Country Music

Having already dominated the Grammy Awards, late-night television and the Billboard 200, Justin Timberlake rode his rolling promotional juggernaut to the White House on Tuesday night, taking part in an all-star tribute to Memphis soul along with Mavis Staples, Booker T. Jones and Queen Latifah, among others. And, yes, he wore his suit and tie . The invite-only concert, to be broadcast April 16 on PBS, was the latest installment in a series of "In Performance at the White House" events that have seen President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama celebrate country music, Motown and the work of Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.

Roll over, Hank Williams, and tell Patsy Cline the news: Nashville has a new top music awards show. Sunday's Academy of Country Music Awards show on CBS drew 15.4 million viewers, according to early data from Nielsen (final ratings won't be published until Tuesday). It was the first time since at least 1987 that the ACMs beat the same season's airing of its rival, the Country Music Assn. awards telecast on ABC. Last November, the CMAs crooned for 13.7 million viewers. This was also the largest audience for the academy show in 15 years.

Roll over, Hank Williams, and tell Patsy Cline the news: Nashville has a new top music award show. Sunday's 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards show on CBS drew 15.4 million total viewers, according to early data from Nielsen (final ratings won't be published until Tuesday). It was the first time since at least 1987 that the ACMs beat the same season's airing of its rival, the Country Music Assn. awards telecast on ABC. Last November, the CMAs crooned for 13.7 million total viewers.

Taylor Swift was not a big winner at the American Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday in Las Vegas. The performer/songwriter who took home a basketful of awards, including female vocalist of the year, was Miranda Lambert. (But Swift, in her Dolce & Gabbana gown, struck me as being among the best dressed.) [Los Angeles Times] The Year of Beyonce continues. The singer, who has been in the headlines almost nonstop so far in 2013, performing at the U.S. presidential inauguration and the Super Bowl, has been named honorary chair of the annual Costume Institute Gala, scheduled May 6. [WWD]

As the 48 th Academy of Country Music Awards show got underway Sunday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the placement of the word “awards” appeared to be no accident, as it was nearly 50 minutes into the show before the first trophy was handed out to Thompson Square as top vocal duo. The matter of awards had to wait until after three commercial breaks and seven live music segments from a raft of the evening's featured performers -- including co-hosts...

Rising country singer Luke Bryan was named entertainer of the year and Miranda Lambert was singled out as a songwriter and a singer on Sunday at the 48th Academy of Country Music Awards. Lambert picked up significant honors from her collaboration with husband Blake Shelton on "Over You," a song they wrote inspired by Shelton's experience as a teenager when his brother was killed in an automobile accident. "I don't know what to say," said Bryan, who also co-hosted the show from Las Vegas with Shelton.

AUSTIN, Texas -- What kind of song does it take to silence a club full of insiders at a crowded concert on the first night of the South by Southwest music festival? The kind that hasn't been invented yet. Ashley Monroe, a gifted young country singer from Tennessee, came as close as one can to that goal early Tuesday night at the Empire Control Room, where she brought an audience gathered for an MTV/VH1/CMT showcase to a respectful hush with her song "Used. " It's a winsome holdover from a limited-release 2007 disc that Monroe revived for her new album, "Like a Rose.

The 48th Academy of Country Music Awards show takes center stage April 7 in Las Vegas , and although the ceremony is sold out according to Ticketmaster, there will be plenty to do April 5-8. A series of events known as the ACM Experience takes over the Orleans Arena April 5-7. The centerpiece is the “Party for a Cause,” a two-day, outdoor music festival featuring some of this year's award nominees. Tickets cost $35 for a single day (April 5 or 6) or $55 for a two-day pass.

She's only 24, but Kacey Musgraves has been around long enough to know that Nashville moves in cycles. The rising country star, whose "Merry Go 'Round" has spent much of the last few months inside the top 20, remembers when LeAnn Rimes set off a search for "another young girl with a big voice. " "Now they're all looking for the next Taylor Swift," Musgraves said recently. "Then someone else is gonna come along and create a new normal, when in reality they should probably be looking for something different altogether.

Country music singer Mindy McCready has died, officers report. The 37-year-old singer was found Sunday night in Heber Springs, Ark., according to reports . The Cleburne County, Ark., Sheriff's Office has confirmed the singer's death. “Just got a call from Mindy McCready's best friend that she shot and killed herself this evening. My heart breaks for her two boys. RIP,” Andrea Canning, a reporter for NBC's "Dateline," tweeted late Sunday. Canning later tweeted that police had yet to confirm whether McCready's death was a suicide.