Imagine Dragons will be performing at the 2022 NCAA March Madness Music Festival, taking place April 1-3 in New Orleans alongside the Final Four of the men’s college basketball tournament.
Dan Reynolds and company will take the stage on April 3 as part of the event’s Capital One JamFest. The bill also includes Grouplove, rapper Macklemore, and New Orleans jazz outfit Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.
Admittance is free, though you do need to register for tickets ahead of time. Registration opens March 23 at 10 a.m. ET, though Capital One cardholders can sign up beginning March 21 at 10 a.m. ET.
ACM New Male Artist of the Year Parker McCollum is getting married later this month, and he recently told People that he won’t be performing at his wedding — though if he could book his dream wedding singer, it’d be either George Strait or John Mayer.
It’s unknown whether George or John will be available for Parker’s nuptials, but there are plenty of country stars who do have a background in wedding gigs. For example, Brett Eldredge used to be a wedding DJ, and sometimes he’d sing, according to a 2016 interview with Entertainment Weekly. As one of country music’s most legendary crooners, Brett undoubtedly stole the show as a wedding emcee.
Jake Owen is a wedding singer of sorts, too: He sang his song, “Made for You,” at Carly Pearce’s wedding to fellow artist Michael Ray. That marriage didn’t last, but Jake’s love ballad is still a romantic choice for any couple’s first dance song — and if you can get the singer himself to boot, even better.
But perhaps the most romantic instance of a country star singing at a wedding was Blake Shelton’s performance of “We Can Reach the Stars,” which he sang as his wedding vows to Gwen Stefani. Held at Blake’s Oklahoma ranch at a chapel built just for the occasion, Blake and Gwen’s nuptials were romantic down to the last detail, and Blake’s sweet song for Gwen was the cherry on top.
Kanye West has reportedly added a new member to his team by hiring Hollywood Unlocked host Jason Lee as his social media manager.
According to the U.K. tabloid The Sun, the entertainment blogger “is working for him in the role of a media manager, helping broker deals and he is in charge with his public image.”
The news comes a little over a week after Facebook posted Kanye’s “Controlling Our Narrative: The Future Brunch” livestream event, which Lee hosted.
Ye’s decision to employ Lee may come as a surprise to some after Lee published false news back in February, reporting that Queen Elizabeth II had died. An updated version of the original story, now formatted as a listicle, was later published to the Hollywood Unlocked site. Lee also apologized.
“From the outside it seems totally strange to take him on, especially after what happened with the Queen,” a source told The Sun about Kanye’s alleged decision. “But he wants to be surrounded by people who know how the media game works and reckons he shares a vision with Jason.”
The news also comes amidst the many recent social media posts Ye has shared regarding his very public divorce from Kim Kardashian.
Just call him Cupid: Tim McGraw helped out a fan this week by providing her with tickets to his show so she could surprise her husband on their anniversary.
“I have done EVERYTHING I could to get tickets to your show this weekend,” the fan tweeted. “I wanted it to be a surprise for my hubby for our 20th wedding anniversary 2/22/22. But it’s sold out. I told him I had a surprise for him. The surprise now is no concert.”
So the country star came to the rescue: “Happy anniversary! Tickets are on me. Enjoy,” Tim replied.
If anyone knows about the importance of celebrating anniversaries, it’s Tim. He and his fellow superstar wife Faith Hill celebrated 25 years of marriage last fall.
Jackson Browne has joined the star-packed lineup of the 2022 Love Rocks NYC! benefit concert, which takes place tonight at the Beacon Theatre in New York City and also will be livestreamed for free online.
Browne will appear as a special guest during the show, which, as previously reported, is being headlined by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and his solo band The X-Pensive Winos.
The Love Rocks NYC! concert raises money for the God’s Love We Deliver charity, which provides nutritious meals to seriously ill people in the New York City area who have difficulty leaving their homes or cooking for themselves.
You can access a link to watch the event for free by signing up at LoveRocksNYC.com, while you’re also encouraged to contribute funds to the charity, which is offering a special “$20 = 2 Meals” donation option. Donations also can be made at Give.GLWD.org.
The show’s lineup also features Melissa Etheridge, Mavis Staples, ex-Allman Brothers Band singer/guitarist Warren Haynes, Hozier, Jimmy Vivino and many more.
The event will be co-hosted by Mario Cantone, Gina Gershon, Kiefer Sutherland, Steve Schirripa and Michelle Buteau.
The concert’s house band will be led by longtime CBS Orchestra bassist Will Lee, and will include former Bob Dylan and Levon Helm touring guitarist Larry Campbell, Eric Clapton touring drummer Steve Gadd and Fleetwood Mac touring keyboardist Ricky Peterson.
More information about the concert is available at LoveRocksNYC.com and GLWD.org.
Meanwhile, Browne, who last year released a new studio album titled Downhill from Everywhere, will kick off a Canadian leg of his joint tour with James Taylor on April 21 in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
On his most recent album The Lockdown Sessions, Elton John teamed up everyone from Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa to Stevie Nicks to Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder, but he was really excited about duetting with his old friend Stevie Wonder on the song “Finish Line.” Now, you can watch the emotional and heartwarming video for the track.
The clip mixes vintage home movie footage and photos of pivotal moments in people’s lives with scenes from the pandemic, so in addition to couples with their babies, weddings and family gatherings, you’ll see overwhelmed healthcare workers and masked-up people going about their daily lives.
In the middle of it all is footage of Elton and Stevie performing together over the years, including clips of video for their 1985 #1 charity hit “That’s What Friends Are For,” which also featured Dionne Warwick and Gladys Knight.
When the album was first released, Elton said that “Finish Line” marked his first-ever vocal duet with Stevie, who also played harmonica and acoustic piano on the track.
“It sounds simply incredible. Stevie sounds like he’s 19 again,” Elton noted. “It was a special experience making this record with Stevie.”
Released in October 2021, The Lockdown Sessions peaked at #10 on the Billboard 200.
Kid Rock has announced the details of his next album, Bad Reputation.
The record is set to premiere digitally on March 21, followed by a physical release on April 6. Among the songs on the 18-track album are the “snowflake”- and “millennial”-bashing Monster Truck collaboration “Don’t Tell Me How to Live” and the “Let’s Go Brandon”-cheering “We the People,” both of which were previously released as digital singles.
Bad Reputation is the follow-up to 2017’s Sweet Southern Sugar.
Rock will be supporting the new record on his Bad Reputation tour, which kicks off in April and features openers Foreigner, Grand Funk Railroad and Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening on select dates. The “Bawitdaba” singer has previously said that he’ll refuse to play any venue that requires proof of COVID-19 vaccination to attend.
Here’s the Bad Reputation track list:
“Don’t Tell Me How to Live” — featuring Monster Truck
“We the People”
“My Kind of Country”
“Bad Reputation”
“Never Quit”
“Shakedown” — featuring Robert James
“Rockin'”
“The Last Dance”
“See You Again”
“Still Somethin'”
“She’s Your Baby (Now Rock Her)”
“Never Enough”
“Everything to Me”
“Cold Beer”
“Ala-F***in’-Bama”
“Am What I Am”
“The Nashville I Know”
“Fifty”
The xx‘s Oliver Sim has premiered his debut solo single, “Romance with a Memory.”
“I’m thrilled, excited, ecstatic, over caffeinated and overjoyed to be sharing ‘Romance with a Memory’ with you all,” Sim says. “Terrifyingly, this is the first song I’ve ever released under my own name, I really hope you all enjoy it.”
“Romance with a Memory” is available now via digital outlets. You can watch its accompany video, starring a dancing Michael Myers — the Halloween one, not the Wayne’s World one — streaming now on Sim’s YouTube channel.
Sim is now the third and final xx member to release solo material, following band mates Jamie xx and Romy Madley Croft. The trio’s most recent album together is 2017’s I See You.
In related news, The xx has launched a new series on Apple Music 1 called Interludes Radio. The first episode, hosted by Sim, is out today.
March Madness is upon us, and to help hype basketball fans for the main event, the NCAA unveiled this year’s headliners for its March Madness Music Festival.
Peoplereports that The Kid LAROI, Macklemore, Khalid and Imagine Dragons will be hitting the stage as the Division I Men’s Final Four gets underway between April 1 and April 3. LAROI will kick things off on Saturday, April 2, at the Infinite Sounds by Coca-Cola Starlight stage, performing alongside other musical guests Lucky Daye and BIA. Khalid will close Saturday’s festivities.
Then, on Sunday, April 3, Imagine Dragons and Macklemore will perform at the Capital One JamFest show alongside Grouplove and New Orleans musician Trombone Shorty.
The headliners of Friday’s AT&T Block Party event have yet to be revealed.
Registration to buy tickets for Infinite Sounds is now open, while Capital One JamFest registration starts Wednesday, March 23, at 10 a.m. ET. Capital One cardholders will get early access on Monday, March 21. It is unknown when registration for the Block Party opens.
The three-day event will tip off the NCAA’s Men’s Final Four tournament and will wrap up as the national championship gets underway in New Orleans on April 4.
Walker Hayes and Florida Georgia Line are both getting some love at the 2022 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.
FGL is one of the six nominees for Favorite Music Group, alongside Jonas Brothers, Maroon 5, BTS, Black Eyed Peas and Migos. The country duo are currently on hiatus, announcing their break last month.
Meanwhile, Walker gets a shoutout in the Favorite Breakout Artist category. He’s going up against Saweetie, Olivia Rodrigo, Chloë, Glass Animals and Jack Harlowe.
They’re the only two country acts to be nominated at the awards show, though country star turned pop icon Taylor Swift is nominated in several categories, and the “Taylor’s Version” iterations of her country albums Red and Fearless are both nominated in the Favorite Album category.
