Music

After breaking out on TikTok, Emmy Meli’s song “I Am Woman” is climbing the radio chart. Back in 1972, there was a number one hit called “I Am Woman” by the late Australian singer Helen Reddy. It became an anthem for the women’s movement and has earned a permanent place in pop culture — it even inspired Katy Perry‘s hit “Roar.” So, was Emmy equally inspired by Reddy’s song? Well, no.

“I’m actually ashamed to say that at first, I didn’t know what people were talking about,” Emmy admits to ABC Audio. “I had no idea that that was a song, and then once I went back and listened to it, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I feel like I might have heard this song before, like, maybe in a movie.’ Or it sounded familiar, for sure.”

The point is that when Emmy wrote “I Am Woman,” which has a similar message of female empowerment, she really wasn’t aware that there was another song with that title and theme…until people started pointing it out.

“At first, people were like ‘Nice cover of the song by Helen Reddy,’ and I was like, ‘Wait, who’s Helen Reddy?'” she laughs. “And I felt kind of dumb, because I love oldies and I love older music, and I grew up listening to lots of ’50s and ’60s music and funk and Motown and a lot of older artists.”

“I kind of was like, ‘How did I not know who Helen Reddy is?”’ she laughs. “I was embarrassed that I didn’t know!”

A few days ago, Emmy released a video for “I Am Woman” billed as Emmy Meli & Friends. It features women of all races, from all walks of life, illustrating the song’s message.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has shared a statement regarding the COVID-19 safety protocols for his U.S. solo tour, which launches Thursday in New York City.

“We have done our absolute best and are doing everything we can to be able to play these shows as safely as possible,” Vedder writes.

Vedder asks attendees for tonight’s show to “remember to bring your proof of vaccination and wear your mask.” He adds, “If you have access to testing and can double-check you’re negative before you come, even better.”

“The goal is to be conscientious of others,” Vedder concludes. “And in doing so, get 2 or 3 hours where we can not think of any of this crap and tap into the live music we’ve been missing.”

Vedder will be touring in support of his forthcoming solo album, Earthling, due out February 11. His live band for the outing features Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, ex-RHCP guitarist and current Pearl Jam touring member Josh Klinghoffer, Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, and producer and guitarist Andrew Watt.

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Jack White has achieved a career first with his new single, “Taking Me Back.”

The track has hit number one on Billboard‘s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, which measures “radio airplay audience impressions” across rock-, alternative- and adult alternative-formatted stations. That gives the White Stripes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather rocker his first-ever number-one hit on a Billboard radio chart as a solo artist.

“Taking Me Back” had already set a personal chart record for White when it became his highest-charting solo single on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay and Alternative Airplay charts.

In addition to hearing “Taking Me Back” all over your radio, you can find it on White’s upcoming album Fear of the Dawn, dropping April 8. It’s the first of two solo records White is releasing this year, alongside Entering Heaven Alive, which is due out July 22.

White launches a U.S. tour on April 8 in Detroit.

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After over 40 years in music, Bobby Brown is grateful to continue his career as he prepares for the New Edition Culture tour later this month.

The self-proclaimed “King of Stage” has endured many family tragedies, including the loss of his son, Bobby Brown Jr., in 2021, the death of his daughter, Bobbi Christina, in 2015, and the passing of his ex-wife, Whitney Houston, in 2012.

“I’ve been through a lot in the past and, you know, just getting through it and being able to love what I love, which is entertainment again, is just something special, and makes us all proud,” Bobby tells Entertainment Tonight.

The tour, which also features Charlie Wilson and Jodeci, begins February 16, in Columbus, Georgia, and runs through an April 10 concert in Miami. Johnny Gill, who joined New Edition in 1987 when Brown left for a solo career, says he admires the “My Prerogative” singer.

“Just seeing in the rehearsal watching him. How much he’s grown,” Gill says. Johnny adds that the tour will be magical.

“It’s going to be a moving experience,” he comments. “I think the fans are really going to enjoy it.”

Brown will also be featured in two A&E projects: the two-night Biography: Bobby Brown special airing May 30 and 31, and the docuseries Bobby Brown: Every Little Step, which premieres May 31.

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We haven’t heard anything from Nick Jonas and his wife, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, since they surprised everyone on January 21 with the revelation that they’d welcomed their first child via surrogate.  The baby’s sex hasn’t been confirmed by the proud parents, but a new interview with Priyanka may have inadvertently done so.

Priyanka is on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar Asia, and in part of the accompanying interview, the actress discusses her work as a UNICEF ambassador, trying uplift women and girls in India — which she says “changed me and made me feel like I’m useful to the world.” 

But the magazine introduces that part of the interview with a passage that reads, “Female empowerment has always been something that Priyanka has been invested in. And now, considering that she has her own daughter to raise, that commitment is sure to become even more laser-focused.”

The article also notes, “And as of January 15th, Priyanka has finally discovered the most precious and profound form of love that exists — that of a mother towards her child.”  That date is six days before the announcement was made, which seems to indicate that the baby was born on the 15th.

If Nick and Priyanka never actually discuss the sex — even the name — of their child, they’ll just be following a family tradition.  When Nick’s brother and band mate Joe Jonas and his wife, Sophie Turner, became parents in July of 2020, they didn’t confirm either the sex or the name of their baby.  It was Nick who actually confirmed reports, four months later, that it was a girl named Willa.

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Kelly Clarkson has a musical surprise for fans: She’s recorded a new version of Dolly Parton‘s classic “9 to 5” with newly minted Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee Dolly herself.

The song features in a new documentary called Still Working 9 to 5, which examines the landmark 1980 comedy and the impact it had on the women’s movement at that time, as well as how its message still continues to resonate today as women continue to fight for equality in the work place. 

The doc features the stars of the original film — Dolly, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman — plus Rita Moreno from the spinoff TV series 9 to 5, as well as Allison Janney, appeared in the Broadway musical based on the film.  There are also interviews with activists and individuals associated with the women’s movement, both in the past and today.

The documentary’s closing song is the new version of the original “9 to 5” theme song, produced by country music super-producer and songwriter Shane McAnally.  Audiences will get to hear it for the first time when the movie has its premiere at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, on March 13.  There will also be screenings March 14 and March 18.

ABC Audio has confirmed that the song, which was recorded at the end of 2021, will be commercially released in the middle of 2022.

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