Machine Gun Kelly has reunited with frequent collaborator blackbear for a new song called “gfy.”
The kiss-off track, which was produced by Travis Barker, finds MGK and blackbear directing the song’s title — first letter stands for “go” and third stands for “yourself,” and we’ll let you guess the second — at an ex that did them wrong.
You can listen to “gfy” now via digital outlets, and watch its accompanying video, which stars both artists, now on YouTube.
blackbear previously collaborated with MGK on the Tickets for My Downfall single “My Ex’s Best Friend” and the Mainstream Sellout cut “Make Up Sex.”
Journey is set to release its first studio album in 11 years in July, but in advance of that record, the band’s longtime keyboardist and songwriter Jonathan Cain has delivered his latest faith-based solo effort, Arise.
The 11-collection is the sixth full-length spiritual-themed project that Cain has released since 2016. The album, which combines brand-new tunes with songs that appeared on Jonathan’s 2021 EP Oh Lord Lead Us, is available now as a digital download and via streaming services.
Cain says the songs on Arise encourages Christians to be more fervent in their faith.
“Like faith in action, the music of Arise moves to the spirit of revival,” says Jonathan, who leads worship gatherings at City of Destiny Church in Apopka, Florida, where his wife, Paula White-Cain, is senior pastor. “God is making his presence felt here on earth, and it’s up to us to wake up, to feel it, feel the revival and just dig in.”
He adds, “I hope that this music stirs up and awakens people in a way that they can become a part of what God is doing.”
As previously reported, Journey will release its new album, Freedom, on July 8. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers recently announced a series of four special symphonic concerts that month in Las Vegas — on July 15, 16, 22 and 23 — and the band now has started lining up a variety of other shows around the U.S.
The other concerts on their itinerary are scheduled for July 20 in Paso Robles, California; July 27 in Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 in Las Cruces, New Mexico; July 30 in Lubbock, Texas; August 5 in Mount Pleasant, Michigan; August 6 in Canton, Ohio; and August 8 in Canandaigua, New York.
Flea is officially part of the Star Wars universe.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist has a role in the new Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries, which just premiered Friday morning on Disney+. He plays a bounty hunter who’s hired to kidnap child Princess Leia in an attempt to lure Kenobi out of hiding after he survived the infamous Order 66, which called for the execution of all Jedi.
The role is especially fitting for Flea since the 1999 Red Hot Chili Peppers song “Californication” includes the lyric “Alderaan’s not far away,” a reference to Leia’s home planet.
Flea’s previous acting credits include parts in The Big Lebowski, Baby Driver and the second and third Back to the Future movies.
In addition to his journey to a galaxy far, far away, Flea is preparing to rock our galaxy when Red Hot Chili Peppers launch their world tour in June. The group will be supporting their new album, Unlimited Love, which was released in April.
Jimmie Allen’s latest song release is a full-circle moment: It’s a collaboration with Jennifer Lopez, the pop superstar who was a judge on Season 10 of American Idol— the same season that Jimmie competed on the show.
Now, the two stars are peers and duet partners. Their pop-leaning new song, “On My Way,” tells a romantic story of all of life’s ups and downs — and how they ultimately lead to the perfect partner.
It’s a harmony-packed remix of JLo’s solo version of the song, which first appeared in the soundtrack for Marry Me, her romcom that premiered back in February. In its new, remixed version, the song appears on the track list for Tulip Drive, Jimmie’s next album.
“On My Way” is one of the few tracks on Tulip Drive that Jimmie didn’t have a hand in writing, and he has said that this collection of music is his most personal to date.
“This is the first [album] where I chose to write songs about my own personal experiences, thoughts and hopes,” Jimmie explained in a statement.
The new project also continues the theme of big, cross-genre duets that Jimmie established on his Bettie James project. The track list of Tulip Drive also boasts a collab with CeeLo Green and T-Pain.
CBS 2022 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Highest quality screengrab available.
Harry Styles went the DIY route for his latest music video, with the help of James Corden.
In a segment for The Late Late Show Thursday night, Harry and James scoured a Brooklyn neighborhood for a random apartment in which to shoot the music video for “Daylight” in just three hours with a $300 budget.
After getting rejected a couple of times – “I’ve got to be honest, I thought your face would open a lot of doors,” James told Harry – the two hit the jackpot when they knocked on a door with four young female roommates who were more than obliging.
James then directed Harry in various scenes around the apartment, including one in the bathtub, a party scene and a rooftop scene with James dressed in a green-screen leotard.
“Should we just scrap it? Is it too late to do ‘Carpool Karaoke’?” Harry says to the camera at one point.
In the end, though, the finished product didn’t turn out half bad — and Harry gave four fans a day they’ll never forget.
Christina Aguilera and Ricky Martin hit the stage Thursday night at the 28th annual amfAR gala at the Cannes Film Festival.
According to Variety, Ricky opened the night with a performance of “Livin’ La Vida Loca” and “La Copa de la Vida.” Christina didn’t perform until late in the evening, but Variety reports the crowd went wild for her five-song set that opened with “Dirrty,” and included “Lady Marmalade,” Beautiful” and “Fighter.”
The event also included an auction to raise money for amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, to help end HIV and AIDS. According to Variety, one bidder paid $540,000 for a package that included lunch with Robert De Niro. A guitar signed by Baz Luhrmann and the cast of Elvis raked in almost $190,000, and perhaps most unusual, someone paid $215,000 for a statue of Emma Watson’s head on a mermaid’s body.
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!”
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.
Gonzales Photo/Nikolaj Bransholm/PYMCA-Avalon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
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.”
Katy Perryreturns 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.”
