Bringing some more firepower out ahead of the big game. Though country fans everywhere have been pretty disappointed with the prospect of global superstar and Puerto Rican rapper, Bad Bunny, headlining this year’s Super Bowl halftime show at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California, it’s safe to say that all the festivities leading up to the biggest sporting event in America have been trending pretty country this year. If you recall, back in November, the NFL tapped Chris Stapleton and Sierra Ferrell to headline a three-night concert series at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, running February 5 through the 7. Then in December, Post Malone was selected to headline Bud Light’s Super Bow concert, titled, Bud Light Presents: Post Malone & Buddies. For the “I Had Some Help” singer, the performance will take place on the Friday before the Super Bowl, February 6th, at 8 p.m. in Fort Mason, San Francisco, which is about an hour outside of Santa Clara. Though it’s titled “Post Maline & Buddies,” no additional performers have been announced yet. Today, a brand new pre-Super Bowl event, EA Sports’ Madden Bowl, has announced its set of performers, and they’re quite interesting. View this post on Instagram In case you’re somehow not familiar with what Madden is, it’s the only NFL video game on the market right now. Back in the day, you had the choice to choose between fellow popular game developer, 2K Sports, version of an official NFL game/simulator. Since 2005, after 2K lost the rights to NFL’s license, EA Sports and Madden have stood alone as the only NFL game to come out each and every year on popular gaming consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox. Simply put, Madden is a staple among both football fans and gamers alike, despite being criticized for essentially being the same game each and every year aside for some minor changes and roster updates. As for the performers for this year’s Madden Bowl, EA Sports has booked country stars, Luke Combs, Stephen Wilson Jr. and Gavin Adcock to perform alongside Teddy Swims and rapper, LaRussell. Combs, who’s fresh off the announcment of his new album, The Way I Am, and Swims are undoubtedly the biggests draws here. However, it’s simply great to see Wilson Jr., who’s riding the highs of his buzzy performance of “Stand By Me” at the CMA Awards back in November, get another high-profile gig such as this. In an interview with Billboard, the “Beautiful Crazy” singer would express just how excited he was being asked by EA to perform, noting how big of a Madden fan he is. He’d also say he’s hopeful his Carolina Panthers, who just squeaked into the playoffs despite an 8-9 record, will make it to the Super Bowl. “I’ve been a Panthers fan my whole life, so naturally, Madden has been a staple for as long as I can remember. We even play it on tour a lot these days. It’s super cool EA Sports asked me to be a part of this huge event — the Madden Bowl — and I’m still hopeful my Panthers will be in the Super Bowl while I’m out there.” Josh Reseburg, vice president of Marketing, Patnerships and Communications for EA Sports, also shared his excitement for the event with Billboard. “With Super Bowl LX in the backyard of our global headquarters, this year truly feels like a home game for us. This will be our biggest presence ever, and EA Sports Presents Madden Bowl is at the center of it, a celebration of the fans, athletes, creators and music shaping the culture of football. We’re going to bring an incredible show to the Bay, and share that energy with football fans everywhere.” The 2026 Madden Bowl will take place on Friday, February 6th at the Chase Center in San Francisco. New York Giants quarterback, Jameis Winston, (who is always hilarious, I might add) and popular NFL commentator, Kay Adams, will host the Madden Bowl’s blue carpet, which starts at 10 p.m. EST. The event can be watched via all of EA Sports’ social media accounts.The post Luke Combs, Stephen Wilson Jr. & More To Perform At EA Sports’ ‘Madden Bowl’ Event Ahead Of The Super Bowl first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Though mainstream country and country radio as a whole have failed to give female artists the time and attention they so desperately deserve over the better part of the past two decades, it feels like we’re finally making some progress as of late. While, of course, we have the likes of Sierra Ferrell, Willow Avalon, Kaitlin Butts, Carter Faith and more making some of the best music coming out of the uber-talented indie/alternative country scene for years at this point, it seems like the mainstream has finally caught on to the fact that some of the most compelling acts these days are, in fact, women. This was highlighted on a larger scale this past CMA Awards back in November when Lainey Wilson, Ella Langley and Megan Moroney led the way with six nominations apiece. Though Moroney would leave the Bridgestone Arena empty-handed, Wilson and Langley had huge nights. Wilson would become just the third woman ever to win Entertainer of the Year in back-to-back years, while also winning Female Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year (Whirlwind). Langley, on the other hand, had what can only be described as her breakout moment. Winning Single of the Year, Song of the Year, and Music Video of the Year (all for “you look like you love me”), the Alabama native also set the stage for her biggest song to date with a killer performance of “Choosin’ Texas.” Upon the release and eventual success of “you look like you love me,” it seemed nearly impossible for Langley to top it. Of course, this isn’t a knock on the Alabama native, it simply felt like the perfect storm of quality, virality and drama following the countless rumors surrounding her and Riley Green at the time of its release. Just when you thought that “you look like you love me” would remain as Langley’s signature hit over the next few years, “Choosin’ Texas” was released. And it’s been nothing short of a juggernaut for the Alabama native. And deservedly so. The track, which was now famously co-written with Miranda Lambert (along with Joybeth Taylor and Luke Dick), was released back on October 7th, and quickly became one of the most buzzy songs of the year for a couple of different reasons. For starters, the “Choosin’ Texas” once again fanned the flames of the seemingly never-ending online drama surrounding Langley and Green’s relationship, with a countless number of fans online speculating whether the song was written about Green himself. This, of course, was mainly due to the single’s artwork depicting a couple, a man wearing a cowboy hat and a blonde woman, in a red convertible, which made fans once again stir up rumors surrounding the alleged “love triangle” between Langley, Green and Megan Moroney. More importantly, however, it’s simply a great song. Drawing on some ’70s inspired sounds, in the intro particular, the track is nothing short of infectious. “Choosin’ Texas,” plainly, is a song that encapsulates everything great about the genre. From the steel-soaked production and Langley’s twangy vocals to the specificity in the writing and the general theme of heartbreak, it’s a country song that’s firing on all cylinders. Since its release, the song has been nothing short of a smash for Langley. Debuting at #37 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, it also launched all the way to #7 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, both of which were career-highs for the “hungover” singer. In the weeks following, it caught even more fire. On December 2nd, it became Langley’s first career #1 hit on the aforementioned Hot Country Songs chart 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 Monday, “Choosin’ Texas” reached #5 on the all-genre Hot 100, skyrocketing all the way up from #48 last week. 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. View this post on Instagram As it stands today, “Choosin’ Texas” has now been named the #1 Country Song of 2025 by both Spotify and Billboard, secured a #1 hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, notched a Top 5 entry on the Hot 100 and has procured over 78 million streams on Spotify alone. While the success of the song is nothing short of a career moment for Langley, the rarity of “Choosin’ Texas'” success highlights an incredibly sad trend that has plagued the genre since the turn of the century. As reported by Billboard today, “Choosin’ Texas” allowed Langley to become just the 12th woman THIS CENTURY to chart a country song inside the Top 10 on the Hot 100 since 2000. Diving further into the data, only 24 country songs from women or featuring a female artist in total have reached the Top 10 the last 26 years, with the last full-fledged solo country song (excluding Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan and Beyoncé due to their pop crossover) being Gabby Barrett’s “I Hope,” which peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 in November 2020. Adding more context to how rare Langley’s achievement is, Billboard would note that only 60 of the 1,512 total songs that have reached the Hot 100’s Top 10 were country songs (3.96%). As for songs either lead-by or featuring women artists, that dips down to the aforementioned 24, which is just 1.6%. Unsurprisingly, Taylor Swift dominates this list overall, scoring nine of the 24 songs, thanks to early hits such as “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me.” Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, and The Chicks also appear two times respectively, along with Kacey Musgraves who scored a #1 with Zach Bryan on 2023’s “I Remember Everything.” Ultimately, a lot of these songs can hardly be considered country, and some are features, but that just shows you what a monumental accomplishment this is for Ella. Remove the pop singers and the collaborators and there’s really only a handful of women on the list. Here are the 24 songs and 12 female artists who have scored Top 10 entries on the Hot 100 this century: “Breathe” – Faith Hill (#2) “The Way You Loved Me” – Faith Hill (#7) “Long Time Gone” – The Chicks (#7) “Landslide” – The Chicks (#7) “Before He Cheats” – Carrie Underwood (#4) “Love Story” – Taylor Swift (#4) “I Told You So” – Carrie Underwood feat. Randy Travis (#9) “You Belong With Me” – Taylor Swift (#2) “Mine” – Taylor Swift (#3) “Back to December” – Taylor Swift (#6) “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” – Taylor Swift (#1) “Begin Again” – Taylor Swift (#7) “Red” – Taylor Swift (#6) “Meant To Be” – Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line (#6) “I Hope” – Gabby Barrett (#3) “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” – Taylor Swift (#1) “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version [From the Vault]” – Taylor Swift (#5) “I Remember Everything” – Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves (#1) “Texas Hold ‘Em” – Beyoncé (#1) “II Most Wanted” – Beyoncé & Miley Cyrus (#6) “Jolene” – Beyoncé (#7) “The Giver” – Chappell Roan (#5) “What I Want” – Morgan Wallen feat. Tate McRae (#1) “Choosin’ Texas” – Ella Langley (#5) Gas it up: The post Ella Langley Joins Exclusive Club: Only 12 Women Have Achieved This Billboard Hot 100 Feat THIS CENTURY first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

President Trump just revealed that the deal he made with Intel last year is already turning into big money for the taxpayer, to the tune of ‘tens of billions of dollars’. Here’s . . .

A missed dream collaboration. The post The singer Brian Wilson always wanted to work with: “She has nice legs” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

This is BLM riot behavior rebranded

This is BLM riot behavior rebranded