Music

Fans have less than 24 hours before they can listen to Meghan Trainor‘s new album, Takin’ It Back. To celebrate its midnight release, Meghan released the music video for “Made You Look” early.

The singer teamed with the Candy Crush Saga game app and fashioned her new visual to reflect the ultra-addictive puzzle game. This marks the first time in the app’s decade-long history that they premiered a music video.

Meghan celebrated the milestone on Instagram and shared a cute snippet of her new music video. The clip shows her and a handful of backup dancers dancing in a pink, bubblegum world that gives serious Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory vibes. 

“I’m a big fan of Candy Crush Saga. I love playing when I have a bit of downtime in the studio so I’m looking forward to bringing the game to life for my fans within the music video,” she said in a statement announcing the partnership. “Between the bright colors of the game and providing players with a fun escape from reality, Candy Crush Saga was the perfect inspiration.”

The video will appear in the Content Hub for 24 hours. In addition, Meghan will be “Candified” so that she can swipe along with players on special missions. She will also help unlock special boosters and prizes and will be sharing words of encouragement along the way. The special in-game event will be accessible from level 25 and beyond.

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Shinedown has canceled their upcoming European tour, citing “economic and logistical” issues.

“As most of you know, we’re not a band who cancels shows,” the “Planet Zero” rockers write in a since-deleted tweet. “We can think of maybe twice that we’ve done it in our 20 year career. That’s what makes this decision very difficult.”

“Alas, the economic and logistical side of touring currently in Europe are growing too heavy for us to be able to make this feasible at this present time,” the statement continues. “With that being said, we’ve made this difficult yet necessary decision. We can’t put into words how much it sucks to have to cancel shows. We’re very much looking forward to coming back very soon and making this up to you.”

The international tour, which also featured Asking Alexandria and Zero 9:36 on the bill, was set to kick off November 7 and stretch into December. All of the dates have been scrapped, except for five shows in the U.K.

“These decisions are never made lightly, especially with this band,” Shinedown concludes. “We love you and we love touring Europe, and we WILL be back.”

Shinedown has been touring throughout the year in support of their new album, Planet Zero, which dropped in July.

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Wizkid dropped off the music video for “Bad To Me” from his forthcoming album, More Love, Less Ego. 

The video sees Wizkid performing as himself on a TV show, where the showrunner is his secret lover. It’s a battle among women for Wizkid’s heart. In the end, the showrunner ends up his partner. 

“Bad To Me” comes by way of Wizkid’s longtime producer P2J, whose credits include Doja Cat and Burna Boy. The song will appear on the singer’s fifth studio album, which doesn’t yet have an official release date. 

The new track follows “Call Me Every Day,” his most recent collaboration with Chris Brown.

The Grammy-winning artist is gearing up for his first-ever Madison Square Garden show in New York on November 16. 

Check out the music video for “Bad To Me” on Wizkid’s YouTube page.

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Carly Pearce dove into her personal story to write the songs on 29: Written in Stone, drawing inspiration from her divorce and the death of her longtime producer, Busbee.

The result was her most successful album cycle to date: On the heels of 29, Carly earned more awards and accolades than any year prior and was even invited to join the Grand Ole Opry. It also allowed fans to connect to her more than ever before, but that doesn’t mean that every listener was pleased by her personal lyrics.

On Twitter, a user named Donna posted a graphic reading, “Your personal problems require personal solutions, not public attention.” In the caption of her post, she directed Carly to follow its advice.

Carly, however, wasn’t fazed. In fact, she replied with a message inviting Donna to experience the power of her personal songs first-hand.

“It’s sad that you’re twisting my way of getting through the hardest season of my life for something negative,” the singer wrote on Twitter. “I welcome you to come to any of my shows and see the impact this album has made on people going through hard things. I’ll even leave you a ticket!”

29: Written in Stone came out in late 2021. Its third single, “What He Didn’t Do,” is currently climbing the country charts.

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Phoenix has premiered a new song called “Winter Solstice,” which will appear on their upcoming album, Alpha Zulu.

The synth-driven tune was created under unusual circumstances for the French outfit. As a press release notes, “Winter Solstice” is the first Phoenix song to not be composed by all the band members in a single studio. Instead, it combines an instrumental loop recorded by members Laurent Brancowitz, Christian Mazzalai and Deck d’Arcy, which was then sent to frontman Thomas Mars on a different continent to record vocals.

You can listen to “Winter Solstice” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.

Alpha Zulu, the follow-up 2017’s Ti Amo, will be released November 4. It also includes the previously released title track and the song “Tonight,” which features Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend.

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Taylor Swift fans know that the superstar singer loves to cook and bake, and now she’s paying tribute to the woman who taught her that doing so is a great way to relieve stress: Ina Garten.

For a Food Network magazine cover story on Garten, known as the “Barefoot Contessa,”  various celebrities including Tina Fey, Julianna Marguiles, Nathan Lane and Jennifer Garner, wrote pieces praising the chef.  In her own piece, Taylor notes that she first discovered Garten’s TV show when she was in her teens, and, she says, “my life revolved around touring.”

“On my rare days off at home, I barely ever cooked because it had always felt like a chore,” Taylor writes. “Watching Ina prepare a meal changed my perspective on cooking and reframed it as something relaxing. She made cooking feel like self-care. Ever since, cooking has been my escape from stress and one of the only ways I can truly calm myself on a rough day. I’ll always be grateful to her for giving me that.”

Since then, Taylor’s gotten to meet and cook with Ina, whom she calls a “magnificent woman.” She notes, “She’s one of those people who is even better, funnier, warmer than you’d hoped her to be.”

Ina is a huge fan of Taylor’s as well.  In 2019, she wrote a birthday message to her on Instagram: “Happy birthday @taylorswift!! You’re a beacon of light for women of all generations, including me!”

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Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel marked their 10th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, and Justin posted a sweet tribute to his wife on Instagram to mark the occasion.

“10 years ain’t enough! You make me a better husband and father every day!” Justin wrote. “I love you so much you beautiful human! Run it back!”  The captioned accompanied a series of photos of the couple throughout the years: posting on red carpets, on a mountaintop, in a vineyard, chilling at home and eating pasta a la Lady and the Tramp.

Jessica posted her own series of photos with the caption, “Being married to you is the adventure of a lifetime! Run it back, baby. RUN IT BACK. I love you.”

The actress also revealed in her Instagram Story that the couple renewed their vows this past summer in Italy, where they were married in 2012.  She noted that she was wearing Giambattista Valli for the renewal ceremony — the same designer who made her wedding dress.

After high-profile relationships with Britney Spears and Cameron Diaz, JT was first spotted with Jessica in 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival. In early 2011, they reportedly took a three-month break but reunited that fall; Justin proposed that December. The two welcomed their first son, Silas, in 2015 and a second son, Phineas, in 2020.

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Cardi B took the stand Wednesday to fight a $5 million lawsuit claiming the artwork from her first mixtape left a man “humiliated,” Billboard reports. 

The artwork in question is from Cardi’s debut mixtape Gangsta B**** Music, Vol. 1 and features the rapper in the back of a vehicle, taking a sip of beer, staring into the camera with her legs spread wide as she hold’s a man’s head between them, appearing to perform oral sex on her. 

The man in the artwork is a Black male model, however, the tattoo that appears on his back belonged to Kevin Michael Brophy Jr. and was photoshopped onto the model’s body after he discovered it during a Google search.

The mixtape was released in 2016 and Brophy sued in 2017 for millions, claiming he was “devastated, humiliated and embarrassed” by the cover and that his right to privacy was violated and painted him in a “false light,” the outlet adds. 

While taking the stand, Cardi told Brophy’s attorney, A. Barry Cappello, “This is not about taking anything down. Y’all have been harassing me for $5 million.”

“It’s not Mr. Brophy’s back. It doesn’t look like Mr. Brophy at all,” she said. “There has been not one receipt he has provided in the court claiming, ‘Hey, that’s you on Cardi’s mixtape.'”

The “Up” singer also made note of Brophy’s claim that his image played a factor in her success over the years, stating that she works hard for her two kids and it’s “really insulting to me as a woman that a man is claiming responsibility.”

Testimony will continue Thursday with a verdict due on Friday or Monday.

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Reba McEntire says finding love wasn’t her priority when she and her now-boyfriend, Rex Linn, reconnected in 2020.

That January, they crossed paths while Reba was filming an episode for Young Sheldon. The two first met three decades prior, in 1991, when they were both actors in the cast of the Kenny Rogers-led The Gambler Returns. When Rex asked her to dinner after her Young Sheldon shoot, Reba wasn’t expecting much to come from it — at first.

“He made me laugh my butt off on our first date, which we didn’t even know was a date,” Reba explains to People.

What followed was a long, slow courtship that largely took place virtually, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. That slow-and-steady relationship-building style helped lay a solid foundation for their love story, the country star points out.

“He’s the love of my life,” she adds. “We’re pretty much inseparable.”

So much so that they’re now co-starring in ABC drama series Big Sky as husband and wife characters Sunny and Buck, the proprietors of Sunny Day Excursions in small-town Montana.

“To play husband and wife, it’s natural for us,” Reba continues. “Rex and I rehearse all the time to make sure that when we step on that set, we’re not wasting anybody’s time. We’re professionals.”

Big Sky airs Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Fat Joe is fully aware of his identity as a Latino man, but he’s also conscious of his association to Black culture.

The Grammy-nominated rapper attributes his relationship with the Black community to growing up around Black people. 

“My projects, my neighborhood was predominantly Black,” Joe said on an episode of the NPR podcast The Limits. “My grandmother’s neighborhood was 99.9% Black, where there was no popular Latinos or nothing … And so when I’m born, I’m not listening to salsa and all that — I’m listening to Gloria Gaynor. I’m listening to Stephanie Mills. I’m listening to ‘I Will Survive.’ That’s what my house was playing, right?”

Joe said his blond hair and green eyes certainly confirmed his Latino roots, but hip-hop’s origin in the Bronx meant Joe grew up “thinking” he was Black. 

“It wasn’t until I went to high school and met another Latino brother that was a real dude, and he said, ‘Yo, come hang out with me in my hood.’ And 10 blocks away was like another world,” Joe recalled.

The 52-year-old rapper is proud of his association with both cultures. He said what’s really gratifying is his connection to his childhood community all these years later.    

“Fat Joe’s a guy who made it from nothing, that the streets can still touch,” he said. “You know, when Mr. Williams wants to repair his church in the Bronx, they know how to find Fat Joe.”

Joe continued, “It’s been a big job of mine to be in the community and helping the community, and giving them inspiration and giving them hope. The day I can’t be in my hood, or any hood, I don’t even want to live.”

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