Music

Rihanna has heard the chatter about how it’s been over six years since she released a record, and she wants y’all to hush.

That’s the gist of a teaser that dropped Friday morning promoting the nine-time Grammy winner and fashion mogul’s reemergence on the music scene, on arguably the most visible stage there is: The Super Bowl halftime show.

The spot opens on a black set, split with a single catwalk made of light. Overlapping voices tout that it’s been a while since we’ve gotten a record from the billionaire Barbadian superstar — “It’s been 2,190 days,” in fact, according to one voice.

“The last album we got from Rihanna was Anti in 2016,” another gripes. “RiRi where have you been?” shouts another, as Rihanna strides towards the camera, fluffing a shaggy chartreuse coat over a dramatic, low-cut pantsuit outfit and high heels, complimented with silver, double hoop earrings and a matching necklace decorated with crosses. Her hair is done up in tendril-like braids, and her eyes framed by shimmery blue eye shadow.

As the voices reach a cacophonous crescendo, the “catwalk” turns into a spotlight, revealing her completely. Rihanna then slowly raises her finger to her lips to say “shh,” as we hear a short snippet of her hit, “Needed Me.”

The screen then goes black, with a legend reading “Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show,” and the logo of its first-time sponsor, Apple Music.

The Super Bowl halftime show at will take place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on February 12.

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Chris Young famously prefers to play it close to the vest when it comes to his personal affairs.

So even when we’re talking about a romantic song like his new single, “Looking for You,” it’d be a mistake to assume it’s based on what’s been happening in his own life.

“No, this actually just came from a place of, you know, sometimes you’re looking for love and can’t find it,” Chris clarifies. “And then sometimes you’re like, ‘I give up,’ and it just smacks you in the face like a freight train out of nowhere.”

It’s an experience Chris believes most of us can relate to.

“I think a lot of people have been through that before, where they just see somebody walk in, even if they weren’t looking for, or are looking for it, they just find someone and it’s like, ‘This is perfect,'” he reflects. “And so that was kind of the genesis of the idea of this song.”

Chris also just released the new track “All Dogs Go to Heaven,” which was no doubt inspired by his beloved German shepherd, Porter.

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Saweetie will make an appearance on season 2 of Bel-Air. Peacock announced the news while sharing the names of all guests making cameos the second time around.

The “Tap In” rapper will kick off the season, appearing in the first episode as herself. Brooklyn McLinn, Jazlyn Martin and Riele Downs will also guest star on season 2.

Set in modern-day Los Angeles, Bel-Air dramatically reimagines the ’90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which sees Will’s transition from the streets of West Philadelphia to a mansion in Bel-Air, California.

According to a press release, “Season two picks up with Will at a crossroads as a new figure comes into his life who challenges what he’s learned in Bel-Air and competes for control of his influence. He juggles this while navigating his home life with the Banks family and trying to rebuild the trust that was broken at the end of last season.”

The season will also capture the growth of Will and Carlton’s brotherhood; Hilary’s personal development as an influencer and how that clashes with her relationship with Jazz; and the struggles Viv and Phil face while balancing marriage, family and their respective career paths.

Season 2 of Bel-Air premieres February 23 on Peacock; new episodes stream every Thursday.

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Last weekend, a report in a British tabloid claimed that interest in Adele‘s Weekends With Adele Las Vegas residency show was “waning” — so much so that Caesars Palace had resorted to using “seat fillers” to cover up all the empty seats. But like so many British tabloid stories, it’s simply not true.

As the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which has the inside track on all things entertainment in Sin City, reports, the only time seat fillers are used at Adele’s shows is when people who’ve purchased tickets are unable to make the performance, whether due to canceled flights, COVID or some other reason. 

At that point, Caesars Palace asks its employees, as well as staffers from its resorts’ partners, to sit in those seats. The general public can’t get in on this deal, and it’s an arrangement that’s specific to Adele’s residency.  According to the paper, Adele reportedly prefers to see all the seats in the lower sections occupied when she performs, so Caesars obliges.

The British tabloid also pointed to the fact that you can find same-day tickets to some of Adele’s performances for “a few hundred bucks” as further proof of “waning” interest. But as the Las Vegas Review-Journal explains, this has always been true of an in-demand show. A few tickets often get returned to the box office at the last minute. In the case of Adele, you’d pay face value for those tickets, which is usually more than $400.

So don’t worry: Adele’s doing just fine at Caesars Palace. Weekends With Adele is currently scheduled to run through March 25.

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FINNEAS is planning 2023 to be a year of new music.

Speaking with ABC Audio, the “Let’s Fall in Love for the Night” artist reveals, “I’m working on a bunch of new solo records, which is really fun.”

FINNEAS notes that he’s been in a “very collaborative zone” with the upcoming material, which is a major departure from the process of creating his debut solo album, 2021’s Optimist.

“I made the last album, like, completely alone in a room,” FINNEAS explains. “I am very grateful to have done that.”

He adds, “It’s exciting to explore working with more people on this project.”

Reflecting on Optimist, which came across as both sincere and ironic in its title, FINNEAS maintains a similar outlook on the future.

“I still feel like it was ironic and also true,” FINNEAS shares. “I feel like it remains how I feel. It’s, like, optimistic in some ways and a little bit kinda like, ‘Oh my God, who knows?'”

“2022, on a personal level — not on maybe as geopolitically wide as I might wanna go — I had a wonderful time this past year, and feel very grateful for everything that’s happened,” he continues. “So I’m really looking forward to all the stuff that we have on the calendar in 2023, and then all the stuff that I’m sure will happen that I have no idea about.” 

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The Arcs have released a new song called “Sunshine,” which will appear on the Dan Auerbach-led band’s upcoming album, Electrophonic Chronic.

The track was co-written by and features late band member Richard Swift, who passed away in 2018. Electrophonic Chronic is dedicated to Swift’s memory.

You can listen to “Sunshine” now via digital outlets.

Electrophonic Chronic, the sophomore follow-up to 2015’s Yours, Dreamily, arrives January 27. It also includes the previously released songs “Eyez,” “Keep on Dreamin'” and “Heaven Is a Place.”

To celebrate the album’s arrival, Auerbach and The Arcs member and Electrophonic co-producer Leon Michels will play a run of DJ sets, taking place January 14 in Paris, January 28 in New York City and February 3 in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Auerbach is gearing up to tour Europe with The Black Keys this summer in support of their 2022 album, Dropout Boogie. In May, he and Patrick Carney will play a one-off U.S. headlining show in Santa Barbara, California, as well as SoCal’s BeachLife Festival.

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Music fans have another chance to see Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks in concert together. The two will take over M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 7. Ticket sales for the new show begin Friday, January 20, at 10 a.m. ET on LiveNation.com. This becomes their seventh overall joint show. 

Michael Bublé was in charge of watching his four kids and joked he definitely wasn’t in over his head. “Father of 4. Wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s absolute chaos but it’s our chaos,” he captioned the videos of his youngsters throwing their toys all over the place. “I think I’m killing it!” he added.

Billboard did the math on last year’s vinyl sales. Turns out that one out of every 25 vinyl sales was a Taylor Swift record. Roughly 43.5 million vinyl records were sold in 2022 and Taylor sold the most — 1.695 million albums.

Andy Grammer revealed new single “These Tears,” which is due out Friday, is about losing his mother when he was 25. He revealed, “I miss her everyday. I wrote this song to let her know that I’m gonna be alright.” He added in the caption, “Letting go is hard to do.”

Pink paid tribute to her late father James Moore, who died a year ago. Sharing a tender moment of her as a toddler interacting with her dad as he’s playing the guitar, she wrote, “Miss you dad.” She soundtracked the snap to Don McLean‘s “And I Love You So.”

Ed Sheeran has been voted the most kissable ginger in the U.K., besting Prince Harry for the coveted title. Wales Online reports ginger beer brand Fentimans polled 1,000 people for its updated rankings, and Ed beat Prince Harry with 17 percent of the vote. Fifteen percent of respondents wanted to smooch Harry.

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