Music

Ally Brooke is preparing to share a piece of her heritage with fans with the debut of her new music, which is entirely in Spanish. 

The former Fifth Harmony member couldn’t help but share her excitement about this new era of music that she’s releasing under a new label, and with a new team around her.

“This has been such a major blessing in my life,” she told People. “My fans can see how happy I am and I can’t even explain it. It’s indescribable.”

Singing in Spanish isn’t exactly new for Brooke or her fans. The singer, who grew up in San Antonio, Texas, shared that her new music “taps into my roots, how I grew up and who I am today.”

What was a new experience for the “Perfect” singer, however, was being “so involved with the creative process.”

“I co-wrote a lot of these songs,” she said. “This is me. This is totally me. And the world’s going to hear it. I can’t wait.”

“I feel a [sense of] relief, I feel like I’m an artist, I’m fully myself and I’m pouring myself into these songs,” she added. “And I felt like before, I didn’t have that chance. To be able to finally put my writing in every song is the best feeling.”

Brooke’s debut Spanish single, “Mi Música,” is out October 22. 

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Coldplay‘s new album Music of the Spheres is out tomorrow, and they’ve just announced a tour to go along with it.

The Music of the Spheres stadium tour will kick off with the group’s first-ever show in Costa Rica on March 18, 2022, and then travel to the Dominican Republic and Mexico before reaching the U.S., starting with an April 26 date in Los Angeles, CA.  That U.S. leg of the tour will wrap June 14 in Tampa, FL, after which the band heads to Europe and the U.K.  More dates will be announced soon.

Opening for Coldplay on most of the dates will be H.E.R.

Tickets go on sale October 22 at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster.  A Verified Fan presale, which you have to register for via Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan Program, is available starting October 20.

“Playing live and finding connection with people is ultimately why we exist as a band,” Coldplay says in a statement. “We’ve been planning this tour for years, and we’re super excited to play songs from across our whole time together.”

The band goes on to say that they’ve spent the last two years “consulting with environmental experts to make this tour as sustainable as possible.”

To that end, Coldplay plans to power the tour via “renewable, super-low emission energy” — like solar panels at every venue, a “kinetic” stadium floor and kinetic bikes powered by fans. The power will be stored in the first-ever mobile, rechargeable show battery, made with recyclable BMW batteries.

They’ll also plant one tree for every ticket sold, give discounts to fans who use low-carbon transport to and from shows, offer free drinking water in an attempt to eliminate plastic bottles and put 10% of all the proceeds into a fund for environmental causes.

 

 

 

 

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It’s considered a high honor to write a Bond song, but for Billie Eilish, it became a full-circle moment when she was tapped to compose the theme for the latest James Bond movie, No Time to Die.

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Wednesday, the “bad guy” singer revealed she had plenty of practice before taking a crack at her now Grammy-winning song because, when she was younger, she and her brother and collaborator, FINNEAS, would pretend to write Bond themes for fun.

“Years before the Bond song — our song — was even a topic of discussion with us, we would do it as a songwriting exercise,” Billie recalled. “We would just be like, ‘Let’s sit down and do some chords that feel Bond-esque.'”

Eilish said she and her family are massive Bond fans, so she’s well aware of the theme-song talent that came before her, including Paul McCartney and Sam Smith. When it came to picking her favorite Bond singer of all time, the honor went to Adele, who performed 2012’s “Skyfall.”

“I know that was more of a recent one, but my favorite song in the world,” she raved. “I loved that song.”

Kimmel also brought up the possibility of Eilish winning an Oscar for “No Time to Die,” which led to the two discussing the singer’s interest in making movies; she’s already directed a few documentaries.

While Eilish said “cinematography is really something I admire,” she said she won’t venture out from behind the camera to “act in stuff” unless “something came along that felt right.”

“I used to want to make a movie really bad, like that was a thing I was planning on doing,” she teased. “Who knows.”

Eilish and Finneas later closed the show by performing “Happier Than Ever.”

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Tonight in Irvine, California, Luke Bryan kicks off the final four shows on his Proud to Be Right Here Tour.

And as much as he’s enjoying being back on the road, the reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year is looking ahead to a time when he won’t be hitting it quite so hard, as he steps back to spend more time with his sons, 13-year-old Bo and 11-year-old Tate.

“The boys have been coming out some on the road with me this year,” Luke explains, “and I’ve got hunting trips planned and fishing trips planned.”

“And I think as my boys get a little older and really start being in varsity sports and stuff,” he continues, “I’m gonna really have to take some tangible, you know, [time off, and] back the afterburners off. And certainly I’m prepared for that.”

For now, Luke heads to Fresno and San Bernardino, California on Friday and Saturday, before wrapping the trek October 28 in Brandon, Mississippi.

“Right now, it’s like, let’s get things rocking,” Luke says. “And as long as I’m having fun doing it — and I mean, my voice feels better than it’s ever been, and I’ve been having a blast out on stage. So as long as I’m having fun, I’m gonna keep doing stuff.”

“But then, you know, things will certainly have to naturally slow down,” he points out.

There’s not much slowing down in the near future, however. Luke plays Florida’s Tortuga Music Festival in November before hosting his popular Crash My Playa getaway vacation in Mexico in January. In February, he heads to Sin City to kick off his Vegas residency.  

Meanwhile, Luke’s just released “Up,” on the heels of his latest #1, “Waves.”

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Christina Aguilera has always been a huge supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, so it’s no surprise that she’s been tapped to headline this year’s World AIDS Day Concert, organized annually by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

The free event will take place December 1 at the Forum in Inglewood, CA, and will also feature Jennifer Hudson as a co-headliner, with Internet comedian Randy Rainbow hosting and legendary entertainer Debbie Allen producing.  Free tickets will be available via Ticketmaster or AHFEvents.org.  Proof of COVID vaccination is required to attend.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will be honored with AHF’s Lifetime Achievement Award, which he’ll accept via video.  This year’s event also commemorates the 40th anniversary of the first recognition by the CDC of the virus that led to what is now known as AIDS, in June of 1981.

Perhaps Christina will have some new music to perform at the concert.  She told ABC Audio recently that material from the Spanish language album project she’s been working on is coming “this fall.”

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As shocking as it might sound, the upcoming Red Hot Chili Peppers tour next year will mark the band’s first-ever run headlining U.S. stadiums. Speaking with Rolling Stone, drummer Chad Smith admits that playing such big venues feels “kind of scary.”

“We’ve played stadiums in Europe before,” Smith shares. “Live Nation was really confident that we could [headline U.S. stadiums], and we’d never done it.”

Any anxiety that Smith and the rest of the Peppers might feel, though, will apparently be channeled into their performance.

“We’re like, ‘F*** it, balls out!'” Smith exclaims.

“We’ll literally have our balls out,” he laughs. “No one wants to see that! Old balls!”

Beyond the prospect of whatever that entails, the Peppers tour features the reunion of the band’s classic lineup now that guitarist John Frusciante‘s back in the fold. Frusciante, who played on beloved RHCP albums including Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Californication and Stadium Arcadium, rejoined the band at the end of 2019 after previously leaving 10 years earlier.

“I know there’s gonna be people [attending the tour], even Chili Peppers fans, that have never seen this lineup,” Smith says. “We’ve written some of our best songs with these these four guys, and we do have something special.”

“It will be really exciting, and I see us not taking that for granted at all,” he adds. “As you get a little bit older, you appreciate it more. It’ll be a real joyful thing.”

The Red Hot Chili Peppers tour kicks off June 2022 in Europe. The U.S. leg launches in July.

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Julia Michaels dropped her debut album, Not In Chronological Order, earlier this year, and she’s itching to get out and perform those songs on the road for her fans. But right now, she tells ABC Audio, touring isn’t in the plan.

“I don’t have a timeline right now, and I don’t want to get anybody’s hopes up and say a time and then let anybody down,” she says. “So I won’t. But I do miss them very much. They know that I’m doing everything I can to get to them and I can’t wait until the time does come.”

For now, she’s enjoying watching her boyfriend, fellow artist JP Saxe, on his own tour. So is she feeling the FOMO?

“No, I’m very, very grateful to be home, and I’m happy that I get to watch him live out his very first tour and see all his dreams come true,” Julia says.

Though Michaels may be putting touring on hold, she’s finding new and innovative ways to connect with her fans at home. On Wednesday, she launched a new partnership with Campbell’s, featuring a special QR code on the brand’s soup labels that unlocks a new track.

The track is a cover of “Just One Look” by Doris Troy, inspired by Julia’s love of listening to ‘50s and ‘60s music while she cooks. The music is paired with her favorite Campbell’s recipe — grilled cheese and tomato soup, something she says her mom made for her growing up and JP still makes for her to this day.

Fans will also have the opportunity to submit their own cooking-inspired song for the chance to win $20,000 and a partnership with Campbell’s. The Sounds Good Tonight SoundCloud contest launches on Nov. 15.

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Next year, Ashanti will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her triple-platinum self-titled debut album by re-recording the entire project.

The 2002 album featured the hits “Foolish,” “Happy” and “Baby,” and earned a Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album. Now, the 41-year-old singer looks forward to releasing the new version on her own independent label.

“It makes the most sense after being in the game for 20 years and having the rights to be able to go back and re-record my first album,” she explains to Essence about why she is recreating the most successful project of her career.

She says her goal is to “sonically make it feel that same rawness, but with the 2022 spin on it — just sonically making it crispy,” adding, “I don’t want to stray too far because I’m really proud of what we created, but I’m excited about it.”

The singer/actress notes that when she recorded the original music, she was “a little naive, a little green, and super vulnerable…a young girl from Long Island in SoHo writing records in the studio with a bunch of rappers,” including Ja Rule.

“I was happy that as a young female, I was writing my own records,” she recalls. “A lot of the guys didn’t believe me. They thought I had a ghostwriter. They would make me sit in front of them and write.”

In 2022, in addition to recording the new version of the album, Ashanti will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“The fact that everything is happening in God’s timing that I’m celebrating my 20-year anniversary,” Ashanti says with gratitude. She adds about also getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year, “The timing couldn’t have been planned better.”

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