In case you missed it...
Dolly Parton continues to cement her place in heaven by just being her incredible self. The legend, who has deep ties in Eastern Tennessee (one of the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Helene), has stepped up in a big way to help those struck by the disaster. At a press conference at the Walmart in Newport, Tennessee, Dolly announced that she is donating $1-million to Hurricane Helene relief efforts from her personal bank account, in addition to another $1-million coming from her business ventures, like Dollywood. “It’s personal because I have a lot of my own relatives that live here. When we heard about this, it was devastating, not just because it was my family, but all these people feel like my people. We all feel related, and we are in some sort of way." She added, "Today I wanted to announce that from myself personally...I'm donating a million dollars...but also, with my Dollywood companies....we've added another million dollars to that one million, so we're starting out with a good little hunk." Dolly continues to be a national treasure. See the entire press conference below; Dolly takes the mic at the 5:00 mark.
Count Jason Aldean among the country stars stepping up for the Hurricane Helene victims. The Georgia native closed out his "Highway Desperado" tour in his hometown of Macon, Georgia, and wrapped the trek up in amazing style. Aldean presented Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones a check for over $6.5-million dollars for "Samaritan’s Purse," which was raised through Donald Trump's Go Fund Me. The singer then tacked on an additional $500-thousand of his own money for the relief efforts, bringing the total donation to over $7-million. Jason told the crowd, "My wife is from Charlotte, North Carolina, and as we know, North Carolina got hammered pretty hard by this, so we also want to donate to the state of Georgia and Florida to Samaritan’s Purse as well."
Zach Bryan will not be a part of the 2025 GRAMMY Awards. Not because he isn't considered one of the most respected musicians in or out of country, but Zach has a different take on the proceedings. Bryan is refusing to submit his music for GRAMMY consideration in 2025 because, according to sources close to the musician, Zach feels uncomfortable with awards shows making music competitive. No official word from Bryan himself, but a search of the online ballot (available only to Recording Academy members and not the general public), reveals that Bryan’s name does not appear among the submissions for record of the year, album of the year or song of the year. Nor are his albums or songs entered for any rock, country or Americana categories. Bryan has one GRAMMY win and four nominations in his career, taking home a 2024 GRAMMY for "Best Country Duo/Group Performance" for the Kacey Musgraves duet "I Remember Everything."