Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS APRIL 20, 2020 | PAGE 1 OF 19 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
[email protected] Barrett Finds ‘Hope’ At The Top Country Expands Style, Boundaries >page 5 With Increasing Pop Partnerships Recording Continues With Studios Closed Country is by definition a form of popular music, but the mod- On The Charts, page 5); Blake Shelton and pop/rock vocalist >page 11 ern version has popped up even more. Gwen Stefani rank No. 2 with “Nobody But You”; Brett Young, Artists from other genres are seemingly working with coun- who is at No. 3 with “Catch,” is simultaneously working “I Do,” try acts in greater numbers than ever, and a flurry of activity a tech-driven duet with European pop singer Astrid S; and Mor- surrounding the past weekend underscored the trend: gan Wallen, whose “Chasin’ You” is No. 4, already has snagged Country’s Happiest • Gabby Barrett unveiled an alternate version of “I Hope” a gold single from the RIAA for “Heartless,” which is featured Song Is… f e a t u r i n g p o p on that forthcom- >page 12 singer-songwriter- ing Diplo album. producer Charlie “My music is on Puth on April 17. the redneck side • E D M a r t i s t of things,” says Springsteen Born Diplo issued a col- Wallen, drawing a To Air In NYC laboration with comparison with >page 12 Blanco Brown, “Do the pop percussion Si Do,” on April 17 in “Heartless.” while announcing “But me and my Makin’ Tracks: the May 29 release buddies back home, Hambrick’s ‘Forever’ of a country-themed we listened to old- Soul album, Diplo Pres- s c h o o l c o u nt r y ents Thomas Wesley music, we listened >page 16 WALLEN LEGEND BALLERINI Chapter 1: Snake to old country/rock, Oil, featuring Cam, but sometimes Zac Brown, Danielle Bradbery and Thomas Rhett.