Music

We are getting closer to the season premiere of The Voice, which features first-time coach Camila Cabello.  Now, we finally know who will be joining this year as battle advisors.

Charlie Puth has been tapped by Camila to serve as her battle advisor. He will help whip her team of singers into fighting shape ahead of the knockout rounds. As for returning coach Gwen Stefani, she tapped pal Sean Paul to lend her a hand.

As for the rest of the coaches, Blake Shelton is bringing on Dancing with the Stars alum Jimmie Allen, while John Legend appointed R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan as his advisor.

Aside from new faces on the coaching panel and all new advisors, NBC announced it is tweaking how the knockout rounds are going to go. The company announced in a statement, “This season will showcase a new format element during the Knockout Rounds. For the first time ever, this phase of the competition will include three-way knockouts. The stakes have never been higher for the coaches and their artists as they vie for the win.”

In addition, the show is doing away with its mega mentors. Instead, “Coaches will work with their artists directly to prepare them as best as possible for this new challenge.”

The Voice returns September 19 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

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Swizz Beatz and Timbaland have filed a $28 million lawsuit against Triller over alleged missing payments in their Verzuz acquisition.

The producers sold their competition platform in exchange for a “sum in the mid-eight figures,” per The Hollywood Reporter, and shareholding rights for them and their team members. They are now alleging that payments have been backed up since January 2022.

According to the suit, the producers were supposed to receive “the first [payment] at closing, another shortly after, and two more on the first and second anniversaries of the deal,” which was to earn them each $9 million by March 17, 2022, and an additional $500,000 every month for a 10-month period.

But, “Defendants have failed and refused to make any payment to [Swizz Beatz and Timbaland] of the past due sums due and owing,” the suit read, according to the Washington Post.

Triller has since denied the allegations.

“This is truly unfortunate and we hope it is nothing more than a misunderstanding driven by lawyers. We do not wish to air our dirty laundry in the press, but we have paid Swizz and Tim millions in cash and in stock,” a Triller rep said, per TMZ.

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Preston Brust, one half of country duo LoCash, is opening up about his decadeslong fight with Bell’s palsy, a facial weakness condition.

First diagnosed in 2009, Preston suffered a rare recurrence of the condition last December. About 40,000 Americans live with Bell’s palsy, which causes one-sided facial paralysis and has no known cure.

When he first got diagnosed, Preston had never heard of the condition. He thought he was having a stroke. After learning more about Bell’s palsey, he worried about how it would affect his career, as he and his duet partner, Chris Lucas, were rising stars in country music at the time.

“My initial reaction was, like, ‘I can’t let anybody see me like this,’” Preston tells People. “But Chris had my back, and I didn’t want to stop working. I was like, ‘I’m letting LoCash down if I don’t go out and work and tour.”

Back in 2009, the healing process took about seven months, and he regained about 70 percent of his strength on the affected side of his face. When the condition returned in 2021, he says, he felt like all that progress had gone “down the drain.”

“I remember waking up my wife [Kristen] and telling her Bell’s had hit me again,” he says. “We just hugged for a few minutes and I didn’t want to let go because I knew when I did, my next journey was going to begin.”

This time around, though, he’s not hiding his condition. Inspired by pop star Justin Bieber’s public bout with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, Preston decided he wanted to be open with his fans. “It feels good to share it with everybody,” he explains.

LoCash’s latest hit is “Beach Boys,” which tributes to and features legendary pop act The Beach Boys.

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Dave Grohl made a surprise appearance at a Los Angeles charity concert Tuesday put together by director Judd Apatow in support of the Victims First organization.

According to the L.A. club Largo, which hosted the show, the Foo Fighters frontman joined Beck and Tenacious D to make “yacht-rock musical sound effects” during a cover of the Seals & Crofts song “Summer Breeze.” Also onstage were actor John C. Reilly and producer/frequent Grohl collaborator Greg Kurstin.

You can watch footage of the performance via the Largo Instagram.

The show marked one of Grohl’s first public appearances following the unexpected death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins in March. Grohl performed for the first time since Hawkins’ passing in June during Paul McCartney’s headlining Glastonbury set.

Grohl and the rest of Foo Fighters are holding a pair of Hawkins tribute concerts, taking place September 3 in London and September 27 in Los Angeles. As was announced Wednesday, the London concert will stream live via Paramount+ and MTV Brand YouTube channels.

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Demi Lovato is days away from releasing their eighth studio album, Holy Fvck, and the singer says it represents them learning to finally let go of their “unresolved trauma.”

Speaking with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, Demi revealed, “Everything that I write about comes from personal experiences, and I had gone through a rough time last year.”

“I went back to treatment, and when I came out, I had all of this unresolved trauma that I hadn’t dealt with or that I started to deal with in treatment,” the Grammy winner continued. “And then when I came out, I was like, ‘It’s OK to be angry and feel those things.'”

Demi went on to explain, “So when I was making the album, in the first week, I had a lot of anger, and I think it showed in a lot of the songs — ‘Freak,’ ‘Heaven,’ ‘Eat Me.'”

Once they released that anger, Demi began penning tracks “that were really empowered in my sexuality.”  Then, they said, “Towards the end, you’ve got love songs.”

Demi, who has been completely sober since December, also opened up about recovering from addiction and spoke about rebuilding the trust with their closest allies, friends and family members.

“I never have come out of treatment, I mean, maybe the first time, expecting people to trust me right away. It was a learning experience of, OK, people are going to have to learn to trust you again,” Demi expressed, adding learning that lesson was “a lot.”

Demi explained rebuilding trust isn’t easy, but it can be done “by you proving yourself and not just talking, but taking actions that are towards your recovery.”

Holy Fvck arrives Friday, August 19.  Demi released the latest track off of it, “29” today.

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Jimmie Allen returned home to Delaware over the weekend for his second annual Bettie James Fest, a musical event that he created specifically to have a hometown connection.

“This is the place that made me,” he explains to ET Online. “I grew up literally about a mile across that soybean field over there.”

Jimmie’s hometown of Milton, Delaware, isn’t a major destination for country festivals, which makes it all the more special for him to host Bettie James Fest there. Having just wrapped its second year, the singer says he hopes it’s a fixture throughout his career — and beyond.

“I’m looking forward to this being something I can pass down to my kids so they can keep it going, ‘cause there’s always gonna be talented artists,” he says. “There’s always gonna be artists to perform, so I’m hoping this festival goes on forever.”

The 2022 installment, which featured a headlining set from Jimmie and performances from acts like Lainey Wilson and Chayce Beckham, is named after his late grandmother Bettie and his late father, James “Big Jim” Allen. Ahead of the festival, Jimmie said he was planning another special, family-focused surprise.

“Me and my sister haven’t sung together since we were 13 in church and me and my sister are going to sing together,” he detailed.

The Bettie James Fest also served as the grand finale of Jimmie’s Down Home Tour. Later on this fall, he’ll join Carrie Underwood’s Denim & Rhinestones Tour.

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A “Seven Nation Army” won’t hold Jack White back from uncovering the mysteries of Snoop Dogg‘s new breakfast cereal.

The rapper recently announced the debut of Snoop Loopz, a Froot Loops-esque cereal set to be released under his Broadus Food business. In an Instagram post, White congratulates Snoop on his new venture and extends a “pat on the back for its charitable benefits.” But he has a few “important questions,” specifically related to the Snoop Loopz box’s promise of “more marshmallows.”

“More than what?” White wonders. “If this is in fact a brand new cereal, it can’t be more marshmallows than ‘before.'”

“Is it a statement that this cereal has more marshmallows than say … a bag of sand, or a typical caesar salad?” the rocker continues. “Or, is it a DEMAND from Snoop Dogg himself that we just have more marshmallows in this world in general? That last theory is my hope.”

Diving even deeper into the existential dilemma of a Snoop Dogg-produced cereal, White notes that fellow rapper Master P also promoted Snoop Loopz on his Instagram, but the photo of the box in his post advertises only “more marshmallow,” singular.

“Photo attached, answers demanded,” White concludes.

While White’s questions are surely intriguing, they also raise more questions, mainly concerning what the White Stripes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather musician thinks about in his spare time. And, of course, we now can’t help but wonder what a Jack White-branded cereal would be called. Wheat Stripes? Seven Essential Vitamins & Minerals Army? I Can Tell That We Are Going to Be Flakes?

Perhaps someone can ask White about it during his ongoing solo tour supporting his new albums Fear of the Dawn and Entering Heaven Alive, which continues Wednesday in Indianapolis.

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Michael Bublé took over Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday night and two lucky fans were able to go thanks to a fun little treasure hunt.

The Canadian crooner shared on hisInstagram Stories that he arrived at the venue early and got an idea to further engage his fans. He decided to hide a pair of tickets somewhere in the city and encouraged the lucky winner to “make a TikTok and tag me [in a video]. Show me your adventure!”

Michael, who put on a red letterman jacket, documented his escape from the venue and declared while waving the passes, “I have found the exit! Bublé has left the building and here we go, sneaky sneaky!”

The Grammy winner decided to hide the tickets in the Music City Walk of Fame park, near the arena and the Country Music Hall of Fame. He selected “one of the benches in the far end of the park” — by Garth Brooks‘ star — and filmed himself taping the tickets underneath the seat.  

A few hours later, TikTok user @ajspirit8 and a friend found the pair of tickets and filmed themselves excitedly opening the envelope. The two ladies thanked Michael and couldn’t stop giggling.

The “Sway” singer shared the video to his Instagram Story.

Michael is next set to play Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He will then take a mini break from touring to welcome his fourth child, a baby girl, via C-section

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) Kid Cudi, who’s been open about the highs and lows of his life, is sharing more with his fans. As the cover star of Esquire‘s September issue, he dished details on a variety of topics, including the current and future status of his friendship with Kanye West.

Cudi met Ye at a Virgin Megastore in 2006, and he requested that Ye listen to his music. Two years later, they encountered each other again when the Chicago rapper signed Cudi to his G.O.O.D. Music record label. The stars went on to collaborate on West’s 808s & Heartbreak, but Cudi made it clear that Ye was not responsible for his discovery or success.

“I just want to clear that up for anybody that feels like Kanye made my career or made me who I am,” he explained. “He brought me on to do 808s. I thought that was really f***ing awesome. I wanted to be a part of a family and saw G.O.O.D. Music as that opportunity. So I finally said yeah. Kanye West did not come and pluck me out of Applebee’s or the Bape store.”

Cudi and Ye would continue to work together on projects in the following years, including Cudi’s Kids See Ghosts. Their friendship eventually came to an end when West called Cudi out for being friends with Pete Davidson, who dated his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.

In the Esquire piece, Cudi explained that he has “zero tolerance for the wrong energies” and noted it would “take a mother****ing miracle” for them to rekindle their friendship. “I don’t see it happening. He gon’ have to become a monk,” he said.

Cudi’s full interview also sees him discussing his friendship with Virgil Abloh, wanting a girlfriend and some of his future projects. Check it out here.

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