If you still think of Scotty McCreery as the teen who won American Idol in 2011, the new cover ofCigar & Spirits may just change all that.
McCreery casts a steely gaze in a dark suit and tie for the summer 2025 issue of the lifestyle magazine, along with an article titled “Country Music Star Scotty McCreery Goes Deep” and an “exclusive bonus pictorial.”
Meanwhile, his hit with Hootie & the Blowfish, “Bottle Rockets,” has made it into the top 10 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart in only a dozen weeks. It’s the band’s first country top 10, following nine solo number ones for lead singer Darius Rucker.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again‘s latest album, MASA, debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200, helping him make Billboard history. It’s his 34th album to make its way onto the chart, according to Billboard, giving him the most career entries in the genre of rap. He is now followed by previous chart-topper E-40, who previously held the record with 33 career entries.
YoungBoy debuted on the Billboard 200 in 2017 with AI YoungBoy and has since had eight studio albums, 20 mixtapes, three compilations and three EPs secure positions on the chart. His busiest years were in 2018 and 2022, when eight of his projects entered the chart each year.
YoungBoy previously spoke to Billboard about his consistent releases, which he, at the time, described as a “disease.”
“Literally, I cannot help myself. I tell myself sometimes, ‘I’m not going to drop until months from now,’ but it’s addictive,” he said. “I wish I knew when I was younger how unhealthy this was for me. Whatever type of energy I had inside me, I would’ve pushed it toward something else.”
Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ ABC/Randy Holmes
Songs by artists including Foo Fighters, Linkin Park and Green Day are featured on the soundtrack for Madden NFL 26, the latest edition in the long-running football video game series.
Among the included tracks are the Foos’ “The Pretender,” LP’s “The Emptiness Machine” and Green Day’s “Basket Case,” as well songs by Twenty One Pilots, Rage Against the Machine, 311, Beastie Boys, Bush, Blur, Franz Ferdinand, Judas Priest, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Mammoth, Megadeth, Shinedown, The Killers, The Warning, Weezer and Wolfmother.
Additionally, you’ll be able to hear snippets of such songs as The White Stripes‘ “Seven Nation Army,” Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ “Give It Away” and Metallica‘s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” in the virtual football stadiums while playing games.
Kelly Clarkson, Brandon Blackstock, Savannah Blackstock, River Rose Blackstock, Remington Alexander Blackstock, and Seth Blackstock attend premiere of ‘UglyDolls’ in 2019 (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Not long after Kelly Clarkson announced that she was canceling her August residency shows in Las Vegas due to her ex-husband’s health comes the news that he has passed away. He was 48.
A statement from his rep reads, “It is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away. Brandon bravely battled cancer for more than three years. He passed away peacefully and was surrounded by family.”
“We thank you for your thoughts and prayers and ask everyone to respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time,” the statement concludes.
Blackstock, a music manager who worked with Blake Shelton, among others, was married to Kelly from 2013 to 2022. He was Reba McEntire‘s stepson, as his father, music manager Narvel Blackstock, was married to McEntire from 1989 to 2015.
Blackstock had two children from his previous marriage to Melissa Ashworth: SethBlackstock and Savannah Blackstock. With Kelly, he had daughter River, 10, and son Remy, 8.
When Kelly missed several episodes of her talk show earlier this year, there were unconfirmed reports that she was absent due to Brandon’s illness.
Kelly and Brandon’s split was messy, with Kelly suing and eventually winning more than $2.6 million from him in commissions, which the California Labor Commission ruled that he had received from unlawfully handling certain business deals for her. They also fought in court over their Montana ranch.
As part of their split, Kelly was ordered to pay Brandon over $100,000 per month in spousal support and more than $45,000 a month in child support until January 2024.
Randy Bachman, 2012 inductee, and Burton Cummings, 2011 inductee perform at the Canada’s Walk Of Fame Fundraising Event Music Under The City Stars held at Casa Loma on July 18, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. Photo by George Pimentel/Getty Images
Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings have announced another show as The Guess Who.
The two original members of the band — responsible for writing some of their biggest hits, including “These Eyes” and “American Woman” — announced in June they were reuniting for the 2026 Rock Legends Cruise, and now Bachman has revealed that they’ve booked another gig.
“Excited to share this! Burton Cummings and I are bringing The Guess Who to Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, ON, on January 31,” Bachman announced on X. “We’ll be playing the songs that helped shape Canadian rock and roll, the way it was meant to be heard: live, loud, and from the heart! Hope to see you there.”
Tickets for the show go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time.
Rock Legends Cruise XIII is scheduled for Feb. 23-27, 2026, departing from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The two shows will be the pair’s first performances as The Guess Who in 23 years.
In September 2023, Bachman and Cummings reached a settlement with their former bandmates Jim Kale and Garry Peterson over the use of the band’s name. In the lawsuit, filed in October 2023, Cummings and Bachman accused Kale and Peterson of tricking fans into thinking Cummings and Bachman were still performing with The Guess Who, when they were actually getting a “cover band.”
The suit’s settlement resulted in Cummings and Bachman acquiring the trademark for the band’s name.
Ed Sheeran ‘A Little More’ artwork (Petros Studio)
Ed Sheeran has released his self-described “bonkers” video for his song “A Little More,” and to be fair, it is kinda crazy.
The clip, a sequel to his 2011 video for “Lego House,” finds Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint reprising his role as an obsessive Ed Sheeran stalker. In the video, he gets out of prison after 14 years, goes back home and starts a new life. He attends “Stalkers Anonymous” meetings, goes to therapy and gets a new job as a cleaner in a mansion. He even meets a girl, played by Game of Thrones actress Nathalie Emmanuel, and gets engaged to her.
The only problem is that everywhere Grint’s character goes, he sees Ed. Ed’s the prison guard, his therapist, the owner of the mansion, the maid in the mansion, the people in his support group and so on. Everything comes to a head during his wedding to Emmanuel’s character: All the guests in the church are Ed, the members of the choir are Ed and when he lifts the bride’s veil, he sees Ed.
“I hadn’t worked with @rupertgrint in 14 years since Lego house, so didn’t know if he’d say yes to this idea,” Ed writes on Instagram. “But I’m so glad he did. It’s such a fun, bonkers video. Longest video shoot I had ever done at that time, and deffo the most costume changes.” He thanks Emmanuel for “being amazing” and writes, “Rupert, my brother from another mother, thank you for throwing yourself into this, it wouldn’t exist had you said no.”
At the end of the clip, Rupert and Ed, who’s wearing a full-on wedding gown, waltz together under a disco ball and share a cigarette to the strains of what appears to be an unreleased romantic song — by Ed.
Eminem surprised fans Wednesday at the New York City premiere of his documentary film, Stans. Ahead of the screening at The Rooftop At Pier 17, he gave thanks for the yearslong support he’s received through the highs and lows of his career.
“This film was a thank-you to all of you,” Eminem said, according to a TikTok video. “This is my thank-you to all of you for sticking by me the entire f****** time. Through all my bulls***, through all my mediocre s***, the good s***, the bad s***—all of it. I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Stans, named after Em’s 2000 song “Stan” and the term used to describe an overly obsessed fan, is an exploration of fandom through the real-life stories of Eminem’s passionate supporters. The documentary will play in AMC theaters Thursday to Sunday. It will later become available to stream internationally on Paramount+.
Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy performs during the 2025 Boston Calling Music Festival at Harvard Athletic Complex on May 24, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. Taylor Hill/Getty Images for Boston Calling
Fall Out Boy singer Patrick Stump dives deep into the creation of “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” on the latest episode of the Song Exploder podcast.
During the conversation, Stump explains how Fall Out Boy first got together, and how the songwriting relationship between him and bassist Pete Wentz, in which they separate writing the music and the lyrics, respectively, developed.
In between that, you’ll hear the original verse written for “Sugar” that was ultimately cut, as well as the isolated vocal and instrumental tracks from when the song was officially recorded.
“Sugar, We’re Goin Down” was released as the lead single off Fall Out Boy’s mainstream breakout album, 2005’s From Under the Cork Tree, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in May. The song has been certified eight-times Platinum by the RIAA, while the album as a whole has gone double-Platinum.
Artwork for Peter Gabriel ‘Live at WOMAD 1982/Credit: Peter Gabriel LTD.
In 1982, Peter Gabriel launched the WOMAD Festival, which stood for World of Music, Arts and Dance, and now he’s revisiting one of his performances for a new digital album.
The very first WOMAD Festival took place in Somerset, England, and featured 60 bands from over 20 countries. The new album, Live at WOMAD 1982, features a recording of Gabriel’s Friday night set. It included seven songs from his album 4, which was released two months after the event.
“I remember this gig well,” says Gabriel. “We played a mix of old and brand-new material. I would normally be very nervous about playing some of this stuff for the first time, however my mind was very preoccupied with the running of our very first WOMAD festival and the potential financial disaster that it was heading towards.”
It turned out the initial WOMAD Festival wasn’t a financial success and in October of that year Gabriel reunited with Genesis for a concert at Milton Keynes Bowl in Buckinghamshire, England — the money from that gig bailed him out financially. The WOMAD Festival was then able to continue, and since its inception, there have been more than 160 editions of the WOMAD Festival in 27 countries.
Live at WOMAD 1982 will be released to digital services on Friday. The first single, “The Rhythm of the Heat,” is now available.
Here is the track list for the album: “San Jacinto” “The Family and the Fishing Net” “I Have the Touch” “Lay Your Hands on Me” “Shock the Monkey” “I Go Swimming” “The Rhythm of the Heat” “Kiss of Life” “Biko”
It must be nice to live in a bubble like Mariah Carey. While everyone seemed to have an opinion about Katy Perry‘s Blue Origin trip into space in April with Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez Bezos and others, Mariah was evidently completely unaware of this — and she found out live on the air during an appearance on British radio.
While appearing on BBC Radio’s Scott Mills Breakfast Show on Thursday, Mariah was asked if she’d one day like to go to space, like Katy did. “Did she go to space?” Mariah asked. “Where’d she go?” When told that Katy “went into orbit and back,” Mariah responded, “She’s, like, floating … and this is true?”
When Scott assured Mariah that he didn’t make it up, Mariah responded, “Wow. Alright Katy.” When Scott added that she was “proper in space,” Mariah said, “I’m not mad at her. That’s pretty amazing.”
When asked if she would like to go to space, Mariah laughed, “I think I’ve done enough.”
Katy’s space trip was criticized by many as being tone-deaf, a waste of money and worse. Even the fast-food chain Wendy’s wrote on X, “Can we send her back?” and “When we said women in stem this isn’t what we meant.” Coupled with the simultaneous criticism of her current album and her onstage dancing, Katy seemed to be constantly under fire. But in the comments of a fan Instagram account at the time, she said she was taking it in stride.
“When the ‘online’ world tries to make me a human Piñata, I take it with grace and send them love, cause I know so many people are hurting in so many ways and the internet is very much so a dumping ground for unhinged and unhealed.”
