In a scathing social media post, Trump slammed the artists who dropped out and said he hopes to headline the event himself. Continue reading…

It’s only right that “Mr. Saturday Night” himself closed out Saturday night of Nashville’s Music City Rodeo. Some of the best rodeo cowboys and cowgirls put on an absolute show last night Bridgestone Arena. The best in the world were all at the venue that sits on Broadway to compete in the third and final day of the event put on by the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA). It’s the largest rodeo east of the Mississippi and the largest in the entire Southeastern Circuit. Oh, and it’s also important to note that the 2026 Music City Rodeo was designated as an official Cinch Playoff Series Rodeo. What does that mean? Well, that designation brings in the top rodeo stars like Stetson Wright, Kade Bruno, Hailey Kinzel, and over 30 other World Champions. That means that the best of the best were getting into the bucking chute each and every night. Dakota Warnken had an impressive showing when the bull riding event took place: View this post on Instagram That’s a solid ride right there. The night was chock full of exciting events, like mutton busting, roping, and bull riding, and after a full and exciting slate of rodeo competitions, the dirt that was laid down on the floor of Bridgestone Arena turned into a pit for a performance from Jon Pardi. Once the pit opened up, fans rushed to get to the front to get the best view of the country music star from California. “Tequila Little Time” went over quite well with those in attendance View this post on Instagram No doubt about it… a little salt and lime will always do. And though one of Pardi’s biggest hits is almost always in his set list, fans were eagerly waiting for the country star to cue up “Mr. Saturday Night.” After all, it was a Saturday night in Nashville at the Music City Rodeo… how could Pardi pass up an opportunity like that? Sure enough, Pardi mentioned that the stars had aligned just before he broke into “Mr. Saturday Night.” The rodeo crowd absolutely ate it up: View this post on Instagram   Throughout the night, it was abundantly clear how much of a match rodeo and country music are. When we sat down with rodeo stars Kade Bruno and Rocker Steiner earlier this year, they both said that Music City Rodeo acts as the perfect crossroads. As Rocker Steiner described, the sport and the genre have shared the same thread throughout the years: “You’ve got to think, for the last however many decades, country music has been written about rodeoing. Look at ‘July in Cheyenne’ by Aaron Watson, ‘I Can Still Make Cheyenne’ and ‘Amarillo By Morning’ by George Strait. A lot of country songs are written around rodeo. Really, we live the same lifestyle. We really kind of have the same attitudes… if you love country music, rodeo really is a part of you.” And Kade Bruno had much of the same to say. The saddle bronc rider stated that there’s a lot of overlap when it comes to the fanbases of the rodeo and country music. In his mind, and in the mind of many other rodeo stars, if you like one, there’s a great chance you like the other: “We go hand in hand. 90% of our fans are also country music fans, and vice versa. If you are a rodeo fan through and through, you are probably listening to country music.” @whiskeyriff @Rocker Steiner @kadebrunoooo @musiccityrodeo #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff There’s definitely a harmony between country music and the rodeo. The world’s best rodeo stars left everything out there at the second annual Music City Rodeo. Simply put… the cowboys took over Broadway and Bridgestone Arena, and they looked quite comfortable doing it in front of a packed house each and every night. You can hear Rocker and Kade talk more about Music City Rodeo in our full interview below. Check it out on YouTube or make sure to download the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff” or by clicking here. We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts. Audio Video The post Jon Pardi Fittingly Closes Out Nashville’s Music City Rodeo With “Mr. Saturday Night” Performance first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Lainey Wilson looked gorgeous at her recent Tennessee wedding… but she didn’t care what anyone else was wearing. She and her husband Devlin “Duck” Hodges officially tied the knot with a gorgeous wedding on Mother’s Day, just over a week ago, and it looked like a beautiful affair: View this post on Instagram They met through mutual friends, and Lainey often talks about how supportive Duck is with her career, and they seem like a great match that have already gone through a lot of change together during the course of their relationship with Lainey’s stardom exploding. Lainey and Duck’s special day took place at The Ruskin Cave in Dickson, Tennessee on May 10th, and they shared all of the details with Vogue. Lainey says they selected the venue because of the “simplicity” of the property. They worked with Hugh Howser and Kate Steele with H Three Events to plan everything, and of course, Lainey had to bring in some of that Cajun flair, so they had a 12-piece jazz band and Cajun meal prepared by the chefs at her Nashville bar, Bell Bottoms Up”: “We wanted it to be special and beautiful, but really welcoming and comfortable for our guests. We tried not to take ourselves too seriously. Being from Louisiana, I wanted to bring in a little bit of Cajun flair, so naturally we hired a 12-piece jazz band called Rebirth and had a Cajun meal from the chefs at my bar, Bell Bottoms Up.” Of the ceremony, Lainey says it was a beautiful spring day, and she came in on a white horse-drawn carriage, of course walking down the aisle with her dad. They were married by friend Wes Williams, and Lainey and Duck also took communion together during the ceremony. It sounds (and looks) like a fairy tale, and Lainey of course made an absolutely stunning bride, all of the photos are just gorgeous, and it looks like it was a really beautiful day filled with love. Lainey also traded out her iconic bell bottoms for a stunning white dress, which was designed by the Oscar de la Renta team, along with help from her stylist, Alexandra Mandelkorn. It features gorgeous Japanese cherry blossoms around the neckline and throughout the dress, which represents living in the moment, Lainey says. It’s not often we see her in a dress, I’m not sure we ever have, honestly, and it was just breathtaking: View this post on Instagram They honeymooned in Sedona for a few days and were finishing it up in Las Vegas, and during an interview with Extra TV ahead of the ACM Awards on Sunday evening, where Lainey opened the show, and she says the most special part of the da was when they actually got to see each other for the first time. She also explained that it was a big party, and they were hyping themselves up after saying it was so fun that they were sure their guests would remember it forever: “Oh my gosh, I mean, probably the first time that we actually got to see each other. That was really special. But just having our family and friends there, and it was a party. When we left the wedding, we were in the back of the truck thinking, like, people are going to be talking about this wedding forever. We had that much fun, we were hyping ourselves up.” I have no doubt it was quite an event, and from all of the photos I’ve seen it was really something else. Duck was also asked what he thought about seeing her in her dress for the first time, and he said that was the first time he’d ever seen her wear a dress (she’s known for her now-iconic bell bottoms and is almost always wearing those), saying it was “one of the most stunning moments,” adding that “she just looked unbelievable.” He also said that they were in their “own little world” all night, and he felt like it was exactly as it should be. Duck wore a bespoke, tailored tuxedo suit crafted by D. Lacquaniti, and of course, it was mallard green. He also wore a custom bolo tie, matching cufflinks, and a hat pin designed with Mud Lowery, along with a cowboy hat from Charlie 1 Horse and custom-made western leather boots from Golden West Boots, Lainey’s boot brand. They both looked incredible, but they told PEOPLE on the red carpet at the ACM Awards that they didn’t have a dress code and didn’t care what their guests wore, explaining that they could have “worn their birthday suits,” though thankfully, from the photos I’ve seen, it doesn’t look like anyone did that: “Honestly, we were the ones that were a little less stressed. Everybody else was worried about what they were going to wear to the wedding. We were like, ‘You can wear your birthday suit. We don’t give a damn.'” Duck added: “We were the least stressed, probably.” Lainey’s custom Oscar de la Renta dress was just stunning, and it was cool to see her in a dress because she’s rarely, if ever, worn one since becoming a country music star that we’ve seen publicly, and it sounds like it was the same for Duck. There were tons of country artists in attendance, including Miranda Lambert, Ella Langley, Ernest, Hardy, Wynonna Judd and more, and Lainey was very happy with how it all turned out. But mostly, she is just happy to be married: “It was everything that we could have imagined, to be honest. It was perfect. It was beautiful. Honestly, I feel like that’s the thing: getting me through it is having somebody to lean on and call home, and it’s been nice. I mean, he’s my person. So I’m so glad that we’re getting to experience this together, because this is all I’ve ever dreamed about, and I’m glad that I got my guy with me to go along the journey.” Of course, Lainey is always working on new music, and she says she’s “got something up her sleeve”: “We got a bunch of stuff cooking up right now, and it’s good. As long as I got my phone, my keys, my wallet, my man, I feel like those are the things that keep me writing and we got something up our sleeve.” She won’t be slowing down anytime soon in terms of her career, of course, as Lainey is slated to open for Chris Stapleton for a run of shows here soon: LAINEY WILSON CONFIRMED TOUR DATES May 23—Nashville, TN—Nissan Stadium* June 13—Tampa, FL—Raymond James Stadium* June 20—Charlotte, NC—Bank of America Stadium* June 28—Calgary, AB—Country Thunder Alberta July 10—Chicago, IL—Windy City Smokeout July 12—Craven, SK—Country Thunder Saskatchewan July 17—Pasa Robles, CA—California Mid-State Fair August 1—Cincinnati, OH—Paycor Stadium* August 6—Detroit Lakes, MN—WE Fest August 7—Oshkosh, WI—Xroads41 August 8—Detroit, MI—Ford Field* August 9—Canton, OH—Concert for Legends August 12—Sturgis, SD—The Sturgis Buffalo Chip August 15—Springfield, IL—Illinois State Fair August 16—Des Moines, IA—Iowa State Fair August 21—Atlanta, GA—Mercedes-Benz Stadium* October 2—Ocean City, MD—Country Calling Festival *with Chris StapletonThe post “You Can Wear Your Birthday Suit” — Lainey Wilson Did Not Care What Her Guests Wore To Her Wedding first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

'The first week it was out, when we started seeing the numbers we were seeing, I was on the road and I started covering it,' Lambert says. 'And by the second weekend on the road, I moved it down to the end of my set.' Continue reading…

Morgan Wallen appeared frustrated by technical difficulties at his piano — then flipped the instrument over onstage and broke it. Continue reading…