Music

Morgan Wallen made his return to the awards show spotlight at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards over the weekend, performing two songs — “Don’t Think Jesus” and “Wasted on You” — and bringing home the award for Top Country Male Artist.

It was his first performance since a video of him yelling a racist slur emerged in early 2021. Since then, he’s been barred from many mainstream awards shows and other music industry platforms.

But at the BBMAs, Morgan walked the red carpet with his mom, Lesli, and credited the people closest to him for helping change his perspective amid the scandal.

“My family, my friends and just a really good team,” the singer replied to ET Online when asked who most helped him get through the past couple of years. “My kid. I’ve had a lot of really positive things going on behind the scenes, that maybe weren’t necessarily brought to light.”

He continued, “I’ve been able to get to a good place because of all that.”

Morgan also expressed his gratitude for the support he’s received from his fellow country artists, such as Jason Aldean and Hardy.

“Everybody tells you they’re your friends when everything’s good, so it’s really nice to have people who really mean that,” he said.

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Kane Brown may be busy readying a new album, but he’s never too busy to spend time with family.

The superstar hopped on social media this week to share a snap of his daughters, 2-year-old Kingsley and 4-month-old Kodi. Kane and his wife, Katelyn, have previously told fans that Kingsley loves being a big sister, and this photo is proof: the toddler’s got her arm around her baby sibling as the pair sit outside in a chair.

Kane and Katelyn welcomed baby Kodi in late December. They never announced the pregnancy publicly, making for quite the surprise when fans learned that they’d added a new bundle of joy to their household.

In musical news, Kane’s keeping busy: He put out his new song, “Like I Love Country Music,” earlier this month.

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Jack Harlow better watch out!

His recent comments regarding his lack of knowledge about who Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Brandy is may have gotten him into some drama. But it’s all fun and games, especially for Brandy, who jokingly responded to the “First Class” rapper who said he didn’t know she and Ray J were siblings. 

After watching the viral interview clip where Jack Harlow asks, “Who’s Ray J’s sister?” Brandy tweeted, “I will murk this dude in rap at 43 [years old] on his own beats and then sing [h]is a** to sleep.”

While the iconic singer could very well give Jack Harlow a run for his money, she posted a follow-up tweet saying, “See, I can have a little fun too hehe…all love.”

Jack Harlow’s revelation sparked lots of conversation over the internet last week. While many recognized his young age as the reason for the lack of knowledge, his comments were also met with backlash. 

When Grammy-winning singer India Arie got wind on the video, she took to social media to express her feelings about it. 

“Just because you make Black music doesn’t mean you know Black culture,” she wrote in a post shared by The Shade Room. “If U don’t know Brandy’s voice when you hear it … WHO EVEN ARE YOU?” she said.

She continued, “WHEN AN ACTUAL MUSICIAN! WHO MAKES BLACK MUSIC! Deduces one of the industries MOST IMPORTANT VOICES @Brandy to Ray J’s SISTER? who is famous (mostly) for his Proximity to Kim Kardashian.”

Responding to Brandy’s clapback on Tuesday, Jack Harlow posted an image of Brandy and Ray J accompanied by Kanye West‘s 2005 track, “Bring Me Down,” on which Brandy sings the chorus. 

Bet Jack Harlow won’t ever forget Brandy’s name now. 

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Yungblud has announced a new album.

The third full-length effort from the U.K. rocker will be self-titled and is set to arrive September 2.

“Everything up to this moment has been a complete explosion of uncensored expression, where I just told the truth and sang about what I felt in that exact moment,” Yungblud explains. “The difference here is that I have thought and felt this record so deeply.”

“I went to a part of myself that I didn’t know was there,” he adds. “I studied it, I bathed in the emotion, tried to solve the equation and come up with an answer (at least for now) from love to pain, adoration to abandonment, laughter to betrayal.”

The album will feature the previously released single “The Funeral” and the WILLOW collaboration “Memories.” The rest of the track list has yet to be revealed.

Yungblud’s most recent album is his 2020 sophomore effort, Weird!

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New York City and the landmark Empire State Building will beam red and white on May 21 in honor of legendary rapper Biggie Smalls on what would’ve been his 50th birthday this Saturday. 

As part of the official celebration, a lighting ceremony will take place on Friday, May 20, that will include Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace; his children, CJ and T’yanna Wallace; longtime friend and fellow rapper Lil Kim; and other close friends and hip-hop luminaries. 

In commemoration of the late rapper, the Barclays Center will feature a video montage of classic Biggie records which will be displayed on the oculus above the arena’s entrance. For those planning to travel to the venue by way of NYC public transportation, a special edition MetroCard featuring the Notorious B.I.G will be available exclusively at three subway stations near his old Brooklyn neighborhood: Lafayette Avenue, Clinton – Washington Avenue and Atlantic Avenue. 

The celebration will continue into June’s Black Music Month with an orchestral tribute to Biggie at the Lincoln Center, which will feature a special musical guest. The black-tie event will be free to the public and will also be livestreamed on Amazon Music’s Twitch channel on June 10. 

Also available on June 10 will be a 25th anniversary vinyl version of Life After Death, Biggie’s diamond-certified, Grammy-nominated second and final studio album.

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After the success of his two-week number-one hit, “Til You Can’t,” Cody Johnson is following up that single with the title track off his Human The Double Album.

Part of the appeal of “Til You Can’t” was its powerful message, and with his new single “Human,” Cody once again relies on strong truth-telling and epic, anthemic relatability. The song is an anthem for today’s often divisive cultural climate, reminding listeners that ultimately, they’ve got more similarities than differences with their fellow humans.

“We’ve gone through a lot in this country the last two years. We are all doing this together. We all have struggles even though they are different,” Cody reflected during a recent live performance of the song, explaining why he chose “Human” to be his next single.

As he rides the momentum of some major career success over the past year, Cody is also extending his 2022 headlining tour with new shows. For a complete list of tour dates, visit the singer’s website.

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Miley Cyrus is ready to talk about what happened when her plane was forced to make an emergency landing after being struck by lightning.

Miley previously revealed she was flying to the capital of Paraguay in March when her plane “was caught in a major unexpected storm.” She added, while sharing video and photo of the lightning strike, “My crew, band, friends and family who were all traveling with me are safe after an emergency landing.”

The Grammy nominee spoke about the terrifying incident on Late Night With Seth Meyers and admitted she thought she was going to die.

“It was really scary. I was in my mom’s lap because I was pretty sure it didn’t matter about the seat belts at this point,” she confessed. “I was scared and it was really very strange because it was unexpected weather.”

The “Midnight Sky” singer recalled how she felt when she “woke up that morning” and realized “something just kinda felt off and not quite right.” But, she powered through and boarded the plane to play at Paraguay’s Asunciónico festival.

“It was completely unexpected,” she said of the sudden storm. “We got struck by lightning, which then we had to do this emergency landing and we were in the middle of South America, and I was actually on my way to a show, which by that point had already been flooded and canceled.”

Her band tried to rally together and still make it to the event, but Miley recalled telling her enthusiastic team, “We’re in the middle of the forest in a broken-down airplane. There’s floods where we’re supposed to be going, the stage is sinking.”

On a lighter note, Miley revealed she communicates with godmother Dolly Parton through fax because, “She’s rarely on the phone.” 

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Justin Bieber is back at it again with Tim Hortons — pretty much the Canadian equivalent of Dunkin’ — for an all new partnership.

Last year, the “Ghost” singer teamed up with the chain to make his own Timbits, which is their name for doughnut holes, which were called Timbiebs. That partnership was a smash and even sparked some head-scratching headlines when ecstatic customers tried reselling them — plus associated Timbiebs merchandise — for thousands of dollars on eBay.

Now, Justin is taking a swing at Tim Horton’s other pride and joy — their coffee. According to a press release, the Grammy winner is coming out with his own cold brew, called Biebs Brew. Turns out Justin loves his coffee on ice and helped develop his new beverage.

Biebs Brew is made with “100 percent ethically sourced premium Arabica beans and is slowly cold steeped for 16 hours to enhance the bold and smooth flavor,” the release states. That’s not all; Justin also has “a slight sweet tooth,” so the cold brew comes with a limited-edition French vanilla flavoring.

“We couldn’t stop at Timbiebs, we needed a Biebs Brew too. And we are bringing both to Tims next month,” he said in a statement. “Doing a Tim Hortons collab had always been a dream of mine. I grew up on Tim Hortons and it’s always been something close to my heart.”

The cold brew launches June 6 in both the U.S. and Canada. If that wasn’t enough, fans who were burned in being able to score a box of Timbiebs will have a chance to get their hands on them. Also starting June 6, all three Timbieb flavors — Chocolate White Fudge, Sour Cream Chocolate Chip and Birthday Cake Waffle — will be back in store.

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Sheryl Lee Ralph and Janelle James of the hit ABC comedy sitcom Abbott Elementary joined Good Morning America‘s Robin Roberts and T.J. Holmes Tuesday morning to chat about the show’s upcoming second season. In addition to revealing why they wanted to join the breakout series, the stars say one of the “easy” parts of being on the show is working alongside the special ensemble cast. 

“We all just came right together,” Ralph said, speaking of the group of stars, which includes show creator Quinta Brunson and actors Tyler James Williams, Lisa Ann Walter and Chris Perfetti.

“I really think that a lot of that has to do with Quinta,” she said. “Quinta really handpicked each one of us and put this cast together.”

James agrees. She shared her thought that each characters is relatable, even hers — the antagonist school principal, Ava Coleman. 

“Everybody’s had that boss, where you get to that level and you’re just like, ‘How did you get this job?’ So it like reaffirms like, ‘Oh, I’m not crazy. These people exist,'” James said.

On how she became apart of the popular series, James says it was the compelling script, as well as the “hilarious” pilot that drew her in. And while she did audition for her role, the comedian joked that she’d “clean up in the background if that’s what needs to happen.”

As for Ralph, the 65-year-old actress — who also vied for the role of Principal Coleman — says she realized how special the show would be during a moment shared with James Williams while taping the pilot episode.  

“We both looked at each other and we were like, ‘Whoa, something is really happening here.'”

Ralph described that moment as someone “stirring a pot of magic.”

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