Music

Lainey Wilson and Hardy revisit a classic country trope — the murder ballad — in their new duet, “Wait in the Truck,” which came out last week.

Country fans haven’t heard as many murder ballads recently as they once did on the radio — though Chris Janson’s recent collab with Eric Church, “You, Me & the River,” is an exception — but Lainey remembers when they were a much more prevalent part of the genre.

“I remember when, listening to things on the radio, [you’d hear] [Garth Brooks’] ‘The Thunder Rolls,’ [The Chicks’] ‘Goodbye Earl,’” the singer tells the Tennessean. “It is a murder ballad. But I think it’s starting a conversation — probably a conversation a lot of people don’t wanna have.”

“Wait in the Truck” opens up a conversation about domestic violence, with Hardy playing the role of the guy who runs into a badly beaten woman — Lainey — and kills her abuser, then goes to jail.

“It’s something that’s not talked about a lot. Things that happen behind closed doors,” Lainey continues. “But I think it really is our job as artists to sing about things that people are scared to talk about.”

If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively.

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Feist is leaving Arcade Fire‘s European tour.

The outing kicked off this week with two shows in Dublin, Ireland, just days after Pitchfork reported Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler was accused of sexual misconduct by four people.

In an Instagram post, Feist explains that she and her band were in Dublin rehearsing for the tour when she “read the same headline you did.”

“We didn’t have any time to prepare for what was coming let alone a chance to decide not to fly across the ocean into the belly of this situation,” Feist writes. “This has been incredibly difficult for me and I can only imagine how much more difficult it’s been for the people who came forward. More than anything I wish healing to those involved.”

Feist still played the Dublin shows, and, as reported by Billboard, is donating money from merch sales to Women’s Aid Dublin.

“The last two nights on stage, my songs made this decision for me,” Feist shares. “Hearing them through this lens was incongruous with what I’ve worked to clarify for myself through my whole career.”

“I’ve always written songs to name my own subtle difficulties, aspire to my best self and claim responsibility when I need to,” she adds. “And I’m claiming my responsibility now and going home.”

The allegations against Butler range from sending unwanted sexually explicit photos and demanding such photos and videos from women to sexual assault.

In a statement to Pitchfork, Butler maintained that his encounters with all four accusers were “mutual and always between consenting adults.”

Arcade Fire’s European tour is scheduled through October and will be followed by a U.S. run. Beck, who’s opening for the U.S. dates, has not yet publicly commented on the situation.

If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively.

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Jon Pardi might ride a decked-out tour bus when he hits the road these days, but he wasn’t always traveling in style — and he still owns his first touring van as a reminder of where he came from.

In a new video interview with ET Online, Jon takes fans behind the scenes for a look inside his bus and the van that started it all. His first vehicle took him to “a lot of crappy honky-tonks,” the singer jokes.

Meanwhile, the tour bus he rides these days is “all business, with a little bit of comfort” — including a stash of whiskey to help him unwind after shows.

Jon is currently out on the road playing new music, including his latest chart-topping hit, “Last Night Lonely.” While the song tells the story of meeting a girl who just might be the one, Jon had his “Last Night Lonely” several years ago — he’s been married to his wife, Summer, for two years.

“I still think figuring things out is a fun part of it,” Jon says of life as a newlywed. “They hate that you throw your wet gym clothes in this pile, and you have so much makeup stuff everywhere.”

Jon’s next album, Mr. Saturday Night, arrives on Friday.

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After a series of TikTok teasers with special guest star LeAnn Rimes, Ava Max has finally dropped her new single, “Million Dollar Baby.”

The upbeat track interpolates LeAnn’s hit “Can’t Fight the Moonlight,” from the movie Coyote Ugly. And as Ava explains, the song is an empowerment message she wrote to herself.

“When I was creating this record, I was going through a really hard time in my life – heartbreak and just a lot of sadness,” she says. “I titled it ‘Million Dollar Baby’ to remind myself of my self-worth, and wrote the lyrics to show that you can overcome and achieve anything when you put your mind to it.”

She adds, “The line ‘She broke out of her chains, turned the fire into rain’ shows the journey this song took me through – from feeling weighed down by sadness to breaking free and feeling like myself again.”

The video for the clip finds a dark-haired Ava going to a club called Diamonds & Dancefloors — the name of her upcoming album — and watching a blonde singer, also played by her, perform onstage. When she follows the singer backstage, the two seemingly merge into a single dark-haired singer in a sparkly dress, who performs onstage and then disappears.

Diamonds & Dancefloors arrives January 27.

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Kanye West is once again ranting on Instagram, this time aiming his fire at Gap because he says the company held a meeting about his clothing without him.

He is also accusing the executives of stealing designs from the Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga collection.

The Donda rapper says he plans to end his association with Gap and open his own retail stores.

“The Vision will be realized. Let’s start with stores in Atlanta,” Ye says on Instagram. His posts included snippets of his angry monologue in front of Gap execs in which he voices his dissatisfaction with the company’s direction.

Kanye also gave the company officials an ultimatum.

“You really have to give me the position to do what I’m thinking,” he says, “or I’m going to have to do what I’m thinking somewhere else.”

Yeezy began recruiting workers, calling for anyone “who has over 10 years of retail experience and is ready to change the world” to contact his team via his IG comments.

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Hit singer-songwriter and former Florida Georgia Line band member Tyler Hubbard is offering some of his best tips to songwriters who are at the beginning of their careers.

He counted down his top five tips on TikTok, set against audio of his new song, “Dancin’ in the Country,” which is the title track of his newest EP. Most of Tyler’s suggestions have to do with patience, practice and simply showing up.

“When writing with others, be on time and try to bring at least one idea to the room,” Tyler says for Tip #1, followed by “Treat it like a 9 to 5…make time and space for it.”

He also suggested that budding songwriters should keep perspective on what making music is all about, saying “Don’t be afraid to get a little vulnerable, but do it because it’s fun. It should be fun!” He also encouraged them to always be open to the possibility of new song ideas: “Keep a phone note of phrases, ideas, words,” he continued.

However, Tyler’s most important tip is also the simplest. “Just start…really, like, right now,” he said at the end of his post.

Tyler’s songwriting skills are on display in his fast-rising current single, “5 Foot 9.”

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Weezer has released a new version of the band’s song “Records.”

The updated recording features an extra verse from Israeli musician Noga Erez. You can listen to it now via digital outlets.

The original “Records” appears on SZNZ: Summer, the second installment in the group’s ongoing series of seasonally themed EPs. The project began in March with SZNZ: Spring, which includes the single “A Little Bit of Love.”

The remaining two SZNZ EPs, Autumn and Winter, will be released later this year on the first day of their respective seasons. Like with the first two EPs, Weezer plans to celebrate the release of Autumn and Winter with performances on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Weezer had also planned a SZNZ-themed Broadway residency, but the shows were canceled due to what frontman Rivers Cuomo called “low ticket sales and unbelievably high expenses.”

(Video contains uncensored profanity) 

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We can’t speak for fun.‘s friends, but the band’s YouTube views are certainly higher than the Empire State.

The trio’s video for their 2011 single “We Are Young,” which features Janelle Monáe, has officially hit 1 billion views.

The clip, which shows fun. and Monáe providing the soundtrack to a slow-motion bar fight, is the first of both acts’ careers to reach the billion-views milestone.

“We Are Young” has been certified Diamond by the RIAA and won Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammys. It was one of several hits spawned by fun.’s 2012 album Some Nights, along with “Carry On” and the title track.

Some Nights remains fun.’s most recent album — the band has been on hiatus since 2015. Vocalist Nate Ruess is now a solo artist, while guitarist Jack Antonoff fronts the band Bleachers and has become one of music’s most in-demand producers, working with artists including Taylor Swift, Lorde, St. Vincent and Lana Del Rey.

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