Music

Omar Epps stars as a Chicago gangster in the upcoming movie Moses the Black, which now has an official release date. Fathom Entertainment announced that it is set to release on Jan. 30, 2026.

Moses the Black is inspired by the story of the titular fourth century monk and saint, who transformed his life after years of being a violent gang leader. Omar will take on the role of Chicago gang leader Malik while serving as executive producer alongside Wiz Khalifa, 50 Cent and more.

Wiz also appears in the film as 2wo-3ree, the head of Malik’s young crew, while Quavo portrays Straw, the leader of a rival gang competing against Malik’s team for power. Chukwudi Iwuji plays St. Moses the Black.

“This film is about redemption and real change. It’s raw, it’s emotional, and it’s powerful. I can’t wait for audiences to see it,” 50 Cent says in a statement.

Fathom Entertainment CEO Ray Nutt adds it’s “an action-packed drama” and “heart-pounding story” that was made to be seen on the big screen.

Fans can sign up on Fathom Entertainment’s website for information about Moses the Black, for which tickets will become available on Dec. 19.

Alexandros Potter produced the film with Yelena Popovic for Simeon Entertainment on behalf of Simeon Faith.

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Gigi Perez has premiered a new short film called Back to the Beach.

The 15-minute video reflects on the “Sailor Song” artist’s breakout 2025, which included releasing her debut album, At the Beach, in Every Life, opening for Hozier and being named the Vevo DSCVR Artist of the Year.

In Back to the Beach, Perez returns to the Village Music Cafe in Palm Beach, Florida, where she first started performing, and reunites with her very first guitar.

“I think the first few years of putting music out under my artist name, there were a lot of constant roadblocks,” Perez says. “Like, every single day, there was a door that you opened, and behind it was, like, a little fist that punched you in the face.”

“But this year, it was different,” she continues. “Things started to just flow and happen in a way that I just haven’t experienced before … I’m just so grateful.”

Back to the Beach is now streaming on YouTube. It also includes performances of the songs “Fable” and “Sugar Water.”

Gigi Perez’s 2026 plans so far include performances at Coachella.

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David Archuleta was busy this year, releasing a bunch of music, going on tour and prepping his memoir, Devout, for a February release. He’s also just released a new Christmas EP, My Only Wish, and scheduled LA and New York residencies to promote it. Why put himself through all of that?

“Cause I’m crazy,” David jokes. “My manager was like, ‘What if we wait ’til next year so that we can properly set it up?’ At the time I was like, ‘No, I want to do it this year because I’m in the mood now.'”

He laughs, “But now it’s like, sometimes you give yourself too much work to do.”

One track on the EP, “Wish at the Top of My List,” teams David with another American Idol alum, Jordin Sparks, for a collaboration that’s been a long time coming.

“We’ve been talking for over a decade to do a duet,” David says. “To hear her singing on a song that I wrote, like, singing with me … it just made me feel so good.”

And there’s another song of David’s out there you may have heard: He co-wrote “Wish That You Were Me,” sung by Beanie Feldstein‘s pop star character THĒ in season 5 of Only Murders in the Building. David’s friend John Hoffman, the OMITB showrunner, is a fan of David’s song “Crème Brûlée” and asked him to write a similar song for the show.

David says John told him the synopsis of the season, the character they were developing and the kind of song they needed. 

“And I’d never written, really, to fit another character,” David says. “And I was like, ‘That sounds fun.'”

“I was kind of like creating this little bit of a sassier character in my own music with ‘Crème Brûlée,'” he explains. “So it was just fun to channel a little more extreme version of that.” 

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Humility reigned backstage at the 59th CMA Awards. 

“I didn’t even think this was possible,” new artist winner Zach Top marveled. “People that sang country music on my radio and on my cassette tapes and won CMA awards were like mythical creatures, it wasn’t a real life thing to me. No one in my world had any connection to anything in this world.”

Faith helped keep surprise vocal group winners The Red Clay Strays on track during the hard times.

“Just not giving up, first of all, that’s really the main secret, is you just don’t quit, it’s as simple as that,” lead singer Brandon Coleman said. “And we just trusted God a lot through all of it, even when we should’ve quit.”

Riley Green gave fans the credit for his multiple wins with Ella Langley.

“They’ve got to feel ownership. ‘You Look Like You Love Me’ was — Ella may’ve known it was a hit. I certainly didn’t…” he recalled. “But then we played it on the road, you know, it became a thing.”

First time male vocalist of the year Cody Johnson traced his win to Merle Haggard: “I met him once. He signed my guitar. He taught me more about songwriting and being a vocalist than anybody else in the country music genre.”

Lifetime achievement winner Vince Gill pointed to the award’s namesake as one of country music’s remaining guiding lights. 

“This man’s 92 years old, Willie Nelson. He’s still making records all the time, still writing the songs all the time and teaching us all how important songs are,” Vince said backstage. “You know, you look at that catalog of songs that Willie Nelson has accomplished and it’s staggering, you know. And he’s a great role model, he’s a great person to mentor to us.”

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The 59th annual CMA Awards took place in Nashville Wednesday, and it was a great night for the show’s host, Lainey Wilson.

Lainey took home three honors, including entertainer of the year for a second time. She also won album of the year for Whirlwind, joining Miranda Lambert as only the second female artist in CMA history to win twice in that category. Lainey previously won in 2023 for Bell Bottom Country. She also won female vocalist of the year for a fourth consecutive year.

Brooks & Dunn also had reason to celebrate. Their win for vocal duo of the year was their record-extending 16th win in that category. The win also broke a tie with Chris Stapleton for the most overall wins in the history of the CMAs with 20.

Cody Johnson landed his first win for male vocalist of the year, breaking Stapleton’s five-year winning streak in that category. Plus, Ella Langley and Riley Green won three awards for “you look like you love me,” and the night featured two first-time winners, Zach Top, for new artist of the year, and The Red Clay Strays, for vocal group of the year.  

Vince Gill was honored with the CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, and he cracked a joke aimed at the award’s namesake.

“I’m pretty confident I’m the only one that’s ever won this award that’s never smoked any weed,” he said.

Of course, the show was chock-full of performances, including Lainey’s opening number, which had her performing a medley of country hits, including Lady A‘s “Need You Now,” Little Big Town‘s “Girl Crush,” and Miranda Lambert’s “Gunpowder and Lead.”

Other highlights included Lambert and Stapleton’s first performance of “A Song to Sing,” and Kenny Chesney‘s medley of “American Kids” and “When the Sun Goes Down,” which he dedicated to its writer, Brett James, who died in a plane crash in September.

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The biggest names in country music were honored at the 59th annual Country Music Association Awards Wednesday, hosted by Lainey Wilson.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Entertainer of the Year
Lainey Wilson

Single of the Year
“you look like you love me” – Ella Langley & Riley Green

Album of the Year
Whirlwind – Lainey Wilson

Song of the Year
“you look like you love me” – Ella Langley & Riley Green

Female Vocalist of the Year
Lainey Wilson

Male Vocalist of the Year
Cody Johnson

Vocal Group of the Year
The Red Clay Strays

Vocal Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn

New Artist of the Year
Zach Top

Musical Event of the Year
“Pour Me A Drink” – Post Malone (feat. Blake Shelton)

Music Video of the Year
“you look like you love me” – Ella Langley & Riley Green

Musician of the Year
Paul Franklin – Steel Guitar

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Royal Blood has been royally quiet for most of 2025, but now that the year is almost over, they’re making some noise once more.

“As the final part of 2025 draws in, we wanted to break the radio silence and let you know what we’ve been up to,” the “Figure It Out” duo writes in an Instagram Story. “Since the epic 2023/24 tour, we’ve taken some time out to hang out with our family & friends, get involved with our local community … and challenge ourselves to try some new things.”

Said new things include “climbing a few mountains”; frontman Mike Kerr training for the New York City Marathon and “subsequently gaining an injury before pulling out” of the race; and “exploring some new places across Europe and the Americas.”

“We hope you have a wicked festive season,” the post concludes. “[We] can’t wait to see you all again soon.”

Royal Blood’s most recent album is 2023’s Back to the Water Below. 

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The cast of Alicia Keys‘ Broadway musical Hell’s Kitchen will release a new holiday song called “Hell’s Kitchen’s A Merry Little Christmas.” The Adam Blackstone-produced song, a mash-up of the classic “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” and Alicia’s own “The Gospel,” features vocals from Yolanda Adams and fellow cast members Amanda Reid, Phillip Johnson Richardson and Jessica Vosk. It is now available for preorder. 

Lil Baby continues Wham Wednesdays with the release of the song “Real S***” and its music video. Wham Wednesdays, which find the rapper dropping a new song and video on Wednesdays, will go on through the end of the year.

GloRilla may be known for her rapping, but she says she has another album in the works. She posted on X Wednesday, “& I will be doing a rnb album.”

Cardi B has shared some photos of her baby boy with NFL star Stefon Diggs, who was born on Nov. 4. Two pictures find her sitting in an armchair and cradling the newborn, who was dressed in an outfit adorned with footballs and his last name, Diggs. Another photo captures her in the hospital with the baby in her arms and Diggs by her side. The last slide, which finds baby Diggs on a bed, has also prompted engagement rumors because of the ring on Cardi’s ring finger.

A$AP Rocky‘s Don’t Be Dumb may come out in 2025. When sharing a fun fact with Vanity Fair, he said, “Danny Elfman, he just did my album with me that I’m putting out this year. He scored a bunch of the songs on my new album.”

Camp Flog Gnaw will take place in LA over the weekend, with a few changes to the lineup. Don Toliver, Tems and The Alchemist are among the acts who will no longer perform; Kali Uchis is one of the replacements.

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No more complaints from fans that Olivia Rodrigo is “anywhere but the studio.” In an Instagram dump of photos captioned “November,” Liv is very clearly in the studio: She’s seen standing in front of a microphone in a vocal booth and pouting. Fans were thrilled, writing in the comments, “OR3 IS COMINGGGG” and “OR3 IS CLOSER THAN WE THINK.”

AIR Shop is offering BLACKPINK fans the chance to win two tickets to see the K-pop superstars at the Tokyo Dome in January. If you sign up for a free membership on the platform, which offers more than 40 million concert, sports and theater tickets worldwide, you can be one of five fans to win tickets to one of the group’s shows on Jan. 16, 17 or 18. You have until Dec. 13 to enter, but travel and hotel aren’t included.

John Rzeznik of Goo Goo Dolls has joined the lineup of Freezingman 2026, a two-night benefit held Jan. 9-10 in Madison, Wisconsin. The benefit, which will also feature members of The Go-Go’s, Portugal. The Man, The Bangles and many others, raises money for epilepsy research and children with special needs.

Victoria Beckham may not be interested in doing a Spice Girls reunion, but she doesn’t mind singing her group’s hits with her son. Cruz Beckham posted a video of himself playing the Spice Girls hit “Viva Forever” on acoustic guitar as Victoria sings along with him. Fans were thrilled, with one commenting, “omg Cruz thank you for bringing mom back to singing.” Another wrote, “I love this so much. See, Posh CAN sing!”

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