For a Friend” single on Thursday morning (Oct. 23).

The song opens with a gentle guitar figure and Grohl singing, “Save your promises until we meet again/ You can save all your promises until the bitter end/ What is real, I’m asking for a friend/ What is real, I’m asking for a friend.” Then, as is their wont, the loud-quiet-even-louder band explodes into a giant riff mania, with Grohl howling, “Or is this the end?” as the song picks up steam.

Over pounding drums and layers of guitar, Grohl pleads, “Lay your worry down/ Save your promises til we meet again/ Save all your promises until the bitter end,” later wondering, “when you’re alone, am I a part of you?/ Am I a part of you?,” before assuring, “You’re not alone/ I am a part of you/ When I’m apart from you.” The four-and-a-half-minute song’s see-saw journey explodes at the three-minute mark, picking up the pace and launching into a blitz of howling Grohl vocals and a barrage of speed-metal-like riffs as it sprints to a close.

At press time a spokesperson for the band had not returned Billboard‘s request for confirmation that former Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin plays on the track, though artwork for the song posted by the band on their Instagram on Wednesday (Oct. 22) included Rubin’s photo alongside the other members.

The dark rocker is a follow-up to the more upbeat previous one-off single, the emotional “Today’s Song,” and, after playing a series of intimate club shows with Rubin, the group also announced the first dates of their 2026 Take Cover stadium tour, their first run of stadium gigs since the 2023-2024 Everything or Nothing at All run.

The tour is slated to kick off on Aug. 4 at Rogers Stadium in Toronto and then hit Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Nashville, Washington, D.C., Fargo, N.D., Regina, Saskatchewan, Edmonton and Vancouver before wrapping up at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Queens of the Stone Age will open all the dates except for the Fargo stop, with Mannequin Pussy and Gouge Away also lined up to perform on select dates. A release announcing the shows suggested that “many more shows” are on the horizon.

A general on-sale for all shows will launch on Friday (Oct.31) at 10 a.m. local time, with details available here. Fans can sign up for an artist pre-sale now through Sunday (Oct. 26) at 11:59 PT.

In a lengthy Substack post announcing the shows and the new song, Grohl wrote about finding inspiration for the track while in Japan staring at the majestic, cloud-shrouded Mt. Fuji. “As the clouds slowly clear and life comes into view, there are many reasons to be grateful. And humbled. I know this and I feel this everyday,” he wrote.

“Since our return to the stage in San Luis Obispo five weeks ago, we have been reminded of why we love and are forever devoted to doing this Foo Fighters thing,” he continued. “From reconnecting as a band and staring at a list of 30 years worth of songs to brush off, to reimagining versions with the incredible blessing of the one and only Ilan Rubin behind the drums, to reuniting with our amazing fans and blasting them with everything we’ve got (no matter the size of the venue) because we would not be here without them, we have the most solid core. And the sun is finally rising over the horizon.”

The post also touched on his long friendship with QOTSA singer/guitarist Josh Homme and the many special moments they’ve had together over the past 33 years as they gear up to rock stages together again. “I have shared some of my life’s most rewarding musical moments with my dear friend, Josh. A lifelong bond that goes far beyond the sound we’ve made together,” Grohl wrote. “So it is with great happiness that we can share this next chapter together with his almighty Queens of the Stone Age.”

Then, seemingly teasing that the band has follow up to their 2023 album But Here We Are in the works, Grohl warned fans to “take cover,” adding, “But none of this would be complete without new music to share from Pat [Smear], Nate [Mendel], Chris [Shiflett], Rami {Jaffee], Ilan and I. ‘Asking for a Friend’ is a song for those who have waited patiently in the cold, relying on hope and faith for their horizon to appear. Searching for ‘proof’ when hanging by a wish until the sun shines again. One of many songs to come.”

Check out the Take Cover Tour poster and listen to “Asking for a Friend” below.

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Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, click here.

With Clint Bentley’s new film focusing on the life of a railroad worker laboring at the heart of the United States’ industrial revolution, the director needed a composer who understood the complexity of Americana — so he tapped Bryce Dessner.

The National guitarist is, at this point, an expert in soundtracking the American experience throughout historical periods, with his résumé including The Revenant and Manhunt. That’s why he was the perfect person to craft the score for Bentley’s Train Dreams, which — after earning rave reviews at Sundance and the Toronto International Film Festival — is headed to Netflix on Nov. 7.

And, following the release of the film’s Nick Cave-assisted title track in August, Billboard can exclusively share the first piece of music on the Train Dreams soundtrack. Dropping Thursday (Oct. 23), “Passageways I: Ahead, Trembling” gives fans a taste of the swelling strings and analog techniques — including the use of ribbon microphones from the 1930s and 40s — that Dessner employed while creating the musical world of the project.

Speaking to Billboard about the track, Dessner explains, “‘Passageways’ is one of the main themes of the film and comes back four or five times throughout the film in different moments and iterations.”

“The emotion in this music is lyrical but halting, like an aria that never really fully reaches completion,” he continues. “This idea is mirrored in the minimalism of the film, which is beautifully restrained.”

Featuring performances from members of the Oregon Symphony, “Passageways” is just one piece of the broader sonic landscape that Dessner created with main character Robert Grainger (who is played by Joel Edgerton) in mind. The full soundtrack will drop on the same day as the film

“I wanted to find music that was emotional but not overtly sentimental, like [Robert],” Dessner says of the film’s rugged protagonist.

He also took inspiration from Denis Johnson’s original Train Dreams novella, on which Bentley’s film was based. “There’s also a feeling of light and dark in the film which I tried to access in the music, balancing the heavier more intense moments with moments of levity and lighter sounds,” the two-time Grammy winner adds. “The music for the score exists between American folk music and more orchestral writing.”

Other credits on Dessner’s film scoring résumé include The Two Popes, We Live in Time and Cyrano. In addition to his work as a composer, he is a member of one of indie rock’s most beloved groups, as well as a producer and frequent contributor to twin brother Aaron’s projects (such as Taylor Swift’s Folklore and Evermore, to name a couple of Billboard 200 chart-toppers).

But despite his full plate, Dessner has a passion for scoring for which he has continued to make room — and Americana-focused pieces have a particularly special place in his priority list. “I find the subject matter really inspiring for creating music,” he tells Billboard.

The interview with Dessner comes two weeks after Bently and company dropped the trailer for Train Dreams, immediately sparking Oscar buzz. The film’s soundtrack will arrive Nov. 7, the same day the movie comes to Netflix.

Along with Edgerton, the project also stars Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon and William H. Macy.

Listen to “Passageways I: Ahead, Trembling” below.