It’s like a country music festival, but instead of the heat, the crowds and the expense, you can enjoy it in your air conditioned living room from the comfort of your sofa – absolutely free. CMT is bringing a whole truckload of summer programming bound to excite anyone that calls themselves a country music fan.

The cornerstone of CMT’s summer lineup is “CMT Summer Sessions.” Starting July 7, the weekly series will feature live performances by some of country’s biggest names from lakeside at Southall in Franklin, Tennessee. The schedule is as follows:

Source: CMT

CNN will help celebrate the nation’s 247th birthday July 4th with a star-studded spectacle covering multiple cities and multiple musical genres.

Called “The Fourth In America,” the special kicks off at 7pm ET and runs until early in the morning of July 5th (1am ET). Hosted by CNN’s Dana Bash, Boris Sanchez, Victor Blackwell and Cari Champion, the program will feature fireworks displays from multiple cities across the country as well as music provided by superstars of various musical formats.

Country musicians Darius Rucker and the Zac Brown Band will be joined by Alanis Morrissette, The All-American Rejects, Demi Lovato, Duran Duran, Flo Rida, Leon Bridges, Post Malone, Sheryl Crow, Smash Mouth, The Plain White T’s, and more. The special will also include an ensemble performance by The United States Air Force Band.

Coast-to-coast firework shows will take place in cities across the country throughout the evening, including Boston, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Jacksonville, Nashville, Niagara Falls, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Diego, Seward, Alaska and Washington DC.

CNN’s “The Fourth in America” special will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com and CNN OTT and mobile apps under “TV Channels,” or CNNgo where available on Tuesday, July 4.

Source: CNN

Morgan Wallen had a big weekend in Chicago – his return to the stage after six weeks vocal rest resulted in two sell-out shows at Wrigley Field – and a night of memories for one teen fan.

The young lady – named Karlie – showed up at Wrigley with a sign and a mission –  to get close enough to the stage to get a picture with the country superstar. The sign read: “Goals: Beat Cancer X 2 (check); picture w/Morgan Wallen – ???” The teen had battled – and beaten – cancer twice. So would she be able to accomplish her second goal?

Karlie was originally seated a good distance from the stage, so she initially had a hard time getting the singer’s attention. However, as the evening progressed, a group of fans collectively ensured that Karlie could move closer to the stage and have a fighting chance of getting noticed. By the time Wallen started singing “Wasted On You,”  the crowd had helped her find her way to the front row -and Morgan spotted Karlie holding up her sign and immediately went to greet her. Taking a quick pause from the show, Wallen approached Karlie and made her dream of getting a photo with him come true.

Source: CountryNow

Morgan Wallen continues to set chart records with every passing week – but to accomplish this latest chart feat, he would need a little help.

For the first time in over 42 years, two country songs occupy the top two slots on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Wallen’s “Last Night” has held down the top spot for twelve straight weeks – and rising from #3 to #2 this week, Luke Combs with his cover version of Tracy Chapman‘s 1988 hit “Fast Car”. Multi-platinum artists like Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, The Band Perry and more have done well on the pop charts, but it’s been over four decades since country music had a 1-2 punch that carried over to the pop charts. The last time? When Eddie Rabbitt’s “I Love a Rainy Night” and Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” held down the top two slots on the pop charts on March 7, 1981.

• It’s not the only chart feat Morgan Wallen has pulled off this week. His album “One Thing At A Time” marks a 14th nonconsecutive week atop the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated July 1), marking the most weeks at No. 1 for any album since Adele‘s “21” logged 24 non-consecutive weeks on top of the album charts in 2011-12.

Source: Billboard