Billy Ray Cyrus

Nashville honchos finally have figured out most country music buyers are women, and they're starting to give us female artists of content - Trisha Yearwood, Mary-Chapin Carpenter and Pam Tillis, to name a few - who carry themselves with class. This is good. The obverse of the women gaining a measure of dignity, though, is that the guys are all poster boys, often of the slow-witted variety. With the exception of Everyman Garth Brooks and stolid Mark Chesnutt, the country hit parade has turned into a Hillbilly Hunk-O-Rama.

A nasty brew is bubbling in the country. Billy Ray Cyrus, responding to a suit filed against him by singer Del Reeves, said Reeves took unfair advantage of him by signing Cyrus to a contract in 1988 that would have him paying a huge chunk of what he makes to Reeves. In a suit filed in September, Reeves and his wife, Ellen, say they're entitled to 8 percent of Cyrus' cut of "the suggested retail list price of all (his) records sold" plus 15 percent of his gross earnings if Reeves got him a record deal, which he says he did. Also, Ellen Reeves is suing the "Achy Breaky" singer to enforce an "investor agreement" in which Cyrus agreed to pay her 2.5 percent of gross earnings in his first year in return for $2,200 she advanced him for demo tapes.

Miley Cyrus has just left the dentist's office. The verdict: The 13-year-old needs braces. A very Hollywood compromise is reached: Attaching the buttresses to the inside of her teeth. The thing is, Cyrus has a lot of face time as the title character in the Disney Channel's latest kid sensation, Hannah Montana. The March debut drew 5.4 million viewers, the most ever for an original series on the channel. Last month, it was the third-highest rated show on television among tween girls (9-14 year olds)

Hank Cochran, 74, a consummate songwriter who composed a string of country hits, including "Make the World Go Away" for Eddy Arnold, has died. Martha E. Moore, his publicist, said Mr. Cochran died Thursday at his home in Hendersonville, Tenn., north of Nashville. He was in declining health in recent years and suffered an aortic aneurysm in March. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two years ago. Among the No. 1 hits he cowrote were Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" and George Strait's "Ocean Front Property.

It's looking more like there'll be a 15th season of "ER," sources said. The NBC medical drama has been casting recurring characters, including Aida Turturro of "The Sopranos" as a car accident victim. And talent agents have been told the show will shoot four episodes for next season after wrapping its six-episode post-strike order. 'Wire' it up Can't let go of "The Wire" yet? Find solace at "Untangling The Wire," a roundtable discussion with journalists Mark Bowden, Jeffrey Goldberg, and Ross Douthat on The Atlantic magazine's Web site, www.the atlantic.

More than 10,000 motorcyclists weathered rain yesterday in the charity Love Ride, but spirits were high, and this year's event had a pronounced sense of patriotism. "It's a lot more patriotic this year," said Lisa McCabe, who drove in from Laughlin, Nev., to ride her bike in what is billed as the largest motorcycle fund-raising event in the world. "Seeing the fire trucks on the overpasses waving flags at us - that was way cool," McCabe said. The ride ended with a concert featuring Billy Ray Cyrus and the band Vanilla Fudge.

Ask a half-dozen local radio execs who'll win at tonight's Grammy Awards, and you'll get a lot of answers. But there are two names that leap out of everyone's mouth: Arrested Development and Eric Clapton. "It's definitely got to be Arrested Development" for best new artist, said Bill Clark, program director at jazz WRTI-FM (90.1). "They're the only true innovators as far as music and rap has gone in the past year. " Asked who the TV audience will see pick up the Grammy for record of the year (the ceremony will be telecast at 8 on Channel 10)

Thousands of Americans will go to bed tomorrow night without their Hannah Montana. Tickets for the highly anticipated 3-D concert film Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, which opens tomorrow, are almost as hard to come by as actual concert tickets were for the 2007 sold-out tour of the then-14-year-old Miley Ray Cyrus. "Over a thousand showtimes are already sold out across the country," said Harry Medved of the online ticket agency Fandango. He said the film has been a top seller since tickets became available on Dec. 1, and is the best-selling concert film in Fandango's seven-year history.

Billy Ray Cyrus may have failed to capture any Grammys, but he won big where it really counts - at the cash register. The country singer, along with grunge-rockers Pearl Jam, were the big winners of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers 1992 Best Sellers Awards, which were held recently in Orlando, Fla. Cyrus' "Some Gave All" album was Best Selling Recording of the Year, Best Selling Recording, Male, and Best Selling Country Recording,...

Embarrassing as he is, it's hard to hate Billy Ray Cyrus. He's a real-life Rocky Balboa, country music style: a muscle-bound hunk who has made an unlikely, overnight trip to the big time, with nothing but a smidgen of talent and his big ole "Achy Breaky Heart" to get by. That, of course, was more than enough to satisfy the several thousand women of all ages at the Spectrum Tuesday night. They've all caught the "Cyrus virus," a frightening strain that sends them shrieking into sexual delirium every time this 30-year-old ex-Oldsmobile salesman - who looks sort of like George Michael reborn as a lifeguard at a Flatlands, Ky., swimming hole - wiggles his hips, or threatens to disrobe, Chippendales style, right there on stage.

Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus , better known these days as the dad of Miley Cyrus , laments his teenage daughter's success in an interview with GQ magazine. In fact, he tells GQ, he "would erase it all in a second if I could. " Sure, Miley's starring role on the Disney teen show Hannah Montana brought her fame and fortune, but at a huge cost, Billy Ray says. "It destroyed my family. I'll tell you right now - the damn show destroyed my family. " He and wife, Tish , who have four other kids besides Miley, filed for divorce back in October.

S PORTS ILLUSTRATED is going to Shayk, rattle and roll this swimsuit season, naming Russian-born model Irina Shayk this year's Swimsuit Issue cover girl. Irina, girlfriend of soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo , has a wardrobe of hundreds of bathing suits thanks to her Sports Illustrated work. "When I'm going to vacation on my own - I get the swimsuits after the shoots - I have so many choices!" Irina said if she were going to choose a favorite photo, the cover selection likely would be the one. She liked the push-up bra style of the suit, in a design of pink diamonds on the front of the top with yellow around the neck and sides.

Famed Disney ingenue Demi Lovato , who over the weekend dropped out of the Jonas Brothers tour, checked herself into an undisclosed facility Monday night for treatment of what a rep calls "emotional and physical issues. " Adds the rep, "Demi has decided to take personal responsibility for her actions and seek help. " What those actions are is not known, but Demi, who is all of 18, has had her share of troubles, not least of which is a broken heart. (In May, she suffered a highly publicized breakup with Joe Jonas .)

Hank Cochran, 74, a consummate songwriter who composed a string of country hits, including "Make the World Go Away" for Eddy Arnold, has died. Martha E. Moore, his publicist, said Mr. Cochran died Thursday at his home in Hendersonville, Tenn., north of Nashville. He was in declining health in recent years and suffered an aortic aneurysm in March. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two years ago. Among the No. 1 hits he cowrote were Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" and George Strait's "Ocean Front Property.

She's had the best of both worlds, this teen counterpart of Clark Kent and Superman. By day, she's brunette Miley Stewart, just another stuttering, accident-prone high school student. By night, under a Barbie-blond wig, she's Hannah Montana, strutting pop princess, exuberant monarch of the have-it-all club, teen auxiliary. Hannah Montana: The Movie may spell the end of both world(s) as Miley/Hannah knows them. For many years, Miley Cyrus has purveyed this pop-smart/pop-tart split personality on the Disney series Hannah Montana and on a concert tour immortalized in last year's Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour movie.

It's a fat suit, not a baby Forget those rumors about Eva Longoria Parker being pregnant. Her Desperate Housewives costar Felicity Huffman says Longoria isn't showing a baby bump. "She's just fat, that's all there is to it!" the actress told People magazine. When ABC's dizzy soap returns on Sept. 28, the plot has been advanced five years and Longoria Parker has put on weight to portray Gabrielle as a harried housewife and mom. She will also wear a fat suit for some episodes.

"I'd be happy to give him [oral sex] just to thank him for keeping abortion legal. " So said Time magazine reporter Nina Burleigh about President Bill Clinton in 1998, during l'affair Lewinsky. Now, Nina Burleigh is the author of an emotional, sympathetic People magazine cover piece on cancer-stricken Elizabeth Edwards' pain as she faces the public revelation that her husband cheated on her. The reaction of the American left to John Edwards' sex scandal is nothing short of flabbergasting.

It's looking more like there'll be a 15th season of "ER," sources said. The NBC medical drama has been casting recurring characters, including Aida Turturro of "The Sopranos" as a car accident victim. And talent agents have been told the show will shoot four episodes for next season after wrapping its six-episode post-strike order. 'Wire' it up Can't let go of "The Wire" yet? Find solace at "Untangling The Wire," a roundtable discussion with journalists Mark Bowden, Jeffrey Goldberg, and Ross Douthat on The Atlantic magazine's Web site, www.the atlantic.

Thousands of Americans will go to bed tomorrow night without their Hannah Montana. Tickets for the highly anticipated 3-D concert film Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, which opens tomorrow, are almost as hard to come by as actual concert tickets were for the 2007 sold-out tour of the then-14-year-old Miley Ray Cyrus. "Over a thousand showtimes are already sold out across the country," said Harry Medved of the online ticket agency Fandango. He said the film has been a top seller since tickets became available on Dec. 1, and is the best-selling concert film in Fandango's seven-year history.

Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus, one and sort of the same, appeared at the Wachovia Center on Monday night before an audience of several thousand healthy-lunged girls. Hannah, the basis of the hit show on the Disney Channel, is a rock star by night. She's the one in the blond wig. Miley, her daytime persona, is the normal teenage girl - though you wouldn't know it from her Cher Jr. hard-rock ensemble and auburn hair extensions. Cece: Being there and seeing her in that atmosphere, everything about it, and all the special effects made up for the fact that her singing isn't really great.