Good for him for admitting it. There’s been a lot of talk about “blue dot fever,” or artists suffering from low ticket sales at their concerts (and thus resulting in a lot of blue dots on Ticketmaster). Post Malone recently canceled the first month of his upcoming Big Ass Stadium Tour, attributing it to needing to spend time finishing his upcoming album – although as many pointed out, there were a lot of blue dots for some of those shows. And it’s not just country music that’s seeing tours getting canceled: Over in the pop world, both Meghan Trainor and the Pussycat Dolls both scrapped their tours amid low ticket sales, with the latter admitting that the tour didn’t sell like they expected. Of course there’s a lot of discussion over the reason behind these cancellations. Is it the economy, high ticket prices, oversaturation of the market that’s resulting in low ticket sales? A combination of all of the above? Or is it something else entirely? Well regardless, it seems that the cancellations aren’t going to be stopping any time soon, because Kiefer Sutherland – yes, that Kiefer Sutherland – just announced that he was calling off his upcoming tour. And unlike some of the others, he was straightforward about the reason why: “With great disappointment I am going to have to cancel the US leg of my tour due to very low ticket sales. I don’t think it’s fair to the people who have bought tickets, or the venues, to play half empty houses. I look forward to touring the United States again at a more suitable time. I hope you understand.” View this post on Instagram The actor best known for playing Jack Bauer in 24 released his first country music album back in 2016, and even made his Grand Ole Opry debut that same year. He’s released three albums in total so far, and was set to go on tour to promote his upcoming album Grey, which is set to drop on May 29. Sutherland is currently wrapped up what appears to be a successful European leg of the tour, and had just announced his US tour less than two months ago. It was set to kick off June 10 at the Patchogue Theater in Patchogue, NY and run through July 2, with 14 stops in cities like Nashville, Charlotte, Boston, Atlanta and Phoenix. It looks like most of the venues he was set to play hold about 1,000 people, give or take, so the fact that he said “very low ticket sales” and “half empty houses” gives us at least a little bit of an idea of how many tickets were sold for the shows. While the cancellation is no doubt a disappointment to the fans who bought tickets, it seems that folks appreciated an artist being upfront and honest about the reason for cancelling their tour: “I really appreciate your honesty and the fact that you don’t use illness as an excuse. That makes you even more likeable.” “Finally….an artist being honest about low ticket sales instead of making other excuses” “I think its brave and awesome of you to admit there are low ticket sales. Most performers will make other excuses. Respect. Sorry to hear” It’s a bummer to see another artist have to cancel their tour (although marketing may have been problem here because I work in country music and had no idea about the show happening 10 minutes from my house), but respect to Kiefer for being honest and transparent with his fans.The post Actor & Country Singer Kiefer Sutherland Becomes The Latest Artist To Cancel His Tour – And Admits It’s Due To Low Ticket Sales first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Miranda Lambert won’t ever forget meeting Ella Langley. The “Mama’s Broken Heart” singer is one of the icons of country music. Since signing her first record deal in 2003, Lambert has been a mainstay in country music. She just released a new country-disco crossover song called “Crisco,” and in recent years, she’s made headlines for acting as a mentor to some of the younger, up-and-coming female country artists out there. Like Ella Langley. In a recent conversation with Cody Alan on SiriusXM’s The Highway, Lambert recalled meeting Langley for the very first time… and feeling as if she was looking at her younger self in the mirror: “Oh god, I called my manager and said, ‘Oh, sorry for everything.’ Because now I know what it’s like because it’s exactly like looking in the mirror and she’s just so feisty and so strong and knows exactly who she is and what she wants and it really reminded (me of myself).” The artist with seven No. 1 solo albums, and ten No. 1 radio singles recalled the very first time she crossed paths with the “Be Her” singer. Miranda was sitting at the BMI Awards when her friend and fellow songwriter, Natalie Hemby, brought Ella Langley over to meet her. They hit it off immediately, and Lambert soon found herself listening to Ella’s unreleased album: “I mean Natalie Hemby brought her over to my table at the BMI Awards several years ago and then Natalie just left and sat down right next to me and I didn’t know this girl. She was like, ‘Hey, I’m Ella Langley.’ Natalie was like, ‘Y’all need to be friends.’ And we were immediately, like I could tell there was a kindred spirit there. And then I got my hands on her new record, which was not out at the time, and which was ‘Hungover,’ and called her. I was like, ‘This is great.’ And told her my favorite songs. And then from there, we just kind of struck up our friendship.” Fast forward to 2026, and Miranda Lambert worked with Ella Langley to write and produce her massive new album, Dandelion. Lambert was even featured on a duet on the project called “Butterfly Season.” Now, with years of friendship between the two, Lambert says that Langley has been an inspiration to her… and also a reminder of what Miranda put her manager through in her early years: “I love her for all the things that probably annoyed my manager about me, you know? Just because it’s very strong willed, but very set in your ways, but also like it’s right. Because she believes in it so much and it’s so inspiring to see an artist that just like walks with that much confidence.” There’s no doubt that Ella Langley has confidence, and there’s a high likelihood that she learned a lot of that from being friends with Miranda Lambert. With the ACM Awards coming up this weekend, it’s only right to cue up Ella and Miranda’s duet of “Kerosene” at last year’s awards show: The post Why Miranda Lambert Apologized To Her Own Manager After She Met Ella Langley first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

More history for Morgan Wallen. Though Ella Langley has been nothing short of dominant the past year, it’s hard to imagine an artist having a better five-year stretch than Morgan Wallen has had lately. Riding the highs of his fourth studio album, I’m The Problem, the Tennessee native broke all sorts of records in 2025. In addition to dethroning Garth Brooks and becoming the highest-selling country artist of all time (3rd all-genre), Wallen also scored the most-listened-to album on Apple Music globally, the #1 most-listened-to album in the U.S. on Spotify and became the second male country artist in history to be named Billboard’s Top Artist of the Year, beating out the likes of Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny and more. It’s no secret that Wallen has been nothing short of a monster on the charts lately. However, his pure streaming numbers may be even more impressive. Last year, he made history by passing the likes of Zach Bryan and Luke Combs and becoming the first and only country artist to have three songs pass the one billion-stream threshold on Spotify. These, of course, include his two smash hits, “Last Night” and “Whiskey Glasses,” as well as his feature on Post Malone’s all-genre Billboard Hot 100 #1, “I Had Some Help.” Today, Wallen has set yet another impressive record among country artists on the streaming platform. As of May 15th, Wallen has now passed 30 BILLION streams across all credits on the platform, becoming the first country artist in history to reach the 30-billion mark. In case you were wondering how rare this feat is, he’s now just the 53rd artist ever to cross the threshold. In turn, he joins the likes of global superstars such as Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Linkin Park, Maroon 5 and more. As for who he passed, it includes the likes of Harry Styles/One Direction, Katy Perry, Queen, Adele, Artic Monkeys and more — all of whom are members of the 20-billion club. As for the closest country artists, Zach Bryan is currently far behind him in second place at 18.98 billion. Third place goes to Luke Combs at 18.44 billion, with Chris Stapleton in fourth at 11.34 and Florida Georgia Line in fifth with 9.75 billion. Of course, this was thanks to the aforementioned billion-stream club members, “Last Night,” “Whiskey Glasses” and “I Had Some Help.” However, all nine of Wallen’s Top 10 most-streamed tracks on Spotify have already passed the 750 million mark, with “Wasted On You” primed to become the country song to pass one-billion streams on the platform in the coming days as it sits with 991 million. Additionally, the Tennessee native is currently averaging a staggering 12 million streams per day on average. Top 10 Most-Streamed Morgan Wallen Songs “I Had Some Help” (Post Malone) – 1.483 billion “Last Night” – 1.482 billion “Whiskey Glasses” – 1.15 billion “Wasted On You” – 991 million “You Proof” – 952 million “Chasin’ You” – 913 million “Thinkin’ Bout Me” – 791 million “Heartless” (Diplo) – 775 million “Cowgirls” – 766 million “More Than My Hometown” – 748 million “Whiskey Glasses” ‘Still The Problem’ Tour Dates May 15 || Gainesville, Fla. || Ben Hill Griffin Stadium w/ Thomas Rhett, Gavin Adcock, Zach John King May 16 || Gainesville, Fla. || Ben Hill Griffin Stadium w/ Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock, Zach John King May 29 || Denver, Colo. || Empower Field at Mile High w/ Brooks & Dunn, Gavin Adcock, Vincent Mason May 30 || Denver, Colo. || Empower Field at Mile High w/ Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock, Vincent Mason June 5 || Pittsburgh, Penn. || Acrisure Stadium w/ Brooks & Dunn, Gavin Adcock, Zach John King June 6 || Pittsburgh, Penn. || Acrisure Stadium w/ Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock, Zach John King June 19 || Chicago, Ill. || Soldier Field w/ Brooks & Dunn, Gavin Adcock, Zach John King June 20 || Chicago, Ill. || Soldier Field w/ Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock, Zach John King June 26 || Clemson, SC. || Clemson Memorial Stadium w/ Brooks & Dunn, Gavin Adcock, Jason Scott & The High Heat June 27 || Clemson, SC. || Clemson Memorial Stadium w/ Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock, Jason Scott & The High nHeat July 17 || Baltimore, Md. || M&T Bank Stadium w/ Brooks & Dunn, Gavin Adcock, Jason Scott & The High Heat July 18 || Baltimore, Md. || M&T Bank Stadium w/ Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock, Jason Scott & The High Heat July 24 || Ann Arbor, Mich. || Michigan Stadium w/ Thomas Rhett, Hudson Westbrook, Blake Whiten July 25 || Ann Arbor, Mich. || Michigan Stadium w/ HARDY, Hudson Westbrook, Blake Whiten July 31 || Philadelphia, Penn. || Lincoln Financial Field w/ ​​Brooks & Dunn, Hudson Westbrook, Blake Whiten August 1 || Philadelphia, Penn. || Lincoln Financial Field w/ Ella Langley, Hudson Westbrook, Blake WhiteThe post Morgan Wallen Becomes The First Country Artist To Cross 30 BILLION Streams On Spotify first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

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Yellowstone star Finn Little, who plays Carter in the franchise, is no longer so little in Taylor Sheridan’s new show, Dutton Ranch. In the new series, fans will see Carter dealing with everyday teenage struggles involving love, rebellion and fitting in. T... Continue reading…