The life and music of Naomi Judd was celebrated at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium last night, with the memorial airing live on CMT.

“Welcome to the mother church of country music, this is where mom wanted her public celebration to take place and thank you for being in community and in fellowship with us,” Naomi’s daughter Ashley said at the opening of the memorial. “Because we can pretend to care, but we cannot pretend to show up. Thank you for showing up for our mom.”

Ashley then went on to eulogize her mother, before introducing her sister Wynonna, who performed the first of several songs, “River of Time.” She later performed Bette Midler’s “The Rose” with Brandi Carlile, and The Judds’ classic “Love Can Build A Bridge,” with the help of the Christ Church Choir, and the audience of fans and celebrities.

Ashley, Wy and Naomi’s husband Larry Strickland also shared their thoughts with the crowd, with Larry talking about how Naomi never met a stranger,  and how she would talk to anyone. He also read a letter that was sent to him by a stranger who shared a plane ride with Naomi as she was flying back to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She died the day before the ceremony.

• Several artists paid tribute to Naomi in song, including:  Little Big Town, who sang “Grandpa (Tell Me About The Good Old Days),” Jamey Johnson, who performed “John Deere Tractor,” Emmylou Harris and Allison Russell performed “The Sweetest Gift,” The Gaithers performed “How Beautiful Heaven Must Be,” Ashley McBryde held back tears while performing “Love Is Alive,” Brad Paisley performed “Young Love,” and talked about getting to open for The Judds early in his career and Carly Pearce performed “Why Not Me.”

• In addition, Martina McBride read “When Great Tree Falls” by Maya Angelou and there were taped tributes from Bono, Bette Midler, Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey, Reba McEntire, Salma Hayek and more.

• During the memorial, Wynonna confirmed that she plans to go ahead with what was supposed to be The Judds’ 10-date reunion tour. “I will continue to sing,” she said. “I made a decision, and I decided to share it on national television. After a lot of thought, I am gonna have to honor her and do this tour because that is what you would want.” While she added  “I didn’t know if I could go on without her,” she noted, “We will continue this spectacle – that is what she would want, right?”

Source: Dr. Dave’s Ultimate Prep

Ashley Judd has confirmed in a new interview that her mother, Country Music Hall of Famer Naomi Judd, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Naomi died April 30th at the age of 76.

“She used a weapon…my mother used a firearm,” Ashley told Diane Sawyer in an interview with “Good Morning America.” “So that’s the piece of information that we are very uncomfortable sharing, but understand that we’re in a position that if we don’t say it someone else is going to.”

Ashley calls Naomi’s final day a “mixed day,” noting that she was over the house for a visit when it happened. “Mom said to me, ‘Will you stay with me?’ and I said, ‘Of course I will,’” Ashley shares. “I went upstairs to let her know that her good friend was there and I discovered her. I have both grief and trauma from discovering her.”

Ashley shared that her family chose her to talk about her mother’s tragic death in order to get the information out before others reported it. They also chose to speak to help others who may be struggling with mental illness like her mother. Ashley pointed out that her mother’s condition was so bad she “couldn’t hang on” one day to see her Country Music Hall of Fame induction.

“That is the level of catastrophe of what was going on inside of her,” she says, “because the barrier between the regard in which they held her couldn’t penetrate into her heart, and the lie the disease told her was so convincing.”

Source: Good Morning America

Florida Georgia Line has a few more shows on the books this summer, and if you believe Brian Kelley, they may quite possibly be the last shows ever for the duo.

Brian says: “We’ve got, I think at this point, 10 or 11 more shows this year… We’re taking a break after that, so if you want to see us, this is the year to do it.”

As for what’s in store after the break, Brian notes, “I don’t know after that what the plan is,” adding, “It’s not clear to me. At the end of the day, we’re brothers, so we’ll always have each other‘s back and support, and that’s what it should be.”

• Next up, FGL is set to play Pepsi Gulf Jam on June 4^th. Their final show is booked for August 26^th in Canada.

Source: CMT

The summer concert season is quickly coming up, and, according to StubHub there are more shows to see this summer than pre-pandemic. In fact, the site is reporting almost twice the number of concerts than in 2019, with ticket sales 25% higher.

As for the most in-demand tours of the summer, while Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard Stadium tour tops the list, several country artists land in the Top 10, including Kenny Chesney’s “Here And Now” tour, which ranks at two.

Other country artists to make the 2022 In-Demand Summer tour list include Morgan Wallen (3) and Chris Stapleton (6).

Stub Hub’s Top Ten Most In-Demand Summer Tours

1. Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard
2. Kenny Chesney
3. Morgan Wallen
4. Justin Bieber
5. Elton John
6. Chris Stapleton
7. Paul McCartney
8. Billy Joel
9. Red Hot Chili Peppers
10. Rage Against The Machine

Source: StubHub

The Chicks are finally ready to head out on tour after their “Gaslighter” trek was called off due to the pandemic, and it sounds like fans are in for some surprises.

The band is particularly excited to finally be able to play “Gaslighter” songs on tour, with Emily Stayer telling “Entertainment Weekly” “we’re going to try and get as many of the songs from the new album in rotation as possible.”

Natalie Maines adds of the set, “We try to freshen it up with different covers and surprises, but it’s going to be more entertaining for us to have a lot of new stuff — and hear the fans sing along,” with Martie Maguire adding, “They’ve had more time to live with this album, so they should know the words.”

Of course, the band will play their classic tunes, but which ones may change nightly, with the trio using oversized dice to pick songs that make the set list each night.

“At one point in the show, we’ll roll the dice, and there’s six songs allotted to each number,” Natalie explains, “so we’ll see what surprise song we’re going to play that night,” noting, “We might have different opinions on which songs we should bring back or what fans would like, and so we were like, ‘Let’s leave it up to chance.’ We all got to vote on what made the song list.”

Natalie adds that they will also be changing up some of their hits, noting, “It’s still the same melody and stuff, but we wanted to change it up a bit from how we always do it.”

The Chicks tour kicks off June 14^th in Maryland Heights, Missouri.

Source: Entertainment Weekly