Music

Taylor Swift continues to set records with her 10th studio album, Midnights, which has smashed a record no one has touched in five years: selling a million copies in a week.

But, Taylor didn’t need a full week to land that milestone. She only needed three days. 

For comparison, Adele shook up the music market when releasing 30 back in November 2021, but she only sold 839,000 album units in its first week of release. In addition, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House only sold 521,500 copies in its first week back in May.

Variety reports that not only did Taylor sell 1.2 million copies of Midnights in three days’ time, about half of those sales were vinyl.

The outlet said vinyl-sale tracker Luminate confirmed fans snatched up close to 500,000 LP format versions of Midnights. Taylor can pat herself on the back for making fans want to collect them in the first place by releasing four different colored vinyl versions of the album.

She revealed that each album jacket contained a fourth of a clock face on the back, printed in a curve so fans could hang them on the wall to form an entire clock. She craftily sold the hands of the clock to complete the illusion.

Taylor also sold a fifth LP version of her new album exclusively on Target.

One last thing, the last artist to sell a million units in their first week of release was Taylor herself. She hit the milestone back in 2017 after 1.2 million copies of her Reputation album sold in its first week.

We will find out just how many copies of Midnights sell on Sunday when the charts release their weekly sales results.

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YG is hitting the road.

The rapper is set to kick off The Red Cup Tour 2023 on January 20 in Denver, Colorado. He’ll make stops across the U.S. in cities including Seattle, Los Angeles, Detroit and Boston before concluding in Honolulu, HI on February 23.

The tour will feature special guests OhGeesy, Kalan.frfr, Day Sulan, and D3szn

Tickets go on sale beginning Friday, October 28 at 10 a.m. local time on 4hunnid.com.

YG’s album I Got Issues dropped last month.

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Walker Hayes is commemorating an important milestone in his life with a new song. 

In honor of his seven-year anniversary of being sober, Walker debuted an unreleased song, “Same Drunk,” during a recent live show. 

In a fan video retweeted by the singer, he introduces the track by saying, “pretty much anything I touch, I can turn it into an addiction. He continues, “So I wrote this song…It’s called ‘Same Drunk.’ It’s not out yet, but I love testing new stuff out.”

The lyrics speak to all different types of addictions, whether it’s his father cutting grass or his mother being “hooked on looking young.” “Maybe we’re all just the same drunk/Different beer/Trying to cope with all the crazy down here,” Walker sings in the chorus. 

The hitmaker addressed his sobriety in his previous single, “AA,” which peaked inside the top five on country radio earlier this year. His current single, “Y’all Life,” is climbing up the country charts. 

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Nita Strauss has premiered a new solo song called “The Wolf You Feed.”

The track features guest vocals from Arch Enemy‘s Alissa White-Gluz. You can listen to “The Wolf You Feed” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.

“The Wolf You Feed” is Strauss’ second solo song with vocals following 2021’s “Dead Inside,” which featured Disturbed‘s David Draiman. “Dead Inside” hit #1 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.

Strauss is currently on tour playing in Demi Lovato‘s band. She joined the pop star following the announcement that she wasn’t taking part in Alice Cooper‘s fall tour after eight years of playing in the shock-rocker’s live lineup.

Among Strauss’ other gig is playing guitar during Los Angeles Rams’ home games, which, as ESPN reports, earned her a Super Bowl ring. She received the ring after the Rams won Super Bowl LVI earlier this year over the Cincinnati Bengals.

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We finally know what Doja Cat wore to her birthday bash…which wasn’t much.

To recap, the singer threw a star-studded sexy masquerade party to celebrate her 27th birthday. She invited stars like Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber, Niall Horan and more. 

While guests rolled up to the event wearing dramatic capes and masks — except for Niall, who dressed in his normal, everyday clothes — Doja kept reporters covering the red carpet guessing what she had underneath her dramatic cloak and mask.

The singer kept her cape tightly wrapped around herself, and it turns out it’s because she was hardly wearing anything at all underneath. She even took to Twitter to cheekily ask, “If anybody got nudes of me from last night please send cuz I wanna post em.”

Fans answered the call in abundance, but apparently the singer was hoping to see more surface online. Shortly after, she tweeted out “F***in prudes” along with a disappointed face emoji.

For the record, Doja was completely topless during the event and only opted to wear a felt choker and tiny black panties.

Fans also posted photos of Doja’s dramatic birthday cake, which was covered in black frosting and embossed with gold icing and lettering.

Now, it appears Doja is ready to celebrate the next big thing — Halloween. She has since updated her profile image to that of her wearing a dramatic witch hat and changed the header image to that of a bunch of bats flying toward a sickly green moon.

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Imagine Dragons is celebrating Halloween with a new video and remix for their song “Bones.”

The updated visual keeps the original video‘s Wall Street-meets-“Thriller” vibes while putting it through a black-and-white, flickering filter appropriate for the spooky season. The remix, which was recorded by German electronic duo twocolors, provides the soundtrack.

You can watch the “Bones” remix video streaming now on YouTube. If you happen to be in the Los Angeles area now through October 31, you can also hear the remix at the Haunt O’Ween event as part of its “Beyond the Grave Rave Dance Dome.”

The original “Bones” appears on the second half of Imagine Dragons’ new double album, Mercury — Acts 1 & 2, which was released in July.

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Fans of Josh Groban will still be able to check out his Great Big Radio City Show when it airs on PBS next month.

The channel confirmed the good news and teased that the “one of a kind show,” which he recorded in April, will air November 25. 

According to the official description, viewers will “Experience the world-renowned baritone performing songs from many musical genres alongside several special guest stars including Cyndi Lauper, Denée Benton, New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck and more.”

Those who don’t have cable can still tune into the spectacular as it’ll also stream on PBS Passport.  

This concert serves as Groban’s love letter to the city that gave him his first Tony nomination. The episode also doubles as a 50th anniversary celebration of PBS’ Great Performances series.

In addition to singing some well-loved Broadway hits, Josh will perform his best-known songs and duet with legendary recording artists, including Cyndi Lauper, with whom he will perform “Time After Time.”

The Great Big Radio City Show airs November 25 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS.

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Nicki Minaj celebrated her son’s second birthday with a Minions-themed bash.

The rapper posted pics of the party to Instagram on Monday, including one of herself and husband Kenneth Perry holding the toddler, whom they affectionately call “Papa Bear.”

“On 9/30/22 you turned 2,” Nicki wrote. “#PapaBear, your Dad & I love you so much. You make us so happy. You’re perfect. Thank you for giving mama new meaning to life. God cover you. Always.”

Nicki also shared a video of the event, which included an “ice cream machine, cotton candy machine, smoothie machine, pop corn, magic mocktail bar, bouncy house & slide, slime station, Lego hat making station, coloring station, face painting, etc. etc.,” according to her caption.

Singer Cassie was a guest at the celebration with her two young kids. “Full circle moment,” Nicki captioned a photo featuring Cassie and the kids. “From rapping about Cassie to having kids the same age. I love you guys so much.”

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The midterm elections are fast approaching, and Olivia Rodrigo wants to make sure all eligible voters head to the polls on November 8.

The singer donned a retro white tee with the word “VOTE” embossed in crystals on her chest and addressed fans via her Instagram Story. She partnered with the nonpartisan organization I am a voter to encourage her followers to participate in the midterms.

“It’s a very important election,” she stressed, adding that America’s vote will determine “one third of the Senate… The entire House of Representatives, and a bunch of local leadership positions” on November 8.

“So many really important issues hang in the balance,” Olivia continued, adding that she is registered to vote. She added the process was “super easy.”

Olivia joins a growing list of singers, including Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainor and Pink, who are encouraging young voters to head to the polls next month.

All stress the importance of checking one’s registration status before the state deadline and signing up to participate in the upcoming election.

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Hardy drew inspiration from his real life to create the story of “wait in the truck.” 

The song about a man who comes across a battered and bruised woman one night while driving in his truck is inspired by how Hardy anticipates he would react if his fiancee, Caleigh Ryan, were to find herself in a similar situation. 

“The inspiration for the song came from my fiancee Caleigh having a non-physical altercation with a guy at a party. I got really fired up and basically thought ‘I wish I knew where he lived.’ I would tell Caleigh to get in the truck with me, find his house and tell her to wait in the truck,” Hardy explains. “We decided to make a really deep story-song as opposed to ‘I’m going to kick your a** and be right back.’ We wanted to get as dark as we could; I think that’s what pulls the emotion out of people.”

Hardy’s duet partner, Lainey Wilson, also drew from a personal place while shooting the video. In recent months, Lainey shared that her father is experiencing health issues and was admitted to the ICU the day they shot the video. She expressed her grief on camera. 

“The part I was playing was emotional, so I let myself feel all the things I was feeling and channeled them the best I could to fit how we wanted my character to come across,” she says. 

Hardy and Lainey will perform “wait in the truck” at the CMA Awards, airing November 9 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively. 

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