The Rolling Stones have shared the official video for their Hackney Diamonds track “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.”
The live clip gives fans a peek at the band’s surprise record release show at the intimate venue Racket in New York on Thursday, October 19, with Lady Gaga joining them for the performance.
Gaga comes out onstage about two minutes into the song, wearing a pink and black sequined jumpsuit, belting out her contribution to the tune.
Hackney Diamonds, the band’s first album in 18 years, is out now. In addition to Gaga, the album version of “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” features Stevie Wonder on keyboards.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith are getting into the Halloween spirit.
Both artists are performing during this Halloween season, and they’re encouraging fans to wear their spookiest costumes to their upcoming shows.
“Hello everyone coming to my Vegas show this Saturday the 28th of October,” Ed said in an Instagram video. “It’s Halloween weekend, so I’m going to be in a costume. Please come in a costume. Be as imaginative as possible, and I’ll see you Saturday. Here we go!”
In the caption, he called for fans to help him pick out his spooky outfit. “Comment what you think I should come dressed as x,” Ed wrote.
Sam is also getting in on the fun, calling on their fans to get unholy with them at their October 31 show in Melbourne, Australia.
“I’m so excited for [the] Melbourne show, because it’s Halloween, and we’re going to have an incredible time,” Sam said in a video posted to socials. “If you want, and if you can, I would love it if you could dress up for Halloween. I’d love to see your costumes. I would love you guys to get unholy with us on Halloween, it’ll be amazing.”
Additionally, Sam put out the call for fans to participate in the #UnholyHalloween TikTok challenge. “Show me your Halloween Outfits using the Unholy Sound on TikTok,” Sam wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I want to see your fabulous looks across the world.”
Pink Floyd is revisiting their fifth studio album, 1970’s Atom Heart Mother, with a special edition reissue.
Originally released in Japan in 2021, the reissue will include the album on CD and a Blu-ray featuring live footage of “Atom Heart Mother (Suite)” performed at Japan’s Hakone Aphrodite festival in August 1971.
The performance, which was part of The Early Years box set, is the only existing footage of Pink Floyd’s performance at the festival. Fifty years later, the original footage was found in a fan’s garage and has now been restored and remastered. The Blu-ray also includes a behind-the-scenes documentary with footage from the band’s Japanese adventures leading to the festival.
Additionally, the reissue comes with a photo book containing never-before-seen pics as well as reproductions of a poster, ticket and more from the 1971 concert.
The Hakone Aphrodite festival, which took place August 6 and 7, 1971, was Floyd’s first concert in Japan. It featured several international artists, with Floyd as the headliner.
Atom Heart Mother – Special Edition is set to drop December 8. It is available for preorder now.
The 2023 Billboard Music Awards finalists have been announced, and among the top hip-hop and R&B leaders are SZA, Drake and TheWeeknd.
Drake, the most decorated BBMAs artist of all time with 34 wins, is up for 14 additional awards, including Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist and Top Hot 100 Artist.
Recognized in some of the same categories as Drake is SZA, who’s up for 16 awards with 17 entries. She’s also a finalist for Top Female Artist. SZA narrowly follows TaylorSwift, who leads this year as a finalist in 20 categories.
The Weeknd, with 16 entries, is up for 13 awards, five of them for “Die For You,” his song with Ariana Grande. The Weeknd’s collaboration with MetroBoomin and 21Savage, “Creepin,” received recognition as a finalist in four categories, including Top Hot 100 Song.
This year, the BBMAs have introduced nine new categories, including Top Hot 100 Songwriter, for which SZA and Drake are nominated; Top Afrobeats Artists, which recognizes BurnaBoy, Tems and Wizkid,and Top Afrobeats Song.
Other notable finalists include Beyoncé, ChrisBrown and Rihanna,who are all up for Top R&B Artist; LilBaby and Travis Scott, recognized as Top Rap Artist, and IceSpice, NickiMinaj and DojaCat, who nabbed spots on the Top Rap Female Artist list.
The 2023 BBMA finalists were determined by performance of the Billboard charts dated from November 19, 2022, through October 21. The ceremony will be held across the BBMAs and Billboard social media accounts on November 19.
Katy Perry recently celebrated her 39th birthday, and she knew exactly what to wish for this year.
As she blew out her candles at her carnival-themed birthday party Wednesday, October 25, Entertainment Tonight reports she spoke aloud her wish.
“I know what I’m wishing for,” Katy said. “I’m wishing for peace.”
Katy says she had a low-key birthday celebration this year, choosing to spend the time with her fiancé, Orlando Bloom, and their daughter, Daisy, but that next year will be a different story.
“For 40, I already planned three years ago,” Perry said. “I’m asking for it all!”
The nominees for the 2023 Billboard Music Awards rock categories may have you questioning your definition of rock.
Up for Top Rock Artist are alternative artists Noah Kahan and Steve Lacy, country musicians Jelly Roll and Zach Bryan, and singer-songwriter Stephen Sanchez, who’s known for his pop hit “Until I Found You.”
The Top Rock Song nominees are Jelly Roll’s “Need a Favor,” which was a crossover #1 hit on rock radio, Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” Sanchez’s “Until I Found You” and two Bryan songs: “Something in the Orange” and “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves.
Kahan, Jelly Roll, Lacy and Bryan are all also nominated in the Top Rock Album category for Stick Season, Whitsitt Chapel, Gemini Rights and American Heartbreak, respectively, as is another crossover country-rocker, HARDY, with the mockingbird & THE CROW.
Rock fans will probably find more expected names in the new-for-this-year Top Rock Duo/Group category, which includes Foo Fighters, Metallica and Arctic Monkeys. Metallica is also nominated for the genre-less Top Duo/Group prize.
Meanwhile, Coldplay, Depeche Mode and Elton John are up for Top Rock Touring Artist.
The 2023 BBMA nominees were determined by performance of the Billboard charts dated from November 19, 2022, through October 21. The ceremony will be held online on November 19.
Beyoncé will premiere her highly anticipated concert film, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, with two opening screenings in London and Los Angeles.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the U.S. showing will take place November 25, with the London show slated for November 30; both will premiere just days before the film’s debut in AMC theaters on December 1.
Locations for the events haven’t yet been revealed, but an invitation for the London premiere suggests a “formal opulence” dress code, while the LA suggested dress code is “cozy opulence.”
Per THR, part of the description of the movie says, “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé accentuates the journey of Renaissance World Tour, from its inception, to the opening in Stockholm, Sweden, to the finale in Kansas City, Missouri. It is about Beyoncé’s intention, hard work, involvement in every aspect of the production, her creative mind and purpose to create her legacy, and master her craft.”
The film, co-directed, written and executive produced by the singer, will chronicle the monthslong global trek, which welcomed more than 2.7 million attendees. Fans will get a closer look into Beyoncé’s world of touring with behind-the-scenes intimate footage of her as a mother and wife who put on a groundbreaking show night after night.
Tickets for international territories — including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, South America and the Caribbean — will go on sale November 9 at BeyonceFilm.com, while advance tickets for U.S. showings are available for purchase now.
Chris Stapleton has announced the dates for his 2024 All-American Road Show.
The trek begins March 2 in San Diego and will hit Cleveland, Los Angeles, Portland, Nashville and more, before concluding in Little Rock on August 22.
Lainey Wilson, Elle King, Marty Stuart, The War and Treaty, Willie Nelson & Family, Sheryl Crow, Grace Potter, Allen Stone, Marcus King, Turnpike Troubadours and Nikki Lane will serve as openers on select dates.
Tickets go on sale Friday, November 3. Citi cardmembers will have presale access starting Tuesday, October 31, at 10 a.m. local time. More information can be found at citientertainment.com.
For the full 2024 All-American Road Show schedule, visit chrisstapleton.com.
Chris’ new album, Higher,arrives November 10 and is available for preorder and presave now.
The Who’s Tommy is coming back to Broadway next year. The musical is set to open at the Nederlander Theatre on March 28, with previews beginning March 8.
The version of the show coming to Broadway is a brand new staging featuring a cast of 28 and a nine-piece band. Directed by original Tommy director, Des McAnuff, it debuted at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre in June with 36 sold-out performances, making it the highest grossing production in the history of the Goodman.
Based on The Who’s 1969 album and 1975 film, the original production of Tommy opened at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California, on July 1, 1992. It opened on Broadway on April 22, 1993, and closed on June 17, 1995. It won five Tony Awards, including Best Direction for McAnuff and Best Original Score for Pete Townshend.
“In 1969, when I originally wrote Tommy with The Who, nobody had ever written popular music songs about trauma, nobody talked about bullying, domestic sexual abuse was a subject that was virtually censored,” The Who’s Pete Townshend shares. “Then, in 1993, working with Des on the staged theatre piece, we broke the established rules for a musical show. Now, the current generation is breaking all of those rules again—and what Des has achieved with this incredible new production honors them and their courage and audacity.”
In other The Who news, the band revealed on Instagram that they’ll be making a special announcement on Friday, October 27, “about two of their studio albums which were released in the month of October.” The post just happened to come on the same day as the 50th anniversary of the release of their album Quadrophenia.
The 2023 Billboard Music Awards finalists have been announced, and Taylor Swift leads the pack as a finalist in 20 categories.
Other top finalists include leading male artist Morgan Wallen, who is up for 16 awards; SZA, who is also up for 16 awards, and The Weeknd, a finalist in 13 categories.
If Taylor wins Top Artist, she’ll tie Drake’s record for the most wins in that category with three. Drake is also up for the award again this year, alongside Wallen, SZA and Luke Combs.
This year, the BBMAs are offering a fresh take on the awards show concept. Set for November 19, the show will roll out performances and awards presentations across the BBMAs and Billboard social media accounts.
This is all in collaboration with Spotify Fans First, with the goal of bringing fans closer to their favorite music artists. These performances and awards presentations will take place in various locations across the globe.
“We’ve heard the fans loud and clear, and we’re excited to meet them where they are, and everywhere they want to consume music and content,” Maddy Mesevage, SVP of marketing at Dick Clark Productions, said in a statement. “This year’s show is an epic celebration of the fans who propelled their favorite artists to the top of the Billboard charts. To thank them, we are thrilled to work with Spotify and the artists themselves to offer their most loyal fans an experience they’ll never forget.”
