Music

Chris Young has a personal connection to the military — his sister and grandfather both served in the Marines — but that’s not all: Throughout his career, he’s made it a point to uplift and connect with all those who serve.

“There’s so many people that I’ve met,” he says, explaining that his career has afforded him the opportunity to perform for and meet military service men and women of all description. Every one of them has an inspiring story, he adds.

“If I was going to pick one — my buddy Joe Bowser, who lost his leg while he was serving,” Chris continues. “He and I have been friends for years and years and years…I got to meet him through one of my very first trips over to Iraq and German and Kuwait.”

Chris leans on his fellow country stars for inspiration on how to best use his platform to support the military. In particular, he looks up to the late legend Charlie Daniels, whose Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project raises funds for veteran-focused projects.

“They’ve got a lot of different outreach for veterans, if they’re dealing with something, or they might need help,” Chris details.

“Seeing Charlie’s love for the military, getting a chance to help them raise money and knowing it’s going to help our veterans who might need a leg up,” he goes on to say.

“Having that military connection to my family, having been able to be lucky enough to go around the world playing for military,” he adds,” being able to offer some help to veterans, it’s really important for me to have a chance to do that.”

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She says the song came as the result of a mental illness she didn’t even know she was living with. She revealed details about her upcoming album, The Journey, which speaks to just that — her journey through hardship, healing and leaning on faith. In a recent interview with ABC Audio, Maverick City Music member Naomi Raine spoke candidly about intimate life details ahead of her debut TRIBL Records solo single, “Not Ready.” 

The inspirational new track provides listeners with a firsthand account of Raine’s honest conversation with Jesus, about grappling with the idea of having everything she’s wished for but at the same time feeling incomplete. 

“I think that first line of, ‘Let’s be honest, Jesus I’m a mess’ — I wrote that when I was on my way out of a depression,” she said. Though “nothing was really wrong,” Raine came to the conclusion that she wasn’t living as her authentic, true self. “I was still trying to please everybody else and make everybody else feel good and I felt like my life was slipping away from me.” 

But out of her struggle grew “Not Ready,” which has since served as a healing mechanism and reminder of her not just her power, but the power of music. 

“I started to write … and get out of some of the funk that I was in. Putting language to it, just began to heal me in a way that I can’t even explain. I think music is miraculous.”

Raine’s realization that her artistry impacts others who can relate to the content of her songs helped her feel better about the lows life sometimes brings. 

“I started to feel like, ‘OK, I’m normal,'” she said. “‘Not Ready’ is just a snapshot of my journey.”

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Melissa Etheridge kicks off her four-night solo residency show, Melissa Etheridge: One Woman Band, at City Winery New York on May 30.  She then heads to City Winery Boston for four more nights — and plans to expand the residency concept in the future.

“That’s one of the things that I’m very hopeful for…that this is something we can do in other places,” she tells ABC Audio. “I’d love to do a longer version of this, because it’s so intimate and it’s just me and it’s really fun.”

“I mean, I love being in front of thousands of people with a rock band behind me, don’t get me wrong,” she adds. “[But] I also like to be able to slip in to this intimate scene and do this, too.”

The set list for these special shows will be different each night — except for the hits.

“I always tell myself, I might do these songs every night, but the people that come to see me, this may be the only time they see me,” Melissa explains. “And they want to have that experience of singing ‘Come to My Window’ or ‘I’m the Only One’ with me, so I’ll definitely do those.”

She’ll also give fans a look at her songwriting process, by playing the components of each song herself in real time — which is basically what she’s been doing virtually since 2020.

“[D]uring the pandemic is where it really grew,” she explains. “Having a year and a half to play all of my songs — like, every song I had ever recorded — I…just really got very good at making a track live and singing to it.”

She laughs, “This is like, you’re coming into my kitchen, [I] got my ingredients. I’m going to make it right in front of you, and we’re all going to sit there, eat it, and enjoy it!”

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Muse will be headlining the 2022 Aftershock Festival in place of Foo Fighters, which canceled all of their upcoming tour dates following the unexpected death of Taylor Hawkins.

The English trio will fill in for the Foos’ scheduled set at the Sacramento, California, event’s closing night on Sunday, October 9.

“It’s been too long and we can’t wait to come back to Northern California and headline Aftershock on Sunday, October 9, in Sacramento,” says frontman Matt Bellamy.

Aftershock 2022 takes place October 6-9 in Sacramento’s Discovery Park. The other headliners are My Chemical Romance, KISS and Slipknot.

Hawkins passed away March 25 in Bogotá, Colombia, ahead of a Foo Fighters show scheduled there for later that night. He was 50 years old.

Earlier this month, Red Hot Chili Peppers performed in place of Foo Fighters at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, while Nine Inch Nails took their place at Welcome to Rockville. NIN will also headline this weekend’s Boston Calling in the Foos’ stead, while Arcade Fire is filling in at Montreal’s Osheaga in July.

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Of all the unexpected projects to come out of the rock world the last couple years, it’s hard to top the guitarist for Creed recording a Frank Sinatra covers album.

Mark Tremonti, who now plays in Alter Bridge and his own namesake solo band, tells ABC Audio that he’s always been a fan of Ol’ Blue Eyes, but didn’t know how to channel it in his career as hard rock guitarist. That changed, however, when his daughter, Stella, was born in March 2021 with Down syndrome.

“Once we got the diagnosis that our daughter had Down syndrome, I was, like, ‘This all had its reasons,'” Tremonti shares. “‘I’m gonna record a record doing Frank Sinatra songs, and I’m gonna do it for charity and raise money and awareness for Down syndrome.'”

Thus, we now have Tremonti Sings Sinatra, which will raise money for the National Down Syndrome Society.

In addition to the charity aspect, it was important to Tremonti that the album sound, and feel like a “real” and “authentic” interpretation of Sinatra’s work, down to getting approvals from the Sinatra family to use his name and likeness.

“[That] was probably the biggest hurdle of them all,” Tremonti says. “They’ve only done that with guys Tony Bennett and Michael Bublé.”

That authenticity was also bolstered by surviving members of Sinatra’s orchestra, including bandleader Mike Smith, who gave Tremonti the same cup of tea Sinatra would drink to warm up his voice, as well as the actual sheet music Sinatra used to perform classics like “Luck Be a Lady.”

“This was the sheet that Frank Sinatra actually held in his hand when he sang ‘Luck Be a Lady,'” Tremonti says. “Every moment of this recording process was a surreal, intense honor to participate in.”

Tremonti Sings Sinatra is out Friday.

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Katy Perry returns to Las Vegas Friday night for more shows in her PLAY residency: She’ll perform through June 11, take a break, then return for more shows in July and August, with more shows expected to be announced later this year. But Katy says she can’t just breeze into Sin City and get on the stage. She says she’s got to work up to it.

“You definitely have to be mindful that you have a show coming up after a six- or eight-week break,” the American Idol judge tells USA Today. “I get really strict about two or three weeks before. [The set] is like a giant kid’s jungle gym and I’m a 37-year-old adult. So I have to train like an athlete and do physical therapy and use the sauna and let go of my Taco Bell.”

The one song that’s part of Katy’s residency show that isn’t one of her hit singles is her rendition of “The Greatest Love of All,” originally recorded by George Benson and made famous in 1985 by Whitney Houston. Katy says she decided to add it to the set after becoming a mom to daughter Daisy Dove, who’ll turn 2 in August.

“After I had my daughter, the song spoke to me in a different way,” Katy tells USA Today. “I feel like Daisy has given me the greatest love of all and I find it now in my family life.”

In addition to her show, Katy also has American Idol, her shoe line and her new line of nonalcoholic beverages, De Soi. In response to that age-old question about balance, Katy says, “There’s a lot more balance when you have a family. A lot falls away that isn’t really important … But I’m at my best multitasking.”

“I’m transitioning a little more into the entrepreneurial space,” she adds, referring to the shoe line and De Soi. “These are branches of my tree. My trunk will always be music, but I have many branches.”

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Katy Perry and Celine Dion are among the Las Vegas entertainers and other celebrities who’ve designed life-size baby elephant statues for display at Resorts World, the hotel and casino where Katy has her residency and where Celine had planned to kick hers off last year before it was postponed. The 26 elephants will be on display through Labor Day. The statues will then be auctioned off to benefit elephant welfare programs.

And speaking of Katy, she’s back at Resorts World this weekend for another round of dates in her PLAY residency. She posted a behind-the-scenes look on Instagram at all the wild and wacky costumes featured in the show.

Olivia Rodrigo reunited with her High School Musical: The Musical: The Series castmates at her show at LA’s Greek Theatre a few days ago. Co-star Dara Renee posted a series of photos on Instagram showing eight members of the cast with Olivia backstage, plus footage of her view from the audience. “GOOD 4 U!! I’m so proud of this Queen!! THE TALENT this icon carries!!” Renee captioned the photos. “Wheww chile You deserve all this and so much more. Love you to the moon and back Liv!!”

Thursday night in L.A., Nick Jonas received the 2022 Golden Glove Award at the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation’s “Big Fighters, Big Cause” Charity Boxing Night. The award acknowledged Nick’s work in raising awareness for diabetes, which he was diagnosed with as a teen. In his acceptance speech, he said, “I’ve been living with this disease for nearly 16 years and it’s been an uphill and crazy ride … I didn’t know anyone when I was first diagnosed that was living with diabetes and my only hope is and has been to try and be a face that people recognize and normalize this disease.”

Sara Bareilles is headed back to Broadway. The singer, who co-wrote the hit musical Waitress and also starred in it off and on throughout its run, will return to the Great White Way for an eight-week engagement of the Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical Into the Woods. Sara has been playing the Baker’s Wife in the off-Broadway production; she’ll continue the role when the show moves to Broadway’s St. James Theatre starting June 28. Tickets are on sale now via SeatGeek.com/into-the-woods.

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–Seems Jussie Smollett is moving away from his court struggles and getting back to business in the entertainment world. The former Empire star is set to make his directorial debut with a film adaptation of James Earl Hardy‘s 1994 novel, B-Boy Blues, which was recently picked up by BET+. 

The story follows the relationship of New Yorkers Mitchell Crawford and Raheim Rivers, who meet at a gay bar in 1993 and fall in love. 

According to Variety, Mona Scott Young, of the Love & Hip Hop franchise, joined as a producer and was instrumental in getting the film picked up by BET. B-Boy Blues is set to premiere on the streaming service during Pride Month on June 9. 

–In the latest in the Young Thug and Gunna RICO case, prosecutors are planning to use Thug’s lyrics in court. On May 9, the rapper was hit with gang-related charges after being named in a sweeping 56-count grand jury indictment in Fulton County, Georgia.

Thug, born Jeffery Williams, the alleged leader of the Young Slime Life gang, was initially charged with two counts — conspiring to violate the state’s Racketeer RICO Act and participating in street gang activity, according to documents obtained by ABC News. He was hit with additional drugs and weapons charges after law enforcement officials searched his home following his arrest.

Prosecutors argue that the lyrics in songs such as “Take it to Trial,” “Ski” and “Slatty” served as “overt acts” to fulfill a key objective of the alleged RICO conspiracy: “Preserving, protecting and enhancing the reputation, power and territory of the enterprise [YSL].”

Like Thug, Gunna’s lyrics were also listed in the indictment. Gunna is charged with one count of conspiring to violate the RICO Act.

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