COUNTRY DATEBOOK: NOVEMBER 20

• 1968: The first Country Music Association Awards to be televised aired and was hosted by ROY ROGERS and DALE EVANS. The show was taped a month earlier at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

• 2000: The DIXIE CHICKS’ first NBC special aired. It included performance footage from their Fly tour in Washington, D.C., plus comedy skits.

• 2003: TOBY KEITH’s album Shock’n Y’all spent its second week at the top of the country albums chart after selling 227,000 copies. It had sold over 600,000 copies its first week of release.

• 2008: BLAKE SHELTON landed on People magazine’s list of the World’s Sexiest Men. Hugh Jackman topped the list.

• 2015: TRISHA YEARWOOD flipped the switch at Graceland Mansion in Memphis, lighting blue Christmas lights at Elvis Presley’s former home.

• 2017: DOLLY PARTON ranked six when Forbes listed the highest-paid women in music, after a year in which she earned $37 million.

DIERKS BENTLEY is 48 (in 2023). He was born in Phoenix, Arizona.

JOSH TURNER is 46 (in 2023). He was born in Hannah, South Carolina.

COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS

DUSTIN LYNCH, WALKER HAYES, NATE SMITH (World On Fire) and MIKAYLA LANE join MACKENZIE PORTER tonight (Monday) at the Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville for a Country vs. Cancer concert to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

 … For MacKenzie, the show takes on special meaning as her mom, aunt, and grandparents have battled cancer in some form.

SHENANDOAH, PHIL VASSAR, and CHAPEL HART are among those playing the Christmas 4 Kids concert tonight (Monday) at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Proceeds help kids of low-income families in Middle Tennessee buy Christmas presents.

HARDY’s final concert of 2023, set for December 9, at Mississippi State Coliseum will be available to stream through veeps.com. LAINEY WILSON will open the show.

DOLLY PARTON says two acts she wish could have joined her on her Rockstar album were Mick Jagger and Cher. Scheduling conflicts and song choices made it impossible for Mick, while Dolly and Cher couldn’t hit on the right song to record. The album includes guest appearances by CHRIS STAPLETON, EMMYLOU HARRIS, RONNIE MCDOWELL, Joan Jett & The Black Hearts, Elton John, and many others.

DOLLY PARTON will be honored by the Grand Ole Opry with a birthday tribute show on January 19. While she won’t attend because of prior obligations, ASHLEY MONROE and TIGERLILY GOLD will be among those performing her songs. There will also be cupcakes, Dolly-inspired drinks, and a Dolly impersonator.

MIDLAND has recorded a cover of GLEN CAMPBELL’s 1968 hit Wichita Lineman, which has long been part of their live shows. • LISTEN

BLAKE SHELTON says he doesn’t miss being a coach on NBC’s The Voice, a role he held for 23 seasons. Blake says he planned to leave the show sooner, but stayed when COVID hit because he didn’t want the show to feel like he was walking out in the middle of a pandemic. Blake, who was replaced by REBA MCENTIRE this season, is the longest tenured and winningest coach on the show.

DIERKS BENTLEY tells People Country he likes a good challenge and once went two full years without drinking alcohol. Under this self-imposed challenge inspired by his late father, Dierks’ wife, Cassidy, found a non-alcoholic option and he now includes a request for it in his tour rider. While he has gone back to drinking, Dierks says it’s not near as often as before.

WARREN ZEIDERS (Pretty Little Poison) has offered up a new track, Sin So Sweet. It’s the first taste of new music from the 24-year-old Pennsylvania native since the release of his Pretty Little Poison album back in August.

THE FRONTMEN have released their first EP, Familiar Faces. Comprised of former LONESTAR lead singer RICHIE MCDONALD, former LITTLE TEXAS lead vocalist TIM RUSHLOW, and RESTLESS HEART’s LARRY STEWART, the EP contains original tracks I Need You, It Was Always You, and Left Their Mark along with The Frontmen renditions of Amazed, God Blessed Texas, and I’ll Still Be Loving You.