More than 1,000 kids now have Christmas presents under the tree after Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley hosted their third annual Toy Store in Nashville.
The yuletide event, which also included gift wrapping and other holiday festivities, is part of The Store, the “free referral-based grocery store” the celebrity couple founded in Music City. Six hundred volunteers helped distribute more than 5,000 toys this holiday.
A second location of The Store set to open at Nashville’s TriStar Centennial Medical Center in mid-January.
It’s been a busy season for Brad, as he just released his new Snow Globe Town album and worked on Hallmark Channel’s A Grand Ole Opry Christmas movie. Meanwhile, Kimberly’s currently starring in 9-1-1: Nashville, which airs Thursdays on ABC.
Ed Sheeran performs in Madrid, Spain, May 30, 2025 (A. Perez Meca/Europa Press via Getty Images)
Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Taylor Swift and Pink are among the artists landing on Pollstar’s new list of the 25 most popular touring artists of the millennium.
The list is based on worldwide ticket sales from 2001 to 2025, rather than how much money each act earned. That’s why Taylor Swift, who made the most money out of any act on the list — over $3.1 billion — is #5 on the list. She “only” sold 18.9 million tickets, as compared to Coldplay, who tops the list with 24.8 million tickets sold.
U2 ranks #2, with 20.2 million tickets sold, while Ed is #3 with 19.6 million tickets sold. Pink comes in at #11 with just under 13 million tickets sold.
Farther down on the list, Beyoncé is #13 with just under 12 million tickets sold, while Madonna is #15, with just under 11 million tickets sold.
Other artists on the list include Bon Jovi, in at #9 with just under 14 million tickets sold; Elton John at #10 with 13.8 million tickets sold; and Billy Joel at #24, with just under 9 million tickets sold.
The list also includes the average ticket price, and here’s where we see why Taylor made the most money: Her ticket price was the highest, averaging $165.54 over 575 shows. The only artist who came close to that price is The Rolling Stones, who averaged $162.96 per ticket over 341 shows.
Mick Fleetwood performs onstage during the 65th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy )
Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood has jumped on the “In your 20s” trend, where people impart lessons they’ve learned while a mash-up of Billy Joel‘s “Piano Man” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Silver Springs” plays.
Mick shared his contribution on Instagram, with the post opening with a somewhat recent video of him behind the drum kit. The video’s text reads “in your 20’s [sic] you’ll be asked to cofound a new band.”
Then as “Silver Springs” breaks in, archival footage of Fleetwood Mac is played, with the post reading “It’s very important that you say yes.”
Mick captioned the clip, “Don’t stop living the dream!!”
Fleetwood Mac was co-founded in 1967 by Mick and Peter Green. John McVie eventually joined the band, followed by Christine McVie in 1970. In 1974, after Mick heard a song from Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks‘ debut album, Buckingham Nicks, he invited Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham insisted his then-girlfriend Nicks come with him, and the pair officially joined the group on New Year’s Eve.
Fleetwood Mac went on to sell over 120 million records worldwide and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Ariana Grande performs on the 97th Academy Awards, March 2, 2025 (Disney/Frank Micelotta)
Ariana Grande‘s upcoming Eternal Sunshine tour begins June 6 in Oakland, California. But will we hear Wicked songs like “Popular” in the set, alongside hits like “We Can’t Be Friends”? Maybe.
Asked by Varietyif she plans on performing any Wicked songs on her tour, Ariana said, “I think it’s too soon to tell, but we’ll see. To be continued.”
However, in November Ariana revealed on the Shut Up, Evan podcast that she’d “already made” her set list, adding that she thinks it’s “really strong.”
Variety spoke to Ariana right after she learned Monday morning that she’d been nominated for a Golden Globe for the second year in a row, this time for Wicked: For Good. “It’s not expected, especially not twice for the same role,” Ari said of portraying Glinda in both Wicked films. “It’s an extraordinary honor. I was so grateful to do this work.”
“This role was something I had to earn, and work that I’m so proud of. I’m so proud to have done it, and to see it be celebrated in this way again, twice, is just an extraordinary thing.”
Both of the newly written songs in Wicked: For Good, “The Girl In the Bubble” and “No Place Like Home,” received Golden Globe nominations. Ariana said the first time she heard “The Girl In the Bubble,” which she sings in the film, “I felt relieved because I didn’t know what to expect when I heard that Glinda had a new song. I just felt that it added so much value to her arc.”
Mariah Carey, ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ 30th anniversary vinyl (Legacy/Columbia)
Is it even the holiday season if Mariah Carey isn’t #1 on the Billboard Hot 100?
Her ubiquitous song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has returned to the top of the chart for a 19th week overall, which means it’s now tied with “Old Town Road” and “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” for most weeks ever at #1 on the Hot 100. Of course, those hits by Lil Nas X and Shaboozey managed the feat in a single year, whereas Mariah collected her 19 weeks starting in 2019, when it ruled for three weeks.
Since 2019, the song has returned to #1 every year, remaining on top for multiple weeks. Last year it managed four weeks on top.
Meanwhile, another holiday favorite, Wham!‘s “Last Christmas,” has climbed to #2 on the Hot 100 — it’s the highest peak ever for that song. The rest of the top 10 stocking is stuffed with multiple Christmas songs: BrendaLee‘s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is #3; Bobby Helms‘ “Jingle Bell Rock” is #4; Ariana Grande‘s “Santa Tell Me” is #8; Nat King Cole‘s “The Christmas Song” is #9; and Andy Williams‘ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” is at #10.
As for the songs that aren’t Christmas related, “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters is #5, Alex Warren‘s “Ordinary” is #7 and Taylor Swift‘s “The Fate of Ophelia,” which has been #1 for the past eight weeks, tumbles to #6.
At least for now, country duo Maddie & Tae is coming to an end, Maddie Font and Tae Kerr announced via People.
“We’re leaving this so open-ended because, you know, we might make another record one day,” Maddie says. “We might go do some tour dates one day.”
In fact, the duo still has concerts on the books, primarily in February and March 2026.
“Even though we’re not gonna go on this journey as Maddie & Tae together, we’re still walking and doing life together outside of it,” Maddie tells People. “And I think I’m really excited to just be best friends and nurture our friendship and not have to worry as much about the work and still get to raise our babies together. None of that changes.”
Tae plans to focus on her family, which includes her husband, songwriter/producer Josh Kerr, and their two kids: Leighton Kerr, who’ll be 4 in January, and son Chapel Kerr, who is 13 months.
Maddie’s in the process of launching her solo career, while also raising her 2-year-old son, Forrest Font, with husband Jonah Font.
“Thank you for all the love as we step into this new bittersweet chapter,” the duo wrote on Instagram. “We both feel overwhelmed with gratitude for what we’ve built with y’all the last 12 years. Thank you for making our wildest dreams come true and we hope you stay close by to watch us chase some new dreams. We love you so much and hope you still come shake ya booty with us on tour next year.”
Maddie & Tae launched their career with 2014’s chart-topping “Girl in a Country Song,” before visiting the top spot again in 2019 with “Die from a Broken Heart.”
Mariah Carey, 30th anniversary vinyl of ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ (Legacy/Columbia)
Is it even the holiday season if Mariah Carey isn’t #1 on the Billboard Hot 100?
Her ubiquitous song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has returned to the top of the chart for a 19th week overall, which means it’s now tied with “Old Town Road” and “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” for most weeks ever at #1 on the Hot 100. Of course, those hits by Lil Nas X and Shaboozey managed the feat in a single year, whereas Mariah collected her 19 weeks starting in 2019, when it ruled for three weeks.
Since 2019, the song has returned to #1 every year, remaining on top for multiple weeks. Last year it managed four weeks on top.
According to Billboard, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is now the first song to top the Hot 100 in seven different runs on the chart: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Meanwhile, the song is also #1 on Billboard‘s Holiday 100 chart, which began in 2011. It’s the 68th week the song has been #1 on that chart, which has existed for 76 weeks in total.
U2 on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live! ‘2017/Photo creedit: ABC/Randy Holmes
U2, Bruce Springsteenand The E Street Band, Bon Jovi and Elton John are among the artists landing on Pollstar’s new list of the 25 most popular touring artists of the millennium.
The list is based on worldwide ticket sales from 2001 to 2025. While Coldplay tops the list, U2 is just behind at #2, with 20.2 million tickets sold, which brought in a total gross of over $2.18 billion.
Springsteen and The E Street Band rank at #6, with 18.6 million tickets sold. Bon Jovi is #9, with 13.9 million, and Elton is #10, with 13.8 million.
Others landing on the list include The Rolling Stones at #12, Eagles at #17, Roger Waters at #21, Paul McCartney at #22 and Billy Joel at #25.
Sleep Token performs on Day 1 of Download festival at Donnington Park on June 10, 2022 in Donnington, England. (Joseph Okpako/WireImage)
Sleep Token provides the soundtrack for the hype trailer for the upcoming 2025 Game Awards, which celebrate the best in video games.
The video, streaming now on YouTube, features clips from nominated games including Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Donkey Kong Bananza and Hollow Knight: Silksong, all set to Sleep Token’s 2023 Take Me Back to Eden song “Rain.”
Game Awards producer and host Geoff Keighley, who picked “Rain” to accompany the trailer, describes it as “an extraordinary song about pain, rebirth, and catharsis.” The track also shares a connection with the video game world.
“When Sleep Token performs Rain live, [frontman] Vessel often begins with chords from the Halo 3 theme — a beautiful, unexpected connection,” Keighley writes in an Instagram post. “When I reached out, the band was gracious enough to let us use the song for this project.”
The 2025 Game Awards take place Thursday and will stream live beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.
As previously reported, the ceremony will feature a performance by Evanescence. Amy Lee and company will be playing their song “Afterlife” from the Devil May Cry Netflix series, which was adapted from the video game franchise of the same name.
Teddy Swims performs at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, November 8, 2025 (Disney/Frank Micelotta)
Teddy Swims loves his fans, but he doesn’t love it when people posing as fans try to get his autograph.
The “Lose Control” singer wrote on his Instagram Story, “I think it’s a really nasty thing to do to wait for someone to get off a plane at the gate with 100 things to sign that are clearly going to eBay to make some profit.”
“You don’t love me or my music or my fans,” he continued. “You just want to exploit people for your own financial gain. You’re gross.”
Teddy has traveled the world this year, so he’s likely encountered this more than once. Perhaps he’ll get a break from it now that his tour has officially wrapped up. He wrote on Instagram Friday, “The I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy Tour is officially over !! 198 shows later, over a million people in crowd, and even more memories. I can’t thank you all enough for making my dreams come true over the last two years !!”
“This has been a journey that has taken me around the world with my best damn friends,” added Teddy, who also became a father this year. “I love you I love you I love you. Forever humbled and grateful for this ride !! Can’t wait for a million more.”
