Music

Lizzo is for the people.

The “Good As Hell” singer was the recipient of The People’s Champion award at the 2022 People’s Choice Awards Dec. 6 and, after her mother Shari Johnson-Jefferson presented her with the accolade, she used the moment to highlight other female activists.

“I’m [going to] be honest, when I first heard about this award, I was on the fence about whether I should accept because, if I’m the people’s champ, I don’t need a trophy for championing people,” she said. “You know what I’m saying? I’m here tonight, because to be an icon isn’t about how long you’ve had your platform. Being an icon is what you do with that platform.”

“Tonight, I am sharing this honor,” she said before a group of female change makers joined her on stage. “Make some noise for the people, y’all. These are all activists and people that I think deserve the spotlight.”

Lizzo then proceeded to introduce each individual activist and highlighted their work which ranged from transgender advocates, female rights, indigenous peoples, gun violence organizations and more. 

The 17 highlighted activists included Mari Copeny, Shirley Raines, Yasmine Aker, Emiliana Guereca, Esther Young Lim, Felicia “Fe” Montes, Jayla Rose Sullivan, Kara Roselle Smith, Maggie Mireles Thomas, Amelia Bonow, Odilia Romero, Tarlan Rabizadeh, Sahar Pirzada, Chand iMoore, Crystal Echo Hawk, Reshma Saujani and Tamika Palmer.

“Give them their flowers!” the 34-year-old musician concluded. “Power will always be to the people! Thank you so much People’s Choice. Follow them and support them.”

Lizzo was announced as the recipient of the The People’s Champion Award in early November.  Previous winners of the award include Tyler Perry, Pink, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Lizzo also won the People’s Choice Award for The Song of 2022 for “It’s About Damn Time.”

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Collective Soul is celebrating the end of 2022 with a streaming concert.

The virtual show, which was filmed earlier this year at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, will premiere December 29 via the streaming platform Mandolin.

For more info, visit Mandolin.com.

Collective Soul’s 2022 included releasing a new album called Vibrating, their first record in three years. The “Shine” rockers supported Vibrating on a tour with Switchfoot.

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BTS‘ Jin will soon enlist in the Korean army, and Entertainment Tonight reports his label, Big Hit Music, is telling fans to stay away from the military site. “Please note that we will not be holding any kind of official event on the day of his recruitment,” the label announced. “The entrance ceremony is a time to be observed by military personnel and their families only.” Military service is mandatory in South Korea.

Ed Sheeran was the artist who sold the most concert tickets this year, Billboard reports. Ed reportedly serenaded over 3 million fans on his Mathematics tour, which earned him about $246 million in revenue. Ed played 63 shows between December 13 of last year and September 25 of this year.

Mariah Carey suffered a wardrobe malfunction onstage and nearly flashed the audience. The singer shared a hilarious video, where she revealed she came “very, very close to being a full-on scandal” when one of her dress straps became “untethered.” Thankfully her team rushed onstage and “made it work.”

The Weeknd‘s “Can’t Feel My Face” is officially his fourth song to be RIAA-certified Diamond, meaning it moved over 10 million units. He is now the third solo artist in history to have four Diamond singles and fourth act overall to enjoy this honor.

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Katharine McPhee admits she wrestles with “mom guilt” in a new Instagram Story. Her stepdaughter Jordan Foster took her and husband David Foster‘s child, Rennie, to see Santa while the two were on tour, but the nearly 2-year-old was not having it. “Having strong mom guilt,” she confesses.

Meghan Trainor was the 10th-most-viewed artist on TikTok in the U.S. Meghan made waves on the social media app by sharing glimpses of her life and creating fun, new dances to her songs.

Ed Sheeran was the artist who sold the most concert tickets this year, Billboard reports. Ed reportedly serenaded over 3 million fans on his Mathematics tour, which earned him about $246 million in revenue. Ed played 63 shows between December 13 of last year and September 25 of this year.

Mariah Carey suffered a wardrobe malfunction onstage and nearly flashed the audience. The singer shared a hilarious video, where she revealed she came “very, very close to being a full-on scandal” when one of her dress straps became “untethered.” Thankfully her team rushed onstage and “made it work.”

The Weeknd‘s “Can’t Feel My Face” is officially his fourth song to be RIAA-certified Diamond, meaning it moved over 10 million units. He is now the third solo artist in history to have four Diamond singles and fourth act overall to enjoy this honor. 

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Kelsea Ballerini will resume her Heartfirst Tour in 2023, this time with a United Kingdom leg. She’s got four overseas shows on the books for February.

Scotty McCreery just shared a music video for his song “On It.” The track comes off the deluxe version of his Same Truck album.

Speaking of Scotty, the singer’s wife, Gabi, shared a sweet carousel of photos on social media this week celebrating the couple’s first month and a half with their newborn son, Avery.

The late Loretta Lynn’s family shared a heartfelt video message with fans following her memorial service. You can see it now on her social accounts.

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Zach Bryan and roots mainstay Tyler Childers are headlining Railbird Music Festival 2023. The event is set for June 2023 in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Lea Michele said it’s a dream come true to play Fanny Brice in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl, a role her icon Barbra Streisand originated in 1964. 

Even better, Babs noticed the Glee star and congratulated her in a “beautiful letter.”

Lea told the story on Late Night With Seth Meyers Monday night about when she “finally heard from Barbra.”

She said a colleague handed her a gold envelope that reminded her of the shiny invitations from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Lea said she knew it was from Babs and joked, “I think [her letters] would arrive on doves, like a special carrier!”

“It was very sweet … she wrote me this beautiful letter,” the actress said, recalling the one line that brought her to her knees. “She was like, ‘It’s really wonderful when your dreams come true, isn’t it?'”

Lea said she called Glee creator Ryan Murphy, Spring Awakening co-star Jonathan Groff and others who would understand the magnitude of that moment.

The Broadway star added she began to worry she had fallen for “the worst prank on me in the entire world,” so she ensured the letter was legit. How did she do that? She crept into Funny Girl co-star Ramin Karimloo‘s dressing room to hunt for the letter the legendary singer wrote him when the show first opened.

“I snuck into his room, found his copy of his letter and just made sure the writing was the same. And it was, so that was all I needed,” Lea remarked. She also revealed Ramin confronted her about being in his dressing room because she may have left behind a mess during her hunt.

Funny Girl is currently running at the August Wilson Theatre in New York City.

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Actress Nia Long and Ime Udoka, former head coach of the Boston Celtics, are no more. 

Following news of Udoka’s alleged affair, the two have reportedly split. A rep for Long tells People that the couple are “no longer together but remain fully committed to co-parenting their son [Kez].”

“The situation is unfortunate and painful, but Nia is focusing on her children and rebuilding her life,” a source adds.

News of Udoka’s alleged affair broke just weeks before the start of the 2022-23 NBA season. At the time, ESPN reported the former head coach had “an intimate relationship with a female member of the franchise’s staff.” His suspension from the Boston Celtics followed shortly after.

Udoka issued an apology to his “players, fans, the entire Celtics organization, and my family” for “letting them down.” Weeks later, Long opened up about the Celtics’ decision “to make a very private situation public.”

According to the actress, the “most heartbreaking thing about all of this was seeing my son’s face” when he heard the news. ”It was devastating, and it still is,” she told the Hollywood Reporter. “He still has moments where it’s not easy for him.”

Nia noted that “no one from the Celtics organization has even called to see if I’m OK, to see if my children are OK.” However, she did receive love and support from many of her fans, which she says was “very comforting.”

Long and Udoka had been engaged since 2015; Kez is 11 years old.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers and Paramore will headline the 2023 Hangout Fest, taking place May 19-21 in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

The bill also features AJR, COIN, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, The Maine, Two Feet and Mayday Parade. Other headliners include SZA, Calvin Harris, Lil Nas X, Flume, Skrillex and The Kid Laroi.

A ticket presale begins this Friday, December 9, at 10 a.m. local time. For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit HangoutMusicFest.com.

Hangout falls in the middle of RHCP and Paramore’s respective 2023 tours. The Peppers will be supporting their two 2022 albums, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen, while Paramore will be touring behind their forthcoming record, This Is Why, due out February 10.

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Loki is the only Disney+ Marvel series to get a second season so far and Gugu Mbatha-Raw is happy to be back.

She tells Entertainment Tonight it has been “amazing” to shoot the second season of the dimension-spanning show, due on Disney+ in the summer of 2023. She adds fans “are gonna be in for a real treat, because the show is bolder and more surreal. And in many ways, goes to some bigger, bolder places than season 1, which is really exciting.”

Season 1 ended with her character, a Time Variance Authority agent, finding out she’s a variant, too: In other words, there was way more to her than fans first thought. The English actress teases, “selfishly, Renslayer makes it out of the TVA, which I’m really excited about.”

But Gugu is happy times two, as her Apple TV+ drama Surface, which she also produces, is returning, too. The show is headed to her native United Kingdom for its sophomore frame.

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