Diane’s Country Music Newsletter — 22 July 2026
NEWS
The second oldest child of late country star Charlie Rich and songwriter Margaret Ann Rich has died, reports the Tennessean. Charles Allan Rich, Jr., 71, passed away July 14 at his home in Cookeville, Tennessee. Born and raised in Arkansas, he was known to family and friends as Allan, later performing and recording as Charlie Rich Jr. The singer and keyboard player signed with Epic Records and released two albums, Allan Rich in 1974 and Glass Heart in 1976. While living in Los Angeles, he wrote songs recorded by Charlie Rich, Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, and more. He played keyboards and acted as bandleader for his father, touring in the U.S. and Europe. He also performed and recorded with other artists, eventually moving to Tennessee where he continued to perform and write. He was inducted into the International Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2016.
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame has announced a list of 12 nominees for the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (NaSHOF) Class of 2026, in two of five categories. Nominees in the Contemporary Songwriter/Artist Category are Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, Taylor Swift and Phil Vassar. The Contemporary Songwriters Category nominees are Jim Beavers, Shawn Camp, Rodney Clawson, Dallas Davidson, Marv Green, Lee Thomas Miller, Neil Thrasher and Chris Tompkins. One songwriter/artist and two songwriters will be selected. Each nominee has achieved significant songwriting success dating back at least 20 years. The new inductees will be announced in the coming weeks and officially inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame later this year.
Ahead of launching his Blame It All On My Roots Tour, Garth Brooks promises that every seat will be priced the same. “We have always chosen to do the one overall ticket price simply based on this thought: Where you sit in the arena shouldn’t depend on how much you can afford,” he says. “It should be all just luck of the draw.” He wants to minimize the number of people who say, “I’d love to come see you, I just can’t afford it.” According to Rolling Stone, the ticket price is around $150 ($140 for the ticket, facility fee of $4, $10 service charge, and taxes). The Blame It All On My Roots Tour kicks off August 21-22 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Alex Miller and his band The Kentucky Kowboys recently made their international debut at the prestigious Norsk Countrytreff Festival in Briem, Norway. Over 29,000 Country music fans attended the four-day event. They entertained with country classics and originals from their current CD, More Country Than You (Billy Jam Records). According to a press release, Alex and his bandmates visited the Holvik Fossen waterfall, enjoyed glacier views, and took a dip in a 35-degree glacial lake.
PEOPLE reports that 12-year-old Indiana Feek, the daughter of Rory Feek and the late Jody Feek, was life-flighted to a hospital just two weeks after undergoing open-heart surgery. According to the National Down Syndrome Society, about half of all infants born with Down syndrome have a heart condition. Indiana had been diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect shortly after her birth in 2014. In a post on his Substack, Rory Feek reported that fluid had built up around Indy’s heart and was constricting its ability to beat properly. She went back into surgery almost two weeks to the hour after she first underwent open-heart surgery. Heidi and Hopie Feek have not seen their little sister in more than two years amid an ongoing dispute with their father over her care. Heidi, 39, shared a video on her Instagram Stories to object to her father’s Substack post. “While I’m glad she’s doing better and that she’s okay, according to him in that Substack post, I am upset that I found out on Instagram,” she said. “I am upset because of the ongoing exploitation of my little sister on his monetized Substack account.” She pointed out that Indiana is a vulnerable child “who is unable to give consent to the use of her story and photos. . .. it’s not a moment to be self-promoting or promoting your organization performing your song.”
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Joe Melson, 91, died July 1 in Nashville. Born Claudie Joe Melson, he grew up near Fort Worth, Texas, and led his rockabilly band, The Cavaliers, while in college. According to Music Row, he is best known for his 1960s collaborations with Roy Orbison: “Blue Bayou,” “Crying,” “Only the Lonely,” and “Running Scared.” The two Texans met in 1957 and began cowriting songs. “Only the Lonely” was Orbison’s first hit. Melson provided background vocals for all the hits they wrote together, and they also recorded vocal duets. Melson maintained his own recording career throughout the decades while writing songs for many others. He later entertained at rockabilly-revival and nostalgia festivals. “Only the Lonely” went into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and “Crying” in 2002. Melson was inducted into the International Rock-A-Billy Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.
Taste of Country reports on an exhibit at the Monthaven Arts & Cultural Center in Henderson, Tennessee. The Flip Side: Paintings by Steve Wariner showcases 60 paintings that Steve Wariner created in oil, acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media. In addition to his half-century of musical performances, Steve has been painting almost daily since he was a teenager. His two worlds came together once, after he and Bill Anderson wrote his hit song “Two Teardrops.” The first line of the chorus is “The ocean’s a little bit bigger tonight.” That line inspired a large abstract painting, “The Ocean’s A Little Bit Bigger Tonight,” that he recently sold. “So the two kind of crashed right there,” he says.
Session pianist and musical director Jimmy Nichols, 64, died unexpectedly in his sleep on July 10. A native of Columbus, Ohio, he and three of his brothers spent 24 years touring as the Nichols Brothers, reports MusicRow. He moved to Nashville in the 1990s and began working as a keyboardist for Daryle Singletary and Mindy McCready. Throughout his career, he worked with artists such as Faith Hill, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, and Elton John. He was inducted into the Ohio Country Music Hall of Fame two weeks before his death. He has spent the last few years caring for his wife, Tanya, who needs a lung transplant. One of his last performances was a benefit for her, “Every Breath She Takes.”
DOLLY: A True Original Musical, a journey through the life of Dolly Parton, is coming to Broadway this winter, reports MusicRow. The shows will take place at New York’s St. James Theatre, with preview performances in December and the show’s opening night on Dolly’s birthday, January 19, 2027. The show will include Dolly’s hits, along with songs she wrote especially for the musical. It is directed by Tony winner Bartlett Sher, who says, “Dolly has never really shared her story before. She’s offered glimpses and peeks, but this musical allows her to reveal the unfiltered story in her own words.”
The Last Leaf: Reflections on Late-Life Creativity and My Longest Love Affair is the title of the new Willie Nelson memoir, to be released November 10 in honor of his wife, Annie. Holler reports this is his eighth book and will feature his near-death experience due to COVID-19 and how Annie ties into everything. In a short promotional video, Wille says, “The backbone of this book is a love story. The heroine is my wife, Annie, who kept me alive when I was sure I was gone. COVID nearly got me. I was hurting so bad I wanted out. But Annie wouldn’t let me go. The years I’ve lived since then are because of Annie. And so is this book.”
T.G. Sheppard says in a press release that he waited for years for someone to come up with an answer song to his hit, “I Loved ‘Em Every One.” He never expected it would be his wife, Kelly Lang, who would write and perform such a song. She always got asked in interviews how she felt knowing her husband had “loved ’em every one.” She says, “I decided the best way to answer that question was to write a tongue-in-cheek song in my own defense.” She and Mark Oliverius wrote “Never Met a Man I Didn’t Love,” which has been released as a single from Kelly’s forthcoming album, Jealous Green Eyes.
Warner Records Nashville artist Randy Travis has announced his first album of original music in over 18 years. Kyle Lehning, Randy’s longtime producer, pulled a number of unreleased songs from the vault and remixed and remastered them. “Fish On,” which Randy wrote with longtime bus driver and friend Ron Avis, is the first single. A press release states, “It brings Randy’s unmistakable and timeless voice back from the vault.” The album’s title and exact release date will be provided later this year.
LETTERS
Ron McBride says, “I’m confused. Didn’t Janette Carter die in 2006? She was born July 2, 1923, in Maces Spring and died January 22, 2006, at the age of 82. If she had died in 2026 and been born in 1923, she would have been 102 years old.”
Diane: Well, I said it was a late entry, right? I just didn’t realize it was 20 years late. I didn’t do a very good job of fact checking (or even addition) on that one. Thanks for the correction.
Bobby Fischer writes from Nashville, “Jimmy Nichols passed away. Great musician, songwriter, and person. A song favorite I wrote with him and Robert Johnson is about being in heaven. I am sure he is there now, playing piano.”
Martha Moore of so much MOORE media says, “Thanks for including American Blonde news. I just watched Alex Miller on Facebook (Live). It’s 35 minutes long from Norway. He and The Kentucky Kowboys are doing a couple of festivals. This morning he sang (acoustic) a Merle Travis song, a Merle Haggard song, a Lefty Frizzell song, and more outside their hotel in Breim.”
Dominique ‘Imperial’ Anglares writes from France, “Thank you very much for a Country Music Newsletter. Always great to enjoy the news and the letters. Wishing you and all the readers a nice summertime break stacked with good ole Country Music.”
Jon Philibert writes from the United Kingdom, “Could you add my friend, songwriter and performer Ed Bentley to your newsletter subscriber list? Keep up the good work. I always look forward to the newsletter dropping into my inbox.”
Mike Johnson says, “Just finished reading another interesting issue. Sad to hear of Donna Stoneman’s passing. Such a loss. When James Adelsburger attended the 2015 Old Time Country Music Festival in LeMars, Iowa, he met Roni and Donna Stoneman, and fortunately took some photos with them, including Roni signing his guitar. During my 1980s Nashville days one of my favorite hangouts was Norma Boyle’s Dusty Road on Woodland Street just across the river from downtown Nashville. Among those who patronized the place was Owen McCarthy, a fantastic blind music, and none other than Pop Stoneman’s son, Oscar J “Jimmy” Stoneman, who also went by the name of “Pop.” We picked together and would sometimes review some of the songs in my growing songbook, though he never recorded any. In all, those Nashville years helped me grow musically and eventually create Roughshod Records.”
COUNTRY MUSIC DISC JOCKEY HALL OF FAME – 2003
“I’ve been a proud ‘local radio guy’ my entire life, says Bob Cole. During his 30-year radio career in Austin, Texas, he recreated and launched 99.3 KOKE-FM. When the station went online only in 2024, he moved to Austin’s 95.9 Texas Country KKMJ-HD3, where he said he would be able “to continue my long-standing relationship with listeners in Austin and serve my community on another level.” He was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2008. He also voices the University of Texas Longhorn football and baseball games, plus the Longhorn Band.
Missouri native Duke Hamilton built a working radio station in his home as a child before obtaining his first professional radio job in Bowling Green, Kentucky. While in the U.S. Army, he worked in the Panama Canal Zone on AFRTS radio. Since 1977, he has been heard on WUBE-FM (B-105) in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he serves as afternoon drive host and music director. He is radio royalty in Cincinnati and a respected mentor to younger DJs. “It’s been a great ride,’ he said in 2019. “I figured they had the right formula here to be successful, and when I realized that, that’s when I decided to stay.”
Born in 1911 in Beaumont, Texas, Dick Haynes began his radio career in his hometown in 1941. From 1946 through 1980, he worked at various Country stations on the West Coast: KLAC in Los Angeles, KRAK in Sacramento, and KFOX in Long Beach. He was also a television actor with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His radio listeners remembered him for his many imaginary “sidekicks,” Gumdrop Gus, Wilhelmina Meadow, Sir Chester Drawers and L.A. Smog. He returned to KLAC in 1971 and remained there until failing health took him off the air in 1980, shortly before his death. He died at age 69 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.
Born in 1945, W. Steven Martin started his Country radio career as Morning Drive host at KRDS in Tolleson, Arizona. He had moved to Arizona in 1958 to be with his ailing father. He worked twice at KNIX 102.5-FM, founded by Buck Owens in 1968. “There was a lot of pressure to play the Bakersfield artists,” he said years later. “I disagreed, and they fired me.” When he left, the ratings followed. “When I went back the second time, we had incredible ratings, and everyone left me alone,” he said. In addition to his radio career, he is best known for starting a Christmas toy drive in 1978 and helping it grow to be one of the largest charitable endeavors in Phoenix. In 2003, he challenged Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the Republican primary for Maricopa County sheriff. In 2024, he was still on the air. He is 81 years old.