John Michael Montgomery is officially retiring from touring. The country star responsible for hits like "I Swear," "Be My Baby Tonight" and more revealed on his official Facebook page that 2024 marks the year he will begin his "farewell tour."

READ MORE: 50 Essential '90s Country Songs 

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Luke Bryan spent New Year's Eve —and his wife Caroline's birthday— in Las Vegas. He was in Sin City for one of the final dates of his Vegas residency, which concludes on Jan. 6.

Luke's 22-year-old nephew Till surprised his uncle on stage during the song "I Don't Want This Night to End." Til sang a verse (not quite as skillfully as his uncle would) before busting out hip-shaking moves (as skillfully as his uncle did).

During his crowd-pleasing appearance, Til shouted out his aunt for her birthday.

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Bryan opened up about his stage moves in a 2023 edition of People, saying he and Caroline might have butted heads if she'd ever taken issue with his dance moves.

"If she would've shut down the hip-shaking, it would've been a little problematic," he told the publication. "But she's always had a fun outlook. She gets that people come see me to party and let loose. She's never gotten in the way of that or put handcuffs on how I perform."

Luke and Caroline adopted Til and his sisters, Kris and Jordan, after the 2014 death of their dad, who was Luke's brother-in-law. Luke's sister had died in 2007.

"We never thought twice about it," Caroline Bryan said during an interview with Robin Roberts.  "You know, it was never something that he and I had to sit down and talk about. 'Should we take this on?' We just did that."

Luke and Caroline have two biological sons, Bo and Tate. In an exclusive interview with People, Luke said that neither Bo nor Tate have expressed interest in music yet, but he will be happy to share his knowledge if that day comes.

"Bo and Tate, they're not really into [music] right now, but when they come to me and they're like, 'Dad, I really want to learn some music,' I'll take the time to sit down with them and have fun," Luke told the publication. "But for the most part I just want them to be their own identity. I want them to have their own differences and their own little paths and I don't want them to be in some monstrous shadow of me."

READ MORE: '90s Country Star John Michael Montgomery Announces Retirement

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Matthew McConaughey turned to social media on Thursday (Jan. 4) to share a birthday message for his now-14-year-old daughter, Vida, along with a pair of photos of the teen.

"To Vida, who never passed a flower she didn't pick, happy birthday," the actor wrote in the caption for two outdoor shots.

As quite a few commenters have pointed out, Vida looks a lot like her mother: Brazilian supermodel Camila Alves McConaughey. Vida has two brothers: 15-year-old Levi and 11-year-old Livingston.

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Vida's birthday was the day before (Jan. 3). Her dad had an understandable —and delightful— explanation for the belated post.

*A day late because my mobile device flew out of my pocket on the roller coaster loop at her birthday yesterday." he wrote.

Last year, Vida's mom shared a birthday post that shows the teenager along with her honorary uncle, Woody Harrelson.

"Time flies... 13!," Camila wrote. "You are my ray of sunshine Vida!!! Your name explains everything about you: 'life'."

Matthew got his own birthday message in November from his oldest child, Levi.

"People know Matthew McConaughey as an actor and now a writer, but I know him as my father," Levi wrote in the caption for a carousel of family photos. "The man who always makes time for us no matter what, the man who's always there for us no matter what, and the man that taught me to appreciate the journey and not just the destination."

Matthew met Camila in 2006 at a club in Los Angeles. After six years together and a six-month engagement, the couple wed on June 9, 2012.

Matthew revealed on Father's Day of 2009 that Camila was pregnant with Vida.

"We have more blessed news to celebrate this Father's Day that makes this time next year double the fun. Levi is going to be a big brother ... Yeah, we pulled off the greatest miracle in the world one more time," McConaughey wrote (as quoted by People).

READ MORE: '90s Country Star John Michael Montgomery Announces Retirement

The post Matthew McConaughey's Daughter Looks a Lot Like Her Mom in Rare Snapshot appeared first on Wide Open Country.

In a CBS "Sunday Morning" feature from Jan. 7, reporter Kelefa Sanneh joined Jelly Roll as the country singer returned to his former jail cell in Nashville.

"There was a time in my life where I truly thought... this was it," Jelly Roll said while revisiting the Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility. "And then coming here, you know, just after getting nominated for two Grammys, it just hits different. ... I didn't think I'd get emotional, to be honest."

The broadcast followed a huge year for Jelly Roll. Aside from those Grammy nods, the singer-songwriter earned critical acclaim and commercial success with his Whitsitt Chapel album and won the CMA's New Artist of the Year award. Each accomplishment well exceeded Jelly Roll's post-jail expectations.

"Even when I left here, I didn't have a plan," he said. "I knew that I loved music, and I knew it was the only thing I had any skill set [for]."

Nowadays, Jelly Roll uses his platform to share inspirational messages to inmates across the country.

"I'm trying to just encourage, inspire and entertain," he said. "I'm just trying to get you free for a minute. When I go to juveniles, I'm trying to get you to understand that you're loved."

His message is that he's living proof that a long shot may just have a shot, after all.

"I think that it's cool to see vulnerability that way, and that we can all grow together and that it's okay to not have it figured out at 35," he said. "It's okay to not have it figured out at 25. It's okay to not have it figured out at 15. Just know that you can figure it out, and believe in that."

Jelly Roll is up for Best New Artist and Best Country Group/Duo Performance —along with Lainey Wilson for their duet "Save Me"— at this year's Grammys, which air on Feb. 4.

READ MORE: '90s Country Star John Michael Montgomery Announces Retirement

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Gwen Stefani isn't waiting for the spring to put her green thumb to use. On Saturday (Jan. 6), she posted an Instagram reel that walks viewers through her winter gardening harvest.

The video is set to the Sophie Ellis-Bextor song "Murder on the Dance Floor." Its caption reads "2024 is blooming already."

"Just redoing these beds," Stefani shared in the clip. "About ready to do some ranunculus and got my roses that I bought over there.

"I'm going to be doing some peonies," she added. "These are very incredible, and I've never done them. They take 10 years to mature, so I'll see you in 10 years."

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The clip ends with shots of beautiful bouquets of blooms from flowers grown on her and Blake Shelton's Oklahoma ranch.

In 2020, Country Fancast gave viewers an inside look at Shelton and Stefani's private lives with a video tour of their s impressive Ten Point Ranch. It's home to ponds, creeks and a river that flows through the vast woods which make up much of the ranch. There's also a four-bedroom house and a white mansion. You can also get a more dramatized version of the ranch in Shelton's "God's Country" music video, which was filmed onsite.

Stefani and Shelton met as "The Voice" co-stars in the summer of 2015: a time when both were going through divorces. By November of that year, they were a couple. The following year, they made their red carpet debut at Vanity Fair's Oscars after party. Engagement followed on Oct. 27, 2020.

The couple wed on July 3, 2021 at Shelton's Oklahoma ranch. Before the big day, TMZ reported that, according to the Johnston County Court Clerk, Shelton and Stefani applied for their marriage license on June 29.

READ MORE: '90s Country Star John Michael Montgomery Announces Retirement

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On Oct. 2, 2023, Maren Morris filed for divorce from her spouse of five years, fellow singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd. A little over three months later, the former couple reached a divorce settlement which finalized custody details for their 3-year-old son, Hayes Andrew.

Per People, Morris and Hurd will split their time with their son. In addition, Morris will owe Hurd $2,100 per month in child support.

The former couple completed a parenting seminar that's required in Nashville and Davidson County for divorce cases that impact children.

Morris and Hurd married on March 24, 2018 after dating for more than two years. They'd been engaged since July 3, 2017 . The two met while working as songwriters prior to Morris' breakout hit single "My Church." They were specifically writing Tim McGraw's "Last Turn Home" on the day they met.

"We had been friends for only a couple of years, but there was always this writing chemistry in the room, and eventually, the timing of it was undeniable," Morris told People in 2017. "We had such a foundation built off writing so many songs over the years that we were like, 'Why are we avoiding this?' "

On Dec. 16, Morris posted a TikTok in which she sings Tammy Wynette's classic country standard "D-I-V-O-R-C-E." Morris leaves no confusion about where she and Hurd were in their legal separation, as she only sings the first line of the song's chorus: "Our D-I-V-O-R-C-E becomes final today."

In a Dec. 2023 interview with Howard Stern on SiriusXM, Morris explained why she won't be stepping into the dating world quite yet.

"I would like this to sort of wrap up. I don't have the headspace for that yet," she said. "But I'm writing so much right now. That's kind of been my way of dating is just through song."

READ MORE: '90s Country Star John Michael Montgomery Announces Retirement

The post Maren Morris To Pay Ryan Hurd More Than $2K a Month in Child Support in Divorce Settlement appeared first on Wide Open Country.

Ahead of Elvis Presley's birthday on Monday (Jan. 8), Luke Bryan paid tribute to the King in Las Vegas. Bryan performed "The Wonder of You," a Vegas-era Presley staple, on Saturday (Jan. 6) for the final date of a two-year, 48-show residency at The Theatre at Resorts World.

"You know, when I was a little kid, I'd sing that song, and it was from the Vegas Hilton," Bryan told the audience. "I never thought I'd be able to do this in Las Vegas."

Bryan hammed it up slightly, as he's known to do. Yet for for the most part, it was a sincere tribute to Presley's booming voice and arresting stage presence.

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Commenter's takes were mostly positive, with one poster writing the highest of complements: "I think Elvis would have loved it." A few laughed, though, with one writing that Bryan's "definitely not Elvis."

That same night, Bryan told his own jokes about exhaustion from his ambitious, multi-year residency.

"Somehow, somehow I have survived Las Vegas," he told the crowd on Saturday. "I have not died yet, but if you add up all the mornings that I wanted to die it equals three total deaths. Tomorrow morning, Shady Grove Rehab for me. I'm gonna wear pajamas for 45 days."

"The Wonder of You" wasn't the first cover to make it onto Bryan's Vegas setlist. Per People, he'd previously added his own spin to songs by George Strait, Ronnie Milsap, Conway Twitty, Rascal Flatts, Madonna, Lionel Richie, Elton John and Brooks & Dunn.

"When you react to other people's music more than mine it hurts my feelings," Bryan joked at one residency date.

As for future plans, Bryan returns to "American Idol" on Sun., Feb. 18 for his seventh consecutive season as a co-judge alongside Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

READ MORE: '90s Country Star John Michael Montgomery Announces Retirement

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In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, comedian and actor Jo Koy doubled-down on defending his Taylor Swift joke from the 2024 Golden Globe Awards.

During Sunday night's (Jan. 7) broadcast, Koy told a joke in his opening monologue that did not leave the singer-songwriter laughing.

"The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift," he said.

After the broadcast, Koy gave "Entertainment Tonight" his instant reaction to the moment.

"Aww, man, it was cute. I was just saying it was cute," he said. "I was just saying it's less cutaways, that's all."

Koy went more in-depth for the Los Angeles Times.

"The whole intention of that joke was to make fun of the NFL," he said. "It's like, the cool thing about the [Golden] Globes is we don't need to do cutaways for ratings. What hurts the most is me just supporting Taylor, I support her, I love her work. I got nieces that I bought tickets for. There's no ill intent in that joke. The joke is about the NFL and how they keep using cutaways to [her]. And it's an obvious reason why. I'm not saying anything that no one's saying, and it's obvious what that joke was. It's about the NFL."

Koy's comment towards Swift comes after some NFL fans bemoaned the singer-songwriter's frequent appearances on broadcasts of Kansas City Chiefs games. She is, of course, dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Swift addressed these complaints in her Time Person of the Year interview in December.

"I'm just there to support Travis," she said. "I have no awareness of if I'm being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads and Chads."

READ MORE: '90s Country Star John Michael Montgomery Announces Retirement

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On Tuesday night (Jan. 9), Fox News' Jesse Watters implied that Taylor Swift might be a psy-op who's been tasked by the Pentagon to sway public opinion.

"Around four years ago, the Pentagon Psychological Operations Unit floated turning Taylor Swift into an asset during a NATO meeting," Watters said. "What kind of asset? A psy-op for combatting online misinformation."

"I wonder who got to her from the White House or wherever," Watters added, referring to Swift's participation in Vote.org's campaign to register more young people to vote. "Who makes that initial handshake?"

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh issued a statement the following day to Politico that's filled with Swift jokes.

"As for this conspiracy theory, we are going to shake it off," Singh shared. "But that does highlight that we still need Congress to approve our supplemental budget request as Swift-ly as possible so we can be out of the woods with potential fiscal concerns."

Vote.org's Andrea Haley posted her own response on Twitter.

"Not a psy-op or a Pentagon asset," Haley wrote. "Just the biggest nonpartisan platform in America helping young people register & cast their vote."

Whoopi Goldberg weighed in on the conspiracy theory on "The View," slamming Fox News in the process.

"There are real issues impacting millions of Americans," Goldberg said. "This is what the Fox News folks wanted viewers to be worried about during their prime-time broadcast on Tuesday."

The psy-op speculation makes for one of the wildest conspiracy theories about Swift, who's had no shortage of unfounded rumors written about her throughout her career.

Swift ended 2023 on yet another historic high note. When 1989 (Taylor's Version) topped the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart, it marked 68 weeks that a Swift album has sat at No. 1. The previous record holder among solo artists was Elvis Presley, who'd topped the chart for 67 weeks between 1956 and 2002.

Those figures plus the unprecedented box office success of the Eras Tour helped Swift earn Time's Person of the Year honor.

READ MORE: '90s Country Star John Michael Montgomery Announces Retirement

The post Pentagon Responds to Bizarre Fox News Conspiracy Theory About Taylor Swift appeared first on Wide Open Country.

During an appearance on the "Full Send" podcast, host Kyle Forgeard sold Jelly Roll on stepping up to comedians Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura's challenge for other celebrities to join them this spring in a 5K run.

"Kyle from the [comedy troupe] Nelk Boys convinced me that I could make it to the 5K by May if I dedicated myself to it," Jelly Roll explains in an Instagram reel that shows him preparing with his daily walk through the woods.

"I believe him," the "Need a Favor" singer added. "I believe in myself."

The clip ends with Jelly Roll yelling his motivational mantra for the journey (and the event's apparent name): "5k by May."

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Kreischer and Segura announced the 5K run, which is slated for May, on their "2 Bears 1 Cave" podcast.

"That's our New Year's resolution," Kreischer said on the show. "Let's get ready for it. Let's train for it."

They've recruited other comics to participate, with such peers as Michelle Wolf and Stavros Halkias accepting the challenge.

Jelly Roll shouted out both organizers in his video.

"Bert, I love you, Bubba. Tom, I don't know you, but I love you too and can't wait to meet you," he said. "I'll be there baby!"

In the comments on Jelly Roll's video, Zach Bryan teased his possible involvement.

"We're all here with you brother! If I'm not playing I'll be there!" Bryan wrote.

Per 800 Pound Gorilla Media, the 5k will be held sometime in May in a yet-to-be-announced city.

"This isn't just running any 5K, the goal is to run it under 26 minutes," the site reads. "Any minute Tom [and] Bert go above the 26 minute 5K run time challenge, they will each donate $1,000 to a charity of their choice."

READ MORE: '90s Country Star John Michael Montgomery Announces Retirement

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