Madonna leaves the Hotel Amen on her way to the Hotel Gritti in Venice, Italy, where season 2 of ‘The Studio’ is filming, March 16, 2026. (Stefano Mazzola/Getty Images)
All those photos and videos from the set of The Studio season 2 showing Madonna and Julia Garner together? It turns out there’s a definite method behind their madness, and it has to do with Madonna’s now-abandoned biopic.
You may recall that Madonna was going to direct a movie about her life, with Julia starring as the Material Girl. The project was shelved in 2023, and Madonna subsequently launched her Celebration Tour. But Variety, citing sources, reports that a major plot point in The Studio season 2 will involve the nonexistent film.
The show’s Continental Studios, the fictional company run by Seth Rogen’s character, will be portrayed as the producer of the project. In that capacity, it will bring the Madonna biopic to the Venice Film Festival. Madonna and Julia also attend in order to promote the film and drum up Oscar buzz. Madonna won’t be the film’s director in the fictional world of the show, however. The whole thing will play out over two episodes, Variety reports.
Meanwhile, Netflix is reportedly developing a TV series about Madonna’s life that’s unrelated to the movie; Julia isn’t part of that project.
Country Music Hall of Famer Ray Stevens is recovering at home from a March 29 fall that left him with a broken neck. According to a news release, he’s “fully mobile and in good spirits,” though he has to wear a neck brace for a month. His latest album, Favorites Old & New, comes out Friday.
Jamey Johnson remembered Merle Haggard with his cover of 2010’s “Pretty When It’s New” on Monday, the anniversary of the Hag’s birth and death.
Craig Campbell’s 12th annual Celebrity Cornhole Challenge will take place Tuesday, June 2, at Nashville’s 6th & Peabody in the days leading up to CMA Fest. He’ll announce the stars set to play on May 1. All proceeds go to the Kenny Campbell Foundation, named for Craig’s father, who died of colorectal cancer at age 36.
With just six words, Marshmello solved the mystery that Thomas Rhett started last week with a “teaser” that was simply a video of him eating marshmallows out of the bag with an instrumental music bed behind it.
“Where We Go available everywhere Friday,” the DJ/producer said in a joint post on both artists’ accounts.
The update was accompanied by a photo of the two leaning against a truck bed, with Thomas in camo and jeans, while Marshmello sported his signature marshmallow-esque headpiece.
There’s also a video preview of the song, with TR and ‘Mello bopping along as Thomas Rhett sings: “Gonna drive all night, say goodbye to the city, hit the dashboard with a little Conway Twitty/ Get your blue eyes shinin’ on the moonlight pretty/ I don’t care where we go as long as you’re here with me.”
It’s not clear whether “Where We Go” could be the beginning of Thomas’ next record or not. In October 2025, he released the deluxe version of About a Woman, the expansion of his seventh studio album that originally came out in August 2024.
Taylor Swift performs at Optus Stadium on Oct. 19, 2018 in Perth, Australia. (Don Arnold/TAS18/Getty Images)
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour was such a juggernaut that it’s easy to forget she had several impactful tours prior to that, and one of them helped inspire Anne Hathaway’s new movie. No, not The Devil Wears Prada 2, a different one.
The movie Mother Marycasts the actress as a major pop star known as Mother Mary, who’s seen performing songs that were written by Charli XCX, producer Jack Antonoff and others. But to stage the concert sequences, director David Lowery tells Empire magazine that his touchstone was the concert film that captured Taylor’s 2018 tour.
“Her Reputation concert film is one of the best concert films ever. It’s truly phenomenal. And for our concert sequences we looked at that repeatedly,” he tells Empire. “You would not believe the amount of time we were talking about Taylor.”
Lowery notes that he and his team specifically looked at three songs and broke them down shot by shot.
“[We] looked at them like, ‘Okay, if we were doing these, how much would these shots cost to do in visual effects?’” he explains. “We used that as a budgeting tool, because we didn’t know how to wrap our heads around actually pulling off a stadium concert-show on a minimal budget. We were literally using Reputation as a guide. I can go on about Reputation all day.”
And in terms of Hathaway’s character, Lowery said, “I definitely brought a lot of Taylor Swift to the table in terms of who Mother Mary was. I would often would be like, ‘Imagine Taylor Swift in ten or 15 years – that’s sort of who this character could be.’”
Robert Plant performs with his band Saving Grace at Harrah’s Resort Southern California on November 23, 2025 in Valley Center, California. (Photo by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
Robert Plant is headed to late-night TV.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and his band Saving Grace are set to perform on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday.
Plant previously appeared on The Late Show back in November, sitting down for an interview with Colbert in which they nerded out over The Lord of the Rings and author J.R.R. Tolkien.
Robert Plant and Saving Grace with Suzi Dian are set wrap a U.S. tour on Tuesday at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine. They then bring their tour to Argentina and Brazil starting May 10 in Buenos Aires, followed by dates in Croatia, Greece and more in June and July. A complete list of dates can be found at RobertPlant.com.
Robert Plant and Saving Grace released their self-titled debut album in September. The album, which was recorded between April 2019 and January 2025, has them covering songs by Memphis Minnie, Bob Mosley of Moby Grape, Blind Willie Johnson and more.
Rapper Offset attends the 4th Annual Toys 4 The Nawf Christmas Charity event on December 20, 2025, in Norcross, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
The rapper known as Lil TJay has been charged in connection with an incident involving rapper Offset, who was shot Monday outside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, according to authorities.
Lil TJay, whose legal name is Tione Jayden Merritt, was taken into custody at the Broward County Jail Monday night and charged with disorderly conduct, a first-degree misdemeanor, according to the Seminole Police Department.
The rapper, who will turn 25 later this month, was also charged with operating without a valid license, according to jail records.
“The incident began with an affray, or fight,” the department said in a statement Tuesday. “Merritt was booked into the Broward County Jail late last night. A second person detained at the scene has not been charged.The investigation to identify one or more additional persons involved in the incident is ongoing.”
Offset, whose legal name is Kiari Kendrell Cephus, is currently hospitalized with a non-life-threatening injury, according to police.
A spokesperson for Offset told ABC News Monday the rapper is in “stable” condition.
“We can confirm Offset was shot and is currently at the hospital receiving medical care. He is stable and being closely monitored,” the spokesperson said.
The shooting occurred after 7 p.m. ET in the valet area outside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The incident began with a fight, according to police.
Dawn Florio, an attorney for Lil TJay, issued a statement Tuesday reiterating that he has not been charged with shooting Offset.
“We are issuing this release in regards to false rumors that Lil Tjay was involved in a shooting which occurred at the Valet area of the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood,” Florio stated. “Lil Tjay has not been shot, nor has Lil Tjay been charged with any shooting. Any reporting to the contrary, is false. We encourage people to consult trusted news sources and to verify the accuracy of any reporting before reflexively sharing or repeating baseless rumors.”
Offset was previously married to Cardi B and the artists share three children.
His fellow Migos rapper Takeoff was fatally shot in November 2022.
ABC News’ Monica Escobedo, Deena Zaru and Luke Barr contributed to this report.
Tom Morello at 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. (Disney/Jennifer Pottheiser)
Tom Morello has joined the lineup for the 2026 edition of the iconic Newport Folk Festival, taking place July 24-26 in Newport, Rhode Island.
The Newport Folk Festival was the site of Bob Dylan’s infamous “going electric” moment in 1965, which outraged some traditionalist attendees who felt folk music should only be played on acoustic guitars. We can only imagine what the crowd might have thought of a shredder like Morello playing Newport.
Maybe Morello will play a rendition of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name” and change the lyrics to, “Folk you, I won’t do what you tell me.”
The 2026 Newport Folk Festival is already sold out. The lineup also includes Paramore’s Hayley Williams performing a set billed as “Hayley Williams & Friends.”
Morello is currently on tour with Bruce Springsteen playing select songs alongside the E Street Band.
Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” is proving to have staying power the size of the state it mentions, as the track returns to #1 on Billboard‘s all-genre Hot 100.
This is the fifth nonconsecutive week the song has reigned at #1 on the chart, dating back to its first in mid-February. The April 1 release of the song’s star-studded music video, shot in Forth Worth, Texas, helped with the song’s rise from its previous position at #2.
Ella’s now in the company of notables like Adele, Beyoncé and Madonna, becoming one of the only women to spend five or more weeks at #1 on the Hot 100.
At the same time, “Choosin’ Texas” hangs on for a 19th week atop Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs ranking, while logging a sixth week at #1 on the Streaming Songs rundown.
The timing couldn’t be better since Ella’s sophomore studio album, Dandelion, comes out Friday.
The Strokes followed up their new album announcement Monday with the live debut of a new song.
Julian Casablancas and company performed the track, apparently called “Going Shopping,” for the first time during their show Monday night in San Francisco.
Meanwhile, a Strokes fan on Reddit says they received a cassette tape featuring “Going Shopping” in a package after signing up for the band’s mailing list.
As previously reported, The Strokes’ next album is called Reality Awaits and is due out in the summer, exact date TBA. It will mark the first Strokes record in six years, following 2020’s The New Abnormal.
The Strokes will perform at Coachella on Saturday. Their upcoming live schedule also includes sets at Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Just Live Heaven and Shaky Knees.
