Vern Gosdin Dies at 74

Vern Gosdin, whose country hits included the chart-topping 'Set 'em Up Joe,' 'I Can Tell By the Way You Dance (You're Gonna Love Me Tonight)' and 'I'm Still Crazy,' died at a Nashville hospital early Wednesday morning. He was 74.

According to Nashville's Tennessean newspaper, Gosdin's administrative assistant Dawn Hall said the singer suffered "a pretty bad stroke" about three weeks ago. He died peacefully in his sleep.

Born in Woodland, Ala., on August 5, 1934, Gosdin was one of country music's most hardcore traditional singers, although his musical career encompassed a variety of genres. A one-time bandmate of The Byrds' Chris Hillman, he also performed with his brother Rex in the California-based band The Golden State Boys, and later as The Gosdin Brothers.

Gosdin charted consistently throughout the 1980s, with hits such as 'If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do It Right),' 'That Just About Does It' and 'This Ain't My First Rodeo.' In 1989, his Top 10 hit 'Chiseled in Stone,' co-written with Max D. Barnes, earned CMA Song of the Year honors.
An obvious influence on a new generation of country acts, Gosdin's 1982 hit, 'Today My World Slipped Away,' became a chart-topper for George Strait in 1997, and Brad Paisley's 2003 album, 'Mud on the Tires,' included his version of Gosdin's 1990 hit, 'Is It Raining at Your House.'

Earlier this year, in an interview with The Boot, Jake Owen said of Gosdin, "He's not as respected as he should be. To me, he's one of the greatest singers I've ever heard interpret a song. He's just got this coolness about him."

Funeral arrangements for Gosdin are incomplete.

Rascal Flatts: 'Unstoppable' force of country

Country acts have thrived on such themes since before Hank Williams first got the long-gone lonesome blues, but this multi-platinum country trio — vocalist Gary LeVox, guitarist Joe Don Rooney and bassist Jay DeMarcus — doesn't dwell in the genre's musical past. The emotions of these songs ride the swell of the string sections, Rooney's soaring rock-guitar solos, and the rise and fall of LeVox's vocal runs more often than they do sounds of fiddles and steel guitars. Traditionally, country instruments are part of the massive sound Flatts creates with co-producer Dann Huff, but they're just a part. Only rarely, as on Things That Matter — one of Unstoppable's finer, simpler songs — are they dominant features.

Nor do heartbreak and farewell make up the only subjects on the record. The title track celebrates the empowering nature of love. Summer Nights, with its singalong chorus, recalls the group's cover of Tom Cochrane's Life Is a Highway for the movie Cars. She'd Be California describes a woman in language that makes her sound like the Beach Boys' California Girls wish fulfilled on the Midwestern plains.

Rascal Flatts has long been a favorite country act of American Idol. Carrie Underwood, Josh Gracin and, most recently, Danny Gokey have performed the group's songs on the show. The band returns the favor on Unstoppable. Here Comes Goodbye credits Season 6 finalist Chris Sligh as one of its writers, and new judge Kara DioGuardi penned Once with Nashville songwriter Jeffrey Steele.

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift took home album of the year honors.Swift had four nominations going into Sunday's show, but for being the top-selling artist in country and pop music, she got a special, unexpected honor after she performed the ballad You're Not Sorry following a magical entrance courtesy of magician David Copperfield.McEntire stopped her and presented her with a special ACM Crystal Milestone Award for bringing so many young people to country music.

"Are you serious?" a stunned Swift asked McEntire then hugged her. "To you guys who come to my show. I have absolutely fallen in love with you and will never forget you, ever."

Carrie Underwood breaks Chesney's streak

LAS VEGAS — Carrie Underwood became the first female act to win entertainer of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards since the Dixie Chicks did it back in 2000.
Underwood's victory Sunday interrupted Kenny Chesney's four-year streak of winning the award. If Chesney had won, he would have tied Alabama for most wins in a row. Underwood became only the seventh female act to win it, putting her alongside Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks.

Angel and the Badman

Feature Film|1:39:24|
A Quaker and her family reform a wounded outlaw who has a killer on his trail.

Little Big Town - Boondocks

ustin Townes Earle

Corinne Chapman w/Little Big Town

Dolly Opens Up About Marriage, Kids and Gay Rumors

"You're not going to see your dreams come true if you don't put wings, legs and arms, hands and feet, on 'em," she tells AARP magazine. "You gotta have people to help carry out those dreams, and, Lord, I've been surrounded by great people."

Two of those great people, in particular, are Dolly's husband of 43 years, Carl Dean, and her best friend since the third grade, Judy Ogle.

"They knew me before I became a star," Dolly says of Dean and Ogle. "They still see me as me."

At the beginning of their marriage, Dolly and Carl took in five of Dolly's younger siblings. But the couple never had kids of their own. That wasn't necessarily for lack of trying -- Dolly says it simply wasn't in God's plan.

"It wasn't meant to be," says the country icon. "Me and Carl are each other's children."

As for the secret to Dolly's long, happy marriage, perhaps it's a case of opposites attract. While the flamboyant Dolly is a fixture at media events, the reclusive Carl is rarely seen in public. He's not in music business and steers clear of concerts, awards shows and other industry affairs.

"We're not together enough to get on each other's nerves!" Dolly says. "Carl has always been proud of me. As long as I don't drag him into my work, he's fine and lets me do what I want to do."

But because the couple is rarely seen together, the rumor mill has churned for years about the state of their marriage and even about Dolly's sexual preferences. Her best friend Ogle is also her assistant, so the two are constantly spotted together ... inevitably fueling speculation about whether the two are lesbians.

"We're totally honest, open, and comfortable with each other," Parton says of her friendship with Ogle. "We've been accused of being lovers. We do love each other, but we've never been like that."

Dolly shrugs off the rumors and insists the "I do"s she said 43 years ago were meant for life.

"I know we'll never divorce," she says. "He always knows I'm coming home."

The Boot

Pop-Country Hitmaker Dan Seals Dies at 61

Dan Seals, who enjoyed successful careers in both pop and country music for more than three decades, died Wednesday. He was 61 years old.

Seals battled mantle cell lymphoma, and according to sources had recently undergone an experimental stem cell transplant at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. He died at his home in Nashville, while under hospice care.

Born in McCamey, Texas, Dan Seals was the brother of Jim Seals, of the hit pop duo Seals and Crofts. The younger Seals soon followed in his brother's footsteps, forming a singing partnership with John Ford Coley. The duo scored a number of hit singles on the pop chart throughout the '70s as England Dan and John Ford Coley, including the No. 2 hit, 'I'd Really Love to See You Tonight,' and a Top 10 cover of Todd Rundgren's 'Love Is the Answer.'

Like his brother, Seals was a member of the Bahá'í faith. He was a cousin of the late country singer Johnny Duncan, and also a cousin of songwriter Troy Seals and former Little Texas singer Brady Seals. He is also survived by wife Andrea, three sons and a daughter, as well as his mother, two brothers and sister.

Dan Seals and Marie Osmond - Meet Me In Montana