Music

Shinedown frontman Brent Smith and Jack White‘s Third Man Records are among those applauding Adele in her effort to remove the shuffle option as the default setting for playing albums on Spotify.

In a tweet over the weekend, the “Rolling in the Deep” superstar revealed that she’d requested the change alongside the release of her much-anticipated new album, 30.

“We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our track listing for no reason,” Adele wrote. “Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank you Spotify for listening.”

Smith very much agreed with that sentiment, writing in an Instagram post, “The fact that @adele was able to get @Spotify to remove the shuffle button on album pages is massive.”

“Simply put, albums do tell a story whether they are conceptual, or not,” Smith says. “They are a snapshot, ‘a window in time’ into the hearts, and minds of the artist.”

“Now some opinions of this may be, what’s the big deal? and why does it matter?” he continues. “It matters because it gives value back to the music, and the artist. Ultimately it comes down to respect. So with that being said, we applaud you @adele and @spotify.”

Meanwhile, the Third Man Records Twitter account retweeted Adele’s statement alongside a trio of clapping hands emojis.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by SHINEDOWN (@shinedown)

👏👏👏 https://t.co/KglKxnywf3

— Third Man Records (@thirdmanrecords) November 21, 2021

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Country stars are lining up to bring seasonal cheer to fans next week with the airing of the annual CMA Country Christmas special. Following the lineup announcement earlier in November, the CMA has now revealed which songs will be performed on the 2021 show.

Breland, Carrie Underwood and Brett Eldredge are all sticking with the classics, performing “The Christmas Song,” “Mary, Did You Know?” and “Merry Christmas, Baby,” respectively.

Show hosts Gabby Barrett and Carly Pearce will perform Christmas standards, too, with Gabby offering her version of “Silent Night” and Carly putting her spin on “O Holy Night.”

Gabby and Carly will also take the stage together. They’re planning a duet version of “Sleigh Ride” that features two student musicians: eight-year-old Carter Hammonds and 17-year-old Truman Eltringham, both of whom are from Nashville.

The CMA Country Christmas special will offer some original holiday music, too. The Pistol Annies are performing “Snow Globe,” off their newly-released Christmas record, Hell of a Holiday. Lady A will offer “Christmas Through Your Eyes,” a holiday song inspired by their kids, and Jimmie Allen taps Louis York and the Shindellas for a performance of “What Does Christmas Mean,” a song they put out together last year.

Finally, Lainey Wilson will keep it country with her spin on George Strait’s “Christmas Cookies.”

The 2021 CMA Country Christmas will air on Monday, November 29 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Taylor Swift is just full of surprises these days, and this one is sure to bring the holiday cheer.

The singer has released an “Old Timey Version” of her 2019 Christmas tune, “Christmas Tree Farm,” exclusively on Amazon Music. The reimagined track was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London and features a new arrangement complete with a 70-piece orchestra.

Taylor also released a video with behind-the-scenes footage of her recording the song, as well as home video clips of her as a kid. “Christmas Tree Farm” was inspired by her childhood growing up on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, Red (Taylor’s Version) hit number one on the Billboard 200 chart. It marks her 10th number one on the chart, making her the second woman with at least 10 number ones after Barbra Streisand, who has 11.

The album sold 605,000 equivalent album units — with 369,000 in physical sales. It’s the highest selling release from a female artist in 2021, as well as the biggest selling physical album of 2021.

Red (Taylor’s Version) also broke Spotify’s 24-hour streaming record, with 90.8 million streams on day one. The previous record holder was Taylor’s folklore.

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While you were crying to Adele’s new album, 30, this weekend, she was shedding some tears, too.

The singer got emotional during her U.K. special An Evening with Adele when she was surprised by the teacher who changed her life.

Actress Emma Thompson, who was in the audience, helped introduce the surprise by asking Adele if there was anyone from her past who particularly supported or inspired her. Adele began talking about her Chestnut Grove Academy English teacher, Ms. McDonald.

“She was so bloody cool, so engaging,” Adele said, adding, “She really made us care, and we knew that she cared about us.”

It was then revealed that Ms. McDonald was actually in the audience. Adele welcomed her to the stage, immediately welling up with tears.

“I’m so proud of you,” McDonald told her. “Thank you for remembering me.”

After briefly catching up and asking to exchange numbers, Adele had to step off stage to have her makeup touched up from crying.

Also over the weekend, Adele got Spotify to make a major change. The music streaming service has removed the shuffle button as the default option when playing albums.

“This was the only request I had in our ever changing industry!” Adele tweeted. “We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our track listing for no reason. Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank you Spotify for listening.”

This was the only request I had in our ever changing industry! We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our track listing for no reason. Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank you Spotify for listening 🍷♥️ https://t.co/XWlykhqxAy

— Adele (@Adele) November 21, 2021

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The 2021 American Music Awards, hosted by Cardi B, held an evening full of some of the biggest names in music at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles Sunday night. 

Silk Sonic — made up of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak — opened up the show draped in matching red velvet suits as they serenaded the crowd with their hit “Smoking Out the Window.”

The K-pop sensation BTS also took the stage with Coldplay and got the crowd rocking with their collaboration “My Universe.” Afterwards, the group — to no surprise — took home multiple AMAs including Artist of the Year, Best Pop Duo or Group, and Favorite Pop Song for “Butter,” which they performed to close out the show.

Olivia Rodrigo, who held the most nominations of the night, delivered a tender performance of her ballad “Traitor” barefoot and with her guitar in tow. She went home with the AMA for New Artist of the Year. When it came to Favorite Pop Album, though, Taylor Swift, who was not in attendance, snagged the honor and accepted via video message.

Italian band, Måneskin, made their debut performance with their trending hit “Beggin,” and left the crowd begging for more. Likewise, Givēon took the stage for the first time and sung his viral TikTok song “Heartbreak Anniversary.”

On the other hand, Jennifer Lopez isn’t new to the AMA stage but she did perform her new song, “On My Way,” from her upcoming movie Marry Me. 

As a special treat, the AMAs briefly took a trip back to ’80s, with the Battle of Boston — a back and forth between natives New Kids On The Block and New Edition. Both groups took turns performing some of their biggest records, before it was revealed that they’re going on tour separately.

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Kelsea Ballerini stepped far outside of her comfort zone in order to create her newest project, a book of poetry called Feel Your Way Through. The volume addresses the singer’s coming-of-age story and explores family dynamics, sexuality, body image concerns, relationships and more.

“Poetry, to me, can seem really kind of heady,” Kelsea explains. “It’s really just an autobiography that rhymes. So I’m nervous and I’m terrified, and it’s certainly the deepest I’ve gone and also the most artful I’ve gone.”

The book might never have been written without the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdowns, which took Kelsea — and the rest of the touring industry — off the road for over a year. During that time, she says, she wasn’t able to process her emotions through songwriting the same way she always had in the past.

“I couldn’t write music about it, because music made me sad,” she admits. “Because that’s such a place of connection and community, and it wasn’t in 2020.”

But the time off the road sparked another source of inspiration for Kelsea. While she was writing, she says, she began to slow down and reflect on a way she never could have during a normal year.

“We’ve all had this excess time to think and to process and to be — you know, I really like being busy,” she goes on to say. “I like running at a high speed all the time. And so I hadn’t really thought about my life since I was 19. I’ve just been sprinting. And I had a lot to process.”

Feel Your Way Through arrived last week.

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Move over, Peak TV. It’s time for Puscifer TV.

The latest project from the Maynard James Keenan-led band is an online library of past, present and future Puscifer video pieces, such as their Existential Reckoning and Money $hot streaming concerts. As Keenan tells ABC Audio, Puscifer TV feels like the realization of what he originally conceived the band to be.

“Those concert films are kind of where I had envisioned Puscifer kind of living,” Keenan shares. “Doing tours, but having some kind of audio/video element to it.”

Other pieces currently available on Puscifer TV include An Easter Story, a video Keenan released earlier this year, featuring narration about his existential feelings toward the spring holiday. Keenan says he’s begun work on another, similar-type clip.

“Somebody’s always asking me…[to compare] winemaking or martial arts or music. What’s the differences? What’s the similarities?” Keenan explains. “So I’m actually writing a piece on those intersections. Haven’t shot anything yet, but plan on it.”

Keenan adds that Puscifer has already shot two more concert films, and he’s hoping to include a physical element this time, as well.

“We’d like to just wait until the vinyl’s in our hands before we actually release that pay-per-view,” he says. “So, there will probably be two more coming in ’22.”

Overall, Keenan feels Puscifer TV will be of interest to anyone looking for a “good storyline” and “good music.”

“Especially as an artist, if you’re a person who plays music and plays live music, I think there’s definitely some nuggets you can steal and apply to your own project,” Keenan says. “It’s worth a look.”

He adds, “We’re not f***ing around. We don’t take ourselves seriously, but we take the art seriously.”

Puscifer TV is available now via Puscifer.com.

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Carrie Underwood and Gabby Barrett were the big country winners at the 2021 American Music Awards, collecting two awards each at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater on Sunday night.

Gabby was awarded favorite country album for her debut, Goldmine, while country fans voted her song “The Good Ones” favorite country song.  As for Carrie, she took home the award for favorite female country artist — her ninth overall — as well as favorite inspirational artist.   

Although the country category was not televised during the AMAs, Carrie still had her moment to shine when performing her new song “If I Didn’t Love You” with Jason Aldean, who went into the ceremony with a nod for favorite male country artist.

The honor went to Luke Bryan — marking the fifth time he’s won favorite male country artist.  Previously, he dominated the category with four consecutive wins between 2012 and 2015.

Dan + Shay repeated history when the audience again voted them favorite country duo/group — the third time in a row they’ve won the honor.

Other performances of the night included Kane Brown, Mickey Guyton and Walker Hayes.  Brown, who was last year’s winner for favorite male country artist, took the stage to perform his hit, “One Mississippi.” Meanwhile, Mickey belted out a powerful rendition of “All American” and was shouted out by host Cardi B for teaching her how to milk a cow.

Walker performed his viral single “Fancy Like,” which was nominated for favorite country song.

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The 2021 American Music Awards rocked Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater Sunday night, with Machine Gun Kelly taking home the honor of favorite rock artist.

“Hilarious,” MGK said while staring down at the mic that was definitely not adjusted to his height.  The nearly six-foot-four star then picked up the stand to continue his speech, revealing the award “wasn’t going to be televised, but my fans spoke loudly.  So, I want to give them their credit.”

During his speech, the “My Ex’s Best Friend” singer also shouted out “all the aspiring musicians, the one who desires to play an instrument, wants to rap, wants to sing — not just the rock artists, but all the artists who are rock stars.”

“I read a headline that said the age of the rockstar is dead,” he said in closing before holding up his award, “But looks pretty alive to me.”

AJR, All Time Low, Foo Fighters and Glass Animals were also nominated for the honor.

AJR and Glass Animals also represented in the favorite pop duo or group category, but lost to the K-pop group BTS.

Måneskin, who were up for favorite trending song, flew all the way from Italy to perform their hit “Beggin'” for the first time before an American audience.

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