Update: Moments after leaving News 13’s studios at 5 p.m., Gulf Coast Jam Producer Rendy Lovelady said he had the clearance needed to announce the new Saturday night headliner for the festival.
It is country music superstar Kenny Chesney.
Chesney is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist who has recorded more than 20 albums and produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, 32 of which have reached number one.
Many of these songs have been within the Top 40 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, making him one of the most successful crossover country artists.
Chesney has sold over 30 million albums worldwide.
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) — Gulf Coast Jam Executive Producer Rendy Lovelady joined News 13 Live at 5 to talk about the concert after learning that one of his headliners has dropped out.
Lovelady said he is hard at work on getting a replacement headliner for Saturday night. Morgan Wallen, one of the hottest stars in country music, was scheduled to play that night of the four-day festival.
In a video announcement on his Instagram page, Wallen announced he will not be performing any shows for the next six weeks.
“What’s going on y’all, I’m just going to get straight to it. I got some bad news from my doctors at the Vanderbilt Voice Center yesterday. After taking ten days of vocal rest, I performed three shows last weekend in Florida, and by the third one I felt terrible,” Wallen said. “So, I went in and got scoped yesterday and they told me I injured my vocal cords and that I have vocal fold trauma. Their advice is that I go on vocal rest for six weeks. So that’s what I’m going to do. They want me to not talk at all, but they said it’s okay if I need to for something like this.”
Lovelady joined News 13’s Amy Hoyt to discuss the situation Tuesday.