We’re just two weeks away from the long-awaited rock debut of Dolly Parton. Her “Rockstar” album comes out November 17, and the list of rock and pop stars that appear with the icon is impressive to say the least: Paul McCartney, Sting, Kid Rock, Pat Benatar, Steve Perry, Steven Tyler… the list goes on and on. But with every project like this, there are names you want to bring in but, for one reason or another, it doesn’t happen. Dolly was asked about the singers she wishes were part of “Rockstar.”

First thing: apparently nobody says “no” to Dolly Parton. The artists on her “what might have been” list all agreed to come aboard the project, but opposing schedules made that impossible. According to Dolly, “Lionel Richie was supposed to sing with me on one of the songs. I love Lionel, and we’ve been friends for years, and he’d already agreed to do it, but he was really busy. Cher, same thing…We’ve been friends for years, so she had agreed to do it, and we were looking for the right song, and then we ran out of time.”

Mick Jagger was another missed opportunity. “Oh, I wanted him so bad. They were [doing their own album]. I did ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,’ but again, it was in the wrong key. He said, ‘Let’s find another song,’ because he was going to do it with me or do something. I was working on stuff, and then we came up with a few things, but then I ran out of time and he was in the middle [of recording] and he was doing that secretly, that album (The Rolling Stones‘ ‘Hackney Diamonds’).” And for more contemporary music fans, she also whiffed on one of today’s biggest stars. “I would love to sing something with Ed Sheeran. I think our voices would be so beautiful together. Same thing – when I was doing the album, he was working on his own album and had agreed to sing something with me, but we ran out of time.”

Even with all these artists that Dolly missed out on, there’s literally a double-dozen iconic voices joining her on the 35-track project. And who knows? Maybe a “Rockstar 2” could be a thing.

Source: TheHollywoodReporter

The first round of performers set to take the stage at the upcoming 57th Annual CMA Awards show was announced last week. Somehow, the CMA’s have managed to double down with a second wave of performers just as big.

Announced yesterday, the addition of Post Malone appearing with Morgan Wallen and Hardy, Luke Combs singing his new single “Where the Wild Things Are,” and Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Mac McAnally and the Zac Brown Band performing a tribute to the late Jimmy Buffett. Morgan will also have a solo performance featuring a “special guest”, in addition to Ashley McBryde, Cody Johnson, The War & Treaty, Dan + Shay and Jordan Davis all set to perform.

It’s shaping up to be a huge night for Nashville and country music fans. Don’t miss a minute; the 57th Annual CMA Awards airs live on ABC next Wednesday at 8p/7p.

MORE PERFORMANCES! 🤩 Watch these stars take the #CMAawards stage – @KelseaBallerini, @KennyChesney, @LukeCombs, @DanAndShay, @JordanCWDavis, @HARDYMusic, @OfficialJackson, @CodyJohnson, @PostMalone, @MacMcAnally, @AshleyMcBryde, @MorganWallen, @WarAndTreaty, and @ZacBrownBand! pic.twitter.com/ai0dUSNuLT

— CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) November 1, 2023

Wynonna has been named a Season 24 “mega-mentor” for “The Voice.” In addition to star coaches Niall Horan, John Legend, Reba McEntire and Gwen Stefani, Wy will assist the competitors as they prepare for the next round of the competition: the three-way knockouts, which begin November 6. The country legend made the announcement on Instagram, saying, I’m a Judd, not a judge. ???? It is SUCH a privilege to be the Mega Mentor on this season of @nbcthevoice!!!! Tune in 11/6 on @nbc! #thevoice“

Craig Morgan recently released his EP “Enlisted,” on which he enlisted various country music friends to join him on re-recordings of some of his biggest hits along with a couple of new cuts. When Craig performed at the Grand Ole Opry over the weekend in celebration of his 15th anniversary of becoming a member, at least two of those songs came to life right there on the stage.

Trace Adkins was the first to join Morgan on stage, to do a live version of the song they duetted on, “That Ain’t Gonna Be Me,” one of two new songs on the EP. Later, while he was performing his breakout hit, “Almost Home,” Jelly Roll joined him mid-song to recreate the studio magic the two created for the EP.

Last year, JR joined Morgan for the song for the first time on the Opry stage, and relayed what the song meant for him. “Shortly after I got out of jail, I sat right there in row 7 and I cried like a baby and watched [Morgan] sing. I remember thinking ‘I want to make people feel the way he makes me feel right now.'” Craig has his own take on Jelly Roll and that particular song. “Everybody talks about how important that song was to him. What they don’t understand or don’t know…his story was just as impacting on me as the song was to him.”

Check out their most recent performance of the song here.

Source: AmericanSongwriter

Sawyer Brown (with the help of uber-fan Blake Shelton) had a new documentary about their career on the way. They also have a new album coming out (“Desperado Troubadour”) produced by Blake. Up to this point we heard one new song (“Under This Ole Hat”) but now the band has released a second song from their first album in over a decade.

Titled “Get Me To The Stage On Time” (the name of the documentary), the track has the band sounding as if no time has passed since their heyday in the 90’s. The full album drops March 8th.

Source: TheMusicUniverse