Music – Page 2713 – 105.7 WDNY

“Damn Strait,” Scotty McCreery’s driving the ‘Same Truck’ from ‘Idol’ — and delivering an important message

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

More than ten years after winning the tenth season of American Idol, Scotty McCreery arrives with his fifth studio album, driving the Same Truck he won on the popular singing competition.

The 27-year-old wrote ten of the record’s twelve tracks, including his top five hit, “You Time.” In fact, he believed he was almost done with the follow-up to 2018’s Seasons Change — and then 2020 happened.

“You know, I thought I had this album pretty much ready to go a couple of years ago,” Scotty reveals. “But then after COVID hit, suddenly [I] had a lot of extra time on my hands. So I started writing new songs and before I knew it, we’d come up with almost a whole new album.”

For Scotty, Same Truck has both a literal and a much deeper meaning.

“Can you believe I’m actually driving the same truck I won 10 years ago as part of my American Idol title?” he asks. “The truck’s name is Loretta after one of my favorites, Loretta Lynn.”

Amid divisive times, Scotty believes we’re more alike than different, i.e. we’re all in the same boat — or “Same Truck,” if you’re from North Carolina.

“[It] was one of those songs that got started by a conversation talking about how I drive the same truck…” he tells ABC Audio. “But it morphed into something a lot more important than that, just talking about how, ‘Hey, guys, we’re all on the same team here. Let’s build each other up instead of tear each other down.'”

“And it’s just a message I think we all need to hear right now,” he adds.

Same Truck is new today, and features Scotty’s nod to King George, “Damn Strait,” which he’s set to sing Tuesday on NBC’s Today show.

Billie Eilish loves that she “finally” got to do this in her Disney+ special

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Billie Eilish‘s Disney+ special, Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles, is currently streaming, and for Billie, one of the highlights of the project was the fact that she got to perform all the songs from her current album in order — something she says she considers “vitally important.”

“I’ve really always wanted to do a performance piece of a project of mine in order, just because that’s I feel that that’s how albums are supposed to be made and supposed to be listened to,” she tells ABC News. “For my first album and my first EP and this album, it’s always been important to me to make a very, you know, track-by-track album — like, a whole piece.”

She adds, “I always say that it’s, like, vitally important to listen to albums in order, all the way through.”

However, Billie admits that she’s been frustrated in the past by her inability to play her albums front to back in concert.

“Doing a live show, like, a real show for [a] tour or a festival or whatever, you can’t really do that because you have to play the old catalog,” notes Billie. “And you have to have…a kind of range and variety and dynamics and stuff. So it can’t always really be in order.”

“And that, from the beginning of me doing shows, always bothered me, ’cause I wanted it all to be in order,” she declares. “I got to finally do that. And, you know, who knows if I’ll do it again?”

Fans will have to wait until Billie’s Happier Than Ever tour kicks off in February 2022 to see if she’ll try to perform the album in its entirety again. In the meantime, there’s always the Disney+ special.

Disney is the parent company of ABC Audio.

September Reign: Guns N’ Roses’ hit albums ‘Use Your Illusion I’ and ‘II’ celebrate 30th anniversary today

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Thirty years ago today, September 17, Guns N’ Roses simultaneously released their third and fourth studio albums, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II.

With the band riding high after the massive success of its 1987 debut, Appetite for Destruction, and its popular 1988 follow-up, G N’ R Lies, Use Your Illusion I and II debuted at #2 and #1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Former GN’R drummer Matt Sorum, who joined the group just as they were starting to record the albums, tells ABC Audio that most of the band initially thought they were going to make a single record featuring 12 or 13 songs.

“We ended up recording 34, I believe,” Sorum recalls. “When we did that…[frontman] Axl [Rose] was the one that came in and said, ‘Let’s put it all out. I want to release it all.’ And we’re like, ‘What?!'”

Sorum says it also was Rose’s idea for the two albums to have identical covers, with the only difference being the color schemes — Use Your Illusion I is red and yellow and II is blue and purple.

Use Your Illusion I features two top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, “Don’t Cry” and “November Rain,” which reached #3 and #10, respectively. Use Your Illusion II includes one Hot 100 hit, “You Could Be Mine,” which peaked at #29.

Each album features a well-known cover song — Paul McCartney & Wings‘ “Live and Let Die” and Bob Dylan‘s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” appear on I and II, respectively. GN’R’s version of “Live and Let Die” peaked at #33 on the Hot 100.

The albums both have gone on to be certified seven-times platinum by the RIAA for amassing seven million sales units.

Here’s the Use Your Illusion I track list:

“Right Next Door to Hell”
“Dust N’ Bones”
“Live and Let Die”
“Don’t Cry” (Original)
“Perfect Crime”
“You Ain’t the First”
“Bad Obsession”
“Back Off Bitch”
“Double Talkin’ Jive”
“November Rain”
“The Garden” — featuring Alice Cooper
“Garden of Eden”
“Don’t Damn Me”
“Bad Apples”
“Dead Horse”
“Coma”

And here’s the Use Your Illusion II track list:

“Civil War”
“14 Years”
“Yesterdays”
“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”
“Get in the Ring”
“Shotgun Blues”
“Breakdown”
“Pretty Tied Up” (“The Perils of Rock n’ Roll Decadence”)
“Locomotive” (“Complicity”)
“So Fine”
“Estranged”
“You Could Be Mine”
“Don’t Cry” (Alternate Lyrics)
“My World”

20 years of ‘Room for Squares’: The slow and steady rise of John Mayer

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Twenty years ago on this Saturday, John Mayer‘s major-label debut, Room for Squares, was released. No overnight success, the album steadily climbed the charts until it finally reached the top 10 in 2002. Here are Five Fascinating Facts about Room for Squares:

5. The album’s title is a play on the title of a 1963 album by jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley called No Room for Squares.

4. The original version of the album was released online in June of 2001, but after John landed a record deal with Columbia, the label remixed and re-released it with new artwork, an extra track called “3X5,” and four reworked songs from John’s 1999 indie EP Inside Wants Out.

3. John co-wrote several songs on Room for Squares, including “No Such Thing,” with his former college buddy Clay Cook, who’s now a member of the superstar country group Zac Brown Band.

2. By the end of 2002, Room for Squares had spun off the hits “No Such Thing,” “Your Body Is a Wonderland” and “Why Georgia.” In 2003, John won his first Grammy for “Your Body Is a Wonderland.”

1. In 2006, John allowed the TV show The Office to use “Your Body Is a Wonderland,” in exchange for a “Dundie” — a fictitious award given out by Steve Carell‘s character — for “Tallest Music Dude.”

20 years on, John Mayer still matters. He just won an MTV VMA last Sunday, and his current album, Sob Rock, released in July, became his 10th top 10 album.

Zakk Wylde reflects on 30th anniversary of Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘No More Tears’: “Just hilarious, man”

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

There may have been No More Tears on Ozzy Osbourne‘s 1991 solo album of the same name, but, according to Zakk Wylde, there were plenty of “shenanigans.”

Speaking with ABC Audio, Wylde recalls having a “blast” recording the quadruple-platinum record, which turns 30 today.

“The whole thing, recording it and drinking and the whole shenanigans that went on making that record were just hilarious, man,” Wylde shares.

No More Tears marked Osbourne’s second solo studio effort featuring the future Black Label Society frontman on guitar, following 1988’s No Rest for the Wicked. For round two, Wylde remembers feeling much more “relaxed.”

“The first album was, like, [a] ‘let’s see what you got’ kinda thing,” Wylde explains.

Wylde also felt more comfortable to explore some of his own personal influences on No More Tears, bringing in some of the Southern-rock twang from artists like The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. You can definitely hear that in the intro for the single “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” which would become Ozzy’s biggest solo hit.

“Originally, me and Ozz had did it on a piano at my apartment at the time in North Hollywood,” Wylde says of “Mama.” “Ozz was over there, and then he had that melody…and he was singing that, and we ended up doing it on the piano. Then when we got in the studio is when I transposed it to guitar and put it on a 12-string.”

He adds, “When the album was done, when we listened to ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home,’ I was, like, ‘Man, this came out really good.'”

A 30th anniversary reissue of No More Tears is out today.

Wylde, meanwhile, is releasing a new Black Label Society album, Doom Crew Inc., on November 26.

Nas reveals he battled COVID-19

September 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Nas celebrated his 48th birthday on September 14, and he says he’s grateful to be healthy now after contracting COVID-19 in October 2020.

“This is the first time [I’m] mentioning it,” he tells Ebony. “It was mentally and physically hard. It’s just today’s world, with chemical warfare, crazy politics, racism, food shortages, police malpractice, Black-on-Black murder. The human spirit is being tested.”

The rap icon is appreciating life more now. For his new “Brunch on Sunday” video, he dined with Los Angeles Lakers basketball stars LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, and Swizz Beatz, as well as his 27-year-old daughter, Destiny. They appear in all-white in the clip shot on the rooftop of the luxurious Catch restaurant in L.A.

Meanwhile, with a series of lucrative investments, including Coinbase cryptocurrency, Nasir has become known for his financial success.

“I got people that stop me in the street to ask me about investment tips more than music,” he reveals. “I met another Black man named Nasir; he’s doing his thing. He told me how I’m inspirational to him in that world of investors and fundraising.”

The Illmatic rapper, who dropped out of school in the eighth grade, is now focused on providing funding to assist others.

“Hip hop has created more Black millionaires than any other industry in America,” Nas comments. “Being able to invest in start-ups and invest in people’s futures…that’s what America is all about.”

As he looks back at his 30-year legacy, Nas hopes to be as highly regarded as his idols.

“I just wanna become as great as the ones I came up thinking were the greats,” he says. “Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, LL [Cool J], Slick Rick, Ice Cube — the list goes on.”

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Queen pop-up store to open on London’s Carnaby Street in late September

September 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

A special Queen-themed pop-up store celebrating the band’s five-decade history will open later this month on London’s famed Carnaby Street.

The shop, called Queen The Greatest, will open its doors on Tuesday, September 28, and will close in January 2022. The store will feature variety of limited-edition music releases, apparel collaborations, lifestyle products, jewelry and more, with new items made available and special events scheduled each week.

The two-floor shop will feature areas reflecting different eras in Queen history, including ’70s thrift store, ’80s concert performances and tours, ’90s record store, 2000s DVD tribute and 2010s technological concepts.

The fashion collaborations include unisex T-shirts and sweatshirts from Champion, denim items from Wrangler, and silver and gold jewelry from U.K. jewelry designer Johnny Hoxton.

Proceeds from an exclusive Freddie Mercury T-shirt sold at the store will benefit the Mercury Phoenix Trust AIDS charity founded by Brian May, Roger Taylor and Queen manager Jim Beach.

After September, each upcoming month that the shop is open in 2021 will have a theme reflecting special merch that will go on sale. October is Music Month, November is Art & Design Month, and December is Magic Month.

During October, limited-edition music releases be available at the store, including an exclusive vinyl version of Queen’s Greatest Hits compilation, as well as both new and recent solo releases from May and Taylor.

In November, the shop will be selling special items from Japanese designer Tokolo and a teddy bear from Steiff, as well as offering a first look at an upcoming Queen pinball machine.

December will see the arrival of some magical Queen-themed Christmas items, including a Rubik’s Cube, holiday apparel, cards, wrapping paper and more.

Items from the store also will be available for purchase online.

Nick Jonas celebrates 29th birthday with a giveaway for fans

September 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

In celebration of his 29th birthday on Thursday, Nick Jonas decided to give his fans a gift.

The singer and his tequila company Villa One are giving away a signed, custom Gibson Villa One guitar.

“Being on the road and performing with my brothers again has been amazing,” Nick tells People. “I have been feeling really grateful, so for my birthday, I wanted to do something special for my fans and give them the chance to win an item that represents a couple of things that bring me joy — music and tequila.”

In order to enter, follow Villa One on Instagram and click the link in their bio. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, September 21.

Meanwhile, the Jonas Brothers are set to release their new song, “Who’s in Your Head,” on Friday.

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Post Malone announces Posty Fest 2021 lineup featuring Megan Thee Stallion and Lil Uzi Vert

September 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Post Malone‘s Posty Fest is back this year and has expanded to two days with a lineup including Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Uzi Vert, Roddy Ricch, Tyga and Jack Harlow.

The bill, which Malone revealed Thursday on Instagram, is set to feature over 20 acts performing October 30-31 at AT&T Stadium in Post’s hometown of Arlington, Texas.

The “Rockstar” rapper says that in addition to music, the festival will also offer carnival games, rides, monster trucks, karaoke, giveaways, and much more

Last year, the annual event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, Pharrell Williams, Meek Mill, Jaden Smith, Doja Cat, Rae Sremmurd and Saint Jhn were among the artists who performed.

Tickets for Posty Fest 2021 are now on sale on Seatgeek.com.

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Here’s how Shawn Mendes is supporting youth climate activists

September 16, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Shawn Mendes is doing his part to fight climate change.

He’s announced that his Shawn Mendes Foundation, in partnership with Future Coalition, will be making a grant to support the Youth Climate Finance Alliance, which helps compensate and provide training for youth climate activists.

Shawn also plans to participate in actions led by the Youth Climate Finance Alliance, including attending virtual training sessions to better his understanding of climate finance.

“I’m excited to join in the climate movement alongside powerful youth climate organizers,” Shawn says in a statement. “Compensating young people for the climate activism work they are doing through the training is so important. We can’t wait to save our planet tomorrow, we need to defend it today and there is no better group leading change than young people.”

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