Brian Mansfield
Taylor Swift to Duet With Def Leppard
Def Leppard apparently only whetted its appetite for country music by singing with Tim McGraw on the new 'Songs From the Sparkle Lounge.' Now, the British group will appear with 18-year-old Taylor Swift -- who once sang about Tim McGraw -- on a 'CMT Crossroads' episode set to tape in Nashville in October...
Gone Country: Crossover Crooners
When Alan Jackson sang about a Vegas showgirl eying Nashville's greener pastures in 1994's 'Gone Country,' he chronicled a process that goes back to Tony Bennett's cover of Hank Williams' 'Cold, Cold Heart.' Whether out of genuine affection for the genre or to jump-start a flagging career, entertainers from across the musical spectrum have slid on their Stetsons...
Gone Country: Kelly Clarkson
The first 'American Idol' winner hit it off so well with Reba McEntire when they taped a 'CMT Crossroads' in 2007 that she wound up touring with the country diva, being managed by her husband and recording a chart-topping duet of 'Because of You...
Gone Country: Darius Rucker
Hootie & the Blowfish almost single- handedly ended the country boom of the late '80s and early '90s (OK, they had a little help from Jewel), as they brought audiences back to pop radio with hits like 'Hold My Hand' and 'Let Her Cry.' Ironically, when the Blowfish deflated, their frontman headed for Nashville. Ru...
Gone Country: Bon Jovi
Call the kings of '80s hair bands carpetbaggers, but Jon Bon Jovi spent 17 years writing with Nashville tunesmiths before recording part of 2007's 'Lost Highway' there. Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles helped Bon Jovi become the first rock band to have a No...
Gone Country: Jessica Simpson
You knew the minute she got tabbed to play Daisy Duke that this was coming. After all, Simpson is from Texas, so she must have listened to some country growing up, right? She recently released her first country single, 'Come On Over,' with an album coming by the fall...
Gone Country: Sheryl Crow
She has never made a country record, but Crow was a member of the community well before her recent move to Nashville. Wynonna and the Dixie Chicks have recorded her songs, and you could put together an impressive playlist from her appearances on albums by Brooks & Dunn, Johnny Cash, Vince Gill and Willie Nelson, just to name a few. Sh...
Gone Country: Elvis Costello
For those who didn't notice the pedal steel on 'My Aim Is True,' Costello first revealed his country-lovin' side with 'Stranger in the House,' which he later recorded with George Jones. In 1981, the New Waver teamed up in Nashville with legendary producer Billy Sherrill for 'Almost Blue,' which included songs by Hank Williams, Don Gibson and Gram Parsons...
Gone Country: Jewel
Jewel says she was disappointed that her early records weren't promoted to country radio. Regardless, she became a regular around Nashville, especially once she started hanging out with rodeo star Ty Murray. By the time she hosted 'Nashville Star' in 2007, she'd made clear her interest in being part of the scene...
Gone Country: Bob Dylan
Dylan made recording in Nashville cool when he cut 'Blonde on Blonde' there in 1966 with local musicians. He made two more country-oriented records in Music City: 'John Wesley Harding' and 'Nashville Skyline,' which featured a duet with Johnny Cash and a rising session fiddler named Charlie Daniels...