Mickey Guyton reached out to fans on Twitter Thursday night to update them on a scary family situation, and to ask for prayers.
“I normally don’t do this but my son is being sent to the ICU,” she wrote. “The doctors don’t know what’s wrong. Please please pray.”
Mickey’s nine-month-old baby boy, Grayson, is the only child of the singer and her husband, Grant Savoy. He was born in February 2021. After his arrival, Mickey announced the new addition to the family with a snapshot of Grayson in his bassinet and a caption reading, “The hardest and most beautiful thing I have ever done.”
After she shared the news of Grayson’s hospitalization, fans poured into the comments section on the singer’s post to offer their prayers and support. Among them were some of her fellow artists, including Tenille Arts, Adam Hambrick and Runaway June’s Natalie Stovall.
On Friday, Mickey shared an update. “He’s not in the clear yet but he’s on the mend,” she wrote. “Thank you for your prayers. I will update y’all as soon as I am able. Thank you thank you thank you for your love and support.”
Along with her post, she included a black-and-white photo of her husband holding Grayson to his chest in their hospital room.
I normally don’t do this but my son is being sent to the icu. The doctors don’t know what’s wrong. Please please pray.
Cardi B dropped her first new single in nine months, “Bet It,” from the soundtrack of Halle Berry‘s new film, Bruised, which was also released Friday. Cardi and the Oscar winner executive produced the first female hip hop project.
“The Bruised Soundtrack is finally hereee!,” the “WAP” rapper commented on Instagram. “I loved working on this with @halleberry and all of the amazing artists that contributed to the soundtrack, we really making history with this one.” In addition to Cardi, the album also features H.E.R, Saweetie, City Girls and many more.
Snoop Dogg begins his new role as creative consultant for Def Jam with his first project for the label, his compilation album, Algorithm. Mary J. Blige, Usher, Wiz Khalifa, and Redman & Method Man are among the many stars featured on the project. Snoop’s supergroup, Mount Westmore, which includes himself, Ice Cube, E-40 and Too Short, previously dropped the first single from the compilation, “Big Subwoofer,” which was followed by “Murder Music” by Benny the Butcher, Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes and Snoop.
French Montana‘s fourth studio album, They Got Amnesia, features John Legend, Rick Ross, Ty Dolla $ign, Saweetie, Doja Cat and the late Pop Smoke on the 20-track project. As previously reported, Drake pulled his song “Splash Brothers” from the album out of respect for victims of the Astroworld tragedy. A snippet released online featured him rapping about being intimate with another rapper’s wife. Many assumed he was referring to Kim Kardashian, Kanye West‘s estranged wife. Drizzy may not have wanted to anger Kanye after they just squashed their longtime beef.
Finally, Saweetie is making her Saturday Night Live debut this weekend, and she will perform the new single she dropped Friday, “Icy Chain,” from her upcoming debut studio album, Pretty B***h Music.
Legendary drummer Carmine Appice, best known for his work with Vanilla Fudge, Cactus and Rod Stewart, is releasing a box set gathering together many recordings by his star-studded Guitar Zeus project, including several previously unheard bonus tracks.
The Guitar Zeus 25th Anniversary box set, due out December 17, is a limited-edition 39-track collection that includes all of the songs from 1995’s Camine Appice’s Guitar Zeus and 1997’s Guitar Zeus 2: Channel Mind Radio. It also features two versions of an unreleased song called “Mystified” that showcase respective solos by KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer and ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian.
An impressive list of famous musicians contributed their talents to the Guitar Zeus tracks, including Brian May, Slash, Neal Schon, Elliot Easton, Richie Sambora, Vivian Campbell, Mick Mars, Edgar Winter, Leslie West, Denny Laine, Zakk Wylde, Ted Nugent, Pat Travers, Dweezil Zappa, Bruce Kulick, Steve Morse, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal and Yngwie Malmsteen.
The collection also features rough mixes of four Guitar Zeus tracks created so that guitarists can play along at home.
“I consider Guitar Zeus one of the best projects, if not the BEST project I’ve done,” Appice says. “I hope you enjoy this 25th year celebration of some of the greatest rock [guitarists] ever put together.”
Two versions of the box set can be pre-ordered now at DekoEntertainement.com and MerchBucket.com, both featuring four vinyl LPs, three CDs and a booklet containing new interviews and rare photos.
The pricier “Mega-Bundle” version of the set also comes packaged with a Guitar Zeus t-Shirt, an autographed photo of Appice, and a limited-edition Guitar Zeus necklace.
You can check out a video for the version of “Mystified” featuring Thayer at Deko Entertainment’s YouTube channel.
Here’s the box set’s full track list:
“Mothers Space” — featuring Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal
“Gonna Rain” — featuring Richie Sambora
“Mystify” — featuring Derek Sherinian*
“Nobody Knew” — featuring Brian May
“Where You Belong” — featuring Slash
“Out of Mind” — featuring Neal Schon
“This Time Around” — featuring Yngwie Malmsteen and Dug Pinnick
“Nothing” — featuring John Norum
“Doin’ Fine” — featuring Vivian Campbell
“Under the Moon and Sun” — featuring Mick Mars and Edgar Winter
“Code 19” — featuring Zakk Wylde
“Angels” — featuring Char
“Guitar Zeus, Pt. 1” — featuring Jennifer Batten
“Days Are Nights” — featuring Ted Nugent
“Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” — sung by Carmine, featuring Pat Travers
“Safe” — featuring Neal Schon
“Dead Wrong” — featuring Dweezil Zappa
“Trippin’ Again” — featuring Ty Tabor
“Even Up the Score” — featuring Ted Nugent
“Dislocated” — featuring Paul Gilbert
“Stash” — featuring Stevie Salas and John McEnroe
“Perfect Day” — featuring Warren DeMartini
“Killing Time” — featuring Ty Tabor
“So Long” — featuring Doug Aldrich
“My Own Advice” — featuring Kenji Kitajima
“Guitar Zeus, Pt. 2” — featuring Leslie West and Jennifer Batten
“Mystify” — featuring Tommy Thayer*
“Time to Set Alarms” — featuring Elliot Easton and Bob Daisley
“Where You Belong” — featuring Paul Gilbert
“Cruzin” — featuring Denny Laine
“Couldn’t Be Better” — featuring RaiZi
“Snake” — featuring Bruce Kulick
“4 Miles High” — featuring Steve Morse
“Surrender” — featuring Chris Biggiani*
“GZ Blues” — featuring Seymour Duncan and Steven Seagal
“This Time Around” (music rough track – guitar play along)**
“Days Are Nights” (music rough track – guitar play along)**
“Where You Belong” (music rough track l – guitar play along)**
“Guitar Zeus” (music rough track – guitar play along)**
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
f you didn’t make it to Cleveland, OH last month to attend the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, you can watch the whole thing unfold this Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max. Taylor Swift had the honor of opening the show with a tribute to one of her musical heroes, Carole King.
On Friday, Taylor tweeted a picture of herself hugging Carole and a picture of her performing one of Carole’s most enduring songs, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” Taylor wrote, “Carole, you and your music mean more to me than I could ever sum up in a speech or a performance. But I TRIED. #RockHall2021 tomorrow at 8pm ET.”
Taylor’s treatment of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” was decidedly different from the version by The Shirelles, which hit number one in 1960, and from Carole’s own version on her iconic 1971 album, Tapestry.
“The version that she did was amazing, and she just owned it…and it’s a way that I’ve never done it,” Carole told reporters of Taylor backstage at the Induction last month. “No one’s ever done it that way, and that’s my joy as a songwriter, to see how different people interpret a song.”
This was the legendary artist’s second time being inducted into the Rock Hall: She’s previously gone in as a songwriter along with her former husband and writing partner, Gerry Goffin.
Other stars who were inducted this year include Tina Turner, The Go-Gos, Foo Fighters and JAY-Z. Performers and presenters you’ll see on the HBO ceremony Saturday night include Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Paul McCartney, Lionel Richie and more.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
If you won’t be spending the holidays with someone special, Justin Bieber has the perfect song for you. Bryson Tiller tapped him and Poo Bear to sing all about the Christmas blues in the new single, “Lonely Christmas,” which is out now.
Bryson, a Grammy-nominated R&B artist, released his A Different Christmas EP on Friday, which contains the new single. Although he says in a statement it “was really fun to make” the offering, he adds it was “Inspired by Bieber, Ariana [Grande], and by one of my loneliest holiday seasons ever…”
“Lonely Christmas” is no exception. The acoustic, country-like ballad features all three singers lamenting what they would be doing around the holidays if they still had that special someone in their lives.
Justin starts off the song and, when singing about his “lonely broken-hearted Christmas,” he reveals, “Right now, I be out there shoppin’/ Some of you call it trickin’ off/ The money never meant nothin’/ To see you smile, you know that I’d blow it all/ We used to get our lights from Walmart/ And hang them up for the world to see.”
An accompanying music video was also released Friday, which shows Bryson getting into an accident and waking up in “Lonesome Valley,” a stop-motion world reminiscent of the classic Rankin/Bass holiday specials. He walks through the fading memories of Christmases past before joining Justin and Poo by a bonfire.
The “Lonely Christmas” video ends with Lonesome Valley lighting up in holiday lights as the three continue to strum guitars and sing around the fire’s glow.
While there have been plenty of big Australian rock, pop and country acts over the years — from AC/DC to Sia to Keith Urban — Australian rappers haven’t had as big of an impact internationally, until this year. In fact, two of them are up for New Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards Sunday night: The Kid LAROI and Masked Wolf.
Masked Wolf, born Harry Michael, tells ABC Audio that in addition to his own hit “Astronaut in the Ocean,” he appreciates what LAROI — born Charlton Howard — has done to help boost the genre.
“I mean, he has done some pretty massive songs and made some pretty big waves,” says Wolf. “Australia’s finally being put on the map. I think we’ve tried for a long time. A lot of artists have tried to break internationally, and now it’s like finally happening, which is really good.”
But do he and LAROI hang out? Wolf jokes, “LAROI doesn’t want to meet me because he knows I’d beat him in basketball. I know he plays basketball, so he’s trying to stay away.”
Seriously, though, there’s no rivalry there, and Wolf says he doesn’t necessarily need to win Sunday night to feel like he’s a success.
“It’s really special to have that acknowledgment. But you have to be first happy with what you’ve been doing before the award,” he explains. “And whether we win it or not, truly, I’m just happy with where I’m at and where I’ve come from. I’ve been grinding at this for like 11 years. So award or not, I feel like what I’m doing now is the award.”
See who takes home the award Sunday night when the American Music Awards air on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Kid Rock has some thoughts on “snowflakes” and “millennials.” Shocker: he’s not a fan.
The “Bawitdaba” rocker has released a new song called “Don’t Tell Me How to Live,” a collaboration with the band Monster Truck. The track is an updated version of a past Monster Truck tune of the same name, now with added rap verses from Kid.
Sample lyrics include “What the f***’s up with all the backlash/You snowflakes here’s a news flash,” and “Every opinion has a millennial offended.” Later on, Rock compares himself to David Lee Roth, Bruce Springsteen, and even Brad Pitt.
“Don’t Tell Me How to Live” is available now for digital download. Kid Rock’s most recent album is 2017’s Sweet Southern Sugar.
The year of Måneskin will continue this weekend when the Italian rockers take the stage at the American Music Awards.
The set will mark the first-ever U.S. award show performance for the Eurovision winners, and they plan to celebrate the occasion appropriately.
“Of course, the event is so important for us,” drummer Ethan Torchio tells ABC Audio. “So we’re gonna do something important, too.”
In addition to performing, Måneskin is also nominated for an AMA: the group’s viral single, “Beggin’,” will compete for the Favorite Trending Song prize. As for who will get to keep the trophy should they win, bassist Victoria de Angelis says it’s up for grabs.
“We will fight about who gets it,” de Angelis laughs. “As we do with every award we get.”
The 2021 AMAs air Sunday, November 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Other nominees include Foo Fighters, Machine Gun Kelly, All Time Low, Glass Animals and AJR for Favorite Rock Artist. Glass Animals and AJR are also up for Favorite Pop Duo or Group.
Florida Georgia Line member Tyler Hubbard opens up about a painful but pivotal moment in his life in a new episode of the In Good Faith podcast, hosted by pastor Judah Smith and his wife, Chelsea.
Tyler and his wife, Hayley, were guests on a new installment of the series, and during their conversation, Tyler recalled being a sophomore in college home for a visit when his dad unexpectedly died.
“He had taken up flying helicopters, which was a cool hobby…it was fun watching him do something he loved,” Tyler explains. “That weekend he had a helicopter crash in the backyard and we were there, which was tough, but also a blessing to be there when it happened. Just one of those freak accidents, very unexpected, and it kind of shaped who I was.”
Even as a 20-year-old going through a traumatic family tragedy, Tyler knew that this event would play a role in the kind of life he would go on to live — for better or worse.
“And I kind of made a promise to God in that moment, like, ‘Look, I want to lean on you. I want to trust you,’” he explains. “‘I know you’re in control and I have faith that as much as this is confusing and I don’t understand it, I really want to do this right. And I want to go through the process and the grieving and all that, but I want to trust you.’”
Elsewhere in the episode, Tyler further explores his grieving process, and he and his wife share their experience with therapy and premarital couples counseling.
Cardi B is gearing up for Sunday night’s American Music Awards and, to hype up her fans, she teased what to expect when she takes the stage as this year’s new host.
She tells ABC Audio her goal for the night is to make sure everyone has “a good time.”
“I don’t really care much about being inspirational,” she remarked, even though this is the first time she’s ever hosted an awards show. Instead, she wants to bring the “good vibes” because “I like to party!”
“I want to wake people up,” Cardi exclaimed, while clapping her hands before promising, “I’m giving you Belcalis,” which is her birth name.
Cardi didn’t appear all that nervous about the upcoming gig, either, but she did admit there are a few scenarios she wants to avoid. “I just don’t want to make a joke and it’s, like, crickets,” she said. “I don’t wanna stutter or say something mean or wrong, you know?”
Several big performances will rock the AMA stage and, when asked which acts she’s most excited to see, Cardi shared a laundry list of names, “I wanna see Silk Sonic. I wanna see BTS. I wanna see Megan [Thee Stallion]. I wanna see Chloe [Bailey]. I wanna see my friend, Bad Bunny…. I wanna see everybody!”
The “Up” rapper remained tight-lipped about what else we can expect from Sunday night’s show and only teased, “You gotta be tuned in to see!”
The 2021 AMAs air Sunday, November 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
