Music

Dua Lipa‘s album, Future Nostalgia, and its singles dominated the charts in 2020, and this year, her song “Levitating” spent so many weeks in the upper reaches of the charts that it became the Billboard Hot 100 number-one song of 2021. So how about some new music from the British star? Well, it’s coming.

Dua tells Billboard with a laugh that she’s “maybe potentially actively working on some new music,” but insists that she can reveal “absolutely nothing” about it.  Still, she admits, “I’m really excited. I feel so at home in the studio. There’s nowhere I would rather be.”

“So, during this time that I’ve been at home in London, it’s just been amazing to get in and write and experiment and try new things and it’s just been wonderful,” she continues. “And I’m very excited for new music, yeah.”

As for the success of “Levitating,” Dua notes, “Really, it’s the fans, and everybody that’s just been listening to it — and really just making it their own, so I’m really proud of that. I’ve always wanted my songs to find a home with different people so I’m happy that song did that, for sure.”

Dua’s other hit this year — her collaboration with Elton John, “Cold Heart” — was unexpected, but she thinks it was a success “because it’s just got a lot of love in it, and a lot of soul and spirit.” She adds, “I think sometimes when you hear a song like that, you can tell.”

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Blake Shelton continued his reign at the People’s Choice Awards on Tuesday night, dominating the country category for a sixth year running.

The singer started that hot streak back in 2016, when he won Favorite Male Country Artist, keeping his hold on that category until the male and female divisions were consolidated in 2018 and continuing to win the Country Artist title through 2021.

This year, Blake also performed on the show, taking the stage for a rendition of his current single, “Come Back as a Country Boy.”

In his acceptance speech, Blake thanked his fans, emphasizing how much it meant to him to take home an award determined by listeners casting their votes. “I swear, the longer I go on the more I realize that all these awards shows, the fan-voted awards are the ones that mean the most to me,” the singer said.

Afterwards, he doubled down on that sentiment on Twitter. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again..best fans in the world!!!” Blake wrote. “This award means so much to me because it came from y’all.”

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The Smashing Pumpkins, Shinedown and Rise Against are among the new additions to the 2022 Welcome to Rockville lineup.

They join the previously announced headliners: Foo Fighters, Guns N’ Roses, KISS and Korn.

Other artists now on the bill include Five Finger Death Punch, Halestorm, Papa Roach, The Pretty Reckless, Jane’s Addiction, Breaking Benjamin, Megadeth, In This Moment, Seether, Mammoth WVH, Bush, Alice in Chains‘ Jerry Cantrell, The Struts, Spiritbox, Dirty Honey, The Hu, Black Label Society, Down, Bad Wolves, Tetrarch, In Flames, Sevendust, Skillet, Parkway Drive and Nothing More.

Welcome to Rockville 2022 takes place May 19-22 in Daytona Beach, Florida. For the full lineup and ticket info, visit WelcometoRockville.com.

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What do Rihanna, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have in common?  According to Forbes, they’re some of the most powerful women in the world.

The magazine released its 18th annual World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list on Wednesday, which celebrates female politicians, entrepreneurs, activists and other movers and shakers from across the globe.

Rihanna is the highest-ranked among the three, at number 68, and is celebrated for her newly minted billionaire status thanks to her Savage x Fenty lingerie line and successful Fenty Beauty, which is among the fastest-growing cosmetics companies in the world. 

Forbes also ranks billionaires from 1 to 10 on a self made score chart, with 1 meaning they inherited all their money and 10 reserved for those who established their wealth entirely on their own.  Rihanna scored a 10.

Forbes ranks Beyoncé at number 76 and highlighted her On The Run II stadium tour, which averaged about $5 million in ticket sales per night and amassed over $250 million overall.  The magazine also took note of her popular Ivy Park collaborations with Adidas, as well as her Homecoming live album and Netflix special that explored her headline-making 2018 performance at Coachella.   She was given a self-made score of eight.

Taylor, who also has a self-made score of eight, is this year’s youngest honoree, landing at number 78.  The outlet commended the 31-year-old’s quest to regain full ownership of her master catalogue by re-recording her old music, which earned her a 10th number-one album on the Billboard charts thanks to Red (Taylor’s Version).  In addition, she was praised for her political activism and for being among the handful of artists to have an album that recently sold over a million copies, which was 2020’s folklore.

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One month after Stevie J filed to divorce Faith Evans, the Grammy-winning artist has reportedly asked a judge to deny his request for spousal assistance

Faith is also seeking to retain “all property acquired before marriage, by gifts, inheritance, or ingenuity, and after the date of separation,” according to The Blast. In court documents, Evans states they’ve been officially separated since May 29, 2020, while Stevie J’s filing states the date is October 19, 2021.

In May 2020, Faith was arrested for felony domestic violence for allegedly attacking her husband at their home.

Stevie, birth name Steven Aaron Jordan, filed for divorce on November 8 at Los Angeles County Superior Court. No reason was provided for the separation.

Evans was previously married to The Notorious B.I.G., and they have a son, C.J. Wallace, 25. The “I’ll Be Missing You” singer was also married to Todd Russaw, a record executive, from 1998 to 2011. They share children Ryder Evan, 14, and Joshua, who is 21.

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Sevendust has announced a deluxe version of the band’s 2020 album, Blood & Stone.

The expanded set is due out this Friday, December 10. It includes a total of five bonus tracks: a trio of remixes, and a pair of newly recorded songs titled “All I Really Know” and “What You Are.”

You can check out the remix of the album cut “What You’ve Become” done by former Ice Nine Kills member Justin deBlieck streaming now on YouTube.

The original Blood & Stone was released October 2020. It includes the single “Dying to Live,” as well as a cover of the Soundgarden song “The Day I Tried to Live.”

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Tim McGraw and Faith Hill both have plenty of experience acting separately, but in 1883 — the new Paramount+ prequel to Yellowstone — they’re playing husband and wife.

However, there are some key differences between their on-screen marriage and their real-life marriage, the couple explain in a new People interview. They try to keep things separate between their life at home and their life on set.

“We have made it a point not to work on our scenes together until we’re on set,” says Faith. “It’s important that we react to each other naturally as characters, not as husband and wife.”

Of course, they can’t help but borrow some of their off-screen chemistry for their roles. One example, Tim says, is a scene in the show when Faith’s character slaps his.

“I was expecting a finger slap but it was a paw to the jaw,” the singer jokes. “There was 25 years of pent-up aggression going on! When you see it on screen, you realize it was a genuine hit.”

There have been other difficult moments, too, like the scene that appears in a new trailer for the show, where Tim and Faith’s characters take a bath together.

“It was really uncomfortable for me personally because I’m a very shy person in that type of situation,” Faith admits. “I obviously feel comfortable with my husband, but this is different. For intimate scenes, I feel like that belongs to us.”

Still, the couple agree that playing each other’s on-screen loves has been an exciting new project to work on together. “I’ve never had so much fun in my life,” Tim says, with Faith adding, “I don’t want to stop.”

1883 premieres on Dec. 19 on Paramount+.

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Selena Gomez just added an exciting new producing credit to her sprawling resume.  For the first time in her career, she is set to take on a Spanish show.  The 29-year-old singer has partnered with Univision to helm a true crime docuseries for its upcoming streaming service.

Selena, along with her July Moon Productions company, will produce the series Mi Vecino, El Cartel (The Cartel Among Us) with eOne’s Blackfin.  The series explores the murder of Juan Guerrero Chapa, an attorney for a powerful cartel who lived a dangerous double double life as an informant for the U.S. government. His death not only rattled the town of Southlake, Texas, it also launched a years-long international investigation that exposed the dark underbelly of the drug-smuggling world.

“As a true crime fan, I was immediately captivated when I heard the story surrounding the homicide of Juan Guerrero Chapa. Not only did it take place close to my hometown in Texas, but it was also a story unlike anything I’ve ever heard,” Selena said in a press release. “I am excited to partner with Univision and really pull back the layers of his double life.”

Mi Vecino, El Cartel, as well as Univision’s global streaming platform, is set to launch in 2022.

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