Cole Swindell‘s putting one of his favorite hobbies on hold in preparation for fatherhood.
“I hate goodbyes… Until we meet again… R.I.P. golf game,” Cole captioned a video of him packing up his golf gear, set to Celine Dion‘s “My Heart Will Go On.”
Back in May, he told ABC Audio the due date for his wife, Courtney Little Swindell, is early August. That means the two are expecting their first child, a daughter, any day.
“He stopped loving her today,” Cole’s pal George Birge added in the comments, invoking the famous George Jones song.
Of course, Cole’s not saying goodbye to his pastime forever.
“This isn’t goodbye.. it’s see you later. I think,” he adds in the post. “Bring on Dad life!”
Months after they were nominated for, respectively, an Oscar and a Golden Globe, songs by Elton John and Miley Cyrus are up for an additional honor.
Elton’s duet with Brandi Carlisle “Never Too Late” and Miley’s song “Beautiful that Way” are both nominated for the World Soundtrack Awards, which will be handed out Oct. 15 in Belgium. Elton’s song is from his Disney+ documentary Elton John: Never Too Late, while Miley’s song is from the Pamela Anderson film The Last Showgirl.
Elton’s song received an Oscar nod, while Miley’s was up for a Golden Globe. At both ceremonies, the songs lost out to “El Mal,” from the film Emilia Pérez. “El Mal” is also up for a World Soundtrack Award. The last two nominees in the category are “Winter Coat,” from the movie Blitz, and “I Lied to You,” from Sinners.
Pat Benatar released her second studio album, Crimes of Passion, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200, a position it held for five weeks.
The album featured three singles, the most popular being “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” which was her first top-10 hit. The other singles included “You Better Run,” which was the second music video ever aired on MTV, and “Treat Me Right,” which was a top-20 hit.
Crimes of Passion went on to be certified four-times Platinum by the RIAA. It also earned Benatar a Grammy for best female rock vocal performance, her first Grammy ever. She went on to win three more Grammys in the same category.
L-R Roger Daltrey, Zak Starkey and Pete Townshend of the British band The Who perform live on stage during a concert at the Waldbuehne on June 20, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Frank Hoensch/Redferns)
Drummer Zak Starkey has seemingly responded to new comments The Who’s Roger Daltrey has made regarding Starkey’s firing from the band.
In an interview with the U.K. publication The Times, Daltrey noted that comments Starkey made after The Who’s Royal Albert Hall show in March, where they appeared to have a disagreement on stage, were “kind of a character assassination,” adding that it was “incredibly upsetting.”
Well, now in a post on Instagram, Starkey shared text from an article quoting The Times piece, insisting in the caption, “I didn’t make any nasty comments about Roger when I got fired.”
At the Royal Albert Hall show Daltrey and Starkey appeared to have some words during the performance of “The Song Is Over,” but in The Times piece, Daltrey clarified that he was actually calling out the person handling his monitors.
“There was no conflict and no argument before the show or after as I was in my car on my way home before Pete (Townshend) and Roger had finished the last song ‘Tea and Theatre’ which is an acoustic duet and doesn’t feature any of the band,” Starkey writes, adding, “I thought the gig was ok. I had no idea about getting fired or any problems at all until a week after the show.”
He notes, “So either the times misunderstood or…confusion reigns O’er me and everyone else!”
Starkey says he thought the whole controversy over his firing “had blown over,” calling The Times story “old news and completely wrong.” He said he wasn’t going to respond to it but did so because the story “has been picked up by every outlet in the cosmos.”
Finally he writes, “I love Roger and he’s a f****** amazing singer – we go back too long for grudges.”
It’s easy to assume that Carly Pearce‘s debut #1 single, 2017’s “Every Little Thing,” was the beginning of her career.
But there’s another song from the previous year that helped launch her as an artist.
“You know what a lot of people don’t know about me is I got my start in Texas country music with the Josh Abbott Band,” Carly tells ABC Audio. “So I have a lot of memories when I had no money, no nothing, was like cleaning Airbnbs on the side.”
“But I had this song out with them called ‘Wasn’t That Drunk.’ So we would play at like Billy Bob’s and I would just be like on the bus as like the girl that was trying to make her dreams come true,” she remembers. “And I was like 24. So I feel like the Texas country market and especially Texas [itself] is like where I cut my teeth in the beginning.”
Back in June, Carly revealed she’s finished the vocals on her fifth album, the follow-up to 2024’s hummingbird.
Joe Elliott of Def Leppard performs onstage during the Summer Stadium tour at Truist Park on July 13, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott is showing off his piano skills in a new video posted to Instagram, and it looks like he’s a little rusty.
“Allow us to introduce you to Sir Elton Joe,” reads the post’s caption, an obvious reference to Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and well-known pianist Elton John. “When you get a piano in your hotel room for the first time in 46 years of touring, you have to put on a show. Even if it is out of tune.”
The video opens with the time filming began, 12:56 a.m., and Elliott showing off the piano in his room. He then sits down and tries to play a few notes, messing up several times to the point where he begins cursing at himself and loses track of how many attempts he’s made at performing.
It ends with the clip noting the time he ended his attempts — 2:30 a.m.
Luckily for Elliott, fans aren’t expecting to see him behind the piano when Def Leppard takes the stage. Their next show is Saturday in Placer County, California. A complete list of dates can be found at DefLeppard.com.
Alex Warren’s album ‘You’ll Be Alright, Kid;’ Courtesy Atlantic Records
Alex Warren‘s “Ordinary” is #1 for a ninth week on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is loaded with religious imagery, with lyrical references to holy water, angels, the Lord, sanctuary, heaven and hallelujah. Alex says it’s no coincidence that he used these metaphors to talk about love.
“Well, I’m a religious person. … My dad took us to Catholic school,” Alex tells ABC Audio. “I’m not Catholic anymore. I’m Christian. And I feel like it’s a way that I’m really close with my parents, now that they’re gone.”
Alex’s father died of cancer when Alex was 9 years old; his mother died in 2021.
“I feel I can talk to them and I feel there’s such a great relationship with me and God and things like that because of that,” he adds. “And so I grew with church music. I grew up with worship music.”
Alex says he was “heavily influenced” by worship music and also by one of his frequent co-writers, Mags Duval.
“She is also Christian and … in this new album, there’s Bible verses that we’ll use in our records,” he explains.
“I think it’s really important to kind of keep that part of me and tell my story,” Alex notes. “I like to incorporate it in my records but not make it too ‘Christian-y,’ just because I want everyone to be able to listen to my music and I want everyone to able to relate to it.”
Alex kicks off an extension of his Cheaper Than Therapy Tour on Aug. 9 in San Diego. He’ll spend most of August in Australia and New Zealand before returning to North America for more dates starting Sept. 10.
Lead singer Brian Fair of Shadows Fall performs at Ozzfest 2005 at the Hyundai Pavilion on August 20, 2005 in San Bernandino, California. Karl Walter/Getty Images
Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner has shared an update on the progress of the band’s upcoming comeback album.
Bitner shares in an Instagram post that he’s returned to the studio to start working on the back half of the record.
“We’ve tracked five songs so far, you guys have heard two of them that we’ve released,” Bittner says. “Today … we’re gonna start the last five.”
Those two songs that were released are 2024’s “In the Grey” and 2025’s “Souls Devoured.”
Shadows Fall hasn’t put out an album since 2012’s Fire from the Sky. They then went on hiatus in 2015 before reuniting in 2021.
In addition to working on new tunes, Shadows Fall toured with Killswitch Engage over the spring.
YUNGBLUD performs onstage during a concert at Engine Rooms on July 15, 2025 in Southampton, England. Mark Holloway/Redferns
Yungblud has shared a new clip from his upcoming documentary, Yungblud. Are You Ready, Boy?
The footage shows the “Fleabag” rocker speaking about how “fearless” he felt when he first started making music, which was diminished as he would take on more and more “insecurity and anger and pain.”
“I became a shell of myself,” Yungblud shares. “I reeked of insecurity for years.”
With making his latest album, Idols, Yungblud feels he’s “taking some power back.” He went into the record with the mindset of, “If this ends now, if this all just f****** stops, if this is the last thing you are ever gonna say, make sure that it is truly what you want to say, and make sure that it’s truly everything that you’ve ever wanted to leave behind.”
Yungblud. Are You Ready, Boy? follows Yungblud as he travels to Berlin’s Hansa Studios, which was famously used by artists including David Bowie and U2, ahead of releasing Idols. It will screen in theaters on Aug. 20 and Aug. 24.
Yungblud will launch a U.S. tour in support of Idols Aug. 23 in Los Angeles.
Jeezy performs during Jeezy Presents TM:101 Live, a 20th anniversary celebration of Thug Motivation 101, with Color of Noize Orchestra at Fox Theatre on July 26, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Nykieria Chaney/Getty Images)
Jeezy‘s debut album, Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, is 20 years old, which calls for a celebration. He recently teamed with Black artist Dr. Fahamu Pècou to display an art piece honoring the milestone anniversary while giving back to the community and giving one of his fans the opportunity to own a collector’s item.
The centerpiece, titled School of Hard Knocks, featured Jeezy in an all-white suit with glasses on, a book in one hand and a backpack with the Snowman logo in another. It was unveiled at the Johnson Lowe Gallery in Atlanta before it was auctioned off. Proceeds were evenly split between Jeezy’s Street Dreamz Foundation and Pècou’s African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta.
“This painting is not just a tribute to Jeezy‘s 20-year legacy,” Pècou says of the artwork, according to a press release. “It is an offering to all the thinkers, hustlers, and visionaries molded in fire. For those of us who come through the margins, the school of hard knocks isn’t metaphor—it’s alma mater. And from its halls, we emerge not broken, but forged—brilliant, unbowed, and blooming.”
“We actually put it out for auction to go toward both of our nonprofits,” Jeezy told ABC Audio, noting the centerpiece is “adding to that whole collector’s feel” he started with the release of his TM:101 vinyls. “I’m just trying to make history, you know, put some points on the board for the culture.”
