Matthew Wilkening

Country legend Tim McGraw joined Scotty McCreery to sing an extremely strong duet version of McGraw's 2004 hit 'Live Like You Were Dying' on 'American Idol''s final episode tonight.

Sara Evans returned to 'Dancing with the Stars' tonight and delivered a stirring performance of a very appropriate song, 'A Little Bit Stronger,' just before the season's celebrity dancing winner was announced on the finale.

Keith Urban gave one of the best, and least gimmicky, performances of the night at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards with a straight-ahead reading of his recent song 'Long Hot Summer.'

To the surprise of absolutely nobody who can count, Taylor Swift won the 'Billboard 200 Album Artist of the Year' award tonight at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards. Also not surprising: she looked really nice and smiled a lot while accepting the trophy.

Lady Antebellum's new single 'Just a Kiss,' the first taste of their upcoming third studio album, finds the band playing it safe both romantically and musically. It follows the trio's world-conquering 2010 album 'Need You Now.'

Martina McBride will release her new album on August 23, 2011. The singer informed fans of the release date for her so-far untitled 11th studio effort during a special live streaming video chat on Thursday afternoon.

Kenny Chesney topped all comers, including headline-grabbing pop star Lady Gaga, when it came to selling concert tickets this week, according to a report from Billboard. The country star packed over 46,000 people into Arlington, Texas' Cowboy Stadium to help earn this honor.

Scotty McCreery and the rest of the 'American Idol' finalists have announced when they will hit the road for the television show's annual nationwide tour. The country singer and his more pop-oriented competitors will play their first show on July 6 in West Valley City, Utah. Tickets for the tour go on sale at 10AM ET on May 13.

Jason Aldean received four nominations for the 2011 CMT Music Awards today, leading a star-studded field that also included multiple nods for Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney and many others.  The categories and nominees were announced this morning on NBC's 'Today' show.

Blake Shelton may have been outnumbered three to one by pop stars in the coaches' seats on the first week of NBC's new singing competition 'The Voice,' but he used gentlemanly humor and graciousness to distinguish himself from the pack and assemble the first part of a pretty good singing team.