Music

Elton John was a close friend of the late Princess Diana and is also close to her sons, Prince Harry and Prince William. But in his new memoir, Spare, Harry details a couple of disagreements the two have had over the years.

In the book, as reported by The Huffington Post UK, Harry recalls watching Elton perform a rewritten version of “Candle in the Wind” at his mother’s funeral in 1997, writing, “I do have one pure, indisputable memory of the song climaxing and my eyes starting to sting and tears nearly falling. Nearly.” 

But according to Harry, when he asked Elton to play the song in 2007 at the Concert for Diana, held on the 10th anniversary of his mother’s passing, Elton declined, fearing it would be too “morbid.” Instead, he played “Your Song,” which, Harry writes, he sang with “a twinkle and a smile, aglow with good memories.”

Another time the two had a difference of opinion, Harry writes, was in 2019, when Harry, his wife, Meghan, and their son, Archie, were visiting Elton at his home in France.

During the visit, Elton said he was going to serialize his autobiography, Me, in the British tabloid The Daily Mail, which Elton, Harry and Meghan had sued for defamatory stories. When Harry asked Elton why he’d chosen a paper that had made his life “miserable,” Elton explained that he “wanted people to read” the book.

Harry then notes that he decided not to push the matter further, writing, “I loved him. I’ll always love him. And I also didn’t want to spoil the holiday.”

Following that visit, Elton publicly defended Harry and Meghan after they were slammed by the British press for using a private jet to fly to France to visit him.

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They’re three of the biggest names in pop music, but at the Golden Globes Tuesday night, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Rihanna all struck out when it came to taking home a trophy.

All three were nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Original Song from a Motion Picture, for the songs they wrote or co-wrote for, respectively, Top Gun: Maverick, Where the Crawdads Sing and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Rihanna also attended the ceremony with her boyfriend A$AP Rocky, and drew admiring comments from presenter Niecy Nash, Billy Porter and even host Jerrod Carmichael, who told her, “You take all the time you want to get that album out, girl. Don’t let these fools on the internet pressure you into nothing!”

But ultimately, the winner in the category was “Naatu Naatu,” n catchy, super-upbeat song that soundtracks one of the major set pieces in the nominated Indian film RRR.

Meanwhile, Selena Gomez was nominated for Best Actress in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy for Only Murders in the Building, but lost to Abbott Elementary‘s Quinta Brunson.

But all is not lost: Taylor, Gaga and Rihanna’s songs are all shortlisted for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards; they’ll find out if they’re official nominated on January 24.

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Highly Suspect will play the 2023 Blue Ridge Rock Festival, taking place September 7-10 in Alton, Virginia.

The “My Name Is Human” rockers join a bill that already includes the reformed Pantera and Flyleaf reunited with Lacey Sturm, as well as Megadeth, Parkway Drive, Motionless in White, Beartooth, Spiritbox, Vince Neil, Scott Stapp, Avatar and Atreyu.

For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit BlueRidgeRockFest.com.

Highly Suspect released a new album, The Midnight Demon Club, last September. It includes the lead single “Natural Born Killer.”

Highly Suspect’s 2023 also includes a run of U.S. headlining dates, as well as opening for select shows on Muse‘s U.S. tour.

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M83 has announced a new album called Fantasy.

The ninth studio effort from the “Midnight City” outfit will arrive March 17. You can listen to the first single, “Oceans Niagara,” now via digital outlets.

“I wanted this record to be very impactful live,” says frontman Anthony Gonzalez. “The idea was to come back with something closer to the energy of [2005’s] Before the Dawn Heals Us. The combination of guitars and synths is always in my music, but it’s maybe more present on this new record than on the previous ones.”

You’ll be able to experience that impactful live energy yourself when M83 launches a U.S. tour this spring, running from April 10 in Phoenix to May 16 in Oakland. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit ILoveM83.com.

Here’s the Fantasy track list:

“Water Deep”
“Oceans Niagara”
“Amnesia”
“Us and the Rest”
“Earth to Sea”
“Radar, Far, Gone”
“Deceiver”
“Fantasy”
“Laura”
“Sunny Boy”
“Kool Nuit” feat. Kaela
“Sunny Boy Part 2”
“Dismemberment Bureau”

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Nick Jonas is heading to Austin, Texas, in March for this year’s South by Southwest conference, but he won’t be playing music.

Instead, the Jonas Brothers member will be one of the conference’s featured speakers and will take part in a panel called Crushing: The Burden of Diabetes on Patients. Nick was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 13, and has been a staunch advocate for raising awareness of the disease and funds for its treatment, even testifying before Congress in 2016.

The Dancing with Myself judge will join a Colorado state representative, a Texas pastor and the COO of a company that produces diabetes testing equipment on the panel, which will tackle the topic of whether we’re doing enough to help manage, fund and treat a disorder that affects one in 10 Americans.

Ahead of that appearance, the Jonas Brothers will play three shows as part of an ongoing residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM Las Vegas. As of last year, the group said they were close to finishing a new album, so maybe that’ll arrive in 2023.

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2023 is shaping up to be “the busiest year” of Garth Brooks‘ career, the superstar proclaimed during his weekly edition of Inside Studio G. 

Of course, he kicks off his sold-out, 27-date Garth Brooks/Plus ONE residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in May, but he revealed another major commitment for the year: He and wife Trisha Yearwood will take on a Habitat for Humanity build on behalf of their close friends, former President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter.

There’s also the opening of his new Friends in Low Places entertainment venue on the famed Nashville strip known as Lower Broadway. 

But perhaps most exciting of all for fans is the news that Garth is planning to head into the studio. While he predicts he’ll “do a lot of things that probably never will see the light of day,” he also adds those end up being “my favorite sessions right there.”

The Country Music Hall of Famer typically checks in with his fans during a new Inside Studio G every Monday night on Facebook.

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Coachella is making a return in April, and this time around, Frank Ocean is one of the headliners. The singer is closing out the third and final nights of the two-weekend event, while Bad Bunny and BLACKPINK will respectively end nights one and two.

Frank was originally supposed to headline the 2020 Coachella event, which was canceled due to COVID-19. Scheduling conflicts prevented him from performing when the festival made its 2022 return, so Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett pushed the performance back to 2023.

Coachella will go down April 14-16 and April 21-23 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, and will mark Frank’s first festival performance since the Flow Festival in 2017.

Also taking the stage are Burna Boy, Metro Boomin, Pusha T, Idris Elba, Flo Milli, Shenseea, A Boogie, Latto, GloRilla, Rae Sremmurd and Noname, to name a few.

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