Music

Train has released a new single from their upcoming album AM Gold: “Cleopatra,” featuring Mexican singer/songwriter Sofía Reyes, who’s also collaborated with Lauv, Michael Bublé and Jason Derulo, among others.

“It’s an HONOR for me to share a song with Train. They are LEGENDS and the fact that they chose me for this song is unbelievable,” says Sofía in a statement. “[I’m] very grateful!! It’s a fun one, I have a good feeling about it!”

Train’s Pat Monahan says of the Latin-flavored tune, “What began as a simple conversation, ended in love’ was something Mark Antony said, and that’s what happened with me and this song ‘Cleopatra.’ And then Sofía Reyes came in and made it that much better.” 

A video for the song is coming soon.

AM Gold, which arrives Friday, also features the previously released songs “Turn the Radio Up,” featuring Jewel, “Running Back (Trying to Talk to You),” and the title track.

As previously reported, Train is touring this summer with Jewel and Blues Traveler. The trek gets underway June 8 in Mansfield, MA and is set to wrap up August 6 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.

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Travis Scott is giving out $1 million worth of scholarships to students graduating from HBCUs in 2022. 

By way of his Cactus Jack Foundation — an organization launched by the rapper in 2020 to provide Houston youth with educational and creative resources to ensure long-term success — Scott will provide 100 Black students across 38 colleges and universities with $10,000 each.

“Excellence abounds in every Black household, but too often opportunity does not — and Black students are left behind or counted out,” Scott said in a release, as shared by Complex. “So that’s what my family and I set out to change. We congratulate all 100 scholarship recipients this year. I know we will see great things from them –and we are already looking forward to increasing our work next year.”

The fund is named after Scott’s grandfather Waymon Webster, who served as dean of the Prairie View A&M graduate school in Texas, for his dedication to Black excellence.

“My grandfather wanted me to take it all the way through college,” says a note by Scott on the foundation’s homepage. “I feel there is a power in education so to be able to give someone the opportunity to fulfill that dream as my papa thought for me is amazing.” 

Students eligible for the scholarship must be a graduating senior with an average GPA of 3.5 or higher who is in need of financial assistance.

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Soundgarden has shared a tribute to Chris Cornell to mark the fifth anniversary of his death.

“Five years we have missed you,” the grunge rockers write in an Instagram post. “You have love. You have peace. You have eternity.”

The band adds, “Love and peace for all of Soundgarden’s brothers and sisters.”

Cornell’s widow, Vicky, also shared a statement, which reads in part, “[Five] years ago today, would be the worst day of our lives.

“It would be the last time Chris would hug & kiss us, the last time he’d walk out our front door. The last time he’d wave goodbye to use from the car. The last time we’d ever seem him.”

Vicky also thanks her husband’s fans, writing, “Please know he loved you as much as you love him.”

“He was so grateful to be able to make music, perform all over the world, have his music & lyrics touch your heart & impact your lives. He loved receiving love from all of you.”

Others who’ve paid tribute include Soundgarden and Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, Cornell’s Audioslave band mate Tom Morello, and The Pretty Reckless‘ Taylor Momsen.

Cornell died in the early morning hours of May 18, 2017, after playing a Detroit show with Soundgarden the night before. He was 52.

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Neil Diamond‘s A Beautiful Noise is coming to Broadway.

A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical — a show based on the life of the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, featuring all his famous songs — is currently rehearsing for a six-week engagement in Boston from June 21 through July 31. It’s just been announced that following the Boston stint, the show will be moving to the Great White Way this fall.

According to producers, the show chronicles Diamond’s journey, from his beginnings as a “poor Jewish kid from Brooklyn” to his rise to becoming “one of the most universally adored showmen of all time.” It’ll premiere at the Broadhurst Theatre, with preview performances starting November 2. The show’s official opening night will be Sunday, December 4. 

Not coincidentally, 50 years ago, in the fall of 1972, Diamond did a series of concerts at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theater.

You can sign up to be among the first to get tickets to A Beautiful Noise at abeautifulnoisethemusical.com.

A Beautiful Noise was written by Oscar nominee Anthony McCarten, who wrote the movies Bohemian Rhapsody, Darkest Hour and The Theory of Everything. It’s directed by Michael Mayer, who also did Spring Awakening, American Idiot and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Of course, all the music is by Neil Diamond.

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The Kid LAROI is the latest artist to head toward the Golden Arches for an all-new collaborative menu.  

Eagle-eyed fans noticed something different in the latest McDonald’s Instagram advertisement, which shows the Australian singer playing an arcade game called LAROI’S WORLD. While not taking his eyes off the screen, the caption pops up “The Kid LAROI x McDonald’s.”

Then, as it appears the “Stay” singer loses the game and begins kicking the side of the machine, the date “26.5” flashes — meaning May 26.

Soon enough, McDonald’s Australia confirmed on Instagram that the forthcoming partnership launches next week.

Not much else is known about the collaboration, but it does appear it will only be available for those in the land Down Under. But, fans are holding out hope this partnership goes international.

Either way, the Grammy nominee joins fellow artists Mariah Carey, Saweetie, BTS, J Balvin and Travis Scott, who also launched self-inspired specialty menus.

These menus are usually packed with the artist’s favorite food and come with their own Mickey Dee’s-inspired merchandise sold alongside the menu options.

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Luke Combs is filling in more of the details about his upcoming third studio album, Growin’ Up. The country star shared the full track list for the project on his social media this week, and it includes a few live favorites — and one superstar duet.

Megawatt duets aren’t a new thing for Luke, who included a collaboration with Eric Church called “Does to Me” on his last album.

This time around, the song in question is called “Outrunnin’ Your Memory,” a collaboration with Miranda Lambert. Luke had previously teased that the album would feature a duet, and hinted at a few more facts about the album in the days leading up to the track list announcement.

“Crazy thing is, I’ve only ever posted about or played lived 6 of the 12 songs on the new album, so y’all have never heard half the songs,” he wrote earlier in May.

Now that it’s out, the track list features several familiar titles — like “Tomorrow Me” and the lead single “Doin’ This” — but there’s plenty of never-before-heard stuff in the mix.

Fans will get the chance to hear a little bit more of the album before it comes out in full: Luke says that track three off the project, “The Kind of Love We Make,” will be coming out ahead of release day, on June 17.

Growin’ Up will arrive in full the next week, on June 24.

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Legendary R&B singer Bobby Brown has often been in the limelight regarding his difficult life and career struggles. In a recent chat with People, the 53-year-old musician opened up about a traumatic secret he’s kept for many years: being molested by a priest as a young boy. 

Speaking in the exclusive interview ahead of his new A&E documentary, Biography: Bobby Brown, premiering on May 30, the Boston native described the experience as one of the reasons he resorted to using drugs and alcohol. 

“I was sent to a temporary custody by social services which was supposed to be a religious place but it wasn’t a very nice place to be for a child,” he told People. “One of the priests tried to molest me. He tried to touch my private parts … At that time, I was a young boy. I didn’t know what sexual boundaries were. I just knew I didn’t like being touched.” He added, “Some things are hard to forget.”

Before admitting that he tried to bury the memory, hoping to never relive the moment again, Brown said he fought back against the priest who inappropriately touched him and ran away from the facility. “I had tucked it down so deep into my soul that I didn’t think that I would talk about it again.” 

The Grammy winner says music helped him to cope with the tumultuous issues he dealt with growing up. Now, after 20 years free from narcotics, he says talking about his journey and sharing his story helps.

“I could see where things went wrong for me,” he said. “[Talking about it] helped me get through a lot of other things that had been bothering me, especially that.”

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Florence + the Machine has released a cover of The Stooges’ song “Search and Destroy.”

While Florence Welch‘s ethereal voice is certainly different from the howl of Iggy Pop, her band’s version of “Search and Destroy” stays true to the vibe of the original proto-punk classic thanks to a hard-strumming acoustic guitar and raucous drums.

“Iggy Pop was such a presence on this record,” Welch says, referring to the new Machine record Dance Fever. “From the tension of ‘King,’ to the baritone growl of ‘Restraint.’ So we wanted to pay homage to him.”

The “Search and Destroy” cover appears on the newly released deluxe version of Dance Fever, which is out today, May 18, via digital outlets. The expanded set also features acoustic versions of four Dance Fever songs, including the single “My Love.”

The original Dance Fever dropped last Friday. Florence + the Machine will launch a U.S. tour in support of the record in September.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith is following Pearl Jam‘s Matt Cameron in denouncing Rolling Stone‘s recent article about Taylor Hawkins.

The piece, which was published Monday evening, features interviews with both named and anonymous friends of the late Foo Fighters drummer, including Smith and Cameron.

The piece includes multiple sources claiming that Hawkins had expressed discomfort with the amount of touring he had to do as part of Foo Fighters leading up to his unexpected death this past March, with both Cameron and Smith quoted as saying Hawkins had a “heart-to-heart” conversation with Foo frontman Dave Grohl and the band’s management about his concerns.

Smith is also quoted talking about an alleged incident during which Hawkins “lost consciousnesses” while on a flight last December.

“That was one of the straws that broke the camel’s back,” one of Smith’s quotes reads. “After that, [Hawkins] had a real important heart-to-heart with Dave and the management. He said, ‘I can’t continue on this schedule, and so we’ve got to figure out something.'”

Both claims about the alleged conversation between Hawkins, Grohl and management and Hawkins losing consciousness aboard that flight were denied by a Foo Fighters rep.

On Tuesday afternoon, Cameron issued a statement claiming that his quotes were “taken out of context and shaped into a narrative I had never intended,” adding that he’s “truly sorry to have taken part in this interview.”

Smith then followed with his own statement Tuesday evening, reading, “The story [Rolling Stone] wrote was sensationalized and misleading.”

“Had I known I never would have agreed to participate,” Smith continued. “I apologize to his family and musical friends for any pain this may have caused. I miss Taylor every day.”

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