Gorillaz has announced a North American headlining tour.
The trek kicks off September 11 in Vancouver, and will cross all the way over to the opposite corner of the continent before concluding October 23 in Miami.
Tickets go on sale this Friday, May 20, at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit Gorillaz.com.
Gorillaz’s most recent album is the 2020’s colalborative Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, which features guest spots from Elton John, Beck, St. Vincent and The Cure‘s Robert Smith, among many others.
Justin Bieber performed in Buffalo, New York, on Sunday, a city that is reeling from a mass shooting at a local supermarket. Ten people were killed in what authorities describe as a “racially motivated hate crime.”
In a clip shared on Instagram before he took the stage, Justin addressed the tragedy. “You guys probably heard what happened. Pretty horrible stuff,” he said as part of a group prayer, adding he is looking forward to “bringing joy to the city. It’s much needed.”
Justin later posted a video showing him leading the audience into a moment of silence to remember those who died in the shooting. “There’s been [a] tragedy in the city. But what we’re going to do tonight is we’re going to honor those people and I would love if we could just take a moment of silence,” he told the crowd. “That would mean a lot to me.”
He also singled out some people in the crowd in the caption, which read, “To the people who couldn’t stay silent to honor the lives that were so tragically lost, I urge you to ask yourself why?”
Justin shared another video in which he expressed, “There’s so much division in this world. So much racial injustice. You and I both know racism is evil and it is diabolical.”
He urged his fans to take a stand, adding, “We get to be the difference makers. We get to be the people who continue to have the conversations with our friends and our families and our loved ones, who continue to be allies.”
Eric Clapton has postponed the first two dates of a new run of European concerts this week because he recently contracted the COVID-19 virus.
The affected dates were scheduled for Tuesday, May 17 in Zurich, Switzerland, and Wednesday, May 18, in Milan, Italy.
According to a post on the official Where’s Eric website, Clapton, 77, tested positive for COVID-19 after playing his most recent show, a May 8 performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall, and he decided to postpone the concerts after his medical advisers told him that “if he were to resume travelling and performing too soon, it could substantially delay his full recovery.”
The message adds, “Eric is also anxious to avoid passing on any infection to any of his band, crew, promoters, their staff and of course, the fans.”
Clapton is now hoping to launch the trek with his two scheduled shows in Bologna, Italy on May 20 and 21. The outing is mapped out through a June 17 concert in Tampere, Finland.
The plan is to rescheduled the postponed Zurich and Milan shows sometime in the next six months, and tickets that have already been purchased will be valid for the new dates.
Clapton has been a vocal critic of vaccine mandates, reporting last year that he had an adverse reaction after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
In other news, Clapton has announced a seven-date series of U.S. concerts taking place this September, according to Ticketmaster.com. The trek begins with a September 8 show in Columbus, Ohio, and runs through a Septmber 18-19 engagement at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Eric also will perform in Detroit on September 10, in Chicago on September on September 12 and 13, and in Pittsburgh on September 16.
Visit Ticketmaster for details about on-sale dates.
Set during the early 1920s, the new BET+ civil rights drama The Porter tells the story of two train porters and their families and friends, whose worlds collide amidst their fight for liberation. And while the show title alone depicts the long-sought-after freedom — in America, it was largely Black men who held the job, serving white railway passengers — the stars of the series say it isn’t a trauma showcase, it’s a celebration of Black history.
“I think when people hear [it’s] a civil rights-type of show, I think that they think it’s going to punch them in the gut for two hours,” Loren Lott, who plays showgirl Lucy Conrad, told ABC Audio.
Lott says by way of the many different character journeys and the rich history woven into the storylines, the inspired-by-real-events show is “actually a delicious, fun ride.”
Lott’s co-star, Mouna Traoré who plays community nurse Marlene Massey, says she appreciates the show’s foundation as historically factual. Considering its setting in Chicago, Detroit and Montreal, Traoré says The Porter provides an opportunity for people to learn “the experiences of Black people on both sides of the border.”
Speaking of the Black experience, Oscar and Emmy-nominated actress Alfre Woodard, who plays brothel worker Fay Robinson, said that while she always sees the beauty in Black stories, even the traumatic ones, the show elements of The Porter — “the striving, music, dance, sex, drama, fightin’, the purposeful organized and the disorganized crime” — will make viewers feel “alive.”
“That’s the power of storytelling,” Woodard says, adding that when Black people are the authors, “we get defined by our own narrative rather than the narrative that other people have put on screen about us.”
Season one’s eight episodes of The Porter are available now on BET+.
Cindy Ord/MG22/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
After announcing their engagement in October, Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian are reportedly married.
TMZ reports the Blink-182 drummer and Kardashian tied the knot in Santa Barbara, California. Photos snapped at the event show Barker suited up in a tuxedo and the reality star in a white mini dress and veil as the two stand in front of a convertible with a “Just Married” sign attached to the back.
TMZ says the two legally married on the steps of a downtown courthouse. Aside from a few bodyguards, guests were sparse. The outlet adds there were people on hand to steer spectators away from the event.
This is the second ceremony for the couple, and it won’t be the last. Last month, the two crashed a Vegas wedding chapel and and exchanged vows in front of an Elvis impersonator, but later reports were that the ceremony wasn’t official. While this latest ceremony apparently is legitimate, TMZ says Travis and Kourtney are going to fly across the pond and throw a much larger and lavish ceremony in Italy.
The Kardashians star first announced her engagement in October, sharing two ultra-romantic images to Instagram captioned “forever.” The snaps showed them cozying up on the beach while surrounded by a sea of red roses and flickering white candles.
Kourtney, 43, and Barker, 46, were first romantically linked in 2019, but the pair insisted they were just good friends. The two went Instagram official in February 2021.
This is Barker’s third marriage. He was previously married to Melissa Kennedy from 2001 to 2002 and to Shanna Moakler from 2004 and 2008.
Luke Combs and his wife, Nicole, are expecting a baby boy soon, and they’ve been relatively private about her pregnancy — but the singer’s wife shared an update during an Instagram Stories Q&A last week.
One fan — and fellow new mom — asked Nicole for her thoughts on how to “cope” with bringing a child into the world, and the singer’s wife replied that she’s planning on her son getting a healthy amount of outdoor time.
“He’s going to be spending a lot more time outside than in front of a TV, I can promise you that,” Nicole wrote. Though the prospect of bringing a child into the world — especially given the COVID-19 pandemic, the current baby formula shortage and a host of other concerns — can be scary, Nicole’s confident in her support system.
“I’m pretty comfortable because I know my son will have good role models in his life. I can’t control the world, but I can make sure he grows up in a good environment,” she adds.
Nicole also listed some of her pregnancy cravings and aversions. “[A]ll meat, eggs, coffee, garlic and onions” were off the table during her first trimester, but she’s been craving fruits and sweet foods. As someone who’s not normally a dessert person, it’s like she “discovered a whole new world,” she adds.
Nicole also recently posted a slideshow of recent shots, including several bump photos and a picture of her and Luke at what appears to be a baby shower.
The country star couple hasn’t specified exactly when they’re expecting their new addition, but he’s likely to be born within weeks — their pregnancy announcement lists the due date as spring 2022.
It got down to the wire on Sunday’s American Idol, with the Top 5 vying to make it into next week’s finale for the crowning of season 20’s winner.
This week, for their first challenge, the finalists were mentored by Grammy-award winner and former American Idol champ Carrie Underwood and were tasked with taking on an iconic song from her catalog. Here’s what the finalists chose.
HunterGirl: “Undo It,” by Carrie Underwood
Leah Marlene: “I’ll Stand By You,” (Cover), by Pretenders
Fritz Hager: “I Want to Remember,” by NEEDTOBREATHE ft. Carrie Underwood
Noah Thompson: “So Small,” by Carrie Underwood
Nicolina: “Blown Away,” by Carrie Underwood
After tackling one of Underwood’s hits, Finneas took the stage and performed his track, “Naked,” before the Top 5 took the stage again. For the second round of performances, the finalists chose a song that could close their show — or, in other words, “an epic encore,” as described by host Ryan Seacrest. Here’s what they chose:
Leah Marlene: “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart),” by Journey
HunterGirl: “Girl Crush,” by Little Big Town
Fritz Hager: “Youngblood,” by 5 Seconds of Summer
Nicolina: “All I Ask,” by Adele
Noah Thompson: “Working Man,” by Larry Fleet
With their final performance of the night out of the way, it was time to see who America voted into next week’s finale, which would feature performances from judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie,as well as Thomas Rhett, Michael Bublé, Sarah Bareilles, Flo Rida, Earth, Wind and Fire and more.
After the votes were tallied, Fritz and Nicolina were the bottom two, sending HunterGirl, Noah and Leah through to the finale.
Catch the American Idol season 20 finale when it airs live Sunday, May 22 at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
Alter Bridge will be channeling Avril Lavigne in at least one way with their next album.
Speaking with ABC Audio, guitarist Mark Tremonti describes the upcoming effort as a “very complicated record.”
“There’s a lot of stuff going on,” Tremonti says. “There’s a lot of information to take in.”
The shredder adds that working on the album “made our brains hurt.”
“A lot of these songs, they’re not just verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus, they’re, like, 15 different parts that you gotta memorize,” Tremonti explains. “It’s definitely a brain-burner, at first.”
Alter Bridge’s most recent album is 2019’s Walk the Sky, which, at least relative to the rest of the band’s discography, was a brighter, more upbeat listening experience. This new record, Tremonti laughs, is “not that.”
“I was just talking to [frontman] Myles [Kennedy] the other day, he’s finalizing a lot of lyrics, and he’s, like, ‘Yeah, it’s kind of a dark record,'” Tremonti shares. “I had brought in a song that was more of an uplifting tune for the record, and [Kennedy’s], like, ‘Yeah, thank god we have this one, because most of it’s kinda dark…we don’t want everybody to be depressed.'”
While you wait for Alter Bridge’s new album to arrive, you can also look forward to Tremonti’s upcoming Frank Sinatra covers album. The compilation, due out May 27, will raise money for the National Down Syndrome Society.
After two years of pandemic-related touring breaks, plus the stops and starts of getting back on the road, Zac Brown Band is looking ahead to better days: Their summer 2022 calendar is jam-packed with Out in the Middle Tour stops.
That means ZBB are getting the chance to showcase the songs off of The Comeback, their late 2021 album, in a live setting, frontman Zac Brown tells ABC Audio.
“We’re excited to show people what we do as a band, and excited to take this music and, you know, go out and play these songs,” he says, adding that now that fans have gotten a chance to get to know the album, performing it live will take the songs to the next level,” he says.
“[We’re] excited to go and play and get that love from the people,” Zack continues. “Have them singing these new words back to us.”
After all, The Comeback is a particularly special project for ZBB. The group went back to their early influences for it, and the album’s cover art symbolizes that shift: It’s a picture of Zac chest-deep in the water of a river near where he grew up. “I’ve been swimming in that river since I was 10 years old,” he says.
Getting back in the same water he grew up with reminds Zac of the groundedness he felt when the band made their first major-label studio album, The Foundation.
“Being able to, you know, take it back to my roots there…and have dirt on my face — the same way we did The Foundation,” he reflects. “I feel a lot of the same way I did when we made the Foundation album.“
The Out in the Middle Tour rolls on throughout the summer, wrapping in mid-November.
The BBMAs returned Sunday night, hosted by Diddy from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Kicking off the celebratory night in music was an opening performance from the host himself, who was later joined by Jack Harlow, who delivered his chart-topping hit, “First Class.”
When it came to awards, Doja Cat, who had a whopping 14 nods, won the first trophy of the night, snagging the award for Top R&B Album for her 2021’s Planet Her. She also won Top R&B Artist during the three-hour televised ceremony.
Another big winner at the BBMAs was Olivia Rodrigo. Though her awards weren’t televised, she took home seven, including Top New Artist.
To no surprise, BTS also secured a few BBMAs and made history in the process. For the third year in a row, the K-pop group won for Top Duo/Group, tying the record held by One Direction for most wins in the category.
Silk Sonic made their BBMA onstage debut and brought the 70s disco vibes with their performance of “Love’s Train,” while from Belfast, Ed Sheeran delivered an impressive production of his hit, “2Step.”
Becky G also put on a show-stopping act with her new tracks “Baile Con Mi Ex” and “Mamiii.”
