Music

Halle Bailey, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Samuel L. Jackson, Tyler Perry and Tracee Ellis Ross are among the latest batch of Oscars presenters that were announced Tuesday. They join previously announced presenters including Ruth E. Carter, Daniel Kaluuya, Zoë Kravitz, Lupita Nyong’o, Chris Rock, Wesley Snipes and more. The Oscars air Sunday, March 27, at 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PDT on ABC.

Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen received his knighthood on Tuesday. The 12 Years a Slave filmmaker was knighted by Princess Anne at Windsor Castle in England for his services to art and film. Sir Steve McQueen’s next project, a World War II-era film called Blitz, is set to begin production this fall.

Jonathan Majors has lined up a brand new role. Deadline reports that the Lovecraft Country star has been tapped for the lead role in The Man in My Basement, an adaptation of the Walter Mosley novel. The story follows Charles Blakey, an African American man living in Sag Harbor, New York, who receives a unique proposition from a white businessman to rent his basement for the summer. Things soon take a dark turn. Nadia Latif will make her directorial debut with the film.

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’90s alt-rockers Candlebox are the subject of a new documentary that will be released this fall.

Called Far Behind: The Candlebox Story, the movie will focus on the band’s rise to fame at the beginnings of the grunge scene. It’s being executive-produced by Guy Oseary, who signed the band to Madonna‘s label, Maverick, when he was just 20 years old. Their 1993 self-titled debut album went RIAA-certified four-times Platinum, thanks to singles like “You” and “Far Behind.” 

After splitting in 2000, Candlebox reunited in 2006 and have since released four more albums, including 2021’s Wolves. They’ll hit the road in May.

Frontman Brad Martin says in a statement, “The story of Candlebox is one that’s long overdue for a telling, and I cannot wait to share this documentary with the world – no holds barred, honest, painful, and as real as it gets.”

Director Jack Piatt, whose initiated the film project, adds, “I was in high school when the early 90’s Seattle sound made its way to rural Ohio, and it left a huge impression on my life musically. Candlebox plays a key role in this historic legacy. This is an important story for a lot of people, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to tell it.”

Far Behind: The Candlebox Story is expected to be released this fall.

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Let’s go to the beach, let’s go get away! 

Carrie Underwood and her family spent their spring break on the beach, and she’s got the photos from their tropical trip. The hit singer took to her Instagram Stories to share snaps that show her gazing up at a palm tree swaying in the breeze as wispy clouds pass by. Another finds her three-year-old son Jacob, running toward the water, while her eldest son Isaiah, 7, strolls along the beach “searching for seashells,” she captions. 

Now that she’s had time to relax and recharge, Carrie teased on socials that she has an announcement coming on Friday. She also celebrated her 39th birthday on March 10, three days after she and Jason Aldean won Single of the Year with “If I Didn’t Love You” at the ACM Awards.

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Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand are coming back to the US for their first tour since 2018.

The band, which recently released the best-of collection Hits to the Head, will start a North American trek August 4 in Dallas, Texas, and wrap things up September 1 in Los Angeles. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time; a fan pre-sale starts March 16 at 1 p.m. ET.

FF’s latest single, “Curious,” is one of two new tracks on Hits to the Head.

Earlier this month, the “Take Me Out” rockers canceled their planned tour dates in Russia this summer due to that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We have spoken to many of our friends in Russia via social media and have encountered unanimous opposition to this violence and solidarity with our Ukrainian friends,” the band said in a Twitter thread. “We know you see the madness of your country’s leadership. We know you do not want war. We do not want war.”

Other artists who’ve canceled shows in Russia in support of Ukraine include Green Day, Imagine Dragons, AJR and Yungblud.

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Christina Aguilera booked another big event to her already busy summer — she’s just been announced as this year’s headliner for LA Pride.

Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, the “Beautiful” singer announced, “I’m headlining @LAPride 2022!”  She continued, “Join me at the official #LAPrideinthePark music event Saturday, June 11, at LA State Historic Park, a nonprofit event benefiting the LGBTQIA+ community.”

Tickets for the event are now on sale on LA Pride’s official website, with early-bird tickets retailing for $35 while VIP experiences start at $200.  More artists will join the lineup, which will be unveiled later.

Christina recently released her all-Spanish EP, La Fuerza, which means “The Strength” in English.  She previously teased that her EP is the first of three chapters in what will later be assembled into Christina’s upcoming ninth studio album.  That as-yet untitled record will become her second all-Spanish album following her 2000 effort, Mi Reflejo.

When describing her upcoming trilogy, Christina previously told Billboard, “Each body of work represents a different tone and different mood and a different release of the journey that I’m on as a woman… You start with the strength, and we’re going to be more tender and open up to be a bit more vulnerable with the material in the next chapter and then we’ll close on this healing note.”

Christina has yet to reveal the titles and release dates of her two upcoming EPs.

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It was a (TV) family affair for Tim McGraw during his headlining set at the weekend Boots in the Park Festival. 

The country star performed at the festival in California where members of the cast of 1883 were in attendance not merely as spectators, but active participants. 

During Tim’s performance of his classic hit, “I Like It, I Love It,” several of his cast mates including LaMonica Garrett, Alex Fine, Amanda Jaros, Emerson Miller and James Landry Hebert joined him on stage to sing the chorus.

Dressed in cowboy hats and boots, the cast of the hit Paramount+ series jumped around onstage in excitement before walking down the catwalk as a group into the crowd, cheering all the while. 

“Got the band back together last night! Huge thanks @thetimmcgraw @faithhill and the @1883official fans for making us feel like rockstars,” shares James, who portrays the character of Wade.

“This was insane. Thanks to my tv mom and dad @thetimmcgraw @faithhill. You guys have a really cool side hustle,” praised Alex, aka Grady. “@1883official is an awesome family to be apart of.” 

LaMonica also shared live footage of an intro video Tim used during his set that showed a series of clips from 1883. “And it was in this moment, that me and my #1883TV castmates felt like rock stars backstage… Got chills watching that @1883official footage on all those screens in front of thousands of screaming fans,” the actor reflected.

1883 is the prequel series to the wildly popular Paramount+ series Yellowstone. Tim and his wife Faith Hill play the lead roles of James and Margaret Dutton, respectively. 

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Kelsea Ballerini is getting ready to close the chapter on her self-titled album, but not before offering up a special live performance one of her fan favorites from the project. 

On Monday, the songstress shared a video on her Instagram of her energetically performing “Needy,” one of the deep cuts on her last album, 2020’s kelsea. The pop-country number allows her bubbly personality to shine on stage as she sings in front of a cheering crowd, “You never needed anybody/ But now you need me/ I was the same, but things have changed/ I’m needy.”

In an accompanying note alongside the video, Kelsea declares, “I couldn’t let the kelsea album chapter come to an end without playing this one (FINALLYYYY) here’s neeeeedy!!!!”

In the comments, the song’s co-writer Julia Michaels writes, “Awwwwww our song babyyyyyy,” while Kelsea’s husband, Morgan Evans, praises, “Damm, this is sick.”

As Kelsea prepares to bid adieu to her previous album, she’s been actively posting videos and videos on socials from writing retreats for her new project. 

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Following Dolly Parton‘s surprising withdrawal from consideration for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, at least one famous producer seems to be stepping up to the plate to help her achieve her dreams of making a rock album.

In her statement, the country icon said she didn’t feel she’d “earned the right” to be in the Rock Hall, but went on to say, “This has…inspired me to put out a hopefully great rock ‘n’ roll album at some point in the future, which I have always wanted to do!”

Steve Albini, whose production work includes albums by Nirvana, Pixies, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, The Breeders, PJ Harvey, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Laura Jane Grace, Urge Overkill and countless others, responded to Dolly’s statement. He wrote in a Twitter message, “Dolly Parton do you like analog recording.”

Fans were excited at the prospect of Albini being involved with the project, with one writing, “Album of the year potential. Please make this happen.” Another wrote, “oh god an albini produced dolly album is everything i could ever hope for.”

Still another wrote, “I’m ready to pre-order all formats including the in-studio making-of documentary on 4K.”

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