Music

Shinedown has released another new song off the band’s upcoming album, Planet Zero.

The track is called “The Saints of Violence and Innuendo,” and finds frontman Brent Smith singing about a “world where empathy goes to die.” You can listen to it now via digital outlets.

“The Saints of Violence and Innuendo” is the second cut to be released from Planet Zero, following the title track. The song “Planet Zero” has been the number-one single on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart for the last four weeks.

Planet Zero the album drops April 22. Shinedown will launch a U.S. tour ahead of the record’s arrival April 1 in Spokane, Washington, with support from The Pretty Reckless and Diamante. That run will be followed by a summer Canadian outing with Pop Evil and Ayron Jones, and then a return to the U.S. in September with “Dead Man Walking” artist Jelly Roll.

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Maren Morris’ Humble Quest album arrives today, and now there’s a big item on the singer’s to-do list: Go out and find a physical copy to buy from a store.

“Yes, I will be [buying my own CD]!” Maren said during a Twitter Q&A about the project this week, after a fan asked whether she would be grabbing a copy of the record herself.

In fact, that’s something Maren does with every project, she went on to say. “It’s tradition. 3 for 3,” she said, nodding to the fact that Humble Quest is her third project, and the third that she’ll be picking up in-store.

During the fan Q&A, Maren also fielded lots of different questions from fans about her new music. She said that the most personal song on the project is “Hummingbird,” a song she wrote about her son, Hayes.

Maren also named Hayes as a guest vocalist on Humble Quest, said that Sheryl Crow and Carole King were some of the artists she was listening to while making the record and warned fans that they might need a tissue for “one or two” tracks on the album.

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The 94th Annual Academy Awards are this Sunday night, and one of the nominees for Best Original Song is Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s “Dos Oruguitas (Two Little Caterpillars)” from the Disney hit Encanto. If he wins, Miranda will achieve an EGOT: He’ll have an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Latin superstar Sebastián Yatra, who sings the song in the movie, and will perform it at the Oscars, tells ABC Audio that he’s rooting for Lin-Manuel to win.

In the Best Original Song category, it’s only the songwriter who wins the Oscar, not the performer, but Yatra says, “For me, I feel like I’m nominated as well and being a part of this song is just something that I couldn’t be more thankful for.”

As for Lin-Manuel, Yatra says, “I really hope that he takes it because he deserves it. And it’s a song that’s going to be part of Disney’s history, and it’s touched so many souls. There’s really no bigger award than that.”

While the Oscars have announced that Sunday night’s telecast on ABC will include the first-ever live performance of that other Encanto song, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” it’s not clear if Yatra will perform “Dos Oruguitas” as part of that segment, or another one. But either way, Yatra says he’s stoked.

“We’re definitely excited, super-excited to go there, and I’m excited to represent my country [of Colombia] at, like, the most prestigious gathering that there is,” he says.

As for the “Bruno” performance, it’ll include not only cast members Adassa, Stephanie Beatriz, Mauro Castillo, Carolina Gaitan and Diane Guerrero, but also Latin stars Becky G and Mr. “Despacito” himself, Luis Fonsi.

The Academy Awards start at 8 p.m EDT/5 p.m. PDT on ABC Sunday night.

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Dave Grohl has finally unleashed his metal EP as Dream Widow.

The self-titled eight-track collection, which is available now via digital outlets, finds the Foo Fighters frontman channeling his inner ’80s thrasher while performing every instrument and handling lead vocals.

Dream Widow, which takes its name from the fictional band that haunts the Foos in their new Studio 666 horror movie, begins with the lyrics “Take the f***in’ dagger/Draw the pentagram” off the 90-second opening track, “Encino.”

However, Grohl is certainly taking Dream Widow seriously — the collection ends with two songs, “Becoming” and “Lacrimus dei Ebrius,” that push over seven and 10 minutes, respectively.

In between head-banging to Dream Widow, you can watch Studio 666 now on-demand. The film stars the six Foo members as fictional versions of themselves as they try to record an album in a spooky mansion haunted by supernatural forces.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.) 

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The Rocket Man turns 75 today, and Elton John is marking his milestone birthday by issuing a statement summing up his feelings about where he is now in his life and career.

“I’m not usually one to look back or get nostalgic, but 75 is such a milestone birthday. I’ll definitely find time today to take stock and thank my lucky stars for my wonderful family, friends and career,” Elton says in a statement.

“I feel unbelievably lucky that at 75 I still love what I do so much — I’m still so energized about music and excited I get to play, listen and talk about this every single day,” he adds. “Being back on the road is a blast and the thrill of playing live is as amazing as it was 50 years ago.”

He concludes, “I have so much to pass on to the new generation of fans and artists alike, and I’m determined to keep giving back to the industry that has given me so much.”

In celebration of Elton’s birthday, his greatest hits album, Diamonds, has been released to streaming platforms in Dolby Atmos, a technology that makes music more immersive and detailed.  In addition, he’s Dua Lipa‘s guest on the new episode of her podcast Dua Lipa: At Your Service.

Elton performs in Des Moines, IA on Saturday, and on Sunday, his 30th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party will take place, hosted by Elton’s husband, David Furnish, along with Lady Gaga, who’s the godmother to Elton’s sons, and Emmy-winning actors Billy Porter and Eric McCormack.

As for Elton himself, the Oscar-winning singer will be performing his Farewell Yellow Brick Show concert in Lincoln, NE, on Oscar Sunday — a date he refused to change, as his fans had waited so long to see him.

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Cardi B is showing off a different side of herself on the remix to Summer Walker and SZA‘s track, “No Love.”

The new version of the R&B track, official titled “No Love (Extended Version),” dropped Friday and features an assist from the rapper — but she’s not just rapping on the track: she’s singing, too. 

Cardi hops on at the beginning and sings, “Here I am there you are / Falling out of love again / I don’t know just how to feel it’s hard to meet you where you are / I needed some time apart,” before returning to her usual rap flow. 

The “Up” rapper switches it up one more time and sings again, before Summer and SZA’s “No Love” continues as normal. 

In addition to the remix, the trio also released a sultry and seductive music video for the track. 

Taking to Twitter shortly after the release, Summer wrote, “I hope y’all love the “no love” Extended video as much as I do.”

“Thank you @itsSeanBankhead for getting me out my comfort zone and @iamcardib & @sza for making this song so special,” she added. “And shout out to all the signs…we love y’all.”

“No Love (Extended Version)” is available to stream now. 

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Despite the title, there’s nothing funny about how Charlie Puth’s new song, “That’s Hilarious,” came to be.

On Thursday, the singer shared a video on Instagram announcing that the track would be his next single, and tearfully broke down as he explained its backstory.

“I’m really excited for the song to come out,” he said as tears began to well in his eyes. “But, you know, every time I hear it I’m kind of brought back to a time that was really, really, really challenging in my life.”

“It just rears its ugly head every time, sorry, every time that I hear it,” the “We Don’t Talk Anymore” singer continued, taking a moment to wipe away his tears. “I’m also really excited for you to hear it as well, because I just heard the master, but it just brought me back to 2019, which was the f****** worst year of my life.”

“I don’t make stupid videos like this, I make videos like ‘What if there was a sound like this?'” Puth said after appearing to become flustered. “I never told people what happened to me and the pain that I went through going through the worst breakup of my life in 2019. I just wanted to throw it under the carpet and just start over and surround myself with better people.”

The 30-year-old artist concluded, “This is the hardest song that I’ve ever had to put together and I’m so excited for you to hear it. So thank you.”

Puth said he couldn’t recall the exact release date for “That’s Hilarious” but shared in the caption that it will be out sometime in April.

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Ed Sheeran and Latin superstar J Balvin are taking a step into each other’s worlds with the release of two new singles — “Sigue” and “Forever My Love.”

The two tracks, along with their respective music videos, dropped Thursday evening. 

The first song, “Sigue,” brings Sheeran into Balvin’s world, with an upbeat, reggaeton dance song, for which the British singer-songwriter learned Spanish in order to be able to sing. The second song, “Forever My Love,” is the reverse and brings Balvin into Sheeran’s world with a beautiful love ballad.

The two global superstars and cultural icons teased the crossover project earlier in the week and shared how their friendship came to be.

“I met J in a gym in New York last year,” Sheeran shared in a joint Instagram post. “It was just me and him very early in the morning. I recognised his voice when he was on the phone so I just went up and said hi,” he continued. “We chatted so long, we ended up having lunch and then afternoon tea. Then just went to being mates who chatted nonstop.”

Balvin added, “In NY we made plans to have a studio day and well you guys will see the outcome hehehe. The first two songs that we made were “Sigue” and “Forever my Love” and now they are coming to light.”

Both artists also shared that the two-song EP is just the beginning and teased that more of their pop/reggaeton combo is on the way. 

Until then, “Sigue” and “Forever My Love” are available to stream now. 

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Tragedy struck close to home for Blake Shelton this week, when six teenagers were killed in a devastating car crash in Tishomingo, Oklahoma.

Blake owns a ranch in the same town, which is home to a population of just over 3,000. Not only was it a hometown tragedy for the superstar, but it also caused him to revisit a heartbreaking loss from his past. The singer’s brother, Richie, died in a car crash in 1990, when he was just 24 years old.

“In the wake of yesterday’s unthinkable crash in our small town of Tishomingo, we as a community have all been in shock and broken-hearted,” Blake tells People in a statement.  “I personally know the devastation of suddenly losing a loved one in a car accident. But our community is strong and has come together to support and wrap our arms around the families and friends that are hurting the most.”

Blake also asked for fans to keep those affected by the tragedy in their thoughts: “There’s no question it will take a long time to heal from this tragedy. Keep the prayers coming.”

The wreck occurred on Tuesday afternoon, when six female Tishomingo High School students were on their lunch break. Their small car, which seated only four, collided with a large truck. Among those killed were the 16-year-old driver, three 15-year-olds and two 17-year-olds. Because they are minors, their names have not been publicly released.

Blake’s love for his home state often shows up in his song lyrics. His Oklahoma ranch was also the scene of his wedding to Gwen Stefani last summer.

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