2018 Year In Review - January & February

Audio By Carbonatix

JANUARY

• Craig Wayne Boyd and wife Taylor welcomed son Graydon Scott Boyd
• Record producer Rick Hall, best known for the development of the “Muscle Shoals sound,” died following a battle with cancer. He was 85.
• Carrie Underwood revealed that she had to get 40 or 50 stiches in her face following her November fall at her home, and while she is “healing,” she admits she’s “not quite looking the same.” 
• Sugarland announced dates for their “Still The Same 2018 Tour." The first tour for Sugarland since 2012's, "In Your Hands Tour."
• Mickey Gilley and his son Mike were involved in a serious car accident near Lufkin, Texas. According to reports, a vehicle pulled out in front of the their car, and Gilley’s car flipped four times.
• Rascal Flatts’ Gary LeVox was unharmed after a fire broke out on his bus as he and his brother were returning from a hunting trip.
• An auction of a violin that was owned by Roy Acuff and was anonymously donated to Goodwill of Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas was canceled after the fiddle’s rightful owner came forward. 
• Loretta Lynn , broke her hip after a fall on New Year’s Day.
• Emmylou Harris was named a recipient of one of the Recording Academy’s Special Merit Awards, and was honored with a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award..
• Willie Nelson was forced to cancel his show at Harrah's Resort SoCal in San Diego after performing only one song. Willie was apparently suffering from breathing issues, with his publicist later saying he had "a bad cold or the flu."
• Nominees for the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards were announced, with Thomas Rhett, Jon Pardi, Sam Hunt, and Luke Combs all receiving multiple nominations.
• Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Ed Sheeran, were sued over Tim and Faith’s song “The Rest of Our Life.” Australian songwriters Sean Careyand Beau Golden filed a lawsuit claiming the tune, which Ed co-wrote, represents "blatant copying" of their 2014 song "When I Found You."
• Kid Rock was forced to change the name of his tour due to a lawsuit filed by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. What was “The Greatest Show on Earth Tour” became the “American Rock N’ Roll Tour 2018.”
• Chris Stapleton was the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live,” where he was joined by Sturgill Simpson. 
• Carrie Underwood dropped her new song “The Champion,” featuring a guest appearance by Ludacris. 
• Maren Morris landed her first solo number one. The singer’s “I Could Use A Love Song,” topped both the “Billboard” Country Airplay and Mediabase Country charts.
• Vince Gill’s daughter Jenny Gill and husband Josh welcomed her second child, daughter Everly June.
• Brad Paisley was honored with the Randy Owen Angels Among Us Award, for his "exceptional and lasting contributions" to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
• Dierks Bentley threw a huge party in Nashville to open his bar, Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, welcoming guest appearances by artists like Lauren Alaina, Kelsea Ballerini, Brothers Osborne, Ryan Hurd, LANCO, Maddie & Tae, Maren Morris, Jon Pardi, Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell and more.
• Kenny Chesney shocked everyone by leaving his label of 20-years, Sony Music, moving to Warner Music. Nashville.
• Dolly Parton, earned two spots on in the “2018 Guinness World Records" book. Dolly earned her records for being the female artist with the most hits on “Billboard’s” Hot Country Songs chart, and for having most decades with a Top 20 hit on that chart.
• Lari White lost her battle with peritoneal cancer. The singer passed away at the age of 52.
• Reba McEntire was named the new Kentucky Fried Chicken's 'Colonel,' promoting their new Smoky Mountain BBQ flavor
• Two of Taylor Swift’s companies were sued over a real estate deal gone wrong. Broker Douglas Elliman sued Firefly Entertainment LLC and 13 Management LLC, claiming a broker from the firm facilitated a meeting with the owner of a Manhattan property but got cheated out of commission from the sale.
• Chris Stapleton was the big Country winner at the 60^th Annual GRAMMY Awards, taking home three trophies, including Best Country Album for “From A Room: Volume 1,” his third win in that category. Chris also won for Best Country Song for “Broken Halos,” and Best Country Solo Performance for “Either Way.” 
• Eric Church, Maren Morris and Brothers Osborne paid tribute to the victims of the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting and the terrorist attack at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester at the GRAMMYs, performing Eric Clapton’s classic “Tears In Heaven.” As they performed, the names of those lost were projected behind them. 
• Recording Academy president Neil Portnow sparked controversy when he suggested the reason why few women won GRAMMYS was because they need to “step up" to win awards.
• Carrie Underwood revealed on Twitter that she was pulled over for speeding for the first time in her life.

FEBRUARY 

• Garth Brooks performed at the 25th Annual Alive at the Bluebird concert series, which benefits Alive Hospice. 
• Adele paid tribute to her hero Dolly Parton by dressing up as the singer, calling her the “effortless queen of song,” and Dolly responded with a video, saying she was “knocked out,” “honored” and “flattered” by the tribute,
• Sam Hunt announced a new Nashville music festival, The Nashional festival to take place in April at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, and featuring Fetty Wap, Brothers Osborne, Judah & the Lion, Lanco, andKyle. The festival was eventually canceled.
• A music-filled tribute was held for country legend Mel Tillis, who passed away in November at 85.
• Carrie Underwood’s video for “The Champion,” featuring Ludacris kicked off NBC’s Super Bowl coverage. 
• Willie Nelson canceled his February tour dates because he was still battling the flu.
• The CMA handed out the ninth annual CMA Triple Play Awards, honoring songwriters who’ve written three number one songs within the past year, including Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Ross Copperman, Zach Crowell, Jesse Frasure, Ben Hayslip, Sam Hunt, McAnally, Josh Osborne, Matthew Ramsey, and more.
• Darius Rucker performed at the NFL Tailgate Party, performing many country hits, including Hootie & the Blowfish tunes, as well as Blackstreet’s “No Diggity,” and Prince’s “Purple Rain."
• Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott posted a picture of her newborn twin girls Betsy Mack and Emory JoAnn,. 
• According to documents filed in her bitter divorce from husband Michael Lockwood, Lisa Marie Presley claimed she was more than $16 million in debt 
• Chris Stapleton landed his first Top Ten Hot 100 single when “Say Something,” his collaboration with Justin Timberlake, debuted at number nine.
• Garth Brooks played an intimate club show at the tiny Layla’s on Nashville’s Lower Broadway for an invite-only crowd of about 200 radio professionals for the Country Radio Seminar. 
• John Denver’s estate created a new website for exclusive content and more. The John Denver Patreon Page is a subscription service where fans will be able to experience “unreleased music, rare photos of John, images of memorabilia with accompanying stories, photographs taken by John in his travels, and more.”
• Vince Gill opened up about a very personal experience during the Country Radio Seminar Team UMG luncheon at the Ryman, introducing a song called “Forever Changed,” which he wrote years ago. The song was written from the point of view of a female sexual abuse survivor. It prompted Vince to open up about a brush he had with an abusive teacher.
• Chris Janson was invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry by Keith Urban, who joined him onstage at the Ryman Auditorium.
• Garth Brooks was chosen to be the first act inducted into the newly-announced Live Hall of Fame. 
• Singer Daryle Singletary passed away suddenly at his home in Lexington, Kentucky. Singletary was only 46-years-old.
• The lineup for the fifth annual iHeartCountry Festival was announced featuring Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Dustin Lynch, Cole Swindell, Maren Morris, Sugarland, Luke Combs, Billy Currington, Dan + Shay, Jon Pardi and Brett Young.
• Zac Brown Band’s Coy Bowles and his wife Kylie welcomed daughter Millie Mercy. Millie is the second daughter for the couple, who are already parents to 15-month old Hattie.
• Lisa Marie Presley sued her former financial manager, Barry Siegel, claiming his poor planning reduced her $100 million fortune to just $14,000. But Siegel fought back against the accusations. According to his countersuit, Lisa Marie herself is to blame for her financial situation, because of her out of control spending.
• Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Maren Morris and Kesha, performedat the annual All For the Hall benefit at the Time Square's Playstation Theatre in New York.
• Blake Shelton donated $50,000 in ticket sales from two rehearsal concerts at his Ole Red Tishomingo restaurant-venue to the city of Tishomingo, which will use it for the 15-acre Pennington Creek Park. 
• Troy Gentry’s wife filed a lawsuit in connection with her husband’s death. Angie Gentry sued the makers of the aircraft Troy was flying in at the time of his death last September.
• Kacey Musgraves called out a fan who had a bit of trouble with boundaries. The singer shared video of a man grabbing her hand as she walked through the crowd, and wouldn’t let go. 
• Grarth Brooks opened the Houston Live Stock and Rodeo. 
• Brett Young announced he and his longtime girlfriend Taylor Mills were engaged. They married in November. 
• Dolly Parton was in Washington, DC where she celebrated a huge milestone for her Imagination Library. The singer made an appearance at the Library of Congress where she donated the Imagination Library’s 100 millionth book to the Library of Congress collection. The book was Dolly’s own “Coat of Many Colors.