Porter Wagoner didn’t just wear rhinestones. He wore them like armor, stepping under the spotlight as if the Opry stage was his throne. Born August 12, 1927, in the Ozarks of Missouri, Porter grew up in a place where hard work was the currency and dreams were something you chased between chores. He left school […]

Taylor Swift has a new album on the way, and now some folks are whispering about a return to country music. But here’s the thing. She’s the one who left, and this isn’t the kind of genre you just waltz back into when it suits you. The announcement dropped at midnight on Aug. 12 during […]

The lights might shine bright onstage, but Brooks & Dunn say that behind the scenes, some country stars can barely stand each other. Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks have been in country music long enough to tell the difference between a friend you can call at 2 a.m. and one who only slaps your back […]

Merle Haggard could turn hard living into poetry, but without Bonnie Owens, some of his most timeless words might have never made it past a passing thought. They met in 1961, when Haggard was fresh off a divorce and Bonnie was already a rising star in California country circles. By 1965, they were married, the […]

Brandon Blackstock was all smiles under a black cowboy hat when he stepped into RodeoHouston last March, standing shoulder to shoulder with his former stepmom Reba McEntire and her longtime love, Rex Linn. It had been years since Brandon’s name made regular headlines, and even longer since he was in the middle of country music’s […]

Seth Blackstock’s words were simple, but they carried the kind of weight only a son can feel when the man who raised him is gone. On August 8, just one day after Brandon Blackstock’s death, Seth posted a series of photos on Instagram, snapshots of horses, fishing trips, and a proud dad watching his boy […]

Hank Williams walked onto the Grand Ole Opry stage in June 1949 and left it that night with six encores ringing in the rafters, but just three years later, the same stage would shut its doors on him for good. By 1952, Williams wasn’t just country music’s brightest star. He was the voice of heartbreak, […]

Spencer Hatcher’s world shattered just before midnight on a quiet Sunday in the Shenandoah Valley. The rising country artist, known for blending bluegrass grit with traditional country soul, got the kind of phone call no one’s ever ready for. His mother, 62-year-old Holly Hatcher, had been stabbed to death inside the family’s Rockingham County home. […]

Kelly Clarkson was all tears and trembling hands when she sang “Piece by Piece” in Vegas, just days before Brandon Blackstock’s death. On July 26 in Las Vegas, just twelve days before the death of her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock, Clarkson stood under the Studio Sessions spotlight, introducing a song she’s rewritten more than once, and […]

Spencer Hatcher was ready to play for packed crowds when tragedy kicked down his family’s front door. The up-and-coming traditional country singer had circled two big dates on his calendar, the VOA Country Music Fest in Ohio and the Rockingham County Fair in his home state of Virginia. Now both shows are off the books, […]