In case you missed it...
Fresh off being awarded the ACM Poet Award at the ACM Honors Monday night, Clint Black has announced that he and his family - wife Lisa Hartman Black and daughter Lily Pearl Black - will be hitting the road for a mini-tour in the first part of 2024. "My wonderful family is coming back on tour with me again for a limited run of shows in 2024. The band and crew and I can’t wait to see you back out here with us," Clint posted on Instagram. The tour is set to launch on January 31st with a show at the Alabama Theatre in Birmingham, Alabama, then continuing with a total of seven stops across Louisiana, Texas, and Colorado before bringing things to a close on February 9th in Prescott Valley, Arizona. See Clint's website for complete tour details.
The Oaks are calling it a day. After eighty years as a band, and fifty with their current lineup, the legendary Oak Ridge Boys have announced they are embarking on their farewell tour. They formed in 1943 as the Oak Ridge Quartet, and had many lineup changes before the current and longest running lineup got together in 1973: lead singer Duane Allen, tenor Joe Bonsall, baritone William Lee Golden, and bass Richard Sterban. Dubbed "American Made: The Farewell Tour," the first set of dates have been announced. The tour will kick off today with two dates at the Mansion Theater For The Performing Arts in Branson, Missouri, before running through the rest of the year. Beyond that, even the band has no idea how long this final tour will run, with Allen saying, "I don’t know how long the tour will last, but we hope to return to as many parts of the country as we can. Thank you so much for these 50 years. For me, it’s 57 1/2 years. I have given you the best part of my life and you have rewarded me with a wonderful career." You can hear the Oaks most well-known hit, "Elvira," below. See the updated list of show dates here.
Florida Georgia Line debuted in 2012 with their smash hit "Cruise," and for the next decade ruled the country charts before announcing last year they were going their separate ways. Since then, members Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard have both embarked on solo careers; Hubbard has scored two consecutive #1 country hits, and Kelley's new single is climbing the charts. When an Instagram poll showed up online asking fans what they thought the chances were for an FGL reunion in the next two years, hopeful fans weighed in, saying they thought such a reunion was definitely a possibility. The poll caught the attention of Kelley himself, who reposted it from his own Instagram account, adding the comment, "Respectfully, I can tell you that's not happening." Kelley's statement is somewhat at odds with what Tyler Hubbard told Entertainment Tonight Canada several months back when he was asked if the break was temporary or permanent. "There's always room for a reunion," Hubbard said at the time. "Never say never. At the end of the day, it's hard to predict the future, as we've learned. So I won't say 'never,' you know, but at the same time I will say I'm having a lot of fun doing this solo thing." So fans of the duo will have to be satisfied with their respective solo efforts for the time being. But minds change, and there's always hope: Brooks & Dunn had a huge career, went their separate ways for several years, only to reunite and start touring again - so anything's possible.