If you’ve ever wondered what pop-punk Adele would sound like, look no further than Travis Barker‘s Instagram.
The Blink-182 drummer has posted a drum cover of the pop superstar’s hit single “Easy on Me,” turning the sparse piano ballad into a classic Warped Tour rager.
Perhaps if Adele likes what she hears, she can take a page out of Machine Gun Kelly‘s book and get Barker to produce her next album. She can call it Tickets to My Skyfall.
In addition to turning Adele singles into pop-punk tunes, Barker celebrated the New Year with pop-punk icon Avril Lavigne during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest. He joined her for renditions of her new single “Bite Me” and the classic “Sk8er Boi.”
If the promise of watching Peter Jackson‘s acclaimed three-part documentary The Beatles: Get Back wasn’t enough to make you sign up for Disney+, it’s now coming to home video — and to a theater near you.
The complete docuseries will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 8, but to whet your appetite, the “rooftop concert” portion of the series, which runs 60 minutes, will debut at select IMAX theaters as part of a special screening on January 30. The screenings will feature a Q&A with Peter Jackson via satellite, as well as exclusive mini-posters for attendees.
“I’m thrilled that the rooftop concert from The Beatles: Get Back is going to be experienced in IMAX, on that huge screen,” Jackson in a statement. “It’s The Beatles’ last concert, and it’s the absolute perfect way to see and hear it.”
The concert, which took place on the rooftop of the Beatles’ Apple Corps headquarters on London’s Savile Row on January 30, 1969, was the last time all four Beatles performed together live. The performance was seen in its entirety for the first time in The Beatles: Get Back.
Tickets for the IMAX Event Screening and Filmmaker Q&A are currently on sale at tickets.imax.com. A regular global theatrical showing of The Beatles: Get Back — The Rooftop Concert will then run from February 11 to February 13.
The Weeknd will get fans ready for the release of his new album, Dawn FM, by appearing in a special livestream.
Called 103.5 Dawn FM, the livestream will run on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch and in the Amazon Music app starting at 11 p.m. ET on Thursday. The Weeknd says of the event, “The power of the 103.5 Dawn FM experience is that maximum fulfillment comes when all who hear it are tuned in at the same time.”
The concept of a radio station called “103.5 Dawn FM” is teased in the trailer for the album.
The livestream comes with its own exclusive merch, including a limited-edition hoodie, t-shirt and sweatshirt. Those will be available at Amazon.com/TheWeeknd for 48 hours starting at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday.
As previously reported, Dawn FM officially arrives on Friday and features appearances by Quincy Jones, Jim Carrey, Lil Wayne, Tyler, the Creator and more.
Jason Derulo got into a bit of a tussle in Las Vegas, attacking two men after one cursed him out and referred to him as “Usher,” as seen in video footage.
The incident went down early Tuesday morning and video obtained by TMZ shows the “Savage Love” singer walking through Aria Resort & Casino when a man off camera is heard shouting, “Hey Usher! F*** you b****!” Derulo then flew over to the man and began throwing punches as bodyguards and several others are seen trying to break up the scuffle.
It is unclear whether the victim genuinely mistook Derulo for Usher, who currently has a Las Vegas residency, or if it was just a dig at Derulo.
Las Vegas police tell ABC News, “The altercation started when the suspect, identified as Jason Derulo, committed a battery against two individuals. The victims did not want to press charges against Derulo, who was trespassed from the property.”
Since the victims did not press charges, no police report was taken and Derulo was not cited or arrested.
Lainey Wilson and Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan are part of a mutual admiration society, so much so that Taylor has used Lainey’s music on the hit TV show multiple times, which Lainey calls a “blessing.”
It all started when Taylor discovered Lainey’s music when her self-titled EP was released in 2018 and he incorporated one of the tracks into the Paramount series. Soon after, Taylor invited the country star to Las Vegas, where he was hosting a horse-reining competition, and the two hit it off.
“I went out there and met him and we really bonded over horses, because I grew up riding too, and developed this friendship,” she explains. “He has been a huge champion. I’m a fan of his…he’s a fan of mine, and it’s introduced my music to a crowd of people that might not listen to radio or might not know how to download music. It’s been such a blessing.”
After her song “Small Town, Girl” was featured in the season-three finale in 2020, Lainey surprised fans on the season-four finale that aired Sunday night when she was featured performing a trio of songs: “Workin’ Overtime,” “Rolling Stone” and her #1 hit “Things a Man Oughta Know.”
“You dream about your music being played on the radio and people singing it back to you, but you don’t ever think about your songs making it into one of the coolest, most bada** shows that’s out there right now,” Lainey professes. “It has been so cool.”
“Things a Man Oughta Know” became the Louisiana native’s first #1 song in 2021. Meanwhile, her duet with Cole Swindell “Never Say Never” is currently climbing the charts, inching toward the top 20 on the Billboard Country Airplay tally.
In 2021, the band released their album Human, but front man Ryan Tedder tells ABC Audio, “I mean, we have a whole subsequent album coming, we’re dropping a new single in January.”
“We have another big collaboration coming up,” he continues. He adds that the band also has the lead single from the soundtrack of what he says is “a huge summer film” that was supposed to come out last year, but will finally hit theaters this year.
As for a timetable, Ryan says, “Our goal is to have album six out by June, early June. That’s the goal. We have the songs to do it and really…push the envelope of the sound for us, as far as we can do it.”
OneRepublic also has a European tour booked for the spring, but whether or not that goes forward depends on COVID-19, of course. And all that doesn’t even count any of the songs that Ryan is likely to write and produce for other artists this year.
The longtime Van Halen frontman’s statement, which EW.com received via his manager, reads, “Sometimes you win…Sometimes you lose…We got rained out…Covid cancelled…Future shows? When the benefit concerts for Colorado, Farm Aid, and hospital workers ‘everywhere’ come up; Call me.”
Accompanying the note was a photo of a road case that features multiple images the singer wearing a red top hat and holding a microphone, along with the message, “To be continued…”
As previously reported, Roth had announced in an October 2021 interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he planned to retire after his Vegas shows. David scheduled nine concerts at the House of Blues, on New Year’s Eve and January 1, 5, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 and 22, all of which were canceled in recent days.
GAYLE is starting the New Year off right: Thanks to her hit “abcdefu,” the teen singer from Texas is appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Wednesday evening. Of course, the version of “abcdefu” you hear on the radio is the censored version, swapping “forget you” for “eff you.” But GAYLE isn’t sure it fully conveys the breakup anthem’s emotion.
“I don’t know if it’s as angry,” GAYLE says of the censored — or “nicer” — version. It’s one of several versions of the song, including an “angrier” version and a “chill” version.
“I like to think that it can maybe spark people’s interest enough to at least, like, try and hear the original,” she notes. “The goal with that song was for, hopefully, the censored version to hit as hard. I don’t know if ‘forget you’ is as, like, angry.”
GAYLE’s anger was was sparked by a real-life event: Her breakup with a boyfriend who, she says, inspired several of the other songs she’s released.
“I have a song called ‘Orange Peel’— it’s about him. ‘Happy for You‘ — it’s about him and it’s…like, ‘You’re the best thing ever and I’m the complete worst,’ basically,” she explains to ABC Audio. “So it definitely shows the evolution of emotion. Like…’I love you so much. Oh my God, I’m the worst. I’m the problem…Wait a minute. Eff you!’“
But Gayle, just named Billboard‘s Chartbreaker for January, realizes that just because one of her songs is getting popular doesn’t automatically mean she’s now a huge pop star.
“‘abc…’ is…just one song,” she notes. “And so, my goal is to just keep telling my story and keep doing what I do, and hopefully people don’t hate it and we’re just going to kinda go from there and see what happens.”
Megan Thee Stallion will headline Afro Nation Puerto Rico in March, described as the “world’s biggest Afrobeats festival.”
The “Hot Girl Summer” rapper will be joined by more than 20 acts, including Nigerian Grammy winner Wizkid, at the three-day event taking place March 24-26, 2022, in Balneario de Carolina, Puerto Rico. Another Nigerian artist, Tems, who is featured on Drake‘s Certified Lover Boy album, will also perform. She is a featured artist on Wizkid’s song “Essence,” which is nominated for a Grammy for Best Global Music Performance.
Megan is also headlining Afro Nation Portugal, which is scheduled for July and is billed as the world’s number one beach festival. Wizkid, as well as Burna Boy and Beenie Man, will perform at the three-day festival, which will be held July 1-3 at The Algarve in Portimao, Portugal.
Megan Thee Stallion enjoyed an incredible year in 2021, and posted a recap video on New Year’s Eve. She fulfilled her late mother’s dream on December 11 by graduating with a bachelor’s degree in health administration from Texas Southern University. The next day, Megan received the 18th Congressional District Humanitarian Award.
In December, the Houston MC also announced a new production deal with Netflix. The previous month, she was honored as one of Glamour‘s Women of the Year. Meg also won American Music Awards for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album for her debut album, Good News; Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist; and Favorite Trending Song for her hit “Body.”
In addition, Megan is nominated for two Grammy Awards: Best Rap Performance for “Thot Sh**,” and Album of the Year for Lil Nas X‘s Montero, thanks to her contributions as songwriter on “Dolla Sign Slime.”
A collection of rare tracks recorded by late pop and country singer B.J. Thomas titled In Remembrance: Love Songs & Lost Treasureswill be released on February 4.
The 18-track collection features 13 previously unreleased recordings. Among the tracks are eight unreleased tunes from the Warner-Reprise Records vault, four songs from a limited-edition “direct response” album that was available in the 1990s, and outtakes that Thomas recorded with veteran songwriter and producer Steve Dorff.
The album, which also features some rare photos, can be pre-ordered now on CD at BJThomas.com.
Thomas died of lung cancer in May 2021 at the age of 78. He’s best known for his chart-topping singles “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” and “Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” as well as such other hits as “Hooked on a Feeling” and “I Just Can’t Help Believing.”
Here’s the full track list of In Remembrance:
“Expression of Faith”
“Meet at My Heart”*
“I Like Livin'”*
“When the Hero Dies”*
“The Best Things in Life”*
“Rock and Roll Lullaby”*
“Hands on Me Again”
“This Ain’t a Song (It’s a Prayer)”
“Think About Me”*
“No One Else on Earth”*
“Our Younger Hearts”*
“That’s the Thing About Love”*
“Red Letter Days”
“When a Woman Talks”*
“Love by Any Name”*
“Memory in the Making”*
“Wings of a Dove”*
“America the Beautiful”
