Music

Ed Sheeran defended himself in London’s High Court on Tuesday in an attempt to prove he didn’t plagiarize his 2017 smash hit “Shape of You.” He is being sued by singer Sami Chokri, who claims Ed sampled his 2015 song “Oh Why” in his “Oh I, oh I” hook.

The BBC reports the Grammy winner attempted to show how common the two-note melody is by singing “No Diggity” by Blackstreet and “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone during his cross-examination. “If you put them all in the same key, they’ll sound the same,” he explained. When pressed if his song was similar to Chokri’s, Ed remarked, “Fundamentally, yes, they are based around the pentatonic scale [and] they both have vowels in them.”

Andrew Sutcliffe QC, who is representing Chokri and his co-writer, Ross O’Donoghue, grilled Ed on the similarities of “Oh Why” and the “Oh, I” hook. The lawyer asked, “It sounds as though you were singing, ‘Oh Why,’ doesn’t it?”

“The lyric is, ‘Oh, I’m in love with your body,'” Ed countered, “‘Oh why I’m in love with your body’ doesn’t make sense.”

He also fended off being called an “obsessive music squirrel” by Sutcliffe and replied, “I’m a music fan, I like music, I listen to music.”

The outlet reports Ed became visibly agitated when the lawyer played an unreleased song to the court and the singer demanded, “That’s a song I wrote last January. How did you get that? I want to know how you got that.” It was later explained the song was on “Shape of You” co-writer Steve Mac‘s personal laptop and the lawyer accessed the wrong file to play the music.

The case is ongoing.

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Way back in December 2019, Mariah Carey found out that she was going to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.  But now, after two postponements, she’ll finally be able to accept the honor this June.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala will take place June 16 in New York City, Billboard reports. It was originally scheduled for June 11, 2020, and then bumped to June 10, 2021.

In addition to Mariah, the other inductees include Eurythmics‘ Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, The Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, members of The Isley Brothers, and veteran rocker Steve Miller.

As Billboard notes, four of this year’s honorees or inductees are over the age of 80, but luckily, none of them passed away while waiting for their awards.

The writer who’ll receive the Hal David Starlight Award, which honors songwriters “at the apex of their career,” hasn’t been announced yet. The most recent winners were Halsey, Sara Bareilles, Ed Sheeran and Nick Jonas.

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UPSAHL has announced her debut live album, and you won’t have to wait too long to hear it.

The record, aptly titled This Is My First Live Album, will be released this Friday, March 11. It was recorded at Boston’s Brighton Music Hall during UPSAHL’s recent debut U.S. headlining tour.

For a preview of the album, you can check out the set’s performance of the song “Lunatic” streaming now on YouTube.

UPSAHL launched the tour in support of her 2021 debut album, Lady Jesus. She also guested a pair of alternative radio hits: “Happy Endings” with Mike Shinoda and iann dior, and “Palm Reader,” with Dreamers and Big Boi.

If you want to see UPSAHL live and in-person, she’s currently opening for Yungblud‘s U.S. tour, which continues March 8 in Boise, Idaho.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.) 

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When Alicia Keys launched Keys Soulcare in 2020, she wanted it to be more than just another celebrity beauty brand.

In a new interview with Glossy, the singer and entrepreneur says she was looking to go beyond “just skin deep” — even as far as changing terminology around beauty, opting to call products “offerings” because “it is an offer to join a practice of paying attention to yourself.”

“We’re trying to evolve the dialogue around beauty and even what beauty standards mean, and what [those standards] do to us as humans,” Alcia says. “As women, we get caught up with feeling like we’re supposed to look a certain way or present ourselves a certain way.”

She adds, “It’s powerful to change existing concepts and allow beauty to be on the inside and how you’re fulfilling your soul and spirit. What makes you beautiful is when you are content and self-confident and know yourself.”

The most recent “offerings” for the brand dropped March 2 and include seven new ritual-based products, like an illuminating serum, a cleansing balm, a toner and a body gua sha tool.

Keys says she incorporates little rituals into her everyday life, using “mantras and affirmations” as a form of self-care and teaching her kids to do the same.

“I also love baths and sometimes read while in the tub or relax completely,” she says. “Journaling is another big one for me. [I] will write a stream of consciousness or reflect on what’s happening and how I feel.”

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The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Dolly Parton and co-hosted by Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett, streamed live on Amazon Prime Monday night from Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.

Here’s the complete list of winners:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Miranda Lambert

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Carly Pearce

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Chris Stapleton

DUO OF THE YEAR
Brothers Osborne

GROUP OF THE YEAR
Old Dominion

NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR 
Lainey Wilson

NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR 
Parker McCollum

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Dangerous: The Double Album — Morgan Wallen

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
“If I Didn’t Love You” — Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood

SONG OF THE YEAR
“Things A Man Oughta Know” — Lainey Wilson

VIDEO OF THE YEAR 
“Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” — Elle King and Miranda Lambert

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Michael Hardy

MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR
“Never Wanted to Be That Girl” — Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde

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After a record 59 weeks, Glass Animals‘ “Heat Waves” has finally topped the Billboard Hot 100, and it’s perfect timing, considering the band is about to officially launch their U.S. tour tonight. Frontman Dave Bayley says they’ll continue to promote their 2020 album Dreamland, because thanks to the pandemic, they haven’t brought the tour to many cities — and thanks to “Heat Waves,” they suddenly have a bunch of new fans.

“It’s still gonna be Dreamland-related…but we are mixing it up,” Dave tells ABC Audio. “The songs change quite a lot as the tour goes on.” 

Meanwhile, the singer says he’s excited by the prospect of performing for people who’ve never seen them before.

“Sometimes going on stage, it’s the end of…two years of touring…and it’s like a hundred and five degrees outside and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be so difficult,'” notes Dave. “[But] that is the one thing I always remind myself: This is someone’s first — not just Glass Animals show — but probably someone’s first show ever.“

He adds, “I try to remember how I felt when I went to see my first show and I was, like, buzzing. It was electric. And immediately that makes me feel like so gassed, so excited to do the show.”

As for that number-one hit, “Heat Waves” has been such a success that Dave told ABC Audio a few months ago that if it did hit number one, it’d just be “an incredible bonus.”

“We never set out to do anything like this. We were just having fun making music,” he said, adding, “I’m not going to say it wouldn’t mean anything, but everything that’s happened so far is wonderful, and I’m already very lucky.”

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It’s home sweet home for Kane Brown and family! 

Recently, Kane’s wife Katelyn shared a sweet photo of her husband at home during a day off from touring that shows him snuggled with the couple’s two-year-old daughter, Kingsley. 

“Home,” Katelyn captioned the precious moment of the father and daughter peacefully slumbering together on the couch, as Kingsley clutches a toy monkey in her arms. 

Kane and Katelyn welcomed their second child, Kodi Jane, on December 30, making a surprise announcement to fans on Instagram after the baby arrived. 

The country star resumes his Blessed & Free Tour on May 7 at Finley Stadium in his hometown of Chattanooga, TN.

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Backstage at the 57th ACM Awards at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Monday, reporters gathered in the first in-person press room since the start of the pandemic, while others joined virtually. 

Girl power seemed to be the theme of the night, as Female Artist winner Carly Pearce reminded the room that “the ladies are here to stay.” 

Lainey Wilson arrived to prove the point with trophies for both New Female Artist and Song of the Year for “Things a Man Oughta Know.” 

Single of the Year winner Jason Aldean admitted he was nervous for Carrie Underwood to make her dramatic aerial entrance from above, while Carrie herself revealed she was more than up for the challenge for the performance of their #1 hit, “If I Didn’t Love You.”

Meanwhile, Old Dominion front man Matthew Ramsey confessed five consecutive Group of the Year trophies do make the band anxious about whether their streak can continue. Vocal Duo winners Brothers Osborne reclaimed the title, after relinquishing the crown to Dan + Shay for several years. 

New Male Artist Parker McCollum revealed it was the ACM’s decision to have him sing his breakthrough #1, “Pretty Heart,” instead of his current hit, “To Be Loved by You.” 

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Hey country stars — if you’re ever considering not showing up at a major awards ceremony, just think about Miranda Lambert.  The superstar singer missed the Academy of Country Music Awards for the first time in 17 years Monday night… and ended up winning Entertainer of the Year for the very first time.

Miranda was in London when Dolly Parton announced the news, and in a video message, she said, “I cannot believe I’m not there to celebrate!” It was Miranda’s sixth time being nominated in that category and she said, “I never thought it would happen, but thank you so much to the country music family for embracing me all these years.” 

Miranda is the first female artist to win the award solely on her own since Taylor Swift in 2012; in 2020, Carrie Underwood and Thomas Rhett tied for the trophy.  She and Elle King also won the Video of the Year award for “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home).”

Embattled singer Morgan Wallen won the Album of the Year trophy for Dangerous: The Double Album, and thanked “everyone who’s shown me grace along the way.” He also addressed his fans, who kept the album at number one for weeks, by saying forcefully, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I’m blown away by you guys.”

The night’s other big winners were Chris Stapleton and Carly Pearce for Male and Female Artist of the Year, Old Dominion for Group of the Year and Brothers Osborne for Duo of the Year.

Lainey Wilson, who was named New Female Artist ahead of the ceremony, also won Song of the Year for “Things a Man Oughta Know,” and started her speech by saying, “Holy moly! Country music is my life!” In his acceptance speech, Chris Stapleton gave a rare shout-out to his kids and, in an awards show first, two of them were even seen on camera.

The show, which streamed commercial-free on Amazon Prime Video from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, was co-hosted by Dolly Parton, Gabby Barrett and Jimmie Allen. Dolly kicked off the proceedings by saying that, despite the fact that she’d “rather pass a kidney stone” than get political, she wanted to “send love and hope to our brothers and sisters in Ukraine.”

“Why don’t we dedicate this entire show to them and pray for peace around this crazy ol’ world?” she added. Later, at the podium, Old Dominion’s Matthew Ramsey said, “I’m so thankful that Dolly said what she said at the beginning,” noting that “it felt a little weird” to be having fun at an awards show while “there are people fighting for their lives.”

No commercials meant the show was able to pack in the music, at one point giving us 35 straight minutes of performances. Standouts included Chris Stapleton’s powerful rendition of “Watch You Burn,” written about the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting; Eric Church‘s 16-song medley of hits from his entire career; Kelly Clarkson‘s note-perfect rendition of Dolly’s classic song “I Will Always Love You;” Breland and Thomas Rhett teaming for “Praise the Lord;” Gabby Barrett’s cover of Lee Ann Womack‘s classic “I Hope You Dance” and Brothers Osborne and Brittney Spencer closing the show with “These Boots Are Made for Walkin.'”

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