Ex-Mötley Crüe vocalist John Corabi releasing autobiography in 2022

Ex-Mötley Crüe vocalist John Corabi releasing autobiography in 2022
Ex-Mötley Crüe vocalist John Corabi releasing autobiography in 2022
Frank Hoensch/Redferns

Former Mötley Crüe singer John Corabi is releasing an autobiography.

The book, titled Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, will be released June 2022, and finds Corabi telling the story of his life “from the mean streets of Philadelphia to the Sunset Strip,” including tales from his days in Crüe, as well as his other musical endeavors.

A publisher’s escription for Horseshoes and Hand Grenades reads, “Whether it’s detailing his parents difficult divorce, his family’s dark history of abuse, his run-in with a serial killer, or simply the best way to arrive at a wedding — which maybe is by helicopter and maybe it isn’t — [Corabi] pulls no punches and outlines the good and bad of it all in this raucous autobiography.”

Corabi joined Mötley Crüe in 1992 after the band parted ways with founding vocalist Vince Neil. He sang on Mötley’s 1994 self-titled album before being fired himself in 1996, after which Neil rejoined.

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U2, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison, Carole King & more shortlisted for Oscar nominations for Best Original Song

U2, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison, Carole King & more shortlisted for Oscar nominations for Best Original Song
U2, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison, Carole King & more shortlisted for Oscar nominations for Best Original Song
Courtesy of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

U2, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison and Carole King are among the music artists that have made the shortlist to be nominated for a Best Original Song award for the 2022 Oscars.

Among the finalists in the Best Original Song category are U2’s Sing 2 track “Your Song Saved My Life”;  “Right Where I Belong,” from the Wilson documentary Long Promised Road, which the Beach Boys legend co-wrote with My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James; Morrison’s “Down to Joy,” from the film Belfast; and “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home),” which King co-wrote with Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Hartman for the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect. Hudson, of course, is the star of the latter film.

Meanwhile, a few music-related movies also were chosen for the shortlist of the Best Documentary Feature prize, including the Todd Haynes-directed The Velvet Underground, about the influential Lou Reed-led rock band, and the Questlove-directed Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), about the star-studded 1969 music festival in Harlem, New York, that came to be known as “Black Woodstock.”

The 2022 Oscar nominees will be announced February 8. The ceremony takes place March 27 on ABC.

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Rob Thomas giving away free NFTs to fans

Rob Thomas giving away free NFTs to fans
Rob Thomas giving away free NFTs to fans
Jim Trocchio

Even if you don’t know what an NFT is, you want one for free, right?  Then sign up for Rob Thomas‘ newsletter.

The singer is giving away his first-ever batch of NFTs to fans who sign up for his newsletter by Christmas Day.  NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, give you the ability to own a unique piece of digital art.  In this case, that art is a little video that shows the cover of Rob’s holiday album Something About Christmas Time, along with his signature and a “Merry Christmas” wish.

If you sign up, on Christmas Day, you’ll get an email from Rob telling how you can redeem the NFT.  One lucky fan will randomly receive the rarest version — the “Gold Certificate” NFT — while 100 fans will get the “Silver” one, and 1,000 will receive the “Bronze” one.  Everyone else will get “Blue” one.

In other festive Rob Thomas news, he’s recorded a version of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” for your listening pleasure. Find it on his social media accounts.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Rob T (@robthomas)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Rob T (@robthomas)

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Camila Cabello on her “really special” White House performance and her favorite Christmas tradition

Camila Cabello on her “really special” White House performance and her favorite Christmas tradition
Camila Cabello on her “really special” White House performance and her favorite Christmas tradition
Cable Risdon

Camila Cabello, The Jonas Brothers and Pentatonix are among the artists appearing on In Performance at the White House: Spirit of the Season, which debuts tonight, Tuesday, on PBS at 8 p.m. ET.  For Camila, her performance is especially meaningful, because in some ways, it shows that her family is living the American Dream.

At the White House, Camila performs a mariachi arrangement of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” with her mom and dad there for the occasion.  Camila’s mom is a Cuban immigrant, while her dad is a Mexican immigrant who recently became a citizen.

“The fact that I’m able to kind of pay tribute to my heritage and represent Latinos and also have my dad be sharing this moment with me, it’s kind of like a crazy moment,” Camila notes. “You know, the fact that, we’re an immigrant family and we’re at the White House is really special and really cool.”

Speaking of family and heritage, Camila says her favorite Christmas tradition is all about that.

“Latinos celebrate Christmas, the 24th, and it’s something that we call Nochebuena,” she explains. “And that’s when we have kind of like our party, and there’s, like, rice and beans and I guess like the traditional food from the countries.”

“And it’s also my grandma’s birthday is the 24th and my mom’s birthday is the 25th!” Camila adds. “So it’s a lot happening in those two days, so we celebrate their birthdays, too.

Tonight’s In Performance at the White House also features President Biden and first lady Jill Biden, as well as Norah Jones, Billy Porter, Jennifer Garner, Andrea Bocelli and country star Eric Church.  Check your local listings.

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Thomas Rhett shares adorable photo of one-month-old daughter

Thomas Rhett shares adorable photo of one-month-old daughter
Thomas Rhett shares adorable photo of one-month-old daughter
ABC

Thomas Rhett is giving fans a look into life at home with a new baby.

On Monday, Thomas shared a new photo of his one-month-old daughter, Lillie, looking up at the camera with a serious yet precious expression on her face. “Lillie girl,” he captioned the sweet pic with the raised hands emoji. 

Fans were quick to flood the comment section with kind words, writing, “so gorgeous,” “so adorable” and “she’s beautiful!” 

Thomas and his wife Lauren welcomed Lillie in November. She joins older sisters Willa, 6, Ada, 4, and one-year-old Lennon

The country star recently turned his parenthood experience into a song called “Years Are Short,” which he shared on Instagram.  

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FINNEAS reveals why “Happier Than Ever” became the title track of Billie Eilish’s sophomore album

FINNEAS reveals why “Happier Than Ever” became the title track of Billie Eilish’s sophomore album
FINNEAS reveals why “Happier Than Ever” became the title track of Billie Eilish’s sophomore album
Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Variety

Billie Eilish heads into the upcoming Grammy Awards with seven nominations, thanks to her sophomore album, Happier Than Ever.  And no one is prouder than her big brother, collaborator and co-producer, FINNEAS.  He spoke with Billboard about how the two created the song after which the album’s named.

“We just knew that it was important to the album,” he said, calling the song “cathartic. We were like, ‘Oh, this is definitely the title track.'”

FINNEAS reveals he and Billie began writing the track in 2019 while waiting to play a show in Denmark and were “super jet lagged.”

“I was sitting around with Billie, and we started writing that melody that was sort of the first chorus, the, ‘When I’m away from you, I’m happier than ever’ part,” he recalled, adding he played on a “little toy guitar” at the time.

FINNEAS continued, “It was correlated to what she was going through in her life at that exact moment. We knew that we liked that idea, but we weren’t in the period of time where we were like crunching down on an album, so we just put it in our back pocket and we’d write a line or two here and there.”

Eight months later, the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a lockdown and the pair found themselves “very devoted to making an album.”

“We revisited that idea and loved it,” said FINNEAS, adding he and Billie finished the title track “in May or June 2020.”

The Grammy nominee noted, “That’s a pretty long writing lifespan for songs — usually, songs are written pretty quickly. I think it’s a testament to how long and winding that song is in and of itself, so it was a really fulfilling process. I’m so happy with the way it turned out.”

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SZA celebrates first major acting role

SZA celebrates first major acting role
SZA celebrates first major acting role
David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

After receiving five Grammy nominations last month, SZA is now celebrating her first major acting role.

The “All the Stars” singer posted in an Instagram story, “Can’t believe I got the part I wanted. She’s an actress,” as captured by The Shade Room.

Born Solani Rowe, the 32-year-old entertainer received a cake from an anonymous person that read, “Congrats record breaker and fire actress.” SZA didn’t give more details on the role. Her only previous acting experience was an appearance on Insecure in 2020.

Last week, SZA’s new single, “I Hate You,” set an Apple Music record as the most-streamed R&B Song by a female artist in its first week.

“Y’all really took a song from SoundCloud and made it number one for 7 days straight . No promo no radio . no nada. Jus YALLS LOVE,” SZA commented on Instagram. “I AM SO BEYOND THANKFUL TO HAVE YOU ALL IN MY LIFE! Thank you to my fire a** team for helping me get this song on streaming asap.”

As SZA enjoys the success of “I Hate You,” she’s looking forward to the Grammy Awards on January 31. Her nominations include Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Kiss Me More,” with Doja Cat.

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Lorde premieres video for ‘Solar Power’ song “Leader of a New Regime”

Lorde premieres video for ‘Solar Power’ song “Leader of a New Regime”
Lorde premieres video for ‘Solar Power’ song “Leader of a New Regime”
ABC/Paula Lobo

Lorde has premiered the video for “Leader of a New Regime,” a track from her new album, Solar Power.

The clip finds the New Zealand artist standing in front of the ocean, with shots of running horses and a mysterious mirror stuck in the sand, reflecting the water. You can watch it now streaming on YouTube.

“Leader of a New Regime” is the fourth Solar Power song to get a video, following “Fallen Fruit,” “Mood Ring” and the title track.

Lorde released Solar Power, her third album, in August. She’ll launch a U.S. tour behind the record in April 2022.

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Ronnie Wood recalls his last visit with the late Charlie Watts; releases charity duet with Andrea Corr

Ronnie Wood recalls his last visit with the late Charlie Watts; releases charity duet with Andrea Corr
Ronnie Wood recalls his last visit with the late Charlie Watts; releases charity duet with Andrea Corr
Jason Koerner/WireImage

Guitarist Ronnie Wood has revealed that he was the last Rolling Stones member to see Charlie Watts before the drummer passed away on August 24.

Last Friday, Wood was a guest on Ireland’s The Late Late Show, where he chatted with host Ryan Tubridy and performed a duet version of the Elvis Presley hit “Blue Christmas” with Corrs singer Andrea Corr. A studio version of the tune was released as a digital charity single earlier this month.

During the interview portion, Wood revealed that he saw Watts “a couple of weeks” before he died, explaining that he visited Charlie at the Royal Marsden cancer hospital in London, where the drummer was in the same room where Ronnie stayed when he was being treated for cancer.

Wood recalled that Watts quipped, “This is the Ronnie Wood Suite. I can’t wait to get out of here,” to which Ronnie responded, “Well…come out, Charlie, in your own good time.”

Wood said Watts had been doing well at the time, but was given some additional treatments that he “didn’t handle well,” and went downhill after that.

Ronnie also mentioned that drummer Steve Jordan, who stepped in for Watts on The Rolling Stones’ recent U.S. tour, “with Charlie’s blessing,” “put a new boot in the band…and each concert got better and better.”

Reflecting on Watt’s passing, Wood added, “Everyone’s handled it well, and I’m sure he’s with us all the time when we’re playing.”

Regarding the “Blue Christmas” single, Corr explained that she approached Wood with the idea to do the track, and he happily agreed.

The song is available now, with proceeds to benefit Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services in Dublin.

You can watch the full Late Late Show episode at RTE.ie; Ronnie’s appearance begins at the 1:07:15 mark.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani meet in an orange grove for “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” duet

Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani meet in an orange grove for “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” duet
Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani meet in an orange grove for “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” duet
Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani team up for a special holiday duet on Gwen’s new online series. 

Recently, Gwen — a native of Orange County, California — launched a Facebook series, Live From The Orange Grovewhich sees her performing a variety of holiday songs on a set that looks like an orange grove. 

Gwen teased last week that she had a “special guest” coming, and she’s now fulfilled that promise with a surprise appearance by her husband. The couple join forces for a performance of their duet “You Make It Feel Like Christmas.” 

The couple is seen standing on the snow-covered groupnd in front of some digitized orange trees, with Blake in a sharp suit and tie and Gwen in a shimmering silver gown. The duo show off their chemistry as they sing, “I wanna thank you, baby/You make it feel like Christmas.”

“You Make It Feel Like Christmas” is the title track of Gwen’s 2017 album. The festive song became a hit across the world, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. 

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