Music

One of the most famed musician/guitar brand partnerships is no more.

The estate for late Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott has cut ties with Dean Guitars after 17 years with the company. Additionally, Rita Haney — Dime’s longtime partner and trustee of his estate — has filed a lawsuit against Dean, alleging fraud, breach of written agreement and false endorsement, among other counts.

In a long statement posted to Dime’s website, Haney writes, “It became clear to me that Dimebag’s relationship with Dean Guiars had come to an end when the CEO of Dean Guitars told me that Dime has been dead for 16 years, and then could not make the money they once did…and then continued on to tell me I should go somewhere else.”

“Well…we will!” Haney says.

The lawsuit accuses Dean of continuing to use photographs of Dimebag, as well as his name and likeness, to continuing to allegedly promote and sell guitars and merchandise despite the expiration of its endorsement deal. Haney also accuses Dean CEO Evan Rubinson of being “incredibly disrespectful and often times belligerent to the legacy” of Dimebag.

“Moving forward, our goal will be to ensure the rightful and respectful celebration of Dime’s legacy and the indelible mark he and his music made on this world,” Haney writes. “It is with absolute conviction that we say that this can no longer happen whilst continuing to partner with Dean Guitars.”

Dean Guitars has not yet publicly addressed the lawsuit.

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Pop Evil frontman Leigh Kakaty has tested positive for COVID-19.

As a result, the “Breathe Again” rockers have rescheduled eight of their upcoming tour dates, running from August 17 in Des Moines, Iowa, to August 25 in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

“To our Evilz, we always want to be fully transparent with our fans and the status of our shows,” Pop Evil says in a statement. “All of our band members and crew have been vaccinated prior to us starting tour. Yesterday, and again this morning, Leigh Kakaty tested positive for COVID-19. Leigh wanted to make sure his test wasn’t a false positive before postponing any more shows.”

Pop Evil plans to resume the tour August 27 in Virginia Beach. They’re supporting their new album, Versatile, which dropped in May.

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Britney Spears has not only shut down “twisted” rumors about her body, but she’s revealing why she’s been sharing more risqué photos as of late.  

Taking to Instagram on Monday, the “Toxic” singer shared a new group of photos where she cradles her bare chest with her hands while holding a single red rose.

Shutting down speculation that she is pregnant or had breast enhancement surgery, Britney explained that she wants to regain ownership of her body and wants to love it again, and sharing such photos help her accomplish that.

“In my opinion it’s quite twisted the immediate response of when any woman is hot and they want to shed a layer… just on a practical scale of being in your car and realizing you’re wearing a stupid long sleeve shirt in the summer,” she wrote. “The immediate reaction to any woman who does this after shedding a layer is DAMN I FEEL BETTER…therefore you think you look better.”

“I’ve had a billion shows where I’ve done that and to my horror uhhh [well]…sometimes I didn’t look so great,” she continued, noting such moments were “embarrassing” for her.

“I feel like performing made me too self-conscious about my body and that’s not attractive,” wrote Britney. “I honestly feel like the weight of the would [sic] has been on my shoulders and it’s made me view myself that way !!!! I wanted to see myself in a lighter way…naked…like the way I was born.”

“Seeing myself in my purest form gives evidence that pain … hurt … tears … and heavy burdens aren’t who I am. I am a woman …. a beautiful … sensitive woman,” she added, before thanking her fans for continuing the #FreeBritney movement.  She also hinted, “There’s a way deeper meaning to the movement than you can ever imagine.”

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Hitmaker Maren Morris tested her hosting chops on Monday, filling in for Jimmy Kimmel on his ABC late-night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!

“The Bones” singer opened by joking, “I flew all the way from Nashville to be here tonight — I came here on Delta, and hopefully I’m not coming back with delta,” referring to the COVID-19 variant.

“Now some people have said, ‘Maren, you’re a country singer. What business do you have hosting a late-night comedy show?'” Maren continued. “And to them I say, ‘Mom, get out of my dressing room!'”

Morris, 31, also noted that she was right across the street from where she auditioned for American Idol when she was 17 and “didn’t even make it past the first round.”

“But I stuck with it,” she continued, “and ten years later I won a Grammy.”

Maren also filled us in on how she’s been coping with the pandemic, admitting the past year has been “stressful,” mostly because “when I wear a mask, my name sounds like ‘Karen.'”

The country superstar also shared that she’d “spent the whole pandemic in quarantine with an infant, so basically, this next hour is a vacation for me.”

“I don’t care how much you cry, will not be breastfeeding any of you,” she warned the studio audience.

Morris also revealed that she’d “spent the weekend doing some research,” on the different laws regarding the legal use of marijuana in various states, which she turned into a song, which included lines such as “California’s down with doobies, from Oakland to Hollyweed/and in Washington and Oregon it’s cool to spark that green.”

Later, Maren chatted with country icon and fellow Texas native Willie Nelson and Hacks actress Megan Stalter. The show featured a performance by Gabriels, fronted by singer Jacob Lusk.

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After Korn was forced to cancel a Saturday concert in Pennsylvania when a member of their “camp” tested positive for COVID-19, the band confirmed Monday that their lead singer, Jonathan Davis, is battling the virus.

Taking to Facebook, the two-time Grammy-winning band updated fans about their upcoming concert dates.

“We really appreciate your patience as we work out the next steps for our tour. On Saturday, we received the unfortunate news that Jonathan tested positive for Covid, and needless to say, we had to postpone the show last minute,” the rockers explained. “As a result of his positive test, we also need to reschedule the next handful of shows. As always, our primary goal is to ensure the safety of everyone involved, so this is something that has to be done.”

Korn assured fans that Davis is doing okay, saying, “Jonathan’s spirits are high, and he’s resting and recovering now.”

“We’re as disappointed as you are about the circumstances, but we’ll get through it though, and we can’t wait to see you once we’re back, firing on all cylinders once again,” the band closed before revealing which shows have been postponed while others will not be rescheduled.

The two cancelled dates are on August 24 and 25, in Darien Center and Syracuse, New York, respectively, “due to scheduling conflicts.”  Those who held tickets for the cancelled shows will be “contacted for refunds.”

Here is the new list of dates for the rescheduled shows:

9/25 — Scranton, PA, The Pavilion at Montage Mountain
9/28 — Wantagh, NY, Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
9/26 — Holmdel, NJ, PNC Bank Arts Cente
10/2 —  Hartford, CT, XFINITY Theatre
10/1 — Mansfield, MA, Xfinity Center
10/3 —  Gilford, NH, Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion

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The Weeknd‘s “Blinding Lights” set the all-time record Monday for most weeks spent on the Billboard Hot 100: a total of 88.  Now, the Canadian star has taken to Instagram to share his feelings about the milestone.

“Forever grateful to be able to experiment with sounds, try new things with my voice and create music with the people I truly love and respect,” he writes. “For the last decade every song has been a journey and to be able to continue this journey has been nothing short of a blessing. It’s the only gift I could ever ask for.”

“I’ll be doing it for as long as I can breathe. I love my fans and wouldn’t be here without you,” he continues. “Big day for blinding lights. Multiple songs in the top 20. [My second mixtape] Thursday turns 10. [My dog] Caesar turned 4 and the f**king dawn is coming. LET’S GO.”

“The dawn is coming” is, of course, what Weeknd’s been saying for several months now when talking about his next musical era.  In his post, he included a variation on the popular Batman-slapping-Robin meme: It’s a cartoon of himself in his After Hours red jacket, singing “Oooh, I’m blinded b…” being slapped by himself in the present day, saying, “The dawn is coming!!!!”

(Instagram embedded below contains uncensored profanity.)

 

 

 

 

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Now that Brett Young and his wife Taylor are parents to both their toddler, Presley, and their youngest daughter Rowan, who was born in July, it’s safe to say the two have their hands full. But Brett admits he’s perfected a dad superpower or two he hopes makes things a little easier.

“I think what I’ve realized is like the best “dad-ing” is to be able to identify mom’s needs without her having to tell you,” he explains. “Because [the mothers are] gonna take the brunt of it, especially at this age, like the baby needs mom all the time.”

“And so trying to figure out where you can insert yourself,” he continues, “and help without getting to the point where she’s like, ‘Ahh, help me!'”

“So I think at the beginning it was like taking out the trash,” Brett says, “or doing the dishes or things that I would normally do, but just making sure they were never —  like there wasn’t ever a dish in the sink. The trash never got half full or things like that.”

With Presley about to turn two in October, Brett has had some time to perfect his technique.

“I think I’ve been able to watch Taylor be a mom long enough to know what she needs before she needs it,” he reflects. “And so I think that the skill set that I’ve kind of honed in on the most in the last year-and-a-half is being able to read Taylor and make sure she has what she needs from me before she has to ask me for it.”

Brett’s new children’s book, Love You, Little Lady, inspired by being a parent, comes out August 24.

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