September 12, 2002
Faith Hill's 'Cry' Due Next Month

Faith Hill's long-awaited new Warner Bros. album, Cry, will arrive Oct. 15. As previously reported, the title cut was released to U.S. radio outlets last month and has quickly climbed the Billboard Hot 100, where it is No. 41 this week. "Cry" is also No. 12 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and No. 21 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary survey.

Plans are being formulated for a world tour in 2003. Beforehand, a host of promotional appearances are in the works, including an Oct. 12 performance on "Saturday Night Live" and yet-to-be-scheduled slots on "The Today Show," "The Late Show With David Letterman," and "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." In addition, a Hill special will be broadcast in November on NBC, with different versions set to air from December through February on CMT and VH1.

"This record has been a long and rewarding process, which began quite a while ago," Hill said last month. "The emotions that were involved in this process, whether happiness, accomplishment, or the sheer beauty of some of these songs, I thought, lent itself so well to the title."

Cry will be enhanced with a "Making of the Video" featurette for the title cut and other exclusive content. Fans can also purchase the album in the high-end DVD-Audio format, bundled with footage from the Cry sessions and a photo shoot.

Here is the tracklist for Cry:

"Back To You"
"Cry"
"Baby You Belong"
"Beautiful"
"One"
"When the Lights Go Down"
"Stronger"
"You're Still Here"
"Unsaveable"
"Free"
"If You're Gonna Fly Away"
"If This Is the End"
"This Is Me"
"I Think I Will"

- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

September 10, 2002
Carolyn Dawn Johnson Tops Canadian Country Awards

Arista Nashville's Carolyn Dawn Johnson was again the big winner at the Canadian Country Music Awards, held last night (Sept. 9) in Calgary, Alberta. In addition to top female, Johnson took home trophies for top single and top video for her hit "I Don't Want You to Go." Johnson also swept last year's event, winning five awards.

The show was hosted by Paul Brandt, who picked up awards for top male and top album for Small Towns and Big Dreams (Vik Records). Newcomer Emerson Drive, which opened the show with its DreamWorks hit "I Should Be Sleeping," won top group and the Rising Star Award.

Other winners included Universal's Jason McCoy for top song; EMI's Jimmy Rankin in the new category of top roots artist; and Arista Nashville's Terri Clark, who picked up the Fans' Choice Award for the second year in a row.

Legendary country vocalist Kenny Rogers was on hand to induct Anne Murray into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. A video montage tribute highlighting her career also included fellow Canadian Shania Twain.

- Larry LeBlanc, Toronto

September 9, 2002
Willie Nelson Cancels Four Tour Dates

Country icon Willie Nelson has canceled several tour dates after suffering a ruptured blood vessel in his nose. "Per doctor's orders he needs to rest for a few days," according to a statement from his record label, Lost Highway. Nelson will skip a total of four planned performances in Lincoln, NE; Neosho, MO; Bonner Springs, KS; and Geneva, MN.

Nelson was performing last Thursday (Sept. 5) at TJ's Tavern in Brownville, NE, when he stopped the show for about 20 minutes to deal with a nosebleed, according to a post by his daughter Lana Nelson that appears on his official Web site. After it was under control, the band returned to the stage to finish the show.

On the bus after the show, the bleeding began again, and it was determined Nelson should visit the hospital in Lincoln, NE, "where they stuffed an elephant's tampon up his left nostril," according to Lana's note. After about three hours travel on the bus, the bleeding started again, and Nelson visited another hospital near the Oklahoma/Texas border.

Back on the road again, Nelson's nose began "bleeding like an artery had been severed," Lana's account continues, but her father "refused yet another hospital ... We had held ice packs on it now for about 36 hours, and as mysteriously as it started, it stopped."

"Don't worry," she concludes, "I think things are going to be O.K."

Nelson is resting and expects to return to his tour Sept. 20 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and participate at the 15th annual Farm Aid concert the next day at the Post-Gazette Pavilion in Burgettstown, PA. He has dates in support of his latest album, The Great Divide, scheduled through a Nov. 16 finale in Ft. Worth, Texas.

- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y

September 5, 2002
Country Stars Join Texas Stampede

Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Vince Gill, Toby Keith, and Brooks & Dunn have signed on to headline concerts in conjunction with Texas Stampede, a rodeo competition running Oct. 24-27 at Dallas' American Airlines Center. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Dallas-based Children's Medical Center and the pediatric programs of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

The concerts will be held each night following such rodeo events as bareback riding, steer wrestling, and calf roping. Fans will also be entertained by a vast marketplace on the arena grounds.

Tickets go on sale Sept. 21 via Ticketmaster. For more information, visit the event's official Web site. Nelson and Keith performed at last year's event, which also featured Alan Jackson, Lee Ann Womack, and Martina McBride.

- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y

September 5, 2002
Dixie Chicks Make Their 'Home' On Top

The Dixie Chicks blast straight to No. 1 on The Billboard 200 after their latest Monument/Columbia, Home, sold a whopping 780,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. One of six top-20 entries on the chart, Home notched the third biggest sales week of the year, behind only the first two full weeks of Eminem's The Eminem Show (Web/Aftermath/Interscope), which dips to No. 2. Fittingly, Home also lands at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums tally.

It's by far the biggest sales week of the Chicks' career; Garth Brooks is the only country artist who has sold more in a single week. The first week total for Home more than doubles the trio's previous best: 341,000 units for the first week of Fly in September 1999. Collectively, Fly and the Chicks' debut set, Wide Open Spaces, have sold 15.2 million copies in the U.S.

The group's single "Long Time Gone" peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks roundup, and currently rests at No. 9. A rare, commercially released single has sold 127,000 units to date, which helped propel it to a No. 7 peak on Billboard's Hot 100, where it is No. 23 this week. The second single from Home, a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide," is up 32-24 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

- Todd Martens, L.A.; Michael Ellis, N.Y.