St. Vincent covered the David Bowie classic “Young Americans” during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Wednesday.
The performance marked the launch of a new Late Show series called “Under the Covers.”
St. Vincent’s version of the 1975 hit stays mostly close to the original, with some added vocal affectations and a reference to another Bowie song, 1997’s “I’m Afraid of Americans.” You can watch the performance streaming now on YouTube.
The most recent St. Vincent album is 2024’s All Born Screaming. She also just put out a cover of the holiday standard “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” for the new movie Oh. What. Fun.
Paul McCartney released the solo album McCartney III, the third installment in a trio of solo albums on which he played most of the instruments himself.
The Beatle recorded the album at his Sussex studio while in lockdown due to COVID-19.
McCartney III would go on to debut at #1 in the U.K. and #2 in the U.S. and earn Grammy nominations for best rock album and best rock song for “Find My Way.”
In 2021, McCartney released McCartney III Imagined, a remixed version of the album featuring reinterpretations, remixes and covers of songs from the original record. Collaborators included Beck, Dominic Fike, St. Vincent, Phoebe Bridgers, Damon Albarn and Josh Homme, among others.
McCartney, the Beatle’s debut solo record, was released in 1970. It was recorded during a period of estrangement with The Beatles following John Lennon‘s private departure from the group. McCartney II arrived in 1980.
In August 2022, McCartney released a box set titled McCartney I II III comprising all three albums from the series.
Taylor Swift ‘The End of an Era’ docuseries (Disney+)
Taylor Swift is giving fans an early Christmas present, along with a sneak peek at the next two episodes of her The End of an Era Disney+ docuseries.
ABC’s Good Morning America debuted an exclusive clip Thursday from the new episodes, giving fans a look at her fiancé Travis Kelce‘s appearance onstage at her show in London in June 2024. He appeared in a top hat and tails, as part of the show’s The Tortured Poets Department segment.
“Travis Kelce brings a lot of happiness to a lot of fans,” Taylor’s mom, Andrea, says in the preview.
In the clip, Taylor is seen saying, “I can safely say it’s the loudest it’s ever gotten on the Eras Tour,” possibly referring to Travis’ surprise appearance.
Also featured in these two new episodes is a behind-the-scenes look at Sabrina Carpenter‘s surprise appearance during the tour, which took place in October 2024 in New Orleans.
Episodes 3 and 4 of The End of an Era, showing Sabrina and Travis’ appearances, will begin streaming on Disney+ at 3 a.m. ET, on Friday, Dec. 19.
In addition to airing the first look at episodes 3 and 4, Taylor also exclusively revealed on Good Morning America that fans will be able to watch the docuseries’ final two episodes earlier than expected.
Episodes 5 and 6 of The End of Era will now premiere on Disney+ on Tuesday, Dec. 23, instead of their initial scheduled date of Dec. 26.
Brad Paisley hadn’t exactly planned to put out a Christmas album in 2025, but thanks largely to Hallmark Channel, we now have Snow Globe Town.
Once plans were made for Hallmark’s A Grand Ole Opry Christmas movie, that unwittingly set things in motion for Brad’s new yuletide collection.
“They had already asked about being a part of this Opry movie, and I said, ‘Sure,'” Brad recalls. “And then they’d asked if I would write a song, and then asked if I’d write three songs, and then they asked if, like, if I had anything else, and it went from cutting a few songs for this Hallmark thing to writing a bunch. And the next thing you know, we had 16 tracks.”
His previous holiday collection, Brad Paisley Christmas, came out in 2006.
You can check out Brad’s Monday appearance promoting Snow Globe Town on Late Night with Seth Meyers, including his performance of “That Crazy Elf (On the Shelf),” on YouTube.
George Harrison November 23, 1971. (Photo by: Ann Limongello/ABC Photo Archives)
The first-ever video for George Harrison’s “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)” was just released, directed by Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard. And it turns out he may not have gotten the gig if it wasn’t for some of his Hollywood friends.
Wolfhard explains how he got the job in a new interview with Vulture, revealing he was first introduced to George Harrison’s son, Dhani Harrison,through his Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire co-star Paul Rudd. He was then invited to visit George Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison,at her home, Friar Park. A year later he was talking music with Fred Armisen at a Hollywood party, which led Armisen to think of him for the job.
“I got a random text from Fred after a few days and he was like, ‘Hey, the George Harrison estate is trying to figure out a director for “Give Me Love,” but they haven’t found anyone yet. I threw your name in the hat.’ I was shocked,” Wolfhard says. “It was flattering enough that he even mentioned me. Then it was a coincidence that I already knew Dhani.”
Wolfhard says he’s been a George Harrison fan since he was introduced to his music by his mom when he was 6, noting he “wouldn’t have pursued performing at a young age in the same way” if it wasn’t for the rock legend. Wolfhard says the fact that TheBeatles dabbled in more than just music “was a huge inspiration to me.”
“You don’t have to just be one thing,” he says. “George is a perfect example of that, who accomplished so much as a solo artist and as a person after the Beatles.”
Brandy Norwood attends a Stella Rosa event at JoJo’s Beloved Cocktail Lounge on February 29, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/WireImage)
Pharrell Williams, Brandy and Kirk Franklin will be recognized for their musical contributions at the 2026 Black Music Collective’s Recording Academy Honors, taking place on Jan. 29.
Pharrell will be honored with the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award for his achievements in music, his influence on the culture, his charitable work and his “entrepreneurial innovation,” according to Billboard. Brandy is set to receive the Black Music Icon Award for shaping the industry with her inspirational artistry, service and innovation, as is Kirk, who couldn’t be honored in 2025 due to the LA wildfires.
“Pharrell, Brandy and Kirk are true visionaries and masters of their craft,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in a statement. “Each has built a legacy that transcends genre, defies convention and shapes culture.”
“Their artistry continues to inspire generations of artists around the world,” he continued. “I’m thrilled to join the Black Music Collective in honoring three of music’s brightest stars in January and celebrating their immeasurable contributions to the industry.”
Produced by Adam Blackstone for a fourth year, the Recording Academy Honors will take place in Los Angeles. The 68th annual Grammy Awards will follow three days later.
Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice performs onstage during a concert at The 3Arena Dublin on December 10, 2025 in Dublin, Ireland. (Kieran Frost/Redferns)
In addition to releasing their latest album, The Clearing, Wolf Alice celebrated the 10th anniversary of their 2015 debut album, My Love Is Cool, in 2025. If you’ve been a Wolf Alice fan since they first broke out with the single “Moaning Lisa Smile,” then you know they’ve pushed their sound in many different directions over the past decade.
“We’re always just trying to challenge ourselves and keep our attention span and have fun,” frontwoman Ellie Rowsell tells ABC Audio. “We don’t really stick to one thing religiously, really.”
Defining exactly what kind of music she plays has never really interested Rowsell, even before she knew what Wolf Alice would become.
“I remember once when I told my boyfriend when I was at school it could maybe be fun to be in a band,” Rowsell shares. “He was like, ‘What kind of band? You have to figure out what kind of band you wanna be in before you make a band.’ And I was like, ‘S***, OK.'”
She laughs, “And if I’d kept that advice, I would never have started a band, because I still don’t really know.”
And while Wolf Alice continues to explore beyond the grungy, ’90s alt-rock roots of “Moaning Lisa Smile,” one thing does remain: their love for The Simpsons. “Moaning Lisa Smile” was inspired by the character Lisa Simpson and is named after the season 1 episode “Moaning Lisa,” which is still Rowsell’s favorite Simpsons episode.
“Especially the old Simpsons just gets it right with just the right amount of life lesson,” Rowsell says.
Metallica on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ (ABC/Randy Holmes)
Metallica is teasing a collaboration with the Haight Street Art Center in the band’s hometown of San Francisco.
The metal legends have shared a Facebook post featuring a mash-up of Metallica and Haight Street Art Center’s logos alongside the date fall 2026.
“Coming Next Fall…,” the caption reads.
Along with unveiling a possible Metallica art exhibition, the band’s 2026 plans include another European leg of their ongoing M72 world tour, which kicks off in May.
Taylor Swift attends the ‘All Too Well’ New York Premiere on November 12, 2021 in New York City. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Sure, we all love a good bop, but more substantial songs — the kind built around characters and narratives — can be just as compelling. Researchers at UC Berkeley have released a study ranking Billboard hits from the past 60 years based on their storytelling, and a Taylor Swift song made the top 10.
The research team analyzed the lyrics of more than 1,000 hit songs to identify which “narrative storytelling elements” they contained. Using those findings, they trained an algorithm to score thousands of tracks on their level of storytelling or “narrativity.” In total, more than 5,000 pop songs that appeared on Billboard Hot 100 year-end lists between 1960 and 2024 were examined.
The top 10 also featured Harry Chapin‘s 1972 classic “Taxi” and Jeannie C. Riley‘s 1968 hit “Harper Valley PTA,” a song so compelling it inspired both a film and television series. Coming in at #2 was Bobbie Gentry’s 1967 song “Ode to Billie Joe,” which also inspired a movie adaptation.
Taking the top spot was Vicki Lawrence‘s 1973 Southern gothic murder ballad “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” which later became a huge country hit for Reba McEntire in 1991.
Jack White at 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Disney/Cristian Lopez)
He’s know for singing about a “Seven Nation Army,” and now Jack White is set to play in one particular nation for the first time.
White has announced his debut performance in Kazakhstan, taking place in August 2026 at the Park Live Almaty festival.
The festival lineup also includes Gorillaz. For more info, visit Park.live.
White played much closer to home, in his actual hometown, on Thanksgiving Day for a halftime performance during a Detroit Lions game. The set included renditions of “Seven Nation Army” and White’s solo song “That’s How I’m Feeling,” as well as a collaborative performance with Eminem.
