Latest news with #GoneCountry
Global News
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Global News
15-year-old rocker setting out to tour B.C. Indigenous communities
Rehearsals are underway for one of the biggest moments of any young musician's career: James Vickers and his band are about to head out on their very first tour. 'It's a little daunting. I get a little nervous thinking about it sometimes,' said Vickers. Vickers has been building a fan base on the local Nanaimo scene. Now, at age 15, he's just released his first album with gigs to follow in Indigenous communities around British Columbia, including some with deep family roots. 2:00 This is BC: 'Gone Country' brothers hold fundraiser in memory of their mother 'We really wanted to go back to Bella Bella. James has never been there before,' said his father, Noel Vickers. 'That's where his great-grandfather came from.' Story continues below advertisement Noel is more than just a supportive parent. He's the tour manager, promoter – a guy who wears many hats. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'I'm the roadie, I'm the driver because he's only 15. If anyone told me my most exciting, fulfilling chapter in my life would come in my sixties, I'd say 'I don't think so', but here I am.' It's hard to believe that it's been just five short years since James first started playing guitar. 'I went into the music scene, I didn't have any expectations and if you don't have any expectations, you can't really let yourself down,' he explained. Now the James Vickers Band is set to roll into Bella Bella, Prince Rupert and Hazelton on this tour, a taste of what's to come once he finishes high school. 1:43 This is BC: Team maintains historic Yorke Island 'Once he graduates, I'm pretty sure he is going to want to follow in the greats' footsteps,' said Noel Vickers. 'He wants to be out on the road touring with his band, and I support him 100 per cent.' Story continues below advertisement And while he's out there on this tour, maybe some other kids with incredible talent might catch what he's doing on stage and see that anything's possible. 'I'm blessed to have wonderful people around me and wonderful musicians to work with,' James said. 'It's just all excitement, especially what we're doing and where we're going, I'm really excited for it. It means tons. It means the world to me.'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What Is Alan Jackson's Health Condition? Inside the Country Star's Decade-Plus Journey with a Rare Disease
Alan Jackson announced in 2021 that he had been diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease The country singer said his diagnosis affected his balance and ability to perform onstage Jackson returned to the Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in May 2025 to perform and accept a lifetime achievement awardAlan Jackson has been open about having Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a degenerative nerve condition. The country singer shared the news of his diagnosis on the Today show in 2021 and revealed that he had originally learned about his condition 10 years prior. Jackson decided to go public with the news because it was getting "more obvious" while performing onstage. "It's getting more and more obvious," he said at the time. "And I know I'm stumbling around onstage. And now I'm having a little trouble balancing, even in front of the microphone, and so I just feel very uncomfortable." However, Jackson also clarified, "It's not going to kill me. It's not deadly." Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease affects the motor and sensory nerves that control the muscles primarily in the feet, legs, hands and arms, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. While a cure for the disease has not been discovered, it can be managed with supportive therapy. In May 2025, Jackson took the stage at the 60th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards to perform and accept a lifetime achievement award named after him. Here's everything to know about Alan Jackson's journey with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and what he's said about his health. The "Gone Country" singer appeared on the Today show in September 2021 and announced that he was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease 10 years prior. "I've been reluctant to talk about this publicly and to my fans, but it's been a while, and it's starting to affect my performance onstage a little bit where I don't feel comfortable," he explained. "I just wanted the fans and the public to know if they've come to see me in the last few years or if they come to see me in the future if I play anymore, what's going on. I don't want them to think I'm drunk onstage because I'm having problems with mobility and balance." Jackson explained that the disease is hereditary, and he got it from his late father. His paternal grandmother and older sister were also diagnosed with the neurological disease. "I just want people to know that's why I look like I do, if they're wondering," he explained. "I don't want to appear like some whiny celebrity. It's not going to kill me, it's not deadly... It's not fatal — it's just going to disable me eventually." Jackson further reiterated that he was primarily sharing his story in case it would go on to affect his music. "This is not a condition that I would be complaining about typically, but it is going to affect me performance-wise onstage, and I don't know how much I'll continue to tour," he said. Despite his condition, Jackson expressed how "blessed" he had been with his "wonderful, beautiful life" and that he felt a bit of "relief" sharing his diagnosis. "In some ways, it's a relief because I was starting to get so self-conscious up there, about stumbling around," Jackson said. "And it just made me nervous up there trying to keep my balance. And I look pitiful. So I think it'll be good for me now to get it out in the open and so if anybody's curious why I don't walk right, that's why." Less than a year after sharing his diagnosis, Jackson embarked upon a national tour, Last Call: One More for the Road. 'I've always admired my heroes like George Jones, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn and Charley Pride who just played as much as they wanted to, as long as they could,' he said in the March 2022 press release. 'I've always thought I'd like to do that, and I'd like to as long as my health will allow. I'll try to do as much as I can, but if I'm comin' your way, come see me." Jackson acknowledged his disease by donating $1 from every ticket sold to the CMT Research Foundation. The "Livin' on Love" singer went on to perform at over a dozen venues across the United States, but he had to postpone the final two October 2022 shows because of his health, per Taste of Country. "I hoped I'd be able to be there," he said in a statement at the time. "I hate to disappoint my fans. I tried as much as I could to play this show at this time." Jackson, who released his album Where Have You Gone in 2021, said two years later that he "would hope" he could continue making and sharing music. "Well, yes. I would hope so," he said when his daughter Mattie Jackson asked him about the possibility of new music during a February 2023 episode of her podcast In Joy Life. "The creative part jumps out every now and then. I'm always scribbling down ideas and thinking about melodies and I feel like there'll be some more music to come, yes." The Grammy winner said songwriting is "more fulfilling than anything" to him. "It's like, you can be a singer and go out and tour, but it's kind of like you're just doing the same thing over and over," he explained. "When you make an album, or especially when you write a lot of the songs, that's creating something. It's a challenge, so it keeps you interested a little more. If I didn't write, I think I would've gotten bored just singing a long time ago." Two years after pausing his 2022 tour, Jackson announced that he'd be resuming the Last Call: One More for the Road tour in 2024 and 2025. However, he also explained that each stop would be "marking the last time he'll ever perform his more-than-30 years of hits in that city and surrounding areas." 'I've been touring for over 30 years, you know, played everywhere in the country and parts of the world,' Jackson said in a video posted on X in June 2024. 'I have had a wonderful career, and I'm getting into my twilight years, and all my daughters are grown, and I got one grandchild and one on the way. I enjoy spending more time at home, and don't want to be away like I had to be in my younger days, and I don't tour as much now as I did 10 years ago." The "Chattahoochee" singer said that for those reasons and his health, it's "getting time to start thinking about hanging it up full-time." 'Most of my fans know I have a degenerative health condition that affects my legs and arms and my mobility that I got from my daddy and it's getting worse,' he added. 'So, it makes me more uncomfortable onstage, and I just have a hard time, and I just want to think about maybe calling it quits before I'm unable to do the job like I want to.' The final leg of the tour kicked off in Boston, Mass., in August 2024 and will conclude in Milwaukee, Wisc., in May 2025. In the midst of his tour and ongoing health journey, Jackson returned to the Academy of Country Music Awards on May 8. He performed an emotional version of his 2003 song "Remember When" before taking the stage to receive the first annual Alan Jackson Lifetime Achievement Award. "Usually one of my fans tells me they named their dog after me, and I thought that was really something," he said while accepting his award. "I came to Nashville with a paper sack full of songs and a crazy dream and that all these years later I'm standing here receiving such an honor is mind-blowing." Jackson added, "I thank God all the time for all the people that have been a part of my life and career and maintain this all this time." The singer specifically thanked his high school sweetheart and wife, Denise Jackson, "who's been my best friend since I was 17 years old." "She's loved me through the good and the bad, the happy and the sad," Jackson said. "Influenced me, gave me three beautiful daughters, and she's helped me keep my feet on the ground all these years. I would not be here without her.' Read the original article on People
Fox News
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Country star Thomas Rhett falls at concert, leaves in wheelchair
Country music star Thomas Rhett is recovering after a painful fall that left him needing medical attention and a wheelchair. Rhett gave an update on his injury to his 4.9 million social media followers. "I've sprained my ankle a million times playing sports, but never felt it like that last night," he shared on Instagram, thanking fans for their well wishes. "Just missed a step man… welcome to 35, I guess is the new motto," Rhett added. "Just got an x-ray and thank the Lord nothing is broken… it's just a gnarly sprain…." He added that he "can't put weight" on his ankle just yet. The country singer's health update comes after he injured his ankle during a concert. Rhett joined fellow artist Forrest Frank during a performance of their collaboration, "Nothing Else." During the concert in Nashville, Rhett detailed his fall before he joined Frank on stage. Rhett took to his social media to share a video of what led to his injury. On Instagram, his wife, Lauren Akins, 35, was seen pushing her husband in a wheelchair. Then the video cuts to Frank's performance on stage with text that said, "30 minutes earlier." "I can't sing Thomas Rhett's verse, right?" Frank told the roaring crowd. "Hey … where you at?" The next video clip showed Rhett in the crowd with a spotlight on him. As Rhett began to walk down the stairs to join Frank, he counted down the moment he was about to fall in the arena. "3… 2… 1," the video text said before Rhett is seen falling down the stairs in slow motion. Although the "Die a Happy Man" singer said he made a "quick recovery," Rhett was seen hopping on stage to join Frank. He wrote "pain" in the video clip and gave Frank a handshake. Rhett appeared to be in good spirits while he hopped on stage to the beat of the music in the high-energy performance with Frank. "Every now and then you just have to sing at a Forrest Frank concert and break your ankle in the process," Rhett said, as he sat in a wheelchair. "I gave my all for Tennessee tonight." Rhett's social media caption said, "@hiforrest told me to pull up and I left in a wheelchair." He ended his video with his wife pushing him in a wheelchair. Rhett tied the knot with his wife in 2012, when they were both 22 years old. They share four daughters — Willa Gray, Ada James, Lennon Love and Lillie Carolina. WATCH: THOMAS RHETT ASKS AUDIENCE TO PRAY FOR FAN TAKEN OUT OF NASHVILLE CONCERT BY MEDICAL STAFF In 2023, the "Gone Country" singer had a serious concert mishap during a performance in Nashville. Rhett was alerted to a situation in the crowd after a fan had a medical emergency, which prompted immediate concern from the country singer and his team. In a video obtained by Fox News Digital, Rhett had just finished singing when he recognized there was something wrong. "Hey, there's somebody down here who's … really hurt," he announced. Rhett then asked if there were any medical personnel in the audience. Rhett stopped his concert for several minutes as medics attended to the person in distress and carried him out of the venue. Additional video showed Rhett asking those around him for the man's name, which he later learned was Terry.
