3 April 2020

Country music icon Dolly Parton has donated $1m of her own money towards finding a cure for the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world. Taking to her social media accounts, Parton revealed that she had generously donated the sum to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where a good friend of hers is working on trying to cure the virus. Speaking in her statement, Parton outlined her intentions to do so and also encouraged people to stay positive in these uncertain times, while hoping that others in her financial situation can help out in the same way. “My longtime friend Dr. Naji Abumrad, who’s been involved in research at Vanderbilt for many years, informed me that they were making some exciting advancements towards research of the coronavirus for a cure,” Parton said. “I am making a donation of $1 million to Vanderbilt towards that research and to encourage people that can afford it to make donations. Keep the faith.” The COVID-19 outbreak has seriously impacted the country music scene, with ’90s star Joe Diffie tragically passing from the virus, while the likes of Kalie Shorr, Ray Benson, Laura Bell Bundy and John Prine have all been battling it. Dolly Parton is known for her charitable gestures and has given away over a hundred million books for children all over the world, with the legendary star aiming to give away a billion books in her lifetime.

Keith Urban has released a video for his most recent single God Whispered Your Name, which was directed by Jennifer Massaux. You can see the video below. [wpdevart_youtube]yyn7_u-sha8[/wpdevart_youtube] Urban, who will be hosting the ACM Awards this year and is current ACM Entertainer of the Year, released the single on February 27 but has now shared a video for the track, which sees him smash out of a prison and find himself in open space, epitomising leaving the dark to be in the light. The song is the second single that Urban has released (excluding his Christmas track, I’ll Be Your Santa Tonight) since his 2018 album ‘Graffiti U’, with God Whispered Your Name following in the footsteps of We Were. It was therefore shaping up that Urban was working to release a new record at some point this year, but given the COVID-19 pandemic, whether that still remains on track or not is another matter. Elsewhere, Keith Urban was meant to be gigging in the UK in May, with a series of dates spread across the first two weeks – including two headline dates at the Eventim Apollo in London – but given what is happening in the world, it is seemingly only a matter of time until there is an announcement confirming rescheduled dates.