This extends Strait’s record for holding the most No. 1 songs on all charts of any artist in any genre (Conway Twitty previously held the record with 55). It also means that the Sixty for Sixty campaign, to help Strait earn his 60th Number One while he was still 60 years old, was a success (Strait turned 61 on May 18).

George offered his thanks to fans in a message on his website:

“I didn’t realize we were making history — I just hoped we were putting out music that my fans would enjoy. As always, I’m thankful to the fans and country radio for their support on all 60 of these number one songs as well as my entire career. They are the ones who made this happen.”

It’s official, George makes history with his 60th #1 single!!! Thanks to all of YOU for your hard work and support! youtu.be/NFbCgcxd2XE

— George Strait (@GeorgeStrait) May 20, 2013

Fans and artists alike have been rallying for months in support of the song and Sixty for Sixty. Many of George’s friends and fellow artists, in fact, created videos honoring “King George” and his music.

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It’s got white sand, blue water and tiki bars, along with plenty of drumming and dancing–but it also involves such antics as hatchet tossing, jet pack flights, and human catapulting. While it’s not exactly Jackass, the idea of being shot out over the water by catapult (with or without beer in hand) will certainly give the saner minds among us pause.

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The real winner, though, is Trace’s chosen charity, the Red Cross, which will receive more than $1.5 million as a result of his win. This includes a $250,000 first-place prize.

Thanks to everyone that watched, bought, tweeted, donated and cheered!Your love will give @redcross so much! – Team Trace

— TraceAdkins (@TraceAdkins) May 20, 2013

Trace’s win came at the tail end of a whirlwind week for the veteran singer. The previous Tuesday he released his latest album Love Will…, a collection of love songs that he said in a recent interview came together in part thanks to Donald Trump and the scheduling requirements for Celebrity Apprentice.

The final episode of Celebrity Apprentice took place Sunday night (May 19) during a live broadcast. The competition involved selling ice cream through the Walgreen’s chain. Trace was selling Maple Macadamia Mash-Up, while Penn was selling Vanilla & Chocolate Magic Swurtle. During the week of competition Penn actually sold more ice cream.

The winner, though, was chosen based on more than just the product sales. As Trace said to Trump in the final moments of the show, before the decision was announced: “Going into this last task I think I delivered the best ice cream, I made the best commercial, I put on the best show, I brought in the biggest celebrities, and I raised the most money.” Hard to argue with that.

Congrats Trace on winning #CelebrityApprentice! RT @sdumusic WOOOHOOOOO!!! @traceadkins we are SOOOOO PROUD OF YOU! vine.co/v/b9q3hDJmD9r

— Universal MusicGroup (@UMG) May 20, 2013

This was Trace’s second appearance on Celebrity Apprentice.

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The first time Josh Turner heard “Long Black Train,” his second single ever, on the radio in 2003, he had to pull off the road.

“My wife Jennifer and I were driving to my hometown in South Carolina,” Turner tells Radio.com. “We were on this two-lane country road and I was listening to my hometown station and [when] we had finally gotten within range of it ‘Long Black Train’ comes on the radio. I had to pull off the side of the road because it was such an emotional moment.”

Turner went on to explain that this was the moment he had been “waiting for and dreaming about for years and years.”

“As a young boy growing up down in South Carolina, to a lot of people being a famous country singer seemed like a lofty goal and even unattainable,” he said. “I never doubted it one second. So for that moment to happen in my life was a huge turning point for me.”

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“I kinda threw the playbook away again,” he said of the album. “I’m working with a different producer, different engineer. Just different songs, man, and it feels really fresh.”

Ross Copperman, who co-wrote Dierks’ 2012 hit “Tip It On Back,” was enlisted this time as producer. Dierks also brought back executive producer Arturo Buenahora Jr., who worked on his first two albums. Additionally, some of the music on Riser was cut outside of a traditional recording studio.

“It was important to get out of the studio and sing in different places,” Dierks said in a press statement about the album, “and to do it with other people in the room. That way, you have an audience and you get a sense of what’s working, what’s not working, when it’s feeling good, not feeling good. It brings a little more emotion and energy out of your voice.”

Riser also takes at least some of its inspiration from Dierks’ father, who passed away last year.

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Trace has a daughter with extreme allergies to peanuts and dairy. Trace’s ice cream flavor has both, so when Dave suggested that this would be a convenient way to knock off his kids. Trace didn’t take the idea well.

Take a listen!

“I hear that it’s the best time of your life,” he says. “So I’m getting prepared for my 50s.”

And based on Tim’s accomplishments of late, he has no reason to be anxious about that half-century mark. He’s in arguably the best physical shape of his life; he’s got three wonderful daughters with wife Faith Hill; and he’s just put out a strong new album, Two Lanes of Freedom, for a brand-new label.

It’s his 12th studio album in a recording career that has stayed strong and grown stronger since his debut 20 years ago.

Does he feel that Two Lanes is actually his best album to date? “I think so,” he says, adding, “I think I always feel that way. I look at every album as a progression from the last album.”

On top of everything else — including a headlining summer tour that kicked off earlier this month – he’s the subject of a television special airing this Sunday on CBS. Titled Tim McGraw’s Superstar Summer Night, it’s a two-hour concert extravaganza featuring Tim performing alongside such guests as John Fogerty,  Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley, The Band Perry, Jason Aldean, his wife Faith, and ACM Entertainer of the Year winner Luke Bryan.

The show features a series of collaborations, too, including Florida Georgia Line with Nelly, and McGraw performing with Pitbull and Ne-Yo.

“I love singing with Ne-Yo,” McGraw tells Gayle King. “He’s made me a better singer.”

His collaboration on the song “Highway Don’t Care” with Taylor Swift and Keith Urban was something different, too.

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“I’m super-respectful of his pedigree,” Nettles says of Rubin, who has worked with such artists as Johnny Cash, The Band Perry, Neil Diamond, the Dixie Chicks, the Beastie Boys, Slayer and Tom Petty. “I still get nervous around him, in a kind of a music-crush way.”

I am absolutely thrilled and wholly proud to be working with Rick Rubin on my new solo album! budurl.com/mq8g

— Jennifer Nettles (@JenniferNettles) May 17, 2013

The album, Nettles’ first without her Sugarland partner Kristian Bush, has no official release date yet, or even a title, but according to Rolling Stone it is due sometime this fall.

“This album is different than what I’ve done before,” Nettles told Rolling Stone. “What I do with Sugarland, primarily it’s stuff that starts with me and Kristian [Bush, Sugarland co-founder] writing together. It’s fun to play with that masculine energy, but for this I wanted to do something really personal – more intimate and emotional.”

While she is writing songs on her own this time (as well as working with the likes of Butch Walker and Sara Bareilles), she also says that the new music “won’t be a shock or surprise to a Sugarland fan.” At the same time, though, “hopefully it will bring in new listeners, too.”

The recordings so far have taken place not in Nashville but at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California, with such rock-oriented musicians as Ian McLagan, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, bassist Jason Lader, Matt Sweeney, and guitarist Smokey Hormel.

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