During the CBS television special, ACM Presents: Our Country, on April 5, a trio of stars paid tribute to Kenny Rogers, who passed away on March 20. Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker teamed up for a medley of “Lucille” and “The Gambler,” while Luke Bryan performed “Coward of the County.”
Kenny topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with all three tunes in the late 1970s.
Watch Brad, Darius and Luke perform below.
photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com
With the soothing accompaniment of a flowing spring, Miranda Lambert performed “Bluebird” from the porch of her Tennessee farm during the CBS television special, ACM Presents: Our Country, on April 5.
“Bluebird, which Miranda co-wrote with Luke Dick and Natalie Hemby, is featured on her seventh studio, Wildcard, which was released in November 2019. The new single is currently No. 26 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart after 15 weeks.
Watch Miranda’s performance below.
photo by Curtis Hilbun, AFF-USA.com
Luke Combs performed his 2019 No. 1 hit, “Beautiful Crazy,” on the CBS television special, ACM Presents: Our Country, on April 5.
Luke co-penned the tune with Wyatt B. Durrette and Robert Williford about his fiancée, Nicole Hocking. “Beautiful Crazy” topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart for seven straight weeks in February/March/April 2019. The song is featured on the deluxe version of Luke’s debut album, This One’s for You Too.
Watch Luke’s performance below.
photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com
Armed with a glass of wine, her voice and a piano track, Carrie Underwood performed her current single, “Drinking Alone,” on the CBS television special, ACM Presents: Our Country, on April 5.
Penned by Carrie, David Garcia and Brett James, “Drinking Alone” is the fourth single from Carrie’s 2018 album, Cry Pretty. The tune is currently No. 19 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart after 21 weeks.
Watch Carrie’s performance below.
photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com
Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani treated viewers to an at-home performance of their Top 10 single, “Nobody But You,” on the CBS television special, ACM Presents: Our Country, on April 5.
Penned by Ross Copperman, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne and Tommy Lee James, “Nobody But You” is one of four new tracks on Blake’s recently released album, Fully Loaded: God’s Country.
The new single is currently No. 8 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart after 13 weeks.
Watch Blake and Gwen’s performance below.
photo by Janet Gough, AFF-USA.com
Country stars are trying to do their part to keep us entertained during our self-quarantines (hopefully) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here’s a rundown of what to expect as some of our favorite stars perform live and chat via social medial.
April 6 (updated throughout the day)
photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com
![Kane Brown & John Legend Drop Self-Directed Video for “Last Time I Say Sorry” [Watch]](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/602/2020/04/06161532/Kane-Brown-AFF.jpg#aqua_resizer_image_not_local)
After collaborating with cross-genre artists Marshmello, Becky G, Khalid and more, Kane Brown teamed with EGOT-winner John Legend for a new ballad, “Last Time I Say Sorry.”
“Last Time I Say Sorry” was co-written by Kane, Legend, Matt McGinn and Andrew Goldstein, who also produced the track. Kane and Legend initially connected during an episode of The Voice in which Kane was a guest performer, while Legend served as a coach.
Kane and Legend dropped a new video for the tune, which they co-directed from their homes—Kane shot video on his iPhone, while Legend utilized his Google pixel/MacBook.
Watch the new video below.
photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com
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By Vince Ferrara / @VinceSports
On a six-game winning streak to close out the 2019 football season, there’s no doubt that the Tennessee football team showed improvement and appears headed in the right direction entering Jeremy Pruitt’s third season at the helm of the Volunteers football program.
The eye test last season showed the best Pruitt-coached version of the Vols overall, strength and conditioning progress that translated to the field, individual players (Pruitt and Jones signees) that developed and an impressive ability to shake-off negative plays or stretches and come right back with a positive play. That last trait was especially critical during the strong close to the regular season, where the games weren’t always pretty or complete for UT but the team found a way to win a number of close games.
Just how much progress has been made on the field, according to the numbers?
I took a look at the numbers from Butch Jones’ last season, to Pruitt’s first campaign to last year’s second go-around for Pruitt to show just how much better the team is statistically (in addition to the wins) and how consistent that development has been.
Below, I’ve outlined the numbers in many team stats. I’ve added my notes with additional info, noteworthy accomplishments and opinions on what the numbers mean. You’ll also see some 2019 numbers highlighted in yellow. Those are the 31 of 64 stats where Pruitt’s team improved both from 2017 to 2018 and again from 2018 to 2019. Pruitt’s teams have improved consecutive years in almost half of the stats list. That’s pretty strong.
Will the loss of strength and conditioning Craig Fitzgerald to the NFL set the Vols back? Do the coaching changes stunt the development of the players under Pruitt? Will the loss of key experienced starters like Jennings, Taylor, Bituli and others be too tough to overcome? Could a still experienced team that features a greater percentage of Pruitt signed players enhance that improvement even more? Or will the progress continue, regardless of circumstance, as long as Pruitt is in charge?
Tennessee men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes was a guest on Thursday on The Erik Ainge Show with Erik and co-host Brian Rice. Listen to that full interview here.
