After years of being one of Nashville’s most in-demand country songwriters and a steadily rising artist in his own right, Ryan Hurd has announced the release of his debut album.
The project, called Pelago, will be out this fall and contain 15 songs, many of which were inspired by the singer’s childhood growing up near Lake Michigan. The track list includes previously-released love ballads like “To a T” and “Diamonds or Twine,” which Ryan has released over the years in part as dedications to his fellow country artist wife, Maren Morris.
Speaking of Maren, she’s featured on Pelago, too: The couple’s current country radio single duet, “Chasing After You,” is the third track on the project.
Additionally, Ryan is celebrating his album announcement with another new song, called “June, July, August.” Pelago will be out in full on October 15, but it’s available to pre-add and pre-save now.
Queen drummer Roger Taylor recently announced plans to release his first solo album in over eight years, Outsider, on October 1, and now the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has premiered the first single from the record, “We’re All Just Trying to Get By.”
The track features guest vocals by award-winning Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall, and is available now as a digital download and via streaming services.
You also can check out a music video for the tune at Taylor’s official YouTube channel. The clip features footage of Roger in a recording studio singing and playing piano and slide guitar — but not the drums — and Tunstall singing her parts separately.
Taylor wrote the dreamy pop tune during the COVID-19 lockdown while reflecting on what ties all living things together.
“I tried to highlight the great things in life,” he explains. “It’s the simplest statement, really. It’s what every life force on Earth is doing: just trying to get by and proliferate and exist. That’s all we are trying to do, from plants to animals to humans, trying to survive…Also, of course, we are in the middle of a bloody pandemic.”
Regarding Tunstall’s participation in the recording, Roger notes, “The track was all finished, and it was suggested it might be nice if we got KT involved…I love what she did, I think it really adds to the track…She’s a very talented singer and musician, and it’s lovely to have her on the track.”
Adds Tunstall, “What a pleasure to work with such a brilliant writer and musical hero.”
Outsider, which can be pre-ordered now, is available on CD, as a vinyl LP and on cassette.
“Tides”
“I Know, I Know, I Know”
“More Kicks”
“Absolutely Anything”
“Gangsters Are Running This World”
“We’re All Just Trying to Get By” — featuring KT Tunstall
“Gangsters Are Running This World” (Purple Version)
“Isolation”
“The Clapping Song”
“Outsider”
“Foreign Sand” (English Mix)
“Journey’s End”
Taylor Swift and Big Red Machine are reuniting under “Birch.”
The indie folk bank of Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon called on the superstar singer for the cinematic “Birch” that’s led by piano with hints of a flickering pop beat and soft saxophone. Taylor supplies haunting supporting harmonies on the chorus as she and Justin sing, “Well, if you cannot tell/I’ll tell you right away/If I’ll stay a spell/Or if I cannot stay/I am less at ease, not the best at these/See the forest trees, call what’s these what’s these.”
“Birch” is the latest in a line of successful collaborations between the two acts, as Taylor also appears on the previously released “Renegade.” Both songs are featured on Big Red Machine’s new album, How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?, which dropped on Friday.
Additionally, Aaron is co-producer behind Taylor’s Grammy-winning album Folklore and its follow-up, Evermore, while Justin — aka Bon Iver — co-wrote a duet with Taylor, “Exile,” and the title track of Evermore.
Kacey Musgraves continues to roll out new music this week, unveiling another new song off her recently-announced star-crossed album. That song is “justified,” the sixth track on the upcoming collection.
In its lyrics, Kacey comes to terms with the non-linear, zig-zag pattern of healing that follows a breakup. “If I cry just a little and then laugh in the middle / If I hate you and I love you and then I change my mind / If I need just a little more time to deal with the fact / That you should’ve treated me right / Then I’m more than just a little / Justified,” she reflects in the chorus.
Set to a mesmerizing, bubbly pop beat, the new song follows “star-crossed,” the atmospheric album-opener that Kacey dropped earlier this week.
Along with “justified,” Kacey also shared a music video, which follows her as she’s driving down a variety of different rural roads and city streets, tracing a complicated emotional range that bounces between tears and laughter.
The end of the music video teases another new song ahead: The car radio static fizzles into the sound of Kacey’s voice singing “Don’t go through your camera roll” against a somber musical backdrop. Her phone beside her starts buzzing and lighting up, showing her old photos from her camera roll that are titled things like “The day it fell apart” and “denial.”
Kacey’s new collection will arrive in full on September 10, along with an accompanying film. Two days later, she’ll give the world premiere performance of the title track of star-crossed at the 2021 MTV VMAs.
R. Kelly‘s sex trafficking trial continued Thursday with his ex-manager, Tom Arnold, taking the stand as the twelfth witness, testifying that the singer would punish employees by withholding pay, or fining them over small transgressions.
Arnold served as Kelly’s studio and tour manager from 1998 to 2011, reports Billboard, and told the court Kelly would punish staffers by hitting them in the wallet, and that there were “quite a few” occasions where Kelly docked his pay over “menial” mistakes.
One standout claim was that Kelly “fined” his employees “because someone ate his donuts.” Arnold also alleged he lost a week’s salary because he hired a male tour guide, instead of a woman, to take Kelly and his companions around Disney World. Because of that, Arnold said Kelly docked his pay $1,500 and canceled his Disney getaway.
Arnold said he quit after that, telling the court, “My wife wasn’t happy, I wasn’t happy, Rob wasn’t happy,” referring to Kelly by his birth name, Robert.
Arnold’s testimony was similar to claims made by former assistant Anthony Navarro, who also told the court about Kelly’s methods of punishing staffers.
During cross-examination, Arnold recalled the number of famous individuals visiting Kelly at his recording studio and confirmed people around him were “eager” to sue him. Because of that, Kelly required all guests to sign confidentiality agreements.
Kelly, 54, whose birth name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, faces state and federal charges for sex trafficking, racketeering, coercion and other charges related to the alleged abuse and exploitation of six women — three of whom were underage at the time — over the course of 25 years. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
The Rolling Stones are planning to go through with their 2021 U.S. trek following the death of drummer Charlie Watts on Tuesday, according to the tour’s promoter.
“The Rolling Stones’ tour dates are moving ahead as planned,” the promoter, Concerts West, says in a statement, RollingStone.com reports.
The U.S. leg of the band’s No Filter Tour, which was rescheduled from 2020 after being postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, is slated to get underway September 26 in St. Louis and is mapped out through a November 20 show in Austin, Texas. The trek features 12 dates, and tickets can be purchased at VividSeats.com.
Earlier this month, The Rolling Stones announced that Watts likely wouldn’t be joining them on the tour because he was recovering from an unspecified medical procedure. According to the announcement, Steve Jordan, who played drums on all of Keith Richards‘ solo albums, was picked by Charlie to “stand in” for him on the trek.
According to a statement from his spokesperson, Watts “passed away peacefully in a London hospital [on Tuesday] morning surrounded by his family.” He was 80.
Mariah Carey takes the holidays very seriously and, with 120 days to go before the big day, she has further solidified her reputation as the Queen of Christmas by rolling out with an official holiday figurine.
The “Fantasy” singer teamed with toymaker Funko to roll out an Amazon exclusive “Diamond Glitter” figurine, which marries the outfits she wore for her iconic “All I Want for Christmas Is You” music video and the sparkly getup she wore for her Apple TV+ Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special.
The fabulous figure shows Carey in a sparkling Santa jumpsuit, complete with silver snow boots, black Santa belt, and a shimmering fuzzy neckline and cuffs. Instead of a Santa hat, Carey’s hair is stylishly coiffed and dramatically swept over her left eye.
The four-inch statue is available for preorder now and ships December 10. It retails for $13.99.
This item may have been inspired by last year’s incident in which an unauthorized ornament that supposedly looked like the five-time Grammy winner was sold. After a fan showed off their new decoration on Twitter, Mariah hilariously replied, “This is… Not approved” and gently added, “But it’s the thought that counts” in parenthesis.
It turns out Shawn Mendes did not put a ring on it.
Fans started to speculate about a possible engagement between the power couple after girlfriend Camila Cabello posted a workout video on TikTok that showed a dazzling jewel on her ring finger. But Camila shut down the rumors on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
“He has not and I am not engaged,” she replied when the host inquired if Shawn had popped the question.
In fact, the superstar admits she’s clueless as to which hand the engagement ring goes on, revealing that while her parents are still married, both of them have lost their rings.
“I swear to God I don’t know what hand the engagement ring goes on, so sometimes I’ll just put it on my ring finger,” Camila explained, inviting Jimmy to “enlighten” her on this quandary. “My parents are married and they both lost their rings, so my mom couldn’t tell me either. She could save me from this, but she doesn’t, because she doesn’t know either.”
After Fallon shared that he also doesn’t wear his wedding ring, he joked that he has his wife Nancy‘s name tattooed on his back.
“I have a tattoo of Shawn on my lower back…It says señor and he has one on his lower back that says señorita,” Camila quipped.
Camila and Shawn celebrated their two-year anniversary in July with a trip to the Caribbean.
Marilyn Manson made one of his first public appearances Thursday night after being accused of abuse and sexual assault by multiple women.
As The Hollywood Reporter points out, the embattled shock rocker, born Brian Warner, showed up on stage during rapper Kanye West‘s Chicago listening event for his still-upcoming new album, Donda.
Along with Warner, West was joined by another controversial artist, rapper DaBaby, who’s been under fire for making homophobic remarks during a recent music festival set.
This past February, Warner’s ex-fiancée, Evan Rachel Wood, publicly accused him of having “horrifically abused [her] for years.” Multiple other women came forward with similar allegations, including actor Esmé Bianco, model Ashley Morgan Smithline and Warner’s former assistant, Ashley Walters, all of whom are suing the musician.
Warner has denied allegations as “horrible distortions of reality.” In July, TMZ reported that Warner’s legal team asked that Bianco’s lawsuit, which accuses him of sexual assault, be dismissed.
For anyone affected by abuse and needing support, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or if you’re unable to speak safely, you can log onto thehotline.org or text LOVEIS to 1-866-331-9474.
Like many recording acts, BTS had to scrap their global Map of the Soul Tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they got really creative during their time off by learning to sing completely in English, a move that paid off for the K-Pop superstars.
The band released three singles in English — “Dynamite,” “Butter” and “Permission to Dance” — all of which shot to #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 Airplay chart. However, not everyone in the band — which includes of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook — thought it was a good idea.
RM, the band’s de facto spokesperson, tells Billboard he wasn’t fond of the idea, but admits it was a crucial way to keep buzz alive during the pandemic and, quite frankly, “There was no alternative.”
Jin tells the music publication that singing in English felt totally unnatural at first, explaining that he learned to mimic the guide track’s pronunciations by writing them down in Korean characters.
“The English I learned in class was so different from the English in the song,” he adds. “I had to erase everything in my head first.”
