Music

Note to any musician who wants to be on Dancing with the Stars: Try busting a move in one of your music videos.

In an interview with GLAAD, Jason Mraz reveals that when the DWTS producers saw him literally singing about dancing and doing all the choreography in the video for “I Feel Like Dancing,” it “ticked a few boxes” for the show’s casting agents, and he got the invitation. However, he says it hasn’t been easy for him to feel comfortable in the ballroom.

“All day you’re looking at yourself in the mirror, and that can be hard for anybody, any human, to accept themselves looking in the mirror,” he says. “On top of it, then my partner is asking me to move in ways that I’ve never moved before, and my reaction is, ‘I look silly.’ And then you break through that and it’s like, ‘OK, I feel kinda cool.’ And then it eventually becomes confidence, and so it is a journey.”

“Dance is an amazing medium for that transformation and for that accepting of one’s self,” he adds.

On that topic, Jason also spoke about coming out as bi in 2018 and his subsequent divorce from wife Christina Carano. “You carry a lot of shame, guilt,” says the singer, who was named to this year’s Out100 list of the most influential LGBTQ+ people.

“You want to heal as many relationships of the past as possible and at the same time, step into this new acceptance and new identity or whatever I’m claiming, and that’s also hard,” Jason says. “So being on the Out100 … it’s nice to be acknowledged.”

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The influence of Kurt Cobain has reached to even the Barbie movie soundtrack.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Billie Eilish describes how the late Nirvana rocker impacted her song “What Was I Made For?” — which she recorded for the Margot Robbie-starring film.

“This is kind of dark, but recently I was reading Kurt Cobain’s suicide note,” Eilish shares. “It’s horrifying. I mean, all of it is the most tragic s*** I’ve ever heard. He was such a pure person and talent. And I feel so much deep, deep, deep sorrow for him and his life and where it went.”

“In the letter he’s like, ‘I have everything in the world, and I absolutely hate it,'” she continues. “He was so ashamed that he wasn’t enjoying it. And I get why he was feeling that way. It’s just not what you think it’s going to be.”

You may recall that Nirvana drummer-turned-Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl is a big fan of Eilish. He even compared her meteoric rise to that of the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” outfit.

“The connection she has with her audience is the same thing that was happening with Nirvana in 1991,” Grohl said in 2019.

By the way, Cobain also unexpectedly inspired the music for another recent blockbuster movie: 2022’s The Batman, which used the Nirvana song “Something in the Way.

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HARDY‘s sporting a fresh look, and it’s looking a lot like Joe Diffie‘s.

The “wait in the truck” hitmaker recently shared a video of him getting clean-shaven for a new facial appearance.

“Channeling my inner @officialjoediffie,” HARDY captioned the Instagram video. In the clip, his wife, Caleigh Ryan, also offers commentary. 

“Look at me so that I can get one last look of your cute face,” Caleigh tells HARDY before he picks up his electric shaver and razor to shave. 

“Mustache Michael!” Caleigh says at the end of the video as HARDY, whose first name is Michael, proudly shows off his clean-shaven chin and mustache.

“How good does that feeeel tho. Damn,” ERNEST commented. Travis Denning added, “This is the look. Don’t ever change it.”

HARDY recently announced the upcoming release of HIXTAPE Vol. 3: DIFFTAPE. The Diffie tribute project arrives March 29 and can be previewed with the previously released “Pickup Man” featuring Diffie and Post Malone, and “John Deere Green” featuring Diffie, HARDY and Morgan Wallen.

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Ciara is looking to help increase the number of Black girls who take up coding.  

On Tuesday, the R&B songstress announced the Build a Beat Challenge in partnership with Black Girls Code, a nonprofit providing Black girls and gender nonconforming youth with code and computer programming education. 

The nationwide contest and its mission to “spark a musical coding revolution” empowers students age 13 to 18 to code their own song. Participants will have the opportunity to meet Ciara via a video call and win prizes aimed at furthering their tech dreams.

“I am proud to be supporting this initiative and empowering young people to take their passion for music and use it to develop technology skills that can give them a leg up in life,” Ciara said.

The Grammy-winning singer said Black Girls Code’s mission aligns perfectly with the charitable work that her Why Not You Foundation, which she founded with husband Russell Wilson in 2014, does through education: lifting students out of poverty and inspiring leadership with a Why Not You? attitude. 

After signing up for the Build a Beat Challenge with Ciara, young coders will use learned and newly acquired skills to craft their own songs and remixes, blending together sounds from artists like Ciara, Alicia Keys, Common, Pharrell and more. 

The contest runs from November 14 through December 31 with a total of five winners selected by a panel of celebrity judges, including MC Lyte. 

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Guns N’ Roses are embroiled in a lawsuit filed by a photographer who worked for them for over a decade.

According to Rolling Stone, Katarina Benzova filed a lawsuit accusing the band of copyright infringement, alleging their management company “falsely claim[ed] ownership” over her photographs. She also accused the band’s manager, Fernando Lebeis, of sexual harassment.

But weeks prior to Benzova’s suit, Guns N’ Roses sued her, arguing she “improperly registered” for a copyright for the photos of the band, which they say they own.

“Ms. Benzova was initially contracted to provide tour photography services for Guns N’ Roses in 2010. She worked with the band for 12 years and was paid and treated extraordinarily well,” the band said in a statement to the magazine. “It was only after her services were discontinued in 2022 that she attempted to claim ownership in photos, which her contract clearly states are owned by the band.”

But Benzova argues in her suit that she was just a freelancer and worked without a formal contract throughout her 12 years with the band, with the exception of an 18-week period. She says GNR’s management is falsely claiming to own the photos from the non-contracted period and has been using them without consent in ads, various media outlets and more.

Her suit requests a court order that names her the “sole owner” of any photos taken during that contracted period. 

As for the sexual harassment, she says it began in 2016 and got so bad she went out of her way to never be alone with Lebeis. She says after rejecting him, Lebeis retaliated by lowering her pay, withholding money, and withholding photo credits.

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J Mascis has announced a new album called What Do We Do Now.

The fifth solo effort from the Dinosaur Jr. frontman — and his first since 2018’s Elastic Days — arrives February 2. Its first single, “Can’t Believe We’re Here,” is available now via digital outlets.

“Can’t Believe We’re Here” is also accompanied by a video featuring some of Mascis’ comedian, actor and musician pals, including Fred Armisen and David Cross. You can watch that streaming now on YouTube.

Here’s the What Do We Do Now track list:

“Can’t Believe We’re Here”
“What Do We Do Now”
“Right Behind You”
“You Don’t Understand Me”
“I Can’t Find You”
“Old Friends”
“It’s True”
“Set Me Down”
“Hangin Out”
“End Is Gettin Shaky”

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 Bob Geldof is not a fan of his own work … at least when it comes to acting.

According to Deadline, the rocker is taking part in Poland’s Camerimage International Film Festival, where he’ll introduce a screening of the 1982 film Pink Floyd – The Wall. During a Q&A, Geldof, who stars in the film, didn’t have good things to say about his work.

“No, I don’t like the film. I think I’m really bad,” he said when asked about its importance to his career.

“I’ve seen the movie twice, and I was embarrassed. I was just embarrassed every day by how sh** I was,” he explained, adding, “I don’t like looking at myself. I don’t like listening to myself. I don’t like hearing myself. The last thing I want is to see myself on the side of a building.”

Geldof joked that money was the reason he did the film, although he didn’t get much. He called Pink Floyd “hippies” who were “terrible with money.” 

Geldof also didn’t have nice things to say about other musicians who dabbled in acting, noting artists like Sting, David Bowie and Bob Dylan weren’t good at it. He did acknowledge that Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra could act, suggesting they were better because they didn’t write songs and just interpreted what others wrote.

“So their job was to find the psychology in a song. My job is to project myself on stage. I’m singing things that are in my head,” he explained.

During the same Q&A, Geldof revealed there’s a lot of new Live Aid content in the works, including an IMAX film and a six-part series on Disney. He previously revealed that a Live Aid musical is happening and will open in London at the end of January.

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Keke Wyatt recently made a change to her physical appearance by shaving all of the hair off her head. 

She debuted the new look in a post shared with her 1.7 million followers on Instagram. “OMGGGGGGG!!! Why do I feel SOOOO FREE?” she said, noting she thinks cutting hair down to the scalp is “a must do!!!”

The reveal featured Keke slowly pulling back her sweatshirt hood to showcase the new hairdo. Although one of her 11 children, Bella, poked fun and laughed at her, Keke continued grinning throughout the video, saying in an excited manner, “So. I did this today.” 

Keke recently premiered her WE tv reality show, Keke Wyatt’s World, and announced her not-yet-titled, forthcoming album — the first in six years. 

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For Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin and Pitbull, the party won’t stop at the end of 2023.

The three powerhouse performers have just extended their joint The Trilogy Tour into 2024 with 18 new concerts, starting January 30 in Fresno, California. The new dates are currently set to wrap up March 10 in Tampa, Florida. 

Each artist performs a headline set over the course of the four-hour show. Among the nonstop stream of hits are songs like “She Bangs,” “Livin’ la Vida Loca,” “Escape,” “Bailamos,” “Timber,” “Give Me Everything” and “I Know You Want Me.”

Tickets for the new dates will go on sale Friday, November 17, at 11 a.m. local time at Ticketmaster.com.  For VIP packages, visit vipnation.com.

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