Music

How do you get young people to take an interest in art? Make sure there’s a Taylor Swift connection.

The German news agency dpa reports that The Museum Wiesbaden, in Wiesbaden, Germany, recently welcomed a flood of visitors — hundreds more than usual — who all wanted to see a specific painting. Why? They believe it inspired the opening sequence of Taylor’s video for “The Fate of Ophelia.”

The painting by Friedrich Heyser is called Ophelia. It depicts the character from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet moments after she’s drowned, wearing a white dress with her hair spread out behind her, and surrounded by greenery and flowers. 

In the opening shot of “The Fate of Ophelia” video, the camera zooms in on what looks like a painting of a drowned woman in a white gown in a very similar pose. But the woman in the “painting” turns out to be Taylor, who then gets up and out of the painting and begins singing.

Taylor hasn’t confirmed that this was the painting that inspired the scene, but museum director Andreas Henning told dpa, “We’re surprised and happy that Taylor Swift chose this painting from the Museum Wiesbaden as a model for her video. This is, of course, a great opportunity to introduce people to the museum who don’t yet know us.”

Henning says the museum has tried to contact the singer, adding, “I would love to show Taylor Swift the original painting sometime.”

Initially a different painting, also titled Ophelia, by Sir John Everett Millais was thought to have inspired the scene in the video, but the Heyser painting is a closer match. Millais’ painting is in the Tate Britain in London, which attempted to attract visitors by pointing out the similarities.

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Janelle Monáe‘s love for Halloween has manifested itself into Wondaween 2025, a series of events taking place in Los Angeles to celebrate the spooky holiday. The schedule features a festival, movie screenings, a concert, game night and more.

Kicking the fun off is Janelle’s Monáe Manor, a haunted house open now through Nov. 2. The Brains Behind the Bloods will follow on Oct. 20, featuring Danny Elfman, Akela Cooper and Janelle’s costuming team Sasha Glasser and Alex Navarro as they talk with Janelle about “horror, sound, prosthetics, and spectacle.”

A ’70s disco-themed game night is scheduled to go down on Oct. 23. Danny will then return for back-to-back nights of the Nightmare Before Christmas in concert, Oct. 25 and Oct. 26, where he, Janelle, Keith David, Riki Lindhome and John Stamos will sing as different characters from the film.

“WONDAWEEN, a Halloween festival, brought to you by @wondaland and yours truly!” Janelle wrote on Instagram. “It is a scream come true to curate 1 of 1 experiences during the month of October! WONDAWEEN is for us by us, true Halloween lovers!”

Tickets and more information can be found on wondaween.com.

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The Black Crowes are featured in a new episode of Recorded Live at the Analog, with the band celebrating their 1994 album, amorica.

The Nashville concert had the band, led by brothers and founding members Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson, playing the album in its entirety. The set included songs like “Wiser Time,” “A Conspiracy” and more, along with an encore of the Southern Harmony and Musical Companion hit “Remedy.” They also shared some stories behind the songs with the audience.

“Revisiting amorica in Nashville felt like coming home … A chance to reconnect with a record that defined a chapter for us,” Chris Robinson says. “It was great to be able to share it with fans in a way that felt so personal.”

The concert is now streaming for free on YouTube. It will also air on public television stations across the country.

The performance comes ahead of The Black Crowes’ upcoming super-deluxe reissue of amorica, which drops Nov. 14 as a five-LP or three-CD set. There will also be two-LP and one-CD editions.

All formats are available for preorder now.

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The Last Dinner Party has announced a U.S. tour for 2026 in support of their upcoming album, From the Pyre.

The headlining outing launches March 27 in Austin, Texas, and concludes June 13 in Atlanta. Tickets go on sale Oct. 24 at 10 a.m. local time.

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit TheLastDinnerParty.co.uk.

From the Pyre, which includes the single “This Is the Killer Speaking,” drops Friday. It’s the sophomore follow-up to The Last Dinner Party’s 2024 debut, Prelude to Ecstasy, which spawned their breakout hit, “Nothing Matters.”

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Kelsea Ballerini‘s ready to burn her “Baggage” with a new Ranger Station candle inspired by her latest hit. 

“anyone that knows me knows that wherever i am – bus, hotel, or home – i’m going to have enough candles lit to be a fire hazard, and i’ve been a ranger station diehard for years,” she shared on her socials. “to me, scent is such a powerful sense that can make you feel nostalgic or peaceful, highlight your favorite season or holiday, or help invigorate new ideas or beginnings.”

Kelsea calls the Burn the Baggage candle her “favorite kind of fragrance,” mixing “a bit of a grounded warm amber and a bit of a comfortable light iris.”

On the outside, you’ll find a “meter of healing” that “tracks your emotional journey as the candle burns down.” It starts with “Examine Patterns” — Patterns, of course, is the name of Kelsea’s album — and ends with “Baby, look at you now.”

“we wanted to tell the story of the journey of the duality of hurting and healing,” Kelsea explains, “and as you burn the candle i hope it keeps you company on whatever journey you’re on.”

The 8-ounce candle goes for $45, with 10% of the profits helping Porter’s Call, which provides counseling to those in the music industry. 

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On This Day, Oct. 16, 2003…

Ten years after their last tour, Simon & Garfunkel reunited to launch the Old Friends tour in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s relationship had soured after their 1993 tour, but after the pair received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys, and performed together, they decided to reunite for a full-scale tour. 

The shows had the duo performing many of their classic tunes, including “Homeward Bound,” “The Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson,” “America” and “The 59th Street Bridge Song,” as well as some of Simon’s solo material.

The first leg of the tour consisted of 40 shows, with a second leg launching in June 2004, followed by a 12-city European leg that wrapped with a free concert in front of the Colosseum in Rome.

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Britney Spears is speaking out about the claims her ex-husband Kevin Federline makes in his new memoir You Thought You Knew.

On Instagram, Britney wrote, “The constant gaslighting from ex-husband is extremely hurtful and exhausting. I have always pleaded and screamed to have a life with my boys … I have felt demoralized by this situation and have always asked and almost begged for them to be a part of my life.”

“Sadly, they have always witnessed the lack of respect shown by own father for me. They need to take responsibility for themselves,” she continued. “With one son only seeing me for 45 min in the past 5 years and the other with only 4 visits in the past 5 years. I have pride too. From now on I will let them know when I am available.”

In his book, Federline claims, among other things, that Britney once watched their two sons sleep while holding a knife, drank wine while she was pregnant, and did cocaine while she was still breast-feeding. He also writes that he needs to “sound the alarm” about Britney because “something bad is going to happen if things don’t change.”

But Britney wrote, “Trust me, those white lies in that book, they are going straight to the bank and I am the only one who genuinely gets hurt here. I will always love [my sons] and if you really know me, you won’t pay attention to the tabloids of my mental health and drinking.”

“I am actually a pretty intelligent woman who has been trying to live a sacred and private life the past 5 years. I speak on this because I have had enough and any real woman would do the same.”

A rep for Britney previously told ABC News, “With news from Kevin’s book breaking, once again he and others are profiting off her and sadly it comes after child support has ended with Kevin. All she cares about are her kids … and their well-being during this sensationalism.”

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From the retro lady on the cover of their new album, Barbara, to their latest hit, Old Dominion seems to in a nostalgic mood these days. 

“‘Making Good Time’ is about the glory days of a relationship really,” lead singer Matthew Ramsey explains. “Just kinda that nostalgic look back at a time when you were young and, you know, summers last forever and you’re just kinda having the time of your life with the person you love.”

Riding off into the sunset? Well, Matthew says that’s not really the point. 

“Whether or not it worked out is the question mark, but that doesn’t really matter because, you know, back in those days everything was perfect,” he says.

OD’s currently headed for Europe, as they kick off the next leg of their How Good Is That World Tour Sunday in Copenhagen. They’ll wrap in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oct. 31.

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Hit-Boy has two albums on the way: Goldfish, his collaboration with The Alchemist, and Software Update. Speaking to Billboard about the latter, he says the title was inspired by moves he’s made to improve his life.

“Man, it’s just been years of me trying to figure it out,” he begins. “Investing in myself, trying out different creatives and switching my sound up and I just got to this point in life where it’s like I had to step back and be like, ‘Yo, I got to dial in on who I really want to present myself as.’ And it’s like I had to just start digging deep.”

Hit-Boy admits he was forced into making these changes when his father returned to jail after his 2023 release.

“It kind of just took me back to that place of when I was a kid, just feeling that absence again. This time it was even worse ‘cuz we actually had motion. Like, he was really making money,” he says. “It was a lot going on, and that was kind of the final straw for me to be like, ‘Yo, I got to fall back on everything and everybody, and just really invest in myself on the level I need to.’”

Hit-Boy tells Billboard focusing on himself for the first time has “just opened my world.”

“I moved to a new studio. I got so much more space now and I got more things I can utilize within my operation,” he shares. “It’s just opened up my eyes to everything I did up to now. … That was me turning the game on. Now it’s really time to play.”

Software Update does not have a release date; the Goldfish album and film arrive Oct. 24.

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