Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton are Official
GWEN STEFANI and BLAKE SHELTON aren’t trying to fool the world anymore . . . probably because they weren’t fooling anyone in the first place.
Gwen’s rep issued a statement yesterday saying, quote, “Gwen and Blake are longtime friends who have very recently started dating.” This is obviously code for “Neither of them cheated on their now-estranged spouses.” Which may or may not be true.
Even if they didn’t admit it, it would have blown up this morning anyway, because Gwen went to Nashville with Blake for the“CMA’s”. She wasn’t at the ceremony, but she hit up the after-parties with him.
“CMA” hosts BRAD PAISLEY and CARRIE UNDERWOOD went after Blake in their monologue. Carrie said, quote, “We can’t ignore the breakup that really rocked our world, the one that’s on everybody’s mind.
“Two people in this very room who we all know and love . . . Splitsville.” Then the camera panned to Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. But then Paisley added, quote, “On a completely unrelated topic, ‘Howdy Blake!'”
They hit him a few more times, like when Brad said Blake did a duet with “Ashley Madison”, or when they sang a song about him using FarmersOnly.com. But they left his ex, MIRANDA LAMBERT, out of it.
CMA Wrap Up
BRAD PAISLEYand CARRIE UNDERWOOD were solid hosts, as usual, but I expected more. They opened with a funny “Star Wars” parody . . . but barely touched on the country divorces, just hitting BLAKE SHELTON a couple of times.
The “Star Wars” bit included Carrie dressed as Princess Leia, and Brad as “Guitar Solo.” Later, while they were doing their opening jokes, a stormtrooper came onstage. And when he took off his helmet, it was William Shatner. Then he sang a song.
JASON ALDEAN rocked his performance of “Gonna Know We Were Here”. And ZAC BROWN BAND kept it simple with their song “Beautiful Drug”.
There were other collaborations worth talking about. HANK WILLIAMS JR. and ERIC CHURCH opened the show with Hank’s new single, “Are You Ready for the Country”.
And KEITH URBAN helped JOHN MELLENCAMP perform his classic “Pink Houses” . . . and then Keith went solo for “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16”.
Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town Were the Big Winners at Last Night’s CMAs
LITTLE BIG TOWN and CHRIS STAPLETON each won three awards at last night’s CMAs, but Chris owned the night. Several artists went out of their way to give him props, and his collaboration with JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE was phenomenal.
Chris Stapleton won Best New Artist, which wasn’t a big surprise, but taking home Male Vocalist of the Year was. And the house shook when his name was called for Album of the Year for“Traveller”.
And here’s your complete list of winners . . .
Entertainer of the Year: Luke Bryan
Male Vocalist of the Year: Chris Stapleton
Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert
Vocal Duo of the Year: Florida Georgia Line
Vocal Group of the Year: Little Big Town
New Artist of the Year: Chris Stapleton
Album of the Year: “Traveller”, Chris Stapleton
Song of the Year: “Girl Crush”, Little Big Town.
It’s a songwriter’s award so they share it with Liz Rose, Lori McKenna, and Hillary Lindsey.
Single of the Year: “Girl Crush”, Little Big Town
Musical Event of the Year: “Raise ‘Em Up”, Keith Urban with Eric Church
Music Video of the Year: “Girl In A Country Song”, Maddie & Tae
ERIC CHURCH surprised members of his fan club by mailing them physical copies of his brand new album. It’s called “Mr. Misunderstood”, and it features 10 new songs. It’s obviously going to be on sale everywhere, eventually, but at this point he’s being mysterious. (Full Story)
HANK WILLIAMS JR. is hoping last night’s performance of “Are You Ready for the Country” with Eric Churchwill whet your appetite for the studio version. You can check it out now at TheBoot.com. It’s the first single from his new album “It’s About Time”, which is due out January 15th.