Music

Aunjanue Ellis has a special request for whoever designs the dress she wears at her first-ever Academy Awards ceremony.

The King Richard actress, who’s nominated for best supporting actress, told Good Morning America Monday she wants to honor her late mother on Oscars night.

“Whoever I’m wearing, I’m just insisting that my mother’s name be somewhere on the dress,” Ellis, 53, said. “She left me a couple years ago and I want her with me that night in some sort of way.”

While Ellis is planning to honor her own mother, she might be winning an Oscar thanks to playing Oracene Price, the mother of Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard.

The film, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, is all about Richard Williams, the tennis stars’ father. Will Smith plays Richard in the movie, with Saniyya Sidney as Venus and Demi Singleton as Serena.

King Richard is nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture, best actor for Smith, best supporting actress for Ellis, best original screenplay, best film editing and best original song for “Be Alive,” by Beyoncé.

Ellis also told GMA the person she most wants to meet at the Oscars is Beyoncé — who, like Ellis, is also nominated for her first-ever Oscar this year.

“Putting it out to the universe,” Ellis said of wanting to run into the Grammy winner at the star-studded event. “Hear me, universe. It’s all I want.”

The 94th Academy Awards will air live Sunday, March 27, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Brothers Osborne reclaimed their status as Vocal Duo of the Year at the CMAs last November, beating out Dan + Shay — a group who’d previously won the award two years in a row.

But can the brother duo repeat their success at the 2022 ACM Awards? Dan + Shay have had a tight grip on the ACMs Duo of the Year title ever since the Brothers last won in 2018.

“I hope so!” TJ Osborne says cheerfully. “We haven’t yet been back, coming back on an ACM. But that’s the plan.”

The brothers and band mates joke that they’re visualizing a win ahead of the big night — so much so that they left a little extra room for a trophy in their luggage. “I packed a little light this time, left a little room in my suitcase,” TJ adds.

But the competition between the duos is all in good fun. In fact, TJ’s joking about his extra trophy space, too.

“That’s also a total lie!” He clarifies, admitting that he might even have overpacked for his trip to Vegas. “I was, like, jamming that thing together.”

The 2022 ACM Awards are streaming tonight on Amazon Prime Video beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Dolly Parton will co-host the event with Gabby Barrett and Jimmie Allen, live from the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

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If you ever find yourself thinking, “Boy, Britney Spears goes on a lot of exotic vacations,” well, she’s here’s to tell you that she deserves to after suffering years of abuse from her conservators.

She writes on Instagram, “After 13 years damn straight I should go [on vacation] !!! I was treated less than, demoralized and embarrassed … nobody should ever be treated the way I was.”   Britney then goes on to detail what her life was like during what she claims was a four-month period during her conservatorship.

“In a world where it’s okay to lock your daughter up and make her work 7 days a week…8:00 am to 6:00 pm…no days off… No private baths … seen naked when changing … drugged … can’t even speak or talk,” she writes.

Britney then says she had to go to bed at 9 p.m. every night and give “like 8 gallons of blood weekly,” and concludes, “this happened to me for 4 months after I worked for my dad and my family for 13 f***king years.”

The singer then says she was “nothing more than a puppet to my family,” and that her treatment was “accepted and approved by the people I loved the most.”  She then notes, “The reason I bring this up is because ending the conservatorship is a huge deal but come on … THAT’S IT ??? They all got away with it !!!”

She ends her post noting that “you would be upset too” if you were “in shock for four months.”

“I’m not done … I want justice and won’t stop until something is done to those who harmed me … and YES I was harmed !!!!” Britney rages. “This is a message to all who have been threatened for their life … You are NOT ALONE !!!!”

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They’re tour mates, and now they’re about to team up on record as well.

Dua Lipa‘s Future Nostalgia tour will feature Megan Thee Stallion as the opening act starting March 15, so the two are now dropping a collab this Friday.  Both artists teased the track on their Instagrams; Dua’s features a tiny snippet of the song, while Megan’s shows photos of herself and Dua on a series of cakes.

According to Genius, the song is called “Sweetest Pie” but that hasn’t been confirmed yet. Genius has the lyrics as, “Uh, baby, we can go fast/I’ll drive and you just lay back/I got the flavor that lasts/Yeah, the sweetest pie.”

Megan and Dua started teasing a song together a while ago.

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Maren Morris is set to take her new album, Humble Quest, on a headlining tour. 

The superstar will hit the road for roughly five months, beginning in June. Along the way, she’ll make stops at Red Rocks Amphitheater, the Greek Theatre, and the famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The 41-date tour wraps on December 2 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. 

Maren is bringing a crew of Americana artists with her as opening acts including Ruston Kelly, The Highwomen costar Natalie Hemby, Brittney Spencer, Joy Oladokun, Brent Cobb and Lone Bellow. 

“Oh, how I’ve missed you. I can’t wait to see you out under the stars,” Maren shares.

This serves as her first tour since GIRL: The World Tour in 2019. She was supposed to headline RSVP: The Tour in 2021, but it was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

Maren’s third studio album, Humble Quest, will be released on March 25. Its lead single, “Circles Around This Town,” is climbing the top 30 on country radio.

Tickets go on sale to the public on March 11 at 10 a.m. local time. Visit Maren’s website for a full list of dates. 

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These days, Jason Aldean is celebrating the release of Macon, Georgia, a double album and the 10th full-length project of his career.

The star is one of country music’s veterans, with a total of 14 ACM trophies — including three Entertainer of the Year wins — under his belt. But he still remembers how he first got to know the awards show as a fan, when he was a little kid.

“I remember when this show would come on at my house as a kid,” Jason tells ABC Audio. “It was a big deal. Big night. We didn’t have YouTube and all these things to go and watch our artists whenever we wanted to. That was a chance for us to see them on live TV, that one time of year.”

Seeing artists like George Strait and Garth Brooks on the big stage also spurred on a then-young Jason hoping to pursue country music. Now, Jason’s paying it forward, returning to the stage as one of the genre’s biggest stars himself.

“[To] get to come back and be part of that legacy, to me, is just so cool,” he continues.

“Sometimes I don’t even know how I got here,” Jason reflects. “But I’m just thankful to get a chance to be here and be around as long as I have been.”

Jason is a three-time nominee at tonight’s show, and he’s also performing. The 2022 ACMs air tonight at 8 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video. Dolly Parton is co-hosting the show with Gabby Barrett and Jimmie Allen.

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Foo Fighters have announced a tour of Australia and New Zealand for later this year.

The outing kicks off November 30 in Perth, and will wrap up mid-December. For the full list of dates and ticket info, visit FrontierTouring.com.

The news comes after Dave Grohl and company headlined Australia’s GMHBA Stadium last Friday, which marked the country’s first full-capacity stadium concert headlined by an international act since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

Foo Fighters are scheduled to launch a U.S. headlining tour in May. In addition to catching them on the road, you can see the Foos on the silver screen in their new movie Studio 666, in theaters now.

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Kelsea Ballerini and Kenny Chesney have ascended to #1 on the country charts with “Half of My Hometown,” and it’s got Kelsea all in her feels. 

The personal song chronicles Kelsea’s upbringing in Knoxville, TN and marks her seventh #1 hit on country radio, and Kenny’s 35th. 

To celebrate its success, Kelsea posted a sincere reflection on Instagram about why “Hometown” is her “favorite” among her hits. “Sometimes leaving is the only way you understand the importance of where you’re from. If you want to know more about yourself, go back and find it. Wherever you put your roots down, honor them. Water them. It doesn’t have to look like your neighbors,” she shares in a series of bullet points. 

“My years in Knoxville shaped my creativity, my drive, and my sense of self. I wouldn’t be doing this had I grown up anywhere else,” she continues. “Leaving at 15 to go chase this dream down was the hardest and best decision I’ve ever made.” 

Kelsea goes on to praise her duet partner and fellow Knoxville native, recalling how she used to listen to Kenny’s 1996 cover of “Back Where I Come From” in her parents’ Jeep growing up. “@kennychesney you showed up in every way for this song and have become such a friend and brother through it,” Kelsea praised, also thanking country radio, her team and co-writers Shane McAnally, Nicolle Galyon, Ross Copperman and Jimmy Robbins. 

“Half of My Hometown” is nominated for Music Event of the Year at the ACM Awards, airing Monday night at 8 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video.

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