Chris Young and RCA Nashville label-mate Kane Brown are starting off 2021 with the most-added single at country radio, as “Famous Friends” tallies a total 53 combined Billboard and Country Aircheck/Mediabase stations.

“Famous Friends” was also most added on MusicRow‘s most recent CountryBreakout Radio Chart.

Written by Young with Cary Barlowe and Corey Crowder from a tour stop in Tampa in 2018, the autobiographical song mentions Rutherford County, where Young grew up in Tennessee, and Brown’s hometown of Hamilton County, along with Nashville’s Davidson County.

 

“Famous Friends” is Young and Brown’s first collaboration since working together on Brown’s 2017 song “Setting the Night On Fire.” Additionally, the song reunites the former tour mates from Young’s 2018 Losing Sleep Headlining Tour—which included a sold-out hometown show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena—and is a full-circle moment for Brown, since his first live concert experience as a young country fan was a Brad Paisley and Chris Young tour stop.

The IBMA Women in Bluegrass Summit will take place this Thursday (Jan. 7) from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. CT. The virtual interactive summit will feature panel discussions and presentations on gender equity from renowned artists and women in business. Dialogue is encouraged and topics are slated to include:

• Knowing Our History – featuring pre-recorded videos from Alison Brown, Susie Monick, Sally Van Meeter, Dr. Dena Jennings, Dale Ann Bradley, Rhonda Vincent, Uma Peters, Kathy Kallick, Sierra Hull
• What We Thought Then and Now – Tristan Scroggins presents a live discussion about the original Women in Bluegrass Newsletters including excerpts about Claire Lynch and Lynn Morris with commentary from Murphy Henry and Louisa Branscomb
• My Feminism Is (Not) the Only Feminism – Missy Raines speaks on feminism
• What Is Real Gender Equity: Setting Goals for Our Future – Live panel including Q&A featuring Kimber Ludiker (moderator), Rhiannon Giddens, Maddie Witler, Laurie Lewis, Melody Walker, Phoebe Hunt
• Women in the Business of Bluegrass – Live panel including Q&A featuring Ashley Moyer (moderator), Trisha Tubbs, Anna Frick, Maria Ivey, Denise Stiff, Katrina Vanderzon Hennigar, Amy Reitnouer, Mollie Farr, Claire Armbruster

The summit’s Zoom meeting room has reached capacity, but it will be viewable live on the IBMA Facebook Event page. The summit is being presented in partnership with Women in Music, the industry’s leading non-profit working to advance the awareness, equality, diversity, heritage, opportunities, and cultural aspects of women in the musical arts through education, support, empowerment, and recognition.

Singer-songwriter Jamie O’Hara, known for being part of the country duo O’Kanes and for writing hit songs for other artists, has been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. According to a Facebook post from his wife, Lola White, that was shared by Nashville music company Moraine Music Group, O’Hara’s cancer is so far advanced that he could have only weeks.

“It is with deep sorrow, dear friends, that I must tell you that my husband Jamie, the love of my life, has been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, that has us measuring his life in weeks. Something about making such an announcement in this format seems very wrong, but there are so many people who should know, and so little time to contact everyone individually. I apologize for that, but I did want you to know. My heart is shattered, and I’m spending every moment I can with him,” White said via social media.

With The O’Kanes, O’Hara and Kieran Kane recorded three albums for Columbia Records and charted seven singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts, including the No. 1 song, “Can’t Stop My Heart from Loving You.”

In a solo write, O’Hara wrote The Judds’ “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Old Days).” The song was the duo’s sixth No. 1 hit, and won a Grammy for Best Country Song in 1986. In another solo write, O’Hara penned Ronnie McDowell’s 10-week No. 1, “Older Women.” He also self-penned “Man to Man,” Gary Allan’s first No. 1 hit, as well as many other songs recorded by artists including Tim McGraw, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Don Williams, Lee Ann Womack, Emmylou Harris, and more.

O’Hara released three solo albums, including Rise Above It in 1992, Beautiful Obsession in 2000, and Dream Hymns in 2012.

Osiris Media announced the premiere of Salute the Songbird, a new podcast hosted by Nashville-based rock and soul singer, Maggie Rose. The podcast was developed in partnership with Rose and her manager, Austin Marshall of Starstruck Entertainment, and features candid conversations with Rose’s female musical heroes about their lives in and out of music, challenging the status quo, and with a desire to offer guidance for young artists starting their careers.

The podcast will feature guests such as Grammy nominee Mickey Guyton, singer-songwriter Nicki Bluhm, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, Martina McBride, Chrissy Metz, and other female musicians, songwriters, producers, and industry members who detail their journeys as women in the music industry.

“We are thrilled to start 2021 by welcoming our first Artist Spotlight show led by a female artist,” said RJ Bee, CEO of Osiris Media. “Maggie hosts real, raw conversations with some of the leading female musicians of our time. We’re grateful to be able to provide a platform for Maggie to talk about the obstacles and opportunities associated with being a great female artist.”

The first episode, with Grammy-nominated songwriter Ruby Amanfu, is available now. Amanfu is a Ghana-born, Nashville-based vocalist and songwriter. She wrote the Top 40 radio single, “Hard Place” by multi-Grammy-winning artist H.E.R.. Amanfu has released nine critically acclaimed solo albums, and has contributed vocals to Beyonce’s “Don’t Hurt Yourself” on her Grammy-nominated album Lemonade, as well as on Jack White’s debut solo single “Love Interruption,” and his two acclaimed solo albums, Blunderbuss and Lazaretto.

Soundstripe has hired music, tech, and entertainment industry veteran Drew Weaver as Chief Operating Officer. In the newly-created COO role, he will be responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations at Soundstripe, reporting to Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Travis Terrell and Micah Sannan.

As COO, Weaver will help manage the rapid growth and continued business-line expansion at Soundstripe, a leader in the stock media industry that provides a catalog of royalty-free music, stock video, and sound effects to creators who need affordable, hassle-free access to media assets for their videos, podcasts, and other projects.

Prior to joining Soundstripe, Weaver was SVP and Head of Product for Pantaya, the fast-growing Spanish-language streaming service backed by Lionsgate and Hemisphere Media. He also supported product and international business operations at Starz, the global media and entertainment company and OTT streaming service acquired by Lionsgate in 2016. Before Lionsgate, Weaver was SVP of Product Management at TouchTunes, the country’s largest in-venue interactive music and entertainment platform, where he led the product and design teams behind the company’s digital jukebox network and popular mobile app, used in over 60,000 locations in North America. Previously, he held executive product and operational roles at AOL and SiriusXM, where he innovated, launched, and ran various consumer products used by millions of users and supported by various business models including SiriusXM’s streaming mobile apps and personalization for AOL Instant Messenger.

“Drew brings extensive operational experience in digital media to Soundstripe, including an expansive background in digital music and video at companies such as SiriusXM, Lionsgate, Starz, and AOL,” said Travis Terrell, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Soundstripe. “His experience managing teams within large-scale subscription content businesses will be invaluable as we continue our rapid growth in pursuit of our core mission to Keep Creatives Creating.”

“I’m excited to join the talented team at Soundstripe in their quest to empower creatives with the industry’s highest-quality royalty-free music, video, and sound effects,” said Weaver. “I’m impressed by the company’s commitment to super-serve creators as well as its employees, and look forward to supporting its continued innovation in the booming markets of video and podcasting.”

Soundstripe is one of the Top 5 fastest-growing private media companies in the U.S. according to the 2020 Inc. 5000 list.