The jury’s still out in the U.S., but in the U.K., Olivia Rodrigo has officially captured the title of “Song of the Summer 2021.”
The song in question is “Good 4 U,” which has sold 834,000 units during the U.K.’s Official Charts Company’s summer tracking period, which ran from the first week of June to the last week of August. The song narrowly beat Ed Sheeran‘s “Bad Habits” for the title: That song sold 812,000 units.
“Good 4 U” is Olivia’s second British number one and spent five weeks on top of the chart. That’s the longest reign for a rock or rock-influenced song in 18 years.
Coming in at number three is “Save Your Tears” by The Weeknd.
In the U.S., Billboard’s official Song of the Summer will almost certainly be BTS‘ “Butter.”
Bastille has premiered a new video for “Thelma + Louise,” the band’s latest single.
The clip finds frontman Dan Smith joining another person, played by British actress Remmie Milner, in a virtual reality adventure using a device similar to the one in the “USS Callister” episode of Black Mirror.
“The four of us in Bastille and Remmie had our heads and bodies scanned to make the digital avatars that you see,” Smith says. “We’re massively excited for people to watch this mad little two-minute film that takes you right into how the innerverse could work. It totally captures the sense of escape and endless possibility.”
You can watch the “Thelma + Louise” video now streaming on YouTube.
“Thelma + Louise” premiered in August. It’s one of three new singles from Bastille this year, along with “Distorted Light Beam” and “Give Me the Future.”
Bastille has also been working on a new album, the follow-up to 2019’s Doom Days.
Kanye West survives being engulfed in flames in his new “Come to Life” video, which he dropped Thursday.
The clip captures one of the most memorable scenes from his Donda listening event at Solder Field in his hometown of Chicago on August 26.
Yeezy is sitting in a replica of his childhood home when fire suddenly erupts throughout the structure. He walks out on the stage, completely on fire. Then the video flips to his estranged wife, Kim Kardashian, walking slowly in a long white gown and a veil, as wedding music plays. Kanye emerges, fire-free and apparently unscathed, to greet her. Their four children are also in attendance: daughters North, 8, and Chicago, 3, plus sons Saint, 5½, and Psalm, 2.
Kim’s sister, Khloe Kardashian, reacted to the scene, tweeting, “Damn…I’ve never seen anything this sick!!!!!”
As previously reported, despite West claiming that Def Jam released Donda without his permission, the album shattered an Apple Music record within its first day of release. Billboard reports that fans streamed Ye’s 10th studio effort a whopping 60 million times over the course of 24 hours. In addition, the rapper overtook the top 20 spots in Apple’s Daily Top 100 Global songs chart. This milestone officially makes the “Stronger” rapper the service’s most-streamed artist.
In addition, Donda debuted atop the streamer’s albums charts in 152 countries.
The studio effort also made a splash on Spotify, racking up 94 million global streams in its first 24 hours of release, becoming the album with the second-best debut in the streaming service’s history.
In two weeks’ time, Bring Me the Horizon will be bringing you new music.
The U.K. outfit is set to drop a fresh single titled “Die4U” on September 16. In announcing the song’s arrival, Oli Sykes and company cryptically teased, “CLub H3LLh0Le OpeNS.”
“Die4U” will be the first new Horizon track since the band’s 2020 EP, Post Human: Survival Horror, which features collaborations with Yungblud, Evanescence‘s Amy Lee, BABYMETAL and Nova Twins.
You’ll also be able to hear Bring Me the Horizon on Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello‘s upcoming solo album The Atlas Underground Fire, due out October 15. They’re featured on a song called “Let’s Get the Party Started,” which we can only hope is a cover of the Pink song.
Pink Floyd will release a remixed and updated standalone version of their 1987 studio album A Momentary Lapse of Reason in multiple high-res formats in October.
The new mix was created by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and studio engineer Andy Jackson in 2019 for the band’s expansive The Later Years box set. The tracks were updated with previously unused keyboard performances by the late Rick Wright and new drum tracks from Nick Mason.
The album, which you can pre-order now, will be released on CD, as a CD/DVD or CD/Blu-ray set, as a two-LP half-speed-mastered package, and via digital formats with stereo and 5.1 mixes. The record also will made available for the first time in the immersive Sony 360 Reality Audio format, as well as in Dolby Audio and UHD.
The physical versions of A Momentary Lapse of Reason will arrive on October 29, while the digital versions are due out October 19.
Discussing the new mix, Gilmour explains, “Some years after we had recorded the album, we came to the conclusion that we should update it to make it more timeless, featuring more of the traditional instruments that we liked and that we were more used to playing…We also looked for and found some previously unused keyboard parts of Rick’s which helped us to come up with a new vibe, a new feeling for the album.”
The DVD and Blu-ray feature such bonus content as music videos, a short making-of documentary, audio of three 1987 live performances and more.
Pink Floyd has released a special version of the “Learning to Fly” video, featuring the 2019 mix of the song. If you watch the clip on YouTube while wearing headphones, it’ll simulate the 360 Reality Audio experience.
On top of everything else Britney Spears is going through, it’s good to know that at least she won’t face any charges over that incident with her housekeeper last month.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday that no charges would be filed due to “insufficient evidence” that a crime had occurred. Britney’s housekeeper claimed that Britney had slapped a phone out of the housekeeper’s hand following an argument over the medical care of Britney’s dog. The housekeeper alleged that her phone was damaged in the incident.
The Misdemeanor Unit Supervisor in the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office decided not to file charges after reviewing the case. In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, Britney’s attorney, Mathew Rosengart, said, “If this involved Jane Doe rather than Britney Spears it would not have been pursued or covered at all.”
“Sadly, it is apparent that some have learned nothing from the past, and we sincerely hope the media and others will be more respectful of Ms. Spears in the future,” Rosengart added.
CMA Summer Jam airs Thursday night, September 2, on ABC. The three-hour TV special was filmed during two star-studded nights, on July 27 and 28, at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater, with plenty of stunning collaborations.
Luke Bryan teamed up with Cole Swindell to perform Cole’s recent No. 1 hit, “Single Saturday Night,” while Carrie Underwood performed two songs, “Guitars Cadillacs” and “A Thousand Miles from Nowhere,” with Dwight Yoakam. BRELAND and HARDY joined Dierks Bentley to sing “Beers on Me.” Dierks also returned to sing one of the stand-out performances of the night, “Midnight Rider,” with both Brothers Osborne and Miranda Lambert.
Good friends Florida Georgia Line and Thomas Rhett sang “Round Here,” and Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani earned a rousing standing ovation for their “Happy Anywhere” duet.
Other performances of the night included Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Carly Pearce, Darius Rucker and Mickey Guyton.
Blake Shelton is clearly madly in love with his new bride, Gwen Stefani, nearly two months after tying the knot with her. Blake, who started dating the No Doubt singer in 2015, says being husband and wife has made their relationship stronger than ever.
“Married life so far is … it’s incredible,” Blake reflects. “I mean, it’s everything that it already was, which was awesome. She just can’t get away from me now.”
Blake and Gwen got married on July 3 on his Oklahoma ranch, with The Voice host Carson Daly officiating the ceremony.
Both Blake and Gwen will appear on CMA Summer Jam. The show, which includes performances by Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Brothers Osborne, Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs and more, will air Thursday night, September 2, at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.
The tune, “Dare to Know,” is a multiple-part tune featuring classical and prog-rock elements, and sections showcasing orchestral flourishes.
“‘Dare to Know’ presents a guitar theme played within many different arrangements, with different chord structures and altered textures,” says Yes guitarist Steve Howe. “The ‘idea’ mentioned in the first verse gets described later as an awakening to the subtle goings on within our bodies and mind, all geared to nature’s scheme of things, all fluctuating and rearranging according to the principles of life, as we know it.”
An accompanying mixed-media music video for the song has premiered at Yes’ official YouTube channel. The clip features kaleidoscopic animation segments, scenes that present an eagle’s-eye view of various natural landscapes, photos of all of Yes’ members, song lyrics with lettering apparently created by the band’s longtime cover artist Roger Dean.
“Dare to Know” follows the release of The Quest‘s lead track, “The Ice Bridge,” which also was accompanied by a partially animated music video.
The Quest, which was produced by Howe, can be pre-ordered now. The 11-track collection will be available as a two-CD set featuring eight songs on the main disc and three additional tunes on the second CD.
The album also will be issued in additional formats and configurations, including a limited-edition box set boasting two CDs, two vinyl LPs and a Blu-ray disc.
A previously unseen video of Oasis performing “Live Forever” during their iconic 1996 Knebworth concerts has now been released.
The clip is taken from the upcoming documentary Oasis Knebworth 1996, which chronicles the “Wonderwall” band’s two historic shows at the U.K.’s Knebworth Park. The performance footage is accompanied by a voiceover from Noel Gallagher, who explains how important a song “Live Forever” was to Oasis.
“We were a pretty decent band the night before I wrote ‘Live Forever,’ but it was indie music,” Gallagher says. “The day after I wrote ‘Live Forever,’ we were gonna be the biggest band in the world. I knew it.”
You can watch the “Live Forever” performance streaming now on YouTube.
Oasis Knebworth 1996 will hit theaters September 23, and will be released as a live album and Blu-ray/DVD on November 19. Noel and his estranged brother/former band mate Liam Gallagher are both executive producers on the film.
