There are no shortages of people willing to give props to JOHNNY CASH. The man's a legend. But what's challenging is trying to explain WHY he's still so popular almost 10 years after his death.
SHERYL CROW offered up a pretty solid take. She believes it has to do with his authenticity.
Sheryl said, quote, "If (Johnny) was going to sing a song, in order for him to embody that song he wanted to know exactly what the intention of it was. That's one of the reasons that when we hear him, we believe him."
Sheryl was part of a Johnny Cash tribute concert earlier this year called "We Walk The Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash".
The CD of that show is out tomorrow and it features a kickass roster of artists including Ronnie Dunn, Shelby Lynne, Kris Kristofferson, Jamey Johnson, Train's Pat Monahan and Amy Lee from Evanescence.
KENNY CHESNEY is selling his massive compound in the Virgin Islands for a tidy $7.9 million. It has your typical rock star amenities like a massive kitchen he never uses, oceanfront views . . . and it's located right next to a preserved National Park.
But I want to own it because of the OUTSTANDING water slide in the swimming pool (slash) spa. gallery.
Speaking of Kenny . . . Pollstar released the Top 20 Summer tours for far . . . and the Brothers of the Sun Tour with TIM MCGRAW is Number One.
They've been bringing in over $4.2 million per city and have sold over one million tickets. (KennyChesney.com)
Other country acts cracking the Top 20 are LADY ANTEBELLUM at #14 . . . MIRANDA LAMBERT in 16th place . . . and ERIC CHURCH at Number 20.
SCOTTY MCCREERY was also at the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday . . . and I'm giving him props for having stones to do a cover of the GARTH BROOKS classic "The Dance".
Judging from the audience response, he nailed it. You can check out Scotty's performance on YouTube.
Scotty also did his song "Water Tower Town". Here's a video of that.
Most of the victims of last year's stage collapse before the SUGARLAND concert at the Indiana State Fair have agreed to a financial settlement.
51 of the 62 people with claims will split a settlement of $13.2 million . . . and there's a chance a few more will also agree. (Full Story)
TAYLA LYNN of STEALING ANGELS is a brand new mom. Her boy Tru was born on Friday. Yes, that's spelled T-R-U.
