Music

Britney Spears confirmed she’s writing a memoir, announcing on Instagram, “I’m writing a book at the moment and it’s actually healing and therapeutic.”  While she said it’s “hard” revisiting bad memories of the conservatorship, she vowed, “I’m here to remind people what NOT TO DO like my family did to me so we can be better people for the next generation.”  A title and release date are forthcoming.

Glass Animals‘ “Heat Waves” is again number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for a fifth week.  In third is Latto‘s “Big Energy,” who is primed to take the crown thanks to her remix with Mariah Carey.  

Speaking of Mariah, she claims she has a documentary in the works.  She recently spoke on Stationhead, but was not ready to reveal all the details.

Despite their global fame, South Korea’s Ambassador to Great Britain said BTS is not exempt from military service, TMZ reports. Men between ages 18 and 28 must serve for at least 18 months.  No time frame for BTS was given.

Lil Nas X was nominated for five Grammys but didn’t win a single one — so he sang about it.  He joked how being shut out “hurt my feelings.” 

Ed Sheeran‘s “Bad Habits” scored a billion views on Spotify, becoming his 10th song to do so.  “I’m super, super grateful,” he gushed when sharing the good news on TikTok.

Sam Smith is reportedly working on “dancey” new music, reports The Sun.  An insider claimed Sam has a new song called “Love Me More,” that is due out soon.

Shawn Mendes added 13 new dates for his North American Wonder World Tour!  Ticket presales begin Wednesday.

Speaking of tours, Halsey also added some new dates to their tour, announcing they’re going to Idaho and Arkansas. Tickets go on sale Friday.

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–No wonder Tasha from Power has been missing from the show! The star and former 3LW group member, Naturi Naughton, tied the knot over the weekend and some of her Power cast mates were a part of the seemingly beautiful wedding. 

In a video shared on Instagram from the April 2 ceremony, cast mates Omari Hardwick and Lala Anthony walked down the aisle, before Naughton arrived to meet her now husband at the altar, entrepreneur Xavier ‘Two’ Lewis.

While it’s unknown how long the two have been dating, Naughton revealed Lewis to be her new man in a recent interview with Essence. 

–It’s been more than five years since Tyrese hinted at a Four Brothers sequel and when the actor alluded to the new project, fans got excited but weren’t sure if it would actually come to be.

Mark Wahlberg recently sat down with Tyrese to discuss his new movie Morbius and the chances of working together again, in a follow-up Four Brothers film.

“We still gotta try to figure out Four Brothers 2,” Wahlberg said. “I mean what is the hold up,” Tyrese who played Angel Mercer in the film, responded. Wahlberg shared that when out and about, he’s still greeted as Bobby Mercer, his character in the film. 

While it’s not yet confirmed, they sure seem to be hoping for a remake. Wahlberg shared a picture of the duo saying in part, “Angel and Bobby back together again!”

—Solange Knowles and Master P? It might just be the collaboration we didn’t know we needed. 

The No Limit rapper recently shared footage of the two in the studio together, dancing along to an old Master P hit. “Me and @solangeknowles in the studio turnt up working on her album!,” he said and fans were certainly here for it. 

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Miley Cyrus had to pull out of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler‘s Grammy Awards viewing party after testing positive for COVID-19, so another powerhouse singer took her place — Jessie J.

The fourth annual event raised $4.6 million for Janie’s Fund, Tyler’s charity that helps girls who’ve been abused or neglected.

The British singer was introduced by the legendary rocker and she brought the crowd to its feet by performing her smash hits “Bang Bang,” “Domino,” “I Want Love,” and “Price Tag.”   Because Miley was set to perform at the charity event, Jessie also belted out “Party in the USA,” which she wrote for the then-17-year-old Grammy nominee.

“This is the song I wrote about moving to LA. Thank you for letting me have this moment,” Jessie told the crowd. She then was joined by Tyler and jumped into a rousing rendition of Aerosmith’s hit “Walk this Way.”

Tyler also took to the stage, singing “Dream On.”

Janie’s Fund is named after Aerosmith’s 1989 hit “Janie’s Got a Gun.” Some of the money raised came from a silent auction, where one of the items sold included the grand piano that Aerosmith has been using onstage since 2011, signed by Tyler.

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American Idol turns 20 this year and it plans to pull out all the stops to celebrate.  

Deadline reports the series is putting together The Great Idol Reunion, airing May 2, which welcomes back some of the best-known American Idol alumni in show history.

Among those heading back to the Idol stage are Ruben Studdard, Jordin Sparks, Scotty McCreery, David Cook, Lauren Alaina, Kris Allen and many others.  A few details of the reunion have been shared, including a special duet between season two winner Ruben Studdard and season six winner Jordin Sparks.  Cook, who won season seven, will be paired with season eight winner Kris Allen.

Idol executive producer and show runner Megan Michaels Wolflick said of the upcoming event, “It’s a testament to this show’s incredible legacy that we are able to celebrate 20 years of American Idol in this extraordinary way. We are so thrilled to welcome back some of our most beloved alumni from over the years to reunite on the Idol stage.”

Season 10’s respective winner and runner up, McCreery and Alaina, will also sing together.

Wolflick also saluted Idol’s ability to “create superstars just as it has done since 2002,” adding, “Bringing back these Idol Icons is the perfect way to herald the next generation.”

American Idol airs Mondays starting at 8 p.m. local time on ABC.

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Cardi B is the latest artist to struggle with toxic fans on social media.  The “WAP” rapper appeared to delete her Twitter after engaging in a particularly nasty argument with her followers on Sunday.

New York Post reports Cardi’s fanbase called her out for skipping the Grammy Awards even though she was nominated for Best Rap Performance for “Up.”  After being accused of hyping her fanbase about the upcoming awards, she reportedly fired back that she never gave hints that she was attending, asking, “Like are you okay?”

That wasn’t the only thing fans berated Cardi for — they also pointed out she hasn’t been releasing music in a timely fashion.  The Grammy winner has yet to release the follow up to her 2018 debut Invasion of Privacy — but that hasn’t stopped her from collaborating with other artists nor dropping one-off singles over the years.

The outlet reports things spiraled quickly, with one Twitter user alleging Cardi has an autistic child, to which she fired back, “None of my kids are autistic … Don’t project what you got on my kids the f***.”

Unfortunately, that had the effect of users telling her she was being disrespectful to the autistic community.

Cardi also sent less than pleasant replies to other users when telling them to leave her alone.  Eventually, the rapper announced she was leaving the app for her own safety.

“I’m deleting my Twitter,” she announced. “I hate this f***kin dumba** fan base. You got the slow dumba**es dragging my kids all cause y’all [thought] I was going to the Grammys and I didn’t, the f***?”

Moments before her account vanished, she remarked she found the entire debacle “stupid” and quipped, “I can’t. I needs to protect myself.”  As of Monday, her Instagram is also gone.

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Pistol, the upcoming FX series based on The Sex Pistols, now has a trailer.

The series, which debuts on May 31 on Hulu, was directed by Danny Boyle, the man who brought us Trainspotting, Yesterday and Slumdog Millionaire. “We’re gonna kick this country awake if it kills us,” says Toby Wallace as guitarist Steve Jones. Anson Boon, the actor portraying singer Johnny Rotten, declares, “The monarchy has stolen our future!”

We also hear Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Pistols’ manager Malcolm McLaren saying, “I don’t want musicians: I want saboteurs…assassins!” while his partner-in-crime, Vivienne Westwood, played by Talulah Riley, says, “I want to burn this city to the ground!”

In conjunction with the series’ release, Sex Pistols: The Original Recordings will be released on May 27 on vinyl, CD, cassette and digitally.  The 20-track collection includes tracks from the band’s only album Never Mind the Bollocks, B-sides like “Satellite” and “I Wanna Be Me” and songs from The Great Rock & Roll Swindle soundtrack. You can pre-order the collection now.

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During the three-and-a-half-hour live broadcast of the “biggest night in music,” presenters such as Ludacris, Anthony Mackie and Lenny Kravitz handed off golden gramophones to artists deemed the “best” in their respective categories, according to the Recording Academy.

While music fans got a chance to witness Jasmine Sullivan take home her first-ever awards, Doja Cat give an emotional acceptance speech, Jon Batiste win the most trophies and Silk Sonic “sweep” the night, there were some awards in notable categories that weren’t broadcast live for the world to see and celebrate.  

Surprisingly to many, the coveted Best Rap Album award was given out during pre-ceremony events. Tyler the Creator won for Call Me If You Get Lost, bringing his Grammy total to two awards.

Rapper Lil Baby nabbed his first-ever trophy, while the win for Best Melodic Rap Performance helped Kanye West tie with Jay-Z as the hip hop artist with the most Grammys. 

Iconic gospel singer CeCe Winans added three Grammys to her collection, including Best Gospel Album for Believe for It. Winans, 57, now has 15 awards. 

Singer and breakthrough actress Andra Day picked up her first Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media for the film, The United States Vs. Billie Holiday. 

Alicia Keys won Best Immersive Audio Album for her self-titled project. Don Cheadle beat out former President Barack Obama for Best Spoken Word Album, and though he presented an award live, Philadelphia native Questlove won for Best Music Film for Summer of Soul, which also won an Oscar last week. 

H.E.R was shocked to find out, during her red carpet interview, that she won Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Fight For You,” and so was Lucky Daye after winning Best Progressive R&B Album.

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Camila Cabello is speaking out about body insecurity.

In an Instagram post she shared over the weekend, Cabello included an essay about how she feels when she steps out in public in a bikini knowing her photo will be taken by paparazzi.

“Every time I’ve gone to this beach club in Miami I get papped — somehow when I check in paps know and get me in my bikini and every time I’ve felt super vulnerable and unprepared,” Cabello wrote. “I’ve worn bikinis that were to[o] small and paid no mind to how I looked, then saw pictures online and comments and been so upset.”

The singer went on, “I reminded myself when it impacted my self esteem that I was thinking the culture’s thoughts and not my own. A culture who has gotten so used to an image of what a ‘healthy’ woman’s body looks like that is completely not real for a lot of women.”

Cabello, who is in the middle of doing press for her new album Familia, which will be released later this week, said on Saturday that when she went to the beach she “held my core so tight my abs hurt” and was “self conscious of where the paps were the whole time.”

The “Bam Bam” singer said the whole situation made her feel sad. “I’ve never had a worse time at the beach,” she said. “I felt the emptiness and sadness of our culture’s thoughts that became my thoughts.”

Cabello has been open about her body image in the past. Following paparazzi photos that were taken last year of her in workout clothes, the singer shared a candid message to fans about overcoming the pressure of beauty standards and being at peace with one’s body.

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Miranda Lambert normally steers clear of too much razzle-dazzle at her shows, but when she heads to Las Vegas this fall, she’ll kick things up a notch.

The singer’s recently announced Velvet Rodeo residency launches in late September. “Make it rain!” she tells Rolling Stone about her mindset going into the show.

“I’ve always been very low production, never changed my wardrobe onstage unless I ripped something. I’m very much, like, ‘This is a rock ‘n’ roll show.’ But with Vegas, we have to take it up a notch,” the “If I Was a Cowboy” singer reasons.

That doesn’t mean it’s going to come easily to her. “A wardrobe change? I’m going to have to get used to that. Can we get some Velcro so it’s real easy?” she adds.

But Miranda has already proved her versatility. Over the course of the past year, she’s rocked a buzzy uptempo vibe with her Elle King duet “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” and slowed things way, way down for her acoustic, vulnerable and Grammy-nominated The Marfa Tapes.

By the time she hits Las Vegas, Miranda will have added to her repertoire yet again, as her next album, Palomino, is due out next month. For a pro like Miranda, a little Velcro should be no sweat.

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