Music

Who says TikTok is just for teens?  Michael Buble is celebrating his 46th birthday by making his debut on the wildly popular social media platform.

Michael’s first video is captioned, “My wife gave me Tik Tok for my birthday — tell me what I’m supposed to do with this?”  It shows Michael lip-syncing to audio of a laughing, giggling baby and clapping his hands in delight at a cupcake that’s sitting in front of him, which is topped with a candle in the shape of the number six.

When someone off screen pushes another cupcake into the frame with a “four” candle — spelling out Michael’s actual age, 46 — he looks at in horror, pushes it away and lip-syncs to the baby saying “No!”  You can also watch it on his Instagram Story.

Michael’s celebrating his birthday today in a big way: He’s kicking off his long-delayed An Evening with Michael Buble tour in Allentown, PA.  All attendees need to present proof of vaccination or the results of a negative COVID-19 test to attend.

@michaelbuble

My Wife gave me TikTok for my birthday – tell me what I’m supposed to do with this? ##virgoseason ##BubléTok

♬ Bebe – V.A.

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CBS is throwing a country music-filled New Year’s Eve bash. 

To ring in 2022, CBS is presenting New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash featuring performances by Luke Bryan, Dan + Shay, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert, Kelsea Ballerini,Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett. Dierks Bentley, Darius Rucker, Brooks & Dunn, Elle King, Cole Swindell and Zac Brown Band also slated to perform.  

The five-hour show will see the stars taking the stage at multiple locations across Music City in nearly 50 performances, including Dan + Shay, Dierks and Zac Brown Band headlining at Bicentennial Capitol Mall. 

The new year will officially be rung in when Nashville’s signature music note drops at midnight.  

Additional artists will be announced in the coming days. The star-studded event airs at 8 p.m. ET on December 31 on CBS and will be available to stream on Paramount+.

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Lil Nas X is really taking this whole “I’m pregnant with my debut album” concept seriously: He’s posted a baby registry online.

The “Industry Baby” artist has been posting photos and videos of himself sporting a fake pregnant belly in advance of the September 17 release of his album, Montero.  But the baby registry isn’t a joke: It’s actually for a good cause. 

Instead of gifts like onesies and baby monitors, the registry, which you can find at WelcometoMontero.com, encourages fans to make donations to charities that support various social justice and LGBTQ causes. A different charity is listed for each track on the album.

For example, next to the song title “Am I Dreaming,” which features Miley Cyrus, there’s a link to her Happy Hippie Foundation charity, which works with homeless and LGBTQ youth and other vulnerable populations. The song title “Industry Baby” includes a link to The Bail Project, which works for criminal justice reform.

On the Bail Project page, Lil Nas X notes, “Music is the way I fight for liberation. It’s my act of resistance.”

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Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee is assuring fans she’s “OK” after suffering a “bad sprain.”

In a recent radio interview, Lee shared that she had injured herself after falling during a hike. Addressing fan concerns in a tweet on Thursday afternoon, Lee writes, “Thank you for the well wishes, guys! I’m OK, just a bad sprain but it’s healed a lot already.”

“I would have posted a picture of the bruise but it was so gnarly I’m afraid it would have been flagged for like, graphic violence,” she adds, along with a crying-laughing emoji. “For real tho, I’m OK! See you soon! Get vaccinated!”

Lee and Evanescence have been prepping for their upcoming co-headlining tour with Halestorm, which is set to kick off in November. The “Bring Me to Life” rockers will be supporting their new album The Bitter Truth, their first all-original record in 10 years.

Thank you for the well wishes, guys! I’m ok, just a bad sprain but it’s healed a lot already. I would have posted a picture of the bruise but it was so gnarly I’m afraid it would have been flagged for like, graphic violence 😂 For real tho, I’m ok! See you soon! Get vaccinated!

— Amy Lee (@AmyLeeEV) September 9, 2021

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Normani and Alicia Keys have joined the start-studded lineup of the 2021 MTV VMAs — and Lorde has now explained why she pulled out of the show last week.

Normani will perform her new hit “Wild Side” on the show, marking her first time on the VMAs since 2019, when she performed “Motivation” and took home the Moonperson for Best R&B, for her single “Waves.”  Alicia, meanwhile, will debut her new single, “LALA,” featuring Swae Lee.  Her performance will be backed by “spectacular city views,” according to a press release.

Meanwhile, Billboard reports that in a message to fans, Lorde explains that she was “planning this insanely amazing, many-bodied intimate dance performance, not fully understanding the (very necessary!) safety protocols that are in place, and the masking and distancing just meant it wasn’t gonna be what I dreamed.”

“You know I can’t make something less than outstanding for you guys. I hope you understand,” she adds. “There will be many more TV performances, don’t you worry.”

This is the second time that Lorde’s VMA performance has been unexpectedly impacted: In 2017, she was so ill with the flu that she wasn’t able to sing, and instead performed an interpretive dance to “Homemade Dynamite.”

In other MTV news, the channel has confirmed to Billboard that for the second year in a row, no Video Vanguard trophy will be presented.  It hasn’t been presented every year, but last year’s omission of the trophy broke a seven-year streak that saw the honor going to the likes of Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Pink, Rihanna and Missy Elliott. Instead, this year’s big award is the Global Icon Award, which will be presented to Foo Fighters.

The 2021 MTV VMAs, hosted by Doja Cat, air Sunday night live from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY at 8 p.m ET/PT.

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Multiple shots were fired at a tour bus leaving the Trippie Redd concert early Tuesday morning in Baltimore.

The driver was injured in a drive-by shooting as the bus was headed to the Baltimore-Washington International Airport from MECU Pavilion, Maryland State Police spokeswoman Elena Russo tells The Baltimore Sun.

The bus included 10 crew members from the show, but officials could not disclose their affiliation, or whether Redd was aboard the bus.

Around 2:45 a.m., the bus was shot multiple times, and the driver was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The Maryland 295 highway was temporarily shut down for a crime-scene investigation. Police have not charged or arrested anyone in connection to the shooting, and they are asking anyone with information about the incident to call 410-761-5130.

Trippie Redd has had an ongoing feud with Tekashi 6ixNine after recording with him early in his career. In court testimony in 2019, Tekashi accused him of being a member of the Five Nine Brims gang.

Redd is headlining the Trip at Knight tour named after his latest album. His next scheduled show is Friday in New York City. The tour wraps October 16 in Los Angeles.

Fans believe that the Drake–Kanye West feud was reignited last month after Trippie dropped his song “Betrayal” featuring the Certified Lover Boy rapper. On the track, Drake sings, “All these fools I’m beefin’ that I barely know/ Forty-five, forty-four (Burned out), let it go/ Ye ain’t changin’ s*** for me, it’s set in stone.”

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Another member of Korn has tested positive for COVID-19.

The “Freak on a Leash” metallers revealed Thursday that guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer has contracted the virus. The news comes after frontman Jonathan Davis tested positive in August.

According to Korn’s statement, Munky is “doing OK,” but will miss some of the band’s upcoming tour dates.

“The tour is going on as scheduled despite these circumstances,” Korn wrote. “We are anticipating a speedy recovery.”

Korn’s tour will continue Thursday in West Valley City, Utah.

Davis, meanwhile, has recovered from his COVID bout, although as of last week he was still battling some lingering effects. As such, he’s been using a throne on stage to rest on during the show.

pic.twitter.com/hzCAieaOz4

— Korn (@Korn) September 9, 2021

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Dan + Shay are looking back on their humble beginnings ahead of their arena tour launch. 

As the Grammy-winning duo of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney prepares to embark on the new leg of The (Arena) Tour, they’re sharing a throwback video from their debut show as a duo. The video shows them performing at a venue in Austin, Texas, Dan on guitar and Shay taking lead vocals, revealing in the caption that the audience contained fewer than five people.

“We were just two songwriters who loved country music and wanted to sing for whoever would listen, so we hopped in a car and drove through the night to get there. Almost 10 years later and we still feel the exact same passion and excitement for what we get to do,” they say in the caption. 

“We’re so grateful that y’all have stuck with us on the journey and gotten us where we are today. Playing arenas has always been a dream of ours, and after a slight year-and-a-half detour, IT’S FINALLY HERE,” they add. “We’re infinitely grateful for each and every one of you and can’t wait to say thank you in person.” 

The (Arena) Tour was originally scheduled to take place in 2020. Dan + Shay performed three shows before the tour was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour resumes tonight in Greenville, South Carolina and continues until December.

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Kings of Leon are sending NFTs to a new frontier. The final frontier, in fact.

Earlier this year, the “Use Somebody” rockers made headlines when they offered their new album, When You See Yourself, as a non-fungible token, back when we had to Google what that meant. Now, as revealed by People, KoL is creating a new music NFT that will be the first one ever to go to outer space.

People reports that the NFT — which features the When You See Yourself song “Time in Disguise,” as well as original artwork and live performance footage of the track — will be sent up into the stars as part of Inspiration4, the first-ever space flight with an all-civilian crew. The mission, scheduled to launch September 15, aims to raise awareness and funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The NFT will be uploaded onto an iPhone given to crew member Hayley Arceneaux, a pediatric cancer survivor who now works at St. Jude, who will then play the song while in orbit. It will then be auctioned off with a starting bid at $50,000 to further support St. Jude.

“It means so much to us to be a part of this historic moment,” Kings of Leon tell People. “When we wrote and recorded ‘Time in Disguise’ in the studio, we always thought it had a spacey feel to it and then the visuals from our live show have that vibe, as well.”

They add, “To now have that song and those images be a part of something as historic as this is really cool, and having it raise money for a cause we’ve always cared so much about, makes it even better.”

The auction winner will also get to meet KoL and attend an upcoming Los Angeles concert.

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