Month: December 2025

Ella Langley’s hit “Choosin’ Texas” just got mashed up with Wham!’s “Last Christmas” — and the result is a viral country-meets-Christmas banger. Continue reading…

​The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs

Jelly Roll is getting honest about how his weight used to affect intimacy with wife Bunnie Xo. Continue reading…

​The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs

Carly Pearce has always been known for her honesty with fans, sharing unfiltered glimpses of her life through her lyrics, and her latest release, “Dream Come True,” is no different.

Co-written with Lauren Hungate, Tofer Brown, and Emily Weisband, the track explores the sacrifices the Kentucky native has made throughout her life and career, reflecting on the unseen moments of loneliness and the struggles she faces behind the scenes.

In a recent interview on CBS Mornings, the GRAMMY winner shared more about writing the song and the emotions she poured into it, revealing, “Every line in the song is my story.”

“I wrote this song about a year ago… I’ve been doing this professionally for almost a decade, and there are high highs and low lows, and I really needed to figure out why I wanted to do music in the first place. I needed to reconnect with the dream,” she shared.

“And so I had moved into this house in a cul-de-sac. It’s four bedrooms, and I was surrounded by women my age who had husbands, families, and this life that I didn’t even realize I wanted until that moment.”

Pearce admits the song came from a very “genuine place” and that writing it helped her rediscover her passion for music. 

“It helped me reconnect with the little dream that five-year-old Carly had, to sing country music and be on the Grand Ole Opry,” she said proudly.

While listeners outside the music industry may not connect with every detail, Pearce acknowledged that “everybody has had to sacrifice something in their life” and hopes fans will find their own meaning in the song.

“That’s kind of the universal message for me. I hope people, like me, are more willing to say that, because we all feel it. And it’s important not to be afraid to say it in a world where we live for the highlight reel…I feel lonely too sometimes.”

“Dream Come True” also touches on her mother’s illness, with Pearce singing: “My mama’s sick / Don’t see her that much when I’m on the road / And it’s gettin’ too hard to come to my shows / Like she used to / She says I can quit / But then all of her prayers would be in vain / She worked my whole damn life to make / This dream come true.”

The country star confirmed that her mom is doing “really, really well.”

“I wanted people to hear that part. When I played it for them, my parents had only heard the song once because they couldn’t handle it. But it’s a real moment, my mom moved me to Nashville when I was 15. She helped me so much, and now the very thing we wanted for me has almost kept me from being able to take care of her in times when she needs me, and she’s not able to be with me.”

“Dream Come True” offers a first-look at what’s to come for Pearce, who revealed that new music is coming “really soon.”

“January is going to be fun,” she teased.

The post Carly Pearce Shares the Story Behind ‘Dream Come True:’ ‘Every Line In the Song Is My Story’ appeared first on Country Now.

​Country Now

Jelly Roll has always worn his heart on his sleeve, but nothing could have prepared him for the moment he achieved a lifelong dream of being invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He broke down in tears when one of his musical heroes, Craig Morgan, appeared via video message mid-interview on The Joe Rogan Experience to extend the honor, marking a full-circle moment.

Like all country artists, the Opry has held a special place in Jelly Roll’s heart since childhood. He grew up not far from the iconic venue in Antioch, TN and while it was located only about 15 minutes from his home, it felt millions of miles away and basically untouchable for so long.

That all changed when he made his debut in the historic circle in Fall 2021 to a standing ovation. In July of the following year, the genre-bending star returned to sing his hits, “Save Me,” and “Son of a Sinner,” with plans to watch fellow country act Craig Morgan perform later in the night. However, things became even more meaningful that evening when Morgan surprised him onstage, inviting him to join in on a performance of “Almost Home” and gifted him a framed, signed copy of the song’s lyrics.

As a result, it was only fitting for Craig Morgan to be the one to deliver this latest life-changing news to Jelly Roll. The “Liar” singer and Rogan were nearing the end of their over two-hour long conversation when Rogan brought him back to the first time he appeared on that stage at 500 lbs, and particularly called out his emotional speech about his journey with music. Jelly Roll told the crowd that night about his time being incarcerated and how he found strength in country music, but particularly in Craig Morgan’s music.

Rogan then asked, “What is it like seeing yourself that big and seeing yourself in that huge moment?”

With tears welling up and his voice cracking, he responded, “I didn’t think I’d make it, Joe.”

In the next moment, Rogan prompted Jelly Roll to look at the TV screen again, where Morgan appeared in a video message filmed from the pews of the Grand Ole Opry. He started out by congratulating the country act on everything he has accomplished in his career to this point and then thanked him for the “positive difference” that he has made in the lives of so many people.

He continued, “You’re doing great work, buddy, and I’ll never forget meeting you on the Grand Ole Opry and how much it meant to me to hear you say my music helped you get through some really tough times. That’s one thing country music does really well.”

Jelly Roll stared at the screen in disbelief and even threw off his headphones the moment he realized what Morgan was there to tell him.

“Who would’ve ever dreamed back then that I’d be back at the Opry house today to say, Jelly Roll, you’re officially invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. It’s an honor to say, welcome to the family brother.”

The award-winning hitmaker was speechless as he buried his face in his hands and attempted to dry the tears flowing down his face. He and Rogan then shared a tight hug as they celebrated the incredible milestone.

“It don’t get no bigger in country music, Bubba…I googled Craig Morgan. I heard ‘Almost Home’ in jail, and you’ve heard the song, right? It’s like the most tear-jerking song about a homeless man, and it just reminded me of jail. Just no matter where you are, the mind’s strong. I came home and the song is so much, I was like, ‘Craig Morgan Live.’ It’s like ‘Grand Ole Opry house’ and I was like, I’ll go, and could barely afford tickets. I think I talked some girl into buying them for me,” he joked.

He went on to explain just how impactful that night out in Nashville was for him, further proving how full circle this invitation from Morgan really is.

“I went and sat by myself. I had an ankle bracelet on, so each show went off at nine. It had to be home at nine, so I was like, if he’s the last one, I’m screwed. And he comes out and sings almost home and I’m not bullshitting. I’d maybe cried 10 times in my life at that point and I cried. I cried. I cried like I’m crying here now. And I just remember thinking, ‘man…I want to make people feel the way he makes me feel. That’s what I want to do.”

Rogan was quick to reassure the country act, letting him know that he accomplished his mission.

“That feeling that he gave you, you’ve given to many, many people. It’s an incredible gift. There’re so few people in life that have touched people the way you’ve touched people.”

Slowly rising out from his tears, Jelly Roll relished in the fact that his name will soon appear on the honorary plaque wall alongside so many of his country music legends and his musical heroes. As he explained, this is an accomplishment he never thought the would even be close to reaching, but he pushed past all the obstacles in his life and he’s done it.

Jelly Roll left listeners with one final message: “Somebody out there right now is dreaming of something and it’s too small. Dream bigger baby. Dream bigger baby.”

The post Jelly Roll Sobs After Craig Morgan Invites Him to Become Opry Member On ‘Joe Rogan Experience’ appeared first on Country Now.

​Country Now

Nearly a year and a half ago, Elizabeth Nichols made a decision that would change her future entirely. She moved to Nashville in August 2024 with the intentions of simultaneously attending Belmont Law and pursuing her love for music. But by December, she quickly gained momentum with her debut single, “I Got A New One,” and by January 2025, Nichols had left law school to pursue music full-time.

“I fully was like, I can do both. I was convinced. I was like, I am going to be able to do both. It’s not going to be an issue,” Nichols told Country Now with confidence.

The main challenge for juggling both paths came down to touring. The songstress quickly realized that attending in-person classes while trying to build her music career on the road wasn’t going to be possible.

While she’s putting her law aspirations on hold for now, she hopes to revisit that passion at some point in the future. Until then, she’s leaning into the momentum she unexpectedly gained from sharing “I Got A New One” with the world. It’s officially been a year since the song dropped, causing her to take an indefinite break from law school. During this time, her career has skyrocketed and resulted in a whirlwind of achievements, opportunities, and the kind of unforgettable experiences that most budding artists could only dream of.

“It really started when we were looking at record deals. It was like, ‘Wow, this is going to become my full-time job.’ It was never even a thought that that was a possibility,” she admitted. “So it was very a quick change.”

For most of her life, music had been a private passion, something Nichols enjoyed deeply but didn’t define her among her close circle until that song got the ball rolling and Nashville started to take notice of her talent.

“It really was crazy my entire life music was never something that was so associated with my identity. It was something that I always loved, and it was something that I was always passionate about, but it was never the first thing somebody knew about me. And that quickly shifted in the past year that the only thing a lot of people know about me is my music, which is so, so different from how I’ve previously lived. But it’s a blessing,” she revealed.

Nichols’ long list of achievements and milestones over the past 365 days includes signing with Pulse Records, teaming up with a management team, and performing her first-ever show, which eventually turned into her quickly crossing off playing in bucket list venues like CMA Fest, The Bluebird Cafe and the Kentucky Derby.

“It’s really crazy because I remember my first time singing at church and literally feeling my knees shake when I was a little girl and…it had been so long since I felt that feeling because I’ve sang every Sunday and, you know, I’m used to it, but it was completely, it took me back to being 12 years old and my first time singing on stage,” she said of her first performance as a Bonafide Nashville rising star. “I was shaking, my legs were shaking everything. I was just so nervous. My very first show, it was at The Basement in Nashville, Tennessee. I was opening up for Wyatt [Flores] for, I did a quick popup show. I sang I think two songs and I was so nervous.”

By her second performance, Nichols said that all those nerves had faded, and she hasn’t felt them return since, even while learning how to command bigger and bigger audiences on the road with everyone from Waylon Wyatt to Wyatt Flores, Little Big Town, and Russell Dickerson.

Nichols’ career took another exciting turn when Kelly Clarkson performed a cover of her song “I Got A New One” on The Kelly Clarkson Show, pushing it to No. 1 on iTunes for weeks. Additionally, her fanbase has continued to grow rapidly and her streaming numbers keep climbing, especially with the release of her debut EP, Tough Love.

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This project was yet another huge milestone for the budding act. Not only was it her first time putting together a collection, but it was made even more special because it was built on tracks that she wrote alone in her room as well as ones she penned with a few of her favorite co-writers around Music City.

“It really is a great snapshot of the last two years that I’ve been writing music. I love it. I love the EP. It was very fun. It was exciting to pick the title and to pick which songs went together and messed together and listening to it top to bottom. I’m very proud of it,” she admitted.

Looking ahead, she is eager to keep writing about the things she loves and the experiences that inspire her because as she shared, songwriting is something she can’t stay away from. Whether she’s alone or with other writers, or even just writing for fun, she’s always creating. With bold songs like “Bible Belt,” “Little Birds,” “Daughter,” she has already defined her personality, brand, and songwriting voice in such a short time and proved she isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Now, she’s excited to share new songs over the next year, starting with her latest single, “Oh The Things Men Do,” available now via PULSE Records.

Nichols recently capped off a milestone year by celebrating the one-year anniversary of “I Got A New One” with her Grand Ole Opry debut on November 1. The night was deeply personal, as she honored her late mother, a dress designer who passed away from cancer when Nichols was ten, by wearing one of her original designs adapted for the special performance.

She performed her debut single alongside an unreleased track, “Birthday Candles,” which served as another tribute to her mother. Even knowing how risky it would be to perform such a personal song on an already emotional night, Nichols felt it was the perfect way to honor her family, who had come out to support her.

“They’d never seen me perform it and to honor my mom in that moment, she was Miss Texas 1992 and I wore this beautiful pageant, long gown and had my hair huge, and even doing the interview after I felt like I was doing the pageant interview, it was a very full circle. Perfect. It was perfect. The moment couldn’t have gone better.”

With her fearless songs and magnetic presence, Elizabeth Nichols is a name that’s poised to take the country music world by storm in 2026. She’s set to make her Stagecoach debut in 2026, has several other major festival appearances lined up, signaling even bigger things ahead.

The post From Law School To The Grand Ole Opry: Elizabeth Nichols Breaks Down Her Milestone Year [Exclusive] appeared first on Country Now.

​Country Now

Blake Shelton has played some of the biggest stages in country music, including a career-defining night at Chicago’s Wrigley Field and headlining his own Las Vegas residency, but even he admits the touring landscape looks completely different today than it did when he first hit the scene.

During an appearance on The Michael Waddell Podcast, Shelton reflected on his touring career and admitted he never imagined a world where country artists could leap from a breakout album to multiple sold-out stadium nights.

“I look back at my touring career and I guess the pinnacle was…it would’ve been probably back when I had an album called Based on a True Story, and it had ‘Boys ‘Round Here’ and we were really having some big records back then and my touring had gotten was strong, and we played Wrigley Field one night, and that was really cool to sell that out,” he shared. “But I feel like we got there and then it didn’t stay up there. For me, I’ve always kind of been about that level of an arena touring act, you know what I mean? Which by the way, who gets to do that? It’s incredible.”

The Oklahoma native noted that the way music is consumed now has completely changed the game for touring, allowing artists to be discovered through various channels instead of relying solely on a radio hit.

“But I see these kids coming up now like Luke Combs and Zach Bryan and these guys are selling out stadiums, stadiums multiple nights and I’m just going, ‘Wow, gosh, I didn’t even know that was out there for country artists to be able to do that,’” he admitted.

Shelton pointed out that Garth Brooks did it in the past, “but Garth also had a longer ramp to get there.”

“These kids now are just like one album and next thing you know they’re playing a stadium. It’s just music is taken in differently now with streaming and an artist doesn’t just have to rely on having one hit song on the radio. They put out an album and it catches on. People know every single song on their album and they can sing along to it at your shows. It’s just different.”

Looking back, Shelton wouldn’t change a thing about his career. He went on to recall having a blast in his early days playing the club scene — and while he was barely breaking even, he was having a lot of fun doing it.

“I was lucky that I got to come up when there was still a club scene out there because now I feel like it’s pretty much gone now, outside of few legendary places like Billy Bob’s or Grizzly Rose, there’s just not that many left,” he said. “But when I was coming up, there was a lot of country dance clubs and things where we would get booked.”

In those early years, Shelton was playing anywhere and everywhere — bars, clubs, dance halls, and even the most unexpected venues.

“I remember in 2001 we played, there probably wasn’t a bar in the lower 50 or the lower 48th that I didn’t play. We would just be gone and it’s like for $5,000 a night, Blake Shelton will come in there and the whole band was set up. We played bowling alleys… I remember we played a couple of restaurants where they would put together a little eight inches off the ground stage in the corner and just did whatever and was excited to do it. $5,000, they’re going to pay. Of course I wasn’t making any money. I was paying for tour bus, a trailer, a small couple of crew guys, and then my band.”

It may not have been a big money-maker, but Shelton didn’t mind.

“I was still just getting by, but I didn’t care because it was just having, I was getting to live my dream, getting to go play. I had a song on the radio.”

These days, things look a lot different for the country superstar, who has racked up 30 No.1 singles throughout his career so far. 

He continues to perform at festivals, and arenas and is gearing up to return to Las Vegas in 2026.

The post Blake Shelton Reflects On His Touring Career — And How Today’s Stadium Acts Are Changing the Game appeared first on Country Now.

​Country Now

Alexandra Kay was dangerously close to quitting music for good. After a Netflix show fell through and her second label deal collapsed, she found herself back home in Illinois, questioning everything and feeling like a failure. On the latest episode of Artist Friendly with Joel Madden, she opens up about that difficult chapter, the songs and people that pulled her through, and the journey that inspired her sophomore album, Second Wind.

Each night on stage, Kay tells the story of hitting the lowest point in her career and feeling ready to give up. Back in 2018, she appeared in a reality series called Westside, which followed her and nine other aspiring singers in Los Angeles. When the show didn’t pan out and her label dropped her shortly after, she returned to Illinois, struggling to find the momentum or funds to survive in Nashville.

“I remember right when I had gotten back in Illinois, I was loading my dishwasher and talking to my mom on the phone, and I was driving four and a half hours back and forth to Nashville writing songs at this time, but I couldn’t afford to put myself up in a hotel or anything. So I would just couch surf and then go home if I didn’t have anywhere to stay.”

A trip to Nashville just before hitting that point of rock bottom resulted in her penning four songs she “really loved”. She decided to release them independently as a last-ditch effort to try and gain some traction.

“I was telling my mom on the phone, I said, ‘I just wrote these four songs and I really like ’em, and I’m just going to put ’em out independently. And if this doesn’t work out, I’ll probably just see what else God has in store for me. I just don’t know that I can take another letdown having just lost my second deal and a show that was supposed to change my life that flopped and broke and I have nothing.’ And I kind of [had] that guilt from going back to my hometown after you had just moved to LA and did this whole Netflix thing and felt like a failure.”

The first independent release from this batch was titled “I Kinda Don’t.” It became her first song to not only go viral, but also to launch straight to the top of the iTunes charts. Her second release ended up having the same outcome, suddenly causing labels in town to pay attention to her.

“Before I knew it, all the labels were in my inbox and I haven’t slowed down since.”

Kay proudly shares this part of her story on stage every night because it’s a reminder of how far she’s come. It also shines a light on the deep meaning behind her sophomore album, Second Wind. The project builds on the emotional depth of her debut All I’ve Ever Known but offers a brighter, more hopeful tone, as she reflects on major life changes including moving past her divorce, falling in love again, and signing with BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville.

“It was all the times that I thought I was done that the fans were like, you are not even close to being done. And they were my second wind. So that’s why, [I] named the record, ‘Second Wind.’”

It was during the conversations surrounding the project and learning to trust again, thanks to her new boyfriend and guitar player, Rocko, that she realized the title perfectly captured her journey.

“The song ‘Second Wind,’ we wrote about kind of just how he revitalized me in this whole, me being completely broken and not trusting anybody…And then he just put the wind back in my sails. And so that’s what we wrote ‘Second Wind’ about.”

That sense of renewal and rediscovery didn’t just shape the songs on Second Wind, it also gave Kay a new perspective on her entire musical journey. Looking back, she feels grateful for every step along the way, from the smallest struggles to the biggest milestones, knowing they all led her to tour with country music superstars and the chance to finally send her first song to country radio.

“I am so grateful for all of the little bitty things that I did because when I went on tour with Jelly Roll and I was standing on stage in front of an arena with his arm wrapped around me as he’s like telling everybody ‘she’s going to be huge’ and blah, blah, blah, I felt so, so grateful for every little bitty dive bar show I played the first tour I ever booked,” she explained.

“Me and a small an independent agent booked the whole thing ourselves, and half the places weren’t even paying me because not enough people showed up. And I was playing four hours for the three drunk people that were there and then my car blew up because I was driving my Buick to all of these cities. I think of those times. And I’m like, thank God, I’m so grateful for literally everything.”

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Alexandra Kay’s single “Straight For Heart” is officially playing across the airwaves after impacting country radio in November of 2025. She earned 71 adds in its first week making her one of the biggest solo female debuts ever on country radio.

Plus, in 2026 she will open for acts like Cody Johnson and make her way Down Under for dates across New Zealand and Australia in support of Old Dominion, all while continuing to make her rounds to radio stations across the U.S.

The post Alexandra Kay Reveals Her Near Rock-Bottom Moment — And What Saved Her Music Career appeared first on Country Now.

​Country Now