Stephen L. Betts

'Wild Angels,' off Martina McBride's 1995 album of the same name, became the songstress' first No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart (now known as the Hot Country Songs chart). Writer Matraca Berg tells The Boot how she, Gary Harrison and Harry Stinson crafted the hit.

Kacey Musgraves' debut single, 'Merry Go 'Round,' reached the Top 10 on the country charts and was also named one of the Top 50 songs of 2012 (in all genres) by Rolling Stone magazine, which singled it out as a "bleak-but-clever take on small-town inertia and ennui."

Singer-songwriter Dustin Lynch moved to Nashville from tiny Tullahoma, Tenn., and began collaborating with Music City tunesmiths in addition to working on his debut album. The self-titled disc was released in August of 2012 and entered Billboard's Top Country Albums chart at No. 1.

On Friday, April 26, 2013, George Jones passed away at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. He was 81 years old. Widely regarded as one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) country singers of all time, no amount of superlatives can properly capture just how influential he has been not just to country music but to American music and popular culture.

On May 7, fans will finally be able to get their hands on Annie Up, the second album from Pistol Annies, and the follow-up to the trio's chart-topping Hell on Heels, released in 2011. One of the highlights of the new album is "Unhappily Married," which features the line "Hey, hey, it's alright, everybody fusses, everybody fights...

Seven months after admitting to fans that he "acted inappropriately" with former American Idol contestant Brittany Kerr, country superstar Jason Aldean and his wife, Jessica Ussery, have separated, according to Us Weekly.

One of the most widely-debated hot-button issues in the country today, of course, is gun control. But just because her albums include such songs as 'Gunpowder and Lead' and 'Time to Get a Gun,' that doesn't mean Miranda Lambert relishes the idea of finding herself in the crossfire of such heated discourse, knowing as she does that sharing one's personal opinion on a highly-politicized topic could

Blake Shelton has returned to the top of the Billboard country album charts this week with Based on a True Story .... The disc debuted at the top spot three weeks ago and held the No. 2 spot for the past couple of weeks. Even though much of the material on the album does reflect the singer's own experiences, which is why he chose the title it ended up with, the collection could have just as easily

Miranda Lambert's lifelong devotion to her four-legged friends led the country superstar to start the MuttNation Foundation in 2009, with the goal to end pet suffering and homelessness in the U.S. and abroad. Because the singer-songwriter/activist is one of the most in-demand country entertainers working today, she's often approached to become involved in other fund- and awareness-raising efforts,

Glen Campbell celebrates his 77th birthday today, April 22, but it's fans who are getting the gift. The country-pop icon will release a new album, See You There, on Aug. 6., taking a fresh look at some of the biggest hits in his illustrious career, including "Gentle on My Mind," "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston" and "Rhinestone Cowboy." The album was co-produced by Dave Darling and Dave Kaplan, founder of Surfdog Records, the label releasing the 12-track collection.