Music

Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard has released a new song called “4th of July” with his band Painted Shield.

The track, which is available now as a digital download and via streaming services, is a meditation on “the moral injury experienced by many service members as they return home from conflicts abroad.”

“The lyrics to this song were inspired by the stories of friends of mine who have served in the military,” says vocalist Mason Jennings. “It touches on the recovery work needed to integrate back into civilian life after being in conflict.”

With “4th of July,” Painted Shield is also hoping to raise awareness for No One Left Behind, an initiative to protect Afghan interpreters from potential danger as the U.S. leaves Afghanistan.

A companion music video for the song has been posted on Painted Shield’s official YouTube channel. The clip includes footage of urban areas devastated by war.

Along with Gossard and Jennings, Painted Shield includes keyboardist/vocalist Brittany Davis and onetime Pearl Jam drummer Matt Chamberlain. The group released their self-titled debut album last fall.

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Mickey Guyton is no stranger to facing hate on social media, but when it comes to hateful messages directed at her infant son, Grayson, the “Black Like Me” star doesn’t mind naming names.

This week, Mickey shared a screenshot of a DM she received from a stranger on Instagram, calling baby Grayson “the ugliest child I’ve ever seen.”

“[Y]ou should take it and go back to the projects,” the message continued, in part.  “Nashville doesn’t need trash like you.”

“This deserves front and center attention,” Mickey explains in her caption, sharing the username of the person who “came for my child.” She shared the same image on Twitter, as well.

Several of Mickey’s fellow country stars quickly turned out in the comments section to voice their support. “The truth is these are the types of messages we see and get all the time. Good thing is you know who you are sis and your worth. These lost hearts can’t take your smile,” replied Jimmie Allen.

“So despicable,” added Morgane Stapleton, who is Chris Stapleton’s wife and backup singer. “Keep that pretty head of yours held high. You and your precious family are loved by so many!”

Mickey has long been vocal about her experiences with racism as a Black woman in country music. While pregnant with Grayson last fall, she also opened up about her fears regarding raising a Black son.

“I’ve seen racial injustice happen to my husband. I’ve had a ‘Karen’ falsely make claims against him and say some of the most heinous things, like the n-word. I’m growing this Black child in my belly that is going to have to face this,” Mickey told People at the time, adding of her then-unborn son, “I pray for him.”

 

 

 

 

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Miley Cyrus is ready to move on to a new property. 

The real estate website Dirt reports that Miley has sold her 1950s-era home in LA’s exclusive neighborhood of Hidden Hills for a whopping $7.2 million. 

It was just last year that Miley purchased the property for a bit under $5 million. She then worked with her mother, Tish Cyrus, to transform the interior of the six-bedroom, seven-bathroom estate from an all-white design to a more colorful aesthetic.

Photos taken by Architectural Digest earlier this year show a multi-colored seashell-shaped chair and blue couches in the black-walled den, and custom tiger face wallpaper made by Gucci in the powder room. Another room boasts leopard wallpaper, while Miley’s studio features an array of neon signs and a colorful motif on the wall. 

The 1.2 acre property also includes a lagoon-style swimming pool, an open-air pavilion with an outdoor kitchen and rolling green hills.

The superstar singer also owns a property in Studio City in LA and a 33-acre ranch just outside her native Nashville, Tennessee. 

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Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott received a custom Lamborghini from her mother, Patricia Elliott, on her 50th birthday Thursday.

The Grammy-winner took to Instagram to share a video of her new Black Lamborghini boasting with neon green accents, inside and out. 

“This is my birthday gift from my mother to me,” Missy says in the clip. “She says I work so so hard. So she bought me the Lambo SVJ Roadster.”

In the caption, the Supa Dupa Fly artist thanks her mother for her expensive gift and reflected on her decades-spanning career in the music industry. 

“Thank you, mommy, for my Bday gift. I Love you with all my HEART,” Missy writes. “I been in the industry over 25 years, and I have only been on three vacations in my whole career. So my mom said I work hard, so she brought me a SVJ Lambo Roadster. And I just want to say I am so grateful for all. Y’all BDAY wishes had me in tears. So filled with joy and all the blogs and my fans. I Love Yall!!!!! CancerSeason.”

Supa Dupa Fly helped set up Missy to become one of the most groundbreaking hip-hop artists of the last two decades. Her 1997 debut album received two Grammy nominations, including Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance for its Timbaland-produced track “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly).” 

 

 

 

 

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Looks like Ed Sheeran‘s “Bad Habits” lead to hit singles.

The star’s new track has just debuted at the top of the chart in his native U.K., and it’s his 10th number one there overall. Britain’s Official Charts Company points out that Ed is one of just nine artists who’ve had 10 number ones or more in the U.K.  He’s in pretty good company: Those artists include Eminem, who’s one of Ed’s heroes, as well as Madonna, The Beatles and Elvis Presley.

In a video celebrating his achievement, Ed says, “I want to say thank you so much to everyone that made this happen. I’ve been away for such a long time and I really, really don’t take this for granted, this is an amazing thing. Thank you for making me feel the love.”

Ed goes on to say he hopes “Bad Habits” is knocked out of number one next week by a 1996 song called “Three Lions,” which is the unofficial anthem of English soccer.  The song would likely hit number one next week if England wins the European Football Championship.

“We’re going to win the Euros. It’s coming home!” Ed predicts.

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Earlier this week, Luke Combs shared that “Cold as You” will be his next radio single, and also told fans to keep their ears peeled for new music. Now, he’s already making good on that promise, sharing live performance video of an unreleased track called “Five-Leaf Clover.”

“As promised, here’s the second new song that I’ve been playing on tour,” Luke explained. “It’s called ‘Five-Leaf Clover.’ Hope y’all like it.”

The song, which he performed accompanied by just his acoustic guitar, underscores the singer’s gratitude for the overwhelming good luck he’s experienced in his life.

“I know I’m a lucky man, but I ain’t sure I am / ‘Cause it ain’t like anyone deserves the world in the palm of their hand,” Luke sings in the chorus. “I hit my knees, thankful as can be, but the one thing I can’t get over / How’d a guy like me, who’d have been fine with three, wind up with a five-leaf clover?”

It’s the latest in a long string of unreleased material Luke has teased over the past several months: Both live and on social media, he’s also been sharing unreleased snippets of songs like “Joe,” “See Me Now” and “We Still Drink Beer.”

The singer is expected to announce his third album soon.  It’ll follow up his wildly successful sophomore project, What You See Is What You Get and its deluxe version, What You See Ain’t Always What You Get.

 

 

 

 

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Nikki Sixx is officially 20 years sober.

The Mötley Crüe bassist marked the milestone in an Instagram post Friday morning.

“Some people will try an kick you in the nuts, steal your money, stab you in the back, guaranteed to let you down, sabotage yer life, not believe in you and gossip that you’ll never make a day without drugs or alcohol,” Sixx wrote in the post caption. “And do you know what you’re gonna do? YOU’RE GONNA STAY SOBER ONE DAY AT A TIME.”

“You are the miracle, the one that breaks the addiction chain, the one who is a living amens,” he continued. “The one who has altered your family history. You will live in gratitude for those that never thought you’d stay sober or make it out alive BECAUSE THEY MADE YOU STRONGER and you know how to forgive a**holes.”

Sixx concluded, “And when you see people who are still suffering/treading water or gasping for air, be sure to throw them a life vest. Because we give back now to those that are still afflicted and hope they too pass it on.”

Sixx previously detailed his struggle with drugs and addiction in his 2007 book The Heroin Diaries, which was accompanied by the Sixx:A.M. album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack.

 

 

 

 

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After this weekend’s fireworks, get ready to celebrate another holiday: New Billie Eilish Music Day.

The “bad guy” artist has announced the release of another cut of her much-anticipated sophomore album, Happier Than Ever. The track is titled “NDA,” and will drop next Friday, July 9, along with a video.

“NDA” — which typically stands for “non-disclosure agreement,” a legal document that restricts a person from publicly sharing certain information — will be the fifth Happier Than Ever song to be released, following “Therefore I Am,” “Your Power,” “Lost Cause” and “my future.” The whole album arrives July 30.

Happier Than Ever is the follow-up to Eilish’s massive Grammy-winning 2019 debut WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?, which spawned singles including “bad guy,” “bury a friend,” “you should see me in a crown” and “all the good girls go to hell.”

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Sting’s songs have appeared on so many movie soundtracks that he’s released several compilations of them.  But it turns out one particular song by Sting ended up inspiring one of the biggest movies of all time: Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which marks its 30th anniversary on Saturday.

T2, released in 1991, features future human resistance leader John Connor as a teen, played by Edward Furlong, teaming up with Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s Model T-800 Terminator, who’s no longer the bad guy but has been sent back in time to save John from a more advanced T-1000 model.  That machine has been sent to kill Connor before he becomes the leader he’s destined to be, and who will avert a nuclear holocaust in 1997 — aka Judgment Day.

So what the heck does this have to do with Sting?  In a new article on The Ringer about the making of the film, director James Cameron reveals that he got the idea for a major plot point while tripping and listening to a Sting song.

“I remember sitting there once, high on [Ecstasy], writing notes for Terminator, and I was struck by Sting’s song, that ‘I hope the Russians love their children too,’” Cameron says, referring to Sting’s 1985 single, Russians. “And I thought, ‘You know what? The idea of a nuclear war is just so antithetical to life itself.’ That’s where the kid came from.”

“Russians,” from Sting’s first solo album The Dream of the Blue Turtles, was about the rising tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the ’80s, and the growing threat of nuclear war.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day was a massive critical and commercial success, grossing $520 million worldwide and winning several Oscars.

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