LaurenAlaina

The Boot rounds up today's country music news from around the web. A private funeral service for Mindy McCready will be held by her family on Feb. 26 in Fort Myers, Fla. Additionally, a memorial organized by friends in the music industry is expected to take place March 6 at Nashville's Cathedral of the Incarnation...

Christopher Polk, Getty Images The Boot rounds up today's country headlines from around the web. Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins have a lot more in common than just their "Hillbilly Bone"s. They're both country stars on hit NBC reality competition shows...

Lauren Alaina was surprised by friends and family last weekend, when an intimate birthday dinner turned into a prom-themed bash. If 18 isn't a big enough birthday, the songstress was able to enjoy her junior prom, which she missed last May due to touring...

Miranda Lambert is the reigning CMA Female Vocalist of the Year, marking her third consecutive year with the title. The singer-songwriter is happy to carry the banner for country music in the female category, although she worries there may be a time when there aren't enough new women breaking into the country-music marketplace...

As if we needed more proof that Lauren Alaina has a heart of gold! The country songbird is in the middle of her Eighteen Inches tour, which benefits local charities in each city it visits. But she took a break from the road this past weekend to surprise Jordan Trunfio at the West Springfield High School homecoming dance in Springfield, Va...

Touring is a tough business, and Lauren Alaina knows it. The 2011 "American Idol" runner-up has been ordered by her doctor to take off the next few shows due to throat issues. "My doctor is putting me on vocal rest so I have to cancel this weekend's shows in Cincinnati (8/3) and Detroit (8/4)," Lauren writes on her website...

Before Lauren Alaina chased her own dreams to Hollywood on the 10th installment of "American Idol," she watched Carrie Underwood win the show's fourth season. While Carrie has known of Lauren for a considerably shorter time period, she still feels a connection to the 17-year-old...

That cute little kid in "Jerry Maguire" taught us that the human head weighs eight pounds, but Carrie Underwood is teaching us that there are 18 inches between a human head and heart. The country superstar co-wrote Lauren Alaina's latest single, "18 Inches," with Ashley Gorley and Kelley Lovelace...

Lauren Alaina is celebrating a lot of firsts: first award nominations, first year in Nashville, first major country music tour and first time in the studio with rock royalty. The "American Idol" runner-up is up for Choice Female Country Artist and Choice TV: Female Reality Star at the July 22 Teen Choice Awards...

ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable organization run by the Academy of Country Music, has announced two programs to help kids with special needs, while also helping country fans hear some great music. First, the organization has once again teamed up with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities to host the ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp, which will take place June 18