Music

Rob Thomas‘ latest single “Small Town Christmas” was inspired by his own small town, located in the New York City suburbs in Westchester County.  And when it came to depicting that small town in the song’s video, he knew he needed something that reflected his family’s real-life holiday experiences.

“We had shot all the live footage of me playing the song and that just didn’t make a video,” Rob tells ABC Audio. “And then, they wanted to use B-stock footage of, like, families having nice Christmases in small towns. And that just didn’t feel personal enough.”

So Rob and his wife, Marisol, decided to give fans a peek into their actual lives in their small town.

“Mari and I got together one night and just compiled together all the video that we had…that we have taken of ourselves, just from our phones and Instagram and stuff like that,” he says.

“We pooled together everything that we had of celebrating Christmas over the last few years up here,” he says of his town. “And then we put that in there and edited it together into the video.”

The video features shots of Rob and Mari and their dogs celebrating in front of the Christmas tree and playing in the snow, as well as scenes of them shopping for decorations, sledding, buying wine and other holiday activities.

Tonight on NBC, Rob will celebrate another Christmas tradition by singing on NBC’s Christmas in Rockefeller Center, along with Alessia Cara, Harry Connick Jr., Norah Jones, Pentatonix, Carrie Underwood and more.  The show airs at 8 p.m. ET/PT and will stream simultaneously on Peacock.

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Last month, Of Monsters and Men played a series of concerts in their native Iceland to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut album, My Head Is an Animal. In the very likely event you weren’t able to attend any of the shows in person, you’ll still be able to watch them streaming online starting tonight, December 1.

Fittingly, the shows were recorded Gamla Bíó, the same place where Of Monsters and Men threw the release party for My Head Is an Animal a decade ago.

“We’re kinda just going back to that night, really,” vocalist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir tells ABC Audio. “We’re going to do the album in its entirety, and [will be] playing with…people who have been with us throughout this journey.”

Vocalist Ragnar “Raggi” Þórhallsson adds that the concerts have a real “family” vibe to them, while also allowing the band to get back to their “sweaty club show” roots.

“I’m craving it,” Raggi says.

With the streams, Raggi and Nanna hope that “people will get sweaty with us around the world.”

“Watch on the internet and get sweaty,” Nanna laughs.

The shows will be available to watch via the streaming platform Mandolin. Subsequent airings will be held December 8, 15 and 22.

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Miley Cyrus and Rihanna have made Forbes‘ Under 30 Hall of Fame in honor of the 30 Under 30 list’s 10th anniversary.

Miley initially made the 30 Under 30 list in 2014 at age 21, just after her album Bangerz came out. She’s since released three more albums and founded the Happy Hippie Foundation to support LGBTQ+ and at-risk youth.

“FORBES 30 UNDER 30. I turned 29 last week. It was now or never,” Miley tweeted. “Thank you for the honor.”

In a behind-the-scenes video of her Forbes cover shoot, she reflects on her music career, calling songwriting her “greatest joy” and discussing the special bond that she has with her fans. She also discusses exploring different forms of creativity, including her collaboration with Gucci, as well as combining her artistry and activism with Happy Hippie.

Rihanna, meanwhile, originally made the 30 Under 30 ranking in 2013 at age 24. The now-33-year-old singer and businesswoman has since become a billionaire thanks to Fenty Beauty and her Savage x Fenty lingerie line, and was just named National Hero of her native Barbados.

Also making Forbes‘ Hall of Fame list are Kylie Jenner, Mark Zuckerberg, Malala Yousafzai, LeBron James and Naomi Osaka.

FORBES 30 UNDER 30.

I turned 29 last week. It was now or never. Thank you for the honor. @Forbes @happyhippiefdn @gucci pic.twitter.com/tPbtDXbSpF

— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) November 30, 2021

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Pharrell Williams has recorded with a who’s who of music, including Beyoncé, Rihanna, Mariah Carey and Kanye West, and he’s worked more than anyone else with one of the new members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Jay-Z. They began recording in 1999, and their seemingly endless list of hits includes “Frontin’,” “Excuse Me Miss” and “Change Clothes.”

The 13-time Grammy winner has observed Hova create classic lyrics many times, and he says his recording process is quite unorthodox.

“He’s really a character. He’s an odd guy. When you have a conversation with him, it’s not a regular conversation,” Pharrell explains in a recent episode of the Fader Uncovered Podcast.

The Virginia Beach, Virginia, native used the recording session for their 2000 hit “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me),” as an example.

“When he writes, he’s just sitting there mumbling to himself — in falsetto, by the way,” Pharell explains. “He goes [in falsetto], ‘Yo, yo, when the Remy’s in the system/ Ain’t no telling will I f*** ’em? Will I diss ’em?/ That’s what they be yellin’/ I’m a pimp by blood.’ And he taps you on the shoulder and takes it back again. He writes in falsetto.”

Pharrell continues, “That’s odd and different and weird and amazing! And makes him a character. I gotta ask him why he does that. I don’t know why he does it. But he’s always done that.”

Pharrell also reveals that “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” was inspired by another hit he wrote and produced, also in 2000 — Mystikal‘s “Shake Ya A**.”

“It just came together, ’cause [Jay-Z] loved ‘Shake Ya A**,'” the “Happy” singer remembers. “He was like, ‘Yo, I need that!’ I was like, ‘Uhhh, OK.'”

 

 

 

 

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Jack White is headlining the 2022 High Water Festival, which will take place April 23-24 in North Charleston, South Carolina.

The bill, which is curated by Charleston folk duo Shovels & Rope, also includes Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket, Black Pumas, Local Natives and Sharon Van Etten, among others.

Pre-sale tickets are available now, and while tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Thursday, December 2, at noon ET. For the full lineup and ticket info, visit HighWaterFest.com.

High Water is White’s first announced live performance for 2022. The White Stripes rocker plans to release two solo albums next year: Fear of the Dawn on April 8, and Entering Heaven Alive on July 22.

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Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin‘s The Hanukkah Sessions continues on night three of the Jewish holiday with a rendition of the Barry Manilow hit “Copacabana.”

The pair stays true to the disco style of the original 1978 tune with the cover, which could comfortably sit on Foo Fighters‘ Hail Satin Bee Gees tribute compilation.

“Barry Pincus — not only one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th (or any) century, but a mega-mensch to boot!” Grohl says, referring to Manilow by his birth name.

You can listen to the “Copacabana” cover streaming now on YouTube.

Grohl and Kurstin launched The Hanukkah Sessions in 2020 with covers of eight different Jewish artists for each night of the holiday. This year’s series has so far included Lisa Loeb‘s “Stay (I Missed You)” and The Ramones‘ “Blitzkrieg Bop.”

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Cardi B, Ciara and her husband, Russell Wilson, were among the celebrities looking to make the holidays brighter on Giving Tuesday. They partnered with Meta, formerly known as Facebook, to focus on humanitarian acts.

The “WAP” rapper premiered a new episode of “Cardi Tries” on Facebook Watch and hilariously worked as a grocery clerk in Canoga Park, California with Karrueche Tran. Following their antics chopping watermelons and cleaning up a dog food spill, the duo ended the episode by gifting the workers at the store with two weeks worth of paychecks, and a card shouting-out essential workers for all they did during the pandemic.

Ciara and Russell, quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, raised money for their favorite non-profit organizations as they hosted a Live Audio Room, dubbed “Get Into Giving Tuesday w/ Russell & Ciara,” to share more about their philosophy of giving.

As part of the “Giving Tuesday” campaign, Meta will match up to $8 million in eligible donations made to Facebook Fundraisers for nonprofits in the United States.

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Selena Gomez let fans know she doesn’t enjoy it when people preach to her — especially when it’s about a very personal topic, like kidney transplants.

To sum up what happened, Selena on Tuesday shared a reaction video, known as a duet, to some drinking facts from Dr. Dawn Bantel, who states, “The CDC defines heavy drinking as 15 or more drinks a week for men… And 8 or more drinks per week for women.”  

Selena cringed at the last line and appeared guilty, but it was all in good fun and she even captioned the duet, “It’s a joke.”

But a TikTok user failed to understand that the “Lose You to Love Me” singer was making fun at her own expense and attempted to shame Selena in the comment section.  “So one of your best friends gives you her kidney and you continue to drink excessively,” they lambasted. “D*** Selena.”

Selena wasn’t amused by their knee-jerk reaction.  Neither were some of her fans who tried to intervene, but Selena personally let them know their outrage was unwelcome.

“It was a joke a**,” she reiterated and, shortly after, the offended party deleted their comment.

Selena revealed in 2017 that she’d needed a kidney transplant as a result of her struggle with the autoimmune disease lupus. Her friend, Francia Raisa, donated her kidney and the two posed for a side-by-side photo following the surgery.

This isn’t the first time Selena, who reportedly stopped consuming alcohol in 2019 because of her condition, joked about drinking.  She previously joked on TikTok that she drinks six days a week.

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