Newbies Top The Charts; Icons Get Honors

Anybody surprised that a pop princess with an established following would debut an album at #1? What if the pop princess was Jessica Simpson debuting a country album at the top of the Country Top 75? It’s not a huge stretch. Do You Know scanned over 65,000 units its first week out. That was plenty to grab the top spot, but what might be surprising is that this country project is the first time any of Jessica’s albums have debuted at number one on any chart!

Anybody surprised that a legend like Hank Williams, Junior would be declared a BMI Icon? He will be given the honor at BMI’s 56th annual Country Music Awards ceremony in November. Bocephus will join a list that includes Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Charlie Daniels and Willie Nelson. The BMI Icon is presented to artists and songwriters who have had a “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Meanwhile Reba McEntire will be the recipient of the prestigious Golden Note Award from the other performance rights organization, ASCAP. The award is reserved for “…artists, composers and songwriters who have achieved extraordinary career milestones.” Reba has sold 55 million albums and scored 31 number one hits. Previous recipients include Garth Brooks, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Alan Jackson, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Lionel Richie, Tom Petty, André Previn, Michael W. Smith, Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones.

2009 may just be the Year of the Pickler. Kellie Pickler will ring in the New Year as a special reporter on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest. Kellie will be the Times Square correspondent, reporting live from New York City.

Lee Ann Womack will soon make her silver screen debut in Noble Things. The movie was three years in the making. Production on the film, shot in south Texas, was shut down twice in 2005 -- by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Filming finally resumed this year, but the crew had to rush to wrap up before Hurricane Gustav hit the area. "Rita really did wreck plans -- everyone was sent home and there was this thinking that we'd never be able to get the film off the ground again," a movie spokeswoman told IMDB. "Over 80 percent of the locations for filming were damaged by Rita. We had to cancel the entire shoot of the film." But Brett Moses, the movie’s writer, director, and principal character actor, refused to give up. It wasn’t until this year that the film could resume filming, and the crew barely managed to finish before yet another storm – Gustav – would wreak evacuation déjà vu. Lee Ann plays a frumpy deputy in the film and will have several songs on the soundtrack.

And here’s one of the hottest gossip pictures on the ‘net. Aspiring country singer Justin Gaston and Miley Cyrus attended church service in Pasadena, CA. 20-year-old Gaston has given the standard “just friends” response when asked if he and 15-year-old Miley are dating. After the church outing with Cyrus and her family, the pair were seen at Disney's Concert for Hope. Miley was there to perform. Tuesday, the two were spotted again having lunch with Miley's mom, Tish, and older sister, Brandi.