Sarah Reeves is on ‘Cloud Nine’ over the success of her dance-pop single

Sarah Reeves is on ‘Cloud Nine’ over the success of her dance-pop single
Sarah Reeves is on ‘Cloud Nine’ over the success of her dance-pop single
Sarah Reeves attends the ‘Someone Like You’ premiere March, 2024. (Danielle Del Valle/Getty Images for ‘Someone Like You’ Movie)

Sarah Reeves, best known for her 2024 empowerment anthem “More Than Enough,” has her biggest pop hit yet with “Cloud Nine.” Ironically, Sarah originally wrote the song so she could offer it to another artist, but was then convinced it could be a success for her.

“It wasn’t even on my radar for my album. I was kind of writing it for just to pitch [to someone else] for a dance cut,” Sarah tells ABC Audio. “But my husband was actually the one that heard it. He’s like, ‘This is your hit, Sarah, I’m telling you.'” Her husband then told a member of Sarah’s team about the track, who agreed and told her, “This is a smash.”

“So I’m like, ‘O.K., then let’s release it!'” she says. “So yeah, it’s definitely a surprise to me.”

Sarah says she wrote “Cloud Nine” after one of her collaborators sent her a dance track so she could write lyrics and a melody for it. “I felt like it was so easy to write and it fit my voice and I loved it,” Sarah says. She also liked that the song had kind of the vibe of one of her influences, Dua Lipa.

“So it made sense for it to be my song instead of pitch it to somebody else. I’m like, ‘Why not?” she says with a laughs.

Much of Sarah’s previous work is comprised of Christian pop and what she calls “message-driven” songs, like “More Than Enough” and “Get Back Your Fight.” But she likes the fact “Cloud Nine” is the opposite of that.

She notes, “I’m not overthinking anything. It’s fun. It’s joyful. It’s lighthearted. And I think it’s needed throughout my music.”

On Friday, Sarah released two new songs — “Run Away” and “Freedom” — and she’s working on a full-length album.  

 

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Outkast announces celebratory activations in honor of ‘Stakonia”s 25th anniversary

Outkast announces celebratory activations in honor of ‘Stakonia”s 25th anniversary
Outkast announces celebratory activations in honor of ‘Stakonia”s 25th anniversary
Legacy Recordings

The 25th anniversary of Outkast‘s groundbreaking album Stankonia is approaching. In honor of the special milestone, the group has announced a few celebratory activations.

First up is the release of new limited edition merch, taking place Oct. 2, as part of a partnership with Ceremony of Roses. Two limited-edition t-shirts will be available for purchase as well as a black hoodie, corduroy cap, an alternate CD cover designed by André 3000 and more.

Outkast will then follow with the Oct. 29 launch of the “So Fresh, So Green” initiative in their hometown of Atlanta, named after their Stankonia single “So Fresh, So Clean.” They have teamed with local nonprofit Live Thrive for a community recycling drive at the Headland Delowe shopping center, as well as Trees Atlanta, which will plant 25 trees in the community for every year the album has been out. The first 100 people to make it to the event will receive a limited-edition Outkast t-shirt.

On the actual release date of the album, Oct. 31, Outkast will drop an expanded three-LP vinyl of Stankonia pressed on purple marble. It features new cover art designed by Three Stacks, unreleased images from when the duo was originally promoting the album and three bonus tracks: “Sole Sunday” featuring Goodie Mob, two remixes of “B.O.B.” by Cutmaster Swiff and the Beat Bullies, and “Speed Ballin,” which was never released digitally.

The vinyl is now available for preorder, as are the standard two-LP, standard CD and some special fan packs. 

While Stankonia‘s 25th anniversary is around the corner, Outkast has another reason to celebrate: They’ll be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The ceremony takes place Nov. 8, the same day they will drop a limited-edition reversible bomber jacket.

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Hungry for more Foos? Chomp down on their Meaty Playlist

Hungry for more Foos? Chomp down on their Meaty Playlist
Hungry for more Foos? Chomp down on their Meaty Playlist
Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ (ABC/Randy Holmes)

Foo Fighters have been churning back up again, premiering a new single, “Today’s Song,” in July and playing their first show with new drummer Ilan Rubin in September. If you’re hungry for more, Dave Grohl and company have something for you to nibble on.

The Foos have posted A Meaty Playlist, a group of songs from other artists intended to be “a tasty snack to hold you over.”

The playlist has a number of punk bands from the 1980s Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, including Fugazi, Bad Brains, Minor Threat and Rites of Spring. Also included is Grohl’s pre-Nirvana band, Scream.

Perhaps the playlist hints at the direction of upcoming new Foos tunes. Before releasing “Today’s Song,” they did put out a cover of the Minor Threat song “I Don’t Wanna Hear It.”

Meanwhile, the Foos played a surprise show at the D.C. club the Black Cat on Sunday.

Foo Fighters released their latest album, But Here We Are, in 2023. They toured in support of it with Josh Freese playing drums in place of the late Taylor Hawkins. Freese was then let go from the band in May before Rubin joined.

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Sonny Curtis, writer of ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ theme, member of Buddy Holly’s Crickets, dead at 88

Sonny Curtis, writer of ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ theme, member of Buddy Holly’s Crickets, dead at 88
Sonny Curtis, writer of ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ theme, member of Buddy Holly’s Crickets, dead at 88
Sonny Curtis performs in London, September, 2004 (Jo Hale/Getty Images)

Sonny Curtis, a member of Buddy Holly‘s Crickets who also wrote The Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song and other hits, has died, according to a Facebook post by his daughter. He was 88.

“I’m heartbroken to tell you that my dad Sonny passed away yesterday after a sudden illness,” she wrote Saturday. “I’m so grateful that I was with him at the end, along with my mom. It was peaceful and he didn’t suffer.”

“He was 88 and he lived a more exceptional life than anyone I’d ever met,” she continued. “He made a mark on this world, and he made a mark on the hearts of all who knew him. It’s a sad day, but what a life. May we look at his life with joy rather than sadness. He would have wanted that.”

Born in Meadow, Texas, Curtis met Buddy Holly at age 15 and formed a band with him. He eventually left to work with other musicians, but rejoined Holly and his band, now dubbed the Crickets, in 1958. After Holly died in 1959, Curtis became the band’s frontman and toured and recorded with them on and off until 2016.

In 2012, the Crickets, including Curtis, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by a special committee convened to correct the fact that the band hadn’t been inducted along with Holly in 1986.

Curtis was also a hitmaking songwriter; in 1970, he wrote “Love Is All Around,” the theme for The Mary Tyler Moore Show. His other compositions included the Everly Brothers‘ 1961 hit “Walk Right Back;” “I Fought the Law,” a hit for the Bobby Fuller Four that was later recorded by The Clash and dozens of others; Leo Sayer‘s 1980 hit “More Than I Can Say” and Keith Whitley‘s 1989 country hit “I’m No Stranger to the Rain.”

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My Chemical Romance headlining 2026 Louder than Life, Welcome to Rockville & Sonic Temple festivals

My Chemical Romance headlining 2026 Louder than Life, Welcome to Rockville & Sonic Temple festivals
My Chemical Romance headlining 2026 Louder than Life, Welcome to Rockville & Sonic Temple festivals
Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance performs at AccorHotels Arena on June 01, 2022 in Paris, France. (David Wolff-Patrick/Redferns)

My Chemical Romance is headlining the 2026 Louder than Life, Welcome to Rockville and Sonic Temple festivals.

“For all the non-believers: My Chemical Romance is your first 2026 headliner,” the three festivals posted on Instagram Friday. “This post disappears in 24 hours, sign up with the link in bio to join us. Come Monday…We’ll carry on.”

Welcome to Rockville and Sonic Temple 2026 will take place May 7-10 in Daytona Beach, Florida, and May 14-17 in Columbus, Ohio, respectively. The 2026 dates for Louder than Life haven’t been announced yet; the 2025 festival is currently happening in Louisville, Kentucky.

MCR is coming off a U.S. stadium tour, during which they played their 2006 album The Black Parade each night. They’re also set to headline the Shaky Knees festival in Atlanta on Saturday.

Notably, The Black Parade will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2026.

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Twisted Sister announces first show of their 50th anniversary tour

Twisted Sister announces first show of their 50th anniversary tour
Twisted Sister announces first show of their 50th anniversary tour
Eddie Ojeda, Jay Jay French, Dee Snider, and Mark Mendoza of Twisted Sister perform at the 6th Annual Metal Hall Of Fame Charity Gala at The Canyon on January 26, 2023 in Agoura Hills, California. (Photo by Elyse Jankowski/Getty Images)

Twisted Sister recently announced that they will be reuniting for their 50th anniversary, and now the first show on their 2026 schedule has been revealed.

The band — Dee Snider, Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda — has confirmed that they will be playing the 10th anniversary edition of Barcelona Rock Fest, happening July 3-5 at Parc de Can Zam in Barcelona, Spain.

“The 50th anniversary of @twistedsisterofficial and their concert at @bcnrockfest, a decade after their last show at Can Zam, will be an exclusive and unforgettable milestone in the history of the festival,” reads a post on the band’s Instagram page. “@deesnider and company will return with all their greatest hits to turn the festival upside down!”

Info on tickets can be found at barcelonarockfest.com.

So far this is the only date Twisted Sister has confirmed for their tour, which will be the first Twisted Sister tour since 2016. The band played Barcelona Rock Fest that year as well.

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The Cranberries announce standalone release of ‘MTV Unplugged’ performance

The Cranberries announce standalone release of ‘MTV Unplugged’ performance
The Cranberries announce standalone release of ‘MTV Unplugged’ performance
The Cranberries ‘MTV Unplugged’ album artwork. (Island Records/Ume)

The Cranberries have announced the first-ever standalone release of their MTV Unplugged live performance.

The set will arrive on vinyl, CD and digital platforms on Nov. 7. It was previously exclusive to the 30th anniversary limited-edition vinyl reissue of The Cranberries’ 1994 album No Need to Argue, which was released in June.

“We’d seen some of the biggest names in music like R.E.M., Pearl Jam, The Cure and Nirvana do their Unplugged‘s and were blown away to be following in their footsteps,” says drummer Fergal Lawler. “MTV were doing a series of recordings in this beautiful old theatre with curved seating. It was a really chilled, relaxed vibe with the audience sitting on the floor.”

The track list includes stripped-down renditions of hits such as “Zombie” and “Linger.”

The Cranberries released their final album, In the End, in 2019 following the 2018 death of frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan.

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Music Notes: Cardi B, Doja Cat, Blue Ivy and more

Music Notes: Cardi B, Doja Cat, Blue Ivy and more
Music Notes: Cardi B, Doja Cat, Blue Ivy and more

Cardi B just released her sophomore album, Am I The Drama?, and it’s already gone Platinum. The Recording Industry Association of America congratulated her on the feat in a post shared to their X account. The accomplishment comes fast because she included multiplatinum singles “WAP” and “Up” on the track list.

Doja Cat released the track list for her upcoming album Vie, which is set to drop on Sept. 26. It includes 15 tracks; no features have been mentioned.

Blue Ivy Carter has displayed her dance skills alongside mother Beyoncé, but is she releasing music next? Grandmother Tina Knowles tells People she isn’t sure. “I don’t know if that’s her passion,” she said of Blue. “She can do so many things. She can paint, she writes poetry, anything she puts her mind to do, she’s good at. So I don’t know what she’s going to do.” She continues, “I think she would be great at music, [she] would kill it. But I don’t think that that’s her passion.”

LeBron James made it clear that he’ll always have love for Drake. “Always wish him the best. Obviously, um, different places right now, currently. He’s doing his thing, I’m doing mine,” he said in an interview with Speedy Morman. “But it’s always love, for sure.” The tension between Drake and LeBron seemed to start after LeBron attended Kendrick Lamar‘s Pop Out event last June. It resulted in Drake changing his lyrics during on onstage performance of “Nonstop,” where he rapped, “How I go from 6 to 23 but not LeBron, man” instead of the original lyrics, “How I go from 6 to 23 like I’m LeBron?”

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Visa delays jeopardizing Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ ‘Cat On The Road To Findout’ book tour Adult

Visa delays jeopardizing Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ ‘Cat On The Road To Findout’ book tour Adult
Visa delays jeopardizing Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ ‘Cat On The Road To Findout’ book tour Adult
Cover of Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ memoir ‘Cat On The Road To Findout’ /(Genesis Publications)

Yusuf/Cat Stevens is supposed to be going on a U.S. book tour in October in support of his memoir Cat On The Road To Findout, but there’s a chance that the tour may not go on as planned.

A post on the musician’s Instagram reveals that the tour, Cat on the Road to Findout: An Evening Of Tales, Tunes, and Other Mysteries, is “in serious jeopardy due to significant delays in U.S. immigration processing.”

“Despite our team’s exhaustive efforts, the required performance visas for Yusuf and his band have not yet been issued,” the post continues.

Stevens says, “We’ve prepared something truly special for my American audience, but this is out of our hands.”

The post “strongly” advises fans to not do any traveling for the tour until there is confirmation that it will still happen.

“We are working urgently with authorities and will share news the moment we have it,” the post reads. “Your understanding and patience are appreciated as we fight to keep the ‘Peace Train’ on its tracks.”

Cat on the Road to Findout: An Evening Of Tales, Tunes, and Other Mysteries is supposed to kick off Oct. 2 in Philadelphia and wrap with two nights, Oct. 21 and 22, in Los Angeles.

Stevens’ book, Cat On The Road To Findout, is due out Oct. 7.

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Jay Electronica releases surprise album on 49th birthday

Jay Electronica releases surprise album on 49th birthday
Jay Electronica releases surprise album on 49th birthday
Jay Electronica backstage at Sony Hall on January 10, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

Jay Electronica turns 49 Friday, but yet, he’s the one surprising his fans. He unexpectedly dropped a new album, which is the follow-up to his 2020 project, A Written Testimony. 

A Written Testimony: Leaflets features seven tracks with guests DRAM, Quentin Miller and Diddy, who appears on the album’s opener, Abracadabra. 

“Leaflets, leaflets, they want me to talk some s***. Talk some s*** about my n***a Jay Electronica,” Diddy says on the song. “I hope he put out this motherf****** album, he ain’t, for real, man ‘cause people gotta feel that real soul, you know what I’m saying?”

“Hip-hop is in a very, very dangerous place, you know. Give them that s***, you know what I’m saying? Live at they souls, lift up they vibration,” Diddy continued. “That’s what God sent you here to do, you know? That’s why we wait so long. We wait for things that are good ‘cause good things come to those who wait.”

Elsewhere on the album are Jay’s bars, film samples and audio clips summarizing his religious beliefs.

And Jay had another surprise in store for fans. He also released his 2020 album, Act II: The Patents of Nobility (The Turn), on streaming services.

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