16 December 2013

Garth Brooks, American country singer and top-selling recording artist of the last 20 years, has announced that he will return to touring after more than a decade off the road. Brooks, 51, has said he would play a world tour next year largely because his three daughters are now older. “It sure feels good to get to throw your hat back in the ring,” Brooks told Good Morning America The singer has not yet given details on when the tour would start and in which cities he would perform. Brooks retired from recording new music and touring in 2001 after eight studio albums, saying at the time he would leave music until his youngest daughter turned 18. He has sold over 125 million albums and is best known for hits such as “The Thunder Rolls” and “Unanswered Prayers” from the early 1990s. Brooks has played the occasional show and benefit concert during his retirement but never toured. In 2009, he began performing concerts in Las Vegas. Brooks released a box set “Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences” on November 28, which debuted at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard album chart last week. www.garthbrooks.com

Kenny & Dolly received their third joint Grammy nomination on Friday night, December 6th for You Can’t Make Old Friends for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. The song is featured on Rogers’ latest Warner Bros.album of the same name. Kenny & Dolly as a duo were previously nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group in 1984 for Islands In The Stream, and then again in 1986 for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for Real Love. Kenny Rogers, the newest member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and recent recipient of the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s CMA Awards had this to say about the nomination: “I’m excited and very flattered about this opportunity and am convinced I should work with Dolly more often if we’re getting these kinds of results.” Country Music Hall of Fame member Dolly Parton added: “I was so excited and proud to hear that the Grammys have nominated Kenny and I for Best Country Duo/Group Performance on You Can’t Make Old Friends. I am also very proud to hear that Jolene made the Grammy’s Hall of Fame. Thank you everyone!”