Music

Having your first-ever song blow up is nice, but Russell Dickerson says he’s glad that his current hit, “Happen to Me,” didn’t happen to him until now.

“I think about this year a lot, like, what if this was my first song, and [it became] like the biggest [one],” he mused to ABC Audio. The song has become his biggest in several years, as well as a viral smash on TikTok. “I would just be, like, ‘that guy.'”

But Russell has been a chart-topping country star for years now — he scored the first of his many country #1 hits back in 2017.

“It’s so funny to see people comment that don’t know who I am,” he notes. “They’re like, ‘This is all this guy has, is a stupid dance.'”  

He laughs, “Like, ‘Actually, no, bro, I got, like, five number ones also.’ … And I mean that in the most humble of ways.”

“I’ve worked my you-know-what off for the last decade to get to where we are now.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)

And “where we are now” is “everywhere.” Thanks to “Happen to Me,” Russell has sung on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, headlined a major tour, done a remix with the Jonas Brothers and appeared on multiple TV shows.

He’ll also ring in 2026 as one of the performers on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest on Dec. 31.

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Max McNown has followed up his breakthrough hit “A Little More Free” with “Better Me for You (Brown Eyes).” While the song was inspired by his then-girlfriend, Max says it’s not exactly a love song — it’s more about how she inspired him to be worthy of her love.

“The verses are very honest depictions of who I was and who I didn’t want to be,” he told ABC Audio. “I was just making decisions that I was not proud of. I was a person I wasn’t proud to be.”

“And it’s so funny, people think the song is just purely about this relationship,” he added. “But it’s actually about, equally, who I was before the relationship and how it kind of saved me.”

Max says his manager initially had to convince him to release the song as a single. But he had an inkling it might be special the first time he played it for his the woman who inspired it.

“We were in the parking lot and I was just like, ‘Hey, I wrote a song about you today and about us and how I feel.’ And she was like, ‘Oh my gosh, can I hear it?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, for sure,'” Max recalled.

“And it was just a guitar and my voice, and I played it, and I remember she was just in the passenger seat and she just started crying,” he said. “And I was, like, ‘Man … I think this is a special song.'”

The woman turned out to be pretty special, too — she and Max are now married.

Max launches his The Cost of Growing Up headlining tour March 20 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Deftones have announced a collaboration with a youth soccer team based in the band’s hometown Oak Park neighborhood in Sacramento, California. 

The collection includes replicas of the jerseys Chino Moreno and company designed for the team, called Los Jaguares, as well as a Deftones-branded soccer ball.

“Los Jaguares represent an underserved community in one of California’s lowest-income districts,” reads the product description. “For these athletes, soccer is a vital source of pride and community, as reflected in their rallying cry: ‘Who are we? Familia.'”

The band adds, “Your purchase helps guarantee soccer remains free for every player, while providing vital access to fields, quality coaching, and healthy snacks.”

You can order your own Deftones jersey and soccer ball now via the group’s web store.

Deftones released a new album, private music, in August. Lead single “my mind is a mountain” became the first Deftones song to hit #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.

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Collective Soul has announced a run of U.S. tour dates for 2026.

The headlining shows span from Jan. 29 in Anaheim, California, to May 2 in Bossier City, Louisiana. 

Presales begin Wednesday at 10 a.m. local time. The general sale begins Friday at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit CollectiveSoul.com.

The tour includes Collective Soul’s previously announced three-night Las Vegas residency in February, as well as Creed‘s Summer of ’99 and Beyond concert cruise.

Collective Soul’s most recent album is 2024’s Here to Eternity.

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It may be the fall season, but Khalid clearly has summer on his mind. He’s announced his It’s Always Summer Somewhere Tour for 2026, which kicks off May 16 and does, of course, include some summer dates. Lauv will join him as a special guest for the 25-city tour, which has dates set in Las Vegas, Toronto, Atlanta, Charlotte and more. The general sale begins Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

The Upshaws, a show about a working-class family in Indianapolis, will be coming back for a final season. Season 5 (or Part 7) of the Netflix show will premiere on Jan. 15. “Truly grateful to Netflix for giving us this season to once again bring the warmth and funny that we’re known for (and with this fifth and final — some closure) to our Upshaws family,” creator and executive producer Regina Hicks says in a statement. Fellow creator and EP Wanda Sykes adds, “We are excited to give the show and the fans a proper farewell.”

Kendrick Lamar is ending 2025 as Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year, thanks to the charting success of his album GNX, its song “Luther” and Billboard touring data. He’s also #1 on Billboard‘s lists of the top Hot 100 songwriters, top rap artists, top R&B/hip-hop artists – male and top rap artists – male.

Doechii, who joins K. Dot on the U.K. leg of the Grand National Tour, has TikTok’s music trend of the year with her song “Anxiety.” The song also placed on the platform’s top 10 songs in the U.S. and the top 20 songs globally.

CeCe Winans is Billboard’s top gospel artist for the second year in a row.

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Nick Jonas and his brothers have been filling stadiums on their current tour, but on Sunday Nick will be performing in Toronto for just 200 people. It’s a promotion for his upcoming album, Sunday Best: He’ll sing at Toronto’s Powder Room during what’s being called a Sunday Best Brunch. You can buy tickets on Nick’s web store. The album’s out Feb. 6.

Christina Aguilera hasn’t released an album since 2022, but that may change in the near future. Appearing on Jennifer Hudson‘s talk show, Christina teased, “There is new music that is being made.” She added, “It’s gonna be a really personal project … it’ll tie in with a very personal documentary we’ve been filming for the last few years.”

If you’ve ever wanted to hear Olivia Rodrigo sing a Christmas song, now you can. She recorded a version of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” with Grammy-winning U.K. artist Jacob Collier for an Instagram video. She sings the lead, while Jacob provides backup vocals in 11-part harmony via multiple smaller videos. No less a star than Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Sheryl Crow — a friend of Olivia’s — responded in the comments, “Ok MIND BLOWN.”

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Wyclef Jean reflects on how far he’s come in the new music video for his song “Back From Abu Dhabi.”

Dave Chappelle kicks off the song with an M.C. introduction, appearing on a television screen on the streets of New Jersey, Jean’s first-ever home in the U.S. The video intersperses clips from his time in Newark with moments in Abu Dhabi. French Montana and Rick Ross, who guest on the track, are also in the music video, where they rap their respective verses with Wyclef in what appears to be a warehouse.

The video for “Back From Abu Dhabi” is now available to watch on YouTube.

Wyclef is set to perform at Blue Note Los Angeles from Jan. 15 to Jan. 18.

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Linkin Park and Myles Smith are #1 on Billboard‘s 2025 year-end Mainstream Rock Airplay Artists and Alternative Airplay Artists charts.

The other top 10 Mainstream Rock Airplay Artists are Three Days Grace, Sleep Theory, Nothing More, Papa Roach, Shinedown, Pop Evil, Scott Stapp, Volbeat and Ghost.

Linkin Park is also #2 on Alternative Airplay Artists, followed by Green Day, Dexter and the Moonrocks, Twenty One Pilots, Jack White, almost monday, sombr, Hozier and Lola Young.

3DG’s “Mayday” is 2025’s #1 Mainstream Rock Airplay Song, followed by Architects‘ “Everything Ends,” Falling in Reverse‘s “Bad Guy,” Disturbed‘s “I Will Not Break,” Wage War‘s “Blur,” Breaking Benjamin‘s “Awaken,” Papa Roach’s “Even If It Kills Me,” Linkin Park’s “Heavy Is the Crown,” Sleep Theory’s “Stuck in My Head” and The Funeral Portrait‘s “Holy Water.”

The #1 Alternative Airplay Song of 2025 is Hozier’s “Too Sweet,” followed by Smith’s “Stargazing,” Young’s “Messy,” sombr’s “back to friends,” Djo‘s “Basic Being Basic,” Dexter and the Moonrocks’ “Sad in Carolina,” The Head and the Heart‘s “Arrow,” Smith’s “Nice to Meet You,” Green Day’s “One Eyed Bastard” and Balu Brigada‘s “So Cold.”

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