Music

When Keith Urban sings “Saw the man in black/ Spotlight in the air/ Heard a thousand screams/ Saw my dad’s stare,” in his new hit, “Wild Hearts,” he’s actually sharing one of his pivotal memories.

The freedom anthem came to Keith — fully finished — via Old Dominion‘s Brad Tursi, Runaway June‘s Jennifer Wayne, and singer/songwriter Eric Paslay. But it resonated with the Aussie superstar so much, he asked if he could change the verses to make them more personal.

“I sat down and thought about my journey, and when did that begin?” Keith explains. “And the very first thing that popped in my head was probably when my dad took our family to see Johnny Cash.”

“I was five, and that’s an impactful concert to see at any point in your life,” he reflects. “But when you’re five, it was something else.”

It’s an experience that helped propel Keith onto the stages of arenas all over the world.

“The things I remembered mostly about it were, of course, this guy up on stage,” he recalls. “I remember this white-hot spotlight coming all the way from the back of the room. It was huge. I remember the screaming of this crowd.”

He continues, “And then I remember looking up at my dad and seeing the way that he looked at this person on stage. And probably subconsciously, I probably thought, ‘I’ve never seen my dad look at me like that.’ And so that probably was the beginning of my journey.”

“Wild Hearts” ended up being so powerful, Keith decided to immediately put it out, though it’s not on his latest album, The Speed of Now Part 1, which was released in September 2020.

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That famous photo of Britney Spears and Madonna locking lips at the 2003 MTV VMAs is now reportedly being auctioned off as an NFT.

TMZ reports that the photographer, John Shearer, is teaming up with Cryptograph to sell the NFT for a good cause.

The auction, which kicks off Thursday and lasts 72 hours, will share a portion of the proceeds with GLAAD.

The 2003 VMAs opened with the now-iconic performance from Madonna, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. The trio sang Madonna’s hits “Like a Virgin” and “Hollywood” and the performance concluded with Madonna kissing both Britney and Christina — though the Britney kiss garnered way more attention.

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The Black Music Action Coalition, which is supported by hundreds of artists and executives, is demanding that President Joe Biden sign an Executive Order to approve the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

BMAC co-founder Willie “Prophet” Stiggers sent a letter to the president on Wednesday, calling for him to enact the legislation, according to Variety. BMAC backed Joe Biden during his 2020 presidential campaign based on his “promise to the Black community, George Floyd’s family, and to America.” The goal of the coalition is to address systematic racism in the music industry.

Numerous stars artists have endorsed the coalition, including Pharrell Williams, Cardi B, Quincy Jones, Lil Nas X, Diddy, Travis Scott and Mary J. Blige, as well as Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and Doja Cat.

On September 23 in Los Angeles, BMAC honored The Weeknd and H.E.R with the Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award at the coalition’s first gala.

“You told George Floyd’s daughter that her father would change the world,” Stiggers wrote in the letter. “Now that we have elected you President of the United States, I’ve anxiously waited and watched several executive orders get signed. But we are still waiting for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act?…How can you Build Back Better and push to pass a bill that addresses America’s infrastructure, without addressing the cracks in America’s soul?”

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, created in July 2020, is designed to hold police accountable for their actions. It seeks to establish national standards for operation of police departments, mandate data collection on police encounters, and more.

The letter ends with the words, “Mr. President, if Black Lives Matter, please prove it! Do Black lives only matter during an election cycle?”

 

 

 

 

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Nirvana‘s sales and streaming numbers are certainly “In Bloom” in the wake of Nevermind‘s 30th anniversary.

The grunge icons’ seminal 1991 album skyrocketed up the Billboard 200 to number 44 after hitting the big 3-0 on September 24. That’s the highest Nevermind has been on the chart since 2011, when it was celebrating is 20th anniversary.

Nevermind also saw a 10 percent bump in on-demand streaming during the September 24-30 tracking week, as well as a 327 percent jump in sales.

In total, the RIAA Diamond-certified Nevermind has spent 543 weeks on the Billboard 200 — over a third of its entire lifespan.

Nirvana is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Nevermind with a deluxe reissue, due out November 12. The expanded collection includes the full live recordings of four Nirvana concerts from 1991 and 1992.

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Duncan Laurence‘s hit “Arcade” was first released in 2019, but it’s only been this year when it’s really blown up worldwide, especially on American radio, thanks to TikTok.  While he’s thrilled about that, the Dutch singer/songwriter says it’s been a bit frustrating seeing his first single go up the charts everywhere, while he’s stuck at home in the Netherlands due to the pandemic.

“It’s been just sitting at home not being able to travel — especially not being able, as an EU citizen, to travel to America,” Duncan tells ABC Audio. “But there is hope. I just got a message from my manager which says that in November, I’ll be able to travel to the U.S., so there is a little light at the end of the tunnel!”

“But I mean, this tunnel was super-bright already, because it’s been such an amazing year,” he points out, even though he jokingly compares his experience to “seeing everything from the sidelines of the soccer match.”

The one drawback with “Arcade” being so big, though, is that there hasn’t been any plans for a follow-up single, because everyone is still discovering and enjoying the song.  But given that it’s been two years already, isn’t Duncan, well, kind of sick of it?  Nope.

“I mean, it’s such a gift. It brings me so many places. It brings me connection with all these people that I never thought I would connect with!” he says. “You know, I’m able to share my story in a worldwide way. So no, I’ll never get bored of that first single that blew up during COVID!”

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My Chemical Romance‘s “Teenagers” is the latest song to find a second life on TikTok.

The Black Parade single has been used in over 100,000 “creations” on the platform in recent weeks, which usually center on the idea that, as the song goes, “Teenagers scare the living s*** out of me.”

One video, for example, shows someone working at an axe-throwing venue explaining that people under 18 aren’t allowed to participate in the axe throwing because of “safety reasons.” They then reveal that the real reason behind the policy is because teenagers, well, you know the rest.

“The trend…can help elucidate age-based anxieties, soundtrack 2000s picture day photoshoot concepts, and explain the mindset of adults who are amazed by teens’ daily work routines,” a press release says.

It’s also a fitting time for “Teenagers” to make a comeback, since The Black Parade will celebrate its 15th anniversary later this month.

Meanwhile, My Chemical Romance is gearing up for the band’s long-awaited reunion tour, which is finally set to kick off in 2022 after being postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Elton John and British pop singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran have collaborated onstage, but never on record — until now.

The U.K.’s Official Charts Company reports that, while speaking to NPO Radio 2, Sheeran revealed the news that he and Elton, whose company used to manage him, are teaming up for a Christmas single.

Sheeran explained that Elton called him up last December 25 to say Merry Christmas, but also to say that he wanted Ed to join him to do another holiday song, because his festive classic “Step into Christmas” had returned to the British top 10.

No word yet on what the new song’s title is, or when it will be released. However, the race to have the so-called “Christmas number one” — the song that’s at the top of the charts on December 25 — is a big deal in the U.K., and Official Charts now predicts that this song, whatever it is, will be a strong contender for the title.

Elton is set to release his recently announced album of collaborations, The Lockdown Sessions, on October 22, while Ed is putting out his new album, = (Equals), on October 29. While this Christmas single hasn’t appeared on either of those projects’ track listings, perhaps it’ll be added to the digital version of the releases.

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An expansive new Emerson, Lake & Palmer box set titled Out of This World: Live (1970-1997), featuring five full concert performances spanning 27 years of the British prog-rock trio’s long history, will be released on October 29.

The collection, which you can pre-order now, will be available as a seven-CD set and a 10-LP vinyl package. Most of the recordings haven’t been issued on vinyl before.

The first concert in the box set is an August 1970 performance at the U.K.’s Isle of Wight Festival, the band’s second-ever live show.

The second concert is ELP’s headlining set at the California Jam festival, held in April 1974 in Ontario, California.

Concert number three took place in August 1977 at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, and featured the band showcasing their 1977 Works albums.

The fourth concert is an October 1992 show at London’s famed Royal Albert Hall that the band played after the release of Black Moon, its first new studio album in 14 years.

The final show on the Out of This World: Live box set is a previously unreleased recording of September 1997 performance at Phoenix’s Union Hall capturing ELP a few years after the arrival of its final studio album, 1993’s In the Hot Seat.

The box set comes packaged with a 32-page photo book featuring rare and intimate images of the band, plus a foreword penned by Prog magazine editor Jerry Ewing.

“The box set is one of my proudest moments,” says ELP drummer Carl Palmer, the band’s last surviving member. “I know Keith [Emerson] and Greg [Lake] would agree with me!…For me, this shows ELP at their very best throughout years of touring and recording. The box set represents the lifeline of our music in our time.”

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Dolly Parton has been happily married to her husband, Carl Dean, for more than 50 years, but that doesn’t mean she’s immune to the occasional celebrity crush.

In fact, in a new cover story interview with W Magazine, the country superstar admits that she’s always been something of a flirt. “I love boys. I still do,” she chuckles.

Dolly’s latest love interest? None other than late-night host Jimmy Fallon, who’s also the singer’s duet partner on her version of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which appears on her 2020 holiday project, A Holly Dolly Christmas.

“Well, I have a crush on Jimmy Fallon, but I’m big now. I can’t excuse myself on that,” Dolly jokes. “I think he is precious. He’s so funny. We get along so good, and sometimes you never know who you’re gonna connect with.”

Still, the singer admits, late-night talk-show hosts might just be her type.

“I’ve always had really good luck with late-night guys. I always had a nice relationship, you know, with David Letterman and Johnny Carson,” she continues. “I guess it’s something about late-night people that kind of hits my fancy, and I hit theirs, somehow. It’s just because you feel like you can be more free late at night. You don’t have to worry about what you say.”

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