Music

Coldplay had a special guest at their album launch party Tuesday night in London: Ed Sheeran.

Billboard reports that Chris Martin and company celebrated the impending release of their album Music of the Spheres at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, where Ed, as it happens, recently did a special show marking the 10th anniversary of his debut album + (Plus) with a special concert.

Ed popped up to sing Coldplay’s 2005 hit “Fix You” with the band at Tuesday’s concert, and then Coldplay returned the favor by performing Ed’s hit “Shape of You.”  You can watch fan-recorded footage of the performances on Twitter.

What’s the connection between the two acts, other than the fact that they’re both British superstars?  As Billboard notes, both Ed and Coldplay recently topped the charts thanks to K-pop supergroup BTS. In Ed’s case, he co-wrote the BTS number-one hit “Permission to Dance,” while Coldplay scored their second U.S. number-one hit by duetting with BTS on the song “My Universe.”

Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres arrives this Friday.  Ed’s new album, = (Equals), is out October 29.

Ed Sheeran is back on stage with Chris Martin!!! #London @coldplay pic.twitter.com/D433Fi7MCm

— Antonello Guerrera (@antoguerrera) October 12, 2021

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After literally years of speculation, we finally know when Adele will gift us with a new album: November 19. The album is called 30, as long suspected.

On Instagram, Adele has penned a lengthy missive about her impending release. 

“I was certainly nowhere near when I’d hoped to be when I first started it nearly three years ago,” Adele writes of the album. “Quite the opposite, really. I rely on routine and consistency to feel safe…and yet there I was knowingly — willingly, even, throwing myself into a maze of absolute mess and inner turmoil!”

Adele goes on to say that she’s learned “a lot of blistering truths about my self along the way,” and that she’s also “never felt more peaceful in my life”.  As a result, she notes, “I’m ready to finally put this album out.”

Adele says that the album was her “ride or die during the most turbulent period of my life,” and compared it the type of friend who’s always there for you to cheer you up, hold your hand, pick you up and get you out of the house and give you the best advice.

She also compares 30 to “that friend who…checked in on my even though I’d stop checking in with them because I’d become so consumed by my own grief.” She concludes, “I’ve painstakingly rebuilt my house and my heart since them and this album narrates it. Home is where the heart is.”

The first single from 30, “Easy on Me,” arrives on Friday.

Adele is now 33, but as she recently told British Vogue, she was 30 when her “whole life fell apart” due to her divorce.

 

 

 

 

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Avicii‘s legacy lives on. 

Stockholm’s Avicii Arena, previously named Ericsson Globe, announced it will host the For a Better Day concert, an event inspired by the late DJ.

The concert is set to take place on December 1 and will host a variety of primarily Swedish acts, including performances from dance duo Galantis and singer-songwriter Miriam Bryant, along with “tributes to Avicii’s musical heritage as well as collaborations and surprise guests,” according to Billboard. 

The For a Better Day concert will also include input from mental health experts in an effort to raise awareness of mental health in young people. 

The event, which is gearing up to become an annual shindig, is being organized by the Avicii Arena and the Tim Bergling Foundation, a suicide prevention and mental health awareness organization founded by Avicii’s parents, Klas Bergling and Anki Lidénin, and named after their son following his suicide in 2018. 

“I hope we succeed in creating a feeling that we really do this together, because it is only together that we can make a difference,” Bergling said. “Young people are our future and we must be afraid for them. It is unacceptable that they are getting worse and that suicide rates are rising in that group – and it is our duty to do what we can to break that trend.”

Tickets for the show go on sale Wednesday on the Avicii Arena website.

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, or worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 [TALK] for free confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even if it feels like it, you are not alone.

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Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber may have composed the CATS Broadway musical, but that doesn’t mean he enjoyed the movie version of it.  There is one thing, however, that he does like about it — and it has everything to do with cat lover Taylor Swift.

Speaking with Variety, the 73-year-old British composer said being able to write the song “Beautiful Ghosts” with Taylor was the one good thing to come from the critically panned movie.

“It was one of the few enjoyable experiences [on the film],” Lloyd Webber admitted. “It was probably the enjoyable experience.”

The composer recalled what it was like to create the Golden Globe and Grammy-nominated song, revealing, “We sat around the piano, I played her a melody… It was a joy. She’s a real pro. Talk about being a pro.”

He also said Taylor was familiar with the source material, the T.S. Eliot poetry collection Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.  That led to the two exchanging a few inside jokes and bonding over their mutual appreciation of the British poet.

“One of the things I was quite intrigued by, she got to the essence of what T.S. Eliot was about,” Lloyd Webber continued. “It wasn’t just a lyric thrown together at all. I did enjoy working with her very, very, very much.”

Lloyd Webber has been vocal about his dislike of the CATS movie and criticized the film when speaking previously to The Sunday Times of London. “The problem with the film was that [director] Tom Hooper decided that he didn’t want anybody involved in it who was involved in the original show,” he bemoaned. “The whole thing was ridiculous.”

CATSs debuted to negative reviews in December 2019.  The movie currently has a 20 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Fans believe Britney Spears has weighed in on sister Jamie Lynn Spears‘ upcoming memoir, Things I Should Have Said, which was announced Monday.

Jamie Lynn, 30, said she was inspired to “share my truth” after her daughter Maddie was involved in a near-fatal ATV incident in 2017.  While the Zoey 101 star said the book was a way for her to open up about “my own mental health,” her publisher, Worthy Publishing, added she will also explore her “role as Britney’s kid sister.”

Now it appears big sister Britney has reacted to the announcement in a new Instagram post.  The singer shared on Tuesday that she is “thinking of releasing a book next year” and turned to her fans for ideas because “I’m having issues coming up with a title.”

Britney, 39, presented two potential book titles that had fans buzzing because they seemed oddly specific.

The singer said she is mulling between the titles “‘S***, I really don’t know” and “I really care what people think,” which some fans felt are referencing Jamie Lynn.

That led to numerous fans suggesting a third potential title: “Things my sister shouldn’t have said.”

While Britney hasn’t referenced her little sister directly, her followers believe the timing and language of the pop star’s latest post is not a coincidence.

True or not, it’s not the first time Britney’s called out her baby sister.  In July, she put her whole family on blast in two separate posts. In one post, since deleted, she called out those who didn’t help her privately but are supporting her publicly to “save face.” In the second, Britney referenced Jamie Lynn directly, writing, “I don’t like that my sister showed up at an awards show and performed MY SONGS to remixes !!!!!”

 

 

 

 

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Cardi B celebrated her 29th birthday in style on Monday, but it was her presents that stole the show.

The “WAP” rapper was positively spoiled by husband Offset, who lavished her with diamonds and furs — according to Instagram story snaps from Entertainment Tonight — as well as a luxury home in the Dominican Republic.

Cardi gushed over her gift in an emotional Instagram post on Tuesday and shared a video tour of her brand-new crib, which boasts six bedrooms, a separate studio, seven full baths, one half bath, a rooftop infinity pool, a separate pool on the patio, and a breathtaking view of the ocean and surrounding greenery.

“I just can’t believe this! This was sooo amazing to me,” Cardi raved in the caption. “I [heart] you so much and I can’t wait for this hangover to go away so I can show you my full appreciation.”

The Grammy winner certainly turned it up at her dancehall dress code party and admitted she partied a little too hard. In a hilarious Twitter post on Tuesday, Cardi — who recently welcomed her second child — admitted that she does not have the same alcohol tolerance as before and struggled after taking just three shots of tequila on an empty stomach.

“Last night I was a bit disappointed in myself,” she remarked. “Thank god my girls held me down!… Baby I couldn’t hang.”

Cardi’s party was attended by A-listers such as Megan Thee Stallion, Normani, Shenseea, Lizzo and many others.

 

 

 

 

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Three summers ago, Russell Dickerson co-wrote his latest hit with Charles Kelley while on tour with Lady A and Darius Rucker. At the time, “Home Sweet” was simply Russell’s vision of his life with his wife Kailey.

Since then, it’s become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“Then, it was kind of like how I saw my life panning out, I guess,” Russell looks back. “Really, it just like came true. We moved into our new house, and probably a week later found out we were pregnant. And so literally we were sitting on boxes and looking at two pink lines.”

“It’s one of those things that you just can’t make up,” he reflects. “We went from our little house over in Nashville by the zoo, and then the song literally just kind of like, came true for us, like one of those things you speak into existence, I guess. And so it really has, yeah, it’s just like, come to life.”

The couple’s son, Remington, arrived in September of 2020, and Russell predicts there’s more to come — many more, in fact.

“My wife comes from a huge family,” he explains. “She’s the youngest of six. She has five older brothers, and then that oldest brother has seven kids, so there’s literally, I think, 15 grandkids on her side.”

“And so they come from a ginormous family,” Russell continues. “And so I just got a feeling that there’s gonna be a lot more Dickerson babies running around.”  

“Home Sweet” is the second single from Russell’s Southern Symphony album, following the chart-topping “Love You Like I Used To.”

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Happy Golden Anniversary to Elton John, who can now officially brag that he’s been scoring top 40 hits for 50 years.

“Cold Heart,” his Dua Lipa collaboration that’s a mashup of four of his past songs, has jumped from #36 to #32 on the Billboard Hot 100.  It’s the first time he’s been in the top 40 of the chart since “Written in the Stars,” his 1999 duet with LeAnn Rimes.

According to Billboard, that means Elton’s top 40 hits now span 50 years and 10 months — his first top 40 hit, “Your Song,” charted in December of 1970.  Not including holiday songs, this is the longest span for any artist in Billboard history. Michael Jackson previously held the record at 46 years, eight months and three weeks.

Elton recently told Billboard that he credits “Dua Lipa’s popularity” with a lot of the song’s success, as well as the “brilliant” remix that the Australian dance act Pnau did in mashing up the songs.  However, he notes, “I feel very, very content and happy that I’m relevant. I’ve always tried to be relevant.”

Billboard also points out the mind-blowing fact that the week in 1970 when Elton scored his first top 40 hit, the artists in the top five were Smokey Robinson, Santana, George Harrison, The Fifth Dimension and The Partridge Family.  Now, it’s the likes of Drake, Justin Bieber, Lil Nas X and Ed Sheeran.

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