Music

Tate McRae has long admired Shawn Mendes and is proud of the “Stitches” singer for prioritizing his mental health.

In July, Shawn canceled his Wonder Tour for mental health reasons. He explained to fans, “I have to put my health as my first priority” and also promised, “I will be back as soon as I’ve taken the right time to heal.”

Tate, a fellow Canadian, sat down with ET Canada to share her thoughts on Shawn’s revelation. “Anyone can make up any excuse about canceling a tour,” she began. “I feel like he’s just being straight up about it.”

The “she’s all i wanna be” singer said Shawn is setting a positive example to everyone in the music industry. “I think that more artists need to be open about their mental health to make sure that they’re doing okay as a person, too,” she offered.

Tate added Shawn has “been my idol for forever” and she “really, really respect[s]” what he’s done.

The singer knows what it’s like to feel the pressure of touring, noting she’s recently toured the U.S. and sold out the U.K., Europe and Australia.

Noting tickets to her Australia gig “sold out in 4 minutes,” she remarked, “It’s just bizarre because you don’t ever think that people that far away would actually hear you or know who you are.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Tate teased a possible collaboration with friend Olivia Rodrigo. “We’ve talked about writing a song together for so long.  Honestly, the problem is when you get in the studio with your friends, you get nothing done,” she laughed.

Tate also hopes to collaborate with fellow Canadian The Weeknd or Post Malone one day.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Cher has been an icon since the 1960s, so it’s no wonder she doesn’t think she’s easily replaced. 

In a now-deleted tweet, a fan on Twitter posted side-by-side pictures of Cher and Dua Lipa, both sporting long, sleek hair, blue eye shadow and skimpy, glittery gowns. The fan captioned the pic, “Dua Lipa, the Cher of our generation.” Another fan retweeted it, tagged Cher and Dua and added, “So much truth in one tweet.”

Replying to both, Cher wrote, “How many yrs are in a generation,” followed by the “thinking” emoji.

Fans quickly began arguing over the relative merits of Cher versus Dua, with many defending Cher as still being “the Cher of our generation,” pointing to her legendary status, worldwide album sales of 100 million-plus and cultural influence. Others defended Dua, pointing out that the statement is correct for Gen Z’ers.

One fan tried to see both sides, noting, “Dua is the Dua Lipa of our generation. Cher is Cher. No need to compare two completely different individuals in talent just because one dress[es] like the other.”

Finally, the fan who posted the original tweet with the side-by-side photo clarified the intention behind the comment. They responded to Cher, “don’t look at the quotes…I was praising u and dua[‘s] style but some people didn’t get the message.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Kelsea Ballerini, Zac Brown Band, Brooks & Dunn and Little Big Town have been announced as the first round of performers scheduled to take the stage during Nashville’s big New Year’s Eve concert this year, according to Billboard.

The event, called New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash, will take place at various locations across downtown Music City. The event promises a five-hour set of 50+ performances on a variety of stages, including the main stage in the city’s Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park.

The Big Bash has been a Nashville tradition for many years, but last year was the first time it was televised. In 2022, the event will air live for the second time at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

Additional performers will be announced at a later date. Last year, acts like Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley rocked the stage as Nashville counted down to the new year.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Black Veil Brides are making the best of an unfortunate situation after their scheduled performance at Colorado’s iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre Tuesday was unexpectedly canceled.

As the “Scarlet Cross” rockers explained to the crowd, the cancellation was due to “technical issues.”

“Our gear did not arrive, we have nothing to play with,” frontman Andy Biersack shared. “We are extremely sorry, we cannot play tonight.”

To make it up to the Colorado BVB faithful, the band announced that they’d be playing a free show at Denver’s Oriental Theater on Thursday, September 1.

After Biersack tweeted a video of him sharing the news, Twisted Sister‘s Dee Snider retweeted the clip alongside the caption, “Did somebody say…classy? I did. Well done gents, well done.”

“Thanks so much Dee. That means a lot man,” Biersack replied. “We are so bummed that this happened…and want to do whatever we can to make it up to the people who bought tickets and traveled and had hoped to see us play. I appreciate you sharing it.”

In other BVB news, Biersack and company are planning to release a new song called “Saviour II” on September 6. The track follows Black Veil’s 2021 album, The Phantom Tomorrow.

BVB previously released a song called “Saviour” on their 2011 album, Set the World on Fire.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Björk‘s new album has a release date.

The milestone 10th studio effort from the Icelandic artist, titled Fossora, will arrive September 30.

“Each album always starts with a feeling that I try to shape into sound,” Björk shares. “This time around
the feeling was landing on the earth and digging my feet into the ground.”

Fossora will be Björk’s first new record since 2017’s Utopia.

Along with Fossora, Björk is launching a retrospective podcast going through each of her previous nine albums. The first three episodes, which will cover 1993’s Debut, 1995’s Post and 1997’s Homogenic, premiere this Thursday, September 1.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Louis Tomlinson will drop his sophomore album on November 11.

The former One Direction member announced the news on his socials, revealing that the album will be titled Faith in the Future. It’s available for pre-order now.

“After living with this album for a while I can’t wait for you all to hear it,” Louis wrote, adding that he was “so excited” to share the news. “Thank you for allowing me to make the music I want to make,” he concluded.

Louis also revealed the album’s 14 tracks, which include song titles like “Angels Fly,” “Face the Music” and “She Is Beauty We Are World Class.”

Louis’ debut solo album, Walls, came out in 2020 and reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

As for his One Direction bandmates, Harry Styles‘ most recent solo album, Harry’s House, came out this year, while Niall Horan’s most recent album, Heartbreak Weather, dropped in 2020. Liam Payne‘s only solo release to date, LP1, arrived in 2019. Zayn Malik‘s latest, Nobody Is Listening, came out in January of last year.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A fundraiser has been started in support of prolific drummer Atom Willard, who is recovering from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

Willard, who currently plays in Against Me! and has drummed for bands including The Offspring, Social Distortion and Angels & Airwaves, suffered breaks in his wrist, thumb, collarbone, ribs and toe in the accident, which occurred earlier this month. 

The fundraiser, which is up now via GoFundMe, aims to raise $30,000 toward paying Willard’s medical bills.

Since the GoFundMe’s launch, Willard has posted a statement on Instagram thanking those who’ve donated or have otherwise reached out.

“To say thank you just doesn’t feel like enough,” Willard writes. “I am truly overwhelmed by your generosity and kindness. This has been the most terrifying and humbling experience of my life, and accepting help from others is hard for me. So thank you.”

He adds, “I can’t wait to play again, now I can focus on recover and recovery alone.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Dolly Parton’s newest venture is made specifically with her four-legged friends in mind.

On Wednesday, the country legend announced her new pet apparel and accessories line called Doggy Parton. Including everything from a Microphone Plush Dog Squeaky Toy With Rope to a Blonde Bombshell Wig, the collection features an array of pet-centric items with a signature Dolly twist.

Doggy Parton, a partnership with SportPet Designs, sends part of the proceeds to Willa B. Farms, a Tennessee-based rescue organization that provides a home for all kinds of animals in need.

“‘Puppy Love’ was my very first record and six decades later, my love for pets is stronger than ever,” Dolly explains. “This inspired me to start my own line of Doggy Parton apparel, accessories, toys and more with a little ‘Dolly’ flair.”

The Doggy Parton collection will be available on Amazon and the line’s own website, with more retailers to be announced soon.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Madonna‘s new dance remix compilation is called Finally Enough Love, so she’s made a video to accompany it titled “Finally Enough Talk.” As there are 50 songs on the album, the video features her answering 50 questions, asked by a female robot voice off camera.

Among the revelations Madonna makes in the video: She’s “gagging to work with Britney [Spears] again,” she regrets “getting married…both times,” the achievement she’s most proud of is her “six amazing children,” and her favorite video she’s ever made is “Take a Bow.” If she wasn’t making music, she says, she’d be “a schoolteacher.”

As the camera follows Madonna around her house, into a golf cart for a ride to her horse barn and then back, she continues answering questions, revealing that her favorite song to perform live is “Like a Prayer,” that her musical inspirations growing up were David Bowie and Blondie‘s Debbie Harry, and that the hardest part of making her upcoming biopic is “cramming my entire life into a feature-length film.”

Asked why she decided to do a compilation of her past dance remixes, Madonna explains, “Because the world needs to dance! We’ve been through enough, haven’t we?”

When asked if she plans to go on tour next year in support of Finally Enough Love and do a “greatest hits kind of concert,” she says coyly, “Do you want me to go on tour?” Hmm.

And of course, because this is Madonna we’re talking about, her answer to many of the questions — including “What is your greatest guilty pleasure?”; “What’s your zodiac sign?”; “What’s your current favorite obsession?”; “What keeps you going?”; “What’s the secret to your success”; and “What is your life mantra?” — is “sex.”

(Video contains some unedited vulgarities)

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.