LeAnn Rimes to Tour With Kenny Chesney

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LeAnn Rimes will be Kenny Chesney's special guest next year on his Poets & Pirates tour. Specific dates have not been announced, but work is already underway on the concert production. "I think LeAnn Rimes is as good a singer as there is out there, and she knows how to have fun onstage," Chesney said. "I am a big fan, and everybody better be ready for a pretty incredible time. I know I'm looking forward to seeing her out there and getting to hear her sing." Chesney's upcoming road work follows this year's Flip Flop Summer Tour which included appearances at six NFL stadiums. Ticket sales totaled more than 1.2 million for the 57 dates of his 2007 tour. Rimes performs Tuesday night (Nov. 6) on Dancing With the Stars and will sing with Reba McEntire on Wednesday's CMA Awards show. Both programs will air on ABC.

Rosanne Cash to Undergo Brain Surgery

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Rosanne Cash will undergo brain surgery in New York for a rare but benign condition, it was announced Tuesday (Nov. 6) on her official Web site. The singer-songwriter, daughter of the late Johnny Cash, has been diagnosed with chiari I malformation, a congenital malformation of the skull that affects the brain and spinal cord. "It's nothing like a tumor or hemorrhage or anything," manager, Danny Kahn, told the Associated Press. "It's elective surgery." As a result, Cash has canceled the final four dates of a national tour promoting her latest album, Black Cadillac. The cancellations include shows this week in Kansas City, Lafayette, Ind., and Kent, Ohio, and a Nov. 30 date in Washington, D.C. Following her recover, she plans to return to the studio to finish work on her debut album for Manhattan Records, resume touring and complete a new book to be published in early 2009.

Country Music Pioneer Hank Thompson Retires

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Country Music Hall of Fame member Hank Thompson has announced his retirement from a career that has spanned seven decades. Thompson, 82, was released from the hospital Wednesday (Oct. 31) after being diagnosed with an undisclosed illness. He is recovering at his home near Fort Worth, Texas. A honky-tonk singer and leader of his band, the Brazos Valley Boys, Thompson scored a total of 29 Top 10 singles, including "The Wild Side of Life," which spent 15 weeks at No. 1 in 1949. Other hits include "Humpty Dumpty Heart," "Rub-a-Dub-Dub" and "A Six Pack to Go." Thompson, who has canceled all of his tour dates, last performed on Oct. 8 in Waco, Texas, his birthplace.

John Michael Montgomery Launches New Label

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John Michael Montgomery has created his own record label, Stringtown Records, and will serve a chief executive officer of the new company. The first scheduled release is a new album Montgomery will record with producer Byron Gallimore, who produced his 2004 album, Letters From Home. Sessions have not begun on the project, and no release date has been set. During his tenure on Atlantic Records, Montgomery enjoyed seven No. 1 singles, including 1993's "I Love the Way You Love Me" and 2000's "The Little Girl." Former Decca Records head Shelia Shipley Biddy will serve as Stringtown's president while continuing to work as an artist manager at Hallmark Direction Company, which also represents Montgomery. The new label is expected to sign other artists after the release of Montgomery's album.

Clay Walker Donating $25,000 to Multiple Sclerosis Research

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Clay Walker announced Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 6) at the Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital in Nashville that his foundation, BAMS (Band Against Multiple Sclerosis), will donate $25,000 for research toward a cure for multiple sclerosis. Walker also said the foundation plans to donate a similar amount toward MS research annually during the next three years. Walker, who was diagnosed with MS in 1996, said, "It is important for me to give back now because I have been so blessed." He later added, "There are a lot of people out there who aren't doing so well with multiple sclerosis, and we want to be their ray of hope."