A16z VC Jennifer Li⁠, who oversees some of the firm's fastest growing AI companies, warns founders not to believe every ARR claim made on X.

The Bezos-owned newspaper gutted its San Francisco bureau and coverage of tech — including journalists reporting on Amazon and Blue Origin

Chris Stapleton may go down as one of the best pure vocalists in country music history. The country music singer/songwriter has penned over 170 songs, including a ton of #1 singles, both as a writer and a recording artist. Everybody in music is trying to get him to record a duet, and for the most part, they’ve been pretty successful. In the past handful of years, he’s collaborated with Pink, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran, Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Carlos Santana, Morgan Wallen, Tom Morello, Justin Timberlake… the list goes on and one and on. The Kentucky native has one of the most raw, powerful, and authentic voices you’ll ever hear. With that being said, many believe that one of his best performances was three years ago on Super Bowl Sunday, when he put together one of the most impressive national anthem renditions the Super Bowl has ever seen. Whitey Houston is the only other person even in the conversation, and head to head, I’d still give Chris the W. Seriously though, when you have Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, now retired offensive lineman Jason Kelce, and Chiefs DT Chris Jones bawling like babies while you’re performing, you know you’re doing something right. Just relive this greatness for a moment: And one of those people who believes that Stapleton’s rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” is one of the best ever? No other than Luke Combs. He confessed that Chris was the best he’s ever seen during an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, saying: “That National Anthem at the Super Bowl dude, it’s that and Whitney Houston. Two best national anthems ever in my opinion in a Super Bowl ever.” Luke just so happened to be next to Adele during the game, someone who isn’t even an American, and according to him, she’s was going bonkers: “I was sitting in a box with Adele at the Super Bowl, and he sang that thing, and she was watching and like two lines in, she goes ‘Holy SH*T.’ She’s just like losing her mind dude. It was unbelievable… he’s unbelievable.” Joe Rogan agreed: “He’s a good dude too. I had him on a few years back, he’s fun to hang with. He’s a very very genuine person. It’s always nice when you meet someone that you really admire, and they’re just cool as f***.” As they turned the performance on in the studio, Luke says: “When Nick Sirianni cries in this thing, I felt like a bald eagle was gonna fly over the stadium dude, it was the most American thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” Amen… God bless America and Chris Stapleton. And hell, God bless Luke Combs too. Chris Stapleton Won’t Watch His Own Performance Of course, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni crying was a tender moment from the performance, but it was also just an instant meme. Weighing in on the tearful moment, Sirianni said: “I’ve dreamed about this since I’ve been two years old. It’s just emotional because there’s a lot of work, not just by myself, but a lot of people. Starting with my wife and my kids, my brothers, my dad and just so many people… It’s just emotional in that moment knowing where we were.” Nick Sirianni on Crying Before the #SuperBowlLVII “I've dreamed about this since I've been two years old… It's just emotional because there's a lot of work, not just by myself, but a lot of people. Starting with my wife and my kids, my brothers, my dad and just so many people” pic.twitter.com/BSqZ5TzQ46 — Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) February 13, 2023 Stapleton has since weighed in on the performance as well, as Entertainment Tonight caught up with him to ask how it felt being out there in front of a packed house at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona: “Man, it felt great. It really did. The energy was good and the crowd was hyped up for the game, so that kind of gets you ready to go.” However, Stapleton also admitted that he’s not sure if he can go back and watch it: “I don’t know if I can watch it, man. I try not to watch myself back too much.” I honestly think there’s more pressure on the person singing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl than the halftime performance… those are so subjective, and how much you like it probably depends purely on how much you like the artist performing. But the Anthem is a completely different thing, and a hard enough song to sing as it is… so when it comes to the biggest sporting event of the year, with millions of eyes on one person singing one of America’s most sacred songs, it’s just so hard to pull off. If you nail it, you did your job… if you mess it up, you forever live in infamy… there’s not much upside. One And Done Chris has said before that he used to joke about singing the Anthem at the Super Bowl, and now that he’s done it and nailed it (my words), he told Dale Earnhardt Jr. on an episode of his Dirty Mo Media podcast recently that he’s officially retired from doing it ever again: “Oh yeah, I practiced that one. I don’t get nervous to play, necessarily… that one, I was like I’m gonna make sure I’m as prepared as I can be for this. I would have people ask me to sing the National Anthem for various things, and I jokingly always said, ‘No, I’ll just do it when it’s time to do it at the Super Bowl,’ you know. And I just turned it down a lot, and I do say now that I’ve officially retired from it as well. And I have to give credit to, and I’m not saying my version wasn’t wasn’t good, I think it was good, but all the TV editing that they did while I was doing it was just spot on. Everything that they did to make that moment feel as big and nice as it could, they did it. And they executed flawlessly. So, yes, I prepared for that and yes, I worked on that. Genuinely nerve-racking, and I was live live. There was no pre-record anything.” He said his team seemed happy with it, so he was content in knowing he didn’t blow it and could relax and watch the game. Little did he know, because Stapleton is always so humble, it would become one of the best of all time, and a performance anyone will have a hard time topping going forward: The podcast clip: All-American Road Show Tour Dates May 23 – Nashville, Tennessee – Nissan Stadium with Lainey Wilson & Allen Stone June 11 – Jacksonville, Florida – Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena with Allen Stone June 13 – Tampa, Florida – Raymond James Stadium with Lainey Wilson & Allen Stone June 17 – Burgettstown, Pennsylvania – The Pavilion at Star Lake with Allen Stone June 20 – Charlotte, North Carolina – Bank of America Stadium with Lainey Wilson & Allen Stone June 24 – Hershey, Pennsylvania – Hersheypark Stadium with Grace Potter June 26 – North Charleston, South Carolina – North Charleston Coliseum with Grace Potter July 8 – Mountain View, California – Shoreline Amphitheater with Molly Tuttle July 10 – Chula Vista, California – North Island Credit Union Amphitheater with Molly Tuttle July 17 – Portland, Oregon – Providence Park with Grace Potter July 22 – Vancouver, British Columbia – Rogers Arena with The Teskey Brothers July 24 – George, Washington – The Gorge with Grace Potter July 29 – Shakopee, Minnesota – Mystic Lake Amphitheater  with Allen Stone August 1 – Cincinnati, Ohio – Paycor Stadium with Lainey Wilson & Allen Stone August 6 – Toronto, Ontario – Rogers Stadium with Zach Top & Allen Stone August 8 – Detroit, Michigan – Ford Field with Lainey Wilson & Allen Stone August 14 – Boston, Massachusetts – Fenway Park with Zach Top & Allen Stone August 18 – Virginia Beach, Virginia – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater with Maggie Rose August 21 – Atlanta, Georgia – Mercedes-Benz Stadium with Lainey Wilson & Ashley McBryde August 26 – Wantagh, New York – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater with Carter Faith August 28 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion with Carter Faith October 2 – Bristow, Virginia – Jiffy Lube Live with Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs October 7 – Lincoln, Nebraska – Pinnacle Bank Arena with Nikki Lane October 9 – Kansas City, Missouri – Morton Amphitheater with Nikki LaneThe post “She Was Losing Her Mind”: Luke Combs Recalls Adele’s Epic Reaction To Chris Stapleton’s Super Bowl National Anthem first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Honestly, I would’ve thought it was the opposite… but if you’re planning to audition on American Idol while Carrie Underwood is still a judge, maybe stick with a good old fashioned cover. This season of the reality singing competition kicked off last week, returning for its 24th season. Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie returned as judges for their eight years as judges, and it marks Carrie’s second season as judge, and she of course won the show in 2005. And during a recent interview, Carrie was asked about whether or not it’s an advantage for contestants to sing their own original music rather than a cover, which is traditionally what most contestants do especially during the audition process. Over the last several years, though, more and more Idol hopefuls have taken the risk and sang their own music, which I would’ve though would be an advantage especially if it’s a great song, but also, it’s a huge risk because these are all amateur musicians so you never know how someone like Lionel, Luke or Carrie will react given how much knowledge and experience they have when it comes to songwriting… I mean, Richie wrote “We Are The World” for crying out loud, so you better BRING it with an original song if that’s what you choose for your audition, but I digress… Carrie explained that actually, she prefers when contestants just outright nail a cover rather than trying to sing their own music, because it can be hard to analyze the voice and the song at the same time if it’s one she’s never heard before. In fact, she likened to it to going to see your favorite artist and when you get to the concert, they only play songs from an album that hasn’t come out yet, so you don’t end up knowing any of the music: “It’s kind of hard to listen to a lot of originals, because you’re not just judging their voice, you’re also trying to figure out the song. So your brain’s not really getting to focus on their voice after like the bazillionth original song that we’ve listened to. I was like, I feel like I’m at a concert where I paid my money and went to go see an artist that I love, and they’re doing their entire new album and they’re not doing any of their hits, you know what I mean? That’s what I feel like. The best thing to me when I watch ‘American Idol’ is when somebody just nails a song that I love, that makes me want to vote for them even more.” I’ve actually never thought about it like that, and I totally thought she was going to say the exact opposite, but that actually makes a lot of sense…seeing the show on TV of course looks smooth and polished, but I’m sure in real life the auditions are all a blur, so I can see why she prefers hearing an incredible cover for the early part of the audition process. If you ever plan to go out for Idol, it’s some great advice to keep in mind, too: @ontheredcarpet Should you sing an original song when auditioning for “American Idol”? Carrie Underwood has the answers. Watch new episodes Mondays on ABC and stream on Hulu. #AmericanIdol ♬ original sound – On The Red Carpet But the exception to Carrie’s rule might be a song called “String Cheese,” which 25-year-old contestant Hannah Harper performed during this week’s audition. She told the judges that it was inspired by her journey with postpartum depression after having three children and having a moment where her son asked her to open some string cheese for him, and she realized she was doing what she was meant to do as a mom. Carrie, a mother of two boys herself, very much related to the sentiment of the song, getting emotional while Hannah sang and even shedding some tears during the audition. It was a beautiful moment, and it’s a beautiful song, which you can watch below. If you can pull out an original like this, with an inspiring story to match, I think you can sing whatever kind of original song you want: The post Carrie Underwood Has Surprising Response As To Whether Or Not She Likes Hearing Original Songs During ‘American Idol’ Auditions first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Simply remarkable. Being nothing short of a cultural phenomenon at this point, Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” is on the brink of making country music history in the coming weeks as it currently sits at #2 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 and is primed to go #1 next week. In case you haven’t been keeping up with just how widespread and popular this track has become over the past three months, let me give you a brief rundown of just how incredible “Choosin’ Texas’s” run has been so far. Upon its release on October 7th, it debuted at #37 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, also launching all the way to #7 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, both of which were career-highs for the “hungover” singer. On December 2nd, it became Langley’s first career #1 hit on the aforementioned Hot Country Songs chart (it spent its 10th frame at #1 this week) and also became the fastest solo female song to reach the top 10 at US Country Radio this decade, taking just eight weeks to crack the Top 10. In case that wasn’t enough, on January 5th, “Choosin’ Texas” reached #5 on the all-genre Hot 100, skyrocketing all the way up from #48 two weeks previously. With this entry, “Choosin’ Texas” has become Langley’s first-career Top 5 entry on the chart as well as her first Top 10 entry. In case you were wondering just how rare a feat this was, the Alabama native became just the 12th woman THIS CENTURY to chart a country song inside the Top 10 on the Hot 100. Over the past two weeks, the smash hit has also forced its way onto both Adult Contemporary (AC) and Pop radio, receiving the most additions on US Hot AC radio for the week of January 19th and subsequently getting the most adds on US Pop radio this week with 44. Other notable accomplishments for the track include topping Billboard’s all-genre Top Streaming Songs chart last week, peaking at #1 on Spotify’s Top Songs in the USA on Friday, January 30th (it’s currently sitting at #3 behind Harry Styles’ Aperature” and Djo’s “End of Beginning”), reaching #1 on iTunes and Apple Music’s all-genre chart and the aforementioned Top 2 entry on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 this week. And today, Langley can add another major one under her belt. As reported by Chart Data on X, “Choosin’ Texas” is now the #1 best-selling song in 2026 in the United States by total units, surpassing Taylor Swift’s massive, 10-week Hot 100 #1 hit, “The Fate of Ophelia.” Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" is now the #1 best selling song in 2026 in the US by total units, surpassing Taylor Swift's "The Fate of Ophelia". pic.twitter.com/1Xq5CJesey — chart data (@chartdata) February 5, 2026 Though it might sound shocking that Langley surpassed Swift, who is by all means the #1 pop-star of the century, if you take a look at the massive numbers it’s putting up, it becomes less surprising. Looking at Spotify, it currently has over 127 million streams since its release on October 7th. However, when you look at the incredible numbers it’s put up in the last week, eyes begin to pop. In the last six days alone, “Choosin’ Texas” has been streamed a staggering 14 million times on Spotify alone. Couple that with the incredible popularity on TikTok (over 151,000 unique uses on videos on the platform) and the fact it’s selling well on digital platforms such as iTunes, “Choosin’ Texas” is becoming nothing short of a cultural phenomenon here in the U.S. Only time will tell just how big it gets, but as of today, “Choosin’ Texas” looks primed to be one of the biggest hits of the decade in country music. Keep in mind, all these accomplishments are being done on all-genre charts, and beyond that, she’s also forcing her way onto country-hesitant formats such as Pop and Adult Contemporary radio as well. Simply put, “Choosin’ Texas” is primed to be one of the longest-lasting hits in the genre we’ve seen in quite some time. “Choosin’ Texas” The Dandelion Tour Dates 5/7/2026 Toledo, OH Huntington Center (+,&) 5/8/2026 St. Louis, MO Chaifetz Arena (+,&) 5/14/2026 Estero, FL Hertz Arena (@, &) 5/15/2026 Savannah, GA Enmarket Arena (@, &) 6/18/2026 Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amphitheatre (+,&) 6/19/2026 Independence, MO Cable Dahmer Arena (+,&) 6/25/2026 Salem, VA Salem Civic Center (+,&) 6/26/2026 Wilmington, NC Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park (+,&) 7/23/2026 Pikeville, KY Appalachian Wireless Arena (#, %) 7/24/2026 Cary, NC Koka Booth Amphitheatre (#, %) 7/25/2026 North Charleston, SC North Charleston Coliseum (#, %) 7/30/2026 Gilford, NH BankNH Pavilion (@, %) 7/31/2026 Canandaigua, NY CMAC (@, %) 8/13/2026 Austin, TX Moody Center (#, &) 8/14/2026 Corpus Christi, TX Hilliard Center (#, &) 8/15/2026 Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena (#, &) @ Kameron Marlowe + Dylan Marlowe # Kaitlin Butts & Gabriella Rose % Laci Kaye BoothThe post Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” Just Dethroned Taylor Swift For The Top-Selling Song Of 2026 first appeared on Whiskey Riff.