13 December 2022

Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood Ends 2022 on a High Note

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Superstar Carrie Underwood wraps 2022 on a high note, setting the stage for another stellar year in 2023.  She closes out the year as Billboard’s Top Country Female 2022, Country Aircheck’s #1 Top Female of the Year, and MediaBase’s Most Played Female Country Artist this year. She continued her career-long winning streak with multiple awards and honors, beginning with her eighth GRAMMY® Award for Best Roots Gospel Album (My Savior), continuing with her 16th ACM Award for Single of the Year (“If I Didn’t Love You” with Jason Aldean), 24th and 25th CMT Music Awards for Collaborative Video of the Year Award and Video of the Year (“If I Didn’t Love You” with Jason Aldean), holding the record for the most award wins ever for the show. “If I Didn’t Love You” also won an iHeartRadio Music Award for Country Song of the Year, and is the third Most Played Country Song of the Year on Mediabase’s year-end chart.  Carrie ended the year winning the People’s Choice Award for The Country Artist of 2022, marking her 10th win for the fan-voted awards. Other highlights of Underwood’s year include the release of her album, Denim & Rhinestones, in June, marking her 10th consecutive career Top 10 debut on the Billboard Top 200 chart for all genres.  Along with Cry Pretty and GRAMMY® Award-winning My Savior, Underwood also co-produced Denim & Rhinestones, which debuted as the top-selling country album in the U.S, and the #1 country album in Australia, Canada, and the UK. The album has also remained in the top 20 Current Country Albums sales chart since its release.  She celebrated the launch of her much-anticipated album with The Denim & Rhinestones Experience, a one-of-a-kind immersive interactive experience for fans at Nashville’s historic Bell Tower in June.  Denim & Rhinestones has amassed over 290M Global streams and nearly 120k Global album sales to date. Her first single from the album, “Ghost Story,” is RIAA certified gold.  Underwood showcased the single in a showstopping broadcast premiere performance on the GRAMMY® Awards telecast, followed by a high-flying performance on the CMT Music Awards, and an iconic music video, directed by legendary photographer and director Randee St. Nicholas, who has shot many of Carrie’s album covers and videos over the course of her career (watch here).  Her follow-up single, “Hate My Heart,” was #1 most added at country radio twice (non-consecutive weeks) and continues to rise the charts with more than 10.5M Global streams to date, following an electrifying performance on the CMA Awards.  Carrie co-wrote “Hate My Heart” with frequent collaborators Hillary Lindsey and David Garcia, as well as hit artist/songwriter Hardy.  The music video for “Hate My Heart” (watch here) was directed by award-winning music video director Shaun Silva, who recently directed Underwood and Jason Aldean’s music video for their multi-week #1 smash hit duet, “If I Didn’t Love You.” In April, Carrie commanded the legendary Stagecoach Festival stage for the fourth time, and her showstopping surprise performance with Guns N’ Roses front man Axl Rose made headlines around the world.  She thrilled fans again when she joined Guns N’ Roses onstage for two songs during each of their shows at the UK’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in July.  In September, Carrie returned for her 10th season as the voice of primetime television’s #1 program, NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Carrie kicked off her new 43-city U.S. arena tour, THE DENIM & RHINESTONES TOUR, on October 15 with a sold-out show in Greenville, SC, continuing through Spring 2023, with upcoming stops including New York’s Madison Square Garden, Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, and L.A.’s Crypto.com Arena.  She is joined on THE DENIM & RHINESTONES TOUR by special guest Jimmie Allen on all dates, with $1 from each ticket sold for THE DENIM & RHINESTONES TOUR will be contributed to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Tickets and limited VIP packages are available at carrieunderwoodofficial.com/tour/. On December 1, the one-year anniversary of the debut of her hit production, REFLECTION: The Las Vegas Residency at Resorts World Theatre, Carrie announced that her much-anticipated return to Las Vegas will commence on June 21, 2023, after she wraps THE DENIM & RHINESTONES TOUR in March. Tickets for 18 new show dates for REFLECTION, produced by Concerts West/ AEG Presents, are on sale now at axs.com/carrieinvegas. The first artist to grace the Resorts World Theatre stage, Carrie opened the doors of the 5,000-capacity, world-class theatre with a sold-out premiere in December 2021, garnering rave reviews by critics and fans alike and selling out all runs in 2022.

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Scott Hayley

Spotlight: Scott Hayley

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When did you first know that you wanted to be a musician?   I knew I first wanted to be a musician around the age of eight. The radio was filled with the new sounds of 90’s country hitmakers Garth Brooks, Brooks and Dunn, Clay Walker, Doug Supernaw, Billy Ray Cyrus and many others. I knew one day I would want to be a part in making that type of music. I would constantly sing into the mirror, sing on the playground, or in the car.   When it comes to your songwriting where do you draw inspiration from?  I draw my inspiration from the good and bad that has happened in my life. The pain from those I’ve lost, or a love that went wrong, to a love that will never die. If something makes me mad, I write about it. If something makes me happy, I also write about it. I write about the emotion that comes to heart.    Music is god’s language to the heart. I take the emotions I’m feeling or the things I’m dealing with in my life, and I write a song about it. I think that’s what helps people connect to music. When a singer is writing music from the heart, other people hear it and feel the same emotions. Some of my favorite songs in my life really captured something I was feeling at the time. The singer spoke to me through their music, and that’s what I’m doing when I sit down to write my own music.     Can you tell me the story behind your song, ‘The Life I’ve Lived’?   The Life I’ve Lived is a story about my life. My mother become pregnant with me at the young age of thirteen. She was pressured to abort me, but she chose to lean on her own faith and keep me. That’s where the opening line “They all tried to kill me, before I was even born” derived from. Since that decision, she granted me the opportunity at life. A life that wasn’t easy at times but has also had some very high points as well. It’s a story of the life that almost never was. It’s a story about fighting for another day, even in your darkest time. It’s about the beauty in life even when things seem dark or difficult.   The European country scene has embraced you since moving there, can you tell me a little bit about that please?   Europe has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. I never imagined that people so far away would embrace me and my music the way Europe has. I will forever have a strong presence in Europe and a gratitude and appreciation of the European people.    I wasn’t sure what to expect being a country singer from Texas coming to Europe, but so far the crowds have really welcomed me and enjoyed my music. A lot of people in the US can’t imagine there being country music fans in Europe, but everywhere I’ve been I’ve seen people really embracing the music and enjoying my shows.   You’ve played a number of benefit concerts for Ukrainian refugees, how important is that cause to you?  It’s a very important cause. An invasion of a sovereign nation is something the world shouldn’t stand for, especially in present times. I’ve met so many Ukrainian people, and they are a strong, vibrant, resilient people. If I can ever offer the slightest bit of help, even just the smile of hearing a song they like, I’ll give it my best effort.   I feel like my music has offered them a little bit of comfort during the most difficult time of their lives. I can’t imagine what they’ve been through. I’m just happy I can bring a little joy to their lives right now.  

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