Joe Nichols and his wife, Heather, are expecting their first child together. The new addition is due sometime this spring.
Heather told People.com, "After trying to have a baby for so long, we are thrilled to announce that I am pregnant."
Joe said, "I have to give all the credit to my wife -- she has been a trooper through all of this, and I am so happy."
Joe and Heather married in 2007.
Joe has one daughter, 13-year-old Ashelyn, from a previous relationship.
LADY ANTEBELLUM TOUR WITH ONE MEMBER'S 'BIGGEST' INFLUENCE
Lady Antebellum continue their Own The Night tour tonight (Wednesday, February 22nd) with a show in their adopted hometown of Nashville. The trek includes opening act Thompson Square along with special guest Darius Rucker.
Having Darius out with them is nothing short of a dream come true, as Charles Kelley tells us: "Darius is a close, close buddy, labelmate. He's just amazing. (Hillary) Well, one of your biggest influences. (Charles) Yeah, he is. I've got a video. Oh man, we should find a way to put that in the show. I've got a video of me singing 'Hold My Hand.' (I was) probably 10 years old. It's pretty awesome (laughter), so he's just awesome. I think having a guy like that, too, we wanted a really solid act to, one, have a lot of fun out there with, and to help us sell tickets. He's a big time act. He could go out and headline on his own, and so that meant a lot that he wanted to come on board and be a part of this, and he's no doubt been a huge reason we're having great ticket sales this year."
Lady Antebellum is featured on the Act of Valor movie soundtrack, which is in stores this week. The movie opens in theaters on Friday (February 24th).
Luke Bryan credits social media, particularly Twitter, with keeping him connected with his growing fan base. He loves speaking directly with his Twitter followers and getting instant feedback. Luke tells us: "Oh, I think it's a total blessing. I think it's an unbelievable way to speak to your fans. You know, I had a couple of fans on my Twitter said, 'Hey, we never got our shirts that we bought off the fan site,' and I copied it to my . . . to the people that run it and make sure they got their shirts and stuff and make sure everything was cool, and they were like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe you actually handled that,' and I was like, 'Well, I saw it. Might as well handle it while I'm thinking about it, you know? Knock it out and make sure you get your shirts and stuff.'"
Late last year, Luke says he learned a valuable lesson when he'd had a few too many adult beverages and began posting derogatory tweets about a restaurant at which he and his wife were dining. They had asked him to remove his baseball hat, which didn't sit well with Luke. "You know, I kind of had a little night . . . had a little fun and got to speaking out on Twitter a little . . . You know, I learned a lot about the power of it, too, and how many people I'm . . . how influential I am with it, and I'll always use that in a more positive fashion from here on out."
Luke continues on the My Kinda Party tour with Jason Aldean. They play their home turf in Nashville on Friday (February 24th). The show is already sold out.
Luke will release the fourth edition of his Spring Break EP, called Suntan City, on March 6th. He'll head to Panama City, Florida to perform two Spring Break shows on March 13th and 14th at Spinnaker Beach Club.
RASCAL FLATTS PREVIEWS NEW MUSIC DURING LIVE THEATER BROADCAST
Rascal Flatts will kick off their album release week with a live performance for fans coast to coast. Rascal Flatts-CHANGED: One Night Exclusive Theater Event will take place in movie theaters across the country on April 5th beginning at 8 p.m ET (7:00 p.m. CT/6:00 p.m. MT/8:00 p.m. PT tape delayed). The special broadcast will include exclusive never-before-seen access into the lives of Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus, along with exclusive live performances of their biggest hits and music from their new album, Changed, set for release on April 3rd. Tickets for Rascal Flatts - CHANGED: One Night Exclusive Theater Event will be available to the U.S. public in early March at FathomEvents.com. The event will also play at select Cineplex Entertainment theatres across Canada.
The debut single from Changed, called "Banjo," is making its climb up the country charts.
SUGARLAND PLAYS THE BLAME GAME
Sugarland is defending themselves against the negligence suit filed against them in the aftermath of the tragic Indiana State Fair last August. While those who filed the lawsuit claim the duo is partially responsible for the catastrophe because they didn't postpone or cancel the performance. Sugarland members Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles think otherwise.
In addition to blaming the incident on "a true accident, or act of God," according to court documents, they ultimately blame the victims themselves, saying "some or all of the plaintiffs failed to exercise due care for their own safety" and that "some or all of the plaintiffs knowingly and voluntarily assumed and/or incurred the risk of injury to themselves."
Seven people were killed and 40 injured when the stage collapsed on the crowd waiting to see Sugarland perform.
The lawsuit, which was filed in November, accuses the band, the concert's promoters and several other companies responsible for building the stage of negligence, claiming they allowed it to become overloaded, failed to properly monitor the encroaching and threatening weather and, finally, failed to properly evacuate the area in a timely manner.
Sugarland responded in the documents that "they had nothing to with the construction of the venue", and that "the incident at issue in this litigation resulted from a gust of wind of unprecedented intensity, which caused a structure that may have been improperly designed, maintained and/or inspected to fail. As such, this was a true accident or Act of God."
The lawsuit against Sugarland and the other parties was filed on behalf of 51 people, including the families and estates of four fans who were killed. They are seeking unspecified damages.
JoJo Turnbeaugh
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