The golf legend is dealing with another setback after his DUI arrest, now turning his focus to treatment and stepping back from golf. Continue reading…

Attention vinyl collectors. It’s hard to believe it’s been over two years since the tragic passing of the late, great Toby Keith. As we all know, the Oklahoma native passed away on February 5, 2024, at the age of 62 after a long battle with stomach cancer. Words can hardly describe the lasting impact he’s had on not only the genre itself but all his long-time fans, members of the military and the countless number of lives touched through his philanthropy, namely the Toby Keith Foundation, which benefitted pediatric cancer patients and their families. Of course, from a legacy standpoint, few artists have matched the “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” singer’s career accomplishments. Beyond his recently-named status as one of the top touring artists of the millennium (#24 overall), Keith scored 41 Top 10 hits, 20 #1 singles, 10 #1 albums, 14 ACM Awards and a plethora of other awards throughout his illustrious career, such as a posthumous induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Lately, the most prominent compilation that has helped carry the “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” singer’s legacy into the next generation of country fans is undoubtedly his 2006, platinum-certified 35 Biggest Hits album, which not only went #1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart upon its release but also went #1 all-genre on the Billboard 200 after Keith’s tragic death in February 2024. Though it’s missing a few late hits such as “Red Solo Cup,” “God Love Her,” “Made in America,” and “American Ride,” it encompasses a majority of Keith’s illustrious discography. Of course, it contains a plethora of career-defining hits like “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” “Who’s Your Daddy?” and more. Obviously, it’s been available on CD and streaming services for years at this point; however, for the first time ever, 35 Biggest Hits will be pressed onto vinyl incredibly soon. View this post on Instagram Thanks to the growing demand for vinyl across the world over the past decade, which was highlighted by a record $1 billion in sales in the U.S. in 2025, 35 Biggest Hits will receive its first-ever vinyl release on Friday, May 22nd. Given the length of the compilation, it will stretch across 3 LPs and retail at $59.99, which is not too expensive all things considered. Given the fact that a majority of Keith’s discography has yet to be released onto vinyl, save for his 2024 13 Number Ones collection and his 2018 Should’ve Been a Cowboy re-release for its 25th anniversary, this will be the first time a majority of these tracks will be pressed on vinyl. If you’re a fan of the late legend, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick this compilation up come May. 35 Biggest Hits Tracklist “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” “He Ain’t Worth Missing” “A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action” “Wish I Didn’t Know Now” “Who’s That Man” “Upstairs Downtown” “You Ain’t Much Fun 8. Big Ol’ Truck “Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You” “A Woman’s Touch” “Me Too” “We Were in Love” “I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying” (feat. Sting) “Dream Walkin'” “Getcha Some” “How Do You Like Me Now?!” “Country Comes to Town” “You Shouldn’t Kiss Me Like This” “I’m Just Talkin’ About Tonight” “I Wanna Talk About Me” “My List” “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” “Who’s Your Daddy?” “Beer for My Horses” (feat. Willie Nelson) “I Love This Bar” “American Soldier” “Whiskey Girl” “Stays in Mexico” “Mockingbird” (feat. Krystal Keith) “Honkytonk U” “As Good As I Once Was” “Big Blue Note” “Get Drunk and Be Somebody” “A Little Too Late” “She’s a Hottie” “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” “Wish I Didn’t Know Now” The post Toby Keith’s Iconic “35 Biggest Hits” Compilation To Be Released For The First Time On Vinyl first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Was it just coincidence or a bad omen? I’ll let you decide… It was on this date in 2014 that Blake Shelton’s song “Doin’ What She Likes” became his 11th consecutive #1 hit on the Country Airplay chart, breaking the record set by Brad Paisley between 2005 and 2009 for the most consecutive #1 singles since the charts began this kind of tracking in 1990. It was included as the fourth single from his seventh studio album Based on a True Story…., and it was written by Phil O’Donnell and Wade Kirby. Shelton said it made him think of his then-marriage to fellow country star Miranda Lambert, whom he married in 2011. Of course, their divorce became a media firestorm and they received a ton of  negative press around that time, but both have since moved and gotten remarried. Miranda has reflected on parts of their marriage fondly since then, specifically talking about how incredible it was to write her song “Over You” with him, which you can read more about HERE. “Doin’ What She Likes” is a pretty simple song about how the guy is happy doing whatever it is his significant other wants to do, the whole “happy wife, happy life” sort of thing, which at the time, Blake related to pretty heavily. Kirby and O’Donnell wrote the song in their cabin during a December 2011 hunting trip, and they started imagining the cabin as a getaway for a couple, purposely keeping the images loose enough that the storyline could fit a couple at just about any stage of a relationship, which I think was brilliant because clearly it resonated with many as it became a radio hit. O’Donnell told Billboard magazine: “She could be 18 years old, she might be 38 years old, but what woman don’t want to hear how good she’s looking in them blue jeans. She could be eating sushi at Sushiyobi or in the line at the buffet at Shoney’s. Come on.” Shelton added that the relatability of it had a lot to do with why he chose to cut it: “It’s kind of domestic, and that’s pretty much what I am now. There’s a lot of elements of that song that are just so true to mine and Miranda’s life together. It’s about a guy that’s just, as long as he’s making her happy, then he’s happy.” But he raised a great point, saying he doesn’t actually know what a watermelon candle smells like, and I actually think about that every time I hear this song: “The only part of the song that I can’t quite figure out, and it’s actually my favorite part, is I’ve never actually smelled a watermelon candle. I’ve smelled pumpkin spice and some Christmas spirit and all kinds of peppermint. I don’t know that I’ve ever smelled a watermelon candle. Maybe I should make them and sell them in my merch.” The music video stars Blake, and you hear Miranda’s voice when they talk on the phone at the beginning when he tells her he’s gong to cook dinner, and she was actually opening for George Strait at the time which is why she wasn’t featured more. In a 2017 interview with Songfacts, he said he wanted to bring out Blake’s comedic side by having it end in disasters (spoiler alert: Shelton burns the house down with the aforementioned watermelon candle), but he couldn’t believe how many people thought they actually burned down someone’s house: “70 percent of that video is fake fire. It was all done in post, especially all the outside stuff. We built a bathroom in the field next to the house we were shooting in for the interior stuff where we actually set it on fire, but when Blake’s outside the house, all that’s fake, just because we obviously couldn’t afford to burn down somebody’s house. It’s crazy how many people have asked, though, ‘So, how did they let you guys set the house on fire?’ And I’m like, ‘They absolutely did not let us do that.'” He had planned to use fog machines and make the fire more subtle as it starts, but it didn’t end up working out that way because of the wind: “That performance was supposed to be much more mysterious, like within the smoke and not revealing what’s going on. But it was such a windy day that we could not get the fog machine to do what we wanted it to do.” And many fans were also worried about what happened to the dog that was never seen again after the fire, and it actually belonged to the homeowners and decided to run off and play when it was time to shoot. He was supposed to be in it next to Blake, but ended up having other ideas at the time: “He was supposed to be next to Blake but he was way off in the acreage somewhere. We spent I’d say a good 20 minutes trying to find him before we ran out of time and we were like, ‘We’ve got to shoot this, I don’t know where he is.’ We had an idea of putting a barking dog in the audio mix, just so you could hear it, but that never happened.” Blake would file for divorce on July 6th, 2015, just over a year after the video was released in February of 2014. It’s kind of a wild coincidence, and honestly a really random way to end the video that has nothing to do with anything that happens specifically in the song, but it is actually pretty funny and I’m sure that decision had nothing to do with the ultimate end of their marriage… but sometimes, life really does imitate art, and I have no explanation for it whatsoever. You can watch it here… they honestly don’t make music videos like this anymore: The post Blake Shelton Recorded “Doin’ What She Likes” Because It Reminded Him Of His Then-Wife Miranda Lambert… & The Music Video Ends With A Wild Coincidence first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

As of right now, Country Thunder Florida is still on… but they’ve got a whole lot of work to do in the next month or so. The country music festival known as Country Thunder Florida is supposed to take place May 8 through the 10 at St. Pete Beach at the TradeWinds Resort. I used the word “supposed” in place of “set to” because… there’s a whole slew of issues that have popped up for the festival. Gavin Adcock, Zach Top and Kane Brown are all scheduled to be headliners at the festival, as you can see in this post from Country Thunder: View this post on Instagram However, a City Commission meeting that took place back on March 24 revealed that Country Thunder Florida really has to kick it into gear if they want all of those country artists to actually have a chance to play in front of fans. Here’s the deal. Country Thunder has yet to secure a number of necessary permits, and we’re (*checks calendar*) a little over five weeks away from the event itself. Below you can see all of the plans and resolutions that Country Thunder – which expects to bring in over 10,000 festival goers – has yet to provide to St. Pete Beach: -Traffic plan -Transportation plan -Parking plan -Waste management plan -Site plan -Hold-harmless agreement -Certificate of insurance -Department of Environmental Protection permit -Resolution of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission concerns That’s a rather long list of requirements that all have to be provided in a little over a month. Kim Blevins, the executive director of Country Thunder, told commissioners at the March 24 City Commission meeting that they are aware of the uphill battle they are facing, but promised that the festival is willing to comply and work with St Pete Beach, according to TBN Weekly: “We know we’ve got some issues that we face that we have to address. We know we have to be good stewards of the property, and we’re here to work directly with your community, not against you.” And you might have saw the last two items on that above list – the Department of Environmental Protect permit and the Resolution of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conversation Commission concerns – and thought to yourself, “What’s the deal there?” Well, it appears that organizers of the music festival didn’t realize that the three days in May they chose also falls during the shorebird nesting and sea turtle season. Blevins says they had already booked their 2026 lineup for those dates when they became aware of turtle season: “We don’t want to impede on any wildlife. But at this point, with our talent booked, it’s difficult for us to get out of those dates without a very large penalty. We would have to pay our artists to try and move those dates.” Country Thunder doesn’t have a back up plan, and they apparently hope that everything falls into place within the next couple of weeks. The only plan they really have is to get through 2026, and then shift the dates of Country Thunder Florida to outside of turtle nesting season in the future. Because of fragile environment, the city is drafting memorandum of understanding that it would require before handing over a permit to Country Thunder. That includes “no drones or pyrotechnics, a sound cap of 85 decibels, day-of-event bird and turtle monitoring, and a prohibition on future large-scale events during nesting season.” And St Pete Beach has already told Country Thunder to expect backlash from locals and environment enthusiasts who will come after the festival for planning – and potentially executing – the three day country music event during turtle season. A future meeting will decide if Country Thunder is provided their special events permit. All of that to say… if you have tickets to Country Thunder Florida, keep a close eye on any developments or announcements from the music festival in the next couple of weeks.The post Country Thunder Florida Doesn’t Have Proper Permits & The Music Festival Is Only A Couple Of Weeks Away first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Vince Gill, Justin Moore, Thomas Rhett and Carrie Underwood are artists with songs on this list. Continue reading…