“Nashville” will sing its swan song, end with Season 6

We know country music is big on the heartbreak, but Nashville just announced Season 6 will be its last and our hearts might need a minute. We’ve been through this once before: ABC gave the musical drama the (cowboy) boot after its first four seasons, but CMT scooped it up.

This time, though, it looks like the goodbyes will be the real deal.

And the ABC cancellation isn’t the only obstacle Nashville has had to overcome. In Season 5, Connie Britton left Hayden Panettiere and the rest of the remaining cast. But, the show two-stepped onward.

Nashville is CMT’s only scripted series and its most-watched series overall with more than 2 million viewers tuning in each week. According to executive producer Marshall Herskovitz, they want to go out on a high note:

“All of us on Nashville are so incredibly grateful to the show’s fans, who convinced CMT to give us a chance to keep telling the story of these remarkable characters. And we want to return the favor with a final season that celebrates all the joys and passions, twists and turns — and amazing music! — that made Nashville such an exciting journey for the last six years.

As a show that follows the ups and downs of country music bigwigs and hopefuls in the title Tennessee city, Nashville has smartly kept music at its core. It’s fanned the fame for sisters and amazing vocalists Lennon and Maisy Stella, for instance, and dropped *22* soundtracks so far — including a Christmas album — throughout its run.

We’re pretty sure we’ll still be singing along years from now.

But in the meantime, we’ll watch (and heal our final season blues), by watching this sneak peek and getting excited about the episodes that are left:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvia9ABrySU?start=3&feature=oembed

The show’s final season premieres January 4th and will go the Mad Men/Breaking Bad route and air in two parts — with the finale airing sometime next summer.