Music

Lizzo is stressing the message of her new song, “Rumors,” telling her fans and haters alike to pay attention to what’s going on in the world.

“Rumors,” also featuring Cardi B, is a song that tells haters to be more concerned about what’s happening in the world and not obsess over what women choose to do with their bodies and free time.

In a video posted Tuesday to Instagram, Lizzo featured various catastrophes happening around the globe as she plays the song’s chorus, “Spending all your time/ Tryna break a woman down/ Realer s*** is going on/ Baby, take a look around.”

Among the disasters featured in the brief clip are the skyrocketing cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, the earthquake that devastated Haiti, the wildfires in Turkey and Greece, and the troubling new reports concerning climate change.

“The internet has brought the world together, for better and for worse. Right now there are people in peril,” Lizzo expresses in the caption. “If I can help bring awareness to these issues it’s the least I can do.”

She also linked to several organizations that her followers can donate to and support.

Lizzo later took to Instagram live to call out the backlash she’s received for “Rumors,” telling fans. “We really need to check ourselves for how we treat people… I want this to be a conversation on how we treat people.  A conversation on how so much toxicity is rooted in our culture and in the way that we speak to each other and how we can progress and grow from that.”

She added that she will continue to be “transparent” about how she feels if “it is necessary to start a conversation for some progress.” 

 

 

 

 

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There was a time, if you can believe it, when Camila Cabello “never had any friends,” she tells Bustle. But now she has plenty, and she says she was taught the importance of friendship by none other than Taylor Swift.

Camila tells Bustle that when her music career began, she and her mom did everything together “to the extreme. Because I never had any friends.”  She explains, “I’ve been [working] since I was 15. I’ve been traveling so much, and it’s been really hard for me to water the soil for friendships.”

But when Camila was chosen to open for Taylor Swift on her 2018 Reputation tour, she says, she finally learned how important it was to cultivate non-romantic relationships.

“Taylor has always been so kind and supportive and also goes out of her way to give you artist advice,” Camila tells Bustle. “[She’s] really about making friendships and relationships the most important thing. She is so brave at watering those seeds of friendships and relationships.”

Camila adds, “She always answers my texts and she’s so busy. I don’t even answer texts because I’m just worse at it. It takes intention to be like, ‘Let me write all my friends back.’”

Luckily, Camila isn’t lacking in the romantic relationship department either, as her romance with Shawn Mendes proves.  “There’s a lot of sweetness and tenderness [between us],” she tells Bustle. “I think we’re both sensitive. I’m really lucky to be able to surround myself with tenderness; it’s really important to me.

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Since becoming a mom, Meghan Trainor has pivoted from music to TV, because it allows her to spend more time with her son Riley — and the Grammy winner says she knows how lucky she is to be able to have that option.

Along with Adam Lambert and others, Meghan will be a judge on the upcoming reality competition show on E! called Clash of the Cover Bands.  She’ll also be the host of a new Top Chef spinoff called Top Chef Family Style, which will stream on Peacock.  In both cases, she gets to work a normal day and return home in the evening, with the added bonus of Riley being able to join her on set.  It’s quite a change from her previous life as a globe-traveling pop star.

“Yeah, it’s my dream and I still get to, like, come home and be working on music whenever I can,” Meghan tells ABC Audio. “And I just love that I don’t have to travel, honestly!”  She laughs, “Like, I don’t even know…I couldn’t even picture me dragging him on a plane right now.  It seems like a lot of work!

“I’m just so happy that we can drive 10 minutes to work and do our work and he gets to come with me,” she notes. “So many moms out there can’t bring their child to work every day. And I get to do that. So I’m super-lucky and I know how blessed I am. So it’s been awesome!”

So far, neither show has a premiere date set.  Meghan’s most recent album was A Very Trainor Christmas, which came out in October of 2020.

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For the last seven years, Imagine Dragons‘ hit “Radioactive” has held the record for the most weeks spent on the Billboard Hot 100. While that record has now been broken by The Weeknd‘s “Blinding Lights,” it’d be hard to call “Radioactive” anything but a rousing success, especially given where it started.

As frontman Dan Reynolds tells Billboard, “Radioactive” wasn’t on anybody’s radar when ID was first getting started.

“Once we signed [to Interscope], it wasn’t like everybody at the label was like, ‘This is the song,'” Reynolds recalls. “In fact, it was the opposite. ‘It’s Time’ was the first single, and we [already] had ‘Radioactive’ at that point.”

“Nobody thought that that song would play on radio,” he continues. “In fact, I remember our radio department specifically being like, ‘This song won’t play on radio.’ But the song just started to go on its own, and then it just went to radio because it kind of had a life of its own, and it kinda dictated its own way.”

Surely that conversation will be a pivotal scene if anyone decides to make an Imagine Dragons biopic.

As for “Radioactive’s” now-beaten record, Reynolds feels good that it fell to The Weekend, whom he calls a “legend” and an “icon.”

“I think his music is the type of music that’s going to live on for a long time, and do good things,” Reynolds says. “So if there was ever someone to take the record, I think it’s good company.”

Meanwhile, Imagine Dragons is gearing up to release a new album called Mercury — Act 1 on September 3. It features the singles “Follow You,” “Cutthroat” and “Wrecked.”

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At first glance, Riley Green‘s latest hit, “If It Wasn’t for Trucks,” might seem like just another ode to country’s favorite vehicle for riding backroads, throwing tailgate parties, and hauling hay. 

But for the Alabama native, it hits much closer to home than that. 

“The whole song is really personal,” Riley reveals. “And talking about when my granddaddy died, and ‘where would I have first heard Merle [Haggard],’ the line about ‘where was I supposed to cry.'”

“You didn’t cry in front of anybody,” he explains. “You pulled off in your truck somewhere if you were gonna do it.”

“And I love the line, ‘how would anybody’s daddy get around,'” he goes on. “That thought to me is pretty cool to go, ‘Everybody’s dad drives a truck. What would they do if there weren’t trucks?’ They’d have to walk everywhere, because nobody’s dad drives a car.”

While Riley freely admits it’s almost impossible to come up with an entirely new idea, he maintains it’s the execution that can really make a song special.

“Everything’s probably been said. Anything you can ever say, any idea’s probably been written in one of the eight billion country songs that are out there,” Riley points out. “But finding a cool way to say it and finding a personal way to say it, I think is what makes a song stick out, in my mind.”

Right now, Riley’s busy with the Beers on Me Tour with Dierks Bentley and Parker McCollum.

“If It Wasn’t for Trucks” is the title track of Riley’s 2020 EP, and is also included on his new collection, Behind the Bar.

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This month, Metallica released a single as part of their Vinyl Club subscription service featuring recordings from their performance at the Chris Cornell I Am the Highway tribute concert in 2019. The release was noticed by the late Soundgarden frontman’s widow, Vicky Cornell, who shared her gratitude toward the metal legends.

“Thank you so much to Metallica for the love and appreciation that you have shown for Chris and for memorializing that love, admiration and support from your performances at the I Am the Highway tribute on this truly amazing and special vinyl,” Vicky wrote in an Instagram post, which is also credited to her children Toni and Christopher.

“Joining the tribute concert meant so much to me and my children and to so many fans around the world,” the post continues. “I know how proud Chris would be, not only because you were there as his friends, but also because he was such a huge Metallica fan.”

Vicky also thanked drummer Lars Ulrich in particular for his comments about her husband.

“Thank you so much and thank you @larsulrich for your very kind words about Chris,” she wrote. “It is true that ‘a man is not dead while his name is still spoken.’ Thank you for continuing to honor him.”

The Vinyl Club single features Metallica’s performances of the Soundgarden songs “All Your Lies” and “Head Injury.”

In related news, Metallica has released a new unboxing video for the upcoming Black Album 30th anniversary deluxe reissue, due out September 10. The clip features former bassist Jason Newsted opening and commenting on the package.

 

 

 

 

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Dean Guitars CEO Evan Rubinson has responded to the lawsuit filed by Rita Haney on behalf of late Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott‘s estate.

On Monday, Haney — Dime’s longtime partner and the trustee of his estate — sued Dean for fraud, breach of written agreement and false endorsement, among other counts, allegedly committed after their contract with the guitar brand had expired. She also accused Rubinson specifically of being “incredibly disrespectful and often times belligerent to the legacy” of Dimebag.

Dimebag had first signed a deal with Dean in 2004, and the partnership continued with his estate following his murder later that year. In filing the lawsuit, Haney also announced that the collaboration with Dean has now ended.

In an Instagram Story posted on Tuesday evening, Rubinson called Haney’s claims “baseless” and “without any merit.”

“We have always treated Dime and his brother Vinnie with the utmost respect and loyalty,” Rubinson writes. “We have enjoyed a long-standing, 17-year relationship with Dime and Vinnie, and continue that relationship with Vinnie’s estate on the drum side.”

The statement continues, “We are shocked and saddened to see the actions that Ms. Haney has taken after both the Abbott brothers have tragically passed away, and we wish her the best in her future endeavors. However, it is unfortunate that Ms. Haney has allowed her unrealistic demands and accusations to dictate the future of the Dimebag Darrell legacy in the absence of Dime’s immediate family.”

Rubinson notes, “Dean Guitars is proud to have played a role in ensuring Dime’s legacy not only survived but thrived over the bast 17 years.”

He adds, “Ms. Haney’s claims — across the board — are baseless, without any merit, and not grounded in reality. We will allow the full truth to come out as the legal process takes its course.”

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