Music

Artists including Iggy Pop, R.E.M.‘s Michael Stipe and St. Vincent are contributing to a compilation paying tribute to The Velvet Underground and Nico‘s legendary debut album.

The record, titled I’ll Be Your Mirror, will be released September 24. You can listen to Kurt Vile‘s version of “Run Run Run” now via digital outlets.

Released in 1967, The Velvet Underground & Nico was initially a flop, but later came to be considered one of the best records of all time, as well as a massive influence on the what would become alternative rock. Even if you’ve never actually heard the album, you’d surely know it by its iconic Andy Warhol-designed cover artwork.

Other artists featured on I’ll Be Your Mirror include The National‘s Matt Berninger, Sonic Youth‘s Thurston Moore, Courtney Barnett, Sharon Van Etten and King Princess.

Here’s the track list:

“Sunday Morning” — Michael Stipe
“I’m Waiting for the Man” — Matt Berninger
“Femme Fatale” — Sharon Van Etten
“Venus in Furs” — Andrew Bird & Lucius
“Run Run Run” — Kurt Vile
“All Tomorrow’s Parties” — St. Vincent & Thomas Bartlett
“Heroin” — Thurston Moore feat. Bobby Gillespie
“There She Goes Again” — King Princess
“I’ll Be Your Mirror” — Courtney Barnett
“The Black Angel’s Death Song” — Fontaines D.C.
“European Son” — Iggy Pop & Matt Sweeney

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After seven years of marriage, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and his wife Nicole Pantenburg have announced their decision to divorce. 

In a joint statement to TMZ on Tuesday, the 62-year-old singer and 48-year-old actress said, “After much thought and with great sadness, we have decided to end our marriage. We continue to care and have respect for one another and share eternal love for our daughter and her well-being.”

“We ask for personal privacy for ourselves and our daughter as we navigate these new steps as a family,” they concluded.

Babyface and Nicole married in 2014 after dating for over seven years. They share one daughter, 12-year-old Peyton Nicole.

Prior to Nicole, the R&B singer was married to Tracey Edmonds from 1992 until 2005. They share two sons, Brandon and Dylan. 

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Garth Brooks is headed to Baltimore this fall. The country superstar has announced his first performance in the city for six years, as well as the first time he’s ever played MT+T Bank Stadium.

The show is set for October 2, and tickets go on sale Friday, July 23 at 10 a.m. ET. Those hoping to attend should plan to snag their seats fast, because the Stadium Tour dates Garth has announced so far this year have sold out at a whiplash-inducing rate.

Back in May, fans snapped up 50,000 seats to Garth’s July Salt Lake City show just under 30 minutes after the event went on sale. Not long after, Garth sold 70,000 tickets in the first 47 minutes after sales opened for his Lincoln, Nebraska show. According to the website for football team the Baltimore Ravens, MT+T Bank Stadium has a capacity of 71,000.

Garth has spent much of this summer getting Stadium Tour dates back on the books after the past year’s pandemic-induced touring hiatus. He’s officially back in action as of last weekend, kicking off the tour with a sold-out show in Las Vegas.

As always for Garth’s stadium shows, tickets to his Baltimore set will cost $94.95 all-inclusive. The show will feature in-the-round seating. 

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Da Baby has left Twitter at odds after an interaction between him and two kids selling candy made its rounds on the internet. 

The moment, which was captured on video, shows the “Masterpiece” rapper holding a wad of cash and approaching the two boys, who say they’re selling Skittles and Gushers in exchange for donations. 

“How much for the whole box?” DaBaby asks, to which the young man holding the Skittles box replies, “$200,” despite each unit being only $2 apiece.

He gets the same answer when he asks the other boy how much for his box of Gushers. 

After a laugh, Da Baby does the math. “You made $400 off that and you selling them for $2? Let’s count ’em. What’s 34 times two? It ain’t $200. It ain’t even $100. That’s $68,” he explained, before eventually giving them about $4 for some Gushers. 

Even though the 29-year-old rapper paid full price for the candy, many took issue with the fact that he didn’t give them more. Others defended the rapper, stating that had the boys not been greedy they probably would have received a generous donation. 

“I know y’all did not made [sic] them kids wanting $200 from Da Baby for that candy about integrity. I know y’all didn’t. Not when this generation of rappers flaunts their wealth in the most disgusting ways in front of these same kids who support them,” one Twitter user retorted. 

Another commented, “I’m like 99.9% sure if those kids would have gave Da Baby regular price candy he would have blessed them.  Nobody likes getting finessed, because now it’s on the floor.”

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First we had Justin Bieber wearing a Metallica shirt, and now we have apparent death metal fan Ed Sheeran.

The U.K. tabloid The Sun quotes the “Shape of You” and “Castle on the Hill” singer professing his childhood love for bands including Slipknot and Cradle of Filth, adding that he “would not be opposed” to recording a metal album of his own.

“I’m not saying I could ever step into that world,” the quote reads. “I learnt all those riffs on guitar as a kid. That’s something I’ve never thought about doing — but something I would not be opposed to creating.”

It’s unclear where exactly that quote came from, but needless to say, the idea of a death metal Ed Sheeran album has certainly raised a few eyebrows, including those of Cradle frontman Dani Filth.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Filth wrote in an Instagram post, though he doesn’t seem totally opposed to the idea.

“Fellow Suffolk lad could come good in the end,” he added, referring to he and Sheeran’s mutual home county in England. “‘Dracula’s Castle on the Hill’ anyone?”

Sheeran, by the way, has hinted at his inner metalhead in the past. In 2018, he ran into Korn‘s Brian “Head” Welch and James “Munky” Shaffer at a Marilyn Manson concert, and he covered Iron Maiden and Limp Bizkit during a 2015 Tonight Show segment.

 

 

 

 

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Metallica has announced a pair of concerts to celebrate the band’s 40th anniversary this year.

The shows will take place December 17 and 19 at the Chase Center in the metal legends’ hometown of San Francisco. The venue was also the site of ‘Tallica’s 2019 S&M2 concerts, which were accompanied by the San Francisco Symphony.

Tickets will be available exclusively for members of Metallica’s Fifth Member fan club. If you are a member, you’ll be able to enter a raffle to win a reservation code to purchase tickets, which will be sent out randomly.

If you happen to be in the S.F. area but couldn’t secure tickets to the big shows, Metallica will also hosting a series of live music and comedy events, as well as tastings for their Blackened Whiskey, throughout the city starting December 16.

For more info, visit Metallica.com.

Metallica was formed in 1981 when James Hetfield met Lars Ulrich after the drummer posted a newspaper ad looking to start a band.

Meanwhile, Metallica will also celebrate another big milestone when their 1991 self-titled record, aka The Black Album, turns 30 in August. That anniversary will be celebrated with a remastered deluxe reissue, as well as a 53-track tribute compilation dubbed The Metallica Blacklist.

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Under “unexpected collaborations,” you can put “She’s Fire,” a new track from famed songwriter Diane Warren‘s debut album that features rapper G-Eazy and legendary rock guitarist Carlos Santana.

“I’m so excited for everyone to hear ‘She’s Fire!!'” Diane said in a statement. “To be able to work with Carlos Santana has always been a dream of mine…I’ve also been very much wanting to collaborate with G-Eazy and this seemed like the perfect song for the two of them to do together. I expected it to be great, and it turned out even better than I imagined, pure fire.”

Diane’s album Diane Warren: The Cave Sessions Vol. 1. will be out later this year, and features collaborations with artists including Celine Dion, John Legend and many others.  The first advance track came out this past November. Called “Times Like These,” it features vocals by Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish.

Diane’s long list of credits and achievements include nine number-one hits and 32 top-10 singles. She’s also been nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar 12 times, most recently earlier this year. Among the hits she’s composed: Aerosmith‘s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” Starship‘s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” Cher‘s “If I Could Turn Back Time,” Toni Braxton‘s “Unbreak My Heart,” and LeAnn Rimes‘ “How Do I Live.”

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You can all “Save Your Tears,” because it seems like a new album from The Weeknd may be close to being finished. 

On Tuesday, the “Blinding Lights” singer sent out a series of tweets alluding to his new body of work, beginning with the cryptic message, “we gettin’ there.”

“Really proud of this one. wow,” he followed up and added, “Massaging it now, being sweet to it. giving it some tlc.”

The 31-year-old Canadian singer then clarified “just so there’s no confusion, it’s a full body of work” and revealed his plans for a tour, which he said “is gonna be MADNESS.”

This isn’t the first time that The Weeknd has hinted at what would be his fifth studio album. He previously tweeted about the project in April.  In May, while chatting with Variety, he coyly addressed the topic, stating, “If the last record [After Hours] is the after hours of the night, then the dawn is coming.”

He also previously told Rolling Stone, “I might have another album ready to go by the time this quarantine is over.”

“I’m guilty of wanting to outdo my last album, but it’s never like, ‘I’ve got to do the same type of song,'” he explained. “I’m so happy I’m not like that. My palette is so wide.”

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BTS gave the first-ever television performance of their latest hit “Permission to Dance” Tuesday on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The septet, who were beamed in from their native South Korea, pulled out all the stops for their song’s big debut, as they took over a mall and brought back the flash mob craze.  

RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook also chatted with Fallon, in order to dispel or confirm some rumors the late-night host found floating around the internet.

One such rumor centered around the group’s early days, when they were trying to come up with a name for their fanbase, ARMY.  Prior to landing on that name, the group confirmed that they were considering the name Bell because, as RM explained, “When you say ‘bell’ in Korean, it sounds like ‘power.'”

RM noted that the group initially thought it would be cool if fans brought bells to their concerts and started ringing them.  “But, thank God… ARMY is so much better,” RM laughed as the rest of the group jokingly started ringing bells and making a racket.

Jimin was also put on the hot seat, with Fallon asking if it was true he once considered going by the stage name “Baby J.” He confirmed it, but confessed that saying the name in English “sounded really weird.”

V also confirmed the rumor that he didn’t originally try out for BTS, but simply went to the auditions in order to support a friend.  “He failed,” V added of his friend.

Tuesday was part one of the group’s two-night takeover of the late night show.  Tonight, they’ll perform their number-one hit, “Butter.”

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