Jon Bon Jovi‘s JBJ Soul Foundation is helping to provide housing for homeless veterans.
The charitable organization has given a $100,000 grant to the American Legion Post 107’s nonprofit Veterans Center of Hoboken in Bon Jovi’s native New Jersey, which will be used to provide new housing and supportive services to homeless veterans.
“JBJ Soul Foundation is dedicated to continuing our work with veterans, addressing issues of hunger and homelessness, and we are all inspired by the Veterans Center of Hoboken,” Bon Jovi says in a statement.
“The Center is not only expanding with 18 additional furnished housing units, but is also providing services including physical and mental health care and employment opportunities for these struggling veterans,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer adds. “This is exactly the kind of mission and positive impact the Foundation is proud to support.”
Fans often refer to Lil Durk and his girlfriend India Cox as relationship goals on social media. The unproblematic couple have been together for years, share two daughters and like to keep their relationship issues private.
Now, after reports the couple was involved in a shootout with intruders at their home, fans are calling Durk and Cox the new Mr. & Mrs. Smith — a nod to the film starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt as married assassins.
“Durk and India [are] the new Mr. & Mrs. Smith. That’s goals [for real],” tweeted one fan, while another said “I’m weak. Lil Durk and India [are] the new Bonnie and Clyde out [here].”
Yet another said, “People really saying Durk and India are Bonnie and Clyde but don’t actually know how Bonnie and Clyde died.”
As previously reported, Lil Durk and Cox were victims of an attempted home invasion that took place last Sunday. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation told TMZ that the couple were awakened around 5 a.m. by armed intruders who were trying to break into their Braselton, Georgia, home. According to investigators, both Durk and Cox had access to firearms at the time and fired at the intruders, which escalated into a shootout. Neither the two-time Grammy nominee nor his girlfriend were injured.
Police are currently investigating the incident as an alleged home invasion and aggravated assault. Anyone with information pertaining to the incident is encouraged to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Congrats to DaniLeigh! The R&B singer/songwriter has announced she’s expecting her first child.
“As you grow so does my love, discipline and focus,” she writes on Instagram, sharing photos from her maternity shoot, which were taken in the Dominican Republic.
In the photos, DaniLeigh poses against the backdrop of a waterfall while draped in a white sheer outfit. Rapper DDG, video director X and others flooded DaniLeigh’s comments with “congratulations” remarks and well-wishes for the first-time mother.
News of DaniLeigh’s pregnancy comes months after the singer received backlash on social media over a snippet of her unreleased song, “Yellow Bone.” In a since-deleted Instagram video from January, DaniLeigh is seen dancing to the song, while repeating lyrics such as “Yellow bone that’s what he wants.”
Not long after the controversy, DaniLeigh announced her split from rapper DaBaby in February. Even so, fans believe that DaBaby, who has two daughters from separate relationships, is the father of DaniLeigh’s child.
James Blunt is releasing a greatest hits album featuring his biggest songs from the past 17 years.
The singer announced that The Stars Beneath My Feet (2004-2021) will be coming out November 19, featuring well-known tracks like “You’re Beautiful” and “Goodbye My Lover,” as well as some live recordings and four brand new songs.
“Amazingly, I’m releasing my Greatest Hits. I wanted to call it Greatest Hit (& Songs I Wish You’d Heard), but the good people at Atlantic Records suggested I call it something more sensible, so it’s called The Stars Beneath My Feet,” James says in a statement. “If you’d ever wished that James Blunt had only ever released one album — this is that album.”
In celebration of the release, James also announced a new U.K. arena tour set to kick off in February 2022.
Midland’s The Last Resort EP arrives on Friday, and with it comes a quirky, detailed roll-out of the world that the band seeks to create with their new project.
That includes a digital magazine that the band created to advertise their self-created Last Resort Hotel & Day Spa, complete with an infomercial starring the group’s backing guitarist, Luke Cutchen.
“This infomercial has become all of our favorite part of this whole roll-out,” the band’s Cameron Duddy tells Billboard. “At the end of the day, it’s really just us having fun.”
The band owes a fair bit of this return to their playful side to The Sonic Ranch, a documentary about their origin story that they dropped back in March. Revisiting those early days pushed the trio toward “getting nostalgic about where we’ve come from, and reconnecting as friends. So it all emanates from within,” Cameron adds.
Plus, Midland simply had more time to come up with creative album rollout ideas. They were off the road due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and with two successful albums already under their belt, they felt a little more relaxed in their approach to music-making.
“I think historically, a lot of third albums tend to be this way. Typically, album one is you at your purest; album two, you’re on your back feet, and, if you have success, with album three you get to really plan your attack,” Cameron continues. “We’re just applying everything we’ve learned over the years.”
Midland says that they’re headed back into the studio soon to expand their project into a full-length album. For now, though, you can listen to the five new tracks on their just-released The Last Resort EP.
Veteran rock drummer Jason Bonham, who lately has been playing with the Sammy Hagar-fronted group The Circle, has announced dates for a fall 2021 U.S. tour with his own outfit Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening, which pays tribute to his late father John Bonham‘s famous band.
The MMXXI Tour currently features 29 confirmed shows, kicking off October 15 in Stateline, Nevada, and plotted out through a November 26 concert in Hollywood, Florida. Tickets for all of the dates went on sale to the general public today.
A look at Bonham’s itinerary explains why he won’t be joining Hagar and the other members of The Circle — bassist Michael Anthony and guitarist Vic Johnson — at four of Sammy’s six recently announced Las Vegas residency shows at The Strat. The “Sammy Hagar & Friends” performances are scheduled for October 29-30, November 5-6 and November 12-13, but Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening has gigs on the four November dates.
Meanwhile, Bonham has posted a message about his upcoming Led Zeppelin tribute tour on his Facebook page that reads, “We go deep real deep. Never a short set and always have surprises my love for Zep is only over shadowed by my love for my father.”
To check out JBLZE’s full schedule and purchase tickets, visit JasonBonham.net.
An archival performance video and album capturing a live in-studio session by Bob Marley and the Wailers, recorded and filmed in October 1973 at the Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles, will be released in multiple formats on September 3.
Bob Marley and The Wailers: The Capitol Session ’73 can be pre-ordered now, and will be available as a DVD/CD package, a standalone CD, a two-LP colored-vinyl set and digitally.
Famed producer Denny Cordell set up a four-camera shoot filming the band playing 12 songs, with most of the material coming from the group’s two most recent albums — 1973’s Burnin’ and 1972’s Catch a Fire. Among the classic tunes Marley and The Wailers performed were “Stir It Up,” “Get Up Stand Up” and “Kinky Reggae.”
The footage from the session was considered lost for many years, but over the last two decades the film was fully unearthed at various storage units, and now has been restored and remastered.
At the time of the October ’73 session, Marley and his group had started to establish themselves in the U.S. They had been touring as Sly and the Family Stone‘s opening act, but had been fired from the trek and so decided to make their way to LA, where the session took place.
In advance of The Capitol Session ’73‘s release, a video of Marley and the Wailers performing “Stir It Up” has debuted on Marley’s official YouTube channel and the audio has been made available via streaming services.
The two-LP set will be available on green marble vinyl and, exclusively from TheSoundofVinyl.us, on Rasta swirl vinyl — that is, red, yellow and green.
Here’s the release’s full track list:
“You Can’t Blame the Youth”
“Slave Driver”
“Burnin’ and Lootin'”
“Rastaman Chant”
“Duppy Conqueror”
“Midnight Raver”
“Put It On”
“Stop that Train”
“Kinky Reggae”
“Stir It Up”
“No More Trouble”
“Get Up Stand Up”
DVD bonus tracks:
“Duppy Conqueror”
“Rastaman Chant”
In addition to the Spanish-language album she’s preparing, Christina Aguilera also is hard at work on another pop album.
The singer, who’s performing with an orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl tonight and tomorrow, teases that the second album will have a “totally different feel” from the Latin album.
“I’m working with producers and writers that I’e been a big fan of for a long time,” she tells the Los Angeles Times. “One in particular is Joseph Angel — he wrote ‘Love on the Brain’ for Rihanna.”
She continues, “But all the writers come from such a deep, heartfelt place. It’s not about us trying to fit a mold; it’s a grown perspective that embodies everything I’ve experienced in this business and on a personal level.”
Christina adds that she made a lot of changes over quarantine, including surrounding herself with new collaborators and a new support team.
“I’m in a really happy place, and I’ve never been able to fully say that,” she says.
If hanging out at a casino with the likes of Sleeping with Sirens and Royal & the Serpent sounds like a dream vacation to you, you’re in luck.
Los Angeles-based musical curators and event planners Emo Nite are hosting a destination festival called Emo Nite Vegas Vacation, which will take place in Sin City from October 14 to October 17. The acts booked for the event so far include the aforementioned Sleeping with Sirens and Royal & the Serpent, plus Travis Barker, Mod Sun, Avril Lavigne, Mayday Parade, carolesdaughter, The Maine, 3OH!3 and more.
Special guests, parties and shows every night are among the attractions of the festival, which will take place at various hotels and clubs across the Las Vegas strip.
“emo nite vegas vacation is a three-day travel experience curated by us with pool parties, concerts, emo nites, and tons of special guests,” reads the announcement. “the best part…is that everything is included! your ticket includes your hotel room and access to all of our events all weekend long. all u have to do is get ur a$$ to vegas.”
For more information, or to reserve your spot — which comes with a COVID-19 money-back guarantee, by the way — visit Pollen.co.
John Shearer/Getty Images for Essential Broadcast Media, LLC
Garth Brooks will see two very different sides of Salt Lake City this weekend. On Friday night, his Dive Bar Tour hits local honky tonk, The Westerner, and the following day, he takes the stage for a sold-out stadium show.
“It’s funny because the whole mission is to make the dive bar feel like a stadium and the stadium feel like a dive bar,” Garth points out. “But to have them back-to-back in the same city?…I’ve got to tell ya, if I could paint a future for me, that’s exactly what I’d want to see. Friday night in a dive bar…Saturday night in a stadium…maybe back Sunday night in a dive bar!”
Clearly, Garth’s Salt Lake City fans are looking forward to his Stadium Tour stop as much as he is. When tickets to his show at the city’s Rice-Eccles Stadium first went on sale back in May, fans snapped up 50,000 seats in just under 30 minutes.
Garth has spent much of this summer getting Stadium Tour dates back on the books after the past year’s pandemic-induced touring hiatus. He’s officially back in action as of last weekend, kicking off the tour with a sold-out show in Las Vegas.
