The 28-year-old part-Puerto Rican country singer and former American Idol champ has released the new single “Nothin’ Right.”
It’s the first release from McCreery’s upcoming deluxe version of his album Same Truck, due out on November 18.
The song, a dedication to be an overachiever at “doin’ nothing,” combines snappy percussion, drawling guitar and McCreery’s warm vocals to make this a sure-fire fan favorite.
The 28-year-old part-Mexican American actress/singer and The Goldbergs starwill star in Jimmie Allen’s upcoming music video “Be Alright.”
The video is set in New York City in the 1960s with Orrantia playing a down-on-her-luck character called Eve. Things start looking up when she encounters an “old friend with a new mantra” played by Allen.
The video was shot on the Warner Bros. lot earlier this month and is choreographed by award-winning Dancing with the Stars choreographer Tessandra Chavez. Dakota Diel was on board as director of photography.
Orrantia is best known for playing Erica Goldberg on ten seasons of The Goldbergs and has also starred in Christmas Is Canceled and Schooled.
Allen is a chart-topping country star who last year won the Country Music Association’s new artist of the year award. He has appeared on American Idol as both a contestant and, more recently, a guest mentor, and last year placed seventh on Dancing With the Stars alongside his partner Emma Slater. He can currently be seen in “Cardi Tries” alongside Cardi B.
The 28-year-old part-Puerto Rican country singer’s latest track “Damn Strait” has risen to the No. 1 spot on the July 23-dated Billboard Country Airplay chart.
That gives the former American Idol champion his fifth total and consecutive No. 1 on the chart.
In the tracking week ending July 17, the song drew 27.2 million audience impressions, according to Luminate.
McCreery has notably topped Country Airplay with each single that he has released since he signed with Triple Tigers Records in 2017.
“My first country music concert was George Strait, and along with my love for Elvis [Presley], he inspired me to become a country music singer myself,” says McCreery. “When I did American Idol, George called me and requested I sing his [1995] hit ‘Check Yes or No,’ and I still sing it from time to time in concert. Now, having my fifth straight No. 1 on a song that pays tribute to George, while at the same time being a classic country heartbreaker such as he might have sung, is such a full-circle moment that means the world to me. Trent Tomlinson and Jim Collins wrote a clever song that reaches beyond name-dropping Strait hits to tell a meaningful story.”
“Damn Strait” is the sophomore single from McCreery’s album Same Truck, which arrived at its No. 10 high on Top Country Albums last October, marking the seventh top 10 for the Garner, N.C., native. He earned his third and most recent No. 1 set with Seasons Change in March 2018.
Same Truck lead single “You Time” became McCreery’s fourth Country Airplay No. 1 for a week last October. He first ruled Country Airplay with “Five More Minutes” (one week, March 2018) and led again with “This Is It” (two, February 2019) and “In Between” (one, June 2020).
McCreery first appeared on Country Airplay with the No. 15-peaking “I Love You This Big” in August 2011 and has posted two top 10s in addition to his No. 1s: “See You Tonight” (No. 8, March 2014) and “Feelin’ It” (No. 10, December 2014).
On the multi-metric Hot Country Songs chart, “Damn Strait” ranks at No. 8, after hitting No. 6 in June. It drew 4.6 million U.S. streams and sold 2,000 downloads in the week ending July 14.
Meanwhile, as the song crowns Country Airplay, it’s just the fourth No. 1 to namecheck another artist in its title. Eric Church’s “Springsteen,” his ode to Bruce Springsteen, was boss of the chart for two weeks in 2012; Brad Paisley’s “Old Alabama,” featuring Alabama, reigned for two frames in 2011; and Joe Diffie’s “Bigger Than the Beatles” topped the chart for two weeks in 1996. (Strait and Alabama boast 26 and seven No. 1s, respectively, since the survey began in 1990.)
The rising country duo, comprised of Cuban American wife Kat Luna and Puerto Rican husband Alex Georgia, have released “Yo Quiero Amarte.”
It’s the Spanish-language rendition of the Nashville-based couple’s power ballad “I Want It All.”
The song is inspired by the couple’s wedding vows, and their powerful, pitch-perfect harmonies sound even tighter and more urgent en español.
The duo rose to national fame during their 2020 American Idol audition. All three judges were completely smitten by their chemistry and vocal prowess, advancing them to Hollywood.
Following the television singing competition, the newlywed singers signed a recording contract with Sony Music Nashville, a publishing deal with Warner Chappell, and management deal with The Artist Management Group (AMG), which formed by reputable industry professionals Rob Beckham and Bill Simmons, and is home to superstarsBrad Paisley and Chris Young.
Kat & Alex are hoping to use their newfound fame to expand country music’s reach, especially among Latinos, by releasing music in Spanish.
The 27-year-old part Puerto Rican country singer and former American Idol champion gets his heart stolen all over again with a newly-released track, sharing the flirtatious fun of “Why You Gotta Be Like That.”
Featuring an upbeat sway and a breezy, sunshine-country sound, the feel-good anthem captures a moment of unexpected and effortless romance. Getting caught off guard by his partner’s casual beauty, McCreery matches his rumbling baritone with a can’t-get-over-you chorus, and says the track was inspire by his wife, Gabi.
McCreery co-wrote “Why You Gotta Be Like That” with James McNair, and Jordan Schmidt, thinking back to an everyday moment that took his breath away.
“My wife Gabi and I had a date night the evening before I wrote ‘Why You Gotta Be Like That’ with James and Jordan. She came downstairs looking gorgeous as usual, and well … the song tells the rest of the story,” McCreery explains. “Writing with James and Jordan is always so much fun, and I think that genuine feeling comes through in the song as well.”
“Baby why you gotta wear them jeans / Hair down and a white tank top / Baby why you gotta be so mean / Looking so good, I can’t stop / My hands from touching your body / You know I love it but I got to ask / Baby why, baby why / Baby why you gotta be like that,” goes the smitten chorus hook.
Part of McCreery’s upcoming (but still unannounced) fifth album, the new track was released alongside McCreery’s current radio single “You Time,” which is now rising through the Top 15 on Mediabase/Country Aircheck’s Country Singles chart.
Both tunes speak to McCreery’s focus during the pandemic slowdown, which saw him writing songs and building his virtual performance skills. But he’s now back to using his chart-topping country baritone in person.
His You Time Tour began in June and continues through September, and in between those headlining dates McCreery will join Old Dominion for their Live from the Ballpark Tour, while also performing alongside Chris Young, Brooks & Dunn and more.
The 26-year-old part-Puerto Rican country music singer and former American Idol champion hasnotched his third consecutive and total No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “In Between” blasts from No. 8 to the top spot on the list dated June 27.
In the tracking week ending June 21, McCreery’s song increased 25% to 26.7 million audience impressions. It drew its biggest gains on WIVK Knoxville, Tenn., WKHK Richmond, Va. (up 260,000 impressions); WNSH New York (up 247,000) and KSCS Dallas (up 235,000).
The track’s 8-1 rise is the second greatest to the Country Airplay summit in the chart’s 30-year history.
On the October 12, 1991-dated chart, another song with the word “between” in its title leapt 9-1: Ricky Van Shelton’s “Keep It Between the Lines.”
The 26-year-old part-Puerto Rican American singer and former American Idol champion will appear in this year’s AI finale.
Even though it won’t be the typical AI finale to announce the winner of season 18 due to the COVID-19 lockdown, next Sunday’s (8:00 – 10:00 pm ET, May 17) shelter-at-home-based season-ender will still feature A-listers, including McCreery, who claimed the crown in Season 10.
During Sunday’s semifinal, host Ryan Seacrest revealed some of the special guests who’ll dial in for the finale, which include two performances from the top five (who’ll be announced at the beginning of the episode after two eliminations) preceding the live vote to determine this year’s winner.
The top five will then perform a song celebrating their induction into the semifinal round, followed by a previously performed song and, then, their official AIsingle. (The winner will be determined live in a real-time vote on the East Coast broadcast.)
In addition to the return of the top 11 and a fan favorite from this season, there’ll be a once-in-a-lifetime special performance of “We Are The World” by the inspiring anthem’s co-writer, Idoljudge Lionel Richie. In the first television take on the song in 35 years, Richie will team up with fellow judges Katy Perry and Luke Bryan to pay tribute to all the families at home around the world now.
Joining the judges on the all-star anthem will be a giant cast of former Idolcontestants including last year’s runner-up, Alejandro “ScaryPoolParty” Aranda, Gabby Barrett, Jordin Sparks, Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Laine Hardy, Lauren Alaina, Phillip Phillips, Ruben Studdard and McCreery.
Additionally, Cynthia Erivo singing a medley of Aretha Franklin songs, two-time Idol contestant Lauren Daigle singing her hit “You Say,” as well as Rascal Flatts and Doug Kiker doing “Bless the Broken Road,” Bryan performing his single “One Margarita” and Perry offering up the television debut of her new single, “Daisies.”
After Sunday night’s Mother’s Day special, the top seven semi-finalists are: Just Sam (Samantha Diaz), Louis Knight, Francisco Martin, Julia Gargano, Arthur Gunn, Dillon James and Jonny West.
The 25-year-old part-Puerto Rican country singer and former American Idol champion has notched his second No. 1 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart, as “This Is It” ascends 2-1 in its 37th week on the chart dated February 16.
The ballad increased by 8 percent to 39.6 million audience impressions in the week ending February 10, according to Nielsen Music.
On the airplay-, streaming- and sales-blended Hot Country Songschart, it enters the top five (6-4).
McCreery co-authored the song, with Frank Rogersand Aaron Eshuis, for his then-longtime girlfriend Gabi Dugal, and sang it at their wedding last June 16.
“Two weeks before I proposed, we wrote ‘This Is It’ as a love song for Gabi,” McCreery tells Billboard. “It’s our story. If the song existed solely for she and I, that would be completely fine with me. But to have our story on the radio and then reach No. 1 on the Billboard chart just makes my heart sing. Gabi is my world, she inspires me every day, and I think people can feel the realness of our love story when they listen to the song and watch the video. The fact that so many couples are now using ‘This’ in their own weddings gives me chills.”
McCreery, who won American Idol in 2011, earns his second Country Airplay leader in a row from his album Seasons Change, which became his third Top Country AlbumsNo. 1 in March 2018. He notched his first Country Airplay No. 1 with the album’s first single, “Five More Minutes,” which led for a week the same month.
The 48-year-old half-Venezuelan American singer, who served as a judge on American Idol during Season 12, has been revealed as a key advisor for the Knockouts Rounds on NBC’s The Voice.
Carey will start helping contestants out beginning October 29, mentoring the remaining 32 singers alongside coaches Jennifer Hudson, Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine.
The knockout rounds will feature the 32 budding stars facing off against a teammate as they sing a song of their choosing. Carey will be on hand to help the coaches and their teams prep for the challenge.
Carey, who is preparing to release her album Cautionon November 16, also announced the dates of her Caution world tour on Monday, with the 22-city outing slated to kick off on February 27 at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Dallas.
McCreery’s latest single continues in his winning arc of songs pulled from chapters of his own life.
