Jason Aldean’s newest album, Wide Open, has been certified gold by the RIAA for shipments of 500,000 copies. The album was released on April 7 and reached gold status in a record-setting 10 weeks. Aldean’s two previous albums were certified gold after 12 weeks of release. The album includes “She’s Country” and “Big Green Tractor.” Aldean’s next concert will take place on Friday (June 26) at Country Jam USA in Grand Junction, Colo.

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The Taylor Swift and T-Pain collaboration on the comedy rap video of “Thug Story” on the CMT Music Awards show Tuesday night (June 16) is turning into an event on its own. In what Newsday.com called the “craziest collaboration ever,” Swift’s video, in her new role as gangsta rapper T-Sweezy with T-Pain, quickly became one of CMT.com’s most-viewed features. The Los Angeles Times’ Pop and Hiss blog said the video is “a certain iTunes hit if it gets released.” At the awards show, T-Pain said he had had his large “Big Ass Chain” chain made especially for the occasion. He said it was crafted of white gold.

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Gretchen Wilson’s new single, “If I Can Do It All Again,” will be released digitally for purchase on Tuesday June 9. The song was written by Rivers Rutherford and George Teren. Wilson’s new album is scheduled for release later this year. She will perform the first concert at this year’s CMA Music Festival on Thursday June 11. Later that night, she will be a guest on Larry King Live as part of a panel about the CMA Music Festival.

Chet Atkins and Charlie Daniels are among those being inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville, it was announced Tuesday.

The musicians will be officially inducted at the 2009 Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum Awards Show on Oct. 12. Other inductees are Jimi Hendrix guitarist Billy Cox, guitarist Dick Dale, British jazz musician Victor Feldman, songwriter and producer Fred Foster, who worked with Dolly Parton and Roy Orbison, Motown arranger Paul Riser and the band Toto.

Tim McGraw and wife Faith Hill will perform during Country United: Advancing Medicine from the Frontlines to the Homefront, an event taking place Nov. 6-7 in Washington, D.C., to support our nation’s wounded warriors. The symposium and gala are supported by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine and the Tug McGraw Foundation. McGraw and Hill are co-chairing the event that will raise money to help advance medical care and improve quality of life for service members and civilians. Hill is also scheduled to provide the keynote address during the Nov. 6 symposium. The gala will take place Nov. 7. “My father, Tug McGraw, proudly served as a Marine, and I’m honored to play a role in this very special event,” Tim McGraw said. “The goal of Country United is aligned with our own mission to accelerate treatment and cures around quality-of-life issues.”

Courtesy: CMT.com