The Boot News Roundup: Linda Ronstadt Earning Kennedy Center Honor + More
Welcome to The Boot's News Roundup, a morning rundown of the news country music fans need to know. Read on to learn more about the latest goings-on in the country, Americana, bluegrass and folk genres.
Country and rock icon Linda Ronstadt is a member of the 2019 class of Kennedy Center Honors recipients. According to Billboard, Ronstadt will be presented with the iconic medallion at the 42nd annual Kennedy Center Honors Gala on Dec. 7 in New York City, alongside fellow lifetime achievement winners Earth, Wind and Fire and actress Sally Field, among others.
After notching multiple country hits, Chris Stapleton has officially scored his first Top 5 song on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart. According to the magazine, "Blow," which features Stapleton alongside Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars, reached No. 3 on the chart's survey for the week of July 20, with more than 7.5 million digital streams. The song appears on Sheeran's No. 6 Collaborations Project album, released on July 12.
Alabama, Steve Wariner and Don Everly are among this year's inductees to the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum. According to a press release, 2019's country inductees will be honored at a concert at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville alongside fellow honorees Felix Cavaliere, the Surfaris, the Nashville A-Team studio musician collective and more artists, on Oct. 22.
George Strait will reissue his iconic 1995 box set Strait Out of the Box: Part 1. According to a press release, the 72-track collection includes Strait's biggest hits from 1981 to 1995, including 31 No. 1 singles, all personally selected by King George himself. The box set will be available exclusively at Walmart starting on Sept. 13, and it's currently available for pre-order.