Music

The National has released their second album of 2023.

The follow-up to April’s First Two Pages of Frankenstein is called Laugh Track, and it arrived in full the morning of Monday, September 18. The National had announced Laugh Track only a few days earlier during their performance at their Homecoming festival in Cincinnati on Friday, September 15.

Laugh Track includes collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers, who guests on the title track, Bon Iver and Rosanne Cash.

Bridgers also appeared on the Frankenstein songs “This Isn’t Helping” and “Your Mind Is Not Your Friend.” That record included guest spots by Taylor Swift and Sufjan Stevens, as well.

Here’s the Laugh Track track list:

“Alphabet City”
“Deep End (Paul’s in Pieces)”
“Weird Goodbyes” feat. Bon Iver
“Turn Off the House”
“Dreaming”
“Laugh Track” feat. Phoebe Bridgers
“Space Invader”
“Hornets”
“Coat on a Hook”
“Tour Manager”
“Crumble” feat. Rosanne Cash
“Smoke Detector”

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At the Grammys in 2017, Adele thanked her “husband” onstage, which is how people began to think she and then-longtime boyfriend Simon Konecki were married. A month later, she confirmed they, indeed, tied the knot. So, is Adele doing the same thing now with her boyfriend Rich Paul?

In a fan-shot TikTok of Adele at one of her Las Vegas residency shows, she tells a female audience member, “You can’t marry me. I’m straight, my love, and my husband’s here tonight.” When the fan asked, “Can you try?” She responded, “No, I don’t want to try. I’m with Rich. You’re crazy, leave me alone.”

Fans, of course, were shocked at Adele’s offhand remark.

“No.stop. MOTHER IS MARRIED??” wrote one fan. “her husband??? omgg Adele Paul???” wrote another.  “I love this for them!” added another.

Meanwhile, another fan claimed that Adele and Rich aren’t married yet but that in an interview, Adele said they plan to tie the knot in 2024. Based on past experience, it’ll be quite a while before Adele sets the record straight about her marital status.

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U2 is getting ready to launch their U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere residency at The Venetian in Las Vegas on September 29, but it seems they’re already making their presence known in Sin City.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Irish rockers debuted a brand new song, “Atomic City,” on Fremont Street, shooting a video for the tune on a flatbed trailer that traveled along the famous downtown Las Vegas street.

“I’ve got the key to the cages, waiting for my dice,” Bono sang in the Vegas-themed tune. “I came here for the fight. I’m front row in Las Vegas. And there’s a big one on tonight.” He described the song as a “a rock ‘n’ roll 45 in the tradition of ’70s post-punk, Blondie, the Clash, some ’70s punk … We’ll take it from everywhere.”

The lineup for the video included drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who’ll be sitting out of the residency to recover from surgery; drummer Bram van den Berg will fill in his place. 

“The four of us recorded the song. Sadly, Larry Mullen Jr. won’t be with us at The Sphere,” Bono shared. “He doesn’t listen to doctor’s orders. Neither do many of us. But he is here tonight … Give it up for Larry Mullen Jr.!”

About 250 paid extras witnessed the video shoot and even got a bonus, with the band performing a stripped-down version of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” the video for which was shot on Fremont Street back in 1987.

 “Let’s just try it as a country song,” Bono told the crowd. “It’s sort of a Saturday night-Sunday morning kind of a deal anyway. It’s a confession.”

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Angela “Blac Chyna” White celebrated one year of sobriety. “I made up my mind on September 14, 2022 that I was done with the alcohol,” she shared on Instagram. “This process is not easy but I did it, I plan on continuing practicing sobriety.” After officially introducing herself as Angela White in a March episode of the Tamron Hall Show, she returned and opened up about her sobriety journey thus far. “[I’m crying because] I didn’t think I’d make it this far,” said White, who was joined by her mother, Tokyo Toni.  

Diddy earned the key to the city of New York on September 15, the same day he released his first album in 17 years. “He might be the ‘bad boy’ of entertainment, but Sean Combs will forever be a New York City kid who made good,” Mayor Eric Adams wrote on Instagram, sharing images from the ceremony. The entertainment mogul celebrated the special milestone by riding around New York and screaming from the top of his lungs while hanging outside of a car window. “New York, we f******* did it!” he said.

Fans will have to wait even longer for Drake‘s upcoming album For All the Dogs. After finally revealing a release date earlier this month, the “Rich Flex” rapper pushed it back from September 22 to October 6. Per Billboard, he announced the update on his Instagram Story, writing that he needs to finish the album but rather not miss out on the remaining stops of his Its All a Blur tour to do so. 

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Ed Sheeran‘s current Mathematics Tour has been breaking attendance records all over the country, but he seems particularly proud of the record he set with his September 16 show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

On Instagram, he posted video of himself onstage, telling the crowd, “The people that own this stadium came up to me and said that we’ve broken the attendance record tonight of all time. It was bigger than the Super Bowl.”

Levi’s Stadium hosted Super Bowl 50 in February of 2016.

“Another subtract show, another attendance record at the stadium,” Ed wrote. “I’m loving being in the usa so so much, thank you for making it such an incredible summer x.”

Prior to the show, Ed made a surprise appearance at a merchandise stand, giving out product, signing autographs and debuting “American Town,” a song from his upcoming album Autumn Variations.

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Katy Perry is cashing in: The singer/songwriter has sold her catalog to Litmus Music, Billboard reports.

The deal — which includes Katy’s stake in the royalties and music publishing rights to the five albums she released between 2008 and 2020 —  is reportedly worth $225 million, sources tell Billboard.  Those albums include 2010’s hit-packed Teenage Dream, which has sold more than nine million copies.

Katy’s deal tops Justin Bieber‘s sale of his catalog to Hipgnosis Songs Capital earlier this year: He reportedly got $200 million.

Litmus co-founder Dan McCarroll has known Katy since he was the president of her record label. In a statement to Billboard, he says, “Katy Perry is a creative visionary who has made a major impact across music, TV, film, and philanthropy. I’m so honored to be partnering with her again and to help Litmus manage her incredible repertoire.”

Katy’s most recent album was 2020’s Smile.  She’s wrapping up her Las Vegas residency and will return to ABC’s American Idol for the show’s 2024 season.

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Leslie Jones didn’t hold back in her new memoir when talking about Will Smith‘s infamous onstage slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards in 2022.

In fact, she said Will should never have accepted his King Richard Oscar because of it.

The former SNL star and actress detailed her thoughts in her book, Leslie F*cking Jones, which were excerpted by People.

Explaining that Rock was “like my brother,” who championed her stand-up career and even encouraged her to audition for Saturday Night Live, Leslie said Smith’s attack, “made me so infuriated. You don’t know that I was going to jump in my car and roll up there. I was so f****** mad on so many levels.”

Further, Jones revealed Rock sought therapy after the situation. “That s*** was humiliating,” Leslie says. “It really affected him. People need to understand his daughters, his parents, saw that. He had to go to counseling with his daughters.”

Jones continued, “For a long a** time I was just mad. Chris Rock did a f****** joke. I know Will, too… I was like, you couldn’t handle that s*** afterwards? This is the Oscars. The whole world is watching.”

Moments after shocking the Academy audience with his actions and his profanity-laced outburst for Rock’s joke at the expense of Will’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, the telecast continued, and Will was presented with his Academy Award. From the podium, he apologized for his actions — but not to Rock.

That was adding insult to literal injury, Leslie contends, saying, “He could have still fixed it.” Jones says Will should have admitted, “‘I shouldn’t have did that [sic]. Bring Chris out. I can not accept the Oscar right now because that was f****** wrong.'”

Leslie’s book goes on sale Tuesday, September 19.

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Irish Grinstead, known for her role as a singer in the girl group 702, has passed away at the age of 43.

Her sister and fellow 702 group member, LeMisha Grinstead, shared the heartbreaking news on Instagram Saturday, September 16.

LeMisha wrote, alongside a black and white photo of Irish, “It is with great sadness that I have to let you know that my beautiful sister and friend has passed away this evening. She has had a long battle and she is finally at peace.”

“That girl was as bright as the stars! She was not only beautiful on the outside, but also within. Sharing the stage with her was a joy I will cherish for the rest of my life! We, the family ask for prayers and respect for our privacy as we grieve an outstanding loss to our family,” she continued. “Love always, Misha.”

The cause of her passing has not been disclosed.

Missy Elliott, who collaborated with 702 on “Steelo,” mourned Irish’s death on X, writing, “Irish May your beautiful soul Rest Peacefully in the arms of the Lord A Multitude of prayers for the entire Grinstead family.”

Irish’s death comes after 702 had announced Irish’s departure from the group due to”serious medical issues” in December 2022.

702, consisting of Irish, LeMisha, and Kameelah Williams, rose to fame with their 1996 album No Doubt, featuring hits like “Steelo” and “Get It Together.” Their self-titled follow-up album in 1999 included the chart-topping single “Where My Girls At.” They also contributed songs to soundtracks for TV shows like Cousin Skeeter, Pootie Tang, and Good Burger. The group’s final album was released in 2003. After a brief hiatus, 702 recently reunited for live performances and appeared on BET Presents: The Encore in 2021.

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