Music

Olivia Rodrigo may be one of the biggest pop stars on the planet right now, but it may be a while before you see her on tour.

Industry sources tell Billboard that Olivia’s TV commitments on the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series are preventing her from hitting the road and performing her songs live. The show is currently in its second season and could potentially be renewed for a third.

While Olivia could conceivably sell out arenas as this point in her career, promoters are reportedly holding spring 2022 tour dates in 3,000-to-5,000-seat venues for her, so she can get some live experience before she graduates to bigger ones. She’s only had two major live performances so far: at the BRIT Awards and on Saturday Night Live, both this past May.

Insiders say tickets for those 2022 tour dates could go on sale this fall.

Reps for Disney and Olivia’s record company declined to comment to Billboard.

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2021 XXL Freshman Coi Leroy, Lakeyah, Morray and DDG sat down with XXL for their first roundtable interview to reflect on their rise to fame as emerging artists.

Coi says Billboard hits and platinum records are cool, but “I just think I’m not satisfied.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what [it’s] going to take for me to be satisfied, but I have to keep going. I’m appreciative, but I want more,” the “No More Parties” rapper says.

Coi Leray’s success took off after her Billboard Hot 100 single, “No More Parties,” was certified Platinum by the RIAA in May. A month before, Quality Control signee Lakeyah dropped her second mixtape, In Due Time, to follow her Time’s Up debut. Quality Control is also the home label to fellow rappers Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, City Girls and more.

Meanwhile, North Carolina native Morray closed out 2020 with a major co-sign from fellow North Carolina rapper J. Cole over his debut single, “Quicksand.” For his part, 23-year-old DDG leveraged his social media following to launch a successful music career and release his platinum “Moonwalking in Calabasas Remix,” featuring Blueface. XXL dubbed the song one of the best hip-hop remixes of the last five years.

Other rising artists on the 2021 XXL Freshman list include Flo Milli, Toosi, 42 Dugg, Blxst, Rubi Rose, Iann Dior, and Pooh Shiesty. 

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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Ivan Moody is a poet and he does, in fact, know it.

The Five Finger Death Punch frontman has announced Dirty Poetry, a collection of original poems accompanied by ink and watercolor illustrations by artist Blake Armstrong.

“Out of all the projects I’ve undertaken this is something truly out of the ordinary, completely unorthodox, and without ‘creative walls,'” Moody says. “It is by far the oddest thing I’ve ever done (and that’s saying something).”

Dirty Poetry is set to arrive in October from publisher Z2 Comics, which has previously worked with artists including Beartooth, Skillet, Alter Bridge, and Black Veil Brides‘ Andy Biersack.

Five Finger Death Punch released their latest album, F8, in 2020. A new record is currently in the works for 2022.

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Earlier this month, over the Independence Day weekend, Matt Stell made his first trip overseas to perform for U.S. service members. The rising star gave several live shows at Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi in the Persian Gulf.

Matt’s set list included his back-to-back number-one hits, his 2019 debut “Prayed for You” and hit follow-up, “Everywhere but On.” Both songs come off the singer’s debut EP, which is also titled Everywhere but On.

He also performed his current single, “That Ain’t Me No More,” which broke country radio’s top 40 last month.

Before his breakout country success, Matt spent time pursuing other career dreams: He played college basketball at Drury University, and nearly pursued a pre-med program after being accepted to Harvard University. Still, getting the chance to perform overseas for military members was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the singer says.

“This doesn’t happen to me often, but I really can’t find the words to express what this trip has meant to me,” Matt admits. “I am so thankful for the opportunity and I will never forget the experience.”

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Rise Against has announced a new graphic novel based on the band’s new album, Nowhere Generation.

The book, also titled Nowhere Generation, is characterized as a “glimpse into the lives of the abandoned, a collection of down and out individuals coming together for a revolution.”

“These are the stories of the ones who fight back,” the description reads.

Nowhere Generation is due out October 12. It’ll be published by Z2 Comics, which has worked with lots of musicians, including Machine Gun Kelly, Beartooth, Anthrax, Alter Bridge, All Time Low and Yungblud.

Rise Against released Nowhere Generation the album in June. They’ll launch a U.S. tour in support of the record July 30 in New York City.

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Demi Lovato is giving others some grace when it comes to learning their new pronouns.

In a message posted to Instagram, Demi writes, “If you misgender me, that’s okay. I accidentally misgender myself sometimes! It’s a huge transition to change the pronouns I’ve used for myself my entire life. And it’s difficult to remember sometimes!”

They continue, “As long as you keep trying to respect my truth, and as long as I remember my truth, the shift will come naturally. I’m just grateful for your effort in trying to remember what means so much to my healing process.”

Demi explains in the caption that they felt the need to post this message “because I often find that the change in pronouns can be confusing for some, and difficult to remember for others.”

The singer says “it’s all about your intention,” adding, “It’s important to me that you try, but if you make a mistake, it’s okay.”

This week marks Non-Binary Awareness Week. Demi came out as non-binary, changing their pronouns to they/them, in May.

 

 

 

 

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In Flames is no longer taking part in the Metal Tour of the Year.

On Tuesday, the Swedish metallers announced that they’re dropping off the stacked bill, which also includes Megadeth, Lamb of God and Trivium, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were looking forward to playing for you all and this was an unbelievably hard choice to make,” a statement from the band reads. “Thank you for understanding and your support as we all get through this unprecedented time.”

“We have a lot of things in the works for 2022 — more on that shortly,” they add. “Stay safe and we’ll see you on the road again soon!”

In place of In Flames, Hatebreed has now joined the lineup.

The Metal Tour of the Year, which was previously scheduled to launch in 2020, will kick off August 20 in Austin.

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St. Vincent has announced a streaming concert special, set to premiere August 4.

The virtual show, titled Down and Out Downtown, will feature the live debuts of songs off St. Vincent’s new album, Daddy’s Home, as well as “new arrangements of hits and deep cuts.”

A trailer for the special includes snippets of Daddy’s Home songs, as well as renditions of older tunes including “Los Ageless” and “Cheerleader” reworked with St. Vincent’s new backing band. You can watch that streaming now on YouTube.

Down and Out Downtown will stream via the platform Moment House. For ticket info, visit MomentHouse.com/StVincent.

Daddy’s Home, the sixth St. Vincent album, was released in May. It includes the lead single “Pay Your Way in Pain.”

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One day before the next court hearing on Britney Spears‘ conservatorship, the headline-making documentary about her has received two Emmy nominations.

Framing Britney Spears, produced by The New York Times for FX and Hulu, has been nominated for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program.

The doc, which first aired in February, focused on how the media, especially the tabloids and the paparazzi, framed Britney in a negative, often misogynistic light, while allowing the men in her orbit, like her ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake, to emerge unscathed from the spotlight’s blinding glare. 

The documentary also examined the #FreeBritney movement and focused new attention on her conservatorship, which has been in place since 2008.  Britney is now trying to have her father Jamie Spears removed from his role as conservator of her estate, and has also asked for the conservatorship itself to be terminated.

Britney and those involved with the conservatorship, which the singer has deemed “abusive,” are expected to appear in court Wednesday for the next step in what appears to be shaping up to be lengthy process.

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