2018 is almost over, so it feels like a good time to look back at some of the biggest things that happened in country music this year, in no particular order.

Like that time Reba showed up in a KFC commercial as Colonel Sanders. Yes, THAT Reba. She was the first woman to ever wear that costume, and yeah, it was a little weird, but a little awesome in its weirdness, no? BRB. I’m craving chicken now.

Or when Carrie Underwood came back after her end-of-2017 accident looking flawless at the ACM Awards in April, even as she had warned us on social media that she might look… different. In her defense, with a ton of stitches in her face when she said it, she really didn’t know what her face would look like, and it turns out she’s human and falters in self-confidence every once in a while, just like the rest of us. She also revealed this year that she’d suffered several miscarriages (unrelated to her accident) before announcing she was pregnant with her second son. She’s due in a few weeks. Hey Carrie – Jess is a good name. Hint, hint.

Not all the big stories were fun or happy. It was February 12^th when we lost ‘90s country singer Daryle Singletary (“Too Much Fun,” “Amen Kind of Love”). He was only 46, and apparently he had a blood clot that was discovered too late.

Gretchen Wilson made the news in August when she was arrested for being “belligerent” after what was called a “minor disturbance” on a flight to Connecticut. I maintain that her so-called belligerence was probably Gretchen standing up for herself, and when a woman does THAT, well… she’s obviously a problem (I’ve got your belligerence right here). A few months later when she was able to talk about it, Gretchen said there was no disturbance on the plane, and at her court appearance in September, all charges against her were dropped.

Luke Bryan share with his fans that his mother’s house in Mexico Beach, Florida was destroyed by Hurricane Michael in October. There are photos of her walking through the rubble, obviously devastated. She moved into a trailer temporarily, and Luke said she’s leading efforts to rebuild, not just her own place, but her neighbors’ as well. He said, “every day I call her and it sounds like she’s the foreman of a construction site down there.”

Even Keith Urban was surprised when he was named CMA Entertainer of the Year in November. It had been 13 years since the only other time he won that trophy, and it’s not that he wasn’t deserving of it, it’s just that there were some other heavy hitters in the nominations, and he assumed it would go to one of them. Keeping it real, I think we were all a little surprised, but absolutely thrilled for Keith.

Carly Pearce and Michael Ray revealed over the summer that they were dating and had been for a few months, and then preceded to demonstrate their delirious happiness all over Instagram. Carly said she got advice on dating a fellow artist from her besties Kelsea Ballerini (who has married to Morgan Evans since last December) and Maren Morris (who married Ryan Hurd in March). Well, Michael liked it, so just before Christmas he put a ring on it.

Kane Brown made history in 2018 – in fact, several times. He was the only artist to top five different Billboard charts at once he was the most awarded debut country artist at the AMAs, and when he released his second album Experiment this year, it had the most first-day streams of any country album ever.

Jimmie Allen became the first black country artist to get a #1 with his debut single “Best Shot.” Technically, Darius Rucker did it too when he crossed over to country, but his actual debut single was years earlier with Hootie & The Blowfish, so Jimmie gets the crown.

I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to big things – and hopefully all good ones --  in 2019. And I’m wishing you a year of health, success and lots of live music!

--Jess

Last weekend the world was tuned in as Cardi B headlined night two of the biggest hip-hop music festival in the world, Rolling Loud. Amongst the capacity crowd who had to witness the Grammy nominated vixen up close was legendary executive Mona Scott Young. 
 
Cardi, as you may recall, appeared on Young’s “Love & Hip-Hop” during seasons six and seven, then departed to pursue music.
 
“This was always in her right,” Scott-Young said after Cardi’s performance. “She was determined, she was fierce, this is what she wanted. I’m so happy to see her get it and get it big. It’s a proud feeling man.”
 
Mona has a legacy of working with of the best hip-hop artists from Mobb Deep, to Busta Rhymes to Missy Elliott and enjoyed seeing new artists at Rolling Loud.”
 
“The culture has changed tremendously,” she marveled. “What we’re seeing now is  a different wave, but the music is there. The artistry is there. The artists are there. We just have to keep supporting it and keep the culture alive.”
 
Rolling Loud had tons of new artists and current stars such as Lil Skies, Jay Critch, Trippie Red, Reason, Lil Baby, Gunna, Ski Mask The Slump God, Fat Nick and much more.  Meanwhile, “Love & Hip-Hop” is in season nine and features couples Joe Budden and Cyn Santana, Juelz Santana and Kimbella, new parents Papoose and Remy Ma and Safaree and Dreamdoll.

Offset is obviously into doing things unannounced. Last weekend during the “Rolling Loud” music festival, the man XXL Magazine dubbed as Migos’ "Certified Star” on its latest cover, popped up onstage and shocked everyone, especially Cardi B. He brought out flowers and asked his estranged wife to forgive him. While his stunt was talked about in the following days everywhere from Twitter to “WWE Raw,” one facts was lost in the hoopla: 'Set looks like he’ll miss the scheduled drop of his solo album this December. His Migos group members Quavo and Takeoff released projects in October and November respectively, with Offset schedule to take on December. On the night prior his headline-making stage turn, Offset talked a little about why his album hasn’t dropped yet. 
 
“You know, it’s the element of surprise man,” he offered about when to expect his project. “I love y’all just know it’s on the wizzay.”
 
Regardless of whether the release comes out this month, Offset has certainly had a banner year.  The Drake headlined “Aubrey & The Three Migos” outing was a milestone success, grossing a reported $79 million dollars.
 
“Biggest one of the year, no cap,” Offset said about the tour.
 
And of course, The Culture II LP did over a billion a streams within a month of its release and has since been certified double platinum. Surprisingly, though, 'Set, Takeoff and Quavo didn’t garner any Grammy nominations. A glaring omission if you ask most.
 
“They snubbed us for the Grammys,” Offset said. “Salute everybody who did get [nominated], but a lot of the n****s, we had more numbers than them n****s. But I guess they don’t go out to numbers. But you know how it is, we gonna keep going and keep going hard.”