Music

Fans will be able to watch the public memorial service for Naomi Judd live: It’s being aired commercial-free on CMT.

The event, called Naomi Judd: A River of Time Celebration, will be held at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Sunday, May 15 at 6 p.m. ET. Wynonna Judd — Naomi’s daughter and The Judds duet partner — will pay tribute to the late country legend during the ceremony, as will Naomi’s other daughter, actor Ashley Judd.

More performances and special appearances from Naomi’s friends and fellow country stars are expected to be announced in the days ahead.

Naomi died unexpectedly on April 30, just one day before The Judds were scheduled to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Wynonna and Ashley issued a statement announcing the news. “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” the statement reads in part.

In the wake of her death, CMT re-aired The Judds’ final performance of “Love Can Build a Bridge,” which originally took place during the 2022 CMT Music Awards. The televised memorial service will “celebrate her timeless voice, unforgettable spirit and the immense impact she left on our genre through the best form of healing we have — music,” according to a statement from CMT.

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Kelly Clarkson has been quiet on the music front as of late, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been hitting up the studio. Kelly hinted to Extra that fans should start preparing a new space on their album racks because new music might be on the way.

“I do have something coming out,” the “Catch My Breath” singer teased. “I don’t want to excite people — it’s not maybe what people think — but it is something to kind of bridge to another project.”

When asked to compare her new project to previous works, Kelly replied, “Musically, it’s similar to… I can’t describe it, really.  It’s hard to do.”

Aside from last year’s Christmas album, When Christmas Comes Around…, Kelly hasn’t released new music since 2017’s Meaning of Life, which contained the hits “Love So Soft,” “Heat” and “I Don’t Think About You.”

In other Kelly news, she recently revealed the Mother’s Day gift she received from her kids’ nanny made her tear up.  “I’m a single mom, right? So I’’m either at work or with kids,” she told the outlet. “So my nanny — I literally almost cried —  she walked into the kitchen and was like, ‘Hey, for Mother’s Day, I’m going to give you the gift of time and you can just do whatever you want.'”

“I almost broke down, I was like, ‘What?'” Kelly recalled. 

Kelly shares seven-year-old River and six-year-old Remington with ex-husband Brandon Blackstock.

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Ashanti says Taylor Swift inspired her to re-record her eponymous debut studio album, which turned 20 this year.

The Grammy winner told Metro.co.uk, “I’ve always had the idea to go back in and re-record and gain the masters,” and says she felt “empowered” to do so after Swift announced she was re-recording her first six albums.

“I think Taylor is amazing for what she’s done and to be able to be a female in this very male-dominated industry, to accomplish that is amazing,” Ashanti praised.  The “Foolish” singer says she is delighted to see women gaining equal ground in the music space, because it benefits everyone.

“More of us have to continue that narrative of women empowerment, and just artists as a whole. Owning your property and getting a chance to have ownership of your creativity is so so important,” she declared. “Male, female, singer, rapper, whatever, I hope this is a lesson for artists to get in there and own.”

Ashanti said it’s “super cool” to re-record her old hits and says her mother is helping her commemorate the nostalgic journey.  “It’s been a really cool vibe and my mom has been getting footage of me going into the booth and she’s like, ‘Wow, this is crazy! When you were recording this 20 years ago at a studio in New York and now you’re here redoing it,'” Ashanti remarked. “It’s a surreal feeling so I’m super excited about it.”

Ashanti also revealed she doesn’t like performing “Rock wit U,” even though she loves the song.  “That’s one of my biggest records and I have a good time, but sometimes it’s just like, ‘ugh,'” she joked.

Ashanti arrived April 2, 2002 and scored her three Grammy nods.

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Thomas Rhett’s Bring the Bar to You Tour launches next month, and by the time it does, he’ll be ready: The singer says he and his band are getting serious about rehearsals.

“We rehearse ourselves into the ground, so that the first show of the tour doesn’t feel like the first show of the tour,” he explains, according to CMT. “It already feels like you’re in your rhythm.

Of course, all that practice can be pretty grueling — “I think the band, at times, has definitely wanted to kill me, just for the amount of time we rehearse,” TR notes — but the singer says he knows from experience how important it is to be ready when you hit the stage.

“I’ve done so many cold starts to tours, especially in my early days, that I never wanted to experience that when I became a headliner,” he adds.

The Bring the Bar to You Tour launches June 17. The run takes its name from a song off of Thomas’ latest album, Where We Started, featuring the lead single “Slow Down Summer.” He’s got a massive batch of new music to choose from in his set list, with more to come soon: The singer’s said he plans to release Side B of his Country Again project at a later date this year.

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Several musicians are among the nominees for both the MTV Movie & TV Awards, and the “UNSCRIPTED” version of those awards, which honor reality TV and other unscripted shows.

Lady Gaga way not have been nominated for an Oscar for House of Gucci, but she’s been honored with a nod for it here, in the category of Best Performance in a Movie.  Her competition includes Robert Pattinson for The Batman, Sandra Bullock for The Lost City, Timothée Chalamet for Dune, and Tom Holland for Spider-Man: No Way Home.

In the new category of Best Song, the nominees include Jennifer Lopez‘s “On My Way (Marry Me),” from the movie Marry Me; Jennifer Hudson‘s “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home),” from Respect; “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” by the cast of Encanto; and Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi‘s “Just Look Up,” from the movie Don’t Look Up.

On the UNSCRIPTED side of things, Kelly Clarkson is up for Best Host, while her self-titled talk show is up for Best Talk/Topical Show. Selena Gomez‘s Selena + Chef is up for Best Lifestyle Show, while American Idol and The Masked Singer are both up for Best Competition Series.

Finally, Olivia Rodrigo‘s driving home 2 u (a SOUR film) is up for Best Music Documentary, as are Lifetime/A&E’s JANET JACKSON. and the Disney+ series The Beatles’ Get Back, among others.

Both award shows will air Sunday, June 5 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

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Adam Sandler‘s daughter, Sunny, had quite the impressive turnout for her bat mitzvah. Guests included Halsey, Charlie Puth, Jennifer Aniston and more.

Page Six reports the coming-of-age celebration’s theme was sugar and candy, where guests enjoyed large balloons, flower arrangements and posed with stuffed candy toys. While Halsey and Charlie were guests, both also took the stage to belt out a few hits for the crowd. It is unknown what songs they performed.

Aside from Aniston, other guests included Twilight actor Taylor Lautner, Jessie stars Peyton List and Karan Brar, as well as Sophie Reynolds and Spencer List.

Sandler shares Sunny and a 16-year-old daughter, Sadie, with wife Jackie Sandler.

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Black Label Society postponed several concerts this week due to frontman Zakk Wylde losing his voice.

The shows affected include Wednesday’s scheduled stop in Chattanooga, Tennessee, as well as this past Monday and Tuesday’s dates in Lexington, Kentucky, and Raleigh, North Carolina.

All three concerts have already been rescheduled: the Lexington show will now take place May 23, while the Raleigh and Chattanooga performances will be held August 30 and August 31, respectively.

Black Label has been on the road touring the band’s new album, Doom Crew Inc., which dropped last November. Nita Strauss is also on the bill. The tour is currently scheduled to continue Friday, May 13, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

This summer, Black Label will launch a co-headlining U.S. tour with Anthrax.

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Sara Bareilles is heading to Orlando, Florida, next month to open the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games, where she will headline this year’s opening ceremony.

The Orlando Sentinel reports the “Brave” singer will kick off the ceremony with a live concert on June 5 in Florida’s Exploria Stadium.  The ceremony will be helmed by Disney Live Entertainment. 

“I am honored to take part in the opening ceremony,” Sara said. “Music unites and inspires, and that is what Special Olympics does every day. To be a part of the USA Games and perform for the athletes and their families as they begin this amazing week is a true gift.”

The 2022 Special Olympics begin June 5 at 8 a.m. ET.  Mmost of the events are scheduled to take place at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.  Tickets for the opening ceremony, which start at $55, are on sale now on the event’s official website and on Ticketmaster.  

If you’re unable to make the opening ceremony, you can watch it on ABC starting at 12 p.m. on June 5. 

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Nine Inch Nails will be the 2022 Riot Fest’s third headliner, joining the previously announced My Chemical Romance and The Original Misfits.

The full bill also includes the reunited Yellowcard, which had broken up in 2017, as well as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yungblud, Alkaline Trio, Portgual. the Man, Bleachers, Sunny Day Real Estate, Placebo, Bad Religion, Jimmy Eat World, Sleater-Kinney, The Linda Lindas, Alexisonfire, jxdn, The Maine and PVRIS, among many others.

Riot Fest 2022 takes place September 16-18 in Chicago. Tickets are on sale now.

For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit RiotFest.org.

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