Oklahoma country music star Toby Keith has released a YouTube video thanking them for supporting his smash single “Red Solo Cup.”

“Red Solo Cup” started as a viral video, and it has become a country music phenomenon. The raucous party anthem has been certified platinum, according to CMT.com, and it is currently No. 10 on Billboard’s country songs chart. It has been viewed more than 11 million times on YouTube and has been covered on the Fox TV series “Glee.”

Now “Red Solo Cup” is in demand on apps and …

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood (right) greet fans before a civil trial at the Rogers County Courthouse in Claremore, Okla. on Friday, January 20, 2012. Photo by Matt Barnard/Tulsa World

CLAREMORE – Country music superstar Garth Brooks tearfully told jurors Friday (today) that he believed he had a “done deal” to honor his late mother with a women’s health center in his Oklahoma hometown, according to the Associated Press.

Brooks said he still doesn’t understand how he received nothing for his $500,000 gift to the Yukon hospital.

Born in Tulsa, …

Country music stars Garth Brooks, right, and and his wife Trisha Yearwood leave the courtroom at Rogers County Courthouse, in Claremore, Okla., on Tuesday. Brooks is suing Integris Canadian Valley Hospital for the return of a donation he made in 2005. (AP Photo/Tulsa World, Cory Young)

CLAREMORE – Jurors began hearing testimony this (Wednesday) afternoon in country music star Garth Brooks’ civil suit against Integris Canadian Valley Regional Hospital in his hometown of Yukon, according to the Associated Press.

Brooks’ lawyers told jurors today that a hospital’s internal documents support …

Sampling the Home-Churned Ice Cream recipe at home in Georgia are, from left, Trisha Yearwood; her sister, Beth Yearwood Bernard; her mother, Gwen Yearwood; and niece, Ashley Bernard. This photo is featured in Trisha Yearwood's 2007 cookbook, "Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen."

Oklahoma country music star and cookbook author Trisha Yearwood is mourning the death of her mother, Gwen Yearwood, at the age of 73.

Gwen Yearwood, who co-authored her daughter’s two best-selling cookbooks, died Saturday in morning in Tifton, Ga., after a long fight with cancer, according to …

Ryan LaCroix, intrepid founder/owner/editor of OklahomaRock.com, has compiled a list of the top 100 Oklahoma country songs, and he is unveiling five songs from the list every weekday through Wednesday, Aug. 31, when the top five will be revealed.

To compile the list, LaCroix consulted with state experts such as disc jockeys, musicians and journalists; polled the public on Twitter and Facebook; and consulted chart rankings and non-Oklahoma-specific greatest country songs lists.

He was kind enough to consider me an expert and ask me to share my list of …

Checotah native Carrie Underwood performs " All-American Girl" during the 2008 CMT Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn. (AP file)

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. To see the second part of my column in which I reveal my top 10 Oklahoma country songs, click here.

BAM column: State website counts down the top 100 Oklahoma country songs
OklahomaRock.com is unveiling the list throughout the month of August.

In 1922, fiddlers “Uncle Henry” Gilliland of Altus and Alexander “Eck” Robertson of Borger, Texas, traveled to New York City …

Oklahoma native Reba McEntire, who hails from Chockie, recently realized the ultimate goal of any country entertainer, her election into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The redheaded songstress is featured on the cover of the June 13 issue of Country Weekly magazine, on sale today.

“To have my bronze plaque on the wall with all my heroes and people who I’ve learned and studied from all these years, that’s a dream come true,” Reba said on the red carpet prior to the induction ceremony.

Reba was inducted along with …

Greyson Chance (Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman Archives)

Celebrities with Oklahoma ties used Twitter to voice their concerns, reassure fans they were safe and request prayers for the state as a deadly tornado outbreak swept through Tuesday. At least five were killed, dozens were injured and many homes and businesses were destroyed as multiple twisters tore through Oklahoma.

Like many affected by the storms, Okie celebrities used social media to communicate during the outbreak.

Here’s what some of the high-profile Oklahomans posted on Twitter Tuesday night as the storms …

Oklahoma native Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton show off their Country Music Hall of Fame medallions as Parton ushers Reba into the hall Sunday night. (Photo by Donn Jones/courtesy Country Music Association)

Pauls Valley native Jean Shepard performs after being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame during the private Medallion Ceremony at The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn. on Sunday. Oklahoma native Reba McEntire, Bobby Braddock and Shepard were all inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. (AP Photo)

UPDATED: Since I …

Reba McEntire (AP file)

The 2011 Country Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place Sunday night in Nashville, Tenn., but it featured several Oklahoma stars.

Two Oklahomans were added to the hall: Reba McEntire, who hails from Chockie, and Jean Shepard, who was born in Pauls Valley. But several other state stars performed in honor of the 2011 induction class, which also included songwriter/producer Bobby Braddock.

The ceremony Sunday provided ongoing reminders of Oklahoma’s tremendous influence on country music, The Oklahoman columnist Bryan Painter reports from the ceremony. It …