Music

Jake Owen is the newest addition to the bill for the upcoming PBS 4th of July special, A Capitol Fourth.

“I can’t wait to celebrate the Fourth in D.C. this year,” the singer says. “It’s exciting to be a part of a great American tradition, and to sing a couple songs while I’m at it. See you Monday night!”

The country star will perform two of his number-one country hits: “American Country Love Song” and “Down to the Honky Tonk.” The former is a nostalgic and quintessentially American feel-good hit from 2016, while the latter is a more recent release, coming off his 2019 album, Greetings From…Jake.

Airing live from Washington, D.C., the 42nd iteration of A Capitol Fourth will feature an all-genre lineup, including the National Symphony Orchestra, who will accompany Jake during his performance.

Mickey Guyton is hosting the show. Other performers taking the stage include Cynthia Erivo, Gloria Gaynor and Andy Grammer.

A Capitol Fourth will air on PBS on Monday, July 4 at 8 p.m. ET.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Rage Against the Machine has been trending on Twitter in response to a Vancouver radio station playing their “Killing in the Name” song nonstop.

As the Vancouver Sun reports, the station started playing the 1992 rap-metal classic early Wednesday morning and continued to do so throughout the day without changing to any other song. Occasionally, Zack de la Rocha‘s declaration of “Now you do what they told ya” would be interrupted by the DJs to take a call requesting a different song, only to cue up “Killing in the Name” again.

Speculation began that the never-ending “Killing in the Name” playlist was a form of protest in support of several hosts who’d announced earlier in the week they’d be departing the station. However, it now seems that it was a stunt to signal the station’s change to an alternative format.

In a video posted Thursday, new host Angela Valiant offered an explanation, essentially summing up that while the “Killing in the Name” loop was meant to introduce the rebranded station, it also reflected all the “reasons to protest” currently, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and the police brutality about which “Killing in the Name” was originally written.

Valiant also quotes a tweet from a Guardian reporter covering the story that declared, “Even if it is a stunt, you can believe it’s a protest.”

Rage Against the Machine, meanwhile, is gearing up to finally launch the band’s reunion tour, which was postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The outing kicks off July 9 in East Troy, Wisconsin.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Sam Smith rang in the big 3-0 last month, and in a new interview, the “Stay With Me” singer opened up about their latest birthday milestone.

“I feel great. I’m enjoying it,” Sam declared on The Late Late Show Starring James Corden, “I want to get old like a fine wine.”  

The four-time Grammy winner then went into how they celebrated their big day. “I had a great time! I basically threw myself a wedding,” they teased. Sam’s faux nuptials took them to Italy and they gushed, “It was great… I just drank wine and swam in the river. It was really good!”

Sam previously shared how they celebrated their birthday with a snap on Instagram, which they captioned, “Finally… 30, flirty, dirty and thriving.” They then followed up with a photo dump and wrote, “And just like that… 30.”

Images showed them wearing fabulous sequin mini dresses, enjoying a bath in a stone tub, playing by the river in the sunshine, and of course, spending time with good company in Italy.

Later during their late-night show appearance, Sam teamed with Cat Burns to perform their song “Go.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Marshmello is the first artist ever to team up with Coca-Cola for his own signature flavor, but shockingly, it’s not marshmallow.

Marshmello’s Limited Edition Coca-Cola combines strawberry and watermelon flavors with Coke. It’ll be available starting July 11, along with a zero-sugar version. Speaking to Billboard, Marshmello says he didn’t want to do a marshmallow flavor specifically because that’s what everyone would expect.

“I had a different flavor in mind originally and then we started messing around with other crazy flavors…We had a million flavors in front of us,” he explains. “We homed in on [strawberry and watermelon] and that was that.”

Each slim format can features a graphic of Marshmello’s iconic helmet. Speaking of that, when the artist visited Coca-Cola headquarters to help create the flavor, he tasted the options through a custom-made straw designed to fit through his helmet, so he wouldn’t have to remove it.

The launch will be celebrated with a July 9 Twitch takeover that will allow fans to control Marshmello in a livestream gaming adventure and access exclusive “metamerch.” Starting July 29, fans can scan a QR code on the cans to gain access to the Coca-Cola Creations hub, where they can hear Mello’s new track “Numb” while creating digital art.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Alanis Morissette paid tribute to late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins during her concert in London earlier this week.

During a performance of the song “Ironic,” the onstage screens played archival video from throughout Morissette’s career, including when Hawkins played in her live band in the mid-90s on her massive Jagged Little Pill tour.

As the song ended, the screens went dark before a photo of Hawkins appeared alongside the caption, “In Memory of Taylor Hawkins.”

You can watch fan-shot footage of the performance and the tribute now via YouTube.

Hawkins toured with Morissette until he joined Foo Fighters in 1997.

Morissette will continue to honor Hawkins’ memory when she performs at Foo Fighters’ upcoming tribute concert in Los Angeles, taking place September 27. The LA date is the second of two planned Hawkins tribute shows, the first of which will be held September 3 in London.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jimmie Allen’s new album, Tulip Drive, comes out on Friday, and fans got a sweet surprise at the beginning of one song, “You Won’t Be Alone“: The singer’s son, Aadyn, is featured. The track opens with a recording of the now-eight-year-old saying, “Hi daddy, I love you!” when he was about four and a half.

Jimmie’s not the only country star who’s got a song spotlighting his kid. Maren Morris featured her son Hayes saying “mama” during “Hummingbird,” a track off her new album Humble Quest. Carrie Underwood also duetted with her son Isaiah for a performance of “The Little Drummer Boy,” off her 2020 Christmas project, My Gift.

All those kids were under 10 when they lent their voices to country songs, but there are plenty of examples of artists collaborating with their older children, too. Travis Tritt, Toby Keith, Gary LeVox, Willie Nelson and Clint Black have all shared the stage or put out songs with their talented children.

Back in 1975, Conway Twitty even charted a hit with help from his then-teenaged daughter Joni Lee: Their “Don’t Cry, Joni” peaked inside the top twenty on the U.S. Country chart, making it just one of two non-Loretta Lynn duets that brought Conway chart success.

Of course, you can’t talk about parent-child duets without mentioning The Judds, the legendary mother-daughter group consisting of Naomi and Wynonna Judd. The Country Music Hall of Famers had 14 number-one hits over the course of their career.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Saweetie is giving fans an update on her long-awaited debut album, Pretty B**** Music. 

Taking to Instagram Stories on Wednesday night, the “Best Friend” rapper shared a life update with her dedicated fans, whom she referred to as “Icy Family.” 

“These past couple of years have been a growing experience for me as an artist, human, but most importantly a WOMAN,” Saweetie began. “I have realized my purpose with the platform God has given me which is why I have taken my time with releasing music this time around.”

“Through hours of self-reflection I have realized that Pretty B**** music is not an album- it’s a movement. It’s a culture. It’s a language. It’s a lifestyle,” the 28-year-old explained. “We not rushing art, we taking our time! This ain’t no microwave s***! It’s baking & it will definitely be worth the taste.”

Saweetie first began teasing Pretty B**** Music in 2020 with a scheduled release for June 2021, but then delayed the release to continue working on some songs. A new release date has not yet been announced.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Prepare for some more new music from Demi Lovato. 

On Wednesday, the 29-year-old singer announced that they’re dropping a new song in mid-July.

“SUBSTANCE July 15th. Pre-Save Now,” they captioned am Instagram photo of the song’s cover art, which features Lovato appearing to sitting inside of a sphere as black liquid oozes out.

Lovato also teased a snippet of the track with the post, including a video of herself lip-syncing along to the rock song. 

“Am I the only one looking for substance? / God I, it only left me lonely and loveless,” they sing in the chorus. “Don’t wanna end up in a casket, head full of maggots / Body full of jack s***, I get an abundance / Am I the only one looking for substance?”

“SUBSTANCE” comes one month after the singer-songwriter released “Skin of My Teeth.” Both tracks are expected to appear on Demi’s forthcoming eighth studio album, HOLY F***, which is due out August 19.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Luke Combs says that he’s struggled with his weight his whole life, but he thinks about those struggles differently now that he’s a dad.

“Having a kid has messed up my head on this thing in the best way,” Luke says during a new interview on Zane Lowe’s Apple Music 1. “I want to be around … I’m fine right now, my cholesterol and my blood pressure is fine because I’m a younger guy, but by the time I’m 45, it’s not going to be because of the shape that I’m in.”

And while genetics are part of the reason for Luke’s weight struggles, he says that’s not the whole picture. “When I go play golf I can hit a good golf shot — I’ve done it a bunch of times — I can’t do it consistently,” he continues. “And my relationship with food has been the same thing. I know what to do and how to do it and why to do it and when to do it.”

Luke and his wife, Nicole, welcomed their first child — a baby boy named Tex Lawrence — on Father’s Day, June 19.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.