Music

Miley Cyrus turned 30 on Wednesday, November 23, and over the weekend, she gave fans a peek at her birthday celebration.

On Sunday, Miley posted a photo of herself grinning behind a white-frosted cake studded with candy bars. “30. Thankful for all the love and kind birthday wishes,” she wrote in the caption.  Celebrities such as Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, Lisa Rinna and Kesha all added birthday wishes in the comments section.

Miley’s godmother Dolly Parton posted a promotional photo of the two together for Miley’s upcoming NBC New Year’s Eve special, which Dolly’s co-hosting.  “Happy birthday @MileyCyrus! I can’t wait to celebrate with you and ring in the new year!!” she wrote in the caption.

The celebration appeared to be a bit more sedate than her 21st birthday party, which, as US Weekly reported at the time, included a cake that depicted Miley nude with pot leaves covering her private parts, guests like Kelly Osbourne, Liam Payne and Niall Horan of One Direction, Wiz Khalifa and Emma Roberts, and a $24,000 customized motorcycle — a gift from dad Billy Ray Cyrus.  TMZ reported that strippers were also part of the celebration.

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Starting November 25, Apple Music has been releasing exclusive “gifts” — new holiday albums, live concert recordings, new versions of classic songs and more — to its subscribers each day.  Sunday’s release features some of music’s biggest names all teaming up to sing with Shania Twain.

You can now hear a deluxe version of Shania’s megahit 1997 album Come On Over — originally released 25 years ago this month — featuring three exclusive duet versions of two of the album’s hits.   There’s a live version of Shania’s hit “You’re Still the One” which features her singing with Elton John live in Miami in 1999.  A different live recording and video recorded this year in Las Vegas features her singing the same song with Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

Finally, there’s a live version of the song “Party for Two,” recorded live at the Stagecoach music festival in 2017 with Nick Jonas.  It’s worth noting that that same year, the two also teamed up for a holiday duet called “Say All You Want for Christmas,” but that’s not on this particular album.

Come On Over also includes such Shania standards as “That Don’t Impress Me Much” and “Man! I Feel Like a Woman.”  You can hear it now in Spatial Audio, exclusively on Apple Music.

On Saturday, Apple Music released Harry Connick Jr.’s new holiday album Make It Merry as part of the same “From Apple Music With Love” gift program.  The last day of exclusive releases is Wednesday.

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Fresh off his recent number one with Ingrid Andress, “Wishful Drinking,” and with “Water Under the Bridge” now in the top-25, Sam Hunt‘s unleashing new music. 

“It’s called ‘Start Nowhere,’” he says of his latest track. “It’s a song about going home.”

“I’ve just spent the last several days putting together a music video for it,” he adds, “and it’s all these clips — all these VHS clips — of my family and I growing up. So that was fun.”

It’s a tune the Georgia native believes is perfect for the kickoff of the holiday season.

“That’s why I wanted to go ahead and get it out,” he explains. “It’s nostalgic and it seems like culturally, we’re longing for a simpler time right now, as crazy as the world has been.”

“And this sort of feels like the simple time[s] past,” he continues, “just real family-oriented and just the VHS thing, and it’s just pretty cool.”  

While Sam’s not quite ready to put out a full-fledged follow-up to 2020’s Southside, he says he does have quite a few songs he finished over the pandemic he’s hoping to record and put out in the not-so-distant future. 

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Most fans of Dua Lipa know that she’s of Albanian descent, but was born in the U.K. Now, though, she can officially say she’s an Albanian: The country has granted her citizenship.

The Albanian Daily News reports that Albanian president Bajram Begaj granted Dua citizenship in honor of the fact that she’s made the country famous worldwide through her celebrity and her music. She took her oath of citizenship at city hall in Albania’s capital, Tirana.  She posted photos and video of the event on social media.

“Thank you President Bajram Begaj and Mayor @erionveliaj for this honour,” she wrote on Instagram.

The honor came ahead of Albania’s 110th anniversary of independence from the Ottoman Empire, which is being celebrated on Monday.  Dua plans to mark the occasion by performing in the main square of Tirana tonight: It’ll be the final concert of her Future Nostalgia tour.

Dua was born in London to Kosovo Albanian parents. After she became famous, she and her father, who’s also a musician, co-founded the Sunny Hill Foundation, which stages annual concerts in her native Kosovo to raise funds for those in need.

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Whenever they decide to make a Måneskin biopic years from now, the band members are going to have to agree on the story of how they learned about their first Grammy nomination.

Speaking with ABC Audio, frontman Damiano David maintains he was the first to hear that the Italian rockers had scored a Best New Artist nod for the 2023 Grammys, since he was the “only one awake” when the nominations were announced earlier this month.

“These three beautiful guys were still sleeping,” David says of bassist Victoria De Angelis, guitarist Thomas Raggi and Ethan Torchio. De Angelis, however, claims that’s not true, protesting, “We didn’t know the exact timing.”

“They were still in their rooms, OK, let’s say that,” David concedes.

Whoever may or may not have been sleeping certainly woke up when David learned the news and began “swearing in Italian” and “banging on [their] walls.”

“I remember that Damiano was literally, like, screaming …’Oh, yes, yes, yes!'” Raggi laughs. “I said, ‘What the f*** has happened?'”

The Best New Artist nod comes after Måneskin broke out by winning the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. Prior to that, they’d released two albums; their viral cover of The Four Seasons‘ “Beggin'” dates back to 2017.

As for whether they feel like “new” artists, David replies, “For this part of the world, yeah.”

“Globally, yes, we’re new,” Torchio adds.

The 2023 Grammy Awards will take place February 5 in Los Angeles.

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The BET Soul Train Awards 2022 celebrated the best in soul, R&B and hip-hop music over the weekend. Hosted by award-winning comedian and actor Deon Cole the annual music awards show was one for the books. 

Here’s the complete list of winners.

Album of the Year
Renaissance, Beyoncé

Song of the Year
“Break My Soul,” Beyoncé

Video of the Year
“Smokin Out the Window,” Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak)

Best New Artist
Tems

Best R&B/Soul Female Artist
Jazmine Sullivan

Best R&B/Soul Male Artist
Chris Brown

Best Collaboration
“Make Me Say It Again, Girl,” Ronald Isley & The Isley Brothers feat. Beyoncé

Certified Soul Award
Mary J. Blige

The Ashford and Simpson Songwriter’s Award
“Hrs & Hrs,” Muni Long

Best Dance Performance
“About Damn Time,” Lizzo

Best Gospel/Inspirational Award
Maverick City Music X Kirk Franklin

Legend Award
The Time

Lady of Soul Award
Xscape

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2022 brought us some interesting moments in fashion, but which artists established themselves as this year’s trendsetters? According to British GQ, the honor goes to Harry Styles, Dua Lipa and Justin Bieber.

The three appeared in this year’s Most Stylish People list, with the magazine singling out their most iconic looks and explaining why they deserved a space on this year’s roundup.

Harry was a shoo-in on the list because, as the magazine states, he “has that rare and enviable ability to make even the most outlandish outfit look cool.” British GQ pointed to the chunky pearls, satin jumpsuits and other head-turning outfits he wore this year as solidifying him as a bona fide fashion icon.

Dua appeared on this year’s list because “she has all the star power of a proper stadium filler, but with a girl-next-door attitude, all while dripping in Versace and vintage Dior.” The mag also noted the singer serves as a muse for fashion designer Jacquemus.

When reviewing Justin’s fashion qualifications, the magazine detailed his bold haircuts, tattoos and love of his wife as making him an admirable finalist. “His inscrutable gaze and love for a massive suit lends itself perfectly to the Demna-led fashion revolution,” the publication adds.

Other movers and shakers to make this year’s list were Harry’s Don’t Worry Darling costars Florence Pugh and Chris Pine, as well as “Truth Hurts” singer Lizzo and “Industry Baby” rapper Lil Nas X. 

As for the person who claims the title as 2022’s “Most Stylish Person on the Planet” — the honor goes to model Bella Hadid.

The complete list is available now on British GQ.

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Jennifer Lopez has big plans for the new year. She’s releasing her first new album in eight years, This Is Me…Now, in 2023.

The entertainer announced the project on Friday, November 25 -– the 20th anniversary of her album This Is Me…Then. Having previously wiped her entire Instagram clean, she also shared an album announcement post, which included the track list.

According to a press release, the album will feature “confessional songs, reflections on the trials of her past, [and] upbeat celebrations of love with her signature powerhouse vocals.”

At least some of the songs appear inspired by her rekindled relationship with Ben Affleck, including “Dear Ben pt. II” and “Midnight Trip to Vegas,” the latter seemingly referencing their first marriage ceremony in July.  They had a larger, more formal wedding ceremony in Georgia in August.

Here is the album’s track list:

“This Is Me … Now”
“To Be Yours”
“Mad in Love”
“Can’t Get Enough”
“Rebound”
“not. going. anywhere.”
“Dear Ben pt. ll”
“Hummingbird”
“Hearts and Flowers”
“Broken Like Me”
“This Time Around”
“Midnight Trip to Vegas”
“Greatest Love Story Never Told”

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In between all the rock legends who played the Taylor Hawkins concerts in September, it may have been the youngest people onstage who stole the show.

Hawkins’ teenage son Shane memorably took his father’s place on drums to play “My Hero” along with Foo Fighters, while kid music prodigy Nandi Bushell — who went viral after challenging Dave Grohl to a drum battle — joined the Foos for “Learn to Fly” during the concert at London’s Wembley Stadium.

In addition to warming the hearts of countless rock fans, Shane and Nandi became friends, and jammed together backstage during the Wembley show.

Nandi has now shared video of that jam session, featuring her and Shane playing songs including the Foos’ “Everlong” and Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

“Jamming with Shane backstage at Wembley is one of my favorite ever moments,” Nandi writes alongside the clip. “Shane is one of the nicest, friendliest, talented people I have ever met. He is so much fun to be around and has so much energy.”

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