Music

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.

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Deftones frontman Chino Moreno‘s side project Crosses recently released a song called “Vivien.” And if you thought the chorus sounded a lot like Britney Spears‘ “…Baby One More Time,” no, you’re not going crazy.

Speaking with Revolver, Moreno shares that the “Vivien” chorus “may have been a slight wink” to the ’90s pop classic.

“I think it’s funny how a lot of people are like, ‘Oh my God, did you hear this?'” Moreno says. “And to me, I kinda just have a little smile about it. It’s one of those things where … yeah, I would just say it’s a possible little wink there.”

When asked if the sonic tribute to Spears was intentional, Moreno replies, “I’d say I embellished on a couple little things in there to give it that wink, yeah.”

Perhaps Moreno’s wink will lead to a full Deftones cover of “…Baby One More Time,” or at least that mashup of “Change (In the House of Flies)” and “Toxic.”

“Vivien” appears on the new Crosses EP PERMANENT.RADIANT, which is out now.

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The fighting between the members of Journey continues. Variety reports the latest battle is over their classic song “Don’t Stop Believin’,” with Neal Schon filing a cease-and-desist order against bandmate Jonathan Cain to stop him from playing the tune.

The trouble appears to stem from Cain’s appearance last month at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, where he played the tune backed by Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Kari Lake.

“Although Mr. Cain is free to express his personal beliefs and associations, when he does that on behalf of Journey or for the band, such conduct is extremely deleterious to the Journey brand as it polarizes the band’s fans and outreach,” the letter reads. “Journey is not, and should not be, political.”

It adds, “Mr. Cain has no right to use Journey for politics. His politics should be his own personal business,” noting, “He should not be capitalizing on Journey’s brand to promote his personal political or religious agenda to the detriment of the band.”

The bandmates’ relationship certainly has been on rocky ground recently. Just last month, Schon sued Cain over an American Express card Schon said Cain signed up for, but didn’t give him access to. Cain claimed the suit was an attempt to cover up Schon’s own “excessive spending and extravagant lifestyle.”

Somehow they are supposed to work together again, though. Their tour with Toto kicks off February 4 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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Miley Cyrus is getting ready to launch her second annual Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party and revealed the star-studded list of talent who’ll help her ring in 2023.

We already know this year’s co-host will be none other than the iconic Dolly Parton, who is Miley’s real-life godmother. But now we know who else will be rocking out on the stage with them.

Among those hitting up the Miami stage will be Sia, “Big Energy” rapper Latto, up-and-coming artist FLETCHER and hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd, as well as a few comedians. Saturday Night Live’s Chloe Fineman, as well as Sarah Sherman and comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy, will help bring the belly laughs for the new year.

Saturday Night Live‘s leader, Lorne Michaels, will return as the event’s executive producer. The show airs live from Miami on December 31 from 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. ET. It’ll also stream on Peacock.

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While Taylor Swift is working on reclaiming her music catalog, Justin Bieber is reportedly doing the exact opposite.

A report from The Wall Street Journal claims Justin is nearing a deal with Hipgnosis Songs Capital to sell his music catalog for a lofty $200 million. If approved, this will be Hipgnosis’ largest music-rights acquisition.

As for what’s on the table, the deal covers Justin’s six albums, collaborations and independent music singles over his 15-year career. The singer reportedly has yet to shake hands or sign any papers, so the deal is still in its negotiation stage.

Coincidentally, this won’t be the first Justin that Hipgnosis will acquire a song catalog from — earlier this year, they obtained the song catalog rights to Justin Timberlake‘s music for about $100 million.

Bieber and Hipgnosis’ teams have not responded to requests for comment.

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled short lists in 10 categories for the 2023 Oscars on Wednesday, and among those in contention for Best Original Song nominations are Rihanna, The Weeknd, and Drake and Giveon.

Rihanna is one step closer to her first Oscar nomination thanks to “Lift Me Up,” her contribution to the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. This means director Ryan Coogler and Tems, who co-wrote the movie, could be headed for nominations, as well. 

Drake and Giveon were short-listed for their help in writing “Time,” a song featured in the film Amsterdam, while Jazmine Sullivan and producer Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II were recognized for their pen on Till‘s “Stand Up.” The Weeknd’s writing on “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” from Avatar: The Way of Water helped him to make the first cut.

A total of 81 songs were eligible in the Best Original Song category, but only 15 made the short list. The official Oscar nominations will be announced on January 24.

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Adam Lambert is reflecting on his mental health journey and how hiding his queer identity contributed to his anxiety.

He shared a teaser of a forthcoming interview set to air in full Christmas Eve, where he opens up about when he began to realize he needed help.

“I started feeling like this isn’t fun. I’m not enjoying this because I’m completely stressed out about the technical side of it and it’s pulling me out of the moment,” Adam explains in the candid trailer. “And that, to me, is like so much of the magic of performing, is this feeling that you get where it’s very liberating.”

He said his anxiety began to disrupt the connection he felt with himself, as well as his music and audience. 

The interview will explore how his mental health suffered when he masked his queer identity early on and when he stepped into the limelight, where he was expected to “perform at a high level.” Adam will also talk about taking medication and working on his mental health.

“I’ve started recently being more vocal and open about my own personal experiences. After the pandemic, I think a lot of people had some extra weight that they were carrying. I think that caused an extra amount of anxiety across the board for most people,” he continued in another clip.

Adam also touched upon the economy increasing people’s uncertainty and how those stresses triggered more anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges.

“I think, especially given the state of the world, it’s more important than ever to start talking about this stuff,” he said. 

Adam’s interview will be featured on Britain Get Singing, which airs December 24 at 8:05 p.m. GMT on ITV1 and ITVX. 

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Will we see a member of the Pussycat Dolls and the music industry’s resident cat mom hit the studio together? If Nicole Scherzinger has her way, it would have happened yesterday.

The singer took to TikTok to confirm that she’s been flirting with some Taylor Swift-caliber Easter eggs on her social media. Followers took notice of some Reputation-era flare in her recent manicure and asked Nicole if she had something to say about it.

“Is the black nails a Reputation Easter egg? You and Taylor working together?” one hopeful fan wrote, which earned a cryptic response from Nicole.

The singer shared a video of herself singing in the studio to a mashup of the Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons” and Taylor’s “Anti-Hero.” She then looks toward the camera with a devious smile and shrugs.

She captioned the post, “I’d be down for a collab @Taylor Swift,” including a sly-eyed emoji, as well as a black heart.

Taylor has not responded to the invite, but Nicole’s fans are going nuts over the thought of the two singers collaborating.

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Luke Combs has shared the music video for his single, “Going, Going, Gone.” The song comes off the track list of his newest album, Growin’ Up.

Miranda Lambert’s second annual Mutt Shop for MuttNation is underway. Just in time for the holidays, the country star — and her Instagram-famous husband, Brendan McLoughlin — are stocking up on pet foods, toys and supplies to take to shelters. You can follow along on Twitter.

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