Kristian Bush is Finally Talking About the Sugarland Stage Collapse . . . and About His Very Quiet Divorce a Couple of Months Later
KRISTIAN BUSH did an interview with “Rolling Stone” about his album “Southern Gravity”, which came out Tuesday. But they began by asking him to share memories of SUGARLAND’S stage collapseat the Indiana State Fair in 2011.
Their timing was spot-on because it ended up being the first time he’s talked about it in public. He said, quote, “It was like any other show. We had a meet-and-greet, said a prayer and they put us on hold for a minute. And then everything exploded.
“Everything above us crashed, the roof shook, the door exploded. I thought a bomb had gone off. I was scared. We were grabbing onto each other, just making sure people we knew were okay. Then they walked us out, evacuated us really quickly.”
He had no idea how bad it was until he saw it on TV. And from that point on he had to shut up. Quote, “I wasn’t able to contact anyone who got hurt. There was nobody to call, nobody to talk to. Legally, no one knew what to do.
“They said, ‘Look, you’ve got to be quiet.’ So that’s what I did. This literally might be the first time I’ve talked to a person I’m not related to about it.” He says the hardest part is that he wasn’t allowed to reach out to the families of the seven people killed.
The interview took another turn when they asked how he’s managed to keep his divorce a secret. Yes, he and his wife split less than three months after the tragedy. He said, quote, “There wasn’t a lot of anger involved, so that gave us perspective.
“One of the things we decided to do was protect the kids, and doing that meant asking the court to seal it. They did, and I’m forever grateful . . . to both Jill, for a good divorce, and to the court for being a partner in that.”
One last thing. Every Kristian Bush interview has to include him being asked if he and JENNIFER NETTLES will get Sugarland up and running again.
He said, quote, “I have very high hopes. We’re not done doing that. Creatively, I’d be curious to see what we’re going to make when we hang out together again, because we have so much more life experience.”
Country Quiz: Who Said? “I Am In the Period Now Where I Pray More Than I Ever Have.”
“I am in the period now where I think I pray more than I ever have in my life.”
A. Reba McEntire
B. Scotty McCreery
C. Kellie Pickler
D. Garth Brooks
E. Loretta Lynn
F. Meghan Linsey
ANSWER: D. GARTH BROOKS, in “People”, feeling very insecure now that all three of his daughters have finished high school. He continues, quote, “Because for some reason when they were under my roof, I felt like I might’ve had some control.”
It also turns out the stories about Garth living a normal life while the kids were home are true. He actually packed school lunches, did chores on the ranch, and participated in after-school activities . . . from soccer games to school plays. What’s amazing is that he somehow blended right in with the rest of the parents. He says, quote, “You start being a part of the community. The dads across the soccer field looked at me as a dad just like them. And I was very grateful.”
Fan voting is now open for ACM Entertainer of the Year, and New Artist of the Year. Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, Garth Brooks, and Miranda Lambert are up for Entertainer of the Year . . . while Cole Swindell, Sam Hunt, Thomas Rhett are the New Artist nominees. Details are at VoteACM.com.
(New Artist voting ends at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on the night of the show. Entertainer of the Year voting will end “on or about” 10:45 p.m. Eastern, also on the night of the show. The ACMs are going down April 19th on CBS.)
George Strait will be honored with the prestigious 50th Anniversary Milestone Award during the 50th Academy of Country Music Awards on April 19th. Strait, the king of country music, has a remarkable career earning a total of 21 ACM Awards spanning the course of four consecutive decades. Having won his first ACM Entertainer accolade for 1989, Strait’s 2013 win in the category gave him the largest span, 24 years, between Entertainer wins in Academy history. He also received the 40th Anniversary Milestone Award in 2005, 5 Male Vocalist of the Year Awards, and was honored as the ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade for the 2000s, being only one of five acts to have received the honor.
The ZAC BROWN BAND “pushed the boundaries” on their “Jekyll + Hyde” album, which is out April 28th. It has a big band song, a couple of songs that have electronic music, and a couple of rock songs.
LITTLE BIG TOWN went with a black and white look for their “Girl Crush“ video. The result is that singer KAREN FAIRCHILD is all sultry and hot, and, yeah. She’s the brunette, by the way.
TYLER FARR thinks it’s okay for girls to take selfies . . . but men should get “subtracted one manhood point” for every one they take. However, he doesn’t mind doing them with fans.
JANA KRAMER admits that she and her fiancé, NFL free agent Michael Caussin, met on Twitter.