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2011 in country music
...This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2011.
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Events
- January 1 – Shania Twain marries Swiss businessman Frédéric Thiébaud in Puerto Rico, less than two weeks after announcing the two were engaged.[1] Also on the same day, Kellie Pickler and songwriter Kyle Jacobs marry in the Caribbean.[2]
- January 11 – Jewel confirms to People Magazine that she and her husband, Ty Murray, are expecting their first child together.[3] On March 11, Jewel and her unborn baby were unharmed after a collision with a firetruck near her current hometown of Stephenville, Texas.[4] Jewel would give birth to a son, Kase Townes Murray, on July 11.
- February 15 – Glen Campbell announces that he will release his final studio album in 2011 with a farewell concert tour to follow.[5] He also plans an acoustic-style greatest-hits album before officially retiring.[5]
- March 18 – Billy Ray Cyrus confirms on The View that he has dropped his divorce and has begun to reconcile his family.[6]
- March 27 – Shania Twain is inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the Juno Awards.[7] In a backstage interview, Twain confirms she is recording new music and preparing to go back on tour.[7]
- April 19 – CMT and several other news sources confirm that actor Jeff Bridges has signed a recording contract with jazz music label Blue Note Records.[8] He will collaborate with producer T-Bone Burnett and would release his debut album in 2011.[8] Bridges previously won an Oscar for his portrayal of a country music singer-songwriter.[8]
- May 14 – Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert are married at Don Strange Ranch in Boerne, Texas, after five years of dating.[9]
- May 23 – John Rich is selected as the winner of the fourth season of the Celebrity Apprentice over actress Marlee Matlin.[10]
- May 25 – Scotty McCreery wins the tenth-season competition of American Idol, becoming the second country music-focused artist (behind Carrie Underwood) to win. Runner-up Lauren Alaina is also rooted in country music. Days later, both sign lucrative contracts with Mercury Nashville Records.[11]
- June 4 – A house fire destroys the home of Trace Adkins and his family; his three youngest daughters and a dog, who were home when the fire started, escape safely.[12]
- June 22 – Glen Campbell announces that he has Alzheimer's disease,[13] having been diagnosed with the illness about six months prior. This news comes four months after Campbell announces his retirement from the music business.
- July 11 – Gloriana, a mixed quartet, announces the departure of Cheyenne Kimball.[14] The group is reduced to a trio at this point.
- August 12 – Carrie Underwood guest Miranda Lambert at the Capital Hoedown in Ottawa, Canada.
- August 13 – Seven people are killed and more than 45 people are injured when an outdoor stage collapses at the Indiana State Fair due to high winds at a concert featuring Sugarland.[15] Neither the duo nor their opening act, Sara Bareilles, were on stage at the time of the collapse.[15]
- October 3 - Hank Williams Jr.'s opening theme for Monday Night Football, "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night", with its famous line, "Are you ready for some football?", is pulled from that night's program on ESPN, after Williams compared President Obama to Adolf Hitler on Fox & Friends. The song had been used in the show's opening broadcasts since 1989. The song would eventually return in 2017, with a remix featuring Florida Georgia Line and Jason Derulo.
- October 10 - Toby Keith releases "Red Solo Cup". The song becomes a major viral and crossover hit, with the music video acquiring more than 600,000 views on YouTube before the release of Keith's album Clancy's Tavern, and reaching #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on the Hot Country Songs chart, as well as being covered in the Glee episode "Hold On to Sixteen" two months later.
- November 3 – Keith Urban announces that he will undergo throat surgery to remove a polyp in his vocal cords. He subsequently cancels or postpones all public appearances until 2012.[16]
Top hits of the year
The following songs placed within the Top 20 on the Hot Country Songs or Canada Country charts in 2011: