Music

New York was well represented at Wednesday night’s ESPYs at Lincoln Center, with performances from De La Soul, Slick Rick, Ghostface Killah and Fat Joe.

De La Soul got the crowd on its feet “for the love of sports and music” before performing “Stakes is High” and “Run It Back!!” Slick Rick made his entrance from the audience alongside a violinist, going into his classic hit “La Di Da Di.“

Ghostface Killah opened his set with his verse on “Ice Cream” by Raekwon, who has his own surprise coming up Aug. 7 in New York City. He then paid tribute to Ol’ Dirty Bastard, performing the late rapper’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” before rapping his own “Cherchez LaGhost.”

Fat Joe, who earlier in the night crashed the New York Knicks team photo, closed out the show with a performance of “All the Way Up.”

DJ Premier kept the music going, as he spun the 1s and 2s throughout the night.

The 2026 ESPYs will be available to stream Thursday on Disney+, Hulu, the ESPN App and ABC Video on Demand.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News, Hulu and ESPN.

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Gojira drummer Mario Duplantier will miss the band’s upcoming run of U.S. shows.

In an Instagram post published Thursday, the French metallers write, “Mario is dealing with an immigration issue that has made it impossible for him to travel to the US in time for our shows.”

“Mario is heartbroken not to be here with us and has fought hard every step of the way to find a solution,” the post continues.

Gojira is set to headline the Wisconsin Rock Fest on Thursday, followed by performances at the Upheaval and Inkcarceration festivals on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The shows will go on as scheduled with Luigi Paraventi of the band Paleface Swiss playing drums in Duplantier’s place.

While Gojira fans were certainly hoping to watch Duplantier play, Paraventi filling in means that a Luigi is taking the role of a Mario, which is a fun nugget for any Nintendo gamers out there.

“Player 2 has entered the game — RESPECT,” Gojira writes.

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Echo & the Bunnymen have announced a new album called Apples for Isaac.

The 13th full-length effort from “The Killing Moon” outfit is due out Sept. 18. It’s the follow-up to 2014’s Meteorites.

Apples for Isaac was recorded with late Blondie drummer Clem Burke, who died in 2025.

“The mighty, legendary Clem Burke – longtime friend of [vocalist Ian McCulloch] – was integral to the making of this album and heartbreakingly passed away during its completion… Love you, Clem,” Echo & the Bunnymen say.

You can listen to the first single, “Brussels is Haunted,” out now.

Here’s the Apples for Isaac track list:
“Take Me By the Hand”
“Can’t Be Sold”
“Brussels Is Haunted”
“I’ll Be Your Sunshine”
“Hijacked”
“The Honey”
“An Unstoppable Force”
“The Light That Surrounds You”
“Lab Rats Ran”
“Asimov”
“We Prayed in the Dark”

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Nine Inch Nails have released a new teaser video alongside producer Boys Noize.

The clip, posted to NIN’s Instagram, features grainy footage of the cover of Nine Inch Noize, the “Closer” outfit’s collaborative album with Boys Noize. It ends with a closeup of a sticker showing Friday’s date, July 17.

Perhaps the video is teasing a vinyl edition of Nine Inch Noize, which was released digitally in April. The record includes reworked, electronic-driven versions of past NIN songs such as “Closer,” “Copy of A” and “Came Back Haunted.”

NIN’s Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross previously worked with Boys Noize on the [MIXED] version of their 2024 Challengers score and then again on their 2025 Tron: Ares soundtrack. 

Boys Noize also opened for NIN’s 2025-2026 Peel It Back tour, during which he joined Reznor and Ross onstage for a section of the set each night. They made their live debut as Nine Inch Noize at Coachella 2026 in April.

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Even if you don’t care about soccer, you might want to tune into the FIFA World Cup™ Final on Sunday to watch the star-studded halftime show.

The 11-minute show at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium will feature performances by Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira, BTS, Burna Boy, Coldplay alongside a children’s chorus, the Muppets and members of the New York Philharmonic and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.

You can watch it all go down at 3:45 p.m. ET on Fox Sports and Telemundo. Check your local listings for broadcast and streaming details.

The performance, predicted to be the most-watched halftime show of all time, supports the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which works to expand access to education and soccer for kids globally. A dollar from every ticket sold to the FIFA World Cup 2026™ matches will be donated to the fund.

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If luck is on your side, you could spend One Night Only with Jordan Davis and Nate Smith. 

That’s the name of Busch Light’s intimate win-your-way-in concert series, which takes place later this year in Ohio and Utah. You can’t buy tickets, and entering online is the only way to see the intimate, invitation-only free shows.

Jordan will play Aug. 26 in Columbus, while Nate’s on tap Sept. 10 in Salt Lake City.

If you win, you’ll get a ticket for you and a friend, with venue details to be revealed later.

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Brandy and Rita Ora are returning to the world of Descendants.

The actresses reprise their roles as Cinderella and the Queen of Hearts in Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, the next chapter following the success of Descendants: The Rise of Red.

Speaking with ABC News entertainment contributor Kelley Carter in an interview aired on Good Morning America Thursday, the stars shared how the new film reimagines familiar Disney characters while bringing their own friendship to the screen.

Ora said she was drawn to the complexity of playing her role.

“I did love the idea of the Queen of Hearts, you never really know if she’s pretending or if it’s real,” Ora said. “You’ve got obviously Cinderella, who is always that anchor within the movies.”

Meanwhile, Brandy added, “I did have my villain pants on … that’s new for Cinderella.”

The pair also teased a new duet, which they said is one of the moments they’re most excited for fans to see.

“It was magical. The song is called ‘The Girl I Used to Be.’ I think people are gonna love it,” Brandy said.

Ora agreed, saying, “It was my dream to be not only on a song with her, but also just in anything with her because I’ve been looking up to her since I can remember.”

Their collaboration was years in the making.

“What people don’t really know is that I met Rita when she got her start,” Brandy said. “I saw this beautiful light in her then and I see it now. And when we got a chance to do this movie together, I mean, our chemistry was just unmatched.” 

Descendants: Wicked Wonderland premieres Wednesday on Disney Channel and begins streaming Friday on Disney+.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News and Disney Channel.

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On This Day, July 16, 2008…

Billy Joel played the first of two nights at New York’s historic Shea Stadium, the venue’s final concerts before its demolition.

Held at the home of the New York Mets, the show saw Joel welcoming several guests, including Tony Bennett, Garth Brooks, Steven Tyler, Roger Daltrey and Paul McCartney. During the second concert, on July 18, McCartney was driven to the stage by the same groundskeeper who drove The Beatles onto the field when they played Shea Stadium in 1965.

Demolition on the venue began in October 2008.

A documentary of the shows, The Last Play at Shea, premiered in 2010 at the Tribeca Film Festival and later played at Citi Field, the stadium that replaced Shea. A CD and DVD of the shows were released in March 2011.

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