Doja Cat is putting her own spin on Grease for a new Pepsi ad.
In the promo for Pepsi’s new Soda Shop flavors, the singer takes on the role of Sandy and sings an updated version of “You’re the One That I Want.” But it’s not Danny Zuko she’s after — it’s his Pepsi.
The new ad is set to air during Sunday’s MTV VMAs, which Doja is hosting. The Pepsi Cream Soda and Black Cherry flavors will be available for a limited time only starting on September 20.
Alice in Chains guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell has released the title track off his upcoming solo album, Brighten.
While the previously released single “Atone” sounded very much cut from the same grungy cloth as Alice, “Brighten” feels more like a classic, bluesy rock n’ roll tune.
You can download the song “Brighten” now via digital outlets. Its accompany, surreal video premiered via Consequence.net.
Brighten the album arrives October 29. It’s Cantrell’s first solo outing in nearly 20 years.
Cantrell will launch a U.S. tour in support of Brighten in 2022.
Gabrielle Union, like many parents, found herself talking to her children about racism following the death of George Floyd.
Union is the mother of two-year-old Kaavia James, whom she shares with husband Dwyane Wade. She co-parents his three children from previous relationships — Zaire, 19, Zaya, 13, and Xavier, 7.
Speaking to Health, the Bring It On star opened up about having those sometimes difficult conversations with her kids.
“You want to just try to give them hope, to keep those flames of hope from being extinguished. But we were late. And they were not prepared,” Union said. “This is especially true when you have hope, and you buy into the American dream of having a good work ethic and just being a good person. You think if you just follow all these rules, there’s this promised land of milk and honey. But then [your kids are] like, ‘I did that. And it’s vinegar. You told us…’ So, we’ve had to adjust our approach, especially in the last year.”
“With the older kids, we talk about how the world is — I’m not going to say changing, but at least acknowledging certain truths that we’ve known for the last 400 years,” said Union. “People might say different things, but the proof is always in the pudding. You have to watch their actions.”
The actress adds that speaking with Zaya, who is transgender, is more of a challenge because “there’s so many roadblocks for her and her life.”
“All we can say is, ‘We’re not going to leave you on the road by yourself. We’ll be here. But this is what it is. And it’s OK to still be shocked and hurt and surprised when people that you thought you could count on to be better aren’t,'” Union declared.
Walker Hayes‘ viral crossover hit “Fancy Like” is getting some extra pop star power. The country rapper has just released a new version of the song, featuring Kesha.
“It’s going down…I’m yelling timber… I do words for a living and I don’t even how to communicate my excitement,” Walker said on social media ahead of the song’s release.
Kesha also sang the praises of “Fancy Like,” saying, “This song speaks to me on a very deep level. I’m fancy like…. A southern b**** who loves a Waffle House after a night at the dive bar n karaoke…. How u fancy like?”
Walker included “Fancy Like” on his latest Country Stuff album. The song, which went viral thanks to a TikTok dance Walker posted with his daughter, Lela, has inspired two Applebee’s commercials, and the return of the restaurant chain’s famous Oreo shake.
Ed Sheeran has joined the lineup for the MTV VMAs this Sunday, MTV confirms.
The singer will deliver a performance of his new song, “Shivers,” which he released on Friday. He joins previously announced performers Justin Bieber, Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
Ed’s up for three VMAs this year: Video of the Year, Best Art Direction and Best Choreography, for his song “Bad Habits.”
Doja Cat hosts this year’s ceremony, airing this Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.
Two of Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme‘s children have filed for a domestic violence restraining order against their father, TMZ reports.
According to documents obtained by the site, Homme’s sons Orrin, 10, and Wolf, 5, submitted documents through their mother and Homme’s ex-wife, The Distillers‘ Brody Dalle.
TMZ reports that the docs accuse Homme of verbal and physical abuse, including hitting and throwing things at his children, grabbing them inappropriately, and threatening to kill Dalle’s boyfriend. The kids also allege that Homme drove them while drinking alcohol. They describe Homme as “scary,” and are requesting that he must stay 100 yards away from them.
In a statement to TMZ, Homme’s lawyer says, “Ms. Dalle has previously brought these claims to the police, DCFS, and the presiding judge of the family law court, all of whom have declined to take any action based upon these spurious claims.”
TMZ does not mention whether Homme and Dalle’s oldest child, daughter Camille, is involved.
Both Homme and Dalle previously filed restraining orders against each other following their divorce in 2019.
For anyone affected by abuse and needing support, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or if you’re unable to speak safely, you can log onto thehotline.org or text LOVEIS to 1-866-331-9474.
Twenty years ago Saturday, Mariah Carey’s most maligned and misunderstood album, Glitter, was released. Here’s the story of this project, which is now a cult classic.
Mariah had been planning a movie and soundtrack project called All that Glitters since 1997, but didn’t get a chance to work on it until she signed a new five-album, $100 million contract with Virgin Records in April of 2001.
But on July 19, after the release of the soundtrack’s lead single, “Loverboy,” Mariah made a bizarre appearance on MTV’s Total Request Live, handing out ice cream to fans and stripping off her shirt to reveal a more revealing outfit. “Loverboy” failed to reach number one — which, in Mariah terms, made it a “flop.”
After the TRL incident, Mariah posted a voice note on her website saying she’d like to “take a little break.” On July 26, she was hospitalized for two weeks, citing “extreme exhaustion” and a “physical and emotional breakdown.” Mariah would later reveal in 2018 that it was during this time that she was diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder.
As Mariah became the butt of late-night jokes, the release of Glitter the album was delayed from August 21 to, unfortunately, September 11. When it finally emerged, critics disliked its ‘80s vibe and felt Mariah was overshadowed by the album’s many guest stars, which included rappers Ludacris, Da Brat, Busta Rhymes, Fabolous and others.
Glitter was the lowest-selling album of Mariah’s career to that point — something she would later blame on the 9/11 terrorist attacks — but when the film also flopped at the box office, Virgin Records dropped her.
Flash forward to 2018: Mariah Carey fans launched a #JusticeForGlitter social media campaign, urging people to buy the album. It worked: The album ultimately reached number one on iTunes. A grateful Mariah, then on tour supporting her album, Caution, added a medley of songs from Glitter to her tour set list.
Many music critics subsequently changed their tune, praising Glitter as “brilliant,” “undeniably ahead of its time” and “the perfect ‘80s tribute.”
In 2018, former Journey frontman Steve Perry returned to music with Traces, his first new solo album in 24 years. Now he’s set to release his first-ever collection of holiday tunes.
The Season, which is due out on November 5, features Perry’s renditions of eight classic yuletide tunes, including “Winter Wonderland,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” “Auld Lang Syne,” “Silver Bells” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
“I hope when people hear this record, they’re teleported in the same way I was when I recorded all these songs,” says Steve. “I hope it brings them back to those golden moments with their loved ones and gives them that feeling of joy and connection and comfort that we all need so much.”
In conjunction with the album announcement, Perry has debuted one of the songs as a digital single, a jazzy, stripped-down rendition of “I’ll be Home for Christmas.”
“When I was recording vocals for ‘I’ll be Home for Christmas,’ as I was singing ‘Please have snow and mistletoe and presents under the tree’…I was emotionally thrown into standing in my grandmother’s house staring through the door that I always hung mistletoe and then I saw her beautiful Christmas tree in front of her living room window,” Perry notes. “I had to stop singing because it felt like I was really there…I was a bit stunned…Back Home for Christmas is where everyone wants to be!”
The Season, which you can pre-order now, is available in multiple formats, including CD, digital, streaming and vinyl. Various limited-edition colored-vinyl versions of the album can be purchased at Perry’s official online store, Target and Barnes & Noble.
Here’s the full track list of The Season:
“The Christmas Song”
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
“Auld Lang Syne”
“Winter Wonderland”
“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve”
“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
“Silver Bells”
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
Carly Pearce is celebrating receiving two CMA Awards nominations this week, but it hasn’t all been good news for the singer. Carly, who was recently honored with an official Carly Pearce Day on September 2, in her hometown of Taylor Mill, KY, had a sign placed at the entrance to the town, which read “Welcome to Taylor Mill, Hometown of Country Music Star, Carly Pearce.”
Unfortunately, the sign was stolen less than a week after it was erected.
“She was nice enough to take pictures with a lot of the police officers that helped protect her that day. Unfortunately, just yesterday morning, somebody had stolen that sign,” Taylor Mill Police Chief Steve Knauf told WKRC TV, adding that someone removed the bolts and took it off of the metal poles where it was attached.
“They purposely put it up high so people could see it but also to deter theft,” he added. “We are thinking it was probably a two-person job.”
Pearce was also given a key to the city, a place she credits with instilling in her a love of country music.
“This is where my love of country music began, and I’m so grateful and proud Taylor Mill, KY is my hometown,” Carly said at the time.
Carly received CMA Awards nominations for both Album of the Year (for 29) and Female Vocalist of the Year.
Glass Animals has released a new song called “I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance).”
“Talking is great, don’t get me wrong,” says frontman Dave Bayley. “But this pandemic has made so many of us look inwards in a way we maybe haven’t before. The uncertainty in the world and the inability to go out and create new memories makes you dig deep into the past. It really fed people’s deepest insecurities and rattled our foundations in so many ways.”
“It felt like we were all put in a pressure cooker, but there was no way to let out the steam,” he continues. “That’s what this track is about — that pressure cooker exposing and expanding so many cracks, but struggling to fill them in and decompress. I want people to switch their devices off, put this song on, close their eyes, and have that release for a moment.”
You can listen to “I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)” now via digital outlets. Its accompanying video, which, fittingly, includes a whole lot of dancing, is streaming now on YouTube.
“I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)” follows Glass Animals’ 2020 album, Dreamland, which includes the singles “Heat Waves” and “Your Love (Déjà Vu).”
