’Forever Country‘
A Reason To Smile
If you need to jump-start your Sunday morning, we have a real treat for you, from the best of the best in country music. Thirty of the most popular country artists got together a few years back to record a song and make a music video to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Country Music Association Awards. I wish I could tell you there is some magic behind the decision to make “Forever Country” this week’s reason to smile. There isn’t. I just like the song and love the video.
“Forever Country” is a mash-up of three classics: John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Road,” Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again,” and “I Will Always Love You,” by Dolly Parton.
The who’s who of country greats included Nelson and Parton (Denver died in 1997) as well as Reba McEntire, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Charley Pride, Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill, to name a few. It also included a cameo by Randy Travis, who suffered a stroke in 2013 and couldn’t sing but wanted to participate.
The making-of-the-video video is also well worth watching.
The song debuted at No. 1, and all profits from the sale and streaming of the single went to the CMA Foundation to support music education.
“Forever Country” won the Video of the Year Award at the rival Academy of Country Music ceremony in 2017.
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Stay Steady,
Dan
Thank you, Dan. Somewhat of a non-sequitur, but I just saw that Dolly Parton has made a $1M donation towards the Hurricane Helene relief efforts, and her contribution is being matched by her businesses for a total of $2M.
https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2024/10/05/dolly-parton-and-dollywood-donate-2-million-to-helene-relief-efforts/
This wins the internet this morning! Thank you Dan!