Music

For the last seven years, Imagine Dragons‘ hit “Radioactive” has held the record for the most weeks spent on the Billboard Hot 100. While that record has now been broken by The Weeknd‘s “Blinding Lights,” it’d be hard to call “Radioactive” anything but a rousing success, especially given where it started.

As frontman Dan Reynolds tells Billboard, “Radioactive” wasn’t on anybody’s radar when ID was first getting started.

“Once we signed [to Interscope], it wasn’t like everybody at the label was like, ‘This is the song,'” Reynolds recalls. “In fact, it was the opposite. ‘It’s Time’ was the first single, and we [already] had ‘Radioactive’ at that point.”

“Nobody thought that that song would play on radio,” he continues. “In fact, I remember our radio department specifically being like, ‘This song won’t play on radio.’ But the song just started to go on its own, and then it just went to radio because it kind of had a life of its own, and it kinda dictated its own way.”

Surely that conversation will be a pivotal scene if anyone decides to make an Imagine Dragons biopic.

As for “Radioactive’s” now-beaten record, Reynolds feels good that it fell to The Weekend, whom he calls a “legend” and an “icon.”

“I think his music is the type of music that’s going to live on for a long time, and do good things,” Reynolds says. “So if there was ever someone to take the record, I think it’s good company.”

Meanwhile, Imagine Dragons is gearing up to release a new album called Mercury — Act 1 on September 3. It features the singles “Follow You,” “Cutthroat” and “Wrecked.”

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At first glance, Riley Green‘s latest hit, “If It Wasn’t for Trucks,” might seem like just another ode to country’s favorite vehicle for riding backroads, throwing tailgate parties, and hauling hay. 

But for the Alabama native, it hits much closer to home than that. 

“The whole song is really personal,” Riley reveals. “And talking about when my granddaddy died, and ‘where would I have first heard Merle [Haggard],’ the line about ‘where was I supposed to cry.'”

“You didn’t cry in front of anybody,” he explains. “You pulled off in your truck somewhere if you were gonna do it.”

“And I love the line, ‘how would anybody’s daddy get around,'” he goes on. “That thought to me is pretty cool to go, ‘Everybody’s dad drives a truck. What would they do if there weren’t trucks?’ They’d have to walk everywhere, because nobody’s dad drives a car.”

While Riley freely admits it’s almost impossible to come up with an entirely new idea, he maintains it’s the execution that can really make a song special.

“Everything’s probably been said. Anything you can ever say, any idea’s probably been written in one of the eight billion country songs that are out there,” Riley points out. “But finding a cool way to say it and finding a personal way to say it, I think is what makes a song stick out, in my mind.”

Right now, Riley’s busy with the Beers on Me Tour with Dierks Bentley and Parker McCollum.

“If It Wasn’t for Trucks” is the title track of Riley’s 2020 EP, and is also included on his new collection, Behind the Bar.

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This month, Metallica released a single as part of their Vinyl Club subscription service featuring recordings from their performance at the Chris Cornell I Am the Highway tribute concert in 2019. The release was noticed by the late Soundgarden frontman’s widow, Vicky Cornell, who shared her gratitude toward the metal legends.

“Thank you so much to Metallica for the love and appreciation that you have shown for Chris and for memorializing that love, admiration and support from your performances at the I Am the Highway tribute on this truly amazing and special vinyl,” Vicky wrote in an Instagram post, which is also credited to her children Toni and Christopher.

“Joining the tribute concert meant so much to me and my children and to so many fans around the world,” the post continues. “I know how proud Chris would be, not only because you were there as his friends, but also because he was such a huge Metallica fan.”

Vicky also thanked drummer Lars Ulrich in particular for his comments about her husband.

“Thank you so much and thank you @larsulrich for your very kind words about Chris,” she wrote. “It is true that ‘a man is not dead while his name is still spoken.’ Thank you for continuing to honor him.”

The Vinyl Club single features Metallica’s performances of the Soundgarden songs “All Your Lies” and “Head Injury.”

In related news, Metallica has released a new unboxing video for the upcoming Black Album 30th anniversary deluxe reissue, due out September 10. The clip features former bassist Jason Newsted opening and commenting on the package.

 

 

 

 

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Dean Guitars CEO Evan Rubinson has responded to the lawsuit filed by Rita Haney on behalf of late Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott‘s estate.

On Monday, Haney — Dime’s longtime partner and the trustee of his estate — sued Dean for fraud, breach of written agreement and false endorsement, among other counts, allegedly committed after their contract with the guitar brand had expired. She also accused Rubinson specifically of being “incredibly disrespectful and often times belligerent to the legacy” of Dimebag.

Dimebag had first signed a deal with Dean in 2004, and the partnership continued with his estate following his murder later that year. In filing the lawsuit, Haney also announced that the collaboration with Dean has now ended.

In an Instagram Story posted on Tuesday evening, Rubinson called Haney’s claims “baseless” and “without any merit.”

“We have always treated Dime and his brother Vinnie with the utmost respect and loyalty,” Rubinson writes. “We have enjoyed a long-standing, 17-year relationship with Dime and Vinnie, and continue that relationship with Vinnie’s estate on the drum side.”

The statement continues, “We are shocked and saddened to see the actions that Ms. Haney has taken after both the Abbott brothers have tragically passed away, and we wish her the best in her future endeavors. However, it is unfortunate that Ms. Haney has allowed her unrealistic demands and accusations to dictate the future of the Dimebag Darrell legacy in the absence of Dime’s immediate family.”

Rubinson notes, “Dean Guitars is proud to have played a role in ensuring Dime’s legacy not only survived but thrived over the bast 17 years.”

He adds, “Ms. Haney’s claims — across the board — are baseless, without any merit, and not grounded in reality. We will allow the full truth to come out as the legal process takes its course.”

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Add Ellie Goulding to the list of celebrities who are on Britney Spears‘ side.  After watching the Framing Britney Spears documentary, Ellie says, she couldn’t help thinking about the pressures she’s had to face in her own career.

“It really affected me,” she tells the Daily Mail‘s You magazine about the documentary. “Britney was so young, and she was thrown into this circus without any support.”

Ellie continues, “The same people who want your music and want more from you are also telling you that they want less: ‘I don’t want you to have mental health issues. I want you to be fine and perform and write perfect songs for me.'”

She recalls, “When I started out, there wasn’t much help and mental health wasn’t talked about,” while noting, “There’s more awareness now, but we’ve let a lot of people down, people who have brought us so much joy through their music.”

Ellie says, like Britney, she was sometimes forced to do things she wasn’t comfortable with. “I thought I had to look a certain way and dress a certain way,” she explains. “I thought I had to squish myself into some kind of box as a pop singer.”

She reveals, “I was repeatedly encouraged to wear the girliest, sexiest, most feminine option at any photo shoot. I was made to feel as though I wasn’t enough by myself. I began to think it was way more interesting for me to have a storyline with a man at the forefront, which triggered a wild insecurity of who I actually was without them.”

She notes, “If I just had a bit of what I have now, which is trusting and respecting myself, it would have been a different story.”

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50 Cent is bringing in the “big dogs” for his upcoming Starz series Black Mafia Family.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, 50 revealed that he had tapped fellow emcee Eminem to play White Boy Rick, the notorious Detroit teenager turned undercover FBI informant, on his new series. “I couldn’t do a show based in Detroit without incorporating the legend @eminem,” 50 wrote in part. As previously reported, BMF follows the real-life story of brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, who “rose from the decaying streets of southwest Detroit in the late 1980s and gave birth to one of the most influential crime families in the country.” The series premieres Sunday, September 26, at 9 p.m. ET. and stars Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr., Russell Hornsby, Snoop Dogg, La La Anthony and Serayah, among others.

In other news, Amazon Prime Video has announced this year’s installment of the Welcome to the Blumhouse movie series. Described as “unsettling thrillers” that center on diverse storytelling, the first set of double features includes Bingo Hell and Black as Night, which will both premiere on October 1. They will be followed by Madres and The Manor, which will debut on October 8.

Finally, Netflix has released the official trailer to the fourth and final season of Dear White People. As previously reported, the upcoming season will be a “’90s-inspired musical event” that will pick up in the “not-so-distant, post-pandemic future” where the cast will be looking back at “the most formative (and theatrical) year of their lives.” Created by Justin Simien, Dear White People stars Logan Browning, Brandon P. Bell, Antoinette Robertson, DeRon Horton, John Patrick Amedori, Ashley Blaine Featherson and Marque Richardson. The final season of Dear White People premieres on Wednesday, September 22.

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New details of late R&B star Aaliyah‘s life are being revealed nearly 20 years after her death.

Author Kathy Iandoli‘s new biography, Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah, out Tuesday, includes never-before-told stories about the hitmaker’s music, her relationships and the evolution of her career.

Iandoli’s book also explores Aaliyah’s long-lasting influence since her tragic death in a plane crash on August 25, 2001, at age 22.

During an interview with Good Morning America, Iandoli shared more about her reverence for the late music icon and what drew her to creating this biography.

“I wanted to create something that celebrated her because I was sick and tired of the other static that was coming in about her — the other things, the other news — and there’s only really one way to tell a story and it’s to provide this panoramic view of the artist,” she explained.

The author and music expert said Aaliyah’s death was overshadowed by the 9/11 attacks, so many fans “weren’t able to grieve.”

“What started to happen over the years was Aaliyah became an aesthetic — she became this like mythical creature, she became almost like a statue, a piece of iconography,” Iandoli said.

The book covers many points of Aaliyah’s career and her personal life, including her secret — and brief — marriage to disgraced rapper R. Kelly in 1994, when she was just 15 and Kelly was 27. The marriage was later annulled.

In the book, Iandoli also acknowledges the possibility that the late singer may have been drugged before boarding her final flight. Iandoli is clear in stating that this is just a possibility; she is not saying it happened or did not happen.

Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah is now available.

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Seether has premiered the video for “Wasteland,” a track off the band’s new album, Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum.

The clip mixes performance footage with a narrative surrounding two characters trying to escape from the pressures of social media. The characters are played by professional snake wrangler Danielle Wall and Tom Berninger, brother of The National frontman Matt Berninger.

“We were trying to figure out how to make some kind of statement about the evils of social media and it evolved from one idea to the video it is now,” says frontman Shaun Morgan.

“After spending such a long period of time without any kind of personal contact with the other band members, the live performance element was especially important to us,” he continues. “It was good for us mentally and emotionally, but it was also important to visually show that we’ve come out the other side after such a difficult time.”

You can watch the “Wasteland” video streaming now on YouTube.

Seether released Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum last August. It includes the singles “Dangerous” and “Bruised and Bloodied.”

Last week, Seether announced a new greatest hits compilation titled Vicennial — 2 Decades of Seether. It’ll be released October 15.

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