Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS JANUARY 27, 2020 | PAGE 1 OF 18 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE [email protected] Little Big Town’s Tanya Tucker, Billy Ray Cyrus Nightfall Rises >page 4 Find Renewal At Grammy Awards Lambert Commandeers On a night when the Recording Academy pulled out a tribute at 61 years old. A woman in country music leading the way!” Bridgestone to Prince, country music partied like it was 1992 at the 62nd Though their awards were given off-camera, Tucker and Cyrus >page 10 annual Grammy Awards. performed during the broadcast, which ran beyond its scheduled Tanya Tucker, who attended the three-and-a-half hours. Carlile played ceremony at New York’s Radio City piano as Tucker delivered “Flowers” in a Music Hall in ’92, pocketed the first two stripped-down setting, bringing attention Tim McGraw: Grammys of her career at Los Angeles’ to the singer’s raspy voice and the story’s Texas Ranger Staples Center on Jan. 26. While I’m Livin’, meaty topic: a plea for in-the-moment joy >page 11 produced by Brandi Carlile and Shooter while contemplating mortality. Jennings, snagged best country album, Cyrus sang a round of “Old Town Road” and “Bring My Flowers Now” won best while playing his left-handed guitar as part country song for Tucker and Carlile, plus of a multiartist set where teen country Keith Urban Phil Tim Hanseroth Mason Ramsey Makes The List their co-writers, and . phenom , genre-hopping Delbert McClinton, who shared a Diplo and seven-member K-pop group BTS >page 11 nomination with Tucker in ’92 for their also took a spin on the hooky piece. raucous duet, “Tell Me About It,” collected Prior to “Old Town Road,” Cyrus’ last this year’s honor for best traditional blues Grammy nomination ironically came with TUCKER Makin’ Tracks: album with Tall, Dark & Handsome. a 1992 collaboration that counted Tucker Brandon Lay On Additionally, Billy Ray Cyrus — whose in the cast. Dolly Parton sang lead on Love & ‘Money’ 1992 debut, “Achy Breaky Heart,” brought his first Grammy that single, “Romeo,” nominated the same year that Whitney >page 15 nominations — finally won his first two awards as his Lil Nas Houston cleaned up with a remake of Parton’s “I Will Always X collaboration, “Old Town Road,” picked up best pop duo/ Love You.” True to form, Parton’s presence was felt at the 2020 group performance and best music video. show, though she was not present. Her work with Australian “This is really Tanya’s moment,” said Carlile during the duo for King & Country on “God Only Knows” captured best Country Coda: Grammy Premiere Ceremony, where the bulk of the trophies contemporary Christian music performance/song. Chesney Headed were handed out prior to the CBS telecast. “This is her song, Its five songwriters — including country composers Josh Kerr ‘Somewhere’ and this song is a story of her life.” (“Dibs,” “Love Me Like You Mean It”) and Jordan Reynolds >page 18 Carlile then addressed Tucker, who was standing at her (“10,000 Hours,” “Tequila”) — shared in the spoils. And when side: “It’s one of the great honors of my life to stand up Parton came aboard, she vowed to bring its message of resilience here next to you, Tanya, while you get your first Grammy to a wider audience. BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 27, 2020 | PAGE 2 OF 18 “She said, ‘I love this song because it’s reaching to the marginalized, to the depressed, to the suicidal,’ which is all of us at some point,” recalled for King & Country’s Luke Smallbone. “And then she said this — I’m in her Dolly accent — she said, ‘I want to take this song from Dollywood to Bollywood to Hollywood.’ And we did it. Golly, we took it all the way.” Willie Nelson, who won six Grammys prior to ’92, earned the 10th of his career in absentia: best solo country performance, for “Ride Me Back Home.” Not every country victory or appearance felt like a 1992 throwback. Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani held hands as they wrapped a performance of their new single, “Nobody but You.” Little Big Town sang a section of “My Girl” with its Motown originator, Smokey Robinson, during a presenter role. Chris Janson (center) celebrated the airplay success of “Good Vibes” Keith Urban and Shania Twain also handed out trophies, the latter bestowing with a No. 1 party at BMI on Jan. 21. He’s flanked by co-writers Zach best country duo/group performance on Dan + Shay, who won for a second Crowell (left) and Ashley Gorley. straight year with “Speechless.” “I’m going to put my heart right up to this microphone — you can literally hear it beating out of my chest right now,” said Dan Smyers in an acceptance speech with lead vocalist Shay Mooney. Smyers singled out their spouses as an important ingredient for their music. “Thank you to my wife, Abby, who’s in the crowd right there,” he said, “for inspiring this song, for inspiring every song that we write, for inspiring everything we do in our lives.” The Grammys aimed to inspire in the midst of turmoil. The Recording Academy’s executive team and the nominating process were thrown into controversy when president/CEO Deborah Dugan was placed on administrative leave. The event arrived at the end of a week in which a reported 50 million Americans watched some portion of the contentious impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. And NBA legend Kobe Bryant — who played for the Five artists participated in a WMIL Milwaukee Class of 2020 concert Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center, the same building where the Grammys on Jan. 18 at the Northern Lights Theater. From left: Tenille Arts, WMIL were presented — died in a helicopter crash, along with his daughter Gianna assistant PD/music director Shanna “Quinn” Hoy, iHeartMedia/ and seven other victims, just hours prior to the show’s start time. Milwaukee operations manager Kerry Wolfe and Ingrid Andress. The audience was encouraged, during both the telecast and the Premiere Ceremony, to celebrate music as a source of healing and to use it to change hearts in the current climate. Tucker certainly found healing in her night. Back in 1992, she told reporters that she would not attend another Grammy event because she was unhappy with the lack of attention that her genre received from the academy. “It’s known that country music is the world’s greatest music now,” she said at the time. “I just don’t think they give us enough respect.” Rapper Sean LOVE “Diddy” Combs similarly chastised the academy the night before this year’s ceremony for perceived slights of hip-hop. But Tucker is singing a different tune after “Bring My Flowers Now” brought her a Grammy now. Conway Entertainment Group CEO Tony Conway (left) was recognized “The last year’s been a big, big, long wild ride for me,” she said in one of her by the Country Music Association with a CMA touring lifetime two acceptance speeches as she thanked her collaborators for “helping me finish achievement award during a Jan. 21 celebration at Marathon Music this song that I’d started over 40 years ago. And I just want to say that no matter Works. He shared a table with client Randy Travis and his wife/ how young or old you are, never stop following your dreams. Keep going.” spokesperson, Mary Travis. BERRY HUNTER TRAVIS: LOWRY. STEVE JANSON: BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 27, 2020 | PAGE 4 OF 18 ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER [email protected] Little Big Town Earns Fourth Top Country Albums No. 1 With Nightfall; Dustin Lynch’s Tullahoma Starts In Top Five Little Big Town’s ninth full-length, Nightfall (Capitol Nashville/Universal album units (7,000 in album sales). He produced the 11-song set, which is named Music Group Nashville), opens at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart after his Tennessee hometown, with Zach Crowell. (dated Feb. 1). In its first week ending Jan. 23, the set earned 31,000 equivalent The album marks Lynch’s fourth total and consecutive top five entry on album units, with 26,000 in album sales, according the chart, all of which have debuted in the region. to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. His self-titled first LP opened at the apex in 2012, On the all-genre Billboard 200, Nightfall begins followed by Where It’s At (No. 2, 2014) and Current at No. 13. Little Big Town, Ian Fitchuk and Daniel Mood (No. 2, 2017). Tashian co-produced the 13-song set. Tullahoma already boasts two Country Airplay For the foursome of Karen Fairchild, Kimberly No. 1s: “Good Girl” led the list dated Jan. 19, 2019, Schlapman, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook, and sophomore single “Ridin’ Roads” ruled the Nightfall marks the group’s fourth Top Country Jan. 11, 2020, tally. On the Hot Country Songs chart, Albums No. 1. All of the titles have debuted at which blends airplay, streaming and sales data, the the pinnacle. tracks reached Nos. 8 and 5, respectively. “We’ve been blown away by the incredible response to this record,” Fairchild tells Billboard. ‘BACK’ UP Jason Aldean rolls up his 31st Country “The connection people are having with the songs Airplay top 10 as “We Back” (Macon/Broken Bow) is what we could have only hoped for. Thanks to our lifts 11-10 (22.1 million impressions, up 2%). team for the most exciting launch we’ve ever had.” Aldean ties Rascal Flatts for the 12th-most Nightfall follows the act’s The Breaker, which top 10s since the chart launched in January 1990.