Can a chart-topping ’90s vocal group beat a chart-topping modern-day vocal group on a game show? Tune in Sunday night to find out, as Wilson Phillips takes on Pentatonix on ABC’s Celebrity Family Feud.
Billboard has a preview clip of the episode, which mostly features host Steve Harvey attempting to pronounce the surnames of the members of Pentatonix. He makes it through most of them, but blows it when it comes to member Kevin Olusala [oh-LOO-shah-la].
As for Wilson Phillips, the “Hold On” group’s team includes original members Carnie and Wendy Wilson and Chynna Phillips Baldwin, as well as Chynna’s half-sister Bijou Phillips and Carnie and Wendy’s mom, Marilyn.
Celebrity Family Feud airs at 8 p.m. ET Sunday on ABC.
Faith No More was supposed to perform with System of a Down at several shows in Los Angeles next month, but earlier this week, those shows were canceled as frontman Mike Patton works through some mental health issues.
SOAD’s Serj Tankian says he’s bummed that the two acts won’t get to perform together, but Patton’s health comes first.
Speaking to Billboard, Tankian said that it’s “really sad” that Faith No More won’t be joining them, and adds, “Mike is a friend of mine and I’ve reached out to him and his manager. I just hope he’s O.K. I love him dearly. I know he’s influenced so many artists and bands, including ours.”
“It would’ve been great to play together, but the important thing is health and the important thing is everyone’s O.K., and we can always find time to play together again,” Tankian notes.
In a statement, Patton explained that he has “issues that were exacerbated by the pandemic that are challenging me right now.”
When he’s not collaborating with seemingly every artist under the sun, Elton John is speaking out various topical issues, and one of them in particular really has him riled up.
Elton has been complaining for months that since “Brexit” — when the U.K. left the European Union — touring in Europe is now extremely difficult for British musicians, because they have to get special permits and visas, which are very costly. Elton has taken part in hearings on the issue, but now, he’s decided to go straight to the top.
In the new episode of his Rocket Hour Apple Music show, Elton says he’s requested a meeting with British prime minister Boris Johnson, but admits, “I’ve yet to hear back from him.”
“I’m on the warpath to try to get this sorted out,” Elton declares. “What has happened is that it’s impossible for young artists financially to pay for visas, negotiate their way through all of the red tape that’s necessary for going to Europe. It’s financially impossible for them to do so.”
Recalling how important is was to him personally to get to perform in Germany at age 17, Elton says, “It’s so imperative for young artists to have that opportunity to do that. It makes them grow as songwriters, as artists, and as human beings. And it’s their right to be able to tour wherever they want to…so, at the moment they can’t, but we’re going to try and fix it.”
The legendary star continues, “I’m going to fight for this, and we’re going to continue to try and fight for this because it’s a desperate thing that’s holding young artists back,” adding, “It breaks my heart that these people are being held back by these ridiculous Brexit rules.”
The full episode will stream Saturday on Apple Music 1.
Gabby Barrett just released the official video for “Footprints on the Moon.” The song, from her freshman Goldmine album, was written by Gabby, along with Zach Kale and Jon Nite.
“A lot of people were very negative through school, anywhere and everywhere that I went, and it was difficult,” Gabby explains to CMT of the inspiration for the song. “I wish I had a song to listen to at the time that I was going through that, and so for anybody else that is going through it, I wanted to release it for them to help them in any way.”
Gabby and her husband, Cade Foehner, who met while both competing on Season 16 of American Idol, both appear in the video. They welcomed their first child, daughter Baylah May, in January.
Gabby was recently named one of the five 2021 CMT Artists of the Year. The ceremony will be held on Wednesday, October 13.
Sam Smith and Summer Walker add a heartfelt touch to “You Will Be Found” for the Dear Evan Hansen soundtrack.
Sam’s signature falsetto voice shines on the uplifting lyrics, while Summer provides gentle harmonies. The chorus proclaims, “So let the sun come streaming in/’Cause you’ll reach up and you’ll rise again/Lift your head and look around/You will be found.”
The beloved song comes at the end of Act I of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical,which has been adapted into a film starring Ben Platt, reprising his role as the titular character. It also stars Julianne Moore, Amy Adams and others.
Dear Evan Hansen is set for release on September 24, the same day as its soundtrack.
The idea of ’80s crooner Rick Astley, of “Never Gonna Give You Up” fame, singing a song by The Smiths is hard to imagine, but it actually happened — and former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has weighed in on the performance. Let’s just say that, unlike the promise he makes in his song lyrics, Astley has, indeed, let Marr down.
This week, Astley and the U.K. band Blossoms performed The Smiths’ classic “This Charming Man” in London. Marr responded on Friday by retweeting the video of the performance and noting, “This is both funny and horrible at the same time.“
When one fan asked how Astley and Blossoms got approval for the cover, Marr replied, “Well, I met The Blossoms a few weeks ago and they elected to not mention it. Nice.“
When another fan suggested that the legendary guitarist should be flattered, he responded, “I’ve got no problem with tribute bands or with anyone doing anyone’s songs good or bad. I’ve got no problem with Rick Astley. There’s a back story. That’s that.”
Unfortunately, Marr didn’t reveal what the “back story” was.
Meanwhile, Astley and Blossoms are playing two Smiths tribute shows in the U.K. in October. Blossoms shared a video of themselves rehearsing another classic, “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” with Astley on vocals.
Some fans are loving the collaboration, with a few petitioning for a new version of The Smiths with Astley replacing the now-problematic-yet-iconic Morrissey on lead vocals.
Meanwhile, Marr will release a solo album called Fever Dreams Pts 1-4. As previously reported, the record is made up of four different EPs, the first of which arrives October 15. Next year, he’ll tour with The Killers.
Earth, Wind & Fire has returned to the top 10 of Billboard‘s Adult R&B Airplay chart for the first time in 28 years with their new single, “You Want My Love.”
The last time the legendary funk/soul/R&B group charted that high was just a few weeks after the Adult R&B Airplay chart debuted in 1993, when their hit “Sunday Morning” peaked at number 10. Many of EWF’s best-known hits, such as “September, “Shining Star” and “Let’s Groove,” pre-date the Adult R&B Airplay list.
Additionally, the group — whose members include Philip Bailey, Verdine White and Ralph Johnson — made it into the top 10 in just its fourth week on the chart, thus making “You Want My Love” only the fifth of 32 top-10 hits to do so in under a month.
“You Want My Love” is a reimagined version of Earth, Wind & Fire’s 1976 hit “Can’t Hide Love” that they recorded in collaboration with acclaimed producer Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and up-and-coming R&B singer/songwriter Lucky Daye. “Love” also gives Daye his second top-10, following his debut release, “Roll Some Mo,” a #8 hit in 2019.
Elsewhere, “You Want My Love” jumped from 31 to 24 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which measures audience totals across both adult-leaning and mainstream-oriented stations.
WALK THE MOON is bringing New Wave back with their new song “Fire in Your House,” one of two fresh tracks that the band released Friday.
The song and its video feature the late, legendary South African musician Johnny Clegg and his son, Jesse Clegg, both of whom co-wrote the track. The recording of “Fire in Your House” was Clegg’s last before he died in June of 2019.
Calling the song a “once-in-a-lifetime collaboration,” WALK THE MOON frontman Nicolas Petricca says, “Through his unprecedented music, which celebrated and intertwined African and Western styles and languages, and his defiance of the race laws of Apartheid, Johnny Clegg became an international symbol of uniting people in diversity.”
Petricca adds, “It’s an honor to have created music together with the Cleggs, and I’m excited for WALK THE MOON listeners to hear the New Wave and African flavors on ‘Fire in Your House.'” Petricca also praises the “tribal and hypnotic textures” on the band’s other new song, “DNA (The Keys).”
But that’s not all: WALK THE MOON has also announced that its new album HEIGHTS will be out November 12. Their Dream Plane tour kicks off September 20 in Tampa, Florida.
“Fire in Your House” and “DNA (The Keys)” follow WALK THE MOON’s previous drop of three songs from HEIGHTS: “Can You Handle My Love??,” “Giants” and “I’m Good.”
This year marks the 45th anniversary of the release of KISS‘ classic fourth studio album, Destroyer. To commemorate the milestone, the costumed rock legends will reissue the record on November 19 in multiple configurations, including a Super Deluxe box set featuring four CDs, a Blu-ray audio disc, a bevy of collectible items, and a 68-page hardcover book.
The first CD features a remastered version of the original album. Disc two boasts demos that Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons made of songs from the Destroyer era. The third CD includes various outtakes, alternate versions, single edits and more, most of which are previously unreleased. Disc four features an unreleased concert that KISS played at Paris’ L’Olympia theater in May 1976.
The Blu-ray offers up Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround mixes of Destroyer, created by lauded studio whiz Steven Wilson, plus two bonus tracks.
The box set’s memorabilia include a replica KISS Army newsletter, plus posters, photos, an iron-on, stickers, trading cards, flyers, a replica Destroyer tour program and more.
Released in March 1976, Destroyer peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200, and became KISS’ most successful studio album, selling over two million copies. It features “Beth,” the band’s highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100. The ballad, which was sung and co-written by drummer Peter Criss, peaked at #7. The album also includes the top-40 hit “Shout It Out Loud” and such other enduring songs as “Detroit Rock City,” “King of the Night Time World” and “God of Thunder.”
The Destroyer reissue, which you can pre-order now, also is available as a two-set set, as a double-LP package pressed on black or limited-edition colored vinyl, digitally, and via streaming.
To mark the release of their new album Ain’t It Tragic, Dead Sara have dropped a video for one of the album’s tracks, “Hypnotic.”
Filmed in LA, the video has a distinctly retro vibe, somewhere between the ’80s and ’90s. At one point, frontwoman Emily Armstrong is seen standing on a fire escape wearing a skintight white bodysuit with a red patch over her nether regions.
Ain’t It Tragic is Dead Sara’s first release since their 2018 EP, Taking Up Space. The band’s tour kicks off tonight in Milwaukee, WI and is currently scheduled through October 9, with an appearance at the Welcome to Rockville festival on November 12.
