Kanye West‘s long-awaited new album Donda finally dropped over the weekend, but Ariana Grande wants you to know that’s not her vocals you’re hearing on it.
Some Ariana fans thought that the female voice you hear on the album’s title track was the “thank u next” superstar, but it’s actually a singer named Stalone. On Ariana’s Instagram Story, she re-posted Stalone’s Instagram photo of herself recording the vocals, and captioned it, “You sound beautiful @thestalone.”
Meanwhile, Stalone tweeted the full credits of the song and wrote, “I love Ari and so grateful that my vocals would even be compared to hers.”
West has been complaining that his record company released Donda — which also features The Weeknd, Lil Baby, Travis Scott, Roddy Ricch and more — without his permission.
Kacey Musgraves is taking star-crossed on the road.
The singer will jet across the country on the headlining “star-crossed: unveiled” tour next year, stopping at several arenas in January and February.
The trek begins on January 19 at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota and concludes at the famed Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 20. In between, she’ll perform at Madison Square Garden, Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, the TD Garden in Boston and more.
Pop acts King Princess and Muna join as supporting artists. Tickets go on sale to the public on September 9 at 10 a.m. local time.
This marks Kacey’s first headlining tour since the Oh: What a Word, Tour in 2018 and 2019 in support of her critically acclaimed album, Golden Hour. That tour included her first arena headlining show in Nashville at Bridgestone.
The multi-Grammy Award winner is releasing her highly anticipated new album, star-crossed, on September 10. She’s already shared the title track and lead single, “justified.” A corresponding film will premiere on the same day as the album on Paramount+.
Visit the official tour website for a full list of dates.
Nene Leakes gave an unexpected update about her husband Gregg Leakes‘ battle with cancer.
The news came while the Real Housewives of Atlanta alum was at her Atlanta lounge, The Linnethia, on Saturday. She took the mic to address fans who deemed her “rude” for not saying “happy birthday” to a patron.
“My husband is transitioning to the other side,” Nene, 53, revealed, before saying “happy birthday” to the attendee. “You don’t know what we’re dealing with right now.”
“We walked in this lounge because we had to walk in this lounge because this is our business,” the reality star continued. “So, when people approach and say, ‘You’re rude because you don’t want to say happy birthday,’ my husband is at home dying. I don’t want to say, ‘happy birthday.'”
“So please give us some respect, give us some love,” Nene added.
The speech was caught on video and ended up trending on Twitter, which Nene seemed to address on Sunday. Taking to Instagram, she shared an image that read “Broken” followed by the broken red heart and praying hands emojis.
Gregg, 67, was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2018, but went into remission after treatment. In June, Nene shared that the cancer had returned and Gregg had undergone surgery.
It’s been in the works for quite some time — and teased as far back as April — but Lady Gaga‘s Chromatica remix album is finally seeing the light of day this Friday.
Titled Dawn of Chromatica, the project is described as a “reinvention” of Gaga’s 2020 album, Chromatica, which featured the hit singles “Stupid Love” and “Rain on Me.” It’s executive-produced by Gaga’s frequent collaborator, Bloodpop, with contributing artists that include Charli XCX, Ashnikko, Dorian Electra and Rina Sawayama.
Earlier this month, Gaga tweeted, “The Chromatica remix album is so f**king fuego,” followed by the mind-blown emoji. She added, “Music is life.”
Iron Butterfly in 1969, Ron Bushy second from left; ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images
Ron Bushy, longtime drummer of the psychedelic band Iron Butterfly, who played on the band’s classic 1968 song “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” died Sunday morning at the age of 79.
A message on the band’s official Facebook page reports that Bushy “passed away peacefully, with his wife Nancy by his side…at UCLA Santa Monica Hospital. All three of his daughters were also with him.”
The note adds, “He was a real fighter…He will be deeply missed!”
Bushy joined Iron Butterfly in 1966 and, according to Rolling Stone, was the only member of the band to play on all six of its studio albums.
“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” was the title track’s of Iron Butterfly’s second album, which was released in June 1968. The epic 17-minute song became the group’s signature tune and has become an enduring psychedelic-era anthem. An abbreviated version of the track peaked at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album reached #4 on the Billboard 200, and has sold over four million copies in the U.S.
Bushy shared the story about the tune’s origins in a 2020 interview with Its Psychedelic Baby magazine, noting that it began as a slow country ballad written by Iron Butterfly singer/keyboardist Doug Ingle.
“I came home late one night and Doug had been drinking a whole gallon of Red Mountain wine… [He was] playing a slow ballad [he’d written] on his Vox keyboard,” Bushy recalled. “It was hard to understand him because he was so drunk…so I wrote it down on a napkin exactly how it sounded phonetically to me…’In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.'”
Bushy continued to play drums with various Iron Butterfly incarnations on and off through 2018, and made guest appearances with the band until his passing.
ABBA went on hiatus nearly 40 years ago, but now their music has come to TikTok.
As Billboard reports, the Swedish group’s catalog is now available to TikTok users. ABBA’s music was the most requested by an act that doesn’t have an official TikTok account of its own. The good news was announced Sunday with an upload of a piano version of their signature song, “Dancing Queen.”
Meanwhile, a huge announcement is set for September 2 regarding ABBAVoyage, a mysterious project that’s being teased on the group’s socials. You can sign up now to be notified when the project is finally announced.
The British tabloid The Sun is reporting that the group will release its first new music in 39 years on Friday, in connection with a hologram show that will see avatars of the group’s four members performing all their hits.
The Sun also claims that the show — which will include a documentary-style film — will open in a purpose-built theater in East London next May, and the group’s members will be on hand for the event. None of this is confirmed, however.
An event in New York City’s Central Park on September 2 is also planned in connection with the big announcement.
The fallout continues for Kanye West, who featured embattled shock rocker Marilyn Manson at his most-recent Donda listening event.
Manson stands accused of abusing and sexually assaulting several women over the years, which has resulted in his manager and label dropping him, radio stations refusing to play his music and various TV projects cutting his appearances.
Ye’s decision to invite Manson to the highly-publicized event sparked outrage among survivors and supporters.
Manson’s ex-fiancée, Evan Rachel Wood, took aim at the rocker’s public appearance in an Instagram post on Sunday, sharing her impromptu performance of the New Radicals‘ “You Get What You Give” at the Bourbon Room in Hollywood.
“For my fellow survivors who got slapped in the face this week. I love you. Don’t give up,” she captioned the post.
During her acoustic performance, Wood raised her middle finger when slipping a Manson reference into the song and declared before diving into her emotional rendition, “I’ve been saving this, but it seems like the appropriate time.”
Wood publicly accused Manson in February of having “horrifically abused [her] for years.” Since then, multiple women have come forward with similar allegations, including actor Esmé Bianco, model Ashley Morgan Smithline and Warner’s former assistant, Ashley Walters. Prosecutors in several states have launched investigations into the allegations, which Manson called “horrible distortions of reality.” In July, TMZ reported that his legal team asked that Bianco’s lawsuit, which accuses him of sexual assault, be dismissed.
For anyone affected by abuse and needing support, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or if you’re unable to speak safely, you can log onto thehotline.org or text LOVEIS to 1-866-331-9474.
From music to musicals — H.E.R. is in “final negotiations” to make her acting debut in The Color Purple musical, according toThe Hollywood Reporter.
The Color Purple, based on the 1982 novel of the same name, tells the story of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South during the early 1900s. H.E.R. will reportedly play Squeak, who, in the musical, goes from waitress to an aspiring singer.
Warner Bros. is behind the upcoming feature, which was also made into an Oscar-nominated 1985 Steven Spielberg-directed film adaptation, as well as a Broadway production, earning two Tony Awards in 2016.
Thomas Rhett admits that a picture his five-year-old daughter Willa Gray drew for him has him in tears.
Thomas shares on Instagram that Willa was instructed at school to draw a picture of a valuable lesson they learned from a friend. The result is a colorful sketch of Willa in a rainbow dress, shoes and hair to match, while her country superstar dad is portrayed in an all-black outfit with a pompadour hairstyle and wife Lauren Akins is merely a head with giant blond hair.
“I learned from my dad no fear!” Willa writes on the picture.
“Willa Gray’s teacher had her draw a picture of something they learned from a friend. She chose me and I’m borderline crying,” Thomas captions the photo.
“This is the sweetest and Lauren Akins’ hair is accurate,” Cassie Kelley, wife of Lady A‘s Charles Kelley, shares in the comment section, while fellow friend Hayley Hubabrd simply writes, “Aww.’
Clearly the couple’s eldest daughter is taking after her father, as Willa also recently wrote her first song.
The mid-tempo blues-rock shuffle finds Clapton apparently railing against his detractors, perhaps in response to the media backlash he’s received in recent months over his critical comments about AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and his support of Van Morrison’s protests over the U.K. government’s policies restricting live music because of the pandemic.
“This has gotta stop/ Enough is enough/ I can’t take this B.S. any longer,” Clapton sings. “It’s gone far enough/ You want to claim my soul/ You’ll have to come and break down this door.”
An animated music video for the new song has also premiered at Clapton’s official YouTube channel. The clip includes imagery that appears to illustrate people being controlled and brainwashed by the media and politicians.
The video features such scenes as a sinister giant man with strings running from his fingers to small common-looking people walking beneath him, a bunch of people mesmerized by their mobile devices as they traveling down a series of escalators, and people with televisions instead of heads.
The clip also includes scenes illustrating environmental issues that are our planet is facing, including forest fires, flooding and pollution.
“This Has Gotta Stop” was written by Clapton, and produced by his longtime studio collaborator Simon Climie. Eric handles lead vocals and guitar, and is joined on the track by drummer Sonny Emery, bassist Nathan East and backing singer Sharon White. Strings on the track were arranged and conducted by Nick Ingman, and the strings were led by violinist Perry Montague-Mason.
