Music

Elton John is thrilled that “Cold Heart,” his collaboration with Dua Lipa and the electronic dance duo PNAU, is doing so well on the charts, but he says landing the “Levitating” singer for the record wasn’t a forgone conclusion, even though they’d collaborated in the past.

“The Dua record happened because PNAU gave me the track, which I loved, but I didn’t want to sing the ‘Rocket Man’ [part] there, because I’d sung it so many times,” Elton tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “Cold Heart” is based around samples of four Elton songs: “Rocket Man,” “Sacrifice,” “Kiss the Bride” and “Where’s the Shoorah?”

“I thought it would be great if someone else sang that,” he notes. “And I’ve gotten to know Dua because she did our Oscar party this year and we became friends. She was in L.A. in May, and [my husband David and I] took her to dinner…and David said to her, ‘Listen, think about it. I’ll send you the track. You got to play it loud by the pool.'”

Elton continues, “She phoned us up [and said,] ‘I’m in.’ And that was the icing on the cake. She is probably…one of the most successful artists in the world at the moment…And it just was a stroke of luck.”

While Elton has had dozens of hits in his 50-year career, he tells Zane that “Cold Heart” is special because, as he puts it, “I haven’t had a genuine hit for a long, long time because I haven’t made genuine hit records. I haven’t set out to make them.”

“Cold Heart” is Elton’s his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 since 2000, his first top 10 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart since 2005 and his first song to hit Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart since 1998.

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The U.S. normally ignores the Eurovision Song Contest, but two recent winners are actually on the charts: 2019’s Duncan Laurence with “Arcade,” and this year’s Måneskin, with “Beggin.'”  Duncan met Måneskin at the Eurovision semi-finals, where he says he correctly predicted their win.

“I told them they were going to win, and they did,” says Duncan. “I saw them perform, and I was like, ‘You guys are going to win.'”

“I really love them,” he says of the Italian rockers, whose name means “Moonlight” in Danish. “They stand for so many things I stand for. I think they’re this new wave of power that Eurovision, but also the world, needs.”

As a past winner, Duncan says Måneskin were eager to get pointers from him.

“It was funny because I walked in and they were humming my song, ‘Arcade,'” he laughs.

“And then they actually asked, ‘Are there any tip[s]?’ And I was, like, ‘No, because I saw you on stage and you’re so great,'” says Duncan. “‘You’re so different from me. I have no idea what I could possibly say that would benefit you. So, no, just do your own thing.’ And I think that’s the most important tip you can give anyone, actually.

So, does Duncan feel he’s leading a trend of future Eurovision winners conquering the U.S. charts?

“I hope so!” says the Dutch singer. “I mean, that was the dream: for me to go to Eurovision and…show the world that [it’s]…a platform where starting artists or, in the case with Måneskin, who were very famous already in Europe and Italy, to become bigger and show the world, ‘This is what we’re made of, and this is who we are, and this is what we want to do.’ So I’m very proud.”

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Notify your mama, papa and daughter: Blood Sugar Sex Magik is turning 30 years old.

Red Hot Chili Peppers released their breakout album on September 24, 1991. Spawning the hit singles in “Under the Bridge,” “Give It Away” and “Suck My Kiss,” Blood Sugar became one of the definitive albums of the ’90s alternative rock scene on its way to being certified seven-times Platinum by the RIAA.

Notably, Blood Sugar marked the second Chili Peppers album to feature guitarist John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith, who’d made their debut on 1989’s Mother’s Milk. Along with frontman Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea, they made up the band’s “classic” lineup.

“It changed a lot for [us],” Smith tells ABC Audio of Blood Sugar. “John and I had been in the band and we’d toured a bunch on Mother’s Milk and we had been in the group for awhile. We wrote all those songs, Anthony started to sing more, John was more involved in the songwriting.”

“To me, it was the first time the band actually sounded like what I thought we sounded like,” he adds.

Smith recalls feeling more focused during the Blood Sugar sessions, since the Peps recorded it themselves in a house, as opposed to a traditional recording studio.

“There were no other distractions,” he explains. “There were no other people walking around, studio secretaries or whatever. It was very insular, and we just dug right in and took advantage of that.”

Blood Sugar Sex Magik also marked RHCP’s first album with Rick Rubin in place of Mother’s Milk producer Michael Beinhorn, who often clashed with the band. Rubin then produced every Peppers album up until their most recent effort, 2016’s The Getaway.

“That was the beginning, obviously, of a long relationship with [Rubin],” Smith says.

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Prince was honored this week on the 14th anniversary of a record-setting residency in England.

The Purple Rain star performed a record 21 shows in September 2007 at the famed O2 venue in London. To commemorate his historic accomplishment, a special custom artwork featuring the trademark symbol he used as his name in 2016 has been unveiled.

“The Prince shows at The O2 in 2007 were legendary and undoubtedly helped to cement The O2 as one of the most iconic venues in the world,” Steve Sayer, vice president and general manager of the venue, said in a statement. “Fans and employees still talk fondly about those amazing nights.”

He continued, “On the anniversary of the final show that Prince played at The O2, we are excited to present this beautiful key to The Prince Estate and are proud to unveil one backstage at the venue as part of the ’21 Club’ display.”

A second version of the artwork will be proudly displayed Prince’s Paisley Park complex in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

The “21 Club” celebrates stars who, like Prince, performed 21 shows or more in a residency at The O2.

Only seven other artists or performers have been inducted into the 21 Club: Drake; another Canadian artist, Michael Bublé; and English performers Take That, One Direction, Young Voices, Micky Flanagan and Michael McIntyre.

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Saweetie has been on a roll this past month with several endorsements, and now the “Icy Girl” is starring in a sexy new show on Netflix.

The “Icy Girl” will host Sex: Unzipped, a new comedy special focused on sex positivity, premiering October 26.

Saweetie will be joined by sex experts, and a crew of puppets who will humorously teach the A-B-Cs of S-E-X in what Netflix describes as their “funniest, filthiest, and furriest new comedy special.”

Saweetie’s got a lot of good things happening for her right now.  Earlier this month, the MTV VMA winner was named the new MAC Cosmetics Global Ambassador during Fashion Week in New York City. She also gained a reputation as a food influencer on social media, and last week, she partnered with Hidden Valley Ranch and Crocs to create what they call the “ranchiest collab ever.” She designed an off-white clog adorned with miniature, non-edible, fries, chicken nuggets, veggies and more.

Then in August, Saweetie launched the McDonald’s “Saweetie Meal,” consisting of a Big Mac, 4-piece Chicken McNuggets, fries, a medium Sprite, BBQ Sauce, and “Saweetie’ N Sour” sauce.

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J. Cole shows his admiration of Drake, and his love of basketball, on his new track.

The Dreamville Records CEO samples Drizzy’s “Pipe Down” from the Certified Lover Boy album, and gives praise to the Champagne Papi, on his new single, “Heaven’s EP.”

Both rappers take pride in their hoop game, and Cole has taken his skills to a higher level, making his pro debut earlier this year playing for the Rwandan Patriots in the Basketball Africa League.

On “Heaven’s EP,” he rhymes, “Like the second time I got cut from the junior varsity/Fightin’ back tears, I promised to switch gears/And said to myself “Whatever you do, you won’t do it partially.”

Cole’s sixth and latest studio album, The Off-Season, hit number one on the Billboard 200 chart in May, like all his previous releases.

The “My Life” MC kicks off The Off-Season tour Friday in Miami. He’ll perform 19 shows, culminating with the Rolling Loud LA festival on December 11.

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Joe Jonas seems to be relocating to Miami.  E! Online has confirmed that the Jonas Brothers member and his wife, Sophie Turner, just purchased a waterfront mansion in Magic City for $11 million.

The home has more than 10,000 square feet, six bedrooms, eight-and-a-half baths, a chef’s kitchen, a wine cellar, an atrium, gardens, a pool and a koi pond.  You can see photos of it on E! Online right now.

The purchase comes three months after the couple, who are parents to one-year-old daughter Willa, put their 15,000-square-foot, nine-bedroom house in Encino, California, up for sale for close to $17 million.  They also own a New York City loft, which, according to The Hollywood Reporter, they tried to sell last year before they took it off the market.

Joe is currently on the road with brothers Nick and Kevin on the Remember This tour.

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The Weeknd is being accusing of stealing music for one of his biggest hits.

The three-time Grammy winner is being sued for allegedly plagiarizing another song for his 2018 triple-platinum single, “Call Out My Name.”

Songwriters Suniel Fox and Henry Strange filed a copyright lawsuit claiming that the hit lifted elements from their 2015 track “Vibeking,” according to Law 360. They also say they have records of correspondence with Eric White, the Weeknd’s DJ and playback engineer, who told them that the singer described their track as “fire.”

Fox and Strange are seeking all profits from “Call Out My Name” as well as legal fees, and they want to prevent The Weeknd from performing or distributing the song until a verdict is reached.

While the Canadian artist copes with the legal action, his career is being recognized by an academic institution, along with another star from Toronto.

The Weeknd and his longtime friend Drake are the subjects of a new course at Ryerson University in their hometown.

“Deconstructing Drake and The Weeknd” will begin in 2022, taught by Professor Dalton Higgins.

“Why Drake & The Weeknd one might ask?,” Higgins wrote on Instagram while mentioning courses taught in the United States examining the music of Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Prince and Outkast.

“It’s time to get our Canadian rap & R&B icons recognized & canonized academically or otherwise,” the professor maintained. “And it is CRITICAL for scholars, historians, to examine the Toronto music scene that birthed Drake/Weeknd and helped create the conditions for them to become mega successful.”

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