Music

The Format, the reunited band featuring fun. vocalist Nate Ruess and multi-instrumentalist Sam Means, has announced a U.S. tour for 2026.

The trek launches March 26 in Boston and will conclude April 19 in San Diego. Openers include Phantom Planet and Ben Kweller, depending on the date.

Presales begin Oct. 22 at noon local time, and tickets go on sale to the general public on Oct. 24 at noon local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit TheFormat.com.

The Format was originally active from 2002 to 2008 before going on hiatus while Ruess formed fun. with Jack Antonoff and Andrew Dost. They’d planned a reunion tour for 2020, but those dates were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Five years later, Ruess and Means again reformed The Format for a brief run of shows in September and October. They’ll release a new album called Boycott Heaven on Jan. 23, marking the first Format record in 10 years.

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Mastodon‘s Troy Sanders and Alice in Chains‘ William DuVall are among the artists set to perform alongside the band Metal Allegiance at a concert taking place Jan. 22, 2026, in Anaheim, California.

Metal Allegiance features former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick and bassist/songwriter Mark Menghi. 

Other guests at the concert will include Testament vocalist Chuck Billy, Slayer guitarist Gary Holt and former Bad Wolves guitarist Doc Coyle.

“This is THE metal show to kickoff the New Year right!” Ellefson says. “This is where metal unites to get 2026 going around all things metal. We look forward to seeing you there for an annual metal summit called Metal Allegiance!”

Presales begin Wednesday at 10 a.m. PT, and tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday at 10 a.m. PT.

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The reunited Alabama Shakes will headline the 2026 High Water Festival, taking place April 18-19 in North Charleston, South Carolina.

The bill also includes My Morning Jacket, Sheryl Crow, Lake Street Dive and Maren Morris. A presale begins Thursday at 1 p.m. ET; any remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public at 2 p.m. ET.

For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit HighWaterFest.com.

High Water marks the first announced 2026 live date for Alabama Shakes. The “Hold On” outfit reunited at the end of 2024 for their first live show in over seven years. They launched a full reunion tour in July.

Alabama Shakes released a new song, “Another Life,” in August.

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Grammy-winning R&B artist and neo-soul pioneer D’Angelo has died, his family said Tuesday. He was 51.

The singer-songwriter and musician, who was born Michael Eugene Archer, was known for his songs “Brown Sugar,” “Lady,” “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” and more.

“The shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life[.] … After a prolonged and courageous battle with cancer, we are heartbroken to announce that Michael D’Angelo Archer, known to his fans around the world as D’Angelo, has been called home, departing this life today, October 14th, 2025,” his family said in a statement shared with ABC News.

They continued, “We are saddened that he can only leave dear memories with his family, but we are eternally grateful for the legacy of extraordinarily moving music he leaves behind.”

“We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time but invite you all join us in mourning his passing while also celebrating the gift of song that he has left for the world,” the family added.

D’Angelo is survived by his three children, Imani Archer, Morocco Archer and Michael Archer. He shared Michael Archer with late singer Angie Stone, who passed away in March in a car crash following a concert in Alabama.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Nicki Minaj has alleged that several unauthorized charges were made to her American Express card. In a series of posts on her Instagram Story Tuesday, captured by Vibe, she shared screenshots showing transactions totaling up nearly $25,000, some of which she says were made by “three different people in a span of two months.”

“Some couldn’t even explain how they had the brand new card number. Hmmm,” Nicki wrote, adding that a few of the alleged thieves have been at it for years and will “all be going to jail.”

She also claimed that one of the alleged offenders has been tracking her with a tracking device and that a fourth person was allegedly “stealing from the Barbz.”

“Let’s see if they’ll go to jail for their ring leaders. Let’s see if they’ll save themselves or be apart [sic] of the RICO,” Nicki wrote.

“Everyone who got caught said the dumbest s***. Caught RED handed being thieves & worse,” she later added. “I wonder if their other clients know that they’re thieves. Welp.”

Nicki’s post arrives just days after a heated exchange with Cardi B, who claimed Nicki’s husband, Kenneth Petty, had been maxing out Nicki’s credit cards and using her money “to buy hood chains.”

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Amy Grant will do the honors this year as the Opry Goes Pink for the 17th time to help in the fight against breast cancer.

The “Baby Baby” hitmaker will flip the ceremonial switch to turn the Opry’s signature barn backdrop pink for the night and raise money for Susan G. Komen.

Carrie Underwood, Mandy Barnett, Riders in the Sky and Sophia Scott are among the other artists set to play the Oct. 25 show. 

The Opry will donate $5 for every ticket sold to Susan G. Komen, the world’s leading nonprofit in the fight against breast cancer.

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Iron Maiden has announced a 40th anniversary vinyl reissue of their 1985 live album, Live After Death.

The two-LP set will be released on Dec. 12. It features the 2015 remaster of the original album, which was recorded during Maiden’s World Slavery Tour in support of their 1984 album, Powerslave.

“We were touring our a**** off,” says bassist Steve Harris. “It was literally just, ‘record, tour, record, tour’ – we didn’t stop. [Manager] Rod [Smallwood] was cracking the old whip, and that was the right thing to do.”

“I mean, we were totally up for it, it’s not like we were doing stuff that we didn’t want to do,” Harris continues. “You think you’re invincible – ‘Yeah, we’ll take that on, no problem.’ That’s the way to crack it. It’s the only way for a band like us because we had no radio play whatsoever back then.”

The reissue also includes a replica 24-page tour program and tour pass, as well as an accompanying essay featuring interviews with Harris, Smallwood and drummer Nicko McBrain.

In other Maiden-related news, frontman Bruce Dickinson has shared a video of him performing the U.S. national anthem during a hockey game between the Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche.

Dickinson previously sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at an NFL game between the Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers.

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Charli XCX‘s upcoming movie The Moment was inspired by her desire to avoid making a different movie: a documentary capturing her Sweat tour with Troye Sivan.

Speaking to Vanity Fair for a cover story, Charli explains why she didn’t like the idea of documenting the tour. “I feel like my problem with a lot of musician documentaries is it often shows the musician coming up against some kind of opposition and eventually overcoming it to be the hero,” she says. “And that’s just not been my experience, you know?”

Instead she made The Moment, which director Aidan Zamiri tells Vanity Fair is about what would have happened if Charli had made “entirely different choices” around the release and promotion of her iconic album Brat.

Charli says she plays “sort of a hell version of myself” in the film, adding, “It’s not a tour documentary or a concert film in any way, but the seed of the idea was conceived from this idea of being pressured to make one. It’s fiction, but it’s the realest depiction of the music industry that I’ve ever seen.”

The film stars Alexander Skarsgård, who plays, as the actor puts it, “someone the record label convinces Charli is the hottest director out there at the moment; the right person to capture the essence of Charli XCX and get the most out of this phenomenon that Brat was.”

Along with The Moment, Charli is appearing in no less than six other movies, which is why she says she recently stopped getting Botox. It was affecting her ability to use her face to act and making her eyebrows do “crazy” things, she says, though she admits, “I miss it.”

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Welcome to Santa Carla, we have vampires and also Slash.

The Guns N’ Roses guitarist lends his shredding skills to a new song called “Have to Have You,” recorded for the new Broadway musical adaptation of the ’80s cult classic The Lost Boys.

The video for “Have to Have You,” which features footage of Slash recording the track’s solo, is available on YouTube.

Speaking with Billboard, musical cast member Ali Louis Bourzgui recalls what it was like to record with the GN’R legend.

“Slash is sitting down, so chill in his chair and he pulls out his guitar and plays this absolutely insane solo, as he does, in one or two takes and is like, ‘Is that good?'” Bourzgui says. “This incredible, mathematical, insane solo.”

The Lost Boys: A New Musical is set to open at New York City’s Palace Theatre on March 27.

Somehow, The Lost Boys isn’t the only ’80s property getting a revival with some help from Slash. He’s also featured on the theme song for the new movie Deathstalker, a remake of the 1983 fantasy film of the same name.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.) 



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