The stadium-filling superstar Kenny Chesney will join the Country Music Hall of Fame this year alongside musical matriarch June Carter Cash and powerhouse producer Tony Brown.

Why it matters: Induction into the Hall of Fame is the biggest and most exclusive honor in country music.

🤠 Kenny Chesney has built an empire during his 21 years of hit-making. His legion of fans, known as "No Shoes Nation," share a fervent devotion that rivals Swifties and Parrot Heads.

• Although he grew up in landlocked East Tennessee, he is an acolyte of Jimmy Buffett, and his feel-good, beachy bops dominated country radio at the turn of the century.

Zoom out: Chesney cemented his legacy on the road. He has been one of the biggest touring acts in any genre for years.

Fun fact: When Vince Gill announced Chesney as one of the inductees at the Hall of Fame yesterday, he told the audience that Chesney toured in Russia with East Tennessee State University's bluegrass band.

🌺 June Carter Cash is country music royalty. She is part of the legendary Carter family and married Johnny Cash in 1968. (She wrote "Ring of Fire" about their relationship.)

• "If country music is a family, today's inductee was its matriarch for decades," Gill said Tuesday. "She earned that role, not just through her talent, but by bringing musicians together across generations."

The big picture: In addition to her own music, Carter Cash helped nurture Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Larry Gatlin.

Fun fact: Reese Witherspoon won an Oscar for playing Carter Cash in the 2005 film "Walk the Line."

🎙️ Tony Brown shaped the sound of country music in the 1990s. He produced hits for Gill, George Strait, Reba McEntire, Wynonna Judd and Trisha Yearwood, to name a few.

Behind the scenes: As an executive, he was a champion of Americana music, signing or producing artists such as Shooter Jennings, Lyle Lovett and The Mavericks.

Fun fact: Gill said Brown "single-handedly" persuaded him to record "Go Rest High on That Mountain." It is one of many modern standards Brown produced.

• "I was not going to record it. It was too personal," Gill said. "He heard it and said, 'You have to record that song.'"
• "I will be forever indebted to him for that."

What's next: Chesney, Carter Cash and Brown will be inducted later this year.

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Williamson County retained its crown as the healthiest place in Tennessee in an annual data review.

Why it matters: The County Health Rankings analysis offers a broad check-up on key quality-of-life metrics like housing affordability, air quality, income inequality and child care cost burden — essential drivers of long-term health.

State of play: Williamson ranks among the healthiest counties in the nation, according to the latest data. It is far above the rest of Tennessee on those metrics.

Between the lines: That gels with Williamson's status as the wealthiest county in the state. Residents' access to transportation, good jobs and well-funded schools "are among the factors that make up a healthy community," the annual report states.

Yes, but: "Conditions needed to create healthy communities are not available to everyone," the report notes.

The other side: Tennessee's poor and rural counties are among the least healthy, per the report.

• Lake County, in the northwest corner of the state, fares the worst in the review. It is one of nine economically distressed Tennessee counties.

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The Tennessee health department is rolling out $47.5 million in grants to help rural counties.

Why it matters: The latest round of grants, announced yesterday, will go toward mental health care, cancer screenings, and pregnancy care in underserved areas.

By the numbers: The state awarded 23 "healthcare resiliency" grants in this wave. Each project will serve at-risk or economically distressed counties.

• Two previous rounds of resiliency grants went out in 2023.

Zoom in: One grant for nearly $1 million will establish a new dental clinic in West Tennessee.

• Another for nearly $2 million will go toward buying and renovating a large medical space to provide more care options in northeast Tennessee.

💸 The Trump administration's spending cuts could hit nearly 400 Nashville nonprofits. (Tennessean)

💜 Caring for the Nashville Zoo's new clouded leopard cub is a tough job. (WPLN)

🏈 Tennessee State University has hired a new football coach to replace Eddie George. (Nashville Scene)

Nashville Metro Councilmember Olivia Hill told CNN in an interview this week, "They can't make me go away, they can't make me hide," in response to anti-transgender policies introduced by the Trump administration.

Why it matters: Hill is the first transgender person elected to public office in Tennessee history and she's using her mantle to stand up for transgender rights.

State of play: Trump has signed executive orders to ban transgender athletes in women's sports and to ban transgender people serving in the military.

What she's saying: "I've been trans my entire life and it didn't affect my service at all," Hill, who served in the Navy for 10 years, said. "I did three deployments, two of which were in the Persian Gulf, and I saw combat during Desert Storm."

• "It didn't affect my service at all and it doesn't affect any service member being trans."

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