Music

Everyone already calls him Ye.  Now, Kanye West has filed paperwork to have his name legally changed to Ye. 

ABC News obtained an copy of the rapper’s petition, which he filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday. It asks the court to sign off on changing his legal name from Kanye Omari West to simply Ye. 

The “Stronger” rapper has been going by the moniker for years, even telling fans in a 2018 tweet that he is “the being formally [sic] known as Kanye West. I am YE.”

It’s unknown when the court will rule on Kanye’s petition.  A request for comment from Kanye and his attorney, Ekwan Rhow, has gone unanswered as of Wednesday morning.

The name change request comes days before Ye’s third listening event for his upcoming album, DONDA, which is set for Thursday night at Chicago’s Soldier Field. His two previous listening events were held at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 23 and August 5. The album, which is named after his late mother, Donda West, will be his 11th studio album and his follow-up to 2019’s Jesus Is King.

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Apparently, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross aren’t the only rockers contributing to Halsey‘s new album.

The “Without Me” star’s upcoming record, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, which was produced by the Nine Inch Nails duo, reportedly features the one-and-only Dave Grohl.

According to Stereogum, which obtained the If I Can’t Have Love credits, the Foo Fighters frontman returns to his Nirvana role to play drums on a song called “honey.”

Halsey, it seems, is a fan of Grohl, having tweeted in 2018, “Dave Grohl watched some of my set last night and I almost threw up mid song I was so nervous. I love u!!!!!”

Other If I Can’t Have Love guests, Stereogum reports, include ex-Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham on the track “Darling,” and Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio on the cut “You asked for this.”

If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is due out this Friday, August 27. It’s accompanied by an IMAX film, premiering Wednesday.

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Luke Combs tells a timeless story of heartbreak, loneliness and finally, new love in the music video for his current single, “Cold As You.” The clip follows a guy who’s recently been dumped as he sits at a diner counter, dejectedly sipping on a drink and nursing his heartache.

Over the course of the video, the situation improves: He finds a jukebox, first of all, and gets dancing to a country song to help ease the pain — likely Willie Nelson’s “Whiskey River,” if the video’s story line is following the lyrics of the song. Though his ex returns and makes a bid to rekindle their romance, Luke ultimately turns her down, opting instead to get to know somebody new that he meets at the bar.

And although there’s plenty at the surface to pique viewers’ interest, longtime fans will notice some extra layers of fun in the video, in which Luke subtly incorporated references to previous music videos and singles, as well as special moments from his career to date.

For example, you might recognize a young boy and girl sharing a milkshake in one of the diner booths in the background: The same actors that play young versions of the country superstar and his wife Nicole in the music video for his 2020 single, “Lovin’ on You.”

“My team and I are always keeping the fans in mind with everything we do and the fact that we were able to implement so many ‘Easter eggs,’ including characters from my past music videos, was really cool,” Luke comments.

“Cold as You” is currently inside country radio’s top twenty. If it goes to number one, it’ll be Luke’s 12th consecutive song to do so, following his latest chart-topper, “Forever After All.”

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When Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u” came out back in May, the comparisons to Paramore’s 2007 hit “Misery Business” came with it. Now, Olivia has added two members of the band as co-writers on the track.

Paramore’s publishers, Warner Chappell Music, posted about “good 4 u” and its chart success on their Instagram Story, revealing Hayley Williams and ex-guitarist Joshua Farro’s writing credits.

Hayley shared the post, writing, “Our publisher is wildin rn.”

According to Variety, it’s not yet clear when the co-writing credits were added, but they weren’t included when the song was initially released.

This isn’t the first time Olivia has added songwriting credits retroactively. She added Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent as co-writers on her track “Deja Vu,” because the song apparently borrows its bridge from Taylor’s “Cruel Summer.” She also added Taylor and Jack to her song “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back,” because it interpolates Taylor’s song “New Year’s Day.”

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Spencer Elden, who was photographed as a baby for the cover of Nirvana‘s Nevermind, is suing the band for child pornography.

The suit, which was obtained and posted by Pitchfork, alleges Nirvana committed “commercial child sexual exploitation of [Elden] from while he was a minor to the present day” with the album artwork, which depicts the then-infant Elden swimming underwater naked while reaching for a dollar bill.

“Defendants knowingly produced, possessed, and advertised commercial child pornography depicting Spencer, and they knowingly received value in exchange for doing so,” the suit reads.

Defendants named in the suit include the late Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, who’s the executor of her husband’s estate, as well as drummer Dave Grohl, bassist Krist Novoselic and former member Chad Channing. Photographer Kirk Weddle, art director Robert Fisher and labels including Universal Music Group, Geffen Records, Warner Records and MCA Music are also named.

“Neither Spencer nor his legal guardians ever signed a release authorizing the use of any images of Spencer or of his likeness, and certainly not of commercial child pornography depicting him,” the suit reads. It also accuses Nirvana of specifically choosing to show Elden reaching for a dollar in an effort to depict him “like a sex worker.”

Nirvana nor any of its members have responded publicly to the suit as of Wednesday morning.

Nevermind was released September 24, 1991. It’s considered perhaps the most defining album of the ’90s grunge and alternative scene — if not the entire decade — and has been certified Diamond by the RIAA for over 10 million copies sold.

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Lorde‘s debut album Pure Heroine celebrates its eighth anniversary next month, and the singer admits to feeling pure nostalgia when thinking about her first studio effort.

Speaking to Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, the “Royals” singer expressed, “That album, to me, is just that mixture of toughness and cluelessness that you have at 15.”

“I felt totally invincible and also totally uninformed, or very specifically informed by my existence up to that point, being a kid on the North Shore,” said Lorde, now 24. “It’s so cozy to me when I think about it.”

The Grammy winner said she recently listened to Pure Heroine again and was brought straight back into her teenage mindset when flipping through the tracks.

“I was like, ‘Man, just the feeling of being out after dark as a kid, waiting at some bus stop or being in someone’s car, it was kind of exotic to be on your own and doing your own thing,'” she grinned. “I was tough at that age. It’s cool to think about baby [me.]”

Lorde, who released her new album Solar Power on Friday, demonstrated how much she’s grown as an artist since her 2013 debut.

“I definitely thought about wellness in many forms for this album,” she said, taking note of the single “Mood Ring” and the vibe it exudes. “This song is very much getting at the deep weirdness to it and the questionable elements of white women like me, trying to achieve a sense of spiritual oneness. Whether they’re burning sage or palo santo or having this crystal around.”

She continued, “I was really careful to say, ‘Look, I’m not a climate activist. I’m a pop star.’ I have this massive machine. I’m trying to symbolize my commitment to be better, environmentally.”

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Lizzo dropped her Cardi B-assisted single “Rumors” almost two weeks ago, but there’s one line that people seem to be stuck on. 

At one point in the track, Lizzo says, “No I ain’t [expletive] Drake yet.” While appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday, guest host Niall Horan asked the singer to “explain.”

“Okay. So the original line was ‘No I ain’t [expletive] Niall yet but…the label said it was a little bit provocative,” the Grammy winner joked. “So…I changed it to Drake, a safer bet.”

When asked if she’s heard from the Toronto rapper, Lizzo made reference to where she landed on the Billboard music charts, cheekily saying, “I think he’s heard the #4 song in the country.”

On a serious note, Lizzo quickly added, “I have heard from Drake, but that’s all I’m going to say on that.”

Whether that means the two hitmakers will be collaborating on music soon, or whether they’ll be taking their relationship to another level, fans will just have to wait and see.

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With the passing of The Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts on Tuesday, fans across the globe are looking back at the legacy of the legendary rock band. And you can count “Pretty Little Heart” hitmaker Parker McCollum among them.

The Texas native credits the Stones as a pivotal influence, particularly on his latest hit, “To Be Loved by You.”

“Exile on Main Street was my first introduction to the Stones,” Parker explains. “My brother got that record for me when I was, I think, nineteen. The summer I’d just graduated high school, I moved to Austin ten days after I graduated high school.”

“[He] and I were living together and we were in a big-time Rolling Stones phase,” Parker continues. “That whole record’s great.”

A track from the band’s 1994 record even found a regular pace in Parker’s set when he was starting out.

“The one song — it’s kind of off of a forgotten album, I think, or an overlooked album that they have. It’s called Voodoo Lounge. And there’s a song called ‘Blinded by Rainbows’ on there I used to cover all the time in my acoustic set way back in the day.”

Parker even believes you can hear the influence of Mick Jagger and company on his debut album, Gold Chain Cowboy. 

“Exile on Main Street was a record we — I think we broke it we played it so much,” he recalls. “And I feel like those songs on that record had a lot to do with kind of how my music’s shaping up today.”

Right now, Parker’s on Dierks Bentley‘s Beers on Me Tour, with Riley Green.

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