ERIC CHURCH

A 74-year-old retired schoolteacher from a New York City suburb was sentenced to 30 months in prison Wednesday for mailing dozens of violent threats to LGBTQ affiliated individuals, groups and businesses over several years.

Eric Church cancels San Antonio show to watch UNC-Duke Final Four game Eric Church performs a medley at the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards on Monday, March 7, 2022, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)SAN ANTONIO — A country music star stunned some fans this week when he decided to cancel an upcoming sold-out show to watch a Final Four game. >> Read more trending newsAccording to Sports Illustrated and Variety, Ticketmaster sent a message to Eric Church fans Tuesday saying the “Heart on Fire” singer was calling off his Saturday performance in San Antonio because he plans to watch UNC face Duke in the NCAA basketball tournament. “This Saturday, my family and I are going to stand together to cheer on the Tar Heels as the team has made it to the Final Four,” Church, 44, wrote in the message. Those who purchased a ticket via Ticketmaster will automatically receive a refund, according to the company’s website.

The country superstar has always put fans first, and they are deeply loyal. Canceling a show to see North Carolina play Duke puts a strain on that relationship.

Morgan Wallen won album of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards for “Dangerous: The Double Album,” a year after he was removed from the ACMs ballot after he was caught on camera using a racial slur.

This week’s new entertainment releases include an album and companion book by Dolly Parton, the comedy-thriller “Fresh” starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Roger Allam playing a French crime-buster in “Murder in Provence.”.

Dolly Parton, Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett will be pulling double duty with special performances on top of their hosting duties at this year’s Academy of Country Music Awards.

The Super Bowl will include a spectacular halftime show, as usual.

Country star Chris Young combined his skills as an artist and producer to lead the nominees for the Academy of Country Music Awards.

Eric Church played a little too long and a little too loud during his brief time opening for Rascal Flatts.

CMA winner: Mike Henderson, left, and Chris Stapleton accept the song of the year award for "Starting Over." (Mark Humphrey/Associated Press )NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It was a big night for Chris Stapleton at the 55th annual Country Music Association Awards ceremony Wednesday night. Congrats to ALL of tonight's nominees and winners!👏🏆 pic.twitter.com/v6eV0boSk1 — CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) November 11, 2021Female Vocalist of the YearWINNER: Carly PearceGabby BarrettMiranda LambertAshley McBrydeMaren MorrisAnd the #CMAaward for Female Vocalist of the Year goes to @CarlyPearce!! Congratulations!🏆 pic.twitter.com/GonLK0hCLW — CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) November 11, 2021Male Vocalist of the YearWINNER: Chris StapletonDierks BentleyEric ChurchLuke CombsThomas RhettThe CMA Award for Male Vocalist of the Year goes to...@ChrisStapleton! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/R10CHt4uR0 — CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) November 11, 2021Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 15 CMA Awards Eric Church performs during the 55th annual CMA Awards show in Nashville, Tennessee.

Chris Stapleton won the most trophies, but Luke Combs won the biggest one at the Country Music Association Awards.

Eric Church played a little too long and a little too loud during his brief time opening for Rascal Flatts.

The CMA Awards will be a night of all-star collaborations between Carrie Underwood and Jason Aldean, Kane Brown and Chris Young, and Mickey Guyton with Brittney Spencer and Madeline Edwards.

CMA Awards - Entertainer of the Year This combination of photos shows nominees for the CMA Award for entertainer of the year, from left, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton and Carrie Underwood. In nominations announced on Thursday, Stapleton leads with seven nominations including male vocalist, album of the year, single and song of the year, and two additional nominations as a producer both on his album and single. Church, who put out a three-part album in April collectively called “Heart & Soul," earned five nominations. The CMA Awards will air on Nov. 10 on ABC. Despite having a string of multiplatinum country hits, like “What Ifs" and “Heaven," this is the first-ever CMA nominations for Brown.

Country stars Chris Stapleton and Eric Church will go toe-to-toe with each other at this year’s Country Music Association Awards, vying in the same top five categories.

Country music leaders say Nashville's year of introspection led to some encouraging progress and demoralizing realities.

Country singer Morgan Wallen will be eligible for multiple awards at this year's CMA Awards, but not the show's top prize.

This week’s new entertainment releases include the final two parts of Eric Church's three-album project, “Heart & Soul.”.

Carrie Underwood brought the Academy of Country Music Awards to church.

Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton will have a small audience at this year's Academy of Country Music Awards show on Sunday of vaccinated medical workers.

Eric Church just shared a new run of arena tour dates, including a stop at Orlando's Amway Center in 2022. The country megastar will play...

Morris and Stapleton lead the nominations for this year's Academy of Country Music Awards. The academy announced on Friday that Morris and Stapleton both had six nominations ahead of the April 18 awards show, which will air on CBS from Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Maren Morris and Chris Stapleton are the leading nominees for the Academy of Country Music Awards, but only Stapleton joined the all-male ballot for the top prize of entertainer of the year. The academy announced on Friday that Morris and Stapleton both had six nominations ahead of the April 18 awards show, which will air on CBS from Nashville, Tennessee. AdMiranda Lambert, who is already the most nominated artist in ACM history, stretched her streak with five nominations.

Gorman, the 22-year-old poet who stirred America at the inauguration of President Joseph Biden, again commanded the spotlight on one of the countrys biggest stages, the Super Bowl. That Gorman brought poetry to the Super Bowl was an almost unthinkable collision of grace and glitz. She seemed to grasp the unlikeliness of her pre-game reading, the first in Super Bowl history. “Poetry at the Super Bowl is a feat for art and our country, because it means we’re thinking imaginatively about human connection even when we feel siloed,” Gorman said Sunday on Twitter. Here’s to them, to poetry and to a Super Bowl like no other.”

This combination photo shows singer Jazmine Sullivan in Rydal, Pa., on Jan. 26, 2021, left, and singer Whitney Houston at the BET Honors in Washington on Jan. 17, 2009. Sullivan and Eric Church will perform the national anthem at Sunday's Super Bowl. Houston has arguably the best performance of The Star-Spangled Banner" at a Super Bowl game. One of Sullivan's idols, Whitney Houston, has arguably the best performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner" at a Super Bowl game. I was blown away, in my feelings, everything, at the fact that she even knew me and stood up and was giving me love in that way," Sullivan continued.

Sullivan and Church will join forces to sing the national anthem at the next months Super Bowl, where Grammy-winning singer H.E.R. will perform America the Beautiful. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK – R&B star Jazmine Sullivan and country singer Eric Church will join forces to sing the national anthem at the next month’s Super Bowl, where Grammy-winning singer H.E.R. will perform “America the Beautiful.”The performances will take place Feb. 7 at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa before the big game and halftime show starring The Weeknd. She’s won honors at the MTV Video Music Awards, BET Awards and Soul Train Music Awards and launched R&B hits such as “Focus,” “Best Part,” “Slide,” “Damage” and “B.S.” with Jhené Aiko.

FILE - Eric Church performs at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Ariz. on March 28, 2017. Church will perform at this year's CMA Awards in Nashville. The show will air on ABC on Nov. 11. (Photo by Rick Scuteri/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Eric Church performs at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Ariz. on March 28, 2017. Church will perform at this year's CMA Awards in Nashville. (Photo by Rick Scuteri/Invision/AP, File)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Luke Combs and more are set to take the stage at the CMA Awards in November. The country music awards show promised that the genre’s biggest stars will be together in one room again for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak started. Lambert, the leading nominee with seven nods including entertainer of the year, will perform “Settling Down" from her album of the year nominated record ”Wildcard."

“Breland was a man after my own heart musically and I was just dying to get in the studio with him to see what happened,” Urban said. AP: In that vein, one song called “Tumbleweed” includes a sample of a didgeridoo, an instrument that originated in Australia. Urban: After the guitar solo, there was about four seconds of a breakdown, and I was like, "I need something here. Urban: If anyone wants to know what my beliefs are, my views are, listen to my music or look at my life. Urban: I’m learning.

Carrie Underwood accepts the entertainer of the year award in a tie with Thomas Rhett during the 55th annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

This combination photo shows, from left, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett and Carrie Underwood, nominees for entertainer of the year at the 55th ACM Awards. (AP Photo)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In a pre-pandemic world, the Academy of Country Music Awards advertised itself as country music’s night to party with gambling, after-parties and a Las Vegas-style attitude. This year the red carpet, crowds and gambling are all r eplaced with COVID-19 tests, temperature checks and face masks. Swift, who makes her first return to the ACM stage in seven years, was the last female artist to win ACM entertainer of the year in 2011. “I certainly believe that she’s been an entertainer of all entertainers and brought so much grace and class and elegance to country music,” said Bryan.

This combination photo shows country singers, from left, Luke Bryan, Kane Brown and Mickey Guyton who will perform at this year's ACM Awards in Nashville. (AP Photo)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – At the Academy of Country Music Awards on Wednesday, there won’t be fake fans, canned applause or pre-taped acceptance speeches. After a five-month delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, the awards show wants to bring the live television experience back again. The 55th annual ACM Awards, normally held in April in Las Vegas, were delayed this year and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, for the first time. “I don’t know if it’s gonna look like an NFL Draft night when we hand out the awards,” Urban said laughing.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Country-turned-pop star Taylor Swift is coming back to her roots with a performance at this year’s Academy of Country Music Awards. The nine-time ACM award winner will perform from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, where the awards show will be broadcast Wednesday on CBS. Swift will perform “betty” from her new album “Folklore,” which has held the top spot on for six weeks on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. 6 on Billboard's Hot Country song chart. This marks the first time in seven years that the two-time ACM entertainer of the year has performed at this awards show and will be her world premiere performance for any song from her “Folklore” album.

This combination photo shows, from left, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert, who were nominated for Entertainer of the Year for the 54th Annual CMA Awards on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020.

(CNN) - The Country Music Association announced the nominees for "The 53rd Annual CMA Awards" on Wednesday, with Maren Morris topping the list with six. Those nods add to her previous 10 nominations and one win in years past. The following is a list of the nominees:ENTERTAINER OF THE YEARGarth BrooksEric ChurchChris StapletonCarrie UnderwoodKeith UrbanSINGLE OF THE YEAR*Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s), and Mix Engineer- "Burning Man" -- Dierks Bentley Feat. Brothers Osborne)Producers: Maren Morris, busbee- "Brand New Man" -- Brooks & Dunn (with Luke Combs)Producer: Dann Huff- "Dive Bar" -- Garth Brooks & Blake SheltonProducer: Garth Brooks- "Old Town Road (Remix)" -- Lil Nas X feat. The-CNN-Wire & 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company.

Preview: What it takes to pull off Eric Church's country tour The Grammy-nominated country star is on a nine-month concert tour, and Mark Strassmann joined Church and his production team on the road in California. Watch Thursday on "CBS This Morning" for this exclusive behind-the-scenes look.