Music – Page 2847 – 105.7 WDNY

Kate Bush “still reel[s]” from “Running Up That Hill” success: “It was really exciting”

December 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

For the past few years, Kate Bush has shared a Christmas message on her website reflecting on the past 12 months. In her 2022 post, Bush writes that she’s had a “crazy, roller coaster year” thanks to the renewed popularity of her 1985 single “Running Up That Hill,” which became a resurgent hit after being featured in the latest season of Netflix’s Stranger Things.

“I still reel from the success of RUTH, being the No 1 track of this summer,” Bush writes. “What an honor! It was really exciting to see it doing so well globally, but especially here in the UK and Australia; and also to see it making it all the way to No 3 in the US.”

“It was such a great feeling to see so many of the younger generation enjoying the song,” she continues. “It seems that quite a lot of them thought I was a new artist! I love that! Again, thank you so much to everyone who supported the track and made it a hit.”

Elsewhere in her post, Bush mentions the war in Ukraine, the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the United Kingdom nurse strike.

“I wonder where on earth we’ll all be at the end of next year?” Bush writes. “I hope the war will end. I hope that the nurses will be in a position where they are appreciated — they should be cherished. Let’s all hope that next year will be better than this one.”

21 Savage honored with his own day in Georgia during annual Grant-A-Wish event

December 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

While presenting gifts to families at his annual Grant-A-Wish event in Georgia, 21 Savage received a special gift from the state. According to TMZ, the rapper now has his very own day, 21 Savage Day, set to be celebrated annually on December 21.

Billy Mitchell, a Georgia State representative, held the proclamation ceremony during the event, which saw 21 and his Leading By Example Foundation distribute gifts and snacks to 100 local parents and their children. Mitchell presented the rapper with a certificate honoring his humanitarian efforts, which include teaching underserved youth about financial literacy via his 21 Savage Bank Account campaign.

“Growing up in Atlanta, the hustling energy just rubs off on you,” the rapper previously said. “Financial literacy is important because that’s one of the main things that you need to operate and be successful as an adult. I just wanted to come up with something that could help kids understand what to do with that money.”

Journey’s Jonathan Cain responds to Neal Schon’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin” cease-and-desist

December 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Note Language) As previously reported, Journey’s Neal Schon hit his bandmate Jonathan Cain with a cease-and-desist letter over Cain’s recent performance of “Don’t Stop Believin’” at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Well, now Cain has responded.

“Schon is just frustrated that he keeps losing in court and is now falsely claiming the song has been used at political rallies,” reads the statement issued by Cain’s spokesperson.

But Schon has already fought back against that argument. “Now he’s claiming I keep loosing in court ?!? Inf******sane,” he tweeted. “Get off the kool-Aid. Wow lies after lies. I’ve won 1 case in court with Cain and the residing one has not been heard yet.”

Schon also took to social media to defend his actions. First, the guitarist shared a written excerpt from an earlier report showing the band’s former frontman, Steve Perry, who co-wrote “Don’t Stop Believin’” with Schon and Cain, did not want their music used for political purposes. He noted Perry tweeted that he didn’t give permission for the song to be used by any political candidate. Shon commented, “Well Steve and I agree on this.”

He followed that up with an audio clip of an interview with Cain, where he seemed to agree with that idea, noting, “Have a listen right around 9:25mins. Jonathan Cain himself talking about politics and religion not a good idea with our music. One word -hypocrite.”

Paul Simon celebrated with CBS Grammy tribute special

December 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

CBS aired a special Grammy tribute to Paul Simon Wednesday, featuring a host of artists performing some classic Simon tunes.

Homeward Bound: A GRAMMY Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon was filmed back in April at the Hollywood Pantages Theater and had Simon being serenaded by the likes of Dave Matthews, Jonas Brothers, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

Among the highlights: Matthews teamed up with Angelique Kidjo for a rousing rendition of “You Can Call Me Al,” along with “Under African Skies,” while Take 6 sang the a cappella tune “Homeless,” which received high praise from Simon himself. Also, Jonas Brothers performed “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover,” Sting performed “America,” Garth and Trisha duetted on “The Boxer,” and Susanna Hoffs was on hand to perform The Bangles’ cover of Simon’s “Hazy Shade of Winter.”

Among the other performances: Stevie Wonder was joined by Sheila E, Jonas Brothers and Ledisi to perform “Mrs. Robinson,” then partnered with Ledisi for “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” Bonnie Raitt and Brad Paisley performed “Something So Right”; Jimmy Cliff and Shaggy teamed up for “Mother and Child Reunion”; Billy Porter and Take 6 performed “Love Me Like A Rock”; and Eric Church performed “Homeward Bound.”

The night ended with a performance by Simon. He started off with “Graceland,” then brought out Rhiannon Giddens for a powerful performance of “American Tune.” He then ended the night with the classic “The Sound of Silence.”

Did you know? Keith Urban’s got a guitar named after a character in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’

December 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

‘Tis the season for Christmas movies, and different country stars have different favorites when it comes to cozying up in front of the TV.

Keith Urban favors the classics: “I love A Christmas Story, that’s a good one, and It’s a Wonderful Life, of course,” the singer says in an interview with his label, adding that the latter film inspired him to name one of the musical instruments he plays year-round.

“One of my main guitars is called Clarence, and it’s named after the angel [in It’s a Wonderful Life],” the singer adds.

But not every singer opts for the traditional holiday films. Jon Pardi prefers a movie that’s a little bit raunchier, he reveals.

“Bad Santa’s pretty good,” the singer tells his label, but says he’s got a tamer selection if there are “little cousins” around while the movie’s on.

“Elf is pretty much probably one of the funniest Christmas movies to ever be that new and beat out all of the old Christmas movies,” the star goes on to say. “It is definitely up there.”

This Christmas might be Jon’s last chance to watch Bad Santa for a while. The singer and his wife, Summer, are currently expecting their first child — a baby girl — who is due in early 2023.

Armani White shares his goal for 2023

December 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

2022 has been a breakthrough year for Armani White: he released his smash hit “Billie Eilish,” signed a deal with Def Jam Recordings and performed at the BET Hip Hop Awards, the Made in America Festival, Rolling Loud NY and Jingle Ball. With much accomplished, the star told ABC Audio that he may take a short break, but “probably just for Christmas.”

“It might just be one of those things where I get to hang out for the day and then right back to work,” he said. After all, he has a lot more he wants to get done.

White says he “wanted to have the biggest song of the year” in 2022, which he believes he’s accomplished with “Billie Eilish.” The success of the single has changed his life, making him familiar to a lot more people.

“I can’t go to the grocery store anymore,” he said when asked how his life has changed in the past year. “That’s been the biggest, the biggest pivot in my life is, like, I walk in, they’re like, ‘I know you.'”

Armani’s 2023 goal is even bigger, but he’s confident he can get it done. “I want to just be the biggest artist of next year,” he expressed. “And I don’t know, I think, like, if I did the last one, I think I could do this one.”

Eric Benét talks new ALLBLK anthology series ‘Snap’

December 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Snap, a brand new anthology series, arrives on ALLBLK today.

It was co-created by Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and actor Eric Benét, who tells ABC Audio the series “is a really interesting look into what we’re going through on this planet, socially, ethically.”

Snap follows a perfectly imperfect god named A.O., who serves as the “moral compass” for the protagonist of each episode and challenges them to take an “ethical inventory” of their life.

“Sometimes the consequences of that ethical inventory is life changing or sometimes life ending,” Benét shares.

Each episode in the series tells a different story and stars talent like Amiyah Scott, Michael Buscemi, Clifton Powell, Tisha Campbell and more.

So, how did the show come about? Benét says the idea came to him during an RV trip with his family and he immediately called his friend, director and Snap co-creator, Devin Hampton.

“I thought it was just going to be like one little short film that we were going to shoot,” Benét explains. “And then, you know, after we saw what we did, it became clearly evident that there are many more stories that could be told through this prism.”

The purpose of all of these stories, says Benét is to remind people “there’s some really important things we need to be paying attention to now.”

“The oceans are literally drying up and we’re living in this crazy distraction,” he says, making note of social media and celebrity gossip. “We need to reevaluate how we see the world and how we can maneuver through all of these obstacles that are in front of us and obstacles that we’re creating right now for the future generation.”

Catch Snap Thursdays on ALLBLK with new episodes weekly.

The Christmas favorite that creeps into Brett Young’s music year-round

December 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

There’s one Christmas song Brett Young loves so much that he says it actually creeps into most of his music: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which was originally introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis.

“Before you dig too deep about the lyrics, it’s the ballad that I try to put out with every single song I ever put out,” he reveals. “So that is obviously what I gravitate towards.”

“But there’s something about the lyric matched with the music that makes — it’s even in the lyric, ‘Let your heart be light.’ It just literally makes me feel that way,” he says.

Most of all for Brett, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” evokes what he loves most about the holiday.

“For me, Christmas is always about being with family,” he reflects. “And whether it’s said that specifically or not in the song, everything about the lyric makes me feel like I’m sitting in the living room with my family. And that is the holidays for me.”

The Californian recorded his version of the song for 2021’s Brett Young & Friends Sing the Christmas Classics. It’s a duet with Australian pop star Sam Fischer, though Brett originally intended to record it with his CMT Crossroads partners Boyz II Men.

As Australians, for KING & COUNTRY says some Christmas songs are “really bizarre” to them

December 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

For KING & COUNTRY‘s holiday album, A Drummer Boy Christmas, and their holiday tours are very popular. But the duo’s Luke and Joel Smallbone say the irony is that as kids growing up in Australia, many beloved Christmas songs just never made sense to them — especially the ones that mention winter or snow.

December is summertime in Australia, which makes certain songs “really bizarre,” Joel notes: “You know, ‘Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,’ if there’s an open fire in Australia in the summer, it’s a bushfire. You’ve got to run. Don’t write a song about it.”

“Or ‘Frosty the Snowman’ … we have Frankie the Sandman,” he laughs. “Or ‘I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,’ of course you’re dreaming.” So when their family moved to Tennessee when they were young, Joel says, “We exploded when we actually experienced a Northern Hemisphere Christmas.”

“Every Australian loves snow,” Luke adds. “And even for the last few decades, while we’ve been here, if we bring family over, if it doesn’t snow here, we will take them to snow, because that’s how special it is.”

“The first Christmas that we were here, it did indeed snow,” Luke recalls. “And it’s one of only maybe two or three ever since we’ve lived in Tennessee … and so it was a magical moment.” Of course, all eight members of the family ran out and built snowmen — with disastrous results.

“The neighbors bought an F150 and they mowed over the snowman,” Luke reveals. “So it was a cultural experience all the way around. We’re building these new memories, these snowmen, and then we realized that maybe the neighbors don’t like snowmen all at the same time.”

“… And America’s a dangerous place!” adds Joel. “It’s a very dangerous place!” laughs Luke.

David Bowie & Leonard Cohen documentaries make Oscars short list

December 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences just announced the short lists in several categories for the upcoming 95th Academy Awards and documentaries about two iconic musicians are in the running.

The David Bowie doc Moonage Daydream, as well as the Leonard Cohen documentary Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song are among the 15 films in the running for a possible nomination in the Documentary Feature Film category.

Moonage Daydream, directed by Brett Morgen, focuses on Bowie’s catalog from 1970 to 1977 and was described as “a sublime kaleidoscopic experiential cinematic odyssey that explores Bowie’s creative, spiritual, and philosophical journey.” Hallelujah, created by Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine, tells the story of Cohen’s life and how his song “Hallelujah” became such an iconic track.

The short list was also announced for the Best Original Song category, with LCD Soundsystem making the cut for their White Noise song “New Body Rhumba.” The David Byrne/Mitski track “This is a Life,” from Everything Everywhere All at Once, is also in the running, as are songs by Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, The Weeknd and Lady Gaga.

The 95th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, are set to air March 12 on ABC. Nominations will be announced January 24.

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