Music

Billy Joel‘s 1976 song “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” was directly inspired by The Ronettes‘ “Be My Baby,” so it’s no wonder he’s paid tribute to the group’s iconic frontwoman Ronnie Spector, who died yesterday at the age of 78 after a brief battle with cancer.

“The great Ronnie Spector has died,” Billy wrote on his website. “So many faces in and out of my life…We mourn her passing.”

“So many faces in and out of my life” is a lyric from “Say Goodbye to Hollywood,” but in addition to being fitting words, there’s another reason why Billy quoted it: In 1977, Ronnie, backed by Bruce Springsteen‘s E Street Band, recorded “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” herself.

Spector’s passing was also mourned by rock legends like Rolling Stone Keith Richards and The Beach Boys‘ Brian Wilson, as well as the E Street Band’s Little Steven Van Zandt and a number of famous female artists, including:

Cyndi Lauper, who tweeted a photo of herself with Spector and a broken heart emoji

Joan Jett: “Our dear friend Ronnie Spector, has passed. She was the sweetest person you could ever know. And her mark on rock and roll is indelible.”

The Bangles‘ Susanna Hoffs: “Peace and Love, Ronnie Spector.”

Darlene Love: “I’m in total shock! Did not see this one coming. Please give me time to process my thoughts to give Ronnie the proper tribute she deserves. She and I shared so much together.”

Go-Go’s bassist Kathy Valentine: “this totally blows. f*** cancer. RIP the legend Ronnie Spector. Thank you for the music, for being so freaking cool.”

Carole King: “Rest In Peace #RonnieSpector”

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Thomas Rhett is fleshing out more details on Where We Started, his next album and the project that’s tied to his current single, “Slow Down Summer.”

After previously saying only that it’ll be out in spring 2022, Thomas now has an exact release date for fans: Where We Started will arrive April 1.

He also shared the cover art on social media, revealing a close-up shot of his face in sepia tones. The album’s title is written on the top right corner in bold, orange print.

Eager fans can look out for something special in mere hours, since Thomas also said he’s planning to drop not one but two songs off Where We Started on Friday at midnight. It’s still not clear what those songs might be, although TR has been sharing plenty of unreleased music on his socials over the past several months. It’s certainly possible that fans have already heard acoustic snippets of some of the songs on Where We Started.

The upcoming project is sandwiched between Country Again Side A and Side B. Thomas dropped Side A last year, and he’s planning to put out Side B in the fall.

When he first announced that Where We Started was coming out in addition to Side B, the singer told fans his wealth of new music was due to writing “so many songs” during the COVID-19 pandemic and first year back on the road.

“What we have decided to do is put out two albums next year,” he said at the time.

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Tai Verdes has released a new single called “LAst dAy oN EaRTH,” in which he imagines what he’d do if he only had 24 hours to live.

“I made this song for the purpose of reflection. I want everyone to listen to this song, you know…really listen to it,” he explains. “To stop, breathe in the air, feel, think about where they are, and realize that this isn’t gonna last forever, and by ‘this’ I mean life.”

“Sometimes, life’s journey can feel long, sometimes it feels short, but we all know it’s going to end,” he adds. “It’s kind of like jumping out of a plane. We’re all in the freefall, and sometimes we just get so caught we don’t realize it.”

Tai also says it’s “time for everyone to see the world in HD,” and on Instagram, he writes that the song is the “first episode of HDTV.”  Since Tai’s debut album was called TV, and his upcoming tour is called the HDTV Tour, it’s possibly that HDTV is also the title of his next project.

The tour kicks off April 19 in Santa Ana, CA and is right now scheduled to wrap up in L.A. on May 22. He’s also planning to perform at a number of festivals, including Bonnaroo, Bottlerock, Lollapalooza Argentina and the U.K.’s Reading [PR: Redding] and Leeds festivals.

And if all this Tai Verdes news is making you hungry, you can order a custom Tai Verdes Bowl at Chipotle, which features the chain’s new plant-based chorizo.

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Ahead of the final installment of the Hotel Transylvania franchise hitting the streaming world on Friday, star Selena Gomez lets fans in on what kind of monsters are cool in her book.

Speaking with Pop Sugar alongside co-star Andy Samberg, the “Lose You to Love Me” singer was grilled on the type of monsters she would rather become.  

When faced with the choice of turning a loved one either into a vampire, like her character Mavis, or a mindless zombie, Selena selected the former option.  “I would rather someone turn into a vampire — even if they were threatening to eat me because I don’t care,” the Grammy nominee deadpanned. 

Selena would also rather be covered in hair than fish scales, noting “it would be fun to braid” her new, luscious locks.  When faced with picking centaurs or mermaids as the better half-human monster, the 29-year-old selected the sea creatures because, “I love the ocean.”

Most hilariously, when posed with the question if she’d “rather turn into a skeleton that can play xylophone on its bones or just be really good at drums,” Selena wanted to become the latter because, “I think that’d be cool.”

And, finally, when forced to choose what eight-legged monster she’d rather be turned into, the Rare Beauty mogul said she’d want to become a giant spider.  “I would like to be a spider,” she mused, but admitted that choosing between that and a giant kraken was “hard.”

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is available to stream on Amazon Prime starting Friday, January 14.

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The Chainsmokers are back — or, at least that’s what their label wants you to believe.

The EDM duo activated their TikTok last week to tease their new music, but fans soon noticed that the Alex Pall and Drew Taggart appearing in the videos were not actually them.  That realization, paired with the group’s nearly three-year hiatus from the music world, caused Chainsmokers-related conspiracy theories to spread on the social media app.  Some fans even wondered if we were witnessing 2022’s version of the 1969 urban legend about Paul McCartney — where some believed the Beatles legend secretly died and was replaced by a trained lookalike.

The Chainsmokers added even more fuel to the fire on Thursday in a brand new video that confirmed Alex and Drew are MIA.  The post, titled “SORRY, THE CHAINSMOKERS ARE BACK,” featured their doppelgängers taking over their lives — from hanging out with their friends, controlling their social media, burning their mountains of cash and, most importantly, making music.

The promo also features people commenting on The Chainsmokers’ new appearance, with one higher up remarking, “We had to replace the original guys because they took two f****** years to make an album.  But nobody knows what they really look like, so, it doesn’t matter.”

The video offers a twist at the end, with the lookalikes realizing being a Chainsmoker is a heavy burden to bear and quit, causing the label to come crawling back to the real Alex and Drew.

The video ends with the real duo celebrating their return and teasing their brand new single, “High,” which is available to pre-save now.  It will be the first single from their upcoming album, which is currently dubbed TCS4.

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Spoon has announced a U.S. headlining tour.

The outing begins with a February 8 show in Santa Ana, California, and includes dates sprinkled throughout April, May and June. Tickets go on sale next Friday, January 21.

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit SpoontheBand.com.

Spoon will be touring in support of their forthcoming album Lucifer on the Sofa, which drops February 11. The record includes the lead single “The Hardest Cut.”

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Katy Perry didn’t hold back honoring fiancé Orlando Bloom on his birthday when penning a heartfelt message on Thursday.

Taking to Instagram to share a collection of photos and videos that highlighted some of her favorite memories, she declared, “Happiest 45th to the kindest, deepest, most soulful, sexy & strong man I know.”

Among the carousel of memories Katy included are various photos taken during their vacations, a clip of Orlando riding his bicycle around their kitchen as her pup chases him, as well as an adorable video of the Lord of the Rings actor dutifully feeding her a sandwich while she nurses their one-year-old daughter, Daisy Dove.

“Thank you for being a constant compass, an unwavering anchor and bringing joi de vivre into every room you walk in.  You are the love and light of my life,” the “Smile” singer continued. “I thank my lucky stars for you and our darling dd.”

Orlando and Katy got engaged on Valentine’s Day in 2019 but have yet to tie the knot after the pandemic forced them to postpone their wedding plans.  The private couple have yet to announce a new date.

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Maren Morris sent a big announcement fans’ way on Thursday morning: Her third album, called Humble Quest, is due out March 25.

The singer shared the news on social media, along with a personal letter that reflected on how the COVID-19 pandemic — and becoming a mom to her son, Hayes — shaped her new project.

“For the first time in many years, I was not in control,” Maren writes. “I wasn’t in control of the fate of my career, or of taking care of all my people without the promise of touring, or even of my body ‘snapping back’ after giving birth to my first child. Each day, my control descended into quiet, unmeasured chaos inside the same four walls.”

She began to think about the meaning of the word “humble,” the singer continues, and she started wondering whether or not that word applied to her. As it turned out, there were many things that “humbled” her in recent years: The pandemic, the death of her friend and producer busbee, her evolving relationship with her husband Ryan Hurd and her transition into parenthood.

“Am I humble enough now? Maybe. Or maybe I still haven’t found it yet,” Maren concludes. “…But here’s to taking the quest to find out…”

In addition to announcing the project and some of the themes behind it, Maren shared the full track list of the 11-song collection. It includes the title track of Humble Quest, plus lead single “Circles Around This Town,” which Maren dropped earlier this month.

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Korn has premiered a new song called “Forgotten.”

The track, which is available now for digital download, is the second cut to be released from Korn’s upcoming album Requiem, following lead single “Start the Healing.”

Requiem, Korn’s 14th studio album, will be released February 4. It’s the follow-up to 2019’s The Nothing.

Korn will launch a headlining tour in support of Requiem March 4 in Springfield, Missouri. Before that, they’ll play a batch of dates with System of a Down beginning January 31 in Phoenix.

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