2018 Year In Review - July & August

Audio By Carbonatix

JULY

• Amy Grant's father Dr. Burton Grant died following a long illness.
• Lauren Alaina revealed on social media that her stepfather was battling cancer.
• Eric Church revealed in a message on his website that his brother and collaborator, Brandon Church, passed away. An official cause of death was not released, although TMZ reported the 36-year-old suffered some seizures before dying of cardiac arrest.
• Ben Haggard, son of the late Merle Haggard, and girlfriend Jeyda Beyzade welcomed son Liam James.
• Garth Brooks revealed that he will be the first artist ever to headline a concert at Notre Dame Stadium in Indiana.
• Miranda Lambert was named the Country Music Hall of Fame’s 15^thartist in residence.
• Jason Aldean and wife Brittany announced on Instagram they were expecting their second child together.
• Eli Young Band’s Mike Eli and wife Kacey welcomed son Kash in Dallas, Texas. 
• Kenny Chesney’s single, “Get Along,” topped the “Billboard” Country Airplay Chart, his 30^th Country Airplay number one, making him the artist with the most Country Airplay number ones, surpassing Tim McGraw, who is now in second with 29.
• Deana Carter married Jim McPhail at the Pearl Hotel in Florida.
• Carly Pearce confirmed that she was dating fellow singer Michael Ray. 
• Jason Aldean brought his “High Noon Neon Tour” to Atlanta for a very special concert at SunTrust Park, featuring some very special friends. In addition to his usual tour openers, Lauren Alaina and Luke Combs, the concert featured Darius Rucker reuniting with his Hootie and The Blowfish bandmates. 
• Lauren Alaina announced via social media that she and longtime boyfriend Alex Hopkins had gotten engaged.
• Florida Georgia Line and Bebe Rexha’s hit “Meant To Be” spent its 35^th week on top the Hot Country Songs chart, to break the record for the longest Hot Country Songs chart run at number one, set by Sam Hunt’s “Body Like A Back Road.” “Meant to Be” went on to hold he number one spot for 50 weeks.
• Luke Bryan brought his “What Makes You Country XL Tour Stadium Sized” to Minneapolis’ Target Field, making Luke the only artist to ever play all three stadiums in Minneapolis. He previously headlined TCF Bank Stadium in 2015 and U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016.
• Reba McEntire was announced as one of this year's Kennedy Center honorees.
• Eric Church revealed in a cover story in “Rolling Stone” that he suffered a serious health scare, sharing he had thoracic outlet syndrome, a birth defect in which the topmost rib is too close to the collarbone, and he wound up having surgery to remove the collarbone.
• Chris Janson was honored with three BMI Million-Air certificates at the Grand Ole Opry. The honor is given to songwriters, composers, and publishers whose songs accumulate over one million U.S. broadcast performances.
• Luke Bryan made history, becoming the first country artist to headline Dodger’s Stadium in Los Angeles. 

AUGUST 

• The Judds got their very own Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit. “The Judds: Dream Chasers.” 
• Carrie Underwood was criticized for suggesting she missed her chance for a big family because she was 35. Just days later she announced that she and husband Mike Fisher were expecting their second child. 
• Rascal Flatts was forced to cut their concert in Indianapolis short due to a security concern. It was later revealed that the security concern was a bomb threat.
• Garth Brooks made a surprise appearance at Tootsie’s bar in Nashville, joining local singer-songwriter Andy Gibbons who was performing at the bar.
• Jason Aldean announced that he and wife Brittany were expecting a baby girl.
• Brad Paisley was joined on stage in Massachusetts by police officers Stephen McNulty and Kim Tavares, who took the Internet by storm with their “Cop Pool Karaoke,” featuring them singing “God Bless America,”
• Kenny Chesney’s “Trip Around the Sun Tour” broke records at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium. A whopping 55,182 fans turned out to see Kenny rock the house, breaking an all-time attendance record set by One Direction in 2014.
• Dolly Parton was awarded a new honor that’s actually named after her. The singer received the Dolly Parton Excellence in Leadership Award at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. 
• Pistol Annies singer Angaleena Presley revealed she was expecting her first child with husband Jordan Powell.
• Luke Bryan topped Forbes’ Country Cash Kings, with a haul of $52 million. It was the first time in three years that Garth Brooks didn’t top the list.
• Blue Miller, best known for his work with The Gibson/Miller Bandand collaborations with Blake Shelton, Bob Seger and more, passed away at the age of 66. 
• Kenny Chesney’s 10 albums he recorded for his former label, Sony Music Nashville, earned an RIAA certification, with five of the albums having gone multi-platinum, 10 platinum and five having gone gold 
• Kenny Chesney set yet another stadium record. His show at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey was attended by 58,642 concertgoers, making him the biggest ticket seller in the venue’s history.
• Lisa Marie Presley won a round in her court battle against estranged hubby Michael Lockwood. A judge ruled that a post nuptial agreement Lockwood signed in 2007 could be upheld, which means Lisa Marie won’t have to pay him any spousal support.
• Gretchen Wilson was arrested for causing a disturbance on a flight into Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. The arrest was the result of a fight Gretchen got into with a passenger over an airplane bathroom that continued throughout the 80-minute flight.
• Singer Maggie Rose and GRAMMY award-winning songwriter Liz Rose teamed up to rewrite the children’s classic “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” in connection with Women’s Equality Day.
• Ray Stevens, Brenda Lee, Jeannie Seely and Ben Folds were honored with stars on the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville.
• Brett Young was named brand ambassador for the William Rast clothing line, founded by Justin Timberlake and business partner, Trace Ayala. 
• The 12th Annual ACM Honors took place at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. This years’ honorees included Alan Jackson, Dierks Bentley, Darius Rucker and Sam Hunt.
• Miranda Lambert split from boyfriend Evan Felker, revealing in an interview with “The Tennessean,” that she’s “happily single.”
• Taylor Swift brought her “Reputation Stadium Tour” to Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, and was joined by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, who joined Taylor to perform - what else - her hit debut single “Tim McGraw.”
• Chris Stapleton led the pack of this year’s CMA Award nominees with five nods, including ones for Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year for “From A Room: Volume 2,” Male Vocalist of the Year and Single and Song of the Year for “Broken Halos.”
• Charley Pride was inducted into the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience Hall of Fame, and received a Walk of Fame star as part of the ceremony.
• Dierks Bentley held his first-ever Seven Peaks festival in Bueno Vista, Colorado, featuring Miranda Lambert, Brothers Osborne, Clint Black, Elle King, LANCO, Del McCoury, Sam Bush and The Cadillac Three and more. 
• Michelle Branch and the Black Keys’ Patrick Carney welcomed a new baby boy, Rhys James.