Music

Sam Smith and Kim Petras received a Grammy nomination Tuesday in the category of Best Pop Duo or Group Performance for their number one hit, “Unholy.” It’s a big deal for Sam, since they haven’t been Grammy nominated since they won four awards in one night back in 2015. But it’s an even bigger deal for Kim, and she took to social media to share her thoughts about it.

“SAM ! I CAN NEVER THANK U ENOUGH I LOVE U MORE THEN WORDS can say,” Kim wrote in reaction to her first Grammy nod, but then followed that with a series of comical tweets. 

“omg maybe i’ll b a tranny with a grammy,” she wrote, referring to the fact that she’s a trans woman. Then she tweeted the next logical step, “TRAMMY.” Kim again praised Sam on Instagram, writing, “Words can’t express how much I love you and how inspired I am by you.” 

Sam, meanwhile, wrote on Instagram, “To be Grammy nominated for THIS song, with THIS artist… hits different congratulations my angel love @kimpetras.”

Kim isn’t the first trans woman to be Grammy nominated. For example, the late electronic artist SOPHIE, producer/writer Teddy Geiger and the late R&B singer Jackie Shane were all nominated for the 2019 Grammy Awards.

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November’s just begun, but one of Backstreet Boys‘ new holiday songs — “Last Christmas,” from their new album, A Very Backstreet Christmas — is already on the airwaves. Backstreet’s Howie Dorough says their fans are primed to start celebrating early this year and they’re happy to provide the soundtrack.

“I hear so many people that are telling us now, ‘I can’t believe that we’re already getting into the spirit,'”
Howie tells ABC Audio. “I think that in the past, I’ve always thought, Christmas — you really shouldn’t be thinking about it ’til after Thanksgiving. But I think we’re changing things up for fans. I think they’re already in the Christmas spirit right now, really preparing for it. So that’s a blessing.”

While Backstreet is booked and busy promoting the album with appearances this entire holiday season —including the ABC special A Very Backstreet Holiday, airing December 14 — there’s one place they won’t be: Las Vegas. Last year they’d planned a holiday residency, but scrapped it. According to Howie, Backstreet will return to Sin City in the near future, though.

“We originally did have some Christmas shows last year … we were going to try to release the record last year. But unfortunately, with COVID and everything and some timelines that we didn’t meet to get the record out, we pushed that off,” Howie explains. “But there’s some talks about Las Vegas coming back around soon.”

“I can say we’re looking at, y’know, hopefully getting back out there after this run of the DNA [tour] to do some more shows on Vegas, maybe create another residency,” he teases. “So, we’ve got a lot of fun things [planned]. I mean, Backstreet Boys won’t be slowing down.” 

The “Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life” residency ran from 2017 to 2019 and grossed more than $36 million.

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Armani White‘s breakout hit “Billie Eilish” has taken on a life of its own, but it would have never existed without the song it samples: N.O.R.E‘s 2002 track “Nothin.'” Among the many fans of the record is N.O.R.E. himself, which Armani believes is the ultimate stamp of approval.

He told ABC Audio, “N.O.R.E.’s like a cool uncle, man. Like, he just, N.O.R.E., like, it’s really cool when your idols kind of embrace you like and N.O.R.E., like, that song was just something I grew up on, so, like, for him to be really into the song, not just like, ‘Oh, you used my song,’ like for him to really be like, ‘I love this!’… It’s one of the moments, like, you still got to pinch yourself and be like, ‘This is really happening.'” (ABC AUDIO 1-ON-1)

Aside from the compliments, N.O.R.E. supported Armani’s hit during the BET Hip Hop Awards in October. He joined the Philly rapper onstage to perform a mashup of “Billie Eilish” and “Nothin.'”

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Beck will headline the 2023 High Water Festival, taking place April 15-16 in North Charleston, South Carolina.

The lineup also includes Bleachers, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Wilco, Guster, Angel Olsen and Father John Misty. Charleston folk duo Shovels & Rope, who curated the bill, will also play.

For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit HighWaterFest.com.

Beck, meanwhile, was just nominated for a Grammy in the Best Rock Performance category for his cover of Neil Young‘s “Old Man.” His most recent album is 2019’s Hyperspace.

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Spiritbox will be headlining a North American tour for the first time in 2023.

The outing will launch April 10 in Vancouver, Canada, and will wrap May 10 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tickets go on sale this Friday, November 18, at 10 a.m. local time.

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

While Spiritbox has never headlined their own North American tour, they’ve headlined one-off dates in the U.S. and in their native Canada, and played U.S. dates opening for bands including Ghost, Limp Bizkit and Underoath.

Spiritbox released their debut album, Eternal Blue, in 2021.

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Kesha told the person who allegedly hacked her iCloud to do their worst. She claimed on TikTok the hacker demanded $1 million in ransom or they’d release her iCloud photos, so Kesha released a slideshow of everything on there — photos of her cats, her scooping a litter box and other mundane things.

Ariana Grande‘s brother, Frankie Grande, was mugged in New York City. TMZ reports Frankie was robbed by a 17-year-old and 13-year-old who tried using his stolen credit card at a smoke shop in the area. Police apprehended the perps. Frankie said on his Instagram Story that he is “thankful to be safe and healing.”

Shakira is the new face for Burberry and made her debut modeling their new seasonal line Tuesday. “Prepared for the season ahead,” the luxury fashion brand teased on Instagram. “Discover @Shakira in @Burberry’s festive film ‘The Night Before’ at Burberry.com.”

Maroon 5 extended their world tour with 10 new dates for the United Kingdom and Europe. “Can’t wait to see you next summer!” the band announced on Instagram.

Shawn Mendes loaned his voice to Calm’s new bedtime story We Are Connected, which you can download and listen to now. Shawn thanked author Chris Advansun for collaborating with him on “such a beautiful story.” 

Is Harry Styles‘ future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in jeopardy? ScreenRant noted Harry’s movies Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman were panned by critics. It theorized that could cut into his role as Eros — brother of Thanos — in future MCU films. It’s unknown when Eros will pop up next. 

Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Harry is also bringing his Love on Tour to Asia and added six new dates. He’ll be hitting up Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Japan.

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Michael Bublé celebrated his Grammy nomination on Tuesday, with Higher up for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. “This nomination makes me so happy!” he wrote on Instagram. “I am honoured to be recognized along side such talented artists.”

Lindsey Stirling will bring her Snow Waltz tour to Washington, D.C., for a special New Year’s Eve show at The Kennedy Center. “Come close out 2022 and celebrate the new year with me!” she announced on Instagram, adding general public ticket sales begin Friday at 10 a.m. ET.

Harry Connick Jr. is releasing new holiday music on Friday: his song “Make It Merry.” Harry said on Instagram that “this is something i am SO excited about!!” The song will be exclusively available on Apple Music.

Shawn Mendes loaned his voice to Calm’s new bedtime story We Are Connected, which you can download and listen to now. Shawn thanked author Chris Advansun for collaborating with him on “such a beautiful story.”

Is Harry Styles‘ future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in jeopardy? ScreenRant noted Harry’s movies Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman were panned by critics. It theorized that could cut into his role as Eros — brother of Thanos — in future MCU films. It’s unknown when Eros will pop up next. Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Harry is also bringing his Love on Tour to Asia and added six new dates. He’ll be hitting up Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Japan.

Maroon 5 extended their world tour with 10 new dates for the United Kingdom and Europe. “Can’t wait to see you next summer!” the band announced on Instagram.

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John Mellencamp appears to have a new woman in his life. Us Weekly reports the 71-year-old rocker is dating 44-year-old skin care expert Marianelly Agosto.

A source tells the mag the pair “met through Teddi,” referring to Mellencamp’s daughter Teddi Mellencamp, of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. The insider adds they “have been on and off” and most recently reunited in late August.

Teddi seemed to confirm the relationship by sharing a photo of them earlier this month at an event together, although the source says their age difference could be a problem, noting, “she is much younger, 27 years his junior.” 

Of course, Mellencamp is no stranger to relationships. He’s been married three times and was also engaged to Meg Ryan after eight years of on-and-off dating. The romance officially ended in October 2019.

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Dua Lipa‘s legal team has filed to dismiss Artikal Sound System‘s lawsuit that accuses her of stealing their copyright.

The Florida reggae band claimed Dua ripped off their 2017 track “Live Your Life” to make her smash-hit single “Levitating.” They also sued Dua’s label, Warner Records, and claimed that those working with Dua heard the song and duplicated its hook. They’re reportedly asking for profits from “Levitating” and damages.

Billboard reports Dua’s represented by the law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLC, which filed a motion to dismiss the suit on Monday and claimed neither Dua nor her team had access to the lesser-known single. 

“They amount to nothing more than a speculative, attenuated theory based on numerous degrees of separation, none of which establish any link — let alone a concrete link — between the writers of ‘Levitating’ and ‘Live Your Life,'” the motion read. 

The statement continued, “Plaintiffs are essentially seeking to plead access by alleging that someone who knows someone who knows someone might have met one of the ‘Levitating’ writers.” The motion went on to say Artikal’s suit is comprised of “vague, boilerplate labels and conclusions” and “devoid of a shred of factual detail.”

“Plaintiffs fail to allege a single fact that identifies what material from ‘Live Your Life’ is copied in ‘Levitating,'” the petition continued. “Instead, Plaintiffs merely conclusorily allege purported similarities between the two works without any factual detail whatsoever.”

Dua released “Levitating” in October 2020. It went on to spend 68 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.

This isn’t the only “Levitating” suit Dua faces. She was also sued by songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer, who alleged she stole their 1979 single “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” and their 1980 track “Don Diablo.” That case is still pending.

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