Odds & Ends: Steven Tyler, Avril Lavigne, Noah And The Whale

Steven Tyler officially announced to the world that he’s going country with an appearance at the most appropriate venue you could think of – Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House.

Grand Ole Opry tweeted Tuesday evening, “@IamStevenT just graced the #Opry stage with @EricPaslay announcing his upcoming country album!”

Earlier that day the Aerosmith frontman tweeted a photo with Paslay and singer/songwriter Lindsey Lee along with a caption saying that he was “growin some new songs” with the duo.

Rolling Stone points out that the news isn’t too shocking, seeing as how Tyler has recently been teaming up with country stars, from performing with Brad Paisley on the 2014 “CMA Country Christmas” TV special to singing background vocals on a track from Jana Kramer’s new album. And don’t forget when he and Carrie Underwood duetted on “Can’t Stop Lovin’ You,” which hails from Aerosmith’s 2012 album, Music from Another Dimension! People magazine notes that Tyler has been working with songwriters since moving to Nashville in January.

A release date for the album hasn’t been announced yet. Although Tyler has released a handful of singles, the upcoming LP marks his first solo album.

Nearly four months after a private tweet to a fan went viral, Avril Lavigne has revealed what the singer meant by saying she was “having some health issues.”

Lavigne told People she was diagnosed with Lyme disease last fall after feeling lethargic and lightheaded for months. She believes she became ill after being bit by a tick sometime last spring.

“I had no idea a bug bite could do this,” Lavigne told the magazine. “I was bedridden for five months.”         

She added, “I felt like I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t talk and I couldn’t move. I thought I was dying.”

Lavigne has been recovering at her house in Ontario, with help from her mom, who moved in to assist the singer. Her husband, Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger, helped out when he wasn’t on tour.

Now that she says she’s feeling “80 percent better,” Lavigne is ready to get back to music. Her new single, “Fly,” is due out in April to support the 2015 Special Olympics.

Noah And The Whale announced this week that it was calling it quits after eight years.

The English indie rock band posted the following message on Facebook Wednesday:

“Dear Friends

Noah and the Whale have decided to call it a day.

We have had an incredible eight years together and are immensely grateful to everyone who has helped us along the way.

There are too many people to mention in this short message but we would like to take this opportunity to give special thanks to all of our amazing fans, who have supported us so magnificently over the years and made everything possible.”

The act last toured in 2013. That’s the same year it put out its fourth studio album, Heart of Nowhere.

But the end of Noah and the Whale doesn’t mean this is the last you’ll hear from the band members – vocalist/guitarist Charlie Fink, violinist/keyboarist Tom Hobden, bassist Matt Owens, guitarist/keyboardist Fred Abbott and drummer Michael Petulla. The act’s farewell message was followed by links to individual websites for the musicians.