Photo: Rick Diamond/WireImage.com

Sting and Vince Gill are the latest duo to take the stage for an all-new episode of CMT Crossroads premiering Thursday, Nov. 24 at 10:00 p.m., ET/PT on CMT. The performance, taped earlier this year at New York City’s famed Hammerstein Ballroom, resulted in an exceptional night of rocking collaborations and in-depth interviews.

The 90-minute premiere features the duo partnering on some of Sting’s hits including “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You,” and “Every Breath You Take,” plus Gill’s “Liza Jane” and “Whenever You Come Around.” The musicians’ interviews reflect on the longevity and success of their careers. They also go on to discuss their thoughts on popular assumptions about the meanings of their songs, how they’ve developed as artists, and ultimately, why they continue to play music.

Since 1985, Sting has released twelve solo albums. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of his solo career, Universal Music Group recently released Sting: 25 Years. This definitive box set collection contains three comprehensive CD’s, all re-mastered exclusively for this set, and a DVD, Rough, Raw & Unreleased. Sting also published a memoir in 2003 entitled Broken Music, which spent 13 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list. He most recently released Lyrics, a comprehensive collection of lyrics and personal commentary, also featuring photographs from throughout his career.

Gill has won seventeen more CMA honors, including Song of the Year four times – making him the most awarded artist in that category in CMA history. Since 1990, Gill has walked away with 20 Grammy Awards and has racked up sales in excess of 26 million. Gill co-hosted the CMA Awards for twelve consecutive years. He was also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007. He recently released his first single in four year, “Threaten Me With Heaven.” The song comes off his new album, Guitar Slinger, released on MCA Records.

CMT Crossroads is produced by Tom Forrest and Kathryn Russ. John Hamlin, Margaret Comeaux and Bill Flanagan serve as executive producers for CMT.

Patsi Bale Cox died at Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville on Saturday, Nov. 5, of complications from emphysema. She was 66.

She was a music journalist, publicist and author who was noted for collaborating with stars on their autobiographies. Among the celebrities she co-wrote books with/for are Tanya Tucker, Loretta Lynn, Ralph Emery, Georgette Jones, Pat Benatar, Tony Orlando and Wynonna Judd.

She also wrote the 2009 book The Garth Factor: The Career Behind Country’s Big Boom, based on her experiences at Capitol Records during the superstar’s ascent in the 1990s.

A native of Kansas, Patsi Bale Cox moved to Nashville in 1983, just after publishing 1982’s Rocky Mountain Country.

Her most recent book is The Three of Us: Growing Up with Tammy and George. The collaboration with Georgette Jones was published earlier this year.

At the time of her death, she was working on biographies of Kenny Rogers and record executive Steve Popovich.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Nov. 7, 1991—Patsi Bale Cox and her daughter Tracy with Garth Brooks at his concert in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Photo: Alan Mayor

Richard Conlon, BMI Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Communications & New Media, announced today (11/7) that BMI has promoted Kay Clary to Executive Director of Media Relations. Clary will continue to manage BMI’s public relations and communications efforts in Nashville and Atlanta.

In making the announcement, Conlon said, “Kay has been a key member of our communications team since 2005. She has earned the trust of Nashville’s music and songwriting community through 20 years of representing and championing some of the city’s s most legendary and significant musicians. Her creative focus, entrepreneurial spirit and exceptional execution skills all add up to a win for BMI songwriters and music publishers and the music industry at large.”

Throughout the ‘80s, Clary was a partner in Praxis International where, along with Jack Emerson and Andy McLenon, she managed the careers of Jason and the Scorchers, the Georgia Satellites, Webb Wilder, Steve Forbert, Billy Joe Shaver and others. Her recent experience includes heading up her own media company Commotion PR. The company’s roster included Rodney Crowell, Ricky Skaggs, Billy Joe Shaver, Bruce Robison, the Del McCoury Band and Legacy Recordings. She also directed media campaigns for artists including Ron Sexsmith, Radney Foster, Jack Ingram and Hoodoo Gurus.

Along with Clary, Conlon also announced the promotion of David F. Bills to Executive Director of Online Communications. Bills is based in New York and was previously Senior Director of Online Communications at the music rights organization. He will continue to direct BMI’s digital and online strategic communications content and outlets, including its websites, online presence, social media and corporate video production.

Bills joined BMI in 2000 as Director of Online Communications & Webmaster, where he was responsible for a complete overhaul of the BMI website. Prior to BMI, he held various positions in technology, design and production consulting in the media, print, food and pharmaceutical industries including NBC, Apple Computer, Computer Science Corporation and Boehringer Ingelheim.

On Tuesday, Nov. 8, ABC will air an hour-long special, In The Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville. The special will give viewers an exclusive all-access pass into the homes and private lives of some of country music’s biggest stars.

Robin Roberts will go behind-the-scenes and on tour with Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney and Faith Hill. During his interview, Urban speaks candidly about his struggle for sobriety, being married to Academy Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman and the joyful experience of being a new father. For the first time, Chesney invites cameras into his new home in Nashville where he opens up about love, life and battling misconceptions. “I learned a long time ago, several years ago, to quit reading what anybody writes,” he tells Roberts, “I learned not to think about what other people think, I’m just trying, I’m just doing the best I can do to be myself.” Meanwhile, Roberts joins Hill in the studio at a pivotal moment in her career, as she finishes her first new album of original songs in six years.

Roberts will then take the cameras to the classroom with American Idol winner Scotty McCreery, as she learns how he balances his new career while simultaneously finishing his senior year of high school. She’ll also spend a day with Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina, who talks about what it was like to put out a debut album while she was still learning how to drive.

Additionally, Roberts will join Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, as they go back to Indiana for the first time to visit the site of the deadly stage collapse that occurred at the state fair earlier this year. It will be the first time the country duo has spoken about the tragedy in a televised interview, during which, Nettles shares with Roberts what it was like to live through that moment and how she is forever changed.

In The Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville, airs on Tuesday, Nov. 8, (10:00 – 11:00 pm ET) on ABC, the night before the network’s live broadcast of the CMA Awards.