Music

Machine Gun Kelly is featured in the August issue of GQ, and he says appearing in the famed magazine is just another aspect of how he’s currently living his childhood dream.

“You know what the dream was? It was exactly what happened to me [at the Billboard Awards], which was go to an awards show, shut down the carpet, go onstage, accept an award,” Kelly tells GQ.

Kelly dominated the coverage of that awards show, where he was named Top Rock Artist, because he showed up with his girlfriend, Megan Fox. And that’s the GQ part of his dream.

As detailed in the article, when Machine Gun Kelly was just plain old Colson Baker, a teenager growing up in Ohio, he got the Decepticons logo from Transformers tattooed on his arm and hung a poster of the movie’s star — Megan Fox — in his bedroom, vowing he’d marry her one day.

“It was the GQ poster, right?” Kelly shouts to Fox during the interview, asking her to confirm exactly which image of herself hung in her boyfriend’s childhood bedroom.

“It was from her GQ shoot,” Kelly goes on to say. “So that’s some full-circle s***.”

But in addition to his dreamlike love life, Kelly is also experiencing his most successful musical moment yet, thanks to Tickets to My Downfall, his current album, produced by Travis Barker. Barker, who says he considers Kelly his “best friend,” first met him years ago after a Blink-182 show.

“He was successful at a completely other genre of music,” Barker says of Kelly, who was a popular rapper before turning to pop-punk. “Not many people can do that.”

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Granger Smith and his wife, Amber, are just weeks away from welcoming a new baby boy into their family. The couple are already parents to nine-year-old London and seven-year-old Lincoln, and they lost their youngest son, River, at the age of three in a tragic drowning accident in 2019.

From the beginning, the country couple has been open with fans about their emotional journey towards deciding to have another baby. This week, however, Amber highlighted a moment of celebration. She shared a series of snapshots from her shower for the new baby, whose name will be Maverick.

“I honestly can’t believe I’m doing this all over again,” Amber wrote. “Many tears were shed, grief and joy are parallel on this journey, but Mavi is so loved and we can’t wait to hold him in about 5 weeks. God is good.”

In an hour-long documentary uploaded to their YouTube channel this spring, Granger and Amber shared their IVF journey, which included a heartbreaking miscarriage along the road to a healthy pregnancy.

Baby Maverick is due in August.

 

 

 

 

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EST Gee has been on the rise since signing with Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group in January, a month after releasing his December 2020 mixtape, I Still Don’t Feel Nun.

While fans have been awaiting his next project, the Louisville rapper took to Instagram to share the album’s cover art and title.

“Bigger than Life or Death, July 20th. #EverbodyShineTogether #CocaineMuzik,” Gee wrote, sharing the album cover that shows his tattooed body with a vertical scar on the front of his abdomen.

“It’s Dat Time,” wrote Gotti in the post’s comments, while another fan said, “This album [is] going to be legendary.”

This year, EST Gee’s released his singles “Bigger than Life or Death,” “Lick Back” and “Capitol 1,” and landed his first-career entry on the Billboard Hot 100 song chart for assisting Lil Baby on “Real As It Gets.” Gee made his late-night television debut in January on Jimmy Kimmel Live! alongside fellow Louisiana MC Jack Harlow for a performance of their hometown anthem, “Route 66.”

Bigger than Life or Death arrives on July 20.

 

 

 

 

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Metallica is continuing to roll out content connected to “The Unforgiven” this week in the run-up to the release of the upcoming 30th anniversary box set celebrating the band’s 1991 self-titled album, also known as The Black Album.

Available to watch online now is a live performance of the song recorded at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on August 27, 1992. What makes the performance stand out is that it took place a few weeks after frontman James Hetfield‘s infamous onstage pyrotechnic accident in Montreal, during which he suffered second- and third-degree burns on his hand and arm. 

As a result, the Las Cruces show featured guitar tech John Marshall playing rhythm guitar, while Hetfield simply stands and sings, with both of his arms and his left hand swathed in bandages.

The video is included on the Wherever I May Roam DVD, which is part of the deluxe Black Album box set, due out September 10. The 1991 album’s official 30th anniversary takes place on August 12. In addition to the box set, the iconic album is being celebrated with a 53-track tribute compilation dubbed The Metallica Blacklist.

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Yung Bleu has revealed the track list and release date for his debut album, Moon Boy, dropping next week. 

According to Bleu’s social media pages, the star-studded album features H.E.R, Kehlani, JohnLegend, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Gunna and Davido, while Moneybagg Yo and Kodak Black join Bleu on the track “Angels Never Cry.”

Moon Boy will also feature Bleu’s singles “You’re Mines Still” with Drake, “Way More Close” with Big Sean, and “Baddest,” with Chris Brown and 2 Chainz.

After sharing the track list, fans on Twitter began asking the Alabama artist about a particular song featuring Wale and Chloe Bailey that didn’t make the album.

“@YungBleu, you really didn’t put the song with Chloe and Wale on your album? Oh nah… that’s sick!” the fan wrote. Bleu responded, tweeting, “Columbia [Records] aka my old label ain’t wanna clear it.” 

Yung Bleu was previously signed to Columbia Records through Boosie‘s independent label, Badazz Music Syndicate. Bleu later secured a management deal with Meek Mill‘s Dream Chasers. 

Moon Boy arrives on Friday, July 23.

 

 

 

 

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It’s been just over three years since Dan + Shay put out their career-defining, self-titled 2018 album, and they’ve been hard at work on a follow-up. Earlier this month, they tweeted, “Just finished our best album yet.”

And while it’s not clear whether or not they’re ready to share more details, Dan + Shay have indicated they’ve got an announcement in the works. The group started teasing something on their social media this week, telling fans to be on the lookout for news coming tonight at 6 p.m. CT.

They’ve told fans when to expect their announcement, but Dan + Shay have kept pretty tight-lipped about what that announcement might be. A teaser video shows an epic but vague montage of clips and images. We see a silhouetted figure who looks an awful lot like Shay Mooney riding a bicycle, flowers floating on water, and both band mates relaxing by a pool.

A follow-up teaser clip builds on the aesthetics of the first video but is equally mysterious. A group of people ride bikes through the desert, as a collection of diverse families gather to watch.

“Good things are coming,” Dan + Shay cryptically captioned their second post. 

To learn for sure what Dan + Shay are up to, tune into their socials tonight at 6 p.m. CT. In the meantime, the duo has released three non-album singles since their last album dropped. Two of those, “I Should Probably Go to Bed” and their Justin Bieber duet “10,000 Hours,” were back-to-back chart-topping hits.

 

 

 

 

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Normani and Cardi B are taking a walk on the “Wild Side” together.

After fans speculated new Normani music was coming soon, the two have officially confirmed that their new collab, called “Wild Side,” is dropping this Friday.

Both artists unveiled the cover art for the single, featuring them lounging naked with long flowing hair strategically covering their bodies. Shortly after, Cardi and Normani became trending Twitter topics worldwide.

“The world is ready for Normani supremacy !!!!” Cardi tweeted.

Normani also hinted at the music video, tweeting at Cardi, “okay sooooo I just watched the video again. sis what the actual [expletive].”

To which Cardi responded, “Ommmmgggg I’m nervous!!!!! But then again I’m not YOU DID THAT!!!!!!! I hope and you better be proud of yourself!!”

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This week, the Academy of Country Music is sharing details about its 14th annual ACM Honors ceremony, which will take place on August 25 and be hosted by two-time ACM Award winner Carly Pearce.

Each year, the ACM Honors celebrates special honorees and winners from the ACM Awards. This year’s show will focus on both the awards show that took place in 2021 and last year’s event, since the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the ACM Honors from taking place in person in 2020.

Additionally, the first round of performers for the show have been announced. Lady A, Hardy, Chris Janson and Ashley McBryde are just a few of the acts who’ll take the stage. Other performers include Lauren Alaina, Devin Dawson, Sara Evans, Lee Ann Womack and RaeLynn. 

The ACM previously announced a list of Special Award recipients who will be honored in August. Those include Loretta Lynn, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Lady A and others.

More special guests and performers will be announced in the weeks ahead. The ACM Honors will return to its usual venue home, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. VIP and general admission tickets are available now, and you can also watch the event via livestream on the Circle Network’s social channels. 

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Celine Dion is pushing back the remaining North American dates on her Courage World Tour.

The shows, which had previously been rescheduled to August and September of this year, will now be postponed to March and April of 2022 due to continued COVID-19 concerns.

“I know how frustrating it is for my fans, with all the postponements that have taken place these past 18 months,” Celine says in a statement. “My team and I are still concerned about everyone’s safety this summer even though the situation has dramatically improved.”

“We all feel 100% comfortable that things will be very safe next spring, and I want my fans to feel the same way, without any worries,” she adds. “I hope everyone understands.”

The rescheduled dates kick off March 9 in Denver, CO, and wrap April 22 in Washington, D.C.

Tickets purchased for the original 2020 and 2021 tour dates will be honored for the rescheduled 2022 dates.

 

 

 

 

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