Kellie likes country music soooooo much that she….
…skipped school. Seriously.
Kellie Pickler and Trace Adkins performed at a fund-raiser Wednesday night for the PENCIL Foundation, which matches private businesses with public schools in need. Hundreds of folks at the Country Music Hall of Fame event helped raise more than $100,000 for schools.
And speaking of schools, Kellie says she had a teacher assign her to chorus in high school. But the school chorus didn’t perform country songs.
Uh oh.
“I was so mad when I went in and found out that I couldn’t sing country songs that I told them they had to change my schedule or I wouldn’t come to school,” she told me.
“I didn’t want to sing if it wasn’t country music, so I left and went home.”
Kellie quickly adds that that’s not how she feels students should handle disputes with their schools.
But in Kellie’s case, it worked: Administrators took her out of chorus and put her in a home ec class.
Mindy to ‘Daily News’: I had sex with the Rocket
Mindy McCready has told the Daily News in New York that she had a sexual relationship with Roger Clemens as the newspaper had reported the day before.
“I cannot refute anything in the story,” Mindy told the newspaper, reading from a prepared statement.
In that first story, Clemens’ lawyers said the pitcher “flatly denies” having sex with Mindy.
The newspaper said the two met when she was 15, but the sexual relationship didn’t start until after she moved to Nashville and her country career took off.
Mindy went on to say she shouldn’t be the focus of the Rocket’s juicing investigations.
“Yes, I have known Roger Clemens for a long time. He’s a kind and caring man. He’s also a legendary athlete. The central topic in the debate, however, regards his professional life, not his personal life.
“There are legal matters working their way through the system that have nothing to do with me. From my point of view, that is where the focus should remain.”
Songwriters, execs ’shocked’ over Music Row murder
Several Music Row execs and songwriters who know those involved in the weekend Music Row murder say they are shocked by what happened. (Check out the story just below.)
In fact, one exec is calling songwriter Rich Fagan’s homicide of music publisher Tom Oteri “an accident.”
“I can’t even imagine,” said ASCAP VP Ralph Murphy, who has know Rich and Tom for more than 20 years.
“He (Rich) wouldn’t hurt a fly. I mean, they’d find bugs and release them outside. There’s no malice in the man at all,” Murphy said.
Most knew Rich and Tom as best buds and roommates, practically inseparable on Music Row. The idea that one would kill the other baffles many who knew them.
“I am flipped out,” said songwriter Victoria Shaw (Garth Brooks’ The River), who has known them for 20 years.
I’m so sad and shocked. I can’t wrap my brain around it.”
Music Row murder leaves ex-’SNL’ star’s father dead
A songwriter has been charged with stabbing to death his longtime Music Row buddy and roommate Tom Oteri, who also was the father of Saturday Night Live alum Cheri Oteri, Metro Police say.
It’s a story that has lots of Music Row in shock, as Tom had been a music publisher in town for years, and his accused murderer was his close friend, Rich Fagan, 61, who co-wrote John Michael Montgomery hits Be My Baby Tonight and Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident).
The incident started Saturday night when Fagan (pictured here) was arrested for DUI after admitting he had had six shots before getting behind the wheel, police said.
Before that, though, Fagan said he got in a fight with Oteri at their home at 204 Burgandy Hill Road. Fagan told a friend about the fight, and the friend later went to check on Oteri and eventually called police after Oteri didn’t answer his knocks on the door.
Oteri had been cut across his body with a pocket knife, police said.
Police found Fagan still with his bondsman Sunday afternoon shortly after Fagan got out of jail on the DUI charge.
Clemens denies affair with McCready
Pitching ace Roger Clemens and Mindy McCready had a 10-year affair that started when Mindy was 15, the Daily News of New York reported today.
The newspaper cited sources, but Clemens — recently in town for Kenny Chesney’s 40th birthday bash — adamantly denied through a lawyer that he had a sexual relationship with the singer.
“He flatly denies having had any kind of an inappropriate relationship with her,” attorney Rusty Hardin told the Daily News. “He’s considered her a close family friend. … He has never had a sexual relationship with her.”
The paper quoted sources saying the two met when Mindy was a 15-year-old aspiring singer doing karaoke and Clemens was a married father of two.
The paper also says details could come out in a documentary that Mindy starts making today.
Miley’s involved in yet another photo scandal
Have you seen the Vanity Fair Miley Cyrus pictures of her showing nude back and shoulders? Even Miley’s embarrassed this time.
“I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed,” she said in a statement.
“I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about.”
The Hannah Montana star looks like she’s seated topless, with a blanket covering her front. The photographer is famed Annie Leibovitz, who has scored celeb mag cover shots for decades. But, holy Hannah!
The Disney Channel says Miley is a victim.
“A situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines,” the channel told E! News.
Vanity Fair says Billy Ray and Tish were on the set all day.
“Since the photo was taken digitally, they saw it on the shoot and everyone thought it was a beautiful and natural portrait of Miley,” the magazine says.
“In fact, when Bruce Handy interviewed Miley, he asked her about the photo and she was very cheerful about it and thought it was perfectly fine.”
But E! News quotes a source saying the ‘rents left the set before the picture in question was taken.
Miley and her family are in town to start shooting a Hannah Montana movie. They were all spotted — fully clothed — having lunch Sunday at Wolfgang Puck Express in Cool Springs.
Seen in the City: Nashville gets much more Fox-y
Now here’s a woman you don’t wanna mess with.
Did you see Vivica A. Fox in those Kill Bill movies? Dawg! She also was pretty tough as the matriarch of a displaced New Orleans family in the HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm.
And let’s not forget she and bullet magnet 50 Cent used to hang out.
Anyway, Vivica and a possee of five dude and two ladies all had lunch Saturday at the Loveless Cafe. Despite any rep to the contrary, Vivica was “very very pleasant” to the wait staff there.
Someone overheard her saying something about being here to do a movie. But all I can tell you is that she isn’t in the Billy Graham movie being made here now.
So if you know, do tell, por favor.
Americana all-stars salute Emmylou at HOF induction
Vince Gill, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Guy Clark, Jon Randall and Lucinda Williams were among those who sang Emmylou Harris hits to salute her during her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Also inducted tonight: The late Ernest “Pop” Stoneman, who launched his country career in the 20s and finished it in 1967 with a CMA Vocal Group of the Year trophy for the Stonemans.
Big & Rich & Rimes - Oh my!
Guess who was seen at 12th & Porter last night? None other than Jon Bon Jovi and Big Kenny of Big & Rich.
LeAnn Rimes and Big & Rich are expected at tonight’s Bon Jovi concert at the Sommet Center.
Bon Jovi takes the stage at 8:35 tonight!
A regal night for Casting Crowns at the Dove Awards
Red-hot Christian group Casting Crowns cleaned up at the 39th annual GMA Dove Awards at the Opry House.
The group won three trophies, including its fourth straight for Group of the Year. And lead singer Mark Hall won an additional four trophies for his songwriting, including one for Song of the Year for East to West.
All this for a bunch of guys who still consider the band a side job.
“It’s really odd for us, really, ’cause I’m still a youth pastor back home. And we’re home Sunday through Wednesday with our students,” Mark told me.
“So we just sort of get on the bus and travel three days a week. We’re not usually around all this.”
Another highlight: American Idol alums Mandisa, Phil Stacey and Chris Sligh sang songs in a tribute to the 25 years of artistry from Michael W. Smith (Place in This World).
And Wynonna joined Female Vocalist of the Year winner Natalie Grant for a killer duet.
The Dove Awards have been living in relative TV obscurity for years, airing on a hobbled-together syndication distribution that had the show airing at different times on different dates on a wide variety of channels throughout the country.
This year, the show aired live on the relatively new Gospel Music Channel, or Comcast digital channel 189.
Other big winners:
TobyMac won artist of the year for the first time since 1996, when he was a member of dc Talk. Chris Tomlin won best male singer for the third year in a row. Brandon Heath beat out Mandisa for best new artist.
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