“I didn’t know that was you!”

That’s something Billy Ray Cyrus has been hearing a lot these days, as people discover that the country star is the voice behind the hard-rocking new group, Brother Clyde. “I grew up in Kentucky loving a lot of different styles of music,” Billy Ray tells The Boot. “Johnny Cash once told me, ‘You have to make the music that comes from within. Don’t worry about labels and stereotypes and branding.’”

His Brother Clyde partners certainly come from a different branding. On drums is Samantha Maloney, who’s played with Mötley Crüe, Hole and Eagles of Death Metal. Jamie Miller of theSTART and Snot is on guitar, along with rockers Dan Knight on guitar and Dave Henning on bass. And a special guest is heard on the band’s first single, ‘Lately,’ — rapper King Phaze. But you don’t see any of them in the video for ‘Lately.’ Instead, you see devastating images that give even deeper meaning to the song’s dark, heavy lyrics. As we hear Billy Ray singing, “I feel like the whole world is coming to an end,” pictures of wildfires, earthquake aftermath, flood and hurricane damage, the Gulf oil spill and even the crashing stock market flash on the screen.

“I thought it was quintessential to this video not to have any band performance … no pictures of my face,” Billy Ray insists. “It’s about the world, the human race and Mother Earth. We wanted the video to stay in that realm. We were looking at everything that’s happened lately — the earthquake in Haiti, the floods in Tennessee, the oil spill — there was stuff on the news every single day that reflects more and more what ‘Lately’ is about.”

Brother Clyde’s self-titled debut album hits stores August 10.

NEW YORK — Former “Fly Girl” Jennifer Lopez is poised to return to television – this time as a judge on “American Idol.”

The singer-dancer-actor was close to signing a deal to join Fox TV’s hit singing contest, a person familiar with the negotiations said late Thursday. The person, who was not authorized to comment publicly, spoke on condition of anonymity. Fox declined comment. Phone and e-mail messages for Lopez’s representatives were not immediately returned.

Degeneres announced Thursday she was leaving after one year as judge. “A couple months ago, I let Fox and the `American Idol’ producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for me,” DeGeneres said in a statement. The comedian-talk show host said she realized that while she “loved discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings.”

In May, Simon Cowell exited after nine seasons to start a new talent show for Fox. Those under consideration for his spot, according to reports, are a varied group that includes Steven Tyler and Harry Connick Jr.

Two new judges could help “American Idol” reinvent itself for its January return, when it will try to stem a ratings slide and bring in younger viewers. The show’s audience has been gradually aging, and advertisers prefer to pitch to young adults.

“American Idol” was the nation’s favorite program last season, the seventh time it’s held that position. But it showed rare vulnerability, beaten in the weekly ratings several times by ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

A total of 24.2 million viewers watched the ninth season’s final duel between Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox, compared to the nearly 29 million viewers who saw Kris Allen claim victory over Adam Lambert last year.