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Dua Lipa teams with Truly Hard Seltzer to curate a virtual concert series

August 12, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Dua Lipa with Truly Strawberry Lemonade Hard Seltzer/Courtesy Truly Hard Seltzer

Dua Lipa sure knows how to keep busy. A day after announcing a joint single with Elton John, she’s now announcing a virtual concert series.

Dua has teamed with Truly Hard Seltzer for the series, called Truly Inspired. She personally selected the three acts who’ll perform on the series: Irish singer/songwriter Dermot Kennedy, U.S. hip-hop duo EARTHGANG, and Yaeji, a Korean-American singer, DJ and producer. Their shows will stream on the Live Nation Channel on Twitch.

“Each of these artists represents an individual perspective, a distinctive part of the world, an original corner of music, and they all inspire me uniquely,” Dua says in a statement.

She adds, “In addition to the performances, I will be sitting down with each artist, and together we’ll chat, have some fun and maybe even have a couple of drinks, as we explore how” — as Truly’s slogan says — “No One Is Just One Flavor.”

EARTHGANG’s appearance will stream on August 24 at 9:30pm E.T. Dermot Kennedy appears September 9 at 4 p.m. ET, and Yaeji will play September 21, at a time to be determined.

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Jury finalized for R. Kelly’s upcoming sex trafficking trial

August 12, 2021 by WDNY Radio

A jury has been set for the New York sex trafficking trial of R. Kelly.

The jury is comprised of seven men and five women, with six alternates. Judge Ann Donnelly swore in the jurors on Wednesday. The trial, set for August 18, will begin with opening statements.

Kelly, 34, 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 over the course of 25 years. He could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Kelly’s Brooklyn trial has been postponed at least five times because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the most recent delay was for Kelly to review his case materials with his new legal team. As previously reported, two of Kelly’s top lawyers withdrew from the case in June.

Kelly also faces a separate indictment in Chicago for allegations regarding child pornography. That trial is scheduled to begin in September.

Listen to Chris Stapleton’s country cover of “Nothing Else Matters” for ‘Metallica Blacklist’ album

August 12, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Country star Chris Stapleton has released his cover of “Nothing Else Matters” for the upcoming Metallica Blacklist tribute album.

At eight minutes and 14 seconds, Stapleton’s version is even longer than the original, and includes extra guitar solos and an overall vibe perfect for a twilight journey across the American West. You can download the cover now via digital outlets.

Stapleton’s “Nothing Else Matters” follows Phoebe Bridgers‘ rendition, which was released earlier this week, as well as the Miley Cyrus-led recording also featuring Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Elton John, guitarist/producer Andrew Watt, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

The Metallica Blacklist, which features 53 artists in total, is due out September 10. It’s being released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Metallica’s 1991 self-titled record, aka The Black Album, which, fittingly, is today.

Meanwhile, Metallica has released an alternative version of “Nothing Else Matters,” featuring only the orchestra, clean guitar and vocals mixes. It’s one of many bonus tracks included on the upcoming deluxe Black Album 30th anniversary reissue. That’ll be released September 10, as well.

More festivals announce COVID vaccination or negative test requirements

August 12, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Festivals including Life Is Beautiful, Louder than Life, Aftershock and Inkcarceration have announced a COVID-19 vaccination or negative test requirement.

Attendees who are not fully vaccinated — i.e. two weeks after the second of the two-dose Pfizer or Moderna shot, or two weeks after the one-shot Johnson & Johnson jab — must have obtained a negative test within 72 hours of entering the festival.

Danny Wimmer, whose production company Danny Wimmer Presents puts on Louder than Life, Aftershock and Inkcarceration, says, “Before you react negatively to our policy, please consider this: What I see is that the fans feel the world needs music festivals now more than ever.”

“We need to bring people back together to heal from the past 18 months,” Wimmer continues. “We need to get the people and artists whose livelihoods depend on live events back to work. I am confident that these requirements are what is needed to guarantee that we have fun and safe festivals this fall.”

Other festivals that have previously announced vaccine or negative test requirements include Bonnaroo and Summerfest.

Life Is Beautiful will be held September 17-19 in Las Vegas, and will be headlined by Green Day, Billie Eilish and Tame Impala.

Inkcarceration, Louder than Life and Aftershock will take place September 10-12, September 23-26 and October 7-10 in Mansfield, Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, and Sacramento, California, respectively. Metallica is headlining Louder than Life alongside Nine Inch Nails and Korn, and Aftershock alongside Limp Bizkit and Misfits. The Inkcarceration headliners include Slipknot, Rob Zombie and the reunited Mudvayne.

Halsey unveils ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ track list: “I can’t wait for you to hear everything”

August 12, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Halsey has unveiled the track list for her new album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, due out August 27.

Unlike her previous album, Manic, this album doesn’t have any features on it. “It feels very cool to have an album with no features again. It felt like this had to be entirely from my voice, similarly to Badlands,” she tweeted, referring to her 2015 debut. “I can’t wait for you to hear everything.”

When a fan asked if they’d always planned to make the record — produced by Nine Inch Nails‘ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross — a concept album, Halsey replied, “Weirdly enough it was always supposed to be about mortality and everlasting love and our place / permanence. It was just amplified by me being pregnant. Introduced new themes of control and body horror and autonomy and conceit.”

When another fan predicted that the track named “The Lighthouse” “was gonna hurt,” Halsey replied, “Oh no. You’re gonna LOVE IT.”

Another fan asked what the track called “honey,” is about, leading Halsey to reply, “A wild girl.”

Finally, referring to a tweet from December in which Halsey stated that she was “keeping five secrets,” a fan asked if all the secrets were “out on the open now.” She replied, “Nope,” with a smile.

Here’s the If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power track list:

“The Tradition”
“Bells in Santa Fe”
“Easier than Lying”
“Lilith”
“Girl is a Gun”
“You asked for this”
“Darling”
“1121”
“honey”
“Whispers”
“I am not a woman, I’m a god”
“The Lighthouse”
“Ya’aburnee”

Darius Rucker remembers laughing off the Hootie & the Blowfish backlash of the ’90s

August 12, 2021 by WDNY Radio

As the frontman of one of the ’90s biggest rock bands, Hootie & the Blowfish singer Darius Rucker has had to deal with his fair share of the backlash that comes along with being hugely popular.

“That’s a problem you have when things get so big, when you get something that’s selling a million records a week, people have to hate it. Or they’re not cool,” the singer explains in a new episode of People‘s PEOPLE in the ’90s podcast.

For example, Darius once saw a bumper sticker that read “F*** Hootie” while driving down the highway — but the singer says he took it in stride.

“I laughed my a** off,” he recalls. “I was driving my brand-new truck to my brand-new house and was playing in front of 20,000 people that weekend.”

Since those early days, Darius has racked up lots more experience in making career decisions based on what he wants to do, and ignoring naysayers in the process.

While his move from Hootie & the Blowfish frontman to solo country act surprised many, he got the last laugh. As a country artist, he’s scored nine chart-topping hits — and he still gets to record and tour with Hootie whenever he wants.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss reunite for second duets album, ‘Raise the Roof’; plot 2022 tour

August 12, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Led Zeppelin‘s Robert Plant has reteamed with acclaimed country-bluegrass artist Alison Krauss to record a new collaborative album titled Raise the Roof, a follow-up to their Grammy-winning 2007 duets collection, Raising Sand.

Like its predecessor, the 12-track Raise the Roof collection was produced by T Bone Burnett and features mostly of covers songs.

The album includes renditions of tunes by Merle Haggard, Allen Toussaint, The Everly Brothers, British folk legend Bert Jansch and many others. Raise the Roof also features a new original tune called “High and Lonesome” that Plant co-wrote with Burnett.

One of the tracks, a version of the Randy Weeks song “Can’t Let Go” — which Lucinda Williams previously covered for her 1998 album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road — has been released as an advance digital single.

Los Lobos guitarist David Hidalgo and Robert’s Band of Joy collaborator Buddy Miller contributed to the album, as did a few musicians who also appeared on Raising Sand — drummer Jay Bellerose, guitarist Marc Ribot and bassist Dennis Crouch.

Discussing working with Krauss again on the Raise the Roof material, Plant notes, “You hear something and you go ‘Man, listen to that song, we got to sing that song!’ It’s a vacation, really — the perfect place to go that you least expected to find.”

Adds Alison, “We wanted it to move. We brought other people in, other personalities within the band, and coming back together again in the studio brought a new intimacy to the harmonies.”

In support of Raise the Roof, Plant and Krauss are planning to tour together in 2022.

Raising Sand won five Grammys in 2009, including Album of the Year.

Raise the Roof will be released on November 19, and can be pre-ordered now.

Here’s the full track list:

“Quattro (World Drifts In)”
“The Price of Love”
“Go Your Way”
“Trouble with My Lover”
“Searching for My Love”
“Can’t Let Go”
“It Don’t Bother Me”
“You Led Me to the Wrong”
“Last Kind Words Blues”
“High and Lonesome”
“Going Where the Lonely Go”
“Somebody Was Watching Over Me”

Report: Kelly Clarkson petitions judge to get her maiden name back amid divorce battle

August 12, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Here’s the latest in Kelly Clarkson‘s divorce from Brandon Blackstock: The singer is reportedly asking to have her famous maiden name legally restored.

According to legal docs obtained by The Blast, Kelly is asking for a default judgment in her case, which will officially make her divorced. She is also asking for her name to be restored and legally changed it moving forward.

The Blast reports that Brandon “isn’t putting up a fight in this department, and most of the time the judge signs off on these sorts of requests right away.”

Kelly and Brandon tied the knot in 2013 and split in June 2020; they are now currently trying to hash out their finances, including spousal support and child support.

Lil Nas X says he turned down ‘Euphoria,’ wants to make the “gay version” of Beyoncé’s ‘Obsessed’

August 12, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Courtesy Variety; photography by Heather Hazzan

Lil Nas X makes such cinematic videos that it’s not surprising that the “Industry Baby” rapper has set his sights on the silver screen. Asked by Variety about his acting aspirations, he says, “Absolutely, that’s going to happen for sure,” but adds that he turned down a big acting opportunity not long ago.

Noting to Variety that, acting-wise, he’d “like to do some stuff like Euphoria,” Nas adds, “I was actually going to do Euphoria, but I didn’t want to take time from finishing my album. It was going to be great.”

He didn’t reveal which part he was offered on the hit HBO drama, which is currently filming its second season, but declares, “Season 3 it is.”

“I definitely want to get into acting, but I feel I have to give it my all, and I want to focus on music for right now,” he explains. “I want my first movie to be amazing.”

So if we can’t see him in an Emmy-winning HBO series, what kind of parts would Lil Nas X like to play in the future?

“Honestly, I want to dabble around in a lot of things like I do in music,” he tells Variety, and cited several movies of different genres he admires.

“A Star Is Born. Let’s also do a Grown Ups 2. Let’s do an Obsessed with Beyoncé. Maybe we claim the sequel. We do the gay version of Obsessed.”

2009’s Obsessed stars Beyoncé as a woman who learns her husband’s office temp, played by Ali Larter, is obsessed with him. As it turns out, Nas actually met Beyoncé at her and JAY-Z‘s Halloween party in 2019.

“She just said she’s super-proud of me and to keep going; it was a next-level experience,” he reveals.

Neal Schon says he didn’t think Journey’s new song sounded like the band; discusses upcoming album’s release

August 12, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Journey’s Jonathan Cain, Neal Schon & Arnel Pineda; Courtesy of Journey

In June, Journey released a new single called “The Way We Used to Be” that will part of the band’s forthcoming studio album, which will be the group’s first collection of new, original songs since 2011’s Eclipse.

Journey guitarist Neal Schon tells ABC Audio that “The Way We Used to Be” began as a musical idea he came up with using a keyboard loop, to which he then added guitar, bass and string sounds before sending it to the band’s longtime keyboardist, Jonathan Cain, for him to fill out with lyrics and melodies.

Schon admits that when he first sent the tune to Cain, he didn’t think it sounded like a Journey song.

“I thought it was more like…a Bad English song or something for John Waite or Rolling Stones with a little harder edge,” Neal explains. “And I’m glad that 90 percent of the people that have heard it love it. Some others are just going, ‘Wow, that doesn’t sound like Journey.’ And I go, ‘Well, it wasn’t meant to be’…but it ended up on our album.”

Speaking about the band’s studio effort, Schon says, “There’s so much great material on this album that we’ve…produced and I’ve been working on for well over a year now with everybody.”

Neal tells ABC Audio that it was “a blessing” for him to get to record a lot of his parts live in the studio with Journey’s new drummer, Narada Michael Walden, who also is producing the album, while the other band members generally laid down there parts remotely.

As for when the new album might be released, Schon reports, “It could come out at the end of this year, or, if it doesn’t, I believe that it will come out sometime after the first [of January].”

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