Music

Last week, Iggy Azalea released a statement in support of Britney Spears, insisting that Britney was “not exaggerating and lying” when she detailed her “abusive” conservatorship in an LA court last month, and offering an eyewitness account of Britney’s father’s “controlling” behavior.  Now, Iggy’s explaining why she decided to speak up.

She tells People, “I know [Britney] and love her. She’s such an icon and inspiration and was so kind to me that if I could help her in any way that I can, then I want to do that.”

Iggy’s supportive statement detailed her experiences working with Britney when the two collaborated on the 2015 track “Pretty Girls” — during which time she says she “personally witnessed the same behavior Britney detailed in regards to her father.” 

The Australian rapper says Britney was restricted from “even the most bizarre and trivial things,” and claims that Britney’s dad forced Iggy to sign an NDA moments before she was about to take the stage with Britney at the Billboard Music Awards.

Iggy explains to People, “I never said anything before because I really wanted to respect her privacy but after she spoke, I just thought if I were in her shoes, I would want my friends to back me up. I felt like, ‘You know what? Regardless of what people might think about it, I have to say something.'”

Iggy, who just released the new single “I Am the Strip Club,” added that she “would want someone to say something for me.”  She now believes that Britney’s situation with her conservatorship “has to change,” because “there are too many people now in her defense.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Even more details are now being reported about Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton‘s weekend wedding in Oklahoma.

According to E! Online, the couple’s lavish, five-tier white wedding cake deliberately looked old-fashioned because it was based on Gwen’s parents’ wedding cake.   Lauren Kitchens, founder of Fancy Cakes by Lauren Kitchens, told E! News, “Her love of family is strong and this was her way of honoring them and their beginning as a new married couple on her big day as a newly married bride. Everything about the cake had sentimental value.”

The vanilla creme cake was filled with salted caramel, covered in vanilla buttercream and finished with a cake topper of a groom wearing a cowboy hat — even though Blake generally doesn’t — and a blonde-haired bride.  According to Kitchens, the highly detailed decoration is a kind of freehand piping that originated in England called “Lambeth cake design.”

“I bet Gwen and Blake have just made the Lambeth cake come back full force,” Kitchens noted.

Meanwhile, People magazine reports that while the wedding guests and party numbered just 40, Gwen and Blake’s celebrity pals were represented in the tunes they danced to.

According to People, the music for the reception was a playlist created by DJ Lucy Wrubel that featured hits by fellow Voice coach Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5 — whose frontman Adam Levine is a former The Voice coach — plus Blake’s country star friends Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Robin Givens has been added to the season three cast of The CW’s Batwoman, Deadline has learned.

Givens will star opposite Batwoman star Javicia Leslie as Jada Jet, a powerful CEO for Jet Industries, who has “worked her way through life’s ups and downs” and “will do whatever it takes to protect her family.” A season three return date for Batwoman has yet to be announced.

In other news, Judas and the Black Messiah director Shaka King, producers Ryan Coogler and Charles D. King, and actor Lil Rel Howery are teaming up for a film centered on an American political insurrection. According to Variety, King will direct the feature and produce alongside Coogler for his Proximity production company. Charles D. King’s MACRO will co-produce alongside Howery. Details on the forthcoming project are currently being kept under wraps. This reunites all four men, who previouslyworked together on the Oscar- nominated Judas and the Black Messiah.

Finally, VH1 has set a season 16 premiere date for Nick Cannon‘s hit franchise Wild ‘N Out. According to Deadline, the comedy improv series will return Tuesday, August 10 at 8 p.m. ET. This season’s guest stars and performers include Latto, Rick Ross, Trina, Freddie Gibbs, Coi Leray, Too $hort, Fat Joe, Loni Love, 24KGoldn and Big Freedia, among others.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ashley McBryde has booked another show at the Ryman Auditorium. 

The “One Night Standards” singer will play a third show at the hallowed Nashville venue on August 28, following two consecutive sold-out shows on August 26 and 27. Tickets for the new show go on sale Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

“There’s nothing better than performing at the Ryman except headlining, and there’s nothing better than headlining the Mother Church and selling it out…twice!” Ashley shares in a statement. “We’re so grateful to our fans who always show up for us so enthusiastically. We can’t thank you enough for giving us the opportunity to play one of the most sacred places in the world three nights in a row. They say good things come in threes, so we’ll be ready to shake it up even more on Saturday night!”

Lainey Wilson will open the show on August 26, while Caylee Hammack will be the supporting act on August 27 and Caitlyn Smith on August 28.

Ashley will set out on her This Town Talks Tour this summer, beginning on July 16 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Matt Stell and several of his country peers are giving back to frontline workers. 

On July 12, Matt will team up with Whiskey Jam, a weekly live music event in Nashville, to present Frontline Fest in celebration of frontline workers, with additional performances by Tenille Arts, Walker Hayes, Collin Raye, Hannah Dasher, Adam Doleac and Southerland. 

Any frontline worker who presents their work ID will be able to skip the line and head straight to the stage. The concert holds sentimental value, as Matt’s aunt is a frontline worker in his home state of Arkansas. 

“What’s better than a Whiskey Jam parking lot shindig with a fresh crop of bada** country artists on the rise along with a bona fide solid gold country legend you ask? Well the answer is honoring our frontline healthcare workers while we throw all the way down,” Matt says in a statement, in anticipation of the event. 

The concert is free and will take place in the parking lot of of Loser’s bar in Nashville at 7 p.m. ET.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

MAX will perform his romantic new single, “Butterflies,” on the July 12 episode of ABC’s The Bachelorette.

In the episode, MAX will serenade the Bachelorette, Katie Thurston, and her date with the song, which the pop artist recently described to People magazine as “basically the sequel to my song ‘Lights Down Low.'”

MAX wrote that song for his wife, Emily, and used it as part of his marriage proposal.  He says he wrote “Butterflies” to renew his vows with Emily, with whom he recently welcomed baby daughter Edie.

“The right person makes you feel the most alive, and Emily has always given me the most excitement but also the deepest grounding in being present and prioritizing our love,” he explains. “So I wanted the song’s lyrics to be direct with that.” MAX recently performed the song at a fan’s wedding.

Meanwhile, tickets are on sale for MAX’s upcoming tour at MaxMusicOfficial.com/tour. It includes stops at the Lollapalooza and Bottle Rock Napa Valley festivals, as well as shows in Chicago, L.A., San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and his hometown of New York City.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Whether it’s a full-length album or an unexpected collaboration, Kehlani knows how to keep her fans fueled with new music.

On Monday, the singer shared a collage of photos on Instagram to reveal more new music will be arriving soon. 

“Hopped out the matrix [and] I hopped in my bag! Yeah, I’m working on projects I am in love with,” Kehlani wrote in the caption. “Putting on so many hats. I finished a lot [of] music I wanted/needed to finish. It’s coming.”

The collage included photos of late singer Aaliyah, Kehlani looking at a teleprompter, and the singer’s two-year-old daughter, Adeya Nomi. The “Change Your Life” singer went to reveal she had big plans for her company, Honey Shot Productions — comprised of visual artist and photographer Brianna Alyssa and ‘Hyphy Williams,’ Kehlani’s director alias. 

“My production company is about to have a stellar first year, so many surprises in the works. I’m utterly mind-blown consistently at what comes of hard work, & tending to spirit,” Kehlani continued. “Standing on the shoulders of those who came before me, putting in real work to develop insightful connection and keeping my ears transparently open.”

Kehlani added, “my mind is at its sharpest, my heart at its fullest, my spirit at its most honest, and my curiosity is through the roof. I’m loving and loved. Couldn’t nothing top this…except when all I’m planting comes to bloom.”

Kehlani’s sophomore album, It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, was released in May 2020. This year, the singer has released collaborations with Lil Durk, Pink Sweat$, emerging producer Amorphous and more, as well as T-Pain’s “I Like Dat.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Saweetie has upgraded from a Bentley to a Rolls-Royce. In case you missed it, the “Fast (Motion)” rapper gifted herself a White Rolls-Royce Cullinan to celebrate her 28th birthday this weekend.

On Monday, Saweetie shared a photo of herself posing in front of the vehicle in an orange bikini to match the luxury car’s leather interior. “I just like really expensive things,” she wrote on Instagram.

The price of Saweetie’s costly car starts at $300,000, which is nearly $20,000 more than what her custom Bentley Continental was sold for through Jakes Motorcars, a luxury and exotic vehicle dealership in San Diego, California.

Saweetie received the custom Bentley from her ex Quavo last December, as previously reported. Following their breakup in March, the Migos rapper had the customized vehicle repossessed. It featured metal snowflakes on the exterior and the word “ICY” embroidered on the headrests — a nod to Saweetie’s breakout 2017 single “ICY GRL.”

Quavo seemingly mentioned taking back Saweetie’s Bentley on “Having Our Way,” from Migos’ latest album, Culture III. 

“Havin’ my way, now this [ish] like a business/ Load up the bases, now I feel like Cal Ripken/ She had it her way, now she out of a Bentley,” he raps on the track. 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by @saweetie

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

After being postponed this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the star-studded ’70s Rock & Romance Cruise is set to return in February 2022. The seagoing music festival is almost sold out, but a few new artists recently were added to the lineup.

The new additions are former Chicago singer/bassist Jason Scheff, ex-Boston guitarist Barry Goodreau‘s current band Barry Goudreau’s Engine Room, and the Little River Band.

These acts join a bill that already included Foreigner, The Guess Who, War, 10cc, Jim Messina, and Badfinger featuring Joey Molland.

The nostalgic nautical extravaganza is scheduled to set sail from Miami on February 19 and will stop on St. Maarten on February 22 and St. Thomas on February 23 before returning to port on the 26th.

Famed producer and Peter & Gordon singer Peter Asher will serve as the cruise’s host, while other performers on the bill include The Family Stone, Air Supply and Melissa Manchester.

In addition to the many performances, the ’70s Rock & Romance Cruise will feature Q&A sessions and panel discussions with some of the artists, plus themed parties, wine tastings, trivia contests, game shows, karaoke, pool parties and more. Married couples also will have the opportunity to renew their wedding vows.

For more details about the cruise, including cabin availability, visit RockandRomanceCruise.com or call 844-466-7625.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

ABBA may have broken up in 1982, but their music shows no sign of ever facing its “Waterloo” — at least, not in the U.K.

The group’s 1992 greatest hits album, Gold, has just notched a record 1,000 weeks on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart. It’s the first album ever to log that many weeks on the chart, eight of which were spent at number one. Gold currently stands at number 17 and is the U.K.’s second best-selling album of all time, behind Queen‘s Greatest Hits.

Commenting on the milestone, ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus told OfficialCharts.com that the achievement was  “amazing!,” while Benny Andersson joked, “Not bad for 4 turnips.”

Two other albums are close to matching the ABBA record: Bob Marley & the Wailers‘ best-of, Legend, has been on the chart for 984 weeks, while Queen’s Greatest Hits has logged 952 weeks.  The Queen album might return to number one this week for the first time since 1981, following the release of a 40th anniversary edition.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.