Music

The Pretty Reckless‘ latest number-one Billboard hit features some hard-rocking friends.

“Only Love Can Save Me Now,” the current single from Taylor Momsen and company, has hit the top of Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. The song features Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron, who now have their first number-one singles as “individually billed solo artists.”

Thayil and Cameron previously notched six number-one Mainstream Rock Airplay hits as members of Soundgarden. Fittingly, “Only Love Can Save Me Now” is The Pretty Reckless’ seventh leader on that particular chart, breaking a tie with one of Momsen’s musical heroes.

“Only Love Can Save Me Now” is featured on the new Pretty Reckless album Death by Rock and Roll, which dropped in February. Both of the record’s previous two singles, the title track and the Tom Morello-featuring “And So It Went,” also hit number one on Mainstream Rock Airplay.

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While everyone seems to agree that Billie Eilish‘s music is impeccable, her personal appearance is something that she’s regularly criticized for — especially since she dyed her hair platinum blonde and started dressing in more revealing clothing.

Billie gets why fans wish she was still wearing her signature oversized outfits, but she doesn’t like it. “People hold on to these memories and have an attachment. But it’s very dehumanizing,” she tells ELLE magazine for its new cover story.

“I lost 100,000 followers, just because of the boobs,” she laughs. “People are scared of big boobs.”

Her decision to switch her naturally brown-blonde hair color from acid green to platinum blonde brought another wave of criticism. “I’ve had different-colored hair and vibes for everything I’ve ever done. I wanted this album to have its own thing,” she tells ELLE. “I’m still the same person. I’m not just different Barbies with different heads.”

That’s why Billie tries to avoid the online hate. “All my friends know I don’t wanna see any of [the negative chatter],” she says. “When people send me something mean, it hurts my soul.”

“I really wish that there was a way to avoid [social media]…Literally delete my account but still have contact with the fans,” she muses. “I want to be able to have both, but you can’t.”

Well at least Billie has the support of one music legend who practically invented reinvention: Madonna. The Queen of Pop tells ELLE, “If Billie were a man, no one would be writing about this. A man can show up dressed in a suit and tie for the first three years of his career, and then the next month he could be dressed like Prince or Mick Jagger, shirt off, wearing eyeliner, and no one would say a word.” 

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Keith Urban can no longer say he doesn’t have time to learn a new skill. The New Zealand-born star spent most of 2020 at home, with lots of time on his hands. Early in the lockdown, Keith and his wife, actress Nicole Kidman, determined to try to each learn something new, although Keith’s didn’t go entirely according to plan.

“I was gonna learn cooking and I said, ‘I can’t cook!'” Keith recalls to People. “I think Nic was gonna learn a language and didn’t. Yeah, we had all sorts of plans that just … no.”

While Keith might not be able to make his own dinner, his wife did improve on her goal, at least a little.

“That’s not true actually, Nic got better at her Italian,” he says.

Keith has a couple more dates for his Las Vegas residency this month. He will wrap up 2021 by performing a series of shows in Australia.

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Nirvana has announced a reissue of Nevermind in celebration of the iconic album’s 30th anniversary.

The package will be available in a variety of formats, including as eight-LP and five-CD super deluxe box sets, starting November 12.

All versions of the reissue will feature newly remastered audio of the original Nevermind. Additionally, the super deluxe collections include four previously unreleased full live concert recordings: Amsterdam in November 1991; Del Mar, California, in December 1991; Melbourne, Australia, in February 1992; and Tokyo also in February 1992.

For the full track lists and pre-orders, visit Shop.Nirvana.com.

Released September 24, 1991, Nevermind and its lead single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” are credited for launching the ’90s grunge and alternative rock scene. The album has been certified Diamond by the RIAA for over 10 million sales.

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R. Kelly declined on Wednesday to testify at his sex trafficking trial in Brooklyn, NY.

The New York Times reports that U.S. District Judge Ann Connelly obtained verbal confirmation from Kelly that he would not take the stand.  With that decision, the defense rested its case and has ushered in closing arguments, which are expected to commence Thursday.

Kelly’s attorneys spent their half of the trial trying to discredit the women and men who have accused him of sexual misconduct over the years, with some witnesses saying they have never witnessed the alleged abuse and describing the singer as a kind and caring gentleman.

The prosecution, however, painted a much different story and called upon those who either saw or endured the alleged mistreatment.  The prosecution also called upon several of Kelly’s former employees, who also accused the singer of retaliatory behavior, such as withholding pay and verbal abuse, over small errors.

The case has been argued in court since August 18.  

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.

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Chris Young‘s first love might be country music, but he also loves sports. The Tennessee native, who’s an avid fan of both the Texas Longhorns and the Dallas Cowboys, will join Stephen A. Smith on ESPN+ on Thursday, September 23, at 5:30 PM ET, for Stephen A’s World.

This isn’t the singer’s first foray into discussing sports on ESPN. Earlier this month, Chris joined Jason Fitz and Gary Striewski for their inaugural The Kickoff show.

For Chris, it makes sense that both of his favorite teams aren’t from his home state. “When I was growing up we didn’t have the [Tennessee] Titans so it was like just pick a team near you,” Chris previously told Sports Illustrated. “I was always a diehard Cowboys fan.”

Chris just celebrated a #1 hit with “Famous Friends,” a song he recorded with Kane Brown. The tune became the title track of Young’s eighth studio album, which was released in August.

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A new report claims that Lana Del Rey and Lorde are at odds over the New Zealand singer’s new album, Solar Power.  

According to British publication The Sun, sources participating in the recent Ivor Novello songwriting awards claim that Rey is accusing Lorde of copying two of her songs.  

The argument is over the Lorde song “Stoned at the Nail Salon,” which Rey says sounds like her singles “Wild at Heart” and “Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me to Have.”  It’s worth noting that all three songs were co-written and co-produced by the same person: Jack Antonoff.

Sources tell the outlet that Lorde has quietly agreed that there is a similarity between the tracks, but has declined to go public with the feud because she doesn’t want to escalate it.

“The disagreement between Lana and Lorde has been quietly bubbling for a while,” an insider spilled. “Lana’s team agreed and after an expert got involved and some discussions were thrashed out between everyone involved, Lorde’s people came back and offered Lana a percentage of the publishing rights to the song.”

The source claims the “Summertime Sadness” singer doesn’t want a percentage and is asking for a public acknowledgement of the similarity and that Lorde was inspired by her music.

“It means the only last course of action would be to sue — but everyone is very keen to avoid that if at all possible and hopes there can be an amicable resolution instead,” the insider explained. “The forensic experts agree with the fans, so it seems to be quite a clear cut case.”

Neither Lana nor Lorde have publicly reacted to the alleged disagreement.

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Nick Lachey is coming to terms with the fact that he’s approaching his 50th birthday. The 98 Degrees singer opened up to The New York Post about what made him start reevaluating his age.

“I’ve never felt older in my life than sitting next to Grimes on a judging panel,” the 47-year-old laughed in reference to his new reality singing competition series, Alter Ego.

In addition to the 14-year age difference separating him and the 33-year-old singer, he says they are both operating on completely different mindsets. “The way her mind operates and the things that she understands, I don’t even begin to grasp how those things are working,” he explained.

Grimes is in a relationship with tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, with whom she shares one-year-old son, X Æ A-Xii, which is pronounced X-Ash-A-Twelve.

Also sitting with Grimes and Nick on the Alter Ego judging panel are will.i.am and Alanis Morissette.  Lachey says the different backgrounds represented at the judges’ table is exactly what makes the singing competition stand out.

“We are all so different,” said Nick. “We come from different backgrounds.  Will is also very into tech. I think Alanis and I are a little bit more of your kind of straight-ahead, not-really-understanding-what’s-going-on type performers…But I think what I do understand and really recognize is true talent — and that’s what cuts through in the performances.”

Alter Ego, which features competitors wearing motion-capture suits and singing backstage as their digital avatar performs in their stead on stage, debuted Wednesday on Fox. Another episode airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET.

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It’s hard to judge who was more excited for Dan + Shay to finally continue The (Arena) Tour, after being off the road for a year-and-a-half. 

Fans snapped up tickets, selling out the first five shows earlier this month, while Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney brought along some Good Things, in the form of a new album. 

“This is something we’ve dreamed of our entire lives, you know, being on stage in arenas,” Dan says. “And having a new album of new songs for the fans to sing along with us is the greatest feeling in the entire world.”

“You know, the album came out,” he continues, “and the fans had like 24 hours to learn these songs. And they were screaming as loud as any of our hits, which is like the most surreal thing.”

Good Things features nine new tracks — including their new single, “Steal My Love” — along with the number-one songs “10,000 Hours,” “I Should Probably Go to Bed,” and “Glad You Exist.”

“It validates all the hard work, all the sleepless nights,” Dan says of the fans’ reaction. “I mean, we were working 20 hours a day on this thing. I mean, my hair was falling out, I wasn’t sleeping. It was crazy.”

“But, you know, it’s all worth it when you get to stand on that stage again, and feel that love from the fans,” he adds. 

The (Arena) Tour continues on Friday, with stops in Louisville, Kentucky; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Minneapolis, Minnesota this weekend.

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