Country music star T. Graham Brown, based in Nashville, has shared his top 15 life lessons for a healthy life with Fox News Digital as the New Year is about to begin.

Brown, 70, recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of his deeply personal song, “Wine into Water,” which has impacted many people who have faced struggles in life.

His newest album is “From Memphis to Muscle Shoals,” and he’ll be performing at the Carolina Opry with Lorrie Morgan in January, with a host of other performance dates on his schedule.

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The recently inducted member of the Grand Ole Opry has a strong faith in God, an unwavering belief in the USA and an abounding love for his wife and partner, Sheila Brown, whom he credits with helping him beat drug and alcohol addiction issues years ago — as he shared with Fox News Digital in an interview.

15 life lessons from Nashville star T. Graham Brown

1. Never forget where you came from if you want to get where you want to go in life. 

This is a lesson that Elvis pulled me aside at Graceland one night and shared with me. After hearing it, I applied it to my career. Learn to be humble.

2. There’s no room for ego in this business. 

The fans of what you do give everything to you — and if you don’t stay accessible, down to earth, true to your music and true to your beliefs, then they have the right to take it away from you.

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3. Never say “no” to a fan who comes up to you to compliment you and ask for an autograph. 

Always consider it an honor when someone takes the time to acknowledge you. 

It’s the ultimate compliment.

4. Always take the time to stop and smell the roses on your journey toward success. 

“It’s the incredible trip you take that’s the most important.”

After all, success is not a place. It’s the incredible trip you take that’s the most important. 

So be careful not to overlook your journey by taking time to reflect along the way.

T. Graham Brown, pictured at home in Nashville, told Fox News Digital, “No matter how old you get, it’s never too late in life to be who you might have been.” (Fox News Digital)

5. Money should not be your barometer for success in your career. 

The best barometer will be the friends that you make. 

Long after the smoke clears and the fans stop screaming your name, your relationships will be the most important thing and comfort you more. Be sure to cherish them.

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6. Never get caught up in believing your own press. 

After all, it’s just press.

7. Never stop dreaming. 

No matter how old you get, it’s never too late in life to be who you might have been. 

Dream big, be big. Dream small, be small.

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8. To be successful, surround yourself with people who know more than you do. 

They will help you get where you want to go. A great team can help get you much further than going it alone.

T. Graham Brown on stage for T. Graham Brown Concert at the 70th Annual Georgia Mountain Fair Grounds, Anderson Music Hall, Hiawassee, Georgia, August 2021. (credit: Derek Storm/Everett Collection/Alamy Live News) (Alamy)

9. Use your money and influence to improve the quality of life of those around you.

That’s one of my greatest lessons and joys in life. Paying it forward is an incredible feeling, even if it’s to help a total stranger.

“A public ‘thank you’ is usually worth more to someone than money.”

10. Never continue to worry about a problem you have no control over. 

Worry about it once, then let it go — because each time you think about the problem, you’re paying for it over and over again. 

Let go and let God.

11. Take time to think through every decision you make in your career, no matter how small you might think it is. 

Remember that small decisions are sometimes just as important as the big ones.

12. Always take time to thank and acknowledge the people around you who helped pave the way to your success. 

A public “thank you” is usually worth more to someone than money.

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13. If you can’t say something good about someone, don’t say anything at all. 

It’s a small business and everyone in it usually knows or finds out what is said about them.

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14. Never envy someone for the success that they receive. 

Be happy for them, as it will help pave the way for your own happiness and success.

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15. Don’t ever forget to be thankful for all that comes your way. 

It will take you higher than you ever imagined.

• Warren Upton, the oldest living survivor of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the last remaining survivor of the USS Utah, has died at age 105.
• On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes began bombing the American naval base, pushing the United States into World War II.
• There were about 87,000 military personnel on Oahu on the day of the attack, according to military historian J. Michael Wenger. After Upton’s death, only 15 are still alive.

Warren Upton, the oldest living survivor of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the last remaining survivor of the USS Utah, has died. He was 105.

Upton died Wednesday at a hospital in Los Gatos, California, after suffering a bout of pneumonia, said Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors.

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The Utah, a battleship, was moored at Pearl Harbor when Japanese planes began bombing the Hawaii naval base in the early hours of Dec. 7, 1941, in an attack that propelled the U.S. into World War II.

Upton told The Associated Press in 2020 that he had been getting ready to shave when he felt the first torpedo hit the Utah. He recalled that no one on board knew what made the ship shake. Then, the second torpedo hit and the ship began to list and capsize.

The then-22-year-old swam ashore to Ford Island, where he jumped in a trench to avoid Japanese planes strafing the area. He stayed for about 30 minutes until a truck came and took him to safety.

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Upton said he didn’t mind talking about what happened during the attack. Instead, what upset him was that he kept losing shipmates over the years. By 2020, there were only three crew members of the Utah still alive, including himself.

There were an estimated 87,000 military personnel on Oahu on the day of the attack, according to military historian J. Michael Wenger. After Upton’s death, only 15 are still alive.

Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, who ran a failed presidential campaign against President Biden, defended his decision to oppose his party’s leadership in a recent interview despite criticism.

Phillips announced in 2023 that he will not seek re-election in 2024. The decision came after he ran a long-shot primary challenge against Biden. While his campaign was unsuccessful, the Minnesota congressman used his media engagements to shine a light on his concerns with Biden’s age. 

“We are totally devoid of leadership. We are rudderless,” Phillips said in an interview with Politico. 

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“If what I feel now is vindication, it’s awfully unsatisfying,” Phillips said. “I felt vindicated the day I announced my campaign, because I knew this was not an opinion. This was a fact. The fact was, he was not in a position to win. The fact was his approval numbers were historically low. The fact was his physical decline was real. And the only vindication I cared about was my own, and I’m saddened that I’m vindicated. I would have much rather traded that vindication for success, and that’s why I’m so utterly disappointed in many of my colleagues and our party.”

Phillips became a pariah within the Democratic Party for a time after he launched a longshot primary campaign against Biden late last year. He had argued for months beforehand that the 81-year-old president needed to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders.

Phillips told Politico that following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party needs a “comprehensive turnaround.” 

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Phillips said that Biden’s “physical decline” was real and should not have been ignored by the Democratic Party.  (Chip Somodevilla)

“A party that consists of multiple silos and campaign committees and outside groups cannot strategically do its job, and that means leadership,” Phillips said. 

“And in my presidential campaign, I regret that I wasn’t able to generate a platform to really wake people up to this nightmare into which we sleepwalked,” he said. 

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser, Elizabeth Elkind and Matteo Cina contributed to this report. 

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Everyone’s blaming health insurance company greed for the soaring claims denials and roadblocks to care. That’s naive.  Follow the money to find the real culprits: lying politicians. 

In 2013, before Affordable Care Act regulations kicked in, insurers denied roughly 1.5% of claims, according to the American Medical Association. But under ACA rules, denials increased tenfold. Now nearly 15% of claims are denied, reports Premier, an insurance consultant firm. Some insurers deny a third or more of claims, according to Kaiser Family Foundation research. 

Insurers are also demanding preauthorizations for a wide range of treatments and medications, tying your doctor’s hands and dangerously delaying your care. 

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Your doctor has to call the insurer before beginning treatment or ordering medication. Seldom is the person on the other end of the phone a specialist in the disease or treatment in question. It could be an OB-GYN overriding what your neurosurgeon recommends, warns the AMA. 

Dr. Debra Patt prescribed a drug combination for a patient with metastatic breast cancer but had to wait weeks for prior authorization. In the meantime, reports the AMA, she had to settle for standard chemotherapy, to no avail: Her patient died. 

“You have health plan representatives who have never met the patient, have never been at the bedside or practiced medicine but are now making treatment decisions,” objects Tina Grant, senior vice president of public policy and advocacy at Trinity Health, a system of 92 Catholic hospitals. 

According to House Committee on Energy and Commerce testimony, 80% of the preapprovals Cigna denied for Medicare Advantage customers were overturned on appeal, a sign that legitimate care is being withheld. Cigna uses an algorithm called PxDx to deny prior authorizations in bulk. 

Denials and prior authorization requirements escalated after the ACA went into effect. But don’t blame profit maximization. The ACA regulates underwriting profits, and if profits go up, insurers have to send customers rebates. 

Giants like United Healthcare have grown into money-making behemoths by buying physicians’ practices, hospitals and pharmacy chains, not by selling health plans, according to IBISWorld industry research. 

The actual reason your health insurance is becoming unreliable is that politicians backing Obamacare knowingly made a promise that was impossible to keep without insurers resorting to predatory practices. 

Obamacare advocates promised everyone would be charged the same regardless of their “preexisting conditions.” 

The math doesn’t work. Every year, 5% of the population uses over 50% of the healthcare. That’s a fact of nature, politics aside. 

Politicians, like President Barack Obama, pushed Obamacare knowing it would be difficult for insurance companies. FILE: Obama celebrates after accepting his party’s nomination during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday, September 06, 2012. (Photo by Christopher Evans/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

Telling insurers to cover the 5% for the same price they charge healthy people is like providing monthly groceries to a skinny fashion model and the winner of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest for the same price. Ridiculous. 

Five percent more premium payers and 50% more medical needs. 

The federal government should have stepped in with extra payments to cover people with preexisting conditions. Instead, insurers were hit with a mountain of new claims and told to make it work. They adopted Draconian cost-cutting methods. 

The winners? Democratic politicians. Covering preexisting conditions at no extra charge is popular. 

The losers? Everyone else who has to worry that their next treatment will be delayed or their next claim denied. 

The biggest losers, sadly, are the seriously ill who suffer disproportionately from managed care’s tight controls, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research paper on Medicaid managed care. 

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More than half of states are now passing laws to limit prior authorization. 

That’s a step in the right direction. But Americans need to reassess managed care. 

Denials and prior authorization requirements escalated after the ACA went into effect. But don’t blame profit maximization. The ACA regulates underwriting profits, and if profits go up, insurers have to send customers rebates. 

There is next to no evidence that it improves health. 

President Joe Biden’s assistant secretary of health policy boasts that the ACA’s coverage expansion — mostly in managed care — reduced “morbidity and mortality.” That’s a blatant lie.  Americans are sicker and living shorter lives than they were before the ACA. 

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One alternative is to allow low-cost catastrophic insurance, which kicks in only for the large bills. Healthy people who get coverage at work would benefit from fewer interactions with an insurer and more take-home pay in lieu of a whopping $25,000 plan — the cost this year for family coverage. 

Democrats try to label catastrophic coverage as “junk insurance.” The Biden administration made it almost impossible to buy. But Americans are beginning to see that health plans that turn down claims and make you wait a dangerous amount of time for preauthorization are the real “junk.” 

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Olivia Hussey, famously known for her role in the 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet”, has died. She was 73. 

Hussey died Friday, “peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones,” a statement posted to her Instagram account said.

“Olivia was a remarkable person whose warmth, wisdom, and pure kindness touched the lives of all who knew her,” the statement continued.

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“Olivia lived a life full of passion, love, and dedication to the arts, spirituality, and kindness towards animals… As we grieve this immense loss, we also celebrate Olivia’s enduring impact on our lives and the industry.”

“We thank you for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time and ask for privacy as we mourn the loss of a truly special soul,” the caption concluded. 

Hussey was born on April 17, 1951, in Bueno Aires, Argentina, and moved to London as a child.

Circa 1967: British actors Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting join hands in “Romeo and Juliet.” (Larry Ellis/Express/Getty Images)

Hussey became a movie star at age 15 when she was cast as the most infamous doomed lover in 1968’s “Romeo and Juliet.” She nabbed the sought-after role of Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli’s film, which became an international sensation.

She penned a memoir titled “Girl on the Balcony” about the many ups and downs she endured in Hollywood.

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“It was actually very overwhelming,” Hussey previously told Fox News Digital in 2018. “Even when we were shooting, we had reporters waiting for an interview during our lunch and tea breaks. And they had come from all over the world.”

“I celebrated my 16th birthday during shooting… When the film was released, we traveled all over the world and I couldn’t really spend my teenage years like other teenagers… Everyone would come up to us for a photo, an autograph. But it was the experience of a lifetime really.”

“Romeo and Juliet” movie director Franco Zeffirelli, left, actors Olivia Hussey, center, and Leonard Whiting are seen after the Parisian premiere of the film in Paris on Sept. 25, 1968. (AP Photo/Eustache Cardenas)

The film stirred headlines even before it was released in theaters. At age 16, Hussey stripped down for a love scene depicting her wedding night alongside her co-star Leonard Whiting [Romeo], who was also 16 when he took on the role.

Despite being visibly topless in the epic drama, Hussey said at the time that she felt at ease on set.

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“I think because it was done very tastefully,” she explained. “And in Europe, it was very different. In America, it was very taboo. But in Europe a lot of the films had nudity. Nobody really thought much of it. But it was just the fact that I was 16 that got a lot of publicity… The large crew we worked with was whittled down to only the very basic people, a handful of people. It was done later in the day when it wasn’t busy. It was a closed set…

“Romeo and Juliet” went on to win two Oscars and Hussey won a Golden Globe for best new actress for her part as Juliet.

Leonard Whiting plays Romeo Montague and Olivia Hussey plays Juliet Capulet in the 1968 production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet directed by Franco Zeffirelli. (Bettman)

Decades later Hussey and Whiting brought a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures alleging sexual abuse, sexual harassment and fraud over nude scenes in the film, according to the Associated Press.

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They alleged that they were initially told they would wear flesh-colored undergarments in a bedroom scene, but on the day of the shoot Zeffirelli told the pair they would wear only body makeup and that the camera would be positioned in a way that would not show nudity. They alleged they were filmed in the nude without their knowledge.

The case was dismissed by a Los Angeles County judge in 2023, who found their depiction could not be considered child pornography and the pair filed their claim too late.

Hussey is survived by her husband of 35 years, David Glen Eisley, her three children and a grandson. (David Livingston/Getty Images)

She also starred as Mary, mother of Jesus, in the 1977 television series “Jesus of Nazareth,” and in the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile.”

Hussey is survived by her husband of 35 years, David Glen Eisley, her three children and a grandson.

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Fox News Digital’s Stephanie Nolasco and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

A woman who said she spent over $30,000 on a wedding she “hated” found a new way to have a “beautiful” and “stress-free” marriage experience: by renewing her vows for less than a grand and loving every minute of it.

Alexandrea Acevedo, 27, of Orlando, Florida, said she had a “giant wedding” with 200 guests years ago but felt “stressed” and “anxious” the entire day, she told news agency SWNS.

Today, she feels she did “what everyone else wanted” instead of having her dream wedding day.

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She and her husband, Michael Acevedo, renewed their vows last year, she said, and went up a mountain with three of their four children, SWNS reported.

She said it was a “beautiful day.”

Reflecting on her wedding years ago, in contrast, she said the event was “so expensive … We were so young. It was a rough time. I don’t know why we ever did that.”

She said the event cost her and her husband “a little over $30,000. That was such a waste of money. We could have put that toward a house deposit. A wedding is not for the couple – it’s for the guests.”

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She added, “We put all this energy and stress [into] a big shiny event. Why did I go through all of that for a few hours? We did what everyone else wanted instead of what we wanted.”

“Why did I go through all of that for a few hours?”

The couple met in January 2017.

They were engaged in April of that same year after a whirlwind romance.

The couple on their wedding day in Sept. 2018: “It was like a blur.” (Syndey Thornton/Olive and Birch Photography via SWNS)

The now-mom-of-four said she’d wanted a “pretty dress, photographer and to go to a mountain” — but some family members wanted the opposite, SWNS reported.

Said Alexandrea Acevedo, “When we brought up the idea of eloping and doing it on our own, they had a fit … So we ended up having a giant wedding.”

She said she spent over a year planning a garden-themed event for 200 guests.

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She said, “I planned everything on my own … Everyone is in your ear.”

She said that today, she hardly remembers her Sept. 2018 wedding day as she was so stressed about everything.

“I was super anxious the whole day,” she told SWNS. 

The couple decided to renew their vows just last year — and had a completely different experience than during their wedding.  (Syndey Thornton/Olive and Birch Photography via SWNS)

“I don’t really remember a whole lot of it. It was like a blur. There was so much chaos going on.”

She said she knew her family wanted her “eat her food and greet everyone,” but she said she felt “exhausted” by all of it.

She said, “This is supposed to be the happiest day of my life. It ends up being for everyone else. You don’t even get to enjoy your meal.”

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After their wedding, the couple began to create the family life they’d wanted. Today they have four children, ages 9, 6, 2, and four months old.

When they were approaching their five-year wedding anniversary, they decided to renew their vows to celebrate. 

The renewal of vows, they said, was “completely stress-free. It was just about us — not pleasing everyone else.” (Syndey Thornton/Olive and Birch Photography via SWNS)

So they hired a photographer, SNWS reported, and drove to Fred W. Symmes Chapel, Cleveland, South Carolina, with their three eldest children in Sept. 2023.

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Said the mom, “We had a moment between us, the kids and God. It was completely stress-free. It was just about us — not pleasing everyone else.”

She added, “It was such a beautiful day.”

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The family spent the rest of the day enjoying lunch and hiking. 

All in all, they spent less than $1,000 on the renewal of their vows.

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The wife and mom said she’s hoping to encourage others to plan a wedding they want as a couple the first time around.

She said, “When it comes to your marriage, it should be what you want — not what everyone else wants. It should be about you and your family as a couple.”

Most Republicans prefer not to hear celebrities’ political takes as Americans seem to be experiencing “information overload” post-election, a poll released Thursday showed. 

AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research published a poll titled, “Most adults feel the need to limit political news consumption due to fatigue and information overload.”

Sixty-one percent of Republicans strongly/somewhat disapproved of celebrities speaking out about political issues, while 27% neither approved nor disapproved and 11% strongly/somewhat approved. For Democrats, however, 20% strongly/somewhat disapproved, while 40% neither approved nor disapproved and 39% strongly/somewhat approved.

Much of America is still reeling from a contentious election, to the point where many are apparently burned out on political news altogether. 

“Sixty-five percent of adults have felt the need to limit their media consumption about the government and politics due to information overload, fatigue, or similar reasons and half feel the same for overseas conflicts,” according to the poll’s summary of findings. “Around four in ten adults feel the same way about news on the economy and climate change.”

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to claim they feel the need to limit their media consumption of stories about government and politics overall, at 72% vs. 59%.

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“People are not eager for politics to mix with their entertainment or commerce experiences,” according to the summary. “Forty-three percent of adults approve of small businesses speaking out on political issues and 20% disapprove. But, only a quarter approve of celebrities, professional athletes, or large companies speaking out, while 4 in 10 disapprove.”

The study noted that “Democrats are more likely than Republicans to approve of celebrities, professional athletes, and large companies speaking out about politics. Small businesses speaking out on political issues is viewed similarly by Democrats and Republicans.”

Then-Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris looks at a monitor of the event from backstage, just before taking the stage for her final campaign rally, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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One of the major takeaways of the 2024 election was that podcasts that focus on political and cultural commentary, like the “Joe Rogan Experience,” seemingly influenced voters more than endorsements from celebrity entertainers like Taylor Swift.

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When she endorsed the Harris-Walz campaign in 2024, it was deemed a blow to the Trump campaign, but President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris indicates that Swift’s endorsement might not have had the actual impact Democrats were hoping for.

According to AP VoteCast, 44% of women between ages 18 and 44 voted for Trump, while 48% of women 45 and older supported him.

The AP/NORC poll was conducted between Dec. 5 and 9 using a probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews were conducted among 1,251 adults. 

The overall margin of sampling error for the poll was +/- 3.7 percentage points. 

Fox News Digital’s Kendall Tietz contributed to this report.