Portishead will end their seven-year live hiatus next month at a concert in support of the U.K.’s War Child charity.
The show takes place May 2 at England’s O2 Academy Bristol venue. Proceeds will benefit War Child efforts to help children and refugees affected by war, specifically in Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing invasion, and in Yemen, which has been plunged in civil war since 2014.
Tickets to attend in-person will be available via raffle, which you can enter by donating to War Child. The more you donate, the more entries you’ll receive. All donations will be matched by the U.K. government.
Even if you don’t win a ticket, all who enter the raffle will receive a link to watch the concert stream live online.
Portishead played their most recent show in 2015. The group’s latest album is 2008’s Third.
Pink Floyd has teamed up with singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Ukrainian band Boomboxto record a new song titled “Hey Hey Rise Up” in support of the people of Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country.
The track will be released via digital formats globally at midnight on Friday, April 8, and a companion music video also will premiere at that time.
This marks the first new original music Pink Floyd has recorded as a band since the 1994 album The Division Bell. The group’s lineup for the track was guitarist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and longtime Pink Floyd touring bassist Guy Pratt, as well as Nitin Sawhney on keyboards, and the aforementioned Khlyvnyuk on lead vocals.
The track, which was recorded on Wednesday, March 30, uses vocals taken from a recent Instagram post showing Andriy singing the Ukrainian protest song “The Red Viburnum in the Meadow” while standing in Sofiyskaya Square in the city of Kyiv. The song, which was written during World War I, has become an anthem in Ukraine protesting Russia’s invasion.
Gilmour, who has a Ukrainian daughter-in-law, says, “We, like so many, have been feeling the fury and the frustration of this vile act of an independent, peaceful democratic country being invaded and having its people murdered by one of the world’s major powers.”
David got to know Boombox when he played with the band — minus Khlyvnyuk — at a 2015 concert in London. After seeing Andriy’s Instagram video, he was inspired to write music to accompany the vocals, and “Hey Hey Rise Up” was born.
Regarding the track, Gilmour says, “I hope it will receive wide support and publicity. We want to raise funds for humanitarian charities, and raise morale.”
Normani is relieved she’s able to re-introduce herself to fans and let them know who she truly is now that she’s a solo artist.
Speaking toEntertainment Tonight, the former Fifth Harmony singer explained that she’s entered a new phase in life that’s focused on “self-government.”
“For someone that’s always felt very overlooked and being the only Black girl in a group, mentally was a lot for me,” Normani admitted. “There were times that I didn’t feel seen, and felt unimportant, and my vocal ability wasn’t just as amazing.”
Part of her re-introduction is through the new song “Fair,” which she described as “the perfect record to be vulnerable, to share my most inner thoughts and feelings and what heartbreak looks like for me.”
While creating the song was one thing, Normani says making the music video was “absolutely freaking terrifying.” She explained, “Obviously, there were slight nerves going into because I’m having to really, emotionally go there and go back to the place that the song was written from, which was incredibly triggering and hard.”
But, Normani glad she went through with it and tapped into her “acting abilities” because, “By the end, after all the tears and screaming…it was really dope. I feel like it’s one of my best. I’m proud of it.”
The song’s success, she says, helped her learn “to trust myself more” and that “God has given me all the tools that I need” to become a successful solo artist. She added of leaving Fifth Harmony, “To come out of that, speaks to, I feel, my resilience, but also the people that have been riding with me since day one. I’m just so grateful for it.”
Machine Gun Kelly took to the streets of Los Angels to find out what people truly think of his music during last night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC.
For the segment, the “Bloody Valentine” rocker disguised himself as a “mild-mannered reporter,” complete with a brown wig and fake mustache, to ask Hollywood Boulevard pedestrians their MGK thoughts.
“Not a huge fan,” admits one interviewee. “I think his new direction is a little forced.”
Luckily, not everyone Kelly spoke to felt the same way. Later on the video, MGK finds a person rocking a Black Veil Brides/Motionless in White/Ice Nine Kills Trinity of Terror tour shirt, who’d seen Kelly perform during his surprise rooftop concert in Venice Beach, California, last summer.
“He’s cool, I really dig the last album,” the fan said.
Perhaps the highlight of Kelly’s undercover adventure was when someone dressed as Spider-Man walked by and immediately saw through his disguise.
“Spider-Man, you’re supposed to respect secret identities,” Kelly protested.
Machine Gun Kelly just released his latest album, Mainstream Sellout, last month. He’ll embark on a U.S. arena tour in support of the record in June.
Olivia Rodrigo, Mariah Carey and The Weeknd have brand-new bragging rights thanks to the RIAA — they earned all-new Diamond and Platinum certifications.
Starting with Olivia, her debut studio album, SOUR, is certified three-times Platinum, meaning it sold over three million units. Not only that, a couple singles off the album moved up a few tiers on the RIAA charts: Her debut song “drivers license” is certified five-times Platinum, while “good 4 u” is four-times Platinum. In addition, “deja vu” and “traitor” are respectively certified three-times and two-times Platinum.
As for Mariah, she just earned her second Diamond-certified song with her 1995 hit, “Daydream,” selling over 11 million units. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” earned the prestigious award last December. Meanwhile, her other mid-90s hits, “Fantasy” and “Always Be My Baby,” are officially halfway to Diamond certification after going five-times Platinum.
The Weeknd earned a bevy of certifications from the RIAA, with his songs “Party Monster,” “Reminder,” “I Feel It Coming,” “Die for You” and “Heartless” going multi-times Platinum. In addition, his 2016 album, Starboy, is now certified four-times Platinum. The Grammy winner also earned two Diamond certifications for “Starboy” and “Blinding Lights,” which respectively sold over 11 and 10 million units.
Shawn Mendes was also recognized by the RIAA, with his songs “Treat You Better,” “Stitches,” “Life of the Party,” “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back,” “Illuminate” and “Mercy” all going multi-times Platinum. Earning certified-Gold status are his songs “Ruin,” “Show You” and “Imagination.”
Lastly, Christina Perri‘s “A Thousand Years” is officially RIAA-certified Diamond — her first and only song to achieve the honor — after fans purchased over 10 million copies of her 2011 smash hit.
Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun have announced the Twenty One Pilots Cinema Experience, a theatrical release of duo’s 2021 streaming concert celebrating the release of their new album, Scaled and Icy. The film will include 20 minutes of exclusive added footage not seen during the stream, as well as remastered audio and video.
Twenty One Pilots Cinema Experience will premiere in cinemas worldwide on May 19. Select locations will also offer encore screenings on May 22.
Tickets go on sale next Friday, April 15, though you can get access to a pre-sale if you sign up for the Twenty One Pilots email list. For the full list of theaters and all ticket info, visit TwentyOnePilots.film.
Scaled and Icy, the sixth Twenty One Pilots album, was released last May. It includes the singles “Shy Away,” “Saturday” and “The Outside.”
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Joe Budden was on the receiving end of a round of social backlash on Wednesday, after he said he hates K-pop group BTS during a recent episode of The Joe Budden podcast.
“I hate them BTS n*****,” Budden said, as heard in an audio clip posted on Twitter by Media On Blast. When asked to elaborate on his opinion, he said, “Do I need a reason? I hate them n*****. I don’t have to divulge my reason to you, I just hate them n*****.”
BTS fans, known as the BTS Army, were quick to call out the “Pump It Up” rapper for his comments that most believed weren’t backed up by any logical reasoning.
“…how the hell you claim to hate someone but you don’t got ONE valid reason why? you sound stupid af & you should be embarrassed…, one Twitter user said.
Another fan wrote, “joe budden has to be the biggest loser that I have ever seen, that man always talks s*** about the biggest artists and then he gets put in his place. That man is embarrassing…”
Budden continued expressing his thoughts on the Grammy-nominated group, even asserting his belief that the group was from China, instead of Korea, where they’re actually from.
“I know they big, I know it’s China, I don’t wanna see it,” he inaccurately stated before being corrected by his co-hosts.
Budden did ultimately provide a reason he doesn’t care for BTS. In the midst of fielding the many angry fan comments on Twitter and in response to one user’s inquiry on why the podcast host was trending, he said, “Cuz i don’t like assembly belt pop…”
Even with the most hectic touring schedules in the country music business, stars occasionally find a day to relax here and there — and when they do, many are typically opting for outdoor leisure activities.
Thomas Rhett recently envisioned his perfect day to Today’s Hoda Kotb on her Making Space with Hoda Kotb podcast, qualifying that if his wife and kids were somewhere else, he’d spend the day off fishing on a lake somewhere out West.
Luke Bryan’s perfect day off looks a little bit similar to TR’s, minus the “out West” part: The singer and American Idol judge recently shared a snapshot of his “much needed” day off on the water, complete with a can of his very own Two Lane beer.
Meanwhile, Blake Shelton opts for drier pastimes: This week, the star shared video of himself out on his Oklahoma ranch, gleefully running after a red tractor and yelling “We’re farming! I love it! We’re farming!”
The story of Kurt Cobain is becoming an opera. Or, rather, a story inspired by Kurt Cobain.
The London Royal Opera House has announced an adaptation of the 2005 Gus Van Sant film Last Days, which was loosely based on the death of the Nirvana icon.
Like the movie, the Last Days stage production follows a musician named Blake who has “recently escaped rehab to return home.”
“He is haunted by objects, visitors and memories distracting him from his true purpose — self-destruction,” the ROH’s description reads, adding “this new opera plunges into the torment that created a modern myth.”
Last Days is set to run at London’s Linbury Theatre October 7-11.
By the way, an opera isn’t the only thing Last Days has inspired recently. The Batman writer/director Matt Reeves cited the film in an interview with Empire while describing his Cobain-esque interpretation of the Caped Crusader.
The Fab Four festivities begin today at 5 p.m. ET with a Beatles-themed edition of the “Rock Hall Nights” series. In addition to offering a behind-the-scenes look at the exhibit, the event will feature an appearance by Let It Be engineer and famed producer Glyn Johns, who will sign copies of his memoir Sound Man from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Other attractions, events and activities include screenings of rare jams from Rock Hall induction ceremonies featuring Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and other rock superstars; Beatles trivia quizzes; a performance by a Beatles cover band; a look at the music that influenced the Fab Four; and more.
Thursday’s “Rock Hall Nights” event, which runs until 9 p.m., will be followed by the “Beatles Fan Weekend,” taking place on Friday, April 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, April 9 and 10, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The fan weekend will feature many of the same activities and attractions offered on Thursday, including the Rock Hall performance screenings, the trivia quizzes, and the concert.
In addition, Beatles-themed drinks will be available at the café, and Beatles music will be played all day through speakers at the Rock Hall, along nearby East 9th St. and in downtown Cleveland.
As previously reported, “The Beatles: Get Back to Let It Be” is an immersive exhibit that offers an in-depth look at the 1969 sessions that yielded the Let It Be album, and at the band’s famous London rooftop concert.
