Music

Maren Morris didn’t have to take much creative license when she wrote “Tall Guys,” a tongue-and-cheek, fun celebration of height-gifted men that appears on her latest album, Humble Quest.

That’s because her husband, fellow artist Ryan Hurd, is 6 feet, 3 inches tall — over a foot taller than Maren.

“I’m 5’1″, so I look at everyone like they’re taller than me,” she admits, adding that she always wished to be taller — but after being married to Ryan, she can see that extra height comes with its own set of challenges.

“I always feel jealous, like, ‘Oh, tall people must love being at festivals and concerts because you can see the stage no matter what,’” she continues. “But Ryan … is like, ‘No, it’s awful because everyone’s mad at you for standing in front of them.’”

There are also perks to having what Maren calls “a hilarious height difference,” especially in the footwear department. “I can wear my heels as high as they possibly go, and he’s still taller than me,” she points out.

And as fodder for a great song? That’s just the cherry on top. Maren says many of the lyrics of “Tall Guys” were taken straight from her life as the wife of a guy who deals with all the perks and hangups of having extra height.

“My favorite lines of that song are this weird humble-brag of ‘We drink top shelf because he can always reach it / And we fly first class because it’s the only way his knees fit.’ We’re bragging, but we’re also not,” she continues. “We have to just out of pure practicality.”

Overall, she wouldn’t change a thing about the “Tall Guy” in her life: “I love tall guys,” Maren says, “and he’s definitely the tallest guy in my life.”

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Alice Merton has released a new mini documentary recapping a recent trip to Dublin.

The “No Roots” artist traveled to the Irish capital to pay tribute to her late grandmother and stage a concert in her honor. The performance was recorded for a new EP called The Orangery Sessions, which is available now exclusively via Amazon Music.

You can watch the doc, which runs about 13 minutes, streaming now on YouTube.

Merton released her latest album, S.I.D.E.S., in June. Songs from S.I.D.E.S. are included on The Orangery Sessions, as well as “No Roots” and a cover of The Killers‘ “When You Were Young.”

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Metallica has unveiled a new signature skateboard deck.

Created in collaboration with English company Lovenskate, the deck features artwork inspired by the cover of the 1992 documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica, which details the making of the metal legends’ iconic 1991 Black Album and its accompanying tour.

You can order yours now via Metallica.com.

If you’re a skateboarder who’s also a Stranger Things fan, you may want to pick up a Metallica Hellfire Club shirt, which was created in collaboration with the Netflix sci-fi series after it featured “Master of Puppets” in its season 4 finale.

Metallica played a pair of U.S. stadium dates earlier this month and will return to the stage in September to play the Global Citizen Festival in New York City.

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Jerry Allison, the longtime drummer and last surviving original member of the late Buddy Holly‘s backing group The Crickets, died Monday at the age of 82.

Allison’s death was announced in a post on Holly’s official Facebook page.

“Our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Jerry ‘JI’ Allison, drummer in The Crickets, one of Buddy’s very closest friends, and the inspiration to drummers for decades since, who passed away today,” the note read.

The message continues, “JI was a musician ahead of his time, and undoubtedly his energy, ideas and exceptional skill contributed to both The Crickets, and rock n’ roll itself, becoming such a success. Buddy is often heralded as the original singer-songwriter, but JI, too, wrote and inspired so many of the songs that would go on to be eternal classics.”

Holly formed The Crickets in early 1957 with Allison, Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar and Joe B. Mauldin on bass. Allison is credited with co-writing two of Holly’s most enduring tunes, “That’ll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue,” which peaked at #1 and #3, respectively, on the Billboard pop singles chart.

After Holly’s February 1959 death in the tragic plane crash that also took the lives of The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens, Allison played with various lineups of The Crickets for decades.

Allison also co-wrote the song “More than I Can Say,” which The Crickets recorded after Holly’s death in 1959, and later became a hit for Bobby Vee in 1961 and Leo Sayer in 1980.

Allison also became an in-demand session musician who lent his talents to recordings by The Everly Brothers, Vee, Johnny Burnette, Eddie Cochran, Johnny Rivers, Paul McCartney, Waylon Jennings, Nanci Griffith and many others.

Allison was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Crickets in 2012. Holly had been inducted separately in 1986.

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Demi Lovato continued their Vevo performance series with an intimate performance of their new single “29.”

The song is rumored to be about the 12-year age gap between Demi and ex-boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama, when the two were 17 and 29, respectively. Demi flexed their powerhouse vocals on what appears to be an empty stage to deliver a searing rendition of the new single, which was backed by just a drummer, keyboardist and guitarist.

“29” is the latest track off of Demi’s new album Holy Fvck, which is described as “a pure distillation of the superstar’s creative ethos.”

“My new album HOLY FVCK is a deeply personal journey that begins with pain and anger, and through this emotional release, the album concludes in a hopeful place of joy that allows me to take my power back from the very things that made me angry,” Demi said in a statement. “I knew I wanted to showcase my new music in a unique way for my fans, both visually and sonically.”

The singer continued, “So when an Original Live Performance with Vevo was on the table, I immediately started to brainstorm creatively – the lighting, the room design, my look and outfits, how to incorporate our incredible female live band – all of it! The Vevo team made this vision a reality with me, and I hope my fans can feel the emotion and power through these live performances.”

Demi previously teamed with Vevo for a series of performances in 2012 and in 2017. As part of this new collab, they performed “Substance” and “Skin of My Teeth” off their new album.

The singer will perform “29,” as well as their other tracks off the Holy Fvck album, when they go on tour later this month. Tickets are on sale now on their official website.

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Dua Lipa turned the big 2-7 on Monday and is letting fans know she is having the best birthday ever.

“27 feels like heaven,” she wrote on Instagram and shared a carousel of photos of her posing in a denim bikini, denim Dior boots and a chunky silver choker. “thank you for the birthday wishes!!!!” 

The good vibes didn’t end there. The Grammy winner also took fans behind the scenes at her lavish birthday party in Ibiza on her Instagram Stories. The tropical venue was decorated with white and hot pink roses, as well as a multicolored balloon sign spelling out “party time.”

She later revealed the flowers were sent to her by designers Marc Jacobs and Donatella Versace.

Dua also enjoyed some birthday yoga, fruity drinks and luxurious gifts — like a hot pink Jacquemus luxury bag that was apparently made just for her.

Several famous names wished her the happiest of birthdays, as well.

Her “Cold Heart” collaborator Elton John took to his Instagram Stories to shout out his “darling” and shared a video of them hanging out at a formal event. Speaking of Elton, filmmaker David Furnish — who produced Rocketman — also sent Dua some birthday wishes.

Versace also took to her Instagram and wrote, “Happy Birthday to you @dualipa!! Stay fabulous, always keep up that Dua energy and always be unapologetically YOU. I love you sooo much.”

Dua is still celebrating her birthday in style, letting fans know via her Instagram Story that she is “feeeelin the loveeeee.”

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Blanco Brown has been announced as the headliner for the 2022 Monster Energy Outbreak Tour.

Runaway June’s Jennifer Wayne is one of the hosts of the upcoming Design Network series Flip U. Her cohost is another country singer: Brad Rempel, from High Valley.

Up-and-comer Bailey Zimmerman has a new song out called “Where it Ends.” He’s also gearing up for his first headlining tour.

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The Weeknd‘s acting debut is being teased to the world again via another peek into his upcoming series The Idol. Shared on his socials Sunday, the clip doesn’t offer much.

The Weeknd’s character — a self-help guru, club owner and cult leader — is spotted answering a phone call, while costar Lily-Rose Depp — an up-and-coming pop artist — is seen enjoying her night out in the club. The series, directed by Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, focuses on the complicated relationship between both stars.

The Idol is “coming soon,” according to the clip, which includes supporting cast members Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney, Jane Adams, Dan Levy, Blackpink’s Jennie, Eli Roth, Rachel Sennot, Hari Nef, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Mike Dean, Ramsey, Hank Azaria and the late Anne Heche.

The previous teaser was released last month.

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More than a decade into her career, Nicki Minaj is still breaking records: The rapper has debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her newly released single “Super Freaky Girl,” simultaneously earning the rapper a slew of other notable accomplishments.

According to Billboard, “Super Freaky Girl” is Nicki’s first solo hit to debut at #1 and the first single from a female rapper to top the chart since Lauryn Hill in 1998. The song also makes Nicki the first female lead artist to debut at #1 this year.

A press release from Republic Records adds that Nicki’s the first female rapper in two years to rise to the top of the Hot 100 without a video and the first female emcee with several #1 debuts; she previously dominated the charts with her features on 6ix9ine‘s “Trollz” and Doja Cat’s “Say So.” On TikTok, “Super Freaky Girl” is the #1 song on Top US tracks.

“You did it barbz.You did it,” Nicki penned, celebrating her new #1 hit. “I love you so much. like so so SO much. Thank you.”

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