Music

The new Netflix film Metal Lords may be a coming-of-age film about teens who want to play heavy metal, but for executive music director Tom Morello, it’s also a good example of how music can help people through tough times, including the shocking loss of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

While promoting the movie, Morello told ABC Audio that he isn’t “that comfortable” talking about Hawkins’ death, because, he notes, “It’s still pretty fresh.” However, he says the movie allows him to “reflect upon” what he calls “the redemptive power of music.”

“You know, for friends and musician friends — alive and who have passed — and how I’ve felt their music has helped and transformed me and how they have been helped and transformed by music — that’s something to reflect upon that, y’know, has some analogous connection to the movie,” Morello explains.

Metal Lords follows two high school friends, Hunter and Kevin — played by Adrian Greensmith and Jaeden Martell — who start a metal band together. In search of a bassist, they recruit school band cellist Emily, played by Isis Hainsworth. Teen drama ensues, lessons are learned and of course, there’s a Battle of the Bands…all set to a heavy metal soundtrack.

Metal Lords is directed by Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist filmmaker Peter Sollett, and was written by Game of Thrones co-creator D.B. Weiss. It premieres on Netflix April 8.

(Trailer contains uncensored profanity.)

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Katy Perry says she hasn’t had any trouble finding inspiration since welcoming her one-year-old daughter Daisy Dove.  The “Roar” hitmaker reveals that the toddler is now her “everything muse.”

“I put her in a gingham dress, and she loves coming out and presenting it. And everyone obviously has a reaction, and she loves the reaction,” she told Page Six of her little one’s burgeoning personality. “She’s always twirling … and she’s into putting on our shoes. I have hundreds of pairs of shoes, of course, because I’m a shoe designer. But she puts them on and she likes to slide around the house.”

Katy’s fiancé Orlando Bloom isn’t safe from having his footwear pilfered by their daughter.  “It’s just really sweet,” she said of her little one modeling “daddy’s shoes.”

The Grammy nominee recently celebrated buying back her footwear line, Katy Perry Collections, which she founded in 2017.  She relaunched her line on Tuesday with a brand new spring collection — with Daisy’s help.  Katy pays tribute to her daughter in an upcoming thong sandal, which features a daisy motif.

In addition, Katy says her little one also inspired her to begin designing a baby shoe line “for real.”  Prior to welcoming Daisy, the “When I’m Gone” singer admits she only “dabbled” with the idea.

“She’s my everything muse,” the American Idol judge explained. “She’s my whole heart. I’m just so grateful; she is really my gift.”

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Kelly Clarkson is not sweating over the fact she turns 40 next month.  Instead, she says bring it on!

She told People she is “not concerned” about her upcoming milestone birthday and explained, “My life gets exponentially better each year. Which is what should happen, you should get wiser.”

The “Catch My Breath” singer, who turns 40 on April 24, added, “I’m really excited. Everything’s in a good place now.”  

Kelly is also thinking about how she wants to ring in the big 4-0 and told the outlet she plans to do make a big deal about it.  “I was gonna go low key and then, I just had a really fun time with my girlfriends in San Francisco,” she explained. “So I’m like, maybe I’ll do that again.”

Unfortunately, plans don’t include her jetting off to a tropical vacation anytime soon because her schedule won’t let it.  “I’m waiting till the summer,” she said about when she will have “long enough” to celebrate the way she plans.  “I’m actually doing [a] ‘celebrate my 40 years summer,’ whole thing,” she insisted. “So I’m just gonna be chilling. That’s my happy 40.”

Kelly has something else to celebrate — she is legally single after settling her often contentious divorce battle with ex Brandon Blackstock. 

“I just got divorced, so I had to drop my married last name,” the Grammy winner told the outlet about recently changing her legal name. “I just kept my middle name for my personal life.”  She adds she is “still Kelly Clarkson” to the masses because, as she joked, “I don’t think I can change Clarkson at this point. I’m 20 years in!”

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Thomas Rhett has been nonstop writing since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and fans will soon get to hear what he’s been working on. 

The singer estimates that he wrote nearly 300 songs over the past two years and couldn’t wait to share them, inspiring him to release his new album, Where We Started.  

“I couldn’t handle sitting back and watching 190 songs have to wait for four years to come out, so that is the reason that there is so much music coming out,” he explains of releasing Where We Started in between Country Again: Side A and Side B. “It’s not just because I’m just trying to put content out, it’s because these songs deserve a chance to be heard. Three albums in a year and a half, there’s a lot. But I’m here for it and I’m excited about it.” 

Fans may have noticed that the singer’s sense of humor has been shining through more on socials, whether planking while signing copies of his album, to attempting to draw a neck tattoo of his wife Lauren on the cover of a vinyl copy of the album. 

“I feel like I’m at a point where it’s like OK to be self-deprecating because my kids self-deprecate me all day long,” he jokes, adding that he’s a longtime fan of The Office and dry humor. “I got tired of the ‘hey, what’s up, y’all? I’m Thomas Rhett. My record comes out tomorrow. Y’all should get a copy.’ I wanted to make it more interesting than that. [My videographer and I] literally sat in a room with cameras and improvised for three hours and picked our favorite bits.” 

Where We Started drops on Friday. 

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Lady Gaga‘s awkward run-in with Caitlyn Jenner at Elton John’s Academy Awards viewing party is going viral.  Caitlyn asks why she hasn’t bumped into Gaga at their local Starbucks recently, to which Gaga replied, “I switched baristas” and leaves.

Harry Styles dropped out of the Nosferatu movie, which stars Anya Taylor-Joy, The New Yorker confirms.  No reason was given why he left the project and it is unknown what role he had.  Harry is slated to next appear in the movie Don’t Worry, Darling.

Lizzo is teasing new music… and a tattoo!  Fans can pre-save her new song “About Damn Time” now and, when it drops, she’ll unveil the new tattoo on her — ahem — derrière.  

Justin Bieber announced he also has new music on the way with Kehlani.  The track, “Up at Night” drops March 30.

Shawn Mendes is also teasing a new single, “When You’re Gone,” which drops Thursday.  He shared a snippet to his TikTok, which is about him feeling anxiety about life after a breakup.  He was also moonwalking in the video and admits, “this is unusual behaviour” in its caption.

Madonna, too, is coming out with new music — another remix of “Frozen.”  This time, it’ll feature rapper 070 Shake.  That remix drops Thursday and is available to pre-save now.

BTS‘ people are cracking down on bootlegs ahead of the group’s upcoming Vegas concerts, reports Law360.  Their label, HYBE, claims the unauthorized sales harm BTS by allowing fans to purchase items of “inferior quality” and wants to block those sales.

Christina Perri released the music video for “evergone,” which sees her wandering around an empty theme park while grieving the loss of her stillborn daughter, Rosie.

WizKid dropped the visual that features model Winnie Harlow for his song, “True Love.”  The single is off his Grammy-nominated album Made In Lagos: Deluxe Edition.

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Lady Gaga‘s awkward run-in with Caitlyn Jenner at Elton John’s Academy Awards viewing party is going viral. Caitlyn is seen asking why she hasn’t bumped into Gaga at their local Starbucks recently, to which the “Million Reasons” singer replied, “I switched baristas.”  She then promptly leaves. Ouch.

Harry Styles dropped out of the Nosferatu movie that’s set to star Anya Taylor-Joy, The New Yorker confirms. No reason was given why he left the project and it is unknown what role he was set to play.  The movie aims to reboot the 1922 classic that starred Max Schreck as the terrifying vampire.  Harry is slated to next appear in the movie Don’t Worry, Darling.

Shawn Mendes is teasing a brand new single, called “When You’re Gone,” which drops Thursday. He shared a snippet to his TikTok, which is about him not wanting to know what life is like after the love of his life leaves because he’s not ready to move on. He films himself moonwalking in the video and admits in the caption, “this is unusual behaviour.”

Justin Bieber announced he also has new music on the way, which will feature R&B singer, Kehlani. The track, “Up at Night” drops March 30.  This marks the second time the two have teamed up, the first being in 2020 for the track, “Get Me,” which was on Justin’s album Changes.

Christina Perri released the music video for “evergone,” which sees her wandering around an empty theme park while grieving the loss of her stillborn daughter, Rosie. The video ends with her riding the carousel with her husband and their young daughter.

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Looks like fans everywhere are “Beggin'” for Måneskin tickets.

The Italian rockers’ first headline tour of North America has been such a sell out that more dates have been added in various cities, while in others, they’re moving to larger venues.

“We are thrilled to announce that our shows in Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Washington DC, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, and Dallas SOLD OUT immediately,” the band says in a statement.  Additional dates are now being added in San Francisco, Toronto, Philadelphia and New York, on November 4, November 22, November 29 and December 3, respectively.

Tickets for those new shows go sale this Friday at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster.

In addition, the “Mammamia” band has moved its December 9 show in Miami to the Hard Rock Live in nearby Hollywood, Florida, and December 12 in Houston to the 713 Music Hall.

Måneskin’s LOUD KIDS North American tour kicks off October 31 in Seattle, WA. They’re also performing at both Coachella and Lollapalooza.

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— In the midst of all the other wild Oscar events circulating the internet, Tiffany Haddish‘s red-carpet moment with a reporter, made the list. 

“You do a little costume change,” asked Entertainment Tonight reporter, Lauren Zima. To which Haddish responded, “I’m not wearing a costume, this is Dolce & Gabbana.” The Girls Trip actress went on saying, “It’s called an evening gown darling…I paid for it…This what success look like. This what money look like.”

The now-viral clip garnered lots of attention from those who appreciated Haddish’s candid and honest response. Virtual claps and snaps were given to the star who often speaks about her acting journey and struggle to make it to Oscar-like carpets. 

— One thing we won’t be asking of iconic R&B singer Deborah Cox is, “How did you get here?”

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and CBC announced Tuesday that the singer will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the 51st Juno Awards this May. 

“I feel incredibly grateful to experience this true milestone moment,” Deborah Cox said. “Music has always been about community for me, and I am so thankful…for not only recognizing myself, but my family, friends and loving fans who have supported me and helped make my dream possible for the past 25+ years.”

The award-winning singer will be the first Black woman to receive the national honor.

— In the spirit of summer music festivals returning this year, Milwaukee’s Summerfest announced its lineup on Tuesday. 

Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Wu-Tang Clan, Anthony Hamilton, Cordae and Willow are on the list of performers.

Tickets for the 54th Summerfest go on sale Friday, April 8. 

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