Van Morrison is ready to bring some Christmas cheer to his home city. The singer is set for two very special performances in Belfast, Ireland.
The intimate “jazz club” shows, dubbed Life Ain’t No Dress Rehearsal, are set for December 4 and 5 at Belfast’s Europa Hotel. Morrison is set to perform his many hits as well as tunes from his most recent albums.
The shows are the last two Morrison has booked for 2022. He does have 2023 dates set to kick off March 13, in support of his upcoming album Moving on Skiffle, which drops March 10 in Milton Keyes, England.
2022 marks a decade since the release of his debut single, “Something to Do With My Hands,” and just before the end of the year, he notched another big accomplishment: his 20th number-one country single as an artist, “Half of Me,” a duet with Riley Green.
“It’s pretty quick, you know?” TR marvels in an interview with his record label. “I’m 32 years old. I feel so blessed to just have accomplished what we’ve gotten to do in the last 10 years, which is absolutely insane.”
The song is special, too. Not only is it a collaboration with his buddy Riley, but he also co-wrote it with his songwriter dad Rhett Akins, who’s been writing songs with Thomas since the very beginning.
“It is nuts,” the singer continues. “This is one of the simplest songs about beer that I think has ever existed.”
Diddy and his son King Combs are both dominating the R&B airplay charts.
Diddy topped Mediabase’s R&B Airplay chart with his Bryson Tiller collab, “Gotta Move On,” while King Combs – born Christian Combs – took the top spot on the Mainstream R&B Airplay chart with “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” featuring Kodak Black.
“Seeing me and my son Christian climb the charts together is a dream come true and I’m so proud of all the hard work to reach No. 1, but this win is much bigger than music,” Diddy says in a statement. “This milestone is about carrying on the legacy of our family and showing the world that 30 years from now, we’ll still be on top.”
“Locking in my first #1 record is crazy. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into getting this record to where it is, we’re finally here and we can’t stop now!” King Combs adds.
“Gotta Move On” also tops Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart this week, marking Diddy’s first number one on that tally.
Sam Smith shared more why they chose to call their new studio album Gloria.
Speaking to Michelle Visage’s Rule Breakerson Tuesday, Sam opened up about how the concept of self-love and acceptance was somewhat foreign to them as a child.
Sam explained they came out as gay when they were 10 and spoke about feeling alone, despite living in an accepting community, because they didn’t know anyone else who was out. It wasn’t until Sam turned 19 and moved to London that they made friends in the LGBTQ+ space and started to explore who they were.
“I’ve always been non binary. I’ve always been queer. And I always felt that way,” Sam explained, but they didn’t know how to identify as such until they “found the words” much later in life. “It was magical. Very, very stressful and scary, but the minute I found those words and found this community, [I found] my inner peace.”
Inner peace, to Sam, is learning to accept who you are completely.
“With queeness, all you got to do is wake up every day and try to be kind to yourself. I feel like self love is such a scary word for me now and I feel like self acceptance is actually a little more where I come from,” Sam continued.
“There’s a fighter, a voice in all of us and you just gotta look after that. And my album Gloria — I’ve called it Gloria because I’ve called that voice in my body Gloria,” they revealed. “It’s like a voice in my head that just says, ‘You can do it.’ And kids have just got to access that voice and they’ve got to feed it.”
Gloria, their fourth studio album, arrives January 23.
The rapper is featured on a new limited-edition variant comic book cover to celebrate the previous release of Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man #1, which hit stores back in April.
On the cover, a comic book version of Eminem is depicted on stage, mic in hand, engaged in a rap battle with Spidey himself.
“I’ve always been a huge Spider-Man fan since I was a kid – he’s definitely in my top 5…. so being on a cover battling Spider-Man is such a thrill and an honor,” Eminem says in a statement.
The issue is available for purchase now on Eminem.com, and additional copies will be for sale on TheHaul.com November 29.
How Stella Got His GrooveBack star Taye Diggs is back, taking turn as a reality dating show host and executive producer in the trailer to the forthcoming Hulu series Back in the Groove.
The producers tease: “Three single women in their 40s, all stuck in the grind of their everyday lives, will check out of their comfort zones and check into The Groove Hotel, a magical resort on the beautiful island of the Dominican Republic – where the goal is to rediscover their youth, live joyously, and hopefully find love with men half their age.”
To that end, the trio of lucky women — Sparkle, 43; Brooke, 42; and Steph, 41 — meet two dozen hot young guys who are all ready to test the ladies’ limits as they look for love.
Hulu teases the women will “take charge and break through the double standards older women face every day. And they’re going to have a lot of fun doing it!”
Back in the Groove debuts on the streaming service with two episodes on Monday, December 5.
When you buy a ticket to a concert, you are expected to stay in the audience. A Black Crowes fan found that out the hard way. The band was playing a gig in Melbourne, Australia, when someone in the audience decided to crash the stage and wound up getting a guitar in the face.
In fan-shot video posted to YouTube by Greg Valentine,the band’s about to play their Shake Your Money Maker track “Stare It Cold” when the crasher jumped onstage and ran toward bassist Sven Pipien. Security quickly jumped in, and Chris Robinson tried to push the crasher off stage with his mic stand, but the man somehow got around them. That’s when Rich Robinson stepped in, took his guitar and slammed it into the guy near his face and neck. Chris then started swinging his mic stand toward the man, who was quickly pushed off stage.
It doesn’t end there though. The video shows Chris and Rich screaming at the fellow before the band launched back into the song and continued on with the show.
The concert was the final night of the band’s Shake Your Money Maker tour of Japan and Australia. “We came, we saw, we rocked!” they shared on Instagram. “Thanks to all of our friends and fans in Japan and Australia. We had a blast. See ya soon ;)”
Journey’s Neal Schon is speaking out for the first time since it was revealed he is suing bandmate Jonathan Cain over their company Nomota’s finances, including an American Express card Cain took out.
“The only comment I’ll make at this time is it’s all very unfortunate and tried for over a year to attain all our corporate records for Nomota with many personal e-mails to Jon as well as many legal letter stating it’s my legal right to see all but I was left with no choice but to take it legal,” he writes on Facebook. “There’s much more … since I filed I’ll be following my attorneys advice and not speak until we are in court where I’ll not have a problem at all. It is what it is. “
Schon is arguing that “millions of Journey funds have flowed through” that Amex card, which Cain set up without his knowledge. And while Cain has told him he’d have access to it, he has yet to be added to the card.
In a separate Facebook post, Schon’s wife, Michaele,claims that since 2020, Cain’s wife, Paula White, was added to Journey’s bank account “against Neal’s wishes.” She also accuses Cain and his wife of trying to harm the band, noting it’s “Neal Schon who keeps Journey alive.”
Schon added in a tweet, “Yeah it’s a bit deeper then just a card.”
Metallica has announced a stream of their upcoming Helping Hands benefit concert.
The show, which takes place December 16 in Los Angeles, premieres live at 5:30 p.m. PT on Paramount+; it will also simulcast on Pluto and MTV’s YouTube channel.
Jimmy Kimmel will host the night, and viewers who tune in from the beginning will get to watch Greta Van Fleet‘s opening set. Metallica also teases “special guests and presentations” as well as “a few surprises before we hit the stage.”
Helping Hands, which supports Metallica’s All Within My Hands charity foundation, first launched in 2018. The show features a rare acoustic set by the metal legends.
Annie Lennox is spearheading a new fundraising effort to fight against gender bias. The newly inducted Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has just launched the Circle Music Icons Auction, with proceeds going to her non-profit The Circle.
“Ahead of the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, I am delighted to have brought together some of the world’s greatest female artists for a very special auction to help raise funds for the vital work o f@TheCircleNGO,” the Eurythmics star shares on Instagram. “I have long believed that music can build bridges and bring people together and it is wonderful to see these phenomenal female artists stand side by side with women and girls around the world facing and fighting gender-based violence.”
Fans can bid on such items as handwritten lyrics to “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” signed by Annie, along with handwritten lyrics to other songs, including Alicia Keys’ “Fallin’,” Billie Eilish’s “Your Power,” Brandi Carlile’s ‘Right On Time” and Angelique Kidjo’s “Agolo.”
Lennox adds, “The auction proceeds will enable The Circle to support our grassroots partners helping women and girls to build lives free from abuse and fear, and advocate for long-term change to end the violence that will affect 1 in 3 women in their lifetime.”
Fans have until December 5 to place a bid on one of the auction items. In addition, there is a sweepstakes that runs until December 15; those interested can contribute $10 to enter and possibly win an item.
