Music

Singer/songwriter Ashanti shared shocking images to her Instagram Wednesday of her younger sister’s bruised and bloody body parts. 

In light of October’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Grammy winner penned a heartfelt message to her sister Kenashia “Shia” Douglas, posting the graphic images with hopes the story might help others who are victims of domestic abuse. 

“Words will never be able to express the amount of pain, fury and disgust I feel reliving these moments,” Ashanti started. “But at the same time I am so proud of how strong, courageous, resilient and unbreakable you are.”

She continued, “My sister is a warrior! I love you deep and infinitely. Thank you for being so brave and bringing awareness to this evil, vile and sad behavior that so many women face every day. You did it! You won! Some women feel so scared that they have no way out… by sharing your story you bring hope, strength & continue to raise awareness for Domestic Violence.”

In celebration of her birthday in 2020, Shia took to Instagram with her own personal video showcasing transformative moments in her life. The more than two-minute visual includes a few of the same horrifying images of her beat-up body that Ashanti shared in her post. 

“God continues to bless you every day as you grow, prosper… and walk in your purpose…your heart, mind and conscience are clear…you will get back EVERYTHING YOU DESERVE!!! The universe always wins!” Ashanti’s message continued. 

The 41-year-old entertainer assured Shia of her unwavering love and support and expressed excitement for the “next chapter” in her life as the creator of holistic lifestyle brand, The Wife of Creation.

“Im here by your side always and forever with whatever against whoever!,” Ashanti wrote. “Loving you infinitely.”

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Are you ready for trippy Yungblud?

Speaking with The Smashing Pumpkins‘ Billy Corgan on his Thirty-Three podcast, the U.K. artist reveals he’s recorded a “full psychedelic rock album.”

“It’s just sitting there,” Yungblud shares. “I don’t know when it’ll come out yet.”

If he had his way, Yungblud would release the record without warning all at once.

“I just wanna kinda drop it,” Yungblud says. “I don’t wanna work a psychedelic rock album…There’s no singles, it’s one feeling the whole way through that I just wanna drop at some point.”

“‘Cause everybody’s gonna be, like, ‘Well, what’s the single?'” he continues. “I’m, like, ‘Yo, just let it be.'”

While you wait for that, you can check out Yungblud’s new, self-titled album, which was just released in September. The record includes the single “The Funeral.”

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Jordan Davis has much to celebrate these days, with the double #1 success of “Slow Dance in a Parking Lot” and most recently, “Buy Dirt.” He says that the latter hit set him down a path of writing about the things he wants his music to say most.

“It kind of freed me, in the sense of, like, that song is everything that I want to say in a song,” Jordan reflects. “It ties in the three things…of faith, family and friends.”

While commercial success is nice and plentiful, the most important thing is putting out music that makes him confident he’s “doing what I’m here to do,” the singer adds.

In his new music, Jordan says he’s staying within the world of gratitude and close-to-the-chest songwriting that he created with “Buy Dirt.” Next up, he’s bringing those themes to his new single, “What My World Spins Around.”

“‘World Spins’ is still in that vein of the three things that I want to write about and sing about,” he points out. “I just feel like I’m really confident right now in releasing new music, and proud of this next record.”

Though he admits it’s “been a minute” since he put out a full album, Jordan teases that fans won’t have to wait too much longer before getting their hands on a new batch of songs.

“I’d put it out tomorrow if I could!” he adds. “Well, actually, it’s not done yet. But when it is done, I would love to get it out as soon as possible.”

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Ever since Andy Grammer released his latest hit “Saved My Life,” fans have shared with him their stories about the special people who saved their lives. But Andy says the song inadvertently ended up saving the special person in his life who inspired it — emotionally, if not literally.

“Leigh is the one that I wrote it about. She’s my godmother, and she showed up for me when mom passed away,” Andy tells ABC Audio. “And she had been having an unreasonably difficult year. She lost both of her brothers…so she was kind of raw and going through it. And to have this song come out — I didn’t plan it at all, the song was written before these things happened to her. But she kind of needed a boost, and it’s really worked out.”

Andy’s also helped fans thank their special people by literally going with the fans to surprise them in person. One fan in particular was adopted and needed extensive surgery, but her mom never gave up on her. 

“So, she’s saying that to her mother,” Andy says, describing their surprise visit. “And then we play ‘Saved My Life,’ and they’re crying, and it’s the sweetest thing ever!”

Andy will likely play the song Saturday when he performs at the 36th Carousel of Hope Ball, benefiting the Children’s Diabetes Foundation. When it comes to charity events, he says, “I think that music is an intensifier. So whatever feeling that you’re feeling, when you add music to, it’s like a flame that you’re adding gas to. And if you are all here together to try to raise money… then music can make your heart open up and go like, “Y’know what? I can give more here.”

He smiles, “So, I love to try to be the gasoline.”

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Puscifer will be offering limited edition vinyl variants of their latest album, 2020’s Existential Reckoning, throughout their upcoming fall tour.

Only 50 pieces will be available at each show; they’ll come in a different vinyl color unique to whatever city Maynard James Keenan and company are playing that night. Each record is also autographed by the Puscifer members.

Puscifer’s tour launches October 13 in San Francisco and concludes with a home-state show for Keenan, set to take place November 22 in Prescott, Arizona.

Meanwhile, Puscifer is also releasing a remixed version of Existential Reckoning on December 9. The compilation features contributions from Nine Inch Nails‘ Trent Reznor, Tool‘s Justin Chancellor and Phantogram among others.

And if that’s not enough Puscifer for you, the band is premiering two streaming concerts on October 28.

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Forty years ago Thursday — October 6 — an unknown artist named Madonna invited us all to hit the dance floor…and four decades later, she’s still doing it.

On October 6, 1982, Madonna released her self-penned debut single, “Everybody.” She’d convinced Mark Kamins, the DJ at New York’s famed nightclub Danceteria, to play it at the club, and when it went over well with the crowd, he agreed to help her get a record deal. She was eventually signed to a three-single deal by Sire Records with an option for a full album.

When “Everybody” was released, the single cover didn’t have a picture of Madonna on it, leading some to believe she was a Black artist; in fact, Sire Records marketed the single as though she was. That misconception was cleared up, however, when Madonna insisted on shooting a video for the song: a low-budget affair filmed at New York’s Paradise Garage. The video was sent to nightclubs across the country, helping the song become a national dance hit.

While “Everybody” didn’t chart on the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play Chart. The song’s success even landed Madonna her first magazine cover: She appeared on the November/December 1982 issue of Dance Music Report. 

Over the years, Madonna has performed “Everybody” on many of her tours, most recently on 2015’s Rebel Heart trek. It’s also included on her Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones remix album.

Madonna scholars would later note that with lyrics like “Everybody come on, dance and sing/Everybody get up and do your thing,” “Everybody” was the template for the Queen of Pop’s future career and message that music, as she’d sing in 2000, “makes the people come together.”

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For George Strait, Codigo 1530 Tequila isn’t just a drink, it’s an experience. 

Now a partner of the private brand, George’s friends introduced him to Codigo more than a decade ago during a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He became an instant fan, as Codigo helped to expand his palate. 

“I drank a little bit of tequila, but, when I did, it would go into a shot and I tried to get the taste out of my mouth as fast as I could with some lime and salt,” George describes of his previous tequila drinking habits.”[Codigo] was like a new thing for me. A drink that wasn’t like the typical tequila that I’ve ever tasted. It’s definitely my drink of choice now.” 

When it comes to tequila-based drinks, he’s not a fan of sweet margaritas, but does enjoy a paloma. But for the country superstar, nothing beats a glass of straight Añejo tequila on the rocks.

Though he keeps drinking to a minimal at his live shows, George will bust out a bottle of tequila for celebratory moments backstage with his band and crew. 

“For years, it’s kind of been a tradition for me and the band, after the show before we go back out for an encore, we’ll celebrate with a shot of tequila and then we’ll go back out for the encore,” he explains. 

Codigo is so good that George wrote a song about it in 2018. 

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