Country Legend Lynn Anderson Dies At 67

Via the Tennessean:

Country singer Lynn Anderson, best known for her classic recording “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden,” died Thursday night of a heart attack at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She had been hospitalized for pneumonia following a trip to Italy. She was 67 years old. In 1970, Ms. Anderson moved from California to Nashville, and signed with Columbia Records. In October of that year, she released what would become her signature song, and one of country music’s classics. The lilting “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden,” penned by Joe South, became a worldwide hit with its immediately recognizable intro and catchy lyrics. In the U.S., it spent five weeks atop the country music charts and crossed over to the pop charts as well. The recording also netted Ms. Anderson a Best Female Country Vocal Performance Grammy Award, and in 1971, the Country Music Association named her Female Vocalist of the Year.

Rose Garden will always remind of my dad because he was a Marine Corps recruiter and they used the song in one of their enlistment campaigns near the end of the Vietnam War. Anderson wasn't the first (and was far from the last) artist to cover Rose Garden - I've always been partial to the Three Degrees' version, which predated Anderson's by a few years.

Country Radio Stations Pull Hit Single Following Complaints About "Gay Agenda"

Country radio stations nationwide have ceasing playing a hit single after listeners wrongly complained that the song promotes homosexuality. Via the Washington Post:

Alana Lynn, a morning co-host on country music station 104.3 FM in Boise, Idaho, was excited to play Little Big Town’s latest single for her listeners. “Girl Crush,” a powerful ballad about a woman envious of her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend, seemed destined to be a hit. “I want to taste her lips, yeah cause they taste like you / I want to drown myself in a bottle of her perfume,” vocalist Karen Fairchild sings. “I want her long blond hair, I want her magic touch / Yeah cause maybe then, you’d want me just as much. . . I got a girl crush.” Sure, it’s a provocative way to describe jealousy. But when Lynn played the song on the air, she didn’t anticipate that she would get furious phone calls and e-mails accusing “Girl Crush” of “promoting the gay agenda” and threats to boycott the station. In recent weeks, multiple radio stations from coast to coast have been inundated with similar complaints about “Girl Crush,” forcing several to take it out of a regular rotation. (Sample comments heard by a Texas program director: “You are just promoting the gay agenda on your station and I am changing the channel and never listening to you ever again!!”)

The song is currently #4 on the iTunes country chart and is at #17 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.

(Tipped by JMG reader Eric)

Country Music Star Ty Herndon Comes Out

County music star Ty Herndon, 52, came out today, nine years after being busted for possession of crystal meth during a sex sting in a public park. Via Entertainment Tonight:

"I have an awesome relationship that I've been in for a good number of years," Herndon tells ET in a new sit-down airing Thursday. "[I] love him very much and he loves me." Married twice before, Herndon reveals that both of his ex-wives were "absolutely" aware of his sexuality. "I had a lot of people around me that I trusted at a time and I was like,'Hey, you know this about me but the world doesn't. So I'm gonna need to call on your services for a little while,'" he confessed. "It was unfortunate that I had to do that, but I felt that's what I had to do to have my career. Standing on some pretty solid legs today, so I get to tell my truth today." The news brings new meaning to the singer's latest album, Lies I Told Myself, which was released in 2013. Today, Herndon reveals that the biggest lie he told himself is "that I couldn't be gay in country music."

Herndon has scored seven top ten singles on Billboard's country music chart, three of which went to #1. Hit the link for a video interview on today's announcement. Herndon notes that he's been in a relationship for a "good number of years" and hopes that his boyfriend proposes now that he's formally come out.

Glen Cambell - I'm Not Gonna Miss You

Stereogum has the sad back story:

After country music star Glen Campbell’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis a few years ago, he decided to release one last album (which ended up being split into two) and do one last tour. Now, he’s released his last song, which was specifically recorded for his upcoming documentary, Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me, out later this month, that focuses on his final tour. The song is called “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” and is accompanied by a career-spanning video chronicling some moments from the singer’s life, from the birth of one of his children to him hanging out with Elvis Presley.

Brad Paisley Trolls Westboro

Dolly Parton - Home

Billboard reviews:

Dolly Parton has just released a new video, "Home," from her hit "Blue Smoke" album. The playful video follows Parton as she prepares for a photo shoot. True to form, her wardrobe is colorful throughout, and she even breaks out the banjo for part of the clip. The decidedly poppy song is a heartwarmer about, well, home. "I'll never be lost as long as I know, there's a place like that where I an go / Where I can restore my weary soul," she sings. The country music icon is currently on a hot streak, as the album entered the Billboard 200 chart in the No. 6 position -- marking her highest charting solo set ever. What lies ahead for the iconic figure? She admits she never stops dreaming.

Kacey Musgraves - Follow Your Arrow

At last night's GLAAD Media Awards in Manhattan:

Grammy Award-winning country sensation Kacey Musgraves made history when she became the first country artist to perform at the GLAAD Media Awards in New York on Saturday. Musgraves has been a vocal ally to the LGBT community and used her voice as a 2013 Spirit Day Ambassador to show support for LGBT youth and put an end to anti-LGBT bullying. Her hit single "Follow Your Arrow" encourages listeners to "say what you think" and "love who you love" and "kiss lots of boys / or kiss lots of girls / if that's something you're into."

TEXAS: Country Nightclub Kicks Out Gay Couple For Dancing Together

Doug Strahm - Better This Way

(Tipped by JMG reader Steven)

Just Two Men Who Do Si Do

Country Legend George Jones Dead At 81

Country music legend George Jones has died at the age of 81. Jones landed more than 150 hits on the country chart during his decades-long career.

Mr. Jones, who was nicknamed Possum for his close-set eyes and pointed nose, and later No-Show Jones for the concerts he missed during drinking and drug binges, was a legendary figure in country music. His singing, which was universally respected and just as widely imitated, found vulnerability and doubt behind the cheerful drive of honky-tonk. With a baritone voice that was as elastic as a steel-guitar string, he brought suspense to every syllable, merging bluesy slides with the tight, quivering ornaments of Appalachian singing. In his most memorable songs, all the pleasures of a down-home Saturday night couldn’t free him from private pain. His up-tempo songs had undercurrents of solitude, and the ballads that became his specialty were suffused with stoic desolation. “When you’re onstage or recording, you put yourself in those stories,” he once said.

I loved Jones' duets with his wife Tammy Wynette, with whom he continued to record after their divorce.  We're Not The Jet Set, which was memorably covered by John Prine and Iris Dement, is my favorite Jones/Wynette track.

Willie Nelson Backs Marriage Equality

In an interview with Texas Monthly country music legend Willie Nelson displayed the above take on this week's marriage equality meme and restated his well-known support for LGBT rights.

TM: For better or worse, you've also grown into a reputation as something of an authority on marriage itself.
WN: I've been there and back a few times. It's not perfect, so why should we expect it to be perfect for everybody?
TM: But to be clear, you think everybody should be able to get married?
WN: Absolutely. I never thought of marriage as something only for men and women. But I'd never marry a guy I didn't like.
TM: A lot of people think this battle echoes the fight for civil rights in the sixties.
WN: It does. It's about human rights. As humanity, we've come through so many problems from the beginning to here. I guess it finally had to come around to this. This is just another situation, another problem. We'll work it out and move on.
TM: And what do you think they'll say when they look back on this?
WN: We'll look back and say it was crazy that we ever even argued about this

Texas Monthly concludes the article by posting the above weed-equality avatar and inviting readers to use it themselves.

Kitty Wells Dies At 92

Country music legend Kitty Wells died Monday at the age of 92. In 1954 Wells became the first female artist to top the country chart with the below single, which was an answer record to Hank Thompson's hit which contended that God did indeed make honky tonk angels. Many years ago Kitty's greatest hits used to be my rainy day record. Over her 30 year recording career, Wells landed dozens of top ten hits.

Joseph Farah Attacks Carrie Underwood

"Carrie Underwood suggests God did not set rules. Yes, He did. The Ten Commandments are not suggestions. They represent the difference between life and death. He didn’t mean we aren’t supposed to confront people with their sin so they could be brought to repentance, because He Himself commanded us to do just that. God did warn us not to profane His holy name. I don’t think that just means misusing His name as a curse word. I think we do that when we represent ourselves as followers of God but betray His Word. That’s blasphemy – and there’s just too much of it coming from people claiming to be Christians." - World Net Daily founder and three-time Just For Men gold medalist Joseph Farah.

Backlash For Carrie Underwood

Quote Of The Day - Carrie Underwood

"As a married person myself, I don't know what it's like to be told I can't marry somebody I love, and want to marry. I can't imagine how that must feel. I definitely think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to love. Our church is gay friendly. Above all, God wanted us to love others. It's not about setting rules, or [saying] 'everyone has to be like me'. No. We're all different. That's what makes us special. We have to love each other and get on with each other. It's not up to me to judge anybody." - Carrie Underwood.

An It Gets Better Country Song

Coal Miner's Daughter: The Musical

Loretta Lynn has hand-picked pixie Zooey Deschanel to play the title role in the musical version of the story that won Sissy Spacek an Oscar.

Lynn, 80, unveiled plans for a musical adaptation of "Coal Miner's Daughter" during a Grand Ole Opry show at the Ryman Auditorium on Thursday night. Wearing one of her signature long-sleeve, floor-length dresses, the Country Music Hall of Fame member blew through four songs before bringing Deschanel onstage to sing the title tune. The announcement mirrored the way Lynn invited actress Spacek on the Opry stage in 1979 to reveal that Spacek would play her in an upcoming film. Spacek later won an Academy Award for her performance. "I have a friend here tonight. I don't know if ya'll remember when Sissy Spacek was with me. I brought her out here with me. She about fainted. We both fainted," Lynn said with a laugh. "She went on to do the 'Coal Miner's Daughter,' and you know from there. Well, there's a little girl backstage that's going to do the play of `Coal Miner's Daughter' on Broadway," Lynn continued. "Zooey, where you at, honey?"

ESPN Cans Hank Williams Jr For Good

Thanks to his Obama=Hitler speech, America will never again hear Hank Williams' opening theme to Monday Night Football.

Are you ready for some football? Hank Williams Jr. isn't anymore. The country singer and ESPN each took credit for the decision Thursday morning to ax his classic intro to "Monday Night Football." The network had pulled the song from the game earlier this week after Williams made an analogy to Adolf Hitler while discussing President Barack Obama on Fox News on Monday morning. "After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision," Williams said in a statement to The Associated Press. "By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It's been a great run." But ESPN's statement said: "We have decided to part ways with Hank Williams Jr. We appreciate his contributions over the past years. The success of Monday Night Football has always been about the games and that will continue."

NFL Cans Hank Williams' Theme Song After He Compares Obama To Hitler