We’ve talked about it before – there are a million reasons to love Kelly Clarkson. And now there’s one more. She used her platform as a celebrity and the host of Sunday night’s Billboard Music Awards to call for action on ending gun violence.

Fighting back tears, Kelly says that producers encouraged her to send prayers to families and victims of Friday’s school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, which she agreed with. But they also wanted her to hold a moment of silence, which is where she drew the line.

A full transcript of Kelly’s speech is below:

"Before we start tonight’s show, there’s something I’d like to… this is gonna be so hard. There’s something I’d like to say about the tragedy Friday at Santa Fe High School. I’m a Texas girl, and my home state has had so much heartbreak over this past year. And once again, y’all, we’re grieving for more kids that have died for just an absolute no reason at all.

"Tonight they wanted me to say that obviously, we want to pray for all the victims, we want to pray for their families. But they also wanted me to do a moment of silence. And I’m so sick of moments of silence. It’s not working. Like, Obviously. So why don’t we not do a moment of silence? Why don’t we do a moment of action? Why don't we do a moment of change? Why don't we change what’s happening, because it’s horrible? Mamas and daddies should be able to send their kids to school, to church, to movie theaters, to clubs… you should be able to live your life without that kind of fear. So we need to do better. We need to do better because as people we’re failing our children, we’re failing our communities, we’re failing their families. I can’t imagine, I have four children… I cannot imagine getting that phone call or that knock on the door. So instead of a moment of silence, I want to respect them and honor them, with tonight y'all, in your community, where you live, your friends. everybody. Let's have a moment of action. Let's have a moment of change."

The first time I saw Ashley McBryde perform, it was a little acoustic thing for people in the country music industry, and she told stories between songs, and from her sense of humor alone, I was 100% positive we should be best friends. And I told her so. And so far, no restraining order has been issued, so I’m pretty sure she’s on board with my plan.

But she’s not just delightfully sarcastic and strong. She’s also crazy talented.  It’s rare for me to listen to many albums more than once, but ever since Ashley’s Girl Goin’ Nowhere album came out, I’ve had it on repeat. It doesn’t burn out. It doesn’t get old. It’s just GOOD.

Unfortunately, because Ashley’s a (gasp!) woman, that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s going to have a hit song on your regular old country radio station. There’s this weird thing happening, and it’s been happening for years, where the old guys programming those radio stations have passed down to the new guys programming those radio stations the “knowledge” that “women don’t like to hear women on the radio.” Are you rolling your eyes as hard as I am right now? Have you wondered why there are only 4 women you can think of who are currently making country music that you might hear on a country radio station? It’s because these program directors are telling you what you are supposed to like, and that’s men.

In fact, my friend Cam told me (and tweeted) that one of those guys even said something along the lines of, “women want to hear good-looking men on the radio so they can pretend that they’re their boyfriends.” Uh. Say what?

It’s with all this in mind, that we’ve decided to do a little somethin’ somethin’ at Slacker Radio, and it’s starting Monday. I’m not going to give away all the details now, but I will tell you that not only will we be highlighting as much of the amazing female talent in Nashville as we can, we will also be telling their stories.  It’s stuff like those radio programmers above who put women in the position of thinking they have to compete with one another, when in reality, when one of us succeeds, we all succeed. So, we’re now on a mission to help more women in country music find success. I hope you’ll join us for that! Check out Slacker Radio on Monday and you won’t be able to miss what I’m talking about.

And in the meantime, here’s just one example of why I have a girl crush on Ashley McBryde.

Neither one of them are parents yet – only one of them is even old enough to drink – but Normani and Khalid feel like they’ve collaborated on something as important as a child. They sat down with Vevo to discuss their collaboration and how it came about.

According to Khalid, they had talked about working together for quite awhile before they got a chance to do it. And when Fifth Harmony started to wind down, Normani jumped on the opportunity to work with one of her closest friends.

The pair claim they didn’t go into the creative process with the mentality of creating a hit, with Khalid saying  “We were not worried about a hit at all. We were worried about making a good song that we both love.” And they’ve succeeded! And what better way for Normani to introduce herself as a solo artist, unbound from the other girls in 5H?

Khalid also quizzed her on what’s coming on Normani’s debut solo album. She still doesn’t have a title or release date, but she’s plenty psyched, telling him that with the disc, she wants to represent “little girls who look like me”, repaying the work of the African American artists who inspired her as a child. She even promises to give Khalid the first copy, once the disc actually happens.

If it seems like these two have chemistry – you’re not wrong. Last summer Normani showed up in the video for “Young Dumb & Broke”, playing the prom queen to Khalid’s king, and rumors were flying even then that they might be a couple. For now they’re claiming to just be “the best of friends”, but don’t be surprised if they get a little closer by the end of the year!

Of course not and so this kid just doesn't. Giving ZERO Foos, Little Fonzie even ignores Dave Grohl's demand for his "concert back" and Grohl has to resort to luring L.F. off with an 8yr old's drug of choice....

Watch the drama unfold.

Listen. There seem to be a lot of people who are pretty upset that Carrie Underwood still looks flawless after her accident, and after saying her face might look different when she comes back. I’m not sure why that would bother you – she’s human and has insecurities just like the rest of us, and at the time, she had a bunch of stitches in her face and really didn’t know what that was going to mean in the future. And she also has a team of professionals who are experts at using makeup to disguise pretty much any flaw. So go ahead and take a seat.

Carrie talked about the accident to Hoda Kotb on the Today show, and about her first performance after the accident, when she sang “Cry Pretty” at the ACM Awards. Turns out there were some insecurities there, too, and she said it was like she was living the song while she was singing it, but then went back to just Carrie when it was over. So that standing ovation she got? It was a little uncomfortable.

Watch the whole interview here, and find out where her favorite place to cry is. If you’re wondering, and I know you are, mine is in the kitchen. Possibly with ice cream. Or wine. Or cake. I’m not picky.

Donald Glover was the star of SNL this week, pulling double duty, hosting with Childish Gambino as the musical guest. We already kew that DG could pull off smart comedy from his hit show Atlanta, and he showed off more skills with a sketch that took on Kanye West’s week full of… questionable choices.

This is strong satire, borrowing from the hit horror film “A Quiet Place.” The stars have a tough time keeping mum as they follow what Kanye’s up to via Twitter. One by one they get captured by the monster when they can’t keep their frustrated exclamations about his antics to themselves.

Watch Donald’s episode of SNL, and check out his edgy new track, "This Is America” on Slacker Radio’s New Hip Hop Now Station!

Can you believe Justin Moore hasn’t headlined a show at the historic Ryman Auditorium? In fact, he’s also never headlined any show in Nashville. Well, he fixed both of those problems last night by headlining a show for a sold out crowd. “You can literally grow up in a town of 300 people and play Ryman Auditorium,” he said.
Oh, and like many shows in Nashville, there were some pretty great surprise guests. Chris Janson, David Lee Murphy, and Ricky Skaggs with the Whites all joined Justin at the Mother Church of Country Music, along with openers Tyler Rich and Travis Denning.
You can bet it was a rowdy night in Music City, and Justin promised fans they’d get their money’s worth. And they did. Check out Justin performing Hank Williams, Jr’s “Country State of Mind” with Chris Janson here and tell me you’re not a teensy bit sad that you weren’t there.

Stevie Stone & JL hit the slacker radio studio to discuss their latest collabo album "Kontra-Band," their experience working with Tech 9 and more. Check it out!

Let’s go back to 2006. For my birthday, my sisters got me a ticket to the Family Values Tour. If you are unfamiliar with that notorious tour, let me catch you up:

The Family Values Tour was created by one of my favorites bands, Korn, in 1998 to be an annual rock and hip hop tour. Korn enlisted the likes of Rammstein, Ice Cube, Linkin Park, DMX, Stone Temple Pilots, Mobb Deep, and Limp Bizkit join them on these tours.  As you might imagine, crazy combination of bands equals crazy stories coming from the Family Values Tour. For instance, crazy-weird like Rammstein celebrating Halloween by coming out on stage naked and getting arrested… AFTER the show. Or crazy-awesome, like when Korn and Limp Bizkit were on a rotating stage and performed the track "All in the Family."

With that knowledge now in you’re head, you can understand what fueled my excitement to attend the next available Family Values Tour. Lo and behold, that opportunity would become reality when my aforementioned sisters purchase the three of us tickets for the Family Values Tour 06. The lineup consisted of 10 Years, Dir en grey, Stone Sour, Deftones, and Korn.

I was beyond ready.

On the day of the concert, my sisters picked me up and we began the journey from San Diego to San Bernardino. After 2 hours of going through literal wasteland to reach the amphitheater, my excitement reached peak level. Not only was I going to see my favorite band Korn, but I could say that I was there… I was at the Family Values Tour! However, as we approached the amphitheater, we were welcomed with... nothing. I said it. Nothing.

Empty. No show. No Bands. Just a dusty marque reading:

“THE FAMILY VALUE TOUR

Korn

Deftones

Stone Sour

Flyleaf

10 Years

Deadsy

Bury Your Dead

Dir En Grey

Aug 19, 2006”

The day we arrived was August 20th. We had missed the show by one day. I had missed the Family Values Tour.

So take this as a lesson, if you take someone to a show… make sure you take them on the right damn day. Or else they may point the finger at you rather publicly at some point in the ensuing 10-12 years.