Music

Why do some people hate Kenny G‘s music?  That’s the question that a new HBO documentary aims to explore.

The film, titled Listening to Kenny G, follows the saxophonist — the best-selling instrumentalist of all time globally — as he works on his first album in seven years.  It also examines his career through archival footage and interviews with fans, critics, record executives and radio personalities.

But according to a press statement, because Kenny G is “arguably the most famous living jazz musician,” the movie is really “about why that makes certain people so mad.”  It’s described as a look at “how our artistic tastes shape our personal identities and signal our social belonging.”

Of course, Kenny G isn’t as square as some people make him out to be.  The Weeknd tapped him to play on the remix of his song “In Your Eyes,” and Kanye West famously hired him to serenade the rapper’s soon-to-be-ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, and also had him play on his number-one gospel album, Jesus Is King. 

What’s more, Kenny made a cameo in a Katy Perry video, appeared in a Super Bowl commercial, and performed with Foster the People on SNL.  He’s also one of only five artists to have appeared in the Billboard top 40 in every decade from 1980 to 2010.

Listening to Kenny G premieres on HBO on December 3.  It’s part of HBO’s Music Box film series, which includes the Alanis Morissette documentary Jagged, the Woodstock ’99 documentary Peace, Love & Rage, docs about the late rappers DMX and Juice WRLD, and a profile of Robert Stigwood, the entertainment tycoon who managed the Bee Gees, made John Travolta a movie star and gave us Grease and Saturday Night Fever.

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Two of new York City’s legendary rappers, Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One, went one on one Sunday night during the Verzuz battle in NYC.

Fat Joe hosted the 20-round event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, which kicked off with Big Daddy delivering “Just Rhymin” from his 1988 album, Long Live the Kane.

KRS fired back from the same year with the Boogie Down Productions cut, “I’m Still No. 1.” He continued with “The MC,” “Jack of Spades,” “Outta Here,” “9MM Goes Bang,” “MCs Act Like They Don’t Know” and many more.

Kane blazed through a set list including “Smooth Operator,” “Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy,” “Set It Off,” “Mortal Combat” and “Raw.”

With DJ Scratch backing Kane on the 1s and 2s, and Kid Capri rocking the turntables for KRS, the event included guest appearances by Roxanne Shanté, Masta Ace and Craig G, Das EFX, Mad Lion, Buckshot, and Kool DJ Red Alert. There was also a dance battle between legendary breakers Crazy Legs and Pop Master.

Triller announced there will be a limited commemorative NFT bundle of the ten best all-time Verzuz battle moments, according to Billboard.

“What Swizz [Beatz] and Timbaland have built with Verzuz is an entirely new form of entertainment, one that continues to grow and excite audiences literally around the world,” said Bobby Sarnevesht, co-controlling shareholder of TrillerNet.

“We wanted a way for our fans to be able to own a piece of Verzuz for themselves and tapping into the unique ownability and collectability of NFTs seemed like the perfect way to do that,” he added. “This is the beginning of many exciting Verzuz NFT drops.”

The first Verzuz NFT collectibles will be available for $199 at TrillerNfts.com.

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Jack White has premiered a new single called “Taking Me Back.”

The song is featured in the new trailer for Call of Duty: Vanguard, and its accompanying lyric video features footage from the upcoming World War II video game. If that all sounds a little too intense for you, there’s also “Taking Me Back (Gently),” an acoustic-driven version of the song.

Both versions of “Taking Me Back” are available now for digital download.

“Taking Me Back” is the first new solo single from White to follow his experimental 2018 effort, Boarding House Reach.

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Last year, Harry Styles made history when he became the first male to cover Vogue solo — and he did it while wearing a dress. While many called it a groundbreaking moment, Pose actor Billy Porter said he was disappointed by the choice.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Porter said he doesn’t feel completely accepted by the fashion industry, despite his many contributions.

“I created the conversation [about non-binary fashion] and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time,” he said.

“I’m not dragging Harry Styles, but he is the one you’re going to try and use to represent this new conversation?” the 52-year-old Emmy winner continued. “He doesn’t care, he’s just doing it because it’s the thing to do.”

“This is politics for me,” Porter added. “This is my life. I had to fight my entire life to get to the place where I could wear a dress to the Oscars and not be gunned now. All he has to do is be white and straight.”

Porter famously wore a Christian Siriano tuxedo gown to the 2019 Oscars. His new memoir, Unprotected, is out Tuesday.

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Foo Fighters will enter the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the blessing of a Beatle.

The legendary Paul McCartney will usher Dave Grohl and company into the museum during its upcoming 2021 Induction Ceremony, held in Cleveland on October 30.

McCartney and The Beatles, of course, have been big influences on Grohl and the Foos. Sir Paul is even featured on the Foos’ 2017 album, Concrete and Gold.

When Grohl entered the Rock Hall in 2014 alongside Nirvana, R.E.M.‘s Michael Stipe did the inducting honors.

Other announced presenters include Taylor Swift, Drew Barrymore and Angela Bassett, who will induct Carole King, The Go-Go’s and Tina Turner, respectively. Additionally, Lionel Richie will induct music executive Clarence Avant as a recipient of the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

Presenters for Todd Rundgren and JAY-Z — the other inductees in the main Performers category — have not yet been announced. 

Other inductees this year include Kraftwerk, Charley Patton and Gil Scott-Heron for Early Influence, and LL Cool J, Billy Preston and Randy Rhoads for Musical Excellence.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will air November 20 on HBO and stream on HBO Max.

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One of the most important singer/songwriters of our era will pay tribute to one of music’s most legendary singer/songwriters next weekend.

Taylor Swift will induct Carole King into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on October 30, during a ceremony at  Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, OH.  Taylor will also perform as part of a tribute to King, whose iconic album Tapestry pretty much set the standard for singer/songwriters 50 years ago. 

Jennifer Hudson will be part of that tribute as well; she and King co-wrote the song “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” for her recent movie, Respect, and performed it on the soundtrack.  In Respect, J-Hud played the late Aretha Franklin; King wrote one of Franklin’s most memorable hits, “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman.”

Angela Bassett, who portrayed Tina Turner in the biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It, will induct Turner, and the Queen of Rock ‘n Roll will be saluted with performances by Christina Aguilera, H.E.R., country star Mickey Guyton and Tina’s “It’s Only Love” duet partner, Bryan Adams.

Drew Barrymore will induct groundbreaking female rockers The Go-Go‘s, and none other than Beatles legend Paul McCartney will do the honors for Foo Fighters.  Meanwhile, Lionel Richie will present pioneering record executive Clarence Avant with a special award.

More presenters and performers will be announced soon.  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will air November 20 on HBO and stream on HBO Max.

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Luke Bryan has been tapped to host the 2021 CMA Awards. 

This marks the “What Makes You Country” singer’s debut as CMA Awards host. He was awarded the show’s top prize, Entertainer of the Year, back-to-back in 2014 and 2015.

“The CMA Awards is one of the biggest nights of the year for Country Music. Being asked to host the CMA Awards was definitely something I put a lot of thought into before answering” Luke says in a statement. “The pressure that comes along with that can be overwhelming, but knowing I get to help honor and celebrate so many of my friends, I knew it was something I couldn’t turn down.”

Luke also said he’s “honored” to join the list of former CMA hosts, which include Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker. “I’m looking forward to making it fun and memorable and using this platform to continue to make Country Music shine,” he declared.

Reba McEntire and Darius co-hosted the show in 2020. It was revealed earlier this month that Reba was not returning as host for 2021.

Eric Church and Chris Stapleton are the most nominated acts at the 55th annual ceremony. Performers and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks. 

The CMA Awards air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on November 10 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. 

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Ryan Hurd has nothing but praise for wife Maren Morris in her role as mother to their son Hayes. 

The husband and wife pair welcomed Hayes in March 2020, and Ryan says it’s been a joy to watch his wife blossom into motherhood. He jokingly admits that he knew she was excelling as a parent when he got home one day to find that Maren had taught their infant son an advanced skill in his absence. 

“Maren’s a really great mom and it’s cool to watch her learn how to do that,” Ryan tells Entertainment Tonight. “I didn’t realize how good of a mom she was until I got back and he had learned flash cards. I was like ‘I don’t do that, should I be doing flashcards? I didn’t know we had flash cards.'”

The couple met as songwriters in 2013 during a writing session that resulted in Tim McGraw‘s “Last Turn Home,” marking Maren’s first cut as a songwriter. It is one of many major successes the couple has experienced together, including their duet, “Chasing After You,” that’s racing up the charts, currently inside the top 10 on country radio.

“It was cool to have that moment with her. You see the rocket ship take off and you’re like ‘but I was there at the start,’ and that’s cool,” Ryan reflects, adding that he and Maren’s dream was to move to Nashville and be songwriters. “We both get to do it and we both to get to be passionate about our side of it and also passionate about the other person at the same time. It’s really cool to be in a relationship with somebody who feels the same thing.”

Ryan’s debut album, Pelago, is out now.

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If you’ve been wondering what Nate Ruess has been up to lately, apparently he’s collaborating with Young Thug.

The fun. frontman joined the rapper during his performance this past weekend on Saturday Night Live. Ruess sang the hook on the song “Love You More,” which is featured on Young Thug’s new album, Punk.

The rendition also featured Blink-182‘s Travis Barker, aka the future Mr. Kourtney Kardashian.

Ruess released one solo album, Grand Romantic, in 2015, but has been fairly quiet since fun. went on hiatus earlier that year. Meanwhile, his fun. band mate Jack Antonoff launched his Bleachers solo project and has produced albums for artists including Lorde, Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey.

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