Horizon Worlds was once a cornerstone of Meta's plans to build a social metaverse -- four years later, the company almost shut it down.

An old name from the Crossfire Hurricane conspiracy has resurfaced, and it gives us renewed hope that real justice may yet be served.

Jones Act suspended, Joe Kent probed for leaks, Markwayne Mullin grilled by the Senate, Kathy Hochul beseeches wealthy deserters, and more.

Probably one of the only human beings she should be taking advice from… and thank the Lord for Mrs. Dolly. Dolly Parton is of course Miley Cyrus’ godmother, and she hit the jackpot in that sense… obviously, any musician would be lucky to have Dolly in their corner giving advice and helping them make decisions about industry-related things, in addition to general life advice. Miley has talked about their relationship before, and it sounds like they’re still close and that Mrs. Dolly still is a big part of her life and wants to know about everything she had going on. And in case you haven’t heard, Miley is gearing up to star in the “Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special,” will arrive on Disney+ on March 24th, and in case you’re unaware, it’s kind of a big deal… “Hannah Montana” was a staple of my childhood (though I admit, I was much more of a “Lizzie McGuire” girl), so I will be tuning in for sure. But it sounds like Dolly is the main reason this is even happened, and seeing as she’s the brains behind her massive empire which includes ventures like her Imagination Library foundation, Dolly Beauty, Dolly Wines, and so much more, the woman knows business, and she’s been at the top of her game for decades at this point. In a feature for Variety, Miley revealed that it was one of Dolly’s life philosophies that led to the upcoming 20th Anniversary Special, which is to simply promote whatever it is you want to happen before it even exists. That means “no one can say no”: “I learned this terrible habit — but I actually think it was good advice — from Dolly. She told me that if you want something to happen, promote it before it exists. Then no one can say no.” It’s certainly worked for Dolly all of these years, and it worked for Miley this time too, because it was her who planted this idea in the heads of Disney executives and basically willed it to happen, telling them it would be “huge”: “So I just started promoting a Hannah Montana 20th-anniversary special that literally did not exist.” Miley says she knows what kind of impact the show had on so many people, and it’s still part of her daily life, because fans will still bring her “Hannah Montana” merch and ask if there’s any possibility for another season: “It’s not just a TV show. I see daily how important Hannah is to people,” said Cyrus. “When I travel, people bring me ‘Hannah’ merch. They ask, ‘Are you ever going to do another season?’” There is a ton of excitement around this special, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dolly involved in some way too, as she was a recurring guest star on the show, playing the role of Aunt Dolly, Miley Stewart’s godmother… so she basically just played herself and we saw their real life relationship on screen. Megan Moroney has also been teasing clips of the “Hannah Montana” theme song “Best of Both World’s” on social media, and Lainey used to be a “Hannah Montana” impersonator, singing at kid’s birthday parties and other events, and she performed “Best of Both Worlds” at the Disney Legends Awards Ceremony which honored Miley in 2024, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see either one of them involved, either. Stay tuned… The nostalgia is real… The post Miley Cyrus Says Dolly Parton Is Basically Responsible For “Hannah Montana” 20th Anniversary Special Actually Happening first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Well, he certainly got the last laugh. Luke Combs is in full-on album release mode as his new album The Way I Am is slated to drop this Friday, March 20th, and it has promise to be his best album yet judging by the already-released songs in “By By You,” “Sleepless in a Hotel Room,” “I Ain’t No Cowboy” and more. And during an appearance on the Zach Sang Show podcast, he was asked about his rejection from The Voice, when many years ago, producers from the show told him he wasn’t “interesting enough” to boost the show’s ratings like they wanted. So needless to say, he didn’t even make it on the show. He recalled the rejection after making it to the final 200: “I was on spring break a few years ago when ‘The Voice’ was having auditions in Atlanta, Georgia. In my audition round I was the only guy and you get about thirty seconds to sing. I made it to the next round that was at a studio, and then made it to the next cut. They had four audition cities and narrowed it from about 10,000 to 200 people. Then you don’t know if you made it to the show for a few months. I made it through those rounds with the producers, but I got a letter saying I wasn’t ‘interesting’ enough for the show’s ratings so I didn’t get to the show. But it gave me a lot of confidence because I was good enough voice wise to make it through all those producer auditions.” But Luke doesn’t have any hard feelings towards the producers or the show, because his career likely would’ve been completely different had he gotten on the show. I mean, how many artists have actually gone onto have careers where they have over 20 #1 hits and play sold out stadiums all over the world? I can’t think of one… So it actually worked in his favor, and Luke admitted it really wasn’t all that insane at the time because he didn’t have a “TV story” that was sappy or pulled on the audiences heartstrings. at the end of the day, The Voice is a TV show, and they have to have an interesting storyline to keep people interested. I’m not saying I don’t think Luke is interesting at all, but he doesn’t have a typical sob story like we’re used to seeing on that show, either. He actually has a really healthy perspective on the whole thing, and he actually laughed when they first brought up, which makes sense because look at him now: “No. You know what… it wasn’t at the time. It wasn’t at the time. I think of it like this, again, I feel lucky to be in the position that I’m in. It’s funny, because I think sometimes in my daily life, I have a tendency to be a bit negative, like, nothing‘s going my way. In the sense of like, I burnt the kids toast at breakfast, and that stuff gets to me, the little things. But the big picture stuff, I really try to be a glass half full guy. And in that moment, what I took away from that was, okay, I’m bummed out that I wasn’t on the show. But if it wasn’t meant to be, it wasn’t meant to be and that’s okay. Also, the thing I really took away from it is, okay, man, so you’re saying I’m good enough of a singer to be on the show. You’re telling me I’m not interesting enough, which I don’t give a damn about, to be honest. But I also understand that, well, they’re making a TV show. This isn’t auditioning for a Broadway show that you don’t need an interesting story, the interesting story is the character that you ultimately will play. The character you play on ‘The Voice’ is yourself… and the character of Luke Combs has nothing of interest from a television standpoint. Like, I’m a 22 year-old college student that grew up in like a good, lower middle class family. I wasn’t living in my car, I wasn’t in like the foster care system… they need those stories for their show, and I understand that.” Luke says he has respect for the way it works, and in fact, he took it as a complement in some ways because while they told him he wasn’t “interesting enough,” they never said he wasn’t good enough, and the rest is history: “I have respect for that, because that’s what they’re doing. That’s not a slight to me to say, well, you’re not interesting. I just go, okay, well then I’ll go make my own story, which making my own story was how I’ve got to where I am now. So ultimately, I’m thankful for it. Because what if I do get on ‘The Voice?’ Well, my career looks way different than it is now. We probably wouldn’t be talking right now, certainly wouldn’t, I would say. So yeah… everything at the risk of sounding cliché is like, the things that we’re supposed to happen happened, the things that didn’t, didn’t, and they all led to this moment that we’re in. So it’s just part of the story, it’s part of the journey. Not being interesting for ‘The Voice’ is now part of the story that I get to tell about being here now.” It all worked out in the end, and in fact, I agree with him in that it was MUCH better for his career that he never ended up on that show… But you have to imagine he would’ve won it all had he made it to even the first round of auditions, and that’s probably where it all would’ve ended for him, so we can all say “thank you” to producers for finding someone with incredible talent, a knack for songwriting and a great sense of humor “not interesting enough.” The full podcast episode is available to watch here: “I Ain’t No Cowboy” “Be By You” The Way I Am was produced by Combs, Jonathan Singleton and Chip Matthews, and it will feature just one other artist on the song “Ever Mine,” as we get to hear Combs and Alison Krauss team up for the first time and I’m sure that will be incredible. THE WAY I AM TRACKLIST 1. Back in the Saddle (written by Luke Combs, Dan Isbell, Jonathan Singleton) 2. My Kinda Saturday Night (written by Luke Combs, Randy Montana, Jonathan Singleton) 3. Days Like These (written by Luke Combs, Brent Cobb, Aaron Raitiere) 4. 15 Minutes (written by Luke Combs, Trey Pendley, Rob Pennington, Grant Vogel) 5. Alcohol of Fame (written by Luke Combs, Dalton Dover, Dan Isbell, Reid Isbell) 6. Daytona 499 (written by Luke Combs, Erik Dylan, Wyatt McCubbin, Drew Parker) 7. The Way I Am (written by Chris Gelbuda, Rob Snyder) 8. Wish Upon a Whiskey (written by Luke Combs, Dan Isbell, Drew Parker) 9. Soon As I Get Home (written by Luke Combs, Jessi Alexander, Tony Lane, Jonathan Singleton) 10. Rethink Some Things (written by Luke Combs, Jacob Davis, Dan Isbell, Reid Isbell) 11. Giving Her Away (written by Gary Garris, Josh Mirenda, Josh Phillips) 12. Seeing Someone (written by Luke Combs, Ray Fulcher, Lalo Guzman, Michael Tyler, Allison Veltz-Cruz) 13. Sleepless in a Hotel Room (written by Luke Combs, Randy Montana, Jonathan Singleton) 14. I Ain’t No Cowboy (written by Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Jake Mears) 15. Ever Mine (feat. Alison Krauss) (written by Luke Combs, Hailey Whitters, Charlie Worsham) 16. Can’t Tell Me I’m Wrong (written by Luke Combs, Ray Fulcher, Pete Good, Lydia Vaughan) 17. Miss You Here (written by Luke Combs, Thomas Archer, Dan Isbell, Ben Stennis) 18. Tell ‘Em About Tonight (written by Luke Combs, Erik Dylan, Ray Fulcher, James McNair) 19. Be By You (written by Dan Alley, Sam Banks, Nick Walsh) 20. The Me Part of You (written by Luke Combs, Jason Gantt, Dan Isbell, Reid Isbell) 21. Rich Man (written by Luke Combs, Jacob Davis, Lori McKenna, Rob Snyder) 22. A Man Was Born (written by Luke Combs, Thomas Archer, Ray Fulcher, Jordan Rowe, Michael TylerThe post Luke Combs Says It Wasn’t “Insane” That He Got Rejected By ‘The Voice’ For Not Being Interesting: “I Don’t Give A Damn… They’re Making A TV Show” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

One of the greatest days in all of sports. It’s the first day of March Madness (I’m not counting the play-in games, sorry Miami of Ohio), with 64 teams fighting to become the national champion. And that means that it’s also time for our annual Whiskey Riff Madness tournament. This year, we’ve got 64 of the best country artists still making music today, and we’re going to put them head to head to see who’s your favorite and who will come out on top of 2026 Whiskey Riff Madness. The rules for this one are simple: We took 64 artists from every corner of country music, from mainstream to Texas country to red dirt to Appalachia and everything in between, and we’re letting you vote for your favorite. The seeding is based on monthly listeners on Spotify, and as we were creating the bracket there were quite a few surprises with the seeding…and quite a few that we’ve already got our eye on for potential upsets. We know everybody has different taste in music, which is great, so honestly I have no idea how this one’s going to shake out. Are the Texas country fans going to take over and knock off all the Nashville artists early? Is Morgan Wallen going to dominate like he does on streaming and the chart? Or is there a dark horse with a passionate fanbase who’s going to surprise everybody? I have no idea. But I can’t wait to find out. Here’s the bracket for this year’s tournament: And here’s a closer look at each region: South East Midwest West So now it’s time for you to do your part. Voting is open NOW for the Round of 64, and the first round ends at 11:59 PM central time on Sunday, March 22. You can vote down below, or by clicking the link here, and you can vote as many times as you want if you have a favorite that you want to see move on to the next round. We always have some close matchups, and I think this year has more potential for upsets than any tournament we’ve done, so it truly is anybody’s game. So with that, we’ll get to voting and see who’s going to come out on top of 2026 Whiskey Riff Madness. The post WHISKEY RIFF MADNESS 2026: Vote For Your Favorite Country Artists Starting NOW first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

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