Harry Styles has done what no other artist who released an album so far this year could — he officially sold over a million copies of his new studio album, Harry’s House.
The Grammy winner is the first artist to have an album released in 2022 reach Platinum status. The RIAA delivered the certification this week. The organization also honored another song of his — “Cherry” — which surpassed over 1 million sales as well, thus earning its own Platinum certification.
Harry’s House arrived on May 20 and was previously led by the record’s lead single, “As It Was.” To date, this song has been leading the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks. In addition, the RIAA has certified the hit twice Platinum.
Happy Mondays bassist Paul Ryder has died at age 58.
The English band, perhaps best known in the U.S. for the singles “Kinky Afro” and “Step On,” announced the news in a tweet Friday: “The Ryder family and Happy Mondays band members are deeply saddened and shocked to say that Paul Ryder passed away this morning.”
“A true pioneer and legend. He will be forever missed,” the post continues. “We thank you for respecting the privacy of all concerned at this time. Long live his funk.”
Happy Mondays formed in 1980 and were staples of the so-called Madchester scene, which combined elements of indie rock and dance music. Following a breakup in 1993, the group reunited in 1999 and then again in 2004. Not unlike another English group of the era, Happy Mondays was plagued by familial issues between Paul and his brother, vocalist Shaun Ryder, which led to Paul not taking part in the 2004 reunion.
Eventually, Paul rejoined Happy Mondays in 2012, and the band has continued to tour over the last 10 years. They were scheduled to perform Friday at England’s Kubix Festival, but their set was canceled due to Paul’s passing.
Over the years, Richard Marx has written songs that have become hits on the pop, rock, R&B and country charts. That’s why his new album is an attempt to show off the full range of his songwriting talent.
Called Songwriter, the album, due out September 30, features a slew of songs that Richard either wrote or co-wrote, divided by genre: pop, rock, country and ballads. He wrote many of them with his famous friends and collaborators, including Burt Bacharach, Chris Daughtry, Lifehouse‘s Jason Wade, Matt Scannell of Vertical Horizon and Mr. Mister‘s Richard Page.
“I’ve had such an amazing opportunity in my songwriting career to write all kinds of songs with, and for, all kinds of artists,” says Richard. “It finally occurred to me that there was no reason not to record an album of my own that touches on multiple genres I love.”
Richard also kept the album all in the family: A handful of the songs were co-written with his sons Lucas Marx and Jesse Marx. The first single, “Same Heartbreak, Different Day,” is a co-write with Lucas.
Richard has four U.S. concerts later this month — three in California and one in Nevada — before he heads to Europe, but he’ll return to the U.S. for another round of dates starting October 20 in St. Charles, IL. Visit richardmarx.com/tour/ for the full list of dates.
Here’s the track listing for Songwriter:
POP
“Same Heartbreak Different Day” (Richard Marx/Lucas Marx, Michael Jade)
“Believe In Me” (Richard Marx/Lucas Marx)
“Anything” (Richard Marx/Bruce Weigner)
“Moscow Calling” (Richard Marx)
“Only A Memory” (Richard Marx/Adam Messinger)
ROCK
“Shame On You” (Richard Marx/Jesse Marx)
“Just Go” (Richard Marx)
“My Love, My Enemy” (Richard Marx/Matt Scannell)
“One More Yesterday” (Richard Marx/Chris Daughtry/Jason Wade)
“We Are Not Alone” (Richard Marx/Jesse Marx)
COUNTRY
“Everything I’ve Got” (Richard Marx)
“One Day Longer” (Richard Marx/Keith Urban)
“Breaking My Heart” (Richard Marx/Darius Rucker/David Hodges)
“Misery Loves Company” (Richard Marx/Lucas Marx/Bruce Weigner)
“We Had It All” (Richard Marx/Randy Hauser/Brice Long)
BALLADS
“Always” (Richard Marx/Burt Bacharach)
“Still In My Heart” (Richard Marx/Richard Page)
“As If We’ll Never Love Again” (Richard Marx/Gary Burr)
“Never After” (Richard Marx/Topher Brown)
“Maybe” (Richard Marx)
The 14-track collection is the band’s 38th official album and was mostly recorded remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, although the horns were laid down live at founding trumpet player Lee Loughnane‘s studio in Arizona.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees are enjoying some chart success with the album’s lead single, “If This Is Goodbye,” which currently sits at #19 on Billboard‘s Adult Contemporary tally.
You can check out an official music video for the upbeat pop tune on Chicago’s YouTube channel.
Born for This Moment features three songs that founding singer/keyboardist Robert Lamm co-wrote with Ides of March frontman and ex-Survivor member Jim Peterik — the title track, “Crazy Idea,” and “Our New York Time.”
Chicago fans will likely pick up on the fact that the intro to “Our New York Time” recreates the start of the band’s classic 1969 song “Beginnings.”
“That was [producer] Joe Thomas‘s idea to do that there,” Lamm notes. “Initially, I had a little trepidation about it because I always want to hear something new, but the guys felt really positive about it, so I was cool with it.”
Born for This Moment is Chicago’s first album of original material to feature singer Neil Donnell, who joined the group in 2018.
Founding Chicago trombonist James Pankow says of Donell’s contributions, “Not only is Neil a technically gifted performer, he is an amazing, multirange singer … Without a doubt, he is a big asset to the band.”
Chicago currently is on the road with founding Beach Boys member Brian Wilson‘s solo band. The trek continues Friday night in Wantagh, New York, and runs through a July 26 show in Clarkston, Michigan.
Here’s the full Born for This Moment track list:
“Born for This Moment”
“If This Is Goodbye”
“Firecracker”
“Someone Needed Me the Most”
“Our New York Time”
“Safer Harbours”
“Crazy Idea”
“Make a Man Outta Me”
“She’s Right”
“The Mermaid” (“Sereia Do Mar”)
“You’ve Got to Believe”
“For the Love”
“If This Isn’t Love”
“House on the Hill”
Kid Cudi‘s 2008 debut mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi, is now available on major streaming platforms, arriving just two days before the project’s 14th anniversary.
The release follows The Boy Who Flew to the Moon, a collection of Cudi’s greatest hits thus far. The 16-track collection includes the Grammy-nominated breakout “Day ‘N’ Nite,” “Pillow Talk” and “Save My Soul.”
The never-before-streamed tape comes with updated cover art of the rapper. “This photo was taken by Mel D. Cole, on 9.22.08. Right before my life changed forever,” he says of the image.
Before dropping his recent single “Do What I Want,” Cudi previewed the new song by sharing a teaser of his upcoming animated music TV series, Entergalactic — a project he says is his “greatest achievement.” The Netflix project and accompanying album are due out this fall.
From heartfelt love songs to hardcore rap tracks, check out this week’s New Music Friday for the culture’s latest & greatest in music.
—Ne-Yo, Self Explanatory — Flexing his vocals over sensual tunes, the R&B singer dropped his first full original album since 2018, with features from Jeremih, Trippie Redd and Bleu.
—DJ Premier, DJ Premier: Hip Hop 50 Volume 1 — In celebration of hip-hop’s 50th birthday, the legendary DJ unveiled the first installment of 10 EPs featuring newly released music. Guest appearances include RemyMa, Nas, RunTheJewels, LilWayne and more.
—DaniLeigh, “Heartbreaker” — The 27-year-old singer pens another heartfelt relationship track, seemingly in response to her public breakup with rapper DaBaby.
—Mario & Tory Lanez, “Main One” — After much social media backlash for the new collaboration, Mario dropped off his latest single with rapper Tory Lanez.
—Omeretta The Great, “Baba” — The rising rap star continues to make a name for herself with hard-hitting bars and witty lyricism.
—Joey Bada$$, “Zipcodes” — The Brooklyn, NY native unveiled his latest single from his forthcoming album, 2000, a smooth, mid-tempo rap track with an accompanying music video.
Pink has proven to her haters that she is anything but “Irrelevant.” Her fiery women’s rights anthem is already a best-seller.
The “What About Us” singer shared an update about her song’s performance on the iTunes chart, which said it is already number one in the U.S., Canada and Australia. “We’ll that’s ironic,” Pink cheekily wrote, “and really, thanks everyone.”
This is a major win for Pink because, ahead of the song’s release, she announced that all proceeds from the song’s sales will benefit When We All Vote — the voting rights organization founded by former first lady Michelle Obama. The initiative aims to encourage all eligible voters to head to the polls and break down all barriers that may stand in their way.
Pink penned the passionate song in response to the backlash surrounding her criticism of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had made abortion a constitutionally protected right in 1973. She demanded that all supporters of the decision “never f***ing listen to my music again,” which landed her in the crosshairs of angry abortion rights opponents.
Critics slammed the Grammy winner and demanded she stay out of politics because her job as a singer is to basically “shut up and sing.” Pink maliciously complied with their demands by releasing “Irrelevant.”
“As a woman with an opinion and the fearlessness to voice that opinion, it gets very tiring when the only retort is to tell me how irrelevant I am. I am relevant because I exist, and because I am a human being. No one is irrelevant. And no one can take away my voice,” she said in a statement.
By now, it’s well documented that Carrie Underwood is a big rock ‘n’ roll fan: She recently appeared as a guest performer for two nights on Guns N’ Roses U.K. tour after previously bringing Axl Rose on stage at Stagecoach.
Turns out, Carrie’s fandom doesn’t stop there. She’s also a huge fan of Black Sabbath and its frontman, Ozzy Osbourne, to who she pays tribute with her cover of “Mama, I’m Coming Home.”
The cover is part of a new EP that Carrie released exclusively with Apple Music and features versions of her current single, “Ghost Story,” fan-favorite “Blown Away” and the Ozzy cover, which Carrie says is especially close to her heart.
“I have always been an Ozzy Osbourne fan and ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ is one of my all-time favorite songs,” she explains. “I’ve always thought it felt a lot like a country song, and I’ve wanted to cover it for a long time. This was a really fun opportunity for me to finally be able to make that happen. I hope we’ve done Ozzy proud and I hope he likes it.”
Singer-songwriter Tenille Townes also released an exclusive EP as part of the Apple Music Sessions program. Her project includes recordings of her songs “Somebody’s Daughter” and “Same Road Home” plus a cover of Etta James’ “At Last.”
Oliver Tree has premiered a new single called “Placeholder,” co-produced by Blink-182‘s Travis Barker.
“This song is about a placeholder at a dinner I went to a few months back,” the “Life Goes On” artist explains. “The person who was supposed to be sitting next to me didn’t show up and it was the most beautiful, elegant plate and utensils set up that went completely unused. Afterwards I drove directly to the studio and wrote a song about it.”
You can listen to “Placeholder” now via digital outlets. It’s also set to appear on a deluxe edition of Tree’s new album Cowboy Tears, due out later this summer. The original record, which features the single “Cowboys Don’t Cry,” dropped in February.
Tree is launching a U.S. tour in support of Cowboy Tears in August. The outing kicks off with Tree’s Fire Festival — a play on the infamous Fyre Festival — which takes place August 4 in San Diego with a lineup featuring Smash Mouth, Huddy and Sueco among others.
William “Poogie” Hart, the lead singer of legendary Philadelphia soul group The Delfonics, died Thursday at age 77.
TMZ reports that, according to Hart’s son Hadi, William died of complications from surgery after he was recently brought to a Philadelphia hospital with breathing difficulties.
Hart co-founded The Delfonics with his brother Wilbert around the mid-1960s under the name The Orphonics, and the group began to take off after working with famed Philadelphia-based producer Thom Bell.
The Delfonics then went on to become one of the early purveyors of the classic Philly soul sound.
In January 1968, The Delfonics released “La-La (Means I Love You)” — co-written by William and Bell — which became the group’s biggest hit, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #2 on Billboard‘s R&B singles chart.
William continued to co-write most of the group’s original songs with Bell. Over the next few years, The Delfonics would score several other top-40 hits, including “Break Your Promise,” “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide from Love),” “You Got Yours and I’ll Get Mine” and “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time).”
“Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” reached #10 on the Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.
The original Delfonics broke up in 1975, and in the ensuing years, William and his brother both led various spinoff lineups of the group.
“Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” was featured prominently in Quentin Tarantino‘s 1997 film Jackie Brown.
Meanwhile, the chorus of “Ready or Not Here I Come” served as the basis of the popular 1996 Fugees song “Ready or Not.”
In 2014, The Delfonics were inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
