Music

Miranda Lambert and her husband Brendan McLoughlin recently jetted off on a magical trip to Europe.

The “Bluebird” singer shared photos from their Ireland getaway that included treats from Hazel Mountain Chocolate, a cooking class with chef Karen Coakley and plenty of Guinness beer. Some of the gorgeous shots from their stops in Kenmare, Adare and Ballyfin include her husband standing on a rock overlooking the sweeping mountains, an ancient stone castle, and a visit to the historic Molly Gallivan’s cottage, where they delighted in a shot of moonshine. 

“Thank you Ireland for the most wonderful trip,” Miranda begins the tribute post, acknowledging the “green pastures,” chocolate and “yummiest” bread and butter they indulged in. “@brendanjmcloughlin and I can’t wait to come back to the homeland to visit again soon and see the friends we made. Miss y’all already!” 

“Amazing!” commented Miranda’s brother, Luke Lambert, while her “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” duet partner Elle King writes, “Looks so pretty! So fun!”

“Hot damn, that dress,” Lainey Wilson praised about a pink velvet dress Miranda wore on one of the couple’s date nights.

“Gah all of this looks EPIC! So glad y’all had a great time,” adds Charles Kelley‘s wife, Cassie Kelley. 

Miranda and Brendan wed in January 2019 on her farm just outside of Nashville.

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Elton John was a guest on Friday’s episode of his pal Dua Lipa‘s podcast At Your Service, and among the topics they discussed were those unexpected moments that change your life completely. Elton revealed it was one of those moments which has led to his greatest happiness: becoming a father.

“I was never going to have children,” Elton told Dua. But several years ago, he and his husband David visited an orphanage in Ukraine, where he found himself carrying around an 18-month-old boy for a few hours. 

“Then we had a press conference at the end,” Elton recalls. “And they said, ‘You seem very fond of this little boy. Would you think of adopting him?’ And I went, ‘Oh yeah, I’d actually love to.'”

That, of course, made headlines, but it turned out that Elton and David weren’t allowed to adopt the boy, nor his half-brother, because they were “too old” and, Elton says, “Because I was gay, they wouldn’t allow us to do it anyway.”  But Elton and David were determined to get the boys out of the orphanage, and, he says, “Luckily they had a grandmother who took them.”

But then, Elton says, David asked him about having their own children.

“I always said no, but this little boy was telling me something,” Elton recalled. “He was saying, ‘Come on, you can be a dad.’ And that’s when we decided to have children, because of this little boy Lev, in Ukraine.” 

While Elton and David continue to make sure Lev and his brother are safe, they’ve since welcomed their own children, Zachary and Elijah.  And Elton’s desire to spend more time with them is why he tells Dua of his Farewell Tour, “I will be happy when it’s over.”

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Gabrielle Union is known for publicly supporting her daughter-by-marriage, Zaya Wade, who at the age of 12 came out as transgender. Gabrielle recently chatted with Buzzfeed about the importance of showing up for her children and “loving out loud.”

In response to the criticism that she and husband Dwyane Wade faced during Zaya’s coming-out, Union told Buzzfeed, “It’s important for us to live and love out loud. We didn’t exactly understand why [supporting Zaya’s trans identity] was a thing because it’s like, we love all our kids out loud.”

The Cheaper by the Dozen actress says she and Dwyane respect their children’s decisions and it is their duty to show up for them all, including Zaire and Xavier, Zaya’s brothers, and three-year-old daughter Kaavia James Union Wade.

“It’s our job to be loving, compassionate, protective guides for our children, but their lives are their lives and we have to respect that,” Gabrielle said. “We do not believe in any kind of shaming for existing. That is bizarre, cruel, harmful.”

In continued support and public display of love for her children, the 49-year-old actress said she and her husband will continue to be supportive, and will do so unafraid of possible backlash. “We’re going to speak out loud and lead in however each situation calls for us to be leaders when things are not where they should be,” she said. 

Union’s comments come at a time when lawmakers are seeking progression on anti-LGBTQ legislation all across the country.

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Billie Eilish and brother FINNEAS took home the Oscar Sunday night for Best Original Song for “No Time to Die,” from the James Bond film of the same name. Backstage, the siblings said writing the song came with a lot of pressure, because they’re both such fans of the Bond series and its music.

“Very exhilarating and, like, peak life and also scary,” is how Billie described the experience to reporters. She added, “We just wanted it to be perfect and represent Daniel Craig‘s last film and all of his films and how much he put into it, and it just was the most amazing experience ever!”

On top of that, FINNEAS said they also felt pressure to make sure the song was true creatively to Billie’s sound and style.

“It was really important to us that it felt like a Billie Eilish song and a James Bond song at the same time and not one or the other,” he noted.

“Yeah, it was so, so important to have it all of the respect needed for all of the Bond films in the past and not take anything away from that,” Billie added. “I really didn’t want to disrespect the franchise in any way. I wanted to make everybody happy.” 

“And you don’t want to feel like a cover,” FINNEAS added. “You want to feel like your song that you have ownership over.”

FINNEAS also said that he’d consulted with the most recent people who’d won an Oscar for writing a Bond theme: Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes, who wrote “Writing’s on the Wall” for 2015’s Spectre.”

He revealed, “They were very encouraging and gave really good advice, which was basically just to make a song we were really proud of.”

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After a shocking altercation with Chris Rock live on the Oscars stage earlier in the night, Will Smith took home the Oscar for Best Actor.

The 53-year-old actor won for his role in King Richard and very quickly after getting on stage became emotional with tears streaming down his face. 

After a brief point about his character, which is based on tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams’ father Richard, being a “fierce defender,” he began reflecting on where he is at this point in his life. 

“I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people,” he shared. “I know to do what we do, you got to be able to take abuse. You got to be able to have people talk crazy to you… you got to be able to have people disrespecting you and you got to smile, you got to pretend like that’s okay.”

“Denzel [Washington] said a few minutes ago, ‘At your highest moment, Be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you,'” he added. 

His words seemed to reference the earlier incident, where he slapped and cursed out Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. 

Smith continued his acceptance speech and apologized to the Academy and explained the reasoning behind his emotions, stating, “I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me. It’s about being able to shine a light on all of the people.” 

“Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said, just like they said about Richard Williams but love will make you do crazy things,” he added.

Noticeably, his speech did not include an apology to Rock. 

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Things became a little tense when Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith while presenting the Oscar for Best Documentary.  It earned him a slap and a cursing out from Will Smith — all live on air.

Chris first joked that Javier Bardem cannot win the Best Actor Oscar if his wife, Penelope Cruz, misses out on Best Actress.  “If she loses, he can’t win,” Rock stated. “He is praying that Will Smith wins, like, ‘Please, lord!'”

Chris then turned his attention on Pinkett Smith and remarked, “Jada.  Love ya.  G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it!”  The joke didn’t land with the Smiths; the camera cut to Jada rolling her eyes in what appeared to be disgust.

Rock tried defending his joke, saying, “That was a nice one” but quickly said “uh oh” as Will stormed the stage.  The King Richard actor slapped Rock and, after walking off the stage, shouted “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth” at him twice.  The audio broadcast was cut before any profanities were said on air.

Rock appeared rattled by the unexpected altercation, which he dubbed, “The greatest night in the history of television.”  He also flubbed while announcing the category’s winner, saying “We are here to give a documentary out,” meaning to say “give an Oscar out for Best Documentary.”

Summer of Soul won.

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Billie Eilish and FINNEAS took the Oscar stage Sunday night to perform their nominated song “No Time to Die,” from the James Bond film of the same name.

With FINNEAS at the piano, Billie began the performance seated on a stool, wearing a voluminous black outfit and black hair. Angular laser lights flanked her as she sang and eventually stood up to finish the haunting song. An orchestra backed the pair up for their performance.

The duo was introduced by Oscar-winner Rami Malek, who played the villain in No Time to Die.

Billie and FINNEAS have already won a Grammy and a Golden Globe for the song.

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Reba McEntire took the Oscar stage for the second time in her career Sunday night, to perform “Somehow You Do,” the Oscar-nominated song from the film Four Good Days.

Reba sang the song, written by 13-time nominee Diane Warren, while wearing a black gown with huge jeweled detail in the front. Her hair was up and she wore a pair of simple earrings.  In the audience, Warren applauded Reba wildly.

Her previous Oscar performance came in 1991: She sang the song “I’m Checkin’ Out,” from the Meryl Streep film film Postcards from the Edge.

Monday just happens to be Reba’s birthday, so no matter if the song wins or loses, it’s safe to say she’ll be celebrating tonight.

On a more somber note, immediately following Reba’s performance, the Oscars held a moment of silence for Ukraine.

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After teasing it this past week, Miley Cyrus has confirmed that she’ll release her first-ever live album, ATTENTION: MILEY LIVE, on April 1. It’s available to pre-save now.

In addition to songs from her entire career, ATTENTION also includes Miley’s new songs “ATTENTION” and “You,” the latter of which she premiered on New Year’s Eve. On Instagram, she wrote, “My fans have been asking me for a live album for a long time & I am so exxxited to give it to them! This show was curated BY the fans FOR the fans! I asked my audience what songs they’d like to see me perform at upcoming shows and this is the set list YOU created!”

Her note continues, “From fan favorite covers to some of my oldest songs, newest songs & original unreleased songs ‘YOU’ & ‘ATTENTION!’ I was doing a minimal amount of live shows this year and wanted the MAXIMUM amount of fans to experience ME LIVE! This album wouldn’t be possible without my band & crew! Thank you to everyone who came to see my show & anyone who couldn’t make it THIS ALBUM IS FOR YOU! I LOVE YOU!”

In another post, she added, “Thank you for all of your loyalty and support over the last 16 years! This record is the least I can do to try and show my appreciation for your dedication! We’re in this together forever!“

You can watch a trailer for the album now on YouTube.

Here’s the track list for ATTENTION:

“ATTENTION”
“We Can’t Stop X Where Is My Mind?”
“Plastic Hearts”
“Heart of Glass”
“4×4”
“(SMS) Bangerz”
“Dooo It!”
“23”
“Never Be Me”
“Maybe”
“7 Things”
“Bang Bang X See You Again”
“Jolene”
“High”
“You”
“Like a Prayer”
“Edge of Midnight (Midnight Sky Remix)”
“The Climb”
“Wrecking Ball X Nothing Compares 2 U”
“Party In The USA”

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