Music

The late Juice WRLD would have turned 23 Thursday, and his mother remembered him with an emotional letter written to him.

“When you were born 23 years ago, I never expected that you would not be here today celebrating your birthday,” Carmela Wallace began the public note. “Although it has been nearly two years since you’ve been gone, I still think about you every day and losing you has changed my life forever. I’m glad that we always made sure that we said goodbye when we left each other because we didn’t know when we would see each other again.”

“You touched the world through your music with honesty and transparency. You shared a message of healing and sincerely desired to make a difference in the lives of others,” she continued. “I still receive messages from fans saying how your music helped them with anxiety and depression. I promise to continue your message of healing and use Live Free 999 as an avenue to normalize the conversation around mental health and substance dependency and help those who suffer in silence.”

Wallace closed the letter, writing, “Happy 23rd Birthday Jarad, I love you dearly. I’m thankful for the time that we had and will forever cherish every moment that we shared. Love, Mom.”

Juice WRLD, born Jared Higgins, will be remembered with the HBO documentary Into the Abyss, debuting December 16. A fourth studio album, Fighting Demons, will be released December 10, featuring Benny Blanco, Hit-Boy, Trippie Redd, The Kid Laroi and more.

Higgins died December 8, 2019 from an accidental drug overdose. He was 21 years old.

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Peace may sell, but what about Megadeth-branded cryptocurrency?

Dave Mustaine‘s certainly hoping it will with the launch of $MEGA, described as the “official cryptocurrency of Megadeth and our community.”

“By buying, holding, and transacting with $MEGA, fans will gain access to exclusives and premium benefits,” reads a statement. Members of the Cyber Army fan club will also be able to “unlock additional exclusives, access, and offers.”

For more info, visit Megadeth.com.

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Beverly Hills police announced Thursday that they have arrested a suspect in Wednesday’s Beverly Hills, California home invasion murder of 81-year-old Jacqueline Avant, wife of famed music executive Clarence Avant.

Beverly Hills Police Chief Mark Stainbrook announced that a separate burglary was reported to Los Angeles police at 3:30 a.m. Thursday. When police arrived, they found a male in the backyard of the residence, suffering from a gunshot wound to his foot, which officials determined was the result of the suspect accidentally shooting himself. Authorities identified the suspect, identified as 29-year-old Aariel Maynor of Los Angeles, as the same person recorded by surveillance cameras leaving the Jacqueline Avant murder Wednesday.

Maynor was arrested by the LAPD and transported to a local hospital and has been in law enforcement custody since. Police believe that Maynor is the only suspect in Mrs. Avant’s murder.

Following news of the arrest, the Avant family released a statement, declaring: “Our deepest gratitude to The City of Beverly Hills, the BHPD and all law enforcement for their diligence on this matter. Now, let justice be served.”

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Adele is saying “Hello” to the power of makeup.

The singer joins YouTuber NikkieTutorials for the latest installment of the Dutch beauty guru’s “Power of Makeup” series, where Adele gets glam on one side of her face and leaves the other side makeup free.

As she gets her makeup done — complete with that famous winged liner — Adele answers a series of questions from Nikkie. Among other things, we learn she’s not a fan of The Real Housewives franchise, the one celeb she’s dying to meet is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and the decade in history she’d love to go back to is the ‘60s, so she can see The Beatles live.

Adele also teased the upcoming music video for “I Drink Wine,” saying, “The music video was shot a while ago but it’s just f****** hilarious. It’s the campiest thing you’ll ever see and I feel like everyone might be dressed up [for] Halloween [as] it next year.”

Nikkie has previously featured Kim Kardashian and Drew Barrymore in the “Power of Makeup” series, but has long said Adele was her dream collaborator.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman celebrated 15 years of marriage earlier this year, and even after so much time together, Nicole says that her country superstar husband is still her best friend.

“I mean, he’s my favorite person,” the actor says during a recent appearance on ABC’s Live with Kelly and Ryan. “And [we] just love hanging out.”

For the cross-continental couple, “hanging out” often entails lengthy international flights. But that’s okay by Keith and Nicole: On multiple occasions, he’s taken a break from work in LA or Nashville to hop on a flight to Australia, just to have dinner or spend a few hours with his wife.

Nicole goes on to recount a time during her pregnancy with their oldest daughter, the now-13-year-old Sunday Rose.

“When I was pregnant with Sunday, he got on a plane to fly to Australia to see the first ultrasound, and was there for six hours. Saw the heartbeat, and then had to fly back to do a show,” she remembers.

Next year, Keith and Nicole will put their expert-level skills at making time for each other to good use. The country superstar’s booked for a lengthy world tour in support of his latest album, The Speed of Now Part 1.

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Demi Lovato has entered a new chapter in their sobriety journey.  On Thursday, the “Confident” singer revealed they have cut alcohol and marijuana completely out of their life and said “it’s the only way to be.”

Demi shared to their Instagram story, “I no longer support my ‘California sober’ ways.  Sober sober is the only way to be.”  Their definition of California sober was cutting everything out except marijuana and alcohol, which they would consume in moderation.

Demi detailed why they initially chose to go California sober in their YouTube docu-series Dancing with the Devil.  Following the singer’s near-fatal overdose in 2018, Demi felt quitting everything cold turkey was not the best solution and worked with a recovery manager to determine the best plan for them. 

The Grammy nominee stressed at the time that recovery isn’t a “one-size-fits-all solution” and also going “California sober” isn’t for everyone.  But, of Thursday, it appears that no longer is for Demi, either.

Demi’s decision to go completely sober comes shortly after the singer honored their late friend, Thomas Trussell III, on his birthday.  Thomas died of drug overdose in 2019.  Demi showed off their tattoo of the letter T and wrote, “Happy bday @sirtruss. You’re unforgettable.  We miss and love you.”

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Old Dominion hit a high note as a group with the release of their 2021 album, Time, Tequila & Therapy. But before they made that project, they went through a difficult period, the band mates admit in a new interview with Rolling Stone.

Part of their challenges came from the COVID-19 pandemic: They weren’t together as much, and it became more difficult to have conversations face to face. “It took away the communication style that we’re used to. You can’t sit and have coffee and say, ‘What do you think?’” explains the band’s Geoff Sprung.

“There were two-day-long text threads. It was like, ‘Is this fun anymore?’ And it wasn’t,” Matthew Ramsey admits.

Adds Trevor Rosen, “It was all the work of being in a band without any of the joy of being in a band.”

Fortunately, with the help of a little Time, Tequila & Therapy — literally — they started to get their groove back. Things improved when the band mates convened in Asheville, North Carolina last September to write and record their new album.

The “Therapy” part of that title is especially important, as several of the band mates are in regular therapy. For Matthew, the experience has helped him communicate effectively with the other guys of Old Dominion.

“This is not a normal life, and the things that come with it are sometimes difficult to wrap your head around,” reflects Geoff. “A lot of it is, ‘How do I adjust? How do you make the transition from being out here where it’s kind of one life and then you go home to another life?’”

Today, the band mates say they’re closer than ever. The lead single of Time, Tequila & Therapy — “I Was on a Boat That Day” — represents the band’s more carefree side.

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R. Kelly is facing even more legal problems.

After the Chicago singer was convicted on nine criminal counts by a federal jury in New York City in September, he and his manager now are being sued for allegedly threatening his accusers.

Lizette Martinez, Lisa Van Allen and Faith Rogers, who claim they were sexually abused by the 54-year-old convict, filed the lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court this week, alleging that “Kelly and his inner circle…began an orchestrated effort to silence, harass, bribe and intimidate those brave young women and their friends and family,” as reported by Page Six.

They claim that Kelly’s manager, Donnell Russell, tried to prevent the 2018 premiere of the docuseries Surviving R. Kelly at a New York City theater by anonymously calling in a shooting threat at the venue.

Russell was arrested last year for allegedly making the anonymous threat to the Neuehouse theater on December 4, 2018, which caused an evacuation. The case is pending trial.

Russell and two other men, Richard Arline and Michael Williams, were also accused of trying to intimidate and bribe Kelly’s victims. Both Arline and Williams pleaded guilty in the case.

“This lawsuit in no way connects Mr. Kelly to the alleged intentional acts of Donnell Russell,” Kelly’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, told Page Six.

As previously reported, R. Kelly is set to go in trial again on August 1, 2022, this time in his native Chicago, in a federal case that includes charges of child pornography, obstruction of justice and sexual abuse.

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December just started, but Billboard has already crunched the numbers and released its 2021 year-end charts, based on airplay, sales and streaming data and other metrics.  The big winners overall? Dua Lipa, The Weeknd and Olivia Rodrigo.

Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” was the year’s number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by two songs by The Weeknd: “Save Your Tears” and “Blinding Lights.”

Regarding “Levitating’s” success, Dua tells Billboard,”‘Levitating’ doing its thing on the Billboard chart is absolutely surreal. That song has been my baby for so long, and to have it out in the world, and for people’s response to be the way that it is, it’s just absolutely mind-blowing to me. I’m really, really, really grateful for it all.”

To give you an idea of how successful the song has been, “Levitating” has appeared in the Hot 100’s top 40 every week of the past chart year, and for 41 of those weeks, it was in the top 10. While it never reached number one, it did peak at number two.

Olivia, meanwhile, is Billboard‘s Top New Artist of 2021 — beating out The Kid LAROI — as well as its Top Streaming Songs Artist of 2021.  She’s also the overall Top Female Artist of 2021, beating out her idol, Taylor Swift, who’s number two.  Her debut album, SOUR, is the number-two album of the year, behind country star Morgan Wallen‘s Dangerous: The Double Album.

The Top Artist of 2021 is Drake, followed by Olivia, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, Ariana Grande, Doja Cat and Justin Bieber.

The Top Duo/Group of 2021 is, of course, BTS, followed by Glass Animals and Dan + Shay.

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