Music

Fans attending the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York City are there to see the superstars of tennis play, but the players are keeping an eye on the superstars in the audience.

While playing at the U.S. Open on September 1, tennis superstar Coco Gauff [Goff] told The Associated Press that she got a bit distracted when she spotted Justin Bieber and his wife, Hailey Bieber, in the audience.

“I saw them immediately on the Jumbotron. I don’t know if the camera saw me looking up,” 19-year-old Gauff told the AP. “I hoped if I lost the match, they weren’t going to blame it on that.”

“I was definitely starstruck with Justin Bieber. ‘Never Say Never’ was … one of my favorite songs when I was a kid. Then ‘Baby’ … I could go through all his songs. Then Hailey, too, coming,” Gauff added. “I guess it was a little date night for them, which was really cool.”

And rather than serving as a distraction, it seems the Biebers were lucky charms for Gauff: She was victorious at Friday’s match, went on to compete in the quarterfinals on September 5 and won there, as well. 

Justin’s fashion choices for his U.S. Open appearance raised some eyebrows: he and Hailey wore matching black leather jackets, but he paired his with a black-and-white polka-dotted cap and a pair of pink puffy Loewe sunglasses.

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If there’s any musical artist who 50 Cent will give props to, it’s Chris Brown. 

The rapper doubled down on his claims that Chris is the next best thing following the legendary Michael Jackson in a social media post.

50 took to Instagram with a painting of the two performers staring at one another, with Michael passing a crown off to Chris, seemingly to symbolize MJ handing over the metaphoric crown of greatness. 

“I like this, I want a painting like this in black and white,” 50 wrote. “@chrisbrownofficial is really the best s*** we got out here, but nobody will say it so I gotta say it.”

It’s not the first time the “Many Men” rapper compared Chris to MJ. According to HiphopDX, 50 said in 2019 that he thought Chris was “better” than MJ. 

“CB better then MJ to me now,” he wrote, followed by a statement that sparked controversy by fellow entertainers online. “I can’t believe mike wanted to touch the little boys booty,” 50 said, to which rapper Waka Flocka Flame commented, “S*** not funny.”

50’s special painting request seemed to have been fulfilled, for he later posted a black-and-white version of the original portrait. 

“How dope is this, CB and MJ,” 50 wrote.  

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Darius Rucker‘s acting chops take centerstage in the music video for “Fires Don’t Start Themselves.”

The cinematic video finds Darius playing a detective as he tries to uncover the cause of a house fire because, as his partner says, “fires don’t start themselves.” As the storyline unfolds, Darius discovers the culprits of the blazing home: a Bonnie & Clyde-esque couple.

Of the song, Darius shares, “When I first heard ‘Fires Don’t Start Themselves,’ the hook immediately got me. The beginning of the chorus, ‘Let’s drink what’s left of this…’ is classic ’90s Country. I love it!”

“Fires Don’t Start Themselves” will appear on Darius’ forthcoming album, Carolyn’s Boy. The 14-track set arrives October 6 and can be preordered now.

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There’s no slowing down Zach Bryan‘s record-breaking and chart-topping streak.

Zach’s latest self-titled album debuted at #1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. This is the third time this year that a country album has launched right atop the chart, with Morgan Wallen‘s One Thing at a Time and Taylor Swift‘s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) preceding Zach.

Additionally, Zach and Kacey Musgraves achieved their first Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping debut with their smoldering duet, “I Remember Everything.” The track also launched at #1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts, according to Billboard.

Zach Bryan is out now wherever you listen to music.

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Luke Combs has notched his latest #1 with “Love You Anyway.”

The romantic track arrived at country radio in April after Luke enlisted fans to choose his next single on social media.

“‘Love You Anyway’ is a song that I wrote on my porch with Dan Isbell, Ray Fulcher and I had been on stage Valentine’s Day of 2020 right before COVID happened,” shares Luke.

“My wife was sick and was on the bus. She was out with us, but she was on the bus, I believe, and I didn’t know at the time if she was in there or not. And so as I was intro-ing another song, I said, you know, ‘I don’t know if you’re in here, but I love you anyways,'” he recalls. “My buddy Dan had wrote that down and we ended up writing it a few months later.”

“Love You Anyway” is off Luke’s latest album, Gettin’ Old, which spawned his chart-topping cover of Tracy Chapman‘s “Fast Car.”

Luke and his wife, Nicole, recently welcomed their second baby boy, Beau Lee Combs. Check out his Instagram reel for their announcement.

Luke’s World Tour kicks back up September 30 in Norway. For a full list of dates, visit lukecombs.com.

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Twelve more women have come forward with accusations of sexual misconduct against Justin Sane, frontman of the now broken-up punk band Anti-Flag.

The allegations, which include sexual assault and statutory rape, are detailed in a report by Rolling Stone. Of the 12 women Rolling Stone spoke to, seven said they were teenagers during their encounters with Sane, born Justin Geever. Another said she was 12 when she had sexual encounters with Geever, who was 17 at the time.

Rolling Stone also speaks to Kristina Sarhadi, who confirms it was Geever she was talking about in an episode of the podcast enough., during which she said she was raped by the singer of an unnamed “political punk band.” Amid speculation that the allegation was about Geever, Anti-Flag announced on July 19 that the group had disbanded without any other details or context.

A longer statement came on July 26, in which Geever denied allegations of sexual assault as “categorically false.”

“I have never engaged in a sexual relationship that was not consensual, nor have I ever been approached by a woman after a sexual encounter and been told I had in any way acted without her consent or violated her in any way,” he added.

Geever didn’t respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment on the new allegations. The other three Anti-Flag members — drummer Pat Thetic, guitarist Chris Head and bassist Chris “No. 2” Barker — tell Rolling Stone, “We trusted everyone associated with the band to maintain a safe and respectful environment” and said trust has “wholly been broken.”

“The understanding that abusers can be anywhere further reinforces the importance of survivors speaking out and sharing their stories,” they say. “Further, we feel strongly that all predators must atone for their inappropriate actions and be held accountable.”

If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively.

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