Tim Cleans Out His Closet for Charity

Tim McGraw will auction off items from his personal wardrobe on myQlu.com to benefit the Tug McGraw Foundation and Tim’s Neighbor’s Keeper Foundation.

Tim’s auction will feature more than 140 items from his wardrobe, including his Gucci suede jacket, signature stage cotton ribs and tee shirts, Calvin Klein and Versace dress shirts and more. QLu, a web-based, philanthropic organization, will present Tim with the tally of donations from the auction at the annual Denim & Diamonds Gala: An Evening With Tim McGraw and Friends, Nov. 2, in St. Louis.

BOB: Hey, we probably got a couple of things in OUR closet... hmm let us see here... some socks, gum, shoes, canned cheese...

Thanks: Country Weekly

Garth--Going Where No One Has Gone Before

The list of Garth's achievements goes on for pages and pages. Today, he adds another: The first artist to open at number 1 in HISTORY with the debut of "More Than A Memory".

The single, which arrived at radio on Monday, Aug. 20, amassed 4,349 plays.


BOB: You're welcome, Garth. Uh...

Thanks: AllAboutCountry

Jo Dee Messina: Enjoying the Ride

BOB: We don't typically have a stomach for rides, but in this case, we'll make an exception.

Shortly after the release of her rockin’ new single, “Biker Chick,” Jo Dee Messina took some time for an exclusive interview with Country Weekly. Here are some excerpts from that chat.

CW: How does your family feel about your fiancé, Chris? Have they all met him?

JM: My mother loves him . . . well, my family loves him. He’s just one of those guys everybody loves. I think if there was a son-in-law my mother could pick, he would be somebody she would choose. Because he’s so kind to me and he takes care of her. He’s very kind, easygoing. My brother loves him, he helps my brother out around the house. And he’s very much about family. And I grew up that way. I grew up . . . the Italians, we all stick together. It’s all about the family. Every holiday was 50 million people. It kind of resembles my Big Fat Greek Wedding, but it’s Italian! [Laughs]

CW: Does he know what he’s getting into . . . in terms of family?

JM: He’s met ‘em all. Even the cousins and distant relatives . . . we all get together at the holidays. So, he’s met them all and we’ve spent time with them at home in Boston or at vacation spots around the country. So they all know him.

CW: Other than your wedding, which I assume is WAY at the top of your list, what’s the best thing that could happen to you in the next couple of months?

JM: We have a successful launch of this new album. My music album is like my soul. It’s a piece of me, it’s a part of who I am. I do music because it is a part of who I am. I’ve known it since . . . 18 months old, there’s a picture of me sitting at the piano. It’s my life. So, I think it’s truly a blessing to have the career I have and to able to do what I love so much . . . and that’s my living. That’s how I make my living . . . if we have a successful launch of this new album, that allows me to do it even longer.

I think it’s important that there’s gratitude. Every time a record does well, I’m grateful. I’m filled with gratitude for it. It’s never a given. It’s not like, “Oh, you’re so and so. You have this song out. It’s an automatic hit.” I don’t choose to look at it that way. I choose to be grateful for each success that we have, and it’s never taken for granted. So that would be it, a successful launch of the new album.

Thanks: Country Weekly

Rockers Jam at Jon Bon Jovi's Labor Day Party

Singer Jon Bon Jovi formed a special supergroup to celebrate Labor Day, comprising of Billy Joel on piano, Jimmy Buffett on guitar and Paul McCartney and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters on vocals.

The impromptu performance took place a party Bon Jovi threw on Sunday night at his Long Island, New York home.

The rock legends performed Bon Jovi and Beatles tunes, along with many of Joel's own songs.

BOB: We weren't invited. Go figure.

Nicole wants a baby, Keith!

Nicole Kidman is "yearning to have" a baby.

The 'Moulin Rouge' actress is desperate to have a child with her husband Keith Urban, but he wants to wait a little while longer before they become parents.

Nicole, 40, told Vanity Fair magazine: "I'm yearning to have one. I think I would be very sad if I wasn't able to have a baby. Keith knows I want one, and he has been getting there slowly."

But recovering addict Keith has told the Australian actress he wants to have her all to himself.

She said in a separate interview with Ladies Home Journal magazine: "My husband really wants a couple of years, he said, 'Where I just have you.'

"So it's kind of romantic. He's like, 'I just love the two of us.' It's really honest. So as a woman I sort of hear that loud and clear and go, 'OK, I get that.' So that's kind of what we decided."

Nicole already has two adopted children with ex-husband Tom Cruise - Isabella, 14, and Connor, 12 - and admits she is really enjoying watching her children grow up to be independent young people.

BOB: Keith and Nicole really should have a catchy nickname like "Brangelina"... Kecole... Nikeith... Urabanamin... hmmm

Thanks: Country First!

Dolly Parton's Musical, 9 to 5, Set for 2009

Dolly Parton told Los Angeles radio listeners that 9 to 5, the new musical for which she has penned songs, probably won't open on Broadway until spring 2009, but she's plenty busy with other projects.

In an interview on Go Country 105.1, Dolly said the title song from her upcoming album,"Backwoods Barbie," will be featured in the play. "[It's] one of the songs [for] Doralee, the character I played in the movie," she said. "It kinda tells my story about always wantin' to be pretty and modeling my look after Barbie and the Frederick's of Hollywood catalog. It's about, 'Don't mistake all this phony look. I might look artificial, but where it counts, I'm real.'"

The new album is Dolly's first mainstream country album in years. The disc, to be released in early 2008 on her own Dolly Records label, will feature her new single, "Better Get to Livin'," which is available now on iTunes.

"The song 'Backwoods Barbie' pretty much says it all," she said. "I grew up poor and ragged, always dreamed of being beautiful. It's true that the way I look is just a country girl's idea of glamour, but it comes from an honest place. Backwoods Barbie just seemed like such a perfect title for a country album for me."

Dolly, who will be the first guest singer on the new season of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," is also launching her first authorized website, DollyPartonMusic.net. The full site won't be up until the end of September, but it is currently accepting e-mail sign-ups for announcements.

BOB: Seeing as she was also involved with Veggie Tales Live... the stage experience is there... just no giant tomato this time (who is named Bob, by the way).

Thanks: GAC

Josh Steps It Up

BOB SAYS: I don't like steps. They're work. Now elevators and escalators... oh boy, now we're talking.

Now that Josh Turner has released a live album, he has stepped up production a bit on the show he takes to fans across the country each night. As Josh tells Dial-Global, he still likes to have things loose on stage.

"We've added a little acoustic set where each and every night it just kind of depends on what we feel like playing," he says. "We just get up there and whatever feels right, we pull it out of a hat and play it. We've come up with a new medley of some of my favorite songs, and changed the set list around and added some lighting features. [I'm] just trying to make the show a little more compelling for markets that we've been to quite a few times."

Thanks: GAC

Dixie Chick Natalie Maines buys $5.6 million home in L.A.

Dixie Chicks lead vocalist, Natalie Maines has paid $5.6 million for a home in the upscale Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.
Maines, 32, already has homes near Austin, Texas, and in New York City, the paper added. The newest addition, in a gated community, has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms.

Former Country music superstars, The Dixie Chicks, lost the backing of Country radio, when Maines criticized President George W. Bush during a concert four years ago. Meanwhile, the group won five Grammy Awards earlier this year in a measure of the trio's respect within the music industry at large.

Maines is married to actor Adrian Pasdar, who appears in the TV series "Heroes," and that requires his presence in Los Angeles for long periods of time, the Los Angeles Times said.

BOB: Calls to Natalie's people about the possibility of crashing in an extra bedroom were not returned.

Thanks: AllAboutCountry

Denise Jackson's Book Spends Fourth Week on Times List

Denise Jackson's memoir, It's All About Him: Finding the Love of My Life, remains at No. 4 on the New York Times' best-sellers list for the third consecutive week after debuting at No. 1 four weeks ago. The book recounts her life with husband Alan Jackson and her spiritual journey during their marriage. Denise Jackson has promoted the book through a series of national magazines and TV appearances and was interviewed about by poet, historian and author Maya Angelou.

BOB: The book remains a best seller; in spite of its lack of pop-ups or coloring pages...

Thanks: CMT

Nickelback Covers Joe Nichols' Hit at Nashville Concert

Rock fans attending Nickelback's Thursday night (Aug. 30) concert in Nashville heard one of Joe Nichols' country hits even though Nichols wasn't there to sing it. When the Canadian band returned to the stage for an encore at the Sommet Center, they offered a cover version of Nichols' "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off." Lead vocalist Chad Kroeger told the crowd, "I haven't been able to get this song out of my mind for a year and a-half. I love this song." They followed it up with their own hit, "Rockstar."

BOB: Lead singer, Chad Kroeger, had no comments regarding the accuracy of the clothes-losing attributes of Tequila.

Thanks: CMT