Music

Taylor Swift‘s Midnights comes out Thursday night and Twitter says the album is the most anticipated album of all time. People tweeted about the album 1.6 million times in the first three days following its announcement. Fans are most excited about her “Snow on the Beach” collab with Lana Del Rey, “Lavender Haze” and “Karma.”

Macklemore is still celebrating his breakout hit “Can’t Hold Us” being RIAA-certified Diamond. He told Billboard of being among the few artists with two Diamond singles off one album, “It’s amazing. Not everyone has it. I believe only 20 people have it in history. Is that right? Can I flex?” “Thrift Shop,” also off the The Heist album, was also minted Diamond. He revealed record labels told him of the song, “‘Yeah, it’s cool. I don’t hear it on the radio, though.'” Joke’s on them!

We may finally know why Dua Lipa was palling around with comedian Trevor Noah and accidentally sparked dating rumors. Turns out he was a recent guest on her At Your Service podcast, where the two chatted about their favorite comedians. The episode airs Friday.

Speaking of Dua, she revealed her first fragrance was Britney Spears‘ “Curious.” She spoke with Byrdie about being the new face of YSL Beauty Libre fragrance and said of Britney’s famous perfume, “I like that it was really fresh.”

Katy Perry has a new venture — a jewelry line that honors her PLAY residency in Las Vegas. She’s teamed up with Twila True Fine Jewelry to sell the new offerings at their store at Resorts World, where her residency is being held. You can also buy the new line on the Twila website, which offers new charms, pendants, rings and more.

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Alicia Keys is looking to add some merry & bright to this holiday season. 

The Grammy winner announced her first holiday album, Santa Baby, will be released November 4 exclusively on Apple Music. 

The album, which was recorded while on her sold-out European tour this summer, will feature seven reimagined holiday classics, as well as four original songs written by Keys. The first single, “December Back 2 June,” will be released Friday, October 28. 

“I love this music! It feels so good!” Keys said. “I picked each song based on my all-time favorites and I wrote the new ones based on real holiday emotions and stories. The holidays are such a beautiful time to slow down, be with the ones you love and make meaning! Santa Baby is definitely going to be the perfect holiday soundtrack. I can’t wait for you to fall in love with it.”

To ring in the holiday season, Keys will perform live music from Santa Baby on national TV. More information on the performances to be announced soon. 

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For as long as Taylor Swift‘s been releasing albums, fans have been poring over her lyrics, artwork, social media feeds and every utterance, trying to determine if she’s dropping Easter eggs and hidden messages about her life and future plans…or just trolling them. Now, Taylor explains how it all started.

Longtime Swifties know that Taylor started this with her debut album: She randomly capitalized letters in the lyrics printed in the CD booklet, spelling out messages revealing the songs’ meanings. She continued to do this through the release of 1989. In an email to The Washington Post, Taylor reveals the inspiration behind the “secret messages” idea.

“I remember saving up to buy a CD when I was a kid, tearing it open, and laying on the floor reading every word of the lyric booklet. Reading lyrics and seeing which photos defined the album were two of my favorite parts of experiencing a record release,” Taylor wrote to The Post. “I felt like some artists really leaned into their album packaging in a creative way. The Chicks’ Fly album was my favorite because their photos depicted all the meanings of the word ‘fly’ in very theatrical ways.”

Taylor goes on to say that when she released her self-titled debut, “I wanted to recreate the experience I used to have for my fans in a reimagined approach. I decided to encode the lyrics with hidden messages using capital letters.”

“My fans and I have since descended into color coding, numerology, word searches, elaborate hints, and Easter eggs,” she notes. “It’s really about turning new music into an event for my fans and trying to entertain them in playful, mischievous, clever ways.”

And Taylor promises, “As long as they still find it fun and exciting, I’ll keep doing it.”

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Lainey Wilson is throwing a virtual release party for her new album, Bell Bottom Country, on October 30 at 3 p.m. ET. Tickets and merch bundles are available now.

Morgan Evans has released the studio version of “Over For You,” a song he wrote in the midst of his divorce from Kelsea Ballerini. “It was a difficult time in my life and writing this song helped me process a lot of what I was going through,” Morgan explained on Twitter.

Tenille Townes has announced a short run of dates, billed as the Side A + Side B Tour, for January 2023.

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Faith No More frontman Mike Patton has shared that he struggled with alcohol use amid the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.

Speaking with The Guardian, Patton recalls actually feeling good at the beginning of the pandemic — “It allowed me to be an antisocial motherf***er!” he laughs — but then “something changed — and not for the better.”

“Because I was isolated so much, going outside was a hard thing to do, and that’s a horrible thing,” Patton says. “The idea of doing more Faith No More shows — it was stressful. It affected me mentally. I don’t know why, but the drinking just … happened.”

In addition to the battle with alcoholism, Patton was diagnosed with the anxiety disorder agoraphobia. He revealed in a Rolling Stone interview published over the summer that the diagnosis forced Faith No More to cancel a tour in 2021.

Those dates, Patton tells The Guardian, won’t be rescheduled. He plans to return to the live stage in December for a run of South American shows with Mr. Bungle. Patton says he’s been “doing pretty good” lately and has been sober “for a while,” though he admits he’s afraid of playing shows again.

“I’m afraid of myself,” Patton says. “The band is rock solid and I want to make sure that I bring it. There are a few issues going on.”

When asked to clarify those issues, Patton replies, “I don’t know if I wanna tell you.”

Patton is also set to release a new album with his band Dead Cross, titled II, on October 28.

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What is it like to film an intimate movie scene with Harry Styles? Just ask David Dawson, who plays Harry’s secret lover in My Policeman.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Dawson said he was comfortable filming sex scenes with the “As It Was” singer.

“That was one of the most special things I took away from this project,” he dished. “Because initially, when you read the script and you know that there are these intimate scenes, you hope that the person you’re going to be going through this process with is someone you can wholly put your trust in and will communicate with you and is void of ego. And I got all of that and more in Harry.”

Dawson added the two were able to find some humor in filming those steamy scenes: “That’s how odd the situation is. There were only about four other people that needed to be with us in that room, and suddenly when ‘cut’ is called you notice that, you know, the [director of photography] is there. But we all just had a laugh, because that’s the best way to deal with it.”

Harry plays a closeted police officer named Tom in the upcoming film, which is set in England in the ’50s — a time when homosexuality was prohibited. While Tom marries a woman named Marion, played by The Crown‘s Emma Corrin, he engages in an extramarital affair with Dawson’s Patrick.

The movie debuts in theaters on October 21 and will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on November 4.

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Kane Brown looks back on some of the most difficult parts of his childhood in a new sit-down with CBS Mornings, detailing the racism he experienced in middle school and the abuse he faced at home.

“Had to grow up a lot faster than a normal person … Just, you know, moving around a lot. And then no father figure. Child abuse,” Kane explains.

The singer suffered physical abuse as a kid and recalls one occasion in which he was forced to eat soap.

“One of my stepdads for my punishment shaved my head bald and put aftershave on me. Made me, like, physically eat half a bar of soap, not just bite into it. I had to eat it and swallow it. So all kinds of crazy things,” he recounts.

He also experienced racism at a young age, recalling one instance in middle school when he was sitting on the school bus with his first girlfriend.

“And she was about to get dropped off and then she was like, ‘I can’t talk to you anymore.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ And she was like, ‘My dad says you’re Black,’” the singer says.

Kane believes that his presence as a country superstar should be proof positive that Black artists deserve to have a place on the genre’s biggest stages. “I shouldn’t have to say anything, you know? I’m up there in front of everybody as a Black artist,” he concludes. “I’m selling out arenas.”

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Motown founder Berry Gordy and Grammy Award-winner Smokey Robinson will be honored at the 2023 MusiCares Persons of the Year, the Recording Academy announced Thursday. 

For the first time, the high honor will go to two music legends; the 32nd annual gala will take place in Los Angeles on February 3, two nights before the 65th annual Grammy Awards. 

Gordy, the creator of Motown, alongside Robinson, his first writer and artist, have created an indelible legacy in popular music spanning more than six decades. The longtime friends will accept the prestigious award together.

“Wow! How honored I am to be named the MusiCares Persons of the Year, and together with my best friend of over 65 years,” Robinson said.

How special is that!” Gordy said. “I am grateful to be included in MusiCares’ remarkable history of music icons. The work they do is so critical to the well-being of our music community, and I look forward to a most exciting evening.”

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