Music

Paul McCartney is giving fans a little insight into how he dealt with the grief of John Lennon’s death in 1980. While discussing the making of the 1982 record Tug Of War with Sirius XM’s The Beatles Channel, he opened up about writing the tune “Here Today,” in which he pays tribute to his Beatles bandmate.

“When John died, it was so difficult,” Sir Paul says. “It was difficult for everyone in the world because he was such a loved character and such a crazy guy. He was so special.” 

McCartney says he remembers hearing people talk about Lennon on TV, which was something he just couldn’t do. “I can’t just go on TV and say what John meant to me,” he shared. “It was just too deep. It’s just too much. I couldn’t put it into words.”

But, McCartney says “once the emotions had sort of settled a little bit” he was able to channel his grief into music. He explains, “I found a room and just sat on the wooden floor in a corner with my guitar and just started to play the opening chords to ‘Here Today.'”

Paul says the line “the night we cried” refers to an experience in Key West, Florida, where they were stuck in a motel for a few days and got drunk together.

“We got drunk and started to get kind of emotional,” he continued. “There was a lot of soul-searching. We told each other a few truths, you know, ‘Well, I love you,’ ‘I love you man,’ ‘I love that you said that,’ and we opened up.” 

Paul notes, “So that was kind of special to me. I think that was really one of the only times that ever happened.”

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Life of Agony has announced a U.S. tour celebrating the band’s 30th anniversary.

The outing, which also features Sick of It All, is dubbed the 30 Sick Years of Agony tour. It’ll run from March 9 in Albany, New York, to April 1 in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Life of Agony will perform their 1993 debut album, River Runs Red, in full for each night of the tour.

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit LifeofAgony.com.

In addition to being a seminal release in New York City metal, River Runs Red is also the album Dwight played Ryan in the “Initiation” episode of The Office.

Life of Agony’s most recent album is 2019’s The Sound of Scars.

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Dolly Parton’s got a brand-new, never-before-heard song on the way — and if you wait around until 2045, you can hear it.

During a sit-down on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Dolly explained that the song is part of a time capsule that she created for her theme park, Dollywood.

But the country legend admits she sort of regrets including a piece of unreleased music in that box. “I tell you, you have no idea how that has bothered me. I wanna go dig that up,” Dolly says, pointing out that she’s concerned the tape might disintegrate underground before it gets a chance to be unearthed.

“I need to use that song! It’s a really good song,” she continues. “I’ll be 99 years old when they open it … they weren’t expecting me to be there when they open it, and I probably won’t be.”

Dolly and her fans might have to wait for another decade or so to hear that particular song, but she’s still got plenty of other music coming out before then. For one thing, the singer is hard at work on an album of rock music, which she was inspired to make after her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The country legend also added to her acting repertoire this year, starring in the NBC holiday movie Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas. The film aired earlier this month.

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Clothing retailer H&M has pulled the plug on its Justin Bieber merchandise line after the singer criticized it on Instagram.

Earlier this week, Justin was made aware of a new merchandise line from the Swedish retailer and publicly condemned its sale.

“I didn’t approve any of the merch collection that they put up at H&M .. all without my permission and approval [shaking my head] I wouldn’t buy it if I were you,” he told fans via his Instagram Story. “The H&M merch they made of me is trash and I didn’t approve it. Don’t buy it.”

The line included hoodies, tees, bags, cellphone covers and charms that featured the singer’s lyrics or his image.

H&M denied wrongdoing to Good Morning America and said in a statement, “As with all other licensed products and partnerships, H&M followed proper approval procedures.”

The retailer has since decided to pull the line. A spokesperson told Rolling Stone they decided to cancel sales “out of respect for the collaboration and Justin Bieber.” No further information was provided. 

Neither Justin nor his team have reacted to the news.

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LCD Soundsystem‘s “New Body Rhumba” has made the short list to be nominated for Best Original Song at the 2023 Oscars.

The track, which James Murphy and company recorded for the new film White Noise, is among the 15 tunes to earn a spot on the short list, which was cut down from 81 eligible entries.

Other short-listed songs include Lady Gaga‘s “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick, The Weeknd‘s “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” from Avatar: The Way of Water, Rihanna‘s “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Taylor Swift‘s “Carolina” from Where the Crawdads Sing.

The final Best Original Song nominees will be unveiled January 24. The 2023 Oscars will take place March 12.

“New Body Rhumba,” which was released in September, is the first new LCD Soundsystem song in five years. It’s also nominated for Best Song at the 2023 Critics Choice Awards.

White Noise, meanwhile, is currently showing in select theaters and will premiere on Netflix December 30. The film, which is based on the 1985 Don DeLillo novel of the same name, stars Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig and Don Cheadle.

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The Scotts album — a potential joint effort with Kid Cudi and Travis Scott — will no longer come to be, according to a recent tweet from the Entergalactic star.

Responding to a fan who asked if the album is “still on the cards,” Cudi replied, “Naw im not doin that. The moment has passed.”

The update comes two years after the rappers released their single “The Scotts,” which was supposed to be the lead single to their album of the same name. In September 2021, when asked if the project was “still in the works,” Cudi said, “It’ll happen. Not sure when, but it will.”

Though the ship has sailed for The Scotts album, Cudi assured followers that there will be other collaborations with Travis.

When a fan asked if “we still going to get collabs with you and Travis?” Cudi responded, “Def!!”

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Young Dolph‘s estate is working hard to keep his legacy alive. Days after releasing his posthumous album, Paper Route Frank, they announced they teamed up with Trap Music Museum to launch a pop-up museum tour in the rapper’s honor.

The DOLPHLAND Pop-Up Museum tour will kick off in New York City on January 13, displaying an exhibit complete with curated art and personal items that highlight Dolph’s lyrics, personality, entrepreneurship and notable career moments. It will then make its way across the country, visiting such cities as Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas.

“The goal of the pop-up museum is to showcase the character of a leader and businessman and to highlight the journey of someone whose early beginnings may mirror that of many young kids and entrepreneurs starting so that they may draw inspiration to keep pushing on their own endeavors,” says Paper Route Empire CEO Daddy-O.

“Dolph has a great base of fans, and he loved going out and engaging with them,” adds Dolph’s manager, Allen Parks. “We wanted to do something that still provided a way for that engagement beyond just the music. We brought the idea to Trap Music Museum, and they were excited to help bring a dope experience to life for all who will attend.”

Tickets for the New York stop go on sale Monday, December 26, via www.thedolphlandmuseum.com; sales for other cities will be announced at a later date. All ticket holders will be entered into a raffle for a prize of $100,000 and will have an opportunity to shop for exclusive merch at the pop-up museums.

The winner of the drawing will be unveiled at the end of the tour.

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Alicia Keys had been dying to host a masquerade ball, but she had no clue what or when the right occasion would be. Then, it came to her: her Holiday Masquerade Ball will air December 21 at 7 p.m. PT on Apple Music and Apple Music’s TikTok page.

Speaking to Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden, Alicia explained her desire to throw a ball.

“I was so young from the beginning [of my career] that there’s a lot of things I haven’t done. And one of those things I haven’t done is a masquerade ball,” she said.

Alicia had also never recorded a holiday album, hence her recently released Santa Baby.

“It just feels like there’s such a classic-ness to [a holiday album]. There’s such a timelessness to it,” she said. “I want to be a part of those greats, of those ones that you play every year, all the time. You love it. That’s why I wanted to create brand new classics, and honor the originals and the timeless ones.”

The masquerade ball will see Alicia perform those records, as well as some of her career hits. She said the event looks a lot different than her previous shows.

“If you’ve been to the tour, you never seen this before. You just haven’t. And so every arrangement is going to be different and new, and it’s going to definitely bring us into the spirit, the festivity,” she said. “You have to get dressed and you have to have a mask. This is happening. This is an event. I’m calling it Glitter and Glamour.”

“You’re bringing your elegance, but there’s no specific way that that exactly looks,” she continued. “But you do want to get dressed. You want to put on. You got to light up the place.”

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