Music

Charli XCX popped up in an unexpected place on Saturday night: onstage at SNL with Role Model.

During performances of his hit “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out,” it’s become a tradition for a woman — sometimes a fan, sometimes a famous woman — to join Role Model onstage and dance during the part of the song that begins, “Here we go again/ I’m falling headfirst/ Ankles hit the two-step/ Sally makes my head hurt.”

The singer, born Tucker Pillsbury, performed the song on a set that looked like a barn, and when he yelled out, “Where’s my Sally tonight?”, the barn doors opened to reveal Charli, wearing shades, a miniskirt and a t-shirt with the logo of the legendary New York City club Max’s Kansas City — possibly a reference to the title of Role Model’s album Kansas Anymore.

As Tucker continued to sing, “Heard it through the grapevine she can be a diva/ Cold like Minnesota, hotter than a fever,” Charli began dancing around, and then really got into it, whipping her hair, taking off her shades and putting them on Tucker before throwing a kiss and exiting the stage.

Tucker also performed his song “Some Protector” on the show.

Next week, Sabrina Carpenter will be the host and musical guest on the show.

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Sleeping with Sirens will no longer be playing the 2025 When We Were Young festival.

The festival has announced in a Facebook post that Kellin Quinn and company have dropped off the bill “due to reasons beyond our control.”

Sleeping with Sirens announced earlier in October that their scheduled run of headlining dates had been canceled due to Quinn’s wife dealing with health issues.

“My place is at home until we can solve this and she is recovered,” Quinn said at the time. “I love you all very much and thank you for understanding.”

When We Were Young 2025 takes place Oct. 18-19 in Las Vegas. The bill is headlined by blink-182 and the reformed Panic! at the Disco.

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Here are some of the new songs from the alternative world released on this New Music Friday:

Yellowcard‘s comeback album Better Days has arrived, marking the “Ocean Avenue” outfit’s first full-length effort in nine years. Along with the lead single and title track, Better Days includes a collaboration with Avril Lavigne called “You Broke Me Too.”

FINNEAS has released a song called “Palomino,” recorded for the soundtrack to the second season of the Netflix series Nobody Wants This. The soundtrack, due out Oct. 23, also features Portugal. The Man, Role Model and Royel Otis.

Of Monsters and Men goes the distance with “Fruit Bat,” an eight-minute track off the band’s upcoming album, All Is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade. The record, which also includes the single “Ordinary Creature,” drops Oct. 17.

Oliver Tree returns with a new single called “Superhero,” marking his first official release in two years. It’s the lead single off his upcoming album, Love You Madly, Hate You Badly, due out in 2026.

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Mobb Deep‘s talent and impact on hip-hop culture is Infinite, a point proved on their brand-new album. It’s their first since member Prodigy passed in 2017 and the latest in Mass Appeal’s celebratory Legend Has It series.

The album bridges the past and present with features from Raekwon, Ghostface Killah and H.E.R., as well as Nas and Jorja Smith, who are featured on lead single “Down For You” and in its accompanying video.

The Alchemist produced the project alongside Mobb Deep’s very own Havoc, who also went through the vault and selected the best Prodigy lyrics for each song.

“When I was picking Prodigy’s verses, I felt like a beggar,” he shares in a press release. “To me, there is no greater MC, and I am blessed to have been his partner.”

Infinite arrives as Mobb Deep celebrates the 10th anniversary of their second studio album, The Infamous. 

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Zach Top knows how to get a crowd on his side. When he performed at Thompson-Boling arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Oct. 9, he made sure to play “Rocky Top,” the classic bluegrass tune that for decades has been the go-to song for the University of Tennessee’s Volunteers. Of course, the fans went nuts and sang along at the top of their lungs.

ERNEST has teamed up with Apple Music’s Lost & Found campaign — which pairs artists with unreleased songs — to cut a long lost song by the late Toby Keith. Called “End of the Night,” it was written in 2015 by Toby, David Lee Murphy and Bobby Pinson, but was never released. On Apple Music, you can listen to Toby’s original demo of the song, and ERNEST’s take on it. “We live in the greatest city for songwriting of all time, so there are an endless amount of songs,” ERNEST says. “Every now and then, you get to pull a little diamond out of there and a little piece of history, and this is no exception.”

Vince Gill is marking the 50th anniversary of his music career by curating a series of EPs that he’s dubbed 50 Years from Home. The first one, I Gave You Everything I Had, is coming Oct. 17. It includes six brand-new songs, and a version of “Go Rest High on That Mountain,” which features a new third verse.

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Megan Thee Stallion will be honored for her mental health advocacy over the years. Nonprofit suicide prevention organization The Trevor Project announced on World Mental Health Day that they’ll be presenting her with the 2025 Health Champion of the Year award.

“From breaking stigma around mental health to creating resources like Bad B****** Have Bad Days Too and establishing the Pete & Thomas Foundation, Megan uses her powerful voice and platform to uplift BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities,” The Trevor Project wrote on Instagram. “Her raw honesty reminds LGBTQ+ young people everywhere that vulnerability is strength, and you are never alone.”

The Health Champion of the Year award is typically given to “public figures who use their voice to challenge stigma, shift culture, and advocate for the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people,” according to a press release, and Meg is honored to be this year’s recipient.

“My goal has always been to use my platform to help break stigmas around mental health and provide resources for those seeking safe spaces to have honest and heartfelt conversations. Mental health impacts all of us, so it’s important to lead with love and empathy,” Meg says in the press release. “I’m grateful for organizations like The Trevor Project that are committed to spreading awareness and supporting our LGBTQ+ youth in powerful ways.”

Past recipients of the award include Janelle Monáe in 2022 and Lil Nas X in 2021.

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