Willie Nelson has taken his share of beatings through the decades: In his 80 years, he's been through three divorces, an allegedly unscrupulous accounting team, numerous brushes with the law, and a number of non-musical ventures yielding varying amounts of success.

Through it all, there's been a constant companion that's shared the ups and downs, and visibly weathered a beating of its own--Nelson's beloved, battered guitar, which he calls "Trigger" (after Roy Rogers's famous horse) and has credited with giving him his signature sound.

Trigger in 2007 (Photo: Frazer Harrison)

Zac Brown, beating the heat (?) with a beanie at Stagecoach [Kevin Winter/Getty]Florida Georgia Line began the Stagecoach Festival's final day by covering Nelly's "Hot in Herre," and the Zac Brown Band ended it with their usual rendition of Charlie Daniels'"The Devil Went Down to Georgia." Common thread, possibly: the fires of hell.

Granted, these toasty songs would probably have been included in their respective artists' sets even if the thermometer hadn't topped out at 107 degrees (a record for any gathering held at the Indio, California, polo grounds, which also host rock's Coachella Festival). But few acts were able to resist commenting on the fieriness, either in or out of song.

Photo: Frazer HarrisonAfter a dozen years of marriage, country singer Jason Aldean and his wife Jessica Ussery are officially finished as a couple. Aldean filed for divorce in Tennessee April 26, citing irreconcilable differences.

It had been widely reported last week that the pair were merely separated and "having problems" as part of a "private family matter."

Aldean made headlines last fall when he was caught on camera apparently making out with "American Idol" competitor Brittany Kerr. He admitted to the transgression and both he and his wife seemed committed to working on bridging the scandal together.

Photo: Ethan MillerBlake Shelton's ode to undiluted country living, "Boys 'Round Here" is steadily climbing the charts just a month after its release--and it's easy to see (or hear, that is) why. According to Shelton himself, the tune is a perfect snapshot of his upbringing in small-town Oklahoma, as well as reminds him of current pals in his hometown of Tishomingo.

That said, it may come as a surprise that the down-home song translates just as well when brought to the streets of New York City! Here's the very first look at Shelton performing it in a recording session at Electric Lady, the legendary studio founded by Jimi Hendrix in 1970.

While this famous locale has hosted artists ranging from John Lennon to John Mayer over the decades, we're pretty sure this is the first time its hallowed walls have heard "Chew tobacco, chew tobacco, chew tobacco, spit!"

"Boys 'Round Here" is from Shelton's recently released Based on a True Story… album. The studio version includes vocals from his wife, Miranda Lambert,

When Lady Antebellum closed out Day 2 of the Stagecoach Festival, they namechecked all the performers who'd preceded them on the "Mane Stage" Saturday, from Dierks Bentley on down to early-afternoon opener Jana Kramer. They didn't mention anyone who'd played over in the tents, where some of the real action was.

Ashton Kutcher greets fans in a less eventful Stagecoach moment [Frazer Harrison/Getty]We don't just mean musical action, either. It was over yonder at the alt-country-oriented Mustang Stage where actor Ashton Kutcher spent much of the day hanging out, and where he got into a significant tussle with security guards while waiting for Dwight Yoakam to take the stage, according to a TMZ report. A little bit earlier, Kutcher had taken his own photo of the little-known band the Lone Bellow and tweeted to his 14 million followers that they were "the next thing in country music." But some time after that, he reportedly went from his backstage perch to greet a fan, security tried to intervene, shoving ensued, and a guard supposedly tried to have him thrown out.

George Jones died the same day that the West Coast's most prominent country music festival, Stagecoach, began. And while it would hardly be accurate to say that Jones's passing cast a huge pall over the rowdy, beer-fueled proceedings, a couple of the opening-day performers did attempt to play Possum, as it were.

Toby Keith and his red Solo cup salute George Jones [Christopher Polk/Getty Images]Friday's headliner, Toby Keith, honored Jones's death "at 81 party-ass, no-show years old!"--with his indelicate choice of eulogistic language perhaps influenced by his being "hammered," as he put it. Keith urged the mostly twentysomething festival attendees to spend "24 or 48 hours on your way out of here" compiling their own Jones playlists, and cited "how important he was to our industry, because none of us would be here today if we didn’t have four or five cats like George Jones starting it for us."

Photo: Rick Diamond"People Are Crazy," indeed.

Billy Currington seems to be living out the title of his hit single these days, at least in the case of his latest tale. The country star was indicted April 24 on felony charges of making terroristic threats and abuse of an elderly person, according to court records.

The legal problems have cost Currington his slot playing the opening show at NASCAR's All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway next month. Authorities for the race confirmed to USA Today that the legal issues are the reason for his ejection. Josh Turner is slated as his replacement.

Jones back in the day (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives)The legendary George Jones, who passed away Friday at the age of 81, will be well remembered for his music--as well as the colorful stories that inspired it. Although perhaps best-loved for his aching tales of heartbreak, Jones also knew how to bring one heck of a funny story to life via song.

One of the best examples of this is 1996's "Honky Tonk Song," which relates the true story of what happened when a drunken Jones--who had a notorious alcoholic streak through much of his life--had his car keys taken away by his very fed-up wife back in in 1966.

As the story goes: The hard-living Jones had been drunk for several days, and his spouse at the time, Shirley Ann Corley, decided to physically restrain him from having any more liquor. She knew he was not in any shape to walk the eight miles into town, so before leaving the house herself one night, she hid every set of keys they owned…except one.