Music

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.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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.

People reports 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.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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.

The fan-voted Kids Choice Awards show will take place April 9 and air on Nickelodeon at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello will be the executive music producer on the upcoming Neftlix film Metal Lords. Now, we have an official trailer.

The clip lays out the plot for the movie, which follows a pair of high school friends Hunter and Kevin, played by Adrian Greensmith and It‘s Jaeden Martell, who start a metal band together. In search of a bassist, they recruit school band cellist Emily, played by Isis Hainsworth. Teen drama ensues, this time with a heavy metal soundtrack.

Metal Lords is directed by Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist filmmaker Peter Sollett, and was written by Game of Thrones co-creator D.B. Weiss. It premieres on Netflix April 8.

By the way, Metal Lords isn’t the first time Morello and Weiss collaborated. The two previously jammed together on an all-star version of the Game of Thrones theme song alongside Anthrax‘s Scott Ian, Extreme‘s Nuno Bettencourt, composer Ramin Djawadi and country star Brad Paisley.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.) 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Backstage at the ACM Awards earlier this week, Carrie Underwood teased that she might have something new to share relatively soon, though she didn’t give any indication that new music is imminent.

But maybe fans can look forward to new material from Carrie sooner than they thought — at least, if her cryptic new social media post is any indication.

The singer shared a studio shot on Wednesday of her wearing a black hoodie and performing with headphones on and a mic in front of her.

“So, I did a thing…” Carrie wrote in the caption.

As she often does when she’s teasing new music, Carrie kept things pretty enigmatic, not dropping any hints just yet of what the “thing” she did might be.

Carrie — who is also celebrating her 39th birthday on Thursday — offered a few more hints about new projects in the works backstage at the ACMs on Monday night, saying, “Obviously, we can’t spill too many beans right now, but my fans know what I mean when I say, ‘Soon.’”

Her last studio album, Cry Pretty, came out in 2018. Since then, Carrie released a Christmas album, My Gift, and a gospel album, My Savior. She also duetted with Jason Aldean on his chart-topping “If I Didn’t Love You,” which won Single of the Year at the ACMs.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

 “Fight Song” singer Rachel Platten admits she struggled with her mental health after giving birth to her baby daughter, Sophie Jo.

“I feel so proud of myself, I got through an incredibly painful battle with my mental health, long days that felt impossible and tears that wouldn’t stop coming and nights that felt never ending when my poor scared body wouldn’t let me sleep,” Rachel said in an Instagram post celebrating her baby turning six months old. 

Rachel continued, “I tried every tool possible, even ones i was previously scared of, and finally now I’m feeling consistent joy, ease, power and real hope again. Actually [screw] that it’s not even hope, it’s bigger. It’s a KNOWING.”

“I know my strength. I know my worth. I know who I am and i love myself,” Rachel explained, saying her new source of self comes from knowing her self-worth. “I love this human life underneath all of those labels. i know all my insecurities and weaknesses and all my glorious sunny parts too and i welcome them all,” she declared.

Rachel dubbed this gift her “true power” and called upon her fans who may be in her shoes.  “I’m here as an example that you can do this. You can be your own hero and you can learn to love all of you and i believe in you,” she encouraged.

She also passed along the lesson her aunt gave her, which was, “No one is going to come save you. Be your own hero. Do one brave thing today. Do one more tomorrow. Win the day. You can do this.”

Rachel closed her inspirational post with, “You can do this. Win the day.  I love you all.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Weeknd shut down rumors on Wednesday about an original Dawn FM track list that featured star-studded collaborations.  

The Grammy winner retweeted story from the outlet Buzzing Pop, which purportedly showed the original handwritten track list of Dawn FM.  Among the names included in the roundup were Ariana Grande, TY Dolla $ign and others.

Fans were quick to tweet at The Weeknd, with some demanding a deluxe edition of his new album that would include the rumored collaborations.  Eventually, the “Earned It” singer broke his silence and let his fans know they fell for a hoax.

“I love every single one of these artists but this is beyond fake. XO,” The Weeknd tweeted later in the day. 

Despite him clearing the air, some fans are now begging The Weeknd to make the collabos happen.  

The Weeknd previously collaborated with Ariana on the its “Love Me Harder,” “Off the Table” and the remix of “Save Your Tears.”  As for Ty, the two collaborated with Lil Wayne on his song “Or Nah.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Nick Cannon‘s daytime talk show, The Nick Cannon Show, has been canceled after one season on the air. 

According to Variety, employees of the daily show were informed that it had not been renewed for a second season and that Thursday was the final day of taping. 

“It’s never easy to cancel a production with clear potential,” said Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein, co-presidents of the show’s producer-distributor, Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury. “But after a great deal of deliberation and examining various options, we have made the difficult business decision to end production on Nick Cannon.” 

The cancellation doesn’t come as much of a surprise, since the ratings for the show, which premiered on Fox in September 2021, were not that great. According to Deadline, the program ranked as the lowest-rated, single-host daytime syndicated talk show this season, with an average 0.4 household rating.

Despite the abrupt production ending, the show will continue to air original episodes through May.

“We plan to offer viewers original episodes of the daytime talk show through the remainder of this season,” Marcus and Bernstein said. “Our thanks go to the very talented Nick Cannon and our wonderful production team, and we wish Nick continued success with his many hit ventures.”

Variety also reported that the show was soon expected to go on a five-week hiatus because of Nick’s busy schedule on other projects.

Though this chapter of his TV journey is ending, Nick will continue his hosting duties on other shows like MTV’s Wild ‘N Out and Fox’s The Masked Singer.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NOTE LANGUAGE) Chris Brown is seeking an apology after he posted alleged text messages and a voice note from the woman who has sued him for rape.

After sharing the video and messages on social media and in an effort to clear his name of the allegations, Brown took to his Instagram story on Wednesday, saying he was owed an apology but isn’t optimistic about actually receiving it.  

“Damn y’all owe me an apology… won’t hold my breath waiting for it though ….” the post read. 

The text messages that allegedly came from the woman to Brown circulated on internet earlier this week. “Missing u,” and “U were honestly the best — I’ve had” were a part of the thread. In the voice note Brown shared, a voice that sounds to be that of a woman can be heard saying, “I just want to see you again, I mean, just answer the phone.”

According to Rolling Stone, the unnamed woman claims the R&B singer laced her drink and assaulted her on a yacht in December 2020. 

Upon the discovery of the text messages, the woman lost her legal representation. “We were not made aware that the information existed (prior to filing),” the woman’s lawyer, George Vrabeck, told Rolling Stone. “It’s not a comment on whether an assault happened or not, but it precludes us from going forward.”

Brown initially shared his thoughts about the new accusations back in January, saying he thinks the recent allegations, and those of the past, always seem to pop up when he’s working on new music.

“I HOPE YALL SEE THIS PATTERN OF [lies] whenever I’m releasing new music or projects, “THEY” try to pull some real bulls***,” the singer wrote back in January.

Over time, Brown has maintained his innocence and continued to post comments and messages on social media in support of it. 

“No more dragging me through the mud,” the singer said along with the voice note he shared. “CLEARLY YOU CAN ALL SEE THE [lie]. Now let’s see if the media will keep that same energy they had trying to destroy me, to Run the real story. Me and my team are taking legal action on this situation. You don’t play with people lives like that. THX TEAM BREEZY…”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.