Music

Panic! At the Disco, which at this point is essentially Brendon Urie, is disbanding after its upcoming European tour, Urie announced.

“I am going to bring this chapter of my life to an end and put my focus and energy on my family, and with that Panic! At The Disco will be no more,” Urie posted on Instagram, noting that he and his wife are expecting their first child.

In his lengthy statement, Urie writes, “Well, it’s been a hell of a journey…Growing up in Vegas I could’ve never imagined where this life would take me. So many places all over the world, and all the friends we’ve made along the way.”

“But sometimes a journey must end for a new one to begin. We’ve been trying to keep it to ourselves, though some of you may have heard…Sarah and I are expecting a baby very soon!” he continues. “The prospect of being a father and getting to watch my wife become a mother is both humbling and exciting. I look forward to this next adventure.”

Urie goes on to thank fans “for all your immense support over the years,” adding, “It has been a pleasure to not only share the stage with so many talented people but also share our time with you.”

He concluded, “I love you. I appreciate you. Thank you for existing.”

The tour starts in Vienna, Austria on February 20 and wraps up March 10 in Manchester, England.

Since their 2005 debut album A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, Panic! At the Disco has scored hits like “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” “High Hopes” and “Hey Look Ma, I Made It.” Their most recent album, Viva Las Vengeance, came out in August of 2022.

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Taylor Swift didn’t make the cut, but Lady Gaga and Rihanna did.

Both superstars are up for the Academy Award for Best Original Song: Lady Gaga for co-writing “Hold My Hand,” from Top Gun: Maverick, and Rihanna for co-writing “Life Me Up,” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

They’re up against “Applause,” written by Diane Warren for the film Tell It Like a Woman, “Naatu Naatu” from the film RRR, and “This Is a Life,” from Everything Everywhere All at Once, written by David Byrne, Mitski and Son Lux.

The 95th Academy Awards will air live on ABC on March 12.

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With the Grammys fast approaching, the schedule for events leading to the 2023 ceremony has been announced, Billboard reports. The programming includes a slew of panels and educational programs, as well as a celebration of singer/songwriter Muni Long.

The first event, starting January 30, is a panel that will see Boi-1da and other Grammy-winning and -nominated producers discuss what it takes to be a music producer. It will be followed by a conversation intended to celebrate the culture and impact of Latin music.

The next day, global music will be celebrated via a conversation with and a live performance by Zakes Bantwini and Nomcebo Zikode. A Q&A session featuring LGBTQ+ professionals will also go down, as well as a celebration of Long, who talks about the makings of “Hrs & Hrs” in a newly released Grammys digital series titled Sound Sessions. 

The rest of the week will feature panels that include the challenges of being a Black professional in the music industry and a conversation that will celebrate Grammy-nominated songs from The-Dream, who will discuss his music industry background alongside Merck Mercuriadis and Nile Rodgers.

The Grammy Awards take place February 5.

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Now that “Out in the Middle” has become a top 15 hit, Zac Brown‘s turning his attention to his next album. 

“I’m already working on it,” he tells ABC Audio. “Already writing for it and putting together artwork, and it’s gonna be pretty epic. And we got time to get it all right.”

But this one may be a little different than The Comeback, which came out in October 2021.

“There’s gonna be some rock on this next one,” Zac reveals. “So it’s gonna be a little closer to what Jekyll + Hyde was, where you get a little sampling of a lot of different things. But there’s gonna be some rock on here. So I’m stoked about that, too.”

Jekyll + Hyde came out in 2015 and featured the hits “Homegrown,” “Heavy Is the Head,” “Loving You Easy,” “Beautiful Drug” and “Castaway.” 

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Last week, a benefit concert held in memory of the late Aaron Carter raised more than $150,000. Among the performers were *NSYNC‘s Lance Bass and Backstreet Boys‘ AJ McLean. In a new episode of Lance’s podcast, Frosted Tips, AJ tells Lance that Aaron’s death didn’t come as a surprise to him.

Aaron, Nick Carter‘s little brother, was found dead on November 5 at the age of 34. “Can I say that I’m shocked? No, sadly,” AJ tells Lance. “Did any of us want this? Hell, no. It’s just tragic.”

AJ, a recovering addict who’s been in rehab several times, also tells Lance that he tried to help Aaron a long time ago.

“He reached out to me years back and asked for help. And I willingly was like, ‘OK, this is what I suggest you do: You need to fly out here. You need to go to this treatment center that I called. I’ve got it all set up for you.'”

At first, AJ says, Aaron resisted, but he finally went, even telling the center he didn’t want anyone but AJ to be able to contact him. But, AJ says, “Two days later, he checked himself out. And four days after that, [he] put me on blast all over Twitter saying that I was doing it to glorify myself.”

As AJ explains to Lance, “That’s what addicts do. If we’re not ready to get sober, it’s you. You’re at fault. It’s not me. You’re the problem.”

However, AJ’s advice to anyone with a loved one who’s struggling is still this: “Say something now. Don’t stay mute about it, even if they fight you on it. At least it gives them an opportunity to see that there’s someone there that actually … cares about them.”

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Måneskin is one of the few European rock bands that have been able to conquer the United States in recent years, and singer Damiano David thinks he knows why they’ve succeeded when others have not.

“I think that the main reason that Europeans don’t reach the U.S. is because many of them don’t even think about it,” he shares in a new interview with Esquire. “It’s like, the game is over, it’s impossible, so we’re not even going to think about it or think about strategies to do it.” He notes that some may have thought Eurovision was “too mainstream” or “too cheesy,” but they saw it as a way to be seen, “so at least someone could have been conquered by us.”

Of course not everyone is going to like the Italian band’s music, but David will do everything possible to make that happen, especially in concert. 

“You know there’s that one mother******, he’s with his girlfriend, standing with his arms crossed,” he says. “And you have to get him. I f****** stalk him, look right in his eyes, like, ‘You’re the one who’s wrong. Look at everybody around you.’”

As for critics who say there’s nothing all that new about Måneskin’s look or sound, they don’t seem to care.

“We’re not trying to emulate or copy anyone, it’s just what feels good in the moment,” bassist Victoria De Angelis says. “And our fans, especially the younger fans, they’re not used to seeing it. So maybe something that for you is cliché is something new for the younger generation.” She adds, “So even if it’s nothing new in the world, and there’s a bunch of bands that have done it, for them, it’s something they’re discovering.”

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Getting a line from one of your favorite songs tattooed on yourself isn’t that unusual — but one guy is going viral for covering his entire leg with all of the lines from one particular song: the 10-minute “Taylor’s Version” of Taylor Swift‘s “All Too Well.”

Alejo Ospina, an adult film star, has documented his new ink on Twitter. It covers his left butt cheek and then goes all the way down his leg. “I love my new leg tattoo,” he tweeted.

In a follow-up tweet, Ospina explains that he originally wanted to get a tattoo of the lyrics of an Ariana Grande song called “Better Off,” but “it’s not long enough for what i wanted in my leg.” 

He adds, “I love this one by TS and it’s pretty much the only one song long enough to cover a whole leg.”

Ospina has already proven he’s a huge Ariana fan by getting an image of her from the cover of her 2016 album Dangerous Woman tattooed on his right shoulder.

And while Ospina didn’t reveal how long the tattoo took to do, the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” is just under 1,000 words — that’s dedication. Or as one fan put it, “Rip to the tattoo artist who had to do all them words omfg.”

But considering the guy’s an adult film star, you’ve got to wonder how Taylor is going to feel about one of her most celebrated songs being on camera during, well … you know.

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When Alter Bridge launches their U.S. tour Wednesday in Tampa, Florida, they’ll do so with another 10 songs under their belt from their latest album, 2022’s Pawns & Kings. As frontman Myles Kennedy tells ABC Audio, that makes the task of crafting a setlist each night even more challenging.

“As I was reminded of the other night when I went and saw Iron Maiden, here’s a band with decades and decades of records, and so many songs that everybody wants to hear,” Kennedy shares. “How do you do that? How do you make sure that people leave happy and you play the song that they wanna hear?”

While Alter Bridge may not yet have the career of an Iron Maiden, they do have plenty of rock radio hits and fan favorites. Even with those staples, though, keeping the set varied is important to Kennedy.

“You want that element of surprise where some guy who knows your deepest cuts is gonna go, ‘Oh my gosh, they played so-and-so,'” Kennedy says.

Joining Alter Bridge on the tour is Mammoth WVH, the band fronted by Wolfgang Van Halen, the son of the late Eddie Van Halen. In Kennedy’s eyes, Eddie’s “musical genius” definitely passed down to Wolf.

“To me, it’s screaming that Wolfie has that in his DNA, he has that same chip,” Kennedy says. “And not just with guitar, if you watch him play him the drums, it’s incredible. I mean, he’s just, he’s got it all.”

Kennedy adds that Wolf’s musicianship is matched by his qualities as a person.

“The time that I’ve spent with [Wolf], I’ve always been impressed with him, and not just as a musician,” Kennedy says. “Man, I guarantee you his dad, wherever he is, he’s proud. He’s gotta be.”

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