If you sometimes feel like you just can’t get enough Kelly Clarkson, you’re in luck, because starting today she’s got her very own talk show on NBC! The Kelly Clarkson Show premiered with Dwayne Johnson as her first guest after scheduled guest Kevin Hart was injured in a car crash (the good news – he’s doing ok!)

She’s been all over the place promoting her new gig – chatting with The Today Show, competing in a “beat battle” with Jimmy Fallon, even crashing the sets of her “neighbors”, America’s Got Talent and This Is Us.

She’s also winding up for another season of The Voice! Kelly announced this week that Normani will join Team Kelly as a Battle Advisor. Season 17 premieres later this month, September 23rd. 

And if all this still isn’t enough Kelly, you can always check out our up-close-and-personal station co-hosted by one of our favorite acs of all time – listen to Kelly Clarkson: Goes To 11 now!

The CMA (Country Music Association) Awards are coming soon – those are the ones that happen in Nashville every November, not to be confused with the ACM (Academy of Country Music) Awards, which happen in Las Vegas every April. Unless the ACM wants you to be confused, which it kind of seems like it does.

This week, the ACM announced seven new awards recognizing the best artists and music of the past decade, which it technically started when Jason Aldean was named Artist of the Decade earlier this year. But now, two months before the CMAs, the ACM has named Miranda Lambert’s “The House That Built Me” the first ever recipient of the ACM Song of the Decade award, which also honors songwriters Tom Douglas and Alan Shamblin. Miranda was given her award in a surprise backstage ceremony at one of her shows recently. 

The other six awards – Album, Artist-Songwriter, Breakout Artist, Single, Songwriter, and Music Event of the Decade – will be announced in the coming weeks. That is, the weeks leading up to the CMA Awards. 

Yeah, it seems like weird timing, and I can see it definitely adding to the confusion for people who already can’t keep them straight. But let’s not let that confusion bury the honor for Miranda Lambert and the “House That Built Me” songwriters, because that’s huge and well-deserved. 

And if it’s been a while since you’ve heard the song, let’s fix that. Listen to it on Country Hits or watch here:

I know, I’m not ready either, but it’s time to wrap up the Summer of 2019. It was a pretty epic #HotGirlSummer, with celebs and fans alike participating in viral challenges, the end of TV shows we loved, big name hook ups… and breakups, plus - of course - some of our favorite music. 

So many big moments that you might have already forgotten some of them, so we’re looking back at the  25 songs you listened to, hearted & shared the most all summer long, AND reviewing moments like the women’s World Cup win, that time Justin Bieber challenged Tom Cruise to a fight, then immediately un-challenged him, and Lizzo… you know just being Lizzo. 

Vote for your favorite song of the summer on my twitter feed – follow @ParkerKnowsPop – and check out Summer 2019: The Hot 25 over Labor Day Weekend!

Maren Morris heard her voice a lot when the nominees for the 53^rd CMA Awards were announced this week. Six times, to be exact, for a total of 8 chances at trophies, more than anyone else on the list. In fact, she’s up in every category she possibly could be except Entertainer of the Year – female vocalist, album, single, song, video, and musical event, and as producer on the album and musical event contender “All My Favorite People,” she could get two more. Entertainer of the Year finally includes a woman – Carrie Underwood, who is also competing for female vocalist and album. Dan + Shay are up for duo, album, single and song, with the pair’s Dan Smyers adding a couple of chances by writing “Tequila” and producing “Speechless” and their album.

But where is Kane Brown? He’s broken records in the past year, hits number one every time he sneezes, and has never been nominated for a CMA. Did you notice Luke Bryan is missing from this list, too? He’s won Entertainer twice and consistently sells out stadiums. And let’s look at that new artist category: Midland’s already been in it, and is Carly Pearce really new? “Every Little Thing” went to number one in 2017, and the ACMs nominated her for New Female Vocalist more than a year ago. Meanwhile, there’s no room for Jimmie Allen, who definitely belongs in that category. And this may not be a popular opinion, but just based on its performance on our stations, I think “Old Town Road” should have gotten Lil’ Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus into the single and song categories, but they’re up for Musical Event, so they weren’t totally disregarded. 

This is a surprise: Dan + Shay’s “Tequila” was nominated at last year’s CMAs for Single of the Year. And this year it’s up for Song? What? Apparently, because it was still on the chart within the eligibility period (July 2018 through June 2019), it can still be on the list. 

This year’s list of nominees shows some growth in acknowledging women, too. In the four major categories – Entertainer, Album, Single, and Song – there are eight female contenders. That’s news because last year there were only three. And check out that Musician of the Year category: Jenee Fleenor is Blake Shelton’s fiddle player, and she’s the only woman ever nominated in that category since it was added to the show in 1988. Read that again. There are thousands of female session and touring musicians in Nashville and until now none have ever been nominated for a CMA Award. I don’t know whether to applaud the CMA membership for finally getting it right, or shame them for taking so long. Progress is progress, though, so let’s go with the applause. 

See the full list of nominees below, and check out the show hosted by Carrie Underwood with a little help from Reba and Dolly, November 13^th.

 Entertainer of the Year
Garth Brooks
Eric Church
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban

Male Vocalist of the Year
Dierks Bentley
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban

Female Vocalist of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood

Vocal Group of the Year
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band

Vocal Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie & Tae

New Artist of the Year
Cody Johnson
Ashley McBryde
Midland
Carly Pearce
Morgan Wallen

Album of the Year
Thomas Rhett – Center Point Road
Carrie Underwood – Cry Pretty
Dan + Shay – Dan + Shay
Eric Church – Desperate Man
Maren Morris – Girl

Single of the Year (goes to artist)
“Burning Man” – Dierks Bentley featuring Brothers Osborne
“Girl” – Maren Morris
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
“Millionaire” – Chris Stapleton
“Speechless” – Dan + Shay 

Song of the Year (goes to songwriter)
“Beautiful Crazy” by Luke Combs (Like Combs, Wyatt B Durrette III, Robert Williford)
“Girl” by Maren Morris (Maren Morris, Sarah Aarons, Greg Kurstin)
“God’s Country” by Blake Shelton (Devin Dawson, Jordan Schmidt, Michael Hardy)
“Rainbow” by Kacey Musgraves (Kacey Musgraves, Natalie Hemby, Shane McAnally)
“Tequila” by Dan + Shay (Dan Smyers, Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynolds)

Musical Event of the Year
“All My Favorite People” – Maren Morris featuring Brothers Osborne
“Brand New Man” – Brooks & Dunn with Luke Combs
“Dive Bar” – Garth Brooks & Blake Shelton
“Old Town Road (Remix)” Lil’ Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus
“What Happens In A Small Town” – Brantley Gilbert & Lindsay Ell

Music Video of the Year
“Burning Man” – Dierks Bentley featuring Brothers Osborne (Dir. Wes Edwards)
“Girl” – Maren Morris (Dir. Dave Meyers)
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton (Dir. Sophie Muller)
“Rainbow” – Kacey Musgraves (Dir. Hannah Lux Davis)
“Some Of It” – Eric Church (Dir. Reid Long)

Musician of the Year
Jenee Fleenor – fiddle
Paul Franklin – steel guitar
Mac McAnally – guitar
Ilya Toshinsky – banjo/guitar
Derek Wells - guitar

We pretty much wrapped up the summer with one of the biggest parties of the year – the 2019 VMAs! This was the 35th anniversary of the MTV Video Music Awards, and with the history of partial nudity, artist beefs being aired during the show, and iconic artist performances – not to mention hosts completely blowing it – there was a lot on the line.

This year’s awards came to us live from New Jersey, with host comedian Sebastian Maniscalco. Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande were tied for the most nominations with 10 each, but Lil Nas X and Billie Eilish weren’t far behind with 9 and 8 nods, respectively.  Taylor took home the big prize for video of the year but, really, everyone went home happy, as the "big four" all snagged multiple moon men.

The performer line up was HUGE this year - Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello showed off their chemistry onstage with a performance of “Señorita”, The Jonas Brothers returned to the VMAs stage after 11 years, and Taylor celebrated her new album Lover with her first performance since 2015. 

The most exciting part of Monday night’s show was arguable Missy Elliott’s performance. She also accepted the Video Vanguard award and showed off some new music from her surprise album Iconography!

You probably remember that we first met Lauren Alaina when she was a 16-year-old contestant on American Idol, coming in runner up to Scotty McCreery at the end of season 10. 

Well, it’s just been announced she’s coming back to reality TV with the new season of Dancing With The Stars when it launches September 16^th. We don’t know who she’s being paired with yet – we won’t find that out until the first show. What we do know is that, among all the actors, former pro athletes, models, other musicians, and former Press Secretary Sean Spice, who will be the other competitors, Lauren is the most starstruck by Kate Flannery, of The Office, American Housewife, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine fame. She said, "I wanted to win until [Kate Flannery] walked in and then I was like, 'Oh, no, I'm going to vote for her. I literally freaked out. The only other person I remember doing that for was Dolly Parton." 

Um. That’s cool, but around here, we’ll be voting for Lauren. (Ok, and also Ally Brooke, formerly of Fifth Harmony, and Mary Wilson of The Supremes.)

Meet the whole cast here

Hey guys! In honor of #NationalDogDay, so we celebrated with a station full of dog songs – The Twenty: Dog Days – and with a blog post full of some of our favorite viral dog moments!

This has got to be one of my favorite dog videos of all time.

On our Dog Days station, I talk about the dog whose owner teases him about getting a cat. If you haven’t watched, it’s a must see.

There’s also one where a dog gets teased about bacon.

This poor baby.

How about something that jerks on your heartstrings a bit?

I can really relate to this kid.

And to this dog.

This one makes me laugh every time.

We hope you had a Happy National Dog Day! Who are your favorite online dogs? (I mean, besides the dogs of LXL, which you can see in this other dog-themed blog post.) Share in the comments below, and don’t forget to listen to The Twenty: Dog Days on Slacker!

Oh, and give your dog a hug for me.

In the summer of 1969, an estimated crowd of 500,000 descended upon Max Yasgur's farm for "three days of peace and music." The Woodstock festival has been analyzed and mythologized ever since, so LiveXLive tasked Redbeard (of InTheStudio.net) to tell us the inside story. 

"Woodstock Diaries” is a radio experience that features the voices and recollections (and music, of course) of those that were there, including Crosby, Stills , Nash & Young, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Joe Cocker, the Jefferson Airplane and more. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the behind-the-scenes stories you will find:

--At the last minute, Jimi Hendrix asked his studio engineer, Eddie Kramer to fly in from Manhattan to record the event…leading to the seminal live album.

--The Band’s Robbie Roberston explains that the promoters choose the Woodstock location because they thought it would lure nearby resident Bob Dylan to perform. It didn’t work.

--Santana was not well-known out of San Francisco yet, so legendary promoter Bill Graham had to force them onto the bill. They were paid $500.

--Graham Nash’s chief memory was flying into Woodstock in a helicopter, where the crowd below looked liked “the encampment of the Macedonean army"

Jump in the LiveXLive time machine and join us!

Is this the end for Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth? The two have had their ups and downs in the decade they’ve been together, but after marrying in December of last year, they announced their separation August 10th, with a rep for Miley releasing a statement saying: "Liam and Miley have agreed to separate at this time. Ever-evolving, changing as partners and individuals, they have decided this is what’s best while they both focus on themselves and careers. They still remain dedicated parents to all of the animals they share while lovingly taking this time apart. Please respect their process and privacy."

Miley seems to be referencing the split in a new instagram post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1B68GEJzjW/

Their announcement comes just one month after she opened up about her "modern" marriage in a cover story for Elle magazine's August issue, where she said: "I think it's very confusing to people that I'm married. But my relationship is unique. And I don't know that I would ever publicly allow people in there because it's so complex, and modern, and new that I don't think we're in a place where people would get it.”

Over the weekend Miley was also spotted getting up close and personal with Kaitlynn Carter, and while fans might be tempted to blame bisexuality for the break-up, other celebs are sticking up for her. Like Halsey, who came to her defense on Twitter.

Let me know what you think of all the drama – talk to @ParkerKnowsPop on Twitter, and if you’re suddenly in the mood to listen to "The Climb" (because I know I am) listen to Miley Cyrus’ biggest hits on her Count-Up on LiveXLive!

With all the negativity surrounding immigration in the news, Jimmy Kimmel wanted to remind us all that people are still coming to America and taking the oath of citizenship, and he thinks becoming an American should be more exciting than a trip to the DMV. So as a part of a very exciting welcome to some new American citizens, he invited Brad Paisley to sing a never-before-heard song about all the benefits and  possibilities open to them now. Marry a Kardashian? Check. Eat a stick of butter at a county fair? Yep. Blow off your fingers on the 4^th of July? Sleep outside an Apple store? Dress your dog like Lady Gaga and make him his own Instagram? Check, check and check. Sing along with Brad like a real American here. Because ‘MERICA.