Music News (11/26/25)

New Voices, Big Moments Define The 59th CMA Awards

Lainey Wilson accepts the award for Entertainer of the Year at The 59th Annual CMA Awards. Photo: Courtesy of CMA

The 59th Annual CMA Awards aired live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena last night (Nov. 19), celebrating a standout year in country music with a mix of new winners, heartfelt tributes and dynamic performances. Energy in the room was high from the start as host Lainey Wilson kicked things off with a high-voltage medley that paid homage to several of the night’s nominees. She surprised artists around the arena with nods to their hits—including Chris Stapleton, Brooks & Dunn, Ella Langley, Gretchen Wilson, Lady A, Miranda Lambert and Shaboozey—before teaming up with Little Big Town and Keith Urban for spirited collaborations.

Early in the broadcast, Zach Top claimed his first New Artist of the Year award, proudly carrying a Coors Banquet to the podium. “I’m so thankful to be included with a bunch of great artists who had a great year,” he said, marking a breakout moment for the rising performer.

Performances continued throughout the night from a stacked lineup, including Luke Combs with “Back In The Saddle,” Riley Green with “Worst Way,” Megan Moroney with “Six Months Later” and The Red Clay Strays, who delivered a gripping version of “People Hatin’” before picking up a major win of their own.

The Strays’ first-ever CMA victory—Vocal Group of the Year—sparked one of the evening’s most emotional speeches. Frontman Brandon Coleman told the crowd, “We never would have dreamed about winning something like this… Always believe you can do it. Work hard and trust God.” The band then dedicated the win to Jacob Hall, a close musician to the band and brother of the band’s drummer, John Hall, who passed away in 2020.

Later in the show, Cody Johnson added his name to the winner’s circle with his first Male Vocalist of the Year trophy, using the moment to thank a familiar powerhouse: “To get this award and be in a vocalist category with Chris Stapleton, who is one of the greatest vocalists of all time in any genre—thank you Chris for paving the way.”

Elsewhere, Ella Langley and Riley Green continued their standout year with multiple wins for their smash duet “You Look Like You Love Me.” Accepting Single of the Year, Langley told the audience, “This is the song that has kept on giving.”

The pair’s momentum was mirrored by the legendary Brooks & Dunn, who added yet another Vocal Duo of the Year trophy to their record-setting total, marking their 20th career CMA win.

The performance moments kept building, from Stapleton’s crackling “Bad As I Used To Be” to Top’s “Guitar” and Tucker Wetmore’s crowd-pleasing “Wind Up Missin’ You.” Stephen Wilson Jr. brought a hush over the arena with a stirring “Stand By Me,” followed later by Kelsea Ballerini’s intimate “I Sit In Parks.” Old Dominion delivered one of the night’s biggest singalongs with a medley of “Break Up With Him,” “Memory Lane,” “One Man Band,” “Hotel Key” and “Snap Back.”

The night’s collaborations stretched across genres and generations: Wilson Jr. joined Shaboozey for “Took A Walk,” Lambert and Stapleton paired for “A Song To Sing,” and Combs surprised the audience by performing “Pray Hard” alongside hip-hop breakout BigXthaPlug.

Two standout Hall of Fame moments anchored the show’s emotional core. Newly-inducted member Kenny Chesney performed “American Kids” and “When the Sun Goes Down,” closing with a touching screen tribute to the late Brett James, a Music Row titan and close friend. Later, Vince Gill received the CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award following powerful performances from Brandi Carlile and Patty Loveless. In one of the ceremony’s biggest surprises, George Strait appeared to personally present Gill with the honor, earning a roaring standing ovation.

Near the end of the broadcast, the spotlight finally turned back to the night’s host. Lainey Wilson capped her monumental year by taking home Entertainer of the Year, closing the show with gratitude: “I could not do this without my village. Thank you for loving and supporting me.”

Hit Songwriter Walt Aldridge Passes

Walt Aldridge. Photo: Courtesy of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Walt Aldridge died Wednesday (Nov. 19) at age 70 following a long illness.

He was noted for such award-winning songs as “(There’s) No Gettin’ Over Me,” “Holding Her and Loving You” and “I Loved Her First.” Aldridge was also a producer, a singer, a studio engineer, a guitarist and a bandleader. He taught in the Entertainment Industry Department of the University of North Alabama for approximately 10 years. He was a mainstay of the Muscle Shoals music scene.

James Walton Aldridge Jr. was a native of Florence, Alabama, and he remained in that area for most of his life. He spent 17 years as a staff engineer at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals. During that time, he worked on more than 200 records for artists such as Mac Davis, Wilson Pickett, The Osmonds, Clarence Carter, the Gatlins, Jerry Reed and Dobie Gray.

His songwriting career took flight with “(There’s) No Gettin’ Over Me” in 1981 when Ronnie Milsap took the song to No. 1 on the country chart and won a Grammy Award for his performance. Co-written with frequent collaborator Tom Brasfield, the song also became a top pop hit and won ASCAP’s Country Song of the Year award in 1982.

Other early songwriting hits for Aldridge included “’Til You’re Gone” sung by Barbara Mandrell (1982), “Holding Her and Loving You” by Earl Thomas Conley (1983), “She Sure Got Away With My Heart” by John Anderson (1984), “Crime of Passion” by Ricky Van Shelton (1987) and “One Owner Heart,” “Doncha” and “In Over My Heart” all by T.G. Sheppard (1985). All of these were top-10 hits. “Holding Her and Loving You” was named the NSAI Song of the Year.

The songwriter had top-20 successes with “She’s Steppin’ Out” for Con Hunley (1981), “Anybody’s Heart But Mine” for Terri Gibbs (1983) and “Save the Last Chance” (1985) for Johnny Lee (1985).

In the late 1980s, Walt Aldridge sang lead, produced and wrote the songs for the country-rock band The Shooters. The group charted with seven of Aldridge’s co-written tunes in 1987-89, including “They Only Come Out at Night” (1987), “Borderline” (1988) and “If I Ever Go Crazy” (1989). The group’s lone album was issued by Epic Records in 1987.

Aldridge also continued writing for others. Conway Twitty scored a major hit with “She’s Got a Single Thing in Mind” in 1989. In 1990, Shenandoah succeeded with “See If I Care” and Ricky Van Shelton went to the top of the charts in 1991 with “I Am a Simple Man.” Steve Wariner’s “Leave Him Out of This” (1992), BlackHawk’s “I Sure Can Smell the Rain” (1994), Pam Tillis’s “Deep Down” (1995), BlackHawk’s “Like There Ain’t No Yesterday” (1995), Reba McEntire’s “The Fear of Being Alone” (1996), and Sons of the Desert’s “Whatever Comes First” (1997) were all top-10 hits co-written by Aldridge. His songwriting collaborators often included his fellow Muscle Shoals neighbors Mac McAnally, Robert Byrne and James LeBlanc, as well as Brasfield. He also wrote regularly with Nashville folk performer Kate Campbell.

Walt Aldridge entered the new century with a new clutch of songwriting hits. These included “Some Things Never Change” for Tim McGraw (2000), “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” for Travis Tritt (2002) and the chart-topping “I Loved Her First” for Heartland (2006).

He wrote songs that were covered by Alabama, T. Graham Brown, Joe Diffie, George Strait, Restless Heart, K.T. Oslin, Tanya Tucker, Darryl Worley, Jo Dee Messina, Sammy Kershaw, Martina McBride, Lonestar, Blake Shelton Little Texas, Ty Herndon, Billy Ray Cyrus, Bill Anderson, Eddy Raven and a host of other big country stars.

Walt Aldridge wrote or co-wrote 56 top-40 country hits over four decades. His pop-music cuts include recordings by Peter Cetera, Lou Reed, Candi Staton and Andrew Gold, among others.

As a record producer, Walt Aldridge worked with Lacy J. Dalton, Lisa Angelle, Marty Stuart, Buffy Lawson, Troy Goldsby, and Jason Sellers, as well as Campbell and Heartland.

Aldridge was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2018. He earned more than 30 songwriter awards from ASCAP.

Walt Aldridge is survived by his wife, Stephanie, children Rachael Stolt and Hannah Aldridge, nine grandchildren, sister Ramona Faucett and a large extended family. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Morrison Funeral Home & Crematory in Florence, Alabama.

As a gift to the family, the Entertainment Department of the University of North Alabama is hosting the funeral service at its Mane Room, 310 N Pine St, Florence, AL. Visitation will be Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, 12:00pm – 2:00pm. Service will immediately follow visitation. Burial will be at Greenview Memorial Park located at 3657 Old Chisholm Rd., Florence, AL following the service.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Walt Aldridge Entertainment Industry Scholarship. Checks may be sent to: UNA Foundation, UNA, Box 5113, Florence, AL 35632. Reference the Walt Aldridge Entertainment Industry Scholarship. To send flowers to the family or to plant a tree in memory of Walt Aldridge, contact Morrison Funeral Home.

Marc Zelanko Joins ASCAP As Chief Of Staff

Marc Zelanko. Photo: Juan Patino

Marc Zelanko has joined ASCAP as Chief of Staff. He will report directly to CEO Elizabeth Matthews. Zelanko brings extensive experience in operations management, partnerships, transformation and chief-of-staff functions to the organization.

Zelanko comes to ASCAP from Paramount Global, where he spent the last 20 years. At Paramount, he spearheaded strategic initiatives that spurred growth, strengthened operations and created efficiencies across global teams, including creating CEO-level senior leadership forums, leading the COVID Task Force, reducing liabilities, and coordinating the Viacom Marketing Council.

Additionally, he helped scale Scratch, a creative SWAT team and consultancy born out of MTV. Before Paramount, he spent time at Booz Allen Hamilton as an associate. Zelanko is graduate of Harvard University and earned his MBA at Harvard Business School.

“Marc is the perfect fit to help ASCAP deliver on our mission to grow revenues and drive efficiencies for the benefit of our more than 1.1 million songwriters, composers and music publishers,” says Matthews. “He brings a wealth of experience working cross-functionally to lead complex global initiatives, and we are excited to add him to our senior leadership team.”

“ASCAP has a mindset of innovation and evolution to meet the changing needs of its members and licensees,” adds Zelanko. “I look forward to bringing my expertise to ASCAP’s mission in support of improving the future for its songwriters, composers and music publishers.”