Music

In the wake of Tuesday’s announcement of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s nominees for induction in 2022, some of the artists shared their feelings about the good news on their social media pages or in interviews.

Pat Benatar, who previously was nominated for the honor in 2020, said in a joint statement with her husband and longtime guitarist and songwriting partner Neil Giraldo, “Thrilled to be nominated again for the RRHOF. Congratulations to all the nominees!”

Judas Priest, who received its third nomination this year, posted a video message from frontman Rob Halford expressing excitement about the latest nod.

“Hello, heavy metal maniacs,” Halford says in the clip. “As Judas Priest continues to celebrate our ongoing 50th Anniversary we’re absolutely thrilled and stoked and amped to be nominated for the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

He also encourages the band’s fans to vote for Priest via the online Rock Hall fan ballot to help “get some more heavy metal into the hallowed Halls of Fame!”

Devo also received their third nomination this year. The veteran New Wave band’s lead singer, Mark Mothersbaugh, was interviewed by Billboard and said about the Rock Hall, “Somebody there must like us, there’s somebody tenacious over there. We’ll see what happens. It’s a nice honor if it would happen — but I look at all the other people [nominated this year] and I would vote for them, too.”

As previously reported, the 2022 Rock Hall inductees will be announced in May, while the induction ceremony will take place this fall. Fans can vote at RockHall.com for their favorite nominees through April 29.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Halsey will complete their acting transition with the recently announced National Anthem movie.  The movie’s cast was unveiled Thursday and the “Without Me” singer says they are “So honored and excited” for the opportunity.

National Anthem also stars Halsey’s “bestie,” Euphoria‘s Sydney Sweeney, as well as Paul Walter Hauser and Simon Rex, reports Deadline.  The movie, from Bron Studios, will be the directorial debut of Tony Tost.

According to the movie’s synopsis, National Anthem is about “a gritty hunt for a valuable rare Lakota Native American Ghost Shirt. Some are hunting for fortune, others for personal freedom, while others simply want to return it properly to its home. No longer will the marginalized be ignored — all must learn to survive or else.”

No information is available yet concerning Halsey’s role in the movie or when it is expected to arrive in theaters.

Back in 2020, Halsey had announced another project with Sweeney — TV’s The Player’s Table. No word on if that project is still moving forward.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

After revealing earlier this week that her dream is to record with Rihanna and Adele, Megan Thee Stallion also has a 15-time Grammy nominee on her collabo wish list.

“Me and Jazmine Sullivan would definitely have some stuff to talk about,” the Glamour Woman of the Year honoree tells Billboard. “We’ll have the girls crying, we’ll have the girls screaming, we’ll have the girls dancing, we’ll have the girls sipping wine, [and] sitting in the backyard sipping cognac.”

She adds, “The men better go run and hide if me and Jazmine Sullivan do an EP. We need to get that in the works.”

The “Hot Girl Summer” star has been on fire over the past year, earning two Grammy nominations, and promoting several companies, including Coach and Popeyes, as well as starring in a Frito-Lay Super Bowl commercial.

Megan also signed a production deal with Netflix in 2021. She also graduated from Texas Southern University with a Bachelor of Science degree in health administration in December, and despite her busy entertainment career, the “Savage” rapper says she’s still committed to opening a health facility in her Houston hometown.

“I’m definitely manifesting that I will get these buildings together to open up my assisted-living facilities. I already manifested my Netflix deal, so you will see the results of my manifestations from that,” Megan says. “Whatever I say I’m gonna do, I definitely always do it.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Wallows has announced a new album, Tell Me That It’s Over.

The sophomore effort from the band, led by 13 Reasons Why actor Dylan Minnette, will arrive March 25. It includes the previously released song “I Don’t Want to Talk,” as well as a just-premiered tune called “Especially You,” which is available now for digital download.

“It’s about when you’re in the early stages of a relationship and you get so worried that the other person’s mind will change at the flip of a switch,” Minnette says of “Especially You.” “It’s about stressing over the smallest things for no reason, but it’s definitely self-aware about the fact that I’m doing this all to myself.”

Tell Me That It’s Over follows Wallows’ 2019 debut, Nothing Happens, which features the hit Clairo collaboration “Are You Bored Yet?”

Wallows will launch a North American headlining tour in support of Tell Me That It’s Over in April.

Here’s the Tell Me That It’s Over track list:

“Hard to Believe”
“I Don’t Want to Talk”
“Especially You”
“At the End of the Day”
“Marvelous”
“Permanent Price”
“Missing Out”
“Hurts Me”
“That’s What I Get”
“Guitar Romantic Search Adventure”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jennifer Lopez is counting down the days until her new rom-com, Marry Me, bows in theaters next Friday.  Ahead of its February 11 release, the singer/actress opened up about the challenges of making the movie’s soundtrack.

She told Billboard it was “really difficult” to make the songs for the Marry Me movie.  She plays pop superstar Kat Valdez in the film, but Jennifer said the main challenge was ensuring that Kat’s music did not come across as J. Lo songs.

“I wasn’t making it a J. Lo album. I was making a different character, and also, I was weaving the songs and writing them for the story,” she explained.  In the end, she found those eight tracks — but only after combing through “a hundred” songs that “every producer and writer” sent to her.

The singer added that she’s a big fan of rom-coms and won’t tolerate critics besmirching their contribution to entertainment.   “First of all, romantic comedies are not light movies,” said Jennifer. “They’re necessary, beautiful movies, and I don’t know why people feel like they have to put them down when everybody enjoys them so much. It’s like chick flicks. I don’t know guys who don’t love to go to the movies and watch a rom-com with me.”

Marry Me ties the knot in theaters on Friday, February 11.  To help tide fans over, the movie’s eponymous lead single was released Thursday.

In other J. Lo news, the “On the Floor” singer celebrated the second anniversary of her groundbreaking Super Bowl Halftime show with Shakira on Wednesday in an Instagram post.

“A lot has happened since then…the world has changed…that’s why I’m especially thankful to my#JLovers for being so incredible and being by my side through it all,” she wrote. 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Coldplay‘s latest album, Music of the Spheres, features a collaboration with Selena Gomez called “Let Somebody Go,” and now it’s being released as a single.

The ballad — and possibly a music video — are coming on Monday, according to Coldplay’s socials. The announcement came with a pic of Selena and Coldplay’s Chris Martin embracing on the set of a video directed by Dave Meyers.  According to the photo, it appears as though the video was filmed last October.

Coldplay recently performed the song without Selena on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Coldplay’s collaboration with BTS on another Music of the Spheres single, “My Universe,” gave the British band its second U.S. number-one hit — more than 13 years after its first, “Viva La Vida,” in 2008.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill appeared on back-to-back nights of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week, each offering separate perspectives on their 1883 roles and more.

During Faith’s stop on the show, she looked back on her “terrifying” experience singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl, saying that it was “the most extraordinary amount of pressure ever.”

By the time she sang at the Super Bowl, she knew first-hand the perils of what could go wrong: Early on in her career, she sang the national anthem at a Dallas playoff game, and completely blanked on the lyrics.

“I’m walking out to the center of the field, with this…very generous woman that was walking me out, and I say to her, ‘Would you happen to know just the first word of the national anthem?’” Faith remembers.

“And she said, ‘Seriously?’ And I said, ‘I’m serious. I’m very serious,’” she continues. “She said, ‘Honey, I don’t know.’”

Fortunately, once the spotlight hit and it was Faith’s time to sing, the words came to her. But she had a back-up plan — if she couldn’t remember the words, she was going to pivot and sing “Amazing Grace.”

“I thought I would sing ‘Amazing Grace’ and be forgiven!” she adds.

This year’s Super Bowl is coming up, and another rising country superstar will sing the national anthem in 2022: Mickey Guyton was just announced as the performer, much to Faith’s excitement.

“I am such a huge fan and supporter. She is going to slay it,” Faith adds.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Oliver Tree has released a new song called “Freaks & Geeks,” a track off his upcoming album, Cowboy Tears.

The tune continues the “Life Goes On” artist’s folksier sound, first heard on the Cowboy Tears lead single, “Cowboys Don’t Cry.”

“Freaks & Geeks” is available now for digital download. It’s accompanying video, which finds Tree adding a bit of a Hot Topic goth-twist to his cowboy getup, is streaming now on YouTube.

Cowboy Tears will be released February 18. It’s the sophomore follow-up to Tree’s 2020 debut, Ugly Is Beautiful.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.) 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.