Music

Lainey Wilson has got another hit on her hands, as “Never Say Never” — her duet with Cole Swindell, and the follow-up to her chart-topping “Things a Man Oughta Know” — is inside the top 10 and rising at country radio.

It may still be cold and dreary in Nashville, but when Cole first sent Lainey the song, she was someplace much more tropical: on a beach vacation.

“There I am, sitting on a beach in Mexico on my first vacation in, like, 10 years, and he texts me out of the blue,” she remembers, adding that the song hooked her as soon as she heard it. “Well, I was drinking a piña colada. I don’t know if that had anything to do with me saying yes, but y’all, I listened to the first verse and chorus and knew immediately that this song was special.”

All jokes — and alcoholic beverages — aside, Lainey says the song gave her the same kind of excitement she’d felt when she was working on “Things a Man Oughta Know.”

“It made me feel the same kind of feelings I felt the day that I wrote ‘Things a Man Oughta Know,’ or the day that we recorded it,” she notes. “It’s a completely different kind of song, but it still gave me that feeling that everybody wants to feel.”

Lainey’s knack for recognizing a powerful song hasn’t let her down yet. “Things a Man Oughta Know” earned her a Song of the Year trophy at the 2022 ACM Awards, where she was also crowned the New Female Artist of the Year.

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Kanye West has been banned from performing at the Grammys this year, his rep confirms to People.

The decision was reportedly made due to his “concerning online behavior.” Last Wednesday, Ye was suspended from Instagram for 24 hours for violating the platform’s policies on hate speech and bullying and harassment.

He had been posting frequent attacks on his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her new boyfriend Pete Davidson, and most recently had used a slur against The Daily Show host Trevor Noah. Noah is hosting the Grammys this year.

Ye is nominated for five Grammys. He had not been named as part of the first batch of performers, but it’s possible he was being considered for the lineup.

The 64th annual Grammy Awards airs Sunday, April 3, on CBS.

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Eddie Vedder has released a new video for his solo song “Invincible” in partnership with NASA.

The clip mixes live footage of the Pearl Jam frontman performing alongside his Earthlings solo band with video from various pre-launch tests and animation related to NASA’s upcoming Artemis I mission, which will send an uncrewed spacecraft around the moon’s orbit.

“As we inch closer to launching [NASA Artemis] I to the Moon and back, it’s clear that our drive to explore is invincible,” NASA says. This musical collaboration with [Vedder] is inspired by the determination of our workforce.”

You can watch the “Invincible” video streaming now on YouTube.

“Invincible” appears on Vedder’s new solo album, Earthling, which was released in February.

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The Harder They Fall director Jeymes Samuel and Jay-Z are teaming up again for the Netflix adaptation of the comic series Irredeemable and its spinoff, Incorruptible. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the two titles will be combined into one feature film written by One Night in Miami writer Kemp Powers. Jay-Z will be a producer on the project. He was a producer on The Harder They Fall as well.

D-Nice is going to the Oscars. The DJ, who rose to fame with his virtual Club Quarantine parties, will be performing during the March 27 ceremony as well as the post-show Governors Ball. Tonight, at 6:30 p.m. PT, he’ll be hosting the official Oscars Club Quarantine pre-party on Instagram Live. Tune in to @djnice or @theacademy. Percussionist and frequent Prince collaborator Sheila E., as well as rock drummer Travis Barker, will also be performing during the Oscars ceremony.

Kerry Washington and Serena Williams will be among the presenters at the 33rd Annual Producers Guild Awards on Saturday, March 19. Other presenters include Nick Jonas, Kristen Stewart, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Lin-Manuel Miranda and more. Issa Rae will be honored with the Visionary Award at the ceremony.

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A Grey’s Anatomy crew member is suing the LAPD over a March 2021 traffic stop where he claims he was racially profiled, Deadline reports.

The incident occurred near the set of the ABC drama, which was shooting on location in Tarzana, CA at the time. Ernest Simon Jr., an African American shuttle driver for the show, says police wrongly targeted him and used unjust force. He’s seeking $20 million in damages.

Police reportedly believed the vehicle Simon was driving was stolen and drew their guns on him, even as other crew members told officers Simon was a driver for the show and that the “van had been rented by Disney.” The lawsuit says police only released Simon when a white co-worker intervened.

Grey’s creator Shonda Rhimes called the incident “unacceptable.”

“It was another example of a broken system that puts valuable lives in danger and damages spirits,” Rhimes said in a statement obtained by Deadline. “Shondaland stands with Mr. Simon and his family in this complaint.”

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Michael Bublé and his wife Luisana Lopilato recently revealed that they’re expecting their fourth child, but as Michael revealed during an appearance on ABC’s The View on Friday, at least one of his other children is a bit confused about exactly how that happened.

Michael told The View hosts that they broke the news to the three kids — Noah, 8,  Elias, 5 and Vida, 3 —  on Christmas Eve. “We told them, ‘Mommy has a baby in her tummy and you’re going to have a little brother or sister,’ and 5-year-old Eli was just distraught,” Michael reveals. “And we said, ‘What’s wrong?’ And he said, ‘Why didn’t you invite us to watch when you fell in love and you made the baby?'”

“And I still don’t know how to answer the question!” Michael laughed. “Obviously, they have no concept about how physically it happens. It’s really cute, it’s just so sweet. They just know that mommies and daddies fall in love and have the baby so he just wants to know why he wasn’t invited.”

Michael and Luisana revealed the pregnancy at the end of the video for Michael’s current hit ,”I’ll Never Not Love You,” in which Luisana starred and the children appeared.

Asked what kind of father he is, Michael joked, “I think my kids would say that they feel like I’m one of them. My poor wife now has five children she’s going to have to take care of.” 

Michael’s new album, Higher, is out March 25.

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Beartooth has released a deluxe version of the band’s latest album, Below.

The expanded record includes a total of 32 tracks, made up of the original album, an alternate version of the single “Skin,” two previously unreleased songs called “Fighting Back” and “Permanently Sealed,” and the full set from Beartooth’s Live from the Journey Below livestream concert.

In a statement, frontman Caleb Shomo calls the new tunes “undoubtedly experimental.”

“I really tried to push the boundaries of what I’m doing with guitar, what I’m doing with my voice, and what I’m doing with the songwriting,” Shomo says. “The outcome may not have made the first cut of the album, but I think they’re definitely worth hearing and play a big role in how the record ended up turning out.”

The original Below was released last June. It includes the single “The Past Is Dead.”

Beartooth will launch a U.S. tour in continued support of Below March 26 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

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Thomas Rhett’s always been destined for the stage, and he’s got proof. The singer posted a sweet throwback video on his social media this week, featuring a very young version of himself singing with his dad.

Of course, TR’s dad isn’t just anyone: It’s ‘90s hitmaker and current in-demand songwriter Rhett Akins, who was finding success back in the day with radio hits like “That Ain’t My Truck.”

In the clip, Rhett helps steer a pint-sized Thomas through a rendition of Joe Diffie’s “Third Rock from the Sun,” accompanying his young son on acoustic guitar and helping Thomas sing the lyrics.

Young Thomas’ country swagger is already self-evident: Wearing a cowboy hat and denim button-down shirt, he makes his way through the song almost perfectly, with a little help from his dad on some of the lyrics.

These days, Thomas is busy cranking out hits of his own: He’s set to release not one but two studio albums this year, the first of which, Where We Started, will be out April 1.

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