Drake brought out an unexpected guest at his Wireless Festival over the weekend: Vanessa Carlton.
The singer came out for a surprise performance of “A Thousand Miles” on night two of the festival in London Saturday.
“Thank you to the one and only @champagnepapi for inviting me to be a part of his show and for the sweet introduction,” Vanessa wrote on Instagram. “I am so moved and have been a fan since the beginning. And thanks to everyone behind the scenes that pulled this one off for us.”
Drake also brought out Lauryn Hill, 21 Savage, Rema, Burna Boy and more for the three-night festival.
Neil Diamond made a surprise appearance during the matinee performance of A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles Saturday.
The singer was introduced by the show’s star, Nick Fradiani, during the curtain call, and then Diamond led the audience in a rendition of “Sweet Caroline” from the middle of the orchestra section.
This isn’t the first time Diamond’s joined the cast of the show for a serenade of “Sweet Caroline.” The singer turned up at the musical’s Broadway premiere in December of 2022 and led the audience in the song from the balcony of the theater.
In 2018 Diamond announced he was retiring from performing live after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Talking Heads released their sophomore studio album, More Songs About Buildings and Food. The album’s cover was made up of over 500 Polaroid photos that put together became a picture of the band.
The record was a top-40 hit for Talking Heads, peaking at #29 in the U.S. It contained the band’s first hit single, a cover of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River,” which also peaked at #29.
More Songs About Buildings and Food is being revisited with a three-CD/Blu-ray deluxe edition, dropping July 25. It will include the remastered album, as well as 11 rarities, four of which are previously unreleased versions of album tracks. There’s also a live album, featuring a recording of the band’s August 1978 show at New York’s Entermedia Theatre.
Matt Cameron may no longer be playing in Pearl Jam, but that doesn’t mean he’s done playing music for good.
A week after announcing that he was leaving the “Even Flow” outfit after a 27-year tenure, Cameron has shared an Instagram Story thanking fans for their “kind words of support” while adding, “For the record, I’m still an active musician.”
As for what bands or projects he might be an active musician with, that has yet to be revealed. Notably, he’ll be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the second time in November as a member of Soundgarden. He was inducted for the first time with Pearl Jam in 2017.
In other Soundgarden-related news, the band has put out a statement regarding their absence from the big Back to the Beginning concert, which marked the final live performances from the original Black Sabbath lineup and Ozzy Osbourne. Sharon Osbourne had said that members of the “Black Hole Sun” band would be playing the show, but they were missing from the event when it took place on July 5.
“We are super bummed and regret that we were unable to coordinate the schedules of our individual and collective projects to attend and contribute to the festival,” Soundgarden says in an Instagram post. “The warmth, love and support from the Black Sabbath team has been a continuing source of encouragement and strength throughout our career.”
Ed Sheeran experienced one of his favorite moments on stage ever over the weekend.
The singer was joined by James Blunt during the final show of his three-night stand at Portman Road stadium in his hometown of Suffolk, U.K., Sunday.
“I rarely get nervous at gigs, I do this so often. I’m very nervous to sing this, because I’ve never sung this with him and this really is a dream come true,” Ed told the crowd before announcing James to the stage and singing “Goodbye My Lover” together.
“I’m quite emotional after that actually,” Ed said after the performance. “That is top-3 favorite moment on stage ever. Ever.”
On Instagram, Ed wrote a lengthy caption recounting first seeing James perform at Portman Road when he was 13 and how the “You’re Beautiful” artist became his favorite singer-songwriter and eventually, close friend.
“Don’t meet your hero’s [sic], unless your hero’s [sic] are James blunt,” he wrote.
Parker McCollum‘s changing things up on the road this year.
For starters, he has songs from his new, self-titled album to work into his set list, including his hit “What Kinda Man.”
And while he’s been careful about not saying too much, he predicts fans will notice “a little different vibe.”
“I think they’ll be pretty surprised with, you know, how different the show is this year,” he says. “I think they will. I don’t wanna spoil anything, but I think they’ll like it, I think they’ll connect with it. I think it’ll do well. I think they’ll be happy with it, but I do think they’ll be a little surprised.”
Next up are stops in Nashville, Memphis and Dallas starting on Thursday.
The Who will launch The Song Is Over North American Farewell Tour in August, and while so far they haven’t announced additional dates anywhere outside North America, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are out of the question.
A new Pollstar article features an interview with the band’s manager, Bill Curbishley, and Live Nation tour promoter Steve Herman about the tour, and both think more shows are a possibility.
“I’ve been asking, believe me,” Herman says. “I don’t expect them to do too many more shows, but I think there’s a possibility outside of North America that there would be a few stops, if they decide that they like it and it makes sense.”
He adds, “I think we take this bite and then we see how we’re doing, if they’re enjoying themselves, that’s the main thing. I think they’re doing this because that’s what they do. I don’t think they’re doing this for any other reason.”
Curbishley also says he’s “not totally discounting” more shows in the future.
“If any really important shows came up that appealed to them, I’m sure they would pick up their gear and they’d want to do it,” he says.
He also tells the mag he hopes The Who get a chance to say goodbye to the rest of the world, although right now there are no plans to do so.
He says, “I really would like them to say farewell to the planet, then get Elon Musk to put them in a rocket and send them somewhere.”
The Who’s The Song Is Over North American Tour kicks off Aug. 16 in Sunrise, Florida, and wraps Sept. 28 in Las Vegas. A complete list of dates can be found at TheWho.com.
Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall of Fame)
Jeff Lynne’s ELO was supposed to play their final show ever Sunday, headlining London’s BST Hyde Park, but the concert is no longer going on as planned.
After canceling their show Thursday in Manchester due to illness, Lynne has now axed the London show as well, also for health reasons.
“Jeff Lynne is heartbroken to report that he will not be able to perform at tomorrow’s BST Hyde Park show,” read a message on social media. “Jeff has been battling a systemic infection and is currently in the care of a team of doctors who have advised him that performing is simply not possible at this time nor will he be able to reschedule.”
“The legacy of the band and his longtime fans are foremost in Jeff’s mind today – and while he is sorry that he cannot perform, he knows that he must focus on his health and rehabilitation at this time,” the post continued, advising fans to go to the BST Hyde Park website for info on refunds.
The ELO U.K. tour, which kicked off July 5 in Lynne’s hometown of Birmingham, had problems right from the start. Lynne was unable to play guitar during the shows. According to setlist.fm, he explained to fans that he had an accident and had broken his hand.
Lynne announced back in March 2024 that ELO would be heading out on their final tour, dubbed The Over and Out Tour. In October of that year he announced that the BST Hyde Park show would be their last ever concert. At the time he said that London seemed “like the perfect place to do our final show.”
Gelo‘s transition from basketball to music has proved to be successful, as he’s made the cut for XXL Freshmen Class of 2025. He tells the outlet he “had [being a Freshman] in the back of my mind when I started putting out music” and is excited that he has that stamp of approval.
“I always just knew what XXL was and what they was about. Coming up as a kid, I used to watch the cyphers and stuff a lot of the time,” he recalls, comparing the freshman honor to the sport he knows best. “It’s like winning a Rookie of the Year or something if you was in the NBA. It’s cool to say.”
Though he’s aware that there may be mixed reactions to his entry into the 2025 class, he says “it’s good publicity.” He says he’s eager for people to hear his freestyle and see him on the cover.
Gelo also teased new music with his sound, which he says “is a little different than what people have heard.”
“I do be rapping, but I stretch some words out a certain way. I use a certain tone when I make music,” he explains. “I feel like it affects different groups of people. I feel like my music could stretch a little bit.”
“I feel like I got a lot to give for the music world,” Gelo continues. “I’m not coming in with one or two songs. I’m about to put out an album soon. I feel like I got a lot of music to put out for people. We gonna see if they rock.”
Now that they’re officially back together, Oasis is once again conquering the charts.
The “Wonderwall” band’s 2010 best-of compilation Time Flies…1994-2009 has returned to #1 on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart, the same position it debuted at upon its original release 15 years ago.
Time Flies… marked what looked to be the end of Oasis after the band had broken up in 2009. After 15 years of sniping at each other in the press and on social media, brothers Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher finally ended their feud when they announced they’d gotten Oasis back together in August 2024.
Nearly a year later, Oasis returned to the stage for the first show of their reunion tour on July 4 in Cardiff, Wales. The outing is set to continue through the U.K. and into Ireland before coming to North America in August.
![Gelo reacts to being ‘XXL’ Freshman: ‘[I’m excited for] just the whole experience’](https://s3.amazonaws.com/syndication.abcaudio.com/files/2025-07-11/Getty_Gelo_71125.png "Gelo reacts to being ‘XXL’ Freshman: ‘[I’m excited for] just the whole experience’")
