It’s been another great year in country music…and as we get ready for 2009, we’re looking back at some of the highlights of 2008.
IN FEBRUARY…
• Sara Evans joined Willie Nelson on FOX’s Super Bowl 42 pre-game show to sing “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to Be Cowboys.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Carrie Underwood made digital history as her number-one smash, “Before He Cheats,” became the first country song to earn RIAA certification as a double-Platinum Digital Single, representing two-million purchased downloads.
• Carrie Underwood took home the GRAMMY for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for “Before He Cheats” (from her Some Hearts CD). The song also won its writers a GRAMMY for Best Country Song. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Brad Paisley won his first GRAMMY Award: Best Country Instrumental Performance, for “Throttleneck,” from his CD, 5th Gear.
• Carrie Underwood appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live (Tina Fey hosted the show). (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Brooks & Dunn embarked on their first-ever tour of Australia. Every show on the tour proved to be a sellout.
008 HIGHLIGHTS: February" width="16" height="14" /> Before the Super Bowl, Sara Evans shared her excitement about performing with Willie Nelson as part of the pre-game festivities. (Sara was rooting for the New England Patriots, who lost to the New York Giants.) (:12)
“Oh, I’m so excited! I’m going to sing “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to Be Cowboys” with Willie Nelson. That’s going to air live before the game. And better than all of that is that I get to watch the game!”
008 HIGHLIGHTS: February" width="16" height="14" /> Carrie Underwood talks about her number-one song, “Before He Cheats.” (:15)
“That’s a little more edgy, obviously, than…(laughs) just a tad…than me or the other ones that have been on the album. It’s a good song, and like I said, I feel sorry for that dude, but…he deserved it.”
008 HIGHLIGHTS: February" width="16" height="14" /> Carrie Underwood talks about her February 23rd appearence on Saturday Night Live, the first new episode of the series to air since a writers’ strike shut down most series’ production. (:27)
“It was really great. It was the first week back, and they asked if we were interested in doing stuff — being on the show. It just so happened that we were in the area doing concerts and stuff like that. The rehearsal day’s Thursday, and we were off on Thursday, and we were also off on Saturday. So it was like, ‘Sorry, band. Are you guys in?’ Everybody was in, so we did it!”