My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way guests on a new song by Ibaraki, Trivium frontman Matt Heafy‘s black metal side project.
The nine-minute track, titled “Rōnin,” refers to the term used for a masterless samurai in feudal Japan. You can listen to it now via digital outlets, and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.
“Gerard Way has been a long-time inspiration for me,” Heafy says. “I have looked to Gerard as a constant source of motivation to be creative.”
He continues, “While Gerard and I may be from different genres than where Ibaraki and black metal stem from — outsiders of sorts — the spirit and intent of our performances is what unites our passion for pushing boundaries.”
“Rōnin” will appear on the debut Ibaraki album Rashomon, due out May 6. The record also includes contributions from Nergal of Behemoth and Ihsahn of Emperor.
Way, meanwhile, is prepping to return to the road on MCR’s long-awaited reunion tour, which is set to finally kick off this May after a two-year pandemic delay. The U.S. leg launches in August.
Jake Owen is praising the women in his life with his new song, “Up There Down Here.”
The country track finds the singer describing the angel to his devil, the type he can see himself marrying one day as he sings, “I’m a raise a little hell, she’s heaven on Earth/The grace to my grit and the rain on my dirt/I’m a little down-home, cold beer/She’s a little up there, down here.”
“I really loved this song from the minute I heard it. All of us boys are lucky to find these angels here on earth. I happen to be lucky enough to raise two of them,” Jake says in a statement, in reference to his daughters, nine-year-old Olive Pearl and two-year-old Paris.
“Up There” is the latest in a line of new songs by the hit singer, including “Fishin’ On A River,” “Drunk On a Boat” and his current single, “Best Thing Since Backroads,” which is in the top 20 on country radio.
24kGoldn has released “In My Head,” a new song in collaboration with Travis Barker.
The sunny tune is full of the Blink-182 drummers signature pop-punk beats as the “Mood” artist sings about a girl he can’t get out of his head. Barker also appears on the tune’s video, which Goldn co-directed himself.
You can listen to “In My Head” now via digital outlets, and watch its video streaming now on YouTube.
“In My Head” follows Goldn’s 2021 album El Dorado, which includes the chart-topping, iann dior-featuring “Mood.”
Barker, meanwhile, will be in the presence of Oscar gold when he performs during this year’s Academy Awards, airing Sunday, March 27, on ABC.
Ellie Goulding is adding another job title to her resume — global ambassador.
The “Love Me Like You Do” hitmaker has been named the ambassador for wildlife charity WWF, which she has long supported.
“I’m delighted to join WWF as an ambassador because I’m passionate about speaking up for our extraordinary planet,” Ellie exclaimed on Twitter.
Ellie showed up to the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, this past November and has also spoke out about the importance of achieving “net zero” climate emissions — among other things.
Ellie vowed to take her new responsibilities seriously, adding in an official statement on WWF’s site, “I know that the climate crisis and the destruction of nature can feel overwhelming at times, but I promise you when millions of people stand together, and demand change, the dial begins to shift.”
“One thing we know is that every second counts and every second we need to agitate for change,” Ellie continued. “I want to be part of that.”
WWF says it is “delighted” to have the British singer on their team and say her advocacy will help during “a crucial time” for “climate action.”
A new archival Rolling Stones concert album, Live at the El Mocambo, featuring performances from two Toronto club shows that the British rock legends played on March 4 and 5, 1977, will be released on May 13.
The album, which will be available as a two-CD set, a four-LP collection on either black or neon vinyl, and digitally, features The Rolling Stones’ full March 5 concert plus three bonus performances from the previous night.
The concerts at the 300-capacity El Mocambo club were booked as secret shows, where attendees had won the tickets to see Canadian rock group April Wine. The Stones were billed as the support act for the two nights, under the moniker The Cockroaches. When fans got to the venue, it was April Wine that opened the show, followed by, well, you know who.
The Stones’ set list included such covers as Muddy Waters‘ “Mannish Boy,” Bo Diddley‘s “Crackin’ Up,” Big Maceo‘s “Worried Life Blues” and Willie Dixon‘s “Little Red Rooster,” as well as classic originals like “Honky Tonk Women,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Tumbling Dice.” The band also presented live of “Worried About You,” which later would be released on 1981’s Tattoo You.
Only four songs from the El Mocambo concerts have been officially released previously, appearing on 1977’s Love You Live album alongside many tracks that were captured during The Stones’ 1975 and ’76 tours.
As previously announced, The Stones launch their 60th anniversary tour June 22 in Madrid.
Here’s the full two-CD track list:
CD 1
“Honky Tonk Women”
“All Down the Line”
“Hand of Fate”
“Route 66”
“Fool to Cry”
“Crazy Mama”
“Mannish Boy”
“Crackin’ Up”
“Dance Little Sister”
“Around and Around”
“Tumbling Dice”
CD2
“Hot Stuff”
“Star Star”
“Let’s Spend the Night Together”
“Worried Life Blues”
“Little Red Rooster”
“It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)”
“Rip This Joint”
“Brown Sugar”
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
“Melody”
“Luxury”
“Worried About You”
The beloved “Baby Shark” tune that had babies and toddlers yelling at their parents to re-play it, over and over and over, isn’t going away anytime soon. Especially since Cardi B and her family will make an appearance on the Baby Shark’s Big Show! hit kids’ show next month.
Nickelodeon announced the news on Thursday, revealing that the “Bodak Yellow” rapper, her husband Offset, of Migos, and their 3-year-old daughter, Kulture, will all take on shark roles in “The Seaweed Sway” episode.
The rapper excitedly shared the news on Instagram, saying, “Make sure you guys and your babies check out Me & my family episode on BABYSHARK series on Nicklelodeon !!!!”
In the upcoming episode, “OffShark” and “KultureShark” follows main character Baby Shark on a mission to meet “Sharki B” to learn the new dance she created.
But Baby Shark’s Big Show! isn’t stopping there — news of the exciting episode comes at the helm of an in-the-works Paramount feature film featuring Baby Shark and all its swim friends, which is set for release next year.
Catch Cardi B and family in “The Seaweed Sway,” on Friday, April 15.
Britney Spears is again sharing what she says she experienced during her conservatorship — this time, about how her father, Jamie Spears, would allegedly insult her body.
“I’ve never been more humiliated and embarrassed in my life during the years in my conservatorship,” Britney explained on Instagram. “[Y]es I do care and anyone would if you saw yourself the way I have … my dad always told me I was fat and being the heavy girl on stage wasn’t fun … It was humiliating !!!”
“When my family sent me to that place the main thing that hurt me was the medicine they put me on,” she continued. “It made me stupid and sad and I gained so much weight … I felt ugly, angry and mean therefore I was just that !!! The manipulation behind my family’s scheme in subjecting me as if I had done something wrong… is cruel !!!”
Britney says she’s now teaching herself to no longer worry about her physical appearance, adding, “I am absolutely a victim to all of the societal objectifications and exploitations that women are subjected to.”
Britney said she’s also speaking out about current beauty standards –“It’s crazy living in Los Angeles … I was thinking about getting a boob job” — and about seeing “the biggest stars getting facials” and noting how they feel pressure to say their photos are filter-free.
“I know she’s beautiful !!! I’ve seen her in person so it was weird seeing someone like her trying to convince people she’s natural,” Britney said, which opened her eyes that she also feels pressure to do the same thing.
Britney also showed how a glamour shot of her was photoshopped to make her look thinner and younger, as if to tell fans not to believe everything they see.
Say it ain’t so! Doja Cat told fans she is quitting music after a particularly nasty Twitter row with her South American fans.
Fans from Paraguay claim the “Kiss Me More” singer ignored them while she was in the nation’s capital to perform at a music festival, which was later canceled due to inclement weather. According to a Twitter thread by a Paraguayan fan, Doja’s followers spent hours waiting for her outside the airport and her hotel, but she never came out to say hello during her stay.
The thread makes it seem as if Doja was the only artist who didn’t acknowledge her fans and pointed to other festival performers, such as Machine Gun Kelly, who left their hotels to shake hands and pose for pictures.
Paraguayan fans also took issue that Doja didn’t tweet about the festival being canceled due to inclement weather, again comparing her to MGK and festival headliner Miley Cyrus, who apologized for the unfortunate turn of events. The Twitter thread claims Doja only spoke about the festival to complain fans weren’t waiting for her outside her hotel when she left to go to Brazil.
Doja became embroiled in a nasty exchange with numerous Paraguayan fans demanding an apology, which ultimately ended with the “Woman” rapper declaring, “It’s gone and i don’t give a f*** anymore i f***in quit,” adding music “is dead to me.”
She followed up with, “This s*** ain’t for me so I’m out. Y’all take care.” Doja has since changed her Twitter handle to “i quit” and put “lol” in her bio.
It’s unknown if Doja is serious about leaving music, but several artists have reacted to the news — most notably rapper Kodak Black, who remarked, “Doja Cat Bet Not Quit Musik B4 We Do A Song Together.”
Dan + Shay are breaking their silence after a social media hiatus.
The hit duo of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney posted a letter to fans on Twitter sharing that since they concluded The (Arena) Tour in December, they’ve used that time to spend time with family and friends, in addition to “reflect and appreciate” all that they’ve accomplished. During this down time, they’ve also been thinking about new music.
“Hi friend, it’s been a minute! We wrapped up THE (ARENA) TOUR at the end of December and it was one of the most incredible experiences of our career (so far). We’re infinitely grateful for everyone who came out to the shows and celebrated live music with us,” the duo begin, calling themselves “the luckiest guys in the entire world.”
“We’re rested, refreshed, and more excited about music than ever before. Legit, even more excited than we were when we made our first album,” they add, teasing “more news and updates to come soon.”
Dan + Shay’s latest album, Good Things, was released in 2021. It features the three consecutive chart-topping singles: “10,000 Hours,” with Justin Bieber, plus “I Should Probably Go to Bed” and “Glad You Exist.” Their current single, “Steal My Love,” is climbing through the top 30 on radio.
Dan + Shay are set to open for Kenny Chensey on his Here and Now Tour this summer.
Love reigned over Zak Starkey this week! People reports that on Monday, Ringo Starr‘s oldest son and The Who‘s touring drummer since the 1990s got married to his longtime partner and fellow musician, Sharna “Sshh” Liguz.
According to the the magazine, the nuptials took place in West Hollywood, California, at the Sunset Marquis, and featured an intimate gathering of family and friends.
Ringo was on hand to give his son away, while two other rock greats, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, served as Zak’s best men. Zak played in Marr’s group Johnny Marr & The Healers during the late ’90s and early 2000s.
Zak, 56, and Sharna, 37, have been a couple for almost 20 years, and picked Monday to get hitched because it was the first birthday of their daughter, Luna Lee Lightnin.
In a statement shared with People, Zak and Sharna wrote, “After 18 years together, Luna’s umbilical cord kinda tied the knot but we wanted to make it official and share with our friends and family in the U.S., before doing the same in Jamaica and the U.K.”
Starkey also posted a message on his Instagram page on Wednesday that reads, “Great to be solid with the greatest girl in the world. And to celebrate Luna’s no1 birthday. Thanks to everyone who came from near far wide abstract and online. Our dearest friends in da USA — great to see u at our wedding and experience true party stamina. Feels great to be wed to the woman I have loved for 18 years.”
Zak and Sharna record and perform together as the rock duo Sshh, and also co-founded the record label Trojan Jamaica.