Music

Rapper Post Malone is known for blending elements of pop, R&B and hip-hop into his style, but he says he’d like to venture even further into new genre territory.

“To be honest, there’s nothing stopping me from taking a camera or setting up in my studio in Utah and just recording a country album on YouTube,” he said during a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show. “I’m allowed to do that. I’m a human being.”

Though Post Malone and country music might sound like a strange combination, it’s actually not that far-fetched. He’s a devoted Shania Twain fan, which he proved by singing and dancing along to her performance of “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” at the 2019 American Music Awards.

He also covered Brad Paisley’s “I’m Gonna Miss Her” and Sturgill Simpson’s “You Can Have the Crown” during the Matthew McConaughey-led We’re Texas benefit in 2021.

Malone’s country fandom is mutual: Michael Ray and Danielle Bradbery have both covered his song “Psycho,” proving that the rapper’s songwriting works just fine with a country arrangement.

The only thing stopping Posty from going country is logistics, he adds. “And then I’m happily obligated to write music and make beats by myself, and I’m happily obligated to, you know, take care of my family,” he points out. “So it’s a lot of time, and it’s about finding the space to allot that time. If I get another year to myself, maybe I’ll make a f***ing country album.”

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Nick and Joe Jonas did not hold back how much they love their wives and growing families.  

The brothers spoke to People in two separate interviews. During Joe’s discussion, he opened up about getting ready to welcome baby number two with wife Sophie Turner.

While the “Cake By The Ocean” singer admits he doesn’t “know what to expect” when the baby arrives, Joe attested he is “maybe a little less nervous” this time around. He and Turner, who share two-year-old Willa, announced last month they are expecting again.

Joe also thanks his older brother, Kevin, for showing him how wonderful fatherhood is. “It’s beautiful to see Kevin as a dad many more years than us and to see how he’s done it,” he said. “It’s really amazing. He’s always prioritized getting home as soon as he could.”

As for Nick, he and wife Priyanka Chopra recently welcomed their first child, a daughter named Malti.  Speaking to the outlet, the “Jealous” singer opened up about Malti spending over 100 days in the NICU.

“It was eye-opening in a lot of ways,” Nick told People of the amount of help and support the family received during “her journey in the hospital.”  

The first-time dad also revealed why he and Chopra decided to come forward with Malti’s health scare, saying, “It was really important that people know that whatever their journey is or whatever challenges might come up, you’re not alone… [It] makes this very big world a little bit smaller.”

Nick also sang praises for his “teammate”, saying his wife “was a rock the whole time and continues to be.”  

Looking ahead to raising Malti, he said both he and Chopra are going to share with her “[my wife’s Indian culture and my American culture.”

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Many artists have had to postpone shows in the middle of a tour because they or members of their crew tested positive for COVID. But Josh Groban has perfect timing: He just caught COVID about a week and a half ago, which means he’ll be all clear for the start of his Harmony tour on Friday.

He tells the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that both he and his family tested positive after being “so hyper careful” and after they “outran it for so long.” “It hit me hard,” he admits, though he reassures fans, “I’ve been singing in my apartment and have no issues with breath control.” His family is fine too, he says.

However, Josh is still going to be careful: He’s playing only outdoor venues on the tour. As the singer, who’s vaccinated and boosted, explains, “My lungs are my job and my parents are in their seventies. It’s vitally important to make the most educated risks as possible to make sure we can all still thrive as a society.”

And then there’s the fact that he really enjoys playing outside. “Some of the best times we’ve had on the road have been at beautiful outdoor [venues],” he notes. “There’s nothing better than music under the stars.”

Josh is also excited to perform the songs from his 2020 album, Harmony, to crowds for the first time.

“These were the songs we were recording, the soundtrack that was keeping my head sane, during these awful months [of the pandemic],” he explains. “To be out in beautiful settings, singing songs I didn’t know would be sung at all (live), is really cathartic.” 

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Talk about a glow-up: Lainey Wilson and Luke Combs are both big stars now, but their friendship dates back to when they were still unknown artists.

“I’ve known Luke for, oh my gosh, I met him in 2014,” Lainey reveals to Entertainment Tonight. “And he used to come over to my camper and write songs with me.”

If you’re not familiar with Lainey’s story, that camper was her home for three years after moving from her home state of Louisiana to Nashville to pursue her dream of being a country star.

But these days, all those difficult days of struggling to pay her dues seem worth it: She earned her first two #1 hits with her debut single, “Things a Man Oughta Know,” and a duet with Cole Swindell called “Never Say Never.” Plus, she’s been cast in the next season of the hit television show Yellowstone, cementing her superstar status.

Of course, Luke’s no slouch at country radio himself: Earlier this spring, he earned his 13th consecutive #1 hit with “Doin’ This.” That means that every one of the singles he’s released since he debuted has hit the top of the country charts.

Now, the old-pals-turned-stars are reuniting for Luke’s fall tour, called the Middle of Somewhere Tour, with Lainey serving as an opening act. She’s not letting her tour boss forget their early days together, though. “I’m reminding him of it all the time, and I guess he remembers,” she adds.

The Middle of Somewhere Tour launches September 2 with two dates in Bangor, Maine. Jordan Davis is also on the bill.

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Machine Gun Kelly is the subject of a new documentary set to premiere on Hulu this summer.

The film, titled Machine Gun Kelly’s Life in Pink, takes a behind-the-scenes look at the last couple years of the artist’s life as he moved from rap to rock with his 2020 album Tickets to My Downfall and this year’s Mainstream Sellout.

“My whole life changed in the last two years, and we had the cameras rolling,” Kelly says of the movie.

Judging by the Life in Pink trailer, the doc will tackle everything from MGK’s relationship with his father and daughter to his tiff with MMA fighter Conor McGregor at the 2021 MTV VMAs and the hostile reaction he got from crowds at rock festivals.

You can watch the trailer now via YouTube.

Kelly, meanwhile, just launched a U.S. tour in support of Mainstream Sellout, which continues Friday in Atlanta.

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Brian Kelley, one half of the currently-defunct hit duo Florida Georgia Line, is returning with new solo music next month. Called “American Spirit,” the new song will honor patriotic pride just in time for Independence Day.

Brian co-wrote “American Spirit” with fellow country artist Canaan Smith as well as Jake Rose and Blake Redferrin. It’s an especially meaningful song for the singer because it honors his “Poppy,” John Edward Kelley, who earned two Purple Hearts and was a prisoner of war while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II.

To celebrate the gravity of the song, Brian enlisted painter Steve Penley to create the cover art, which features an American soldier proudly waving the flag.

The new song also sees Brian returning to his former label home, Big Machine Records, which is also where he’ll release his new solo music going forward. In addition to his releases with FGL, he put out his debut solo album, Sunshine State of Mind, in 2021.

“American Spirit” comes out July 1, but it’s available to pre-save and preorder now.

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Kate Bush‘s “Running Up That Hill” is running up yet another chart.

The English artist’s 1985 song, which has seen a resurgence over the past few weeks thanks to a placement in the newly-premiered fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, is now ascending Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay chart, debuting on the tally at #26.

“Running Up That Hill” now gives Bush her first entry on the Alternative Airplay chart in 28 years, having last appeared on the ranking in 1994 with the song “Rubberband Girl.”

That gap — which spans almost the entirety of the chart’s 34-year history — now sets the record for the longest wait between Alternative Airplay appearances. That easily clears the previous high-water mark set by Blondie‘s Debbie Harry, whose last two logs on Alternative Airplay — the solo song “Kiss It Better” in 1990 and a feature on the Just Loud track “Soul Train” in 2018 — came nearly 19 years apart.

Bush’s accomplishment is even more impressive if you don’t count appearances by featured artists. The previous record for longest gap between Alternative Airplay entries for a lead artist belonged to Chris Cornell, who, as a solo act, took 16 years between charting in 1999 with “Can’t Change Me” and returning in 2015 with “Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart.”

Meanwhile, “Running Up That Hill” hit the top five on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 this week, a first for any Kate Bush song. The often press-shy singer has issued several public statements commenting on the song’s newfound popularity, most recently sharing that she’s “never experienced anything quite like this before.”

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After teasing her next album with new songs like “Good Person” and “Seeing Someone Else,” Ingrid Andress is ready to share more. Her sophomore record, Good Person, will be out this August.

To celebrate the album announcement, she put out “Pain,” another new song that Ingrid says, in many ways, is the heart of the project.

“Sometimes you find yourself in situations where you know it’s going to hurt terribly, but you have to go through with it,” the singer reflects. “This song is a reminder that it’s ok to feel sad and unhappy, but it won’t always be that way.”

She adds, “Writing this song was a really cathartic experience, and it made me feel understood, like I was listening to myself.”

Those themes are present throughout her Good Person album: Ingrid says that making it was “one of the most painful processes I’ve ever been through,” but it led her to somewhere worthwhile.”

“I realized how scared a lot of people are to push boundaries and how I am not, that’s my bread and butter,” she continues. “Isn’t that the goal, to discover new things? What are we doing here if we’re not trying to make new art?”

Good Person is due out August 26. This summer, you can catch Ingrid on the road with Keith Urban for his The Speed of Now World Tour.

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