Megan Thee Stallion is about through with playing the role of wifey in a relationships. In a teaser of her new song, she raps, “All that wifey s*** is dead/ Put that s*** to bed/ l’ma make him beg.” This song follows her breakup with NBA baller Klay Thompson.
Big Freedia is premiering another single and video as part the joint album with SOPHIE. “It’s about to GO DOWN my next single with SOPHIE drops THIS FRIDAY! Pre-save now, link in bio. sound on for first listen,” Freedia wrote on Instagram.
Some consider themselves the greatest of all time, but Rick Ross has another way to describe himself. “I’m the BOAT,” he said Tuesday on his Instagram Story. “Biggest of all time, baby. The BOAT.”
Michael Stipe attends Apple TV’s “Shrinking” special FYC event at Quality Italian on May 02, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by John Nacion/Getty Images)
R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe and producer Andrew Watt were the musical guests on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Tuesday night, where they performed “I Played the Fool,” the theme song to Steve Carell’s HBO series The Rooster.
The pair was joined by some A-list friends for the performance, with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith behind the drum kit, and former Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer on piano. Klinghoffer appeared on the original recording of the song, while blink-182’s Travis Barker played drums on it.
Stipe and Watt released “I Played the Fool” in March to coincide with The Rooster premiere.
Stipe revealed during an April appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that his long-in-the-works debut solo album is expected out later this year. There’s no word on whether “I Played the Fool” will be on it.
In other R.E.M. news, Peter Buck’s band Drink the Sea, which also features Screaming Trees/Mad Season drummer Barrett Martin, has announced a new set of U.S. dates that begin Aug. 30 in Vashon Island, Washington, and wrap Sept. 24 in Kirkland, Washington. The tour will be in support of their new album, which is due out Oct. 2.
Sara Bareilles: Good Grief, a documentary about Sara’s first album in nearly seven years, has its premiere at New York’s Tribeca Festival on Thursday night, and now she’s announced details about the album that’s the focus of the doc.
Also called Good Grief, the album arrives Aug. 28 and is available for preorder and presave now. Sara will donate 100% of the proceeds of the album sales from her website to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
The album is Sara’s first since 2019’s Amidst the Chaos, and she says of the project, “This whole collection of songs felt like transmissions rather than a deliberate attempt to make sense of the world. My deepest hope is that Good Grief provides some kind of comfort or catharsis.”
The first single, “Home,” was inspired by a conversation between Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper on Cooper’s podcast. Sara writes on Instagram, “Hearing their stories of loss, I started feeling more courageous to tell mine.”
“For me, this encapsulates the message of this record – sharing the thing that’s the most true, and through that building threads of connection between you and the people around you. It’s why we’re all here.”
Sara’s Good Grief tour will star Sept. 9 in Boston and is scheduled to run through Oct. 19 in Seattle. Presales start June 8: You can sign up for the artist presale at 12 p.m. local time; various other presales start at 10 a.m. local time. Tickets go on sale to the general public June 10 at 10 a.m. local time.
One dollar of every ticket purchased will go to the The Jed Foundation, which works to prevent suicide among teens and young adults.
Maren Morris’ ‘HERO: A Second Wind’ (Legacy Recordings)
Maren Morris’ debut album came out on June 3, 2016, and to mark a decade of music, the “My Church” hitmaker is expanding the collection.
“HERO is officially 10!” she shared on Instagram. “to celebrate, i wanted to share a few pieces from this era that never made it out into the world. two new songs from the vault and four never-before-heard demos.”
In addition to the record’s original 11 tracks, HERO: A Second Wind includes the new songs “We Can’t Be Friends” and “Hard Liquor and Soft Rock,” as well as the demos for “Company You Keep,” “I Wish I Was” and “Drunk Girls Don’t Cry” plus “Sugar,” which is out now.
Available as a double vinyl set and CD, the revamped collection comes to streaming June 26, complete with the previously-released bonus songs “Bummin’ Cigarettes,” “Company You Keep” and “Space.”
Pink will host the Tony Awards live on CBS June 7 (Kurt Iswarienko)
Pink has never been in a Broadway show, but the star, who’s hosting the Tony Awards Sunday night on CBS, has Broadway dreams.
Speaking to Billboard, Pink says she’s been approached “many times” about turning her catalog into a Broadway musical but notes, “I don’t know if I have an opinion just yet.” She did, however, enjoy the musical & Juliet, which is based around songs written by Max Martin, including her hit “Perfect.”
“I think & Juliet was the coolest. It’s a really good show, I really liked it, and I was skeptical, even though I love Max Martin. I think anything is possible if it’s done right,” she tells Billboard. She adds she has also been asked to play Shakespeare in the show.
“I thought that was hilarious and awesome and would certainly be the role for me. But I’m not doing anything right now,” she says, before sharing she’d be interested in writing an original musical.
Pink and her family recently moved to New York to support her daughter, Willow Sage Hart, 15, in her dreams of being a Broadway star. Pink tells E!, “She’s doing the damn thing. She’s in cabarets for charity, she’s in workshops, she just did Carrie the musical — which was dark. She’s killing it. It’s fun to watch.”
On Sunday, Pink says she’ll be “living out my childhood dreams” by performing a Chicago medley on the Tonys. “It’s gonna be amazing,” she tells Billboard.
As for new music, Pink says, “I’ve been writing some songs just because my heart needs it. But no, I don’t have any plans right now. I’m just mom-ing and seeing where the day takes us.”
Musician Bob Dylan Performs onstage during the 37th AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Michael Douglas at Sony Pictures on June 11, 2009 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for AFI)
The New York Times released a list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters back in April, based on feedback from more than 250 music insiders and six Times critics. The list drew criticism from music fans, so the paper has now decided to give them their say.
The Times has now released a readers’ choice list of the 100 greatest American songwriters, noting, “As soon as we decided to make a list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters, we could guess how readers would respond to the results: with a combination of enthusiasm and outrage, quickly letting us know which of their favorites we had unconscionably forgotten.”
“We didn’t want all that passion to go undocumented. So we invited readers to assemble their own list — with a formal poll,” they added.
The new list is the result of over 25,000 ballots cast, resulting in “nearly 12,000 distinct choices,” which were narrowed down to 100 artists.
While the original list didn’t rank the songwriters, the reader’s choice list does. Bob Dylan lands at #1, followed by Paul Simon at #2, Bruce Springsteen at #3 and Carole King at #4. Billy Joel, who did not make the original list, ranks at #5.
Rounding out the top 10 are Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, James Taylor, who also didn’t make the original list, and Willie Nelson.
Other artists who didn’t make the original cut but landed on the readers’ choice list include: Jackson Browne, David Byrne, Stevie Nicks, Donald Fagen, Don Henley, John Fogerty, R.E.M., Bonnie Raitt, Jack White, Pearl Jam, Stephen Stills, Patti Smith, Beck, Lana Del Rey, Noah Kahan, John Mellencamp, Chrissie Hynde, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, The National and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl.
When Jordan Davis made his third album, Learn the Hard Way, his intention was clear: to color outside the lines a bit.
As his latest hit, “Turn This Truck Around,” becomes his 10th career #1, he can rest assured his efforts paid off.
“I think the overall inspiration for this album really was to do something different, to do something that me and [producer] Paul [DiGiovanni] haven’t done, to kind of show influences instead of just talk about them,” Jordan says. “And I think we did that with a few different songs in this: ‘Son of a Gun,’ ‘Louisiana Stick,’ ‘Turn This Truck Around.'”
“I feel like it’s stuff that we haven’t done before,” he continues. “It’s a different sound for us, so that was really what we wanted to do, and I think we accomplished it.”
Learn the Hard Way marks its first birthday on Aug. 15, and featured his previous hits “I Ain’t Sayin'” and “Bar None.”
Bruce Springsteen on Jimmy Kimmel Live!/(Disney/Randy Holmes)
The 25th anniversary edition of New York’s Tribeca Festival gets underway on Wednesday with the debut of a documentary on Earth, Wind & Fire, followed by a performance by the legendary band. The festival closes with an Alicia Keys documentary, and in between, there are films focusing on everyone from Madonna, Sara Bareilles and Katy Perry to Peter Frampton, Travis Barker and Mumford & Sons, all of whom will make appearances.
“Musically related projects in movies or just doing concerts, it’s all great. Music is great, and the more we get, the better,” Tribeca Festival co-founder Robert De Niro told ABC Audio.
“And there are amazing stories about artists and their longevity and what they’ve gone through to be able … to sing their songs,” festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal adds. “And you just learn about different musicians and who they are as people and how they all work together.”
During one of the festival’s closing events, U2’s Bono will present the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award to Bruce Springsteen for using his platform to “advance equality, dignity, and human rights.” Patti Smith will perform.
“What he’s doing is great,” De Niro says of Springsteen. “And he has a voice that’s very big … and he’s enraged the way … many of us [are]. So God bless him.”
The festival’s head of music programming, Vincent Cassous, says tapping stars like Madonna to do Q&As after their screenings, and acts like Earth, Wind & Fire to perform after theirs, is part of the festival’s plan to “make it something that you can’t miss.”
Cassou says the Frampton documentary will be a highlight, since the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will make an appearance despite living with a degenerative muscle disease.
“I think it’s going to be one of the most emotional moments at the festival, for sure.”
Amy Lee from Evanescence performs at Marvel Stadium on Nov. 8, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Sam Tabone/Getty Images)
Sanctuary, the new album from Evanescence, officially comes out on Friday, but you can hear it today if you want.
The band has teamed up with Volume.com to host an album listening party, which starts at 2 p.m. ET. All you need to do is create an account and claim your free ticket. You’ll also be able to ask the band questions, which they’ll answer during a live Q&A after the stream.
Sanctuary, the follow-up to 2021’s The Bitter Truth, drops June 5. It includes Evanescence’s hit Devil May Cry song, “Afterlife.”
Amy Lee and company will launch a U.S. tour in June. Spiritbox and Nova Twins will also be on the bill.
A$AP Rocky on cover of ‘Vibe’ (Photo Credit: Jamil GS)
A$AP Rocky is a fan of his latest album, Don’t Be Dumb, although he believes people don’t fully realize how good it is.
“That s*** was fire, bro. They still sleep on it,” he says in an interview with Vibe, which marks its return to print for the first time in more than a decade. “I had to throw them off. The whole album ain’t ‘Punk Rocky.’ The whole album ain’t ‘Helicopter.’ The whole album ain’t just one kind of sound. Just play it, sit down, enjoy it, and shut the f*** up.”
Later in the interview, Rocky says he isn’t interested in conforming to people’s expectations.
“If they don’t get it, f*** it,” he says. “I’m making what I f*** with. I’m a chef. I’m cooking you these five-star dishes. If you don’t have this acquired taste, don’t listen to this s***. I’m not giving y’all McDonald’s and s*** no more.”
A tour, however, is where he knows his music will be appreciated.
“Imagine putting out a product, and then thousands and thousands of people [are] coming together to celebrate that product,” Rocky says. “That’s the s*** that I live for.” His Don’t Be Dumb World Tour is currently underway.
Don’t Be Dumb marked Rocky’s first album in eight years. Asked how he’s changed since 2018, he says, “a little bit of evolution and time.”
Although he doesn’t know what the next decade looks like, he tells Vibe, “Hopefully, knowing me, more than likely it’s still going to be music.”
He continues, “I don’t know what that’s going to look like, what that’s going to sound like, what my vibe is going to be, but it’s not going to be what I’m on today.”
