“‘Something Wicked’ is a quick look into our influences both musically and thematically,” the band says in a statement. “We challenged ourselves especially hard on this record and on this song. We pushed every boundary we’ve previously had as far as it will go, then pushed a little more. ‘Something Wicked’ was the result.”
“Something Wicked” follows the 2024 single “Awaken.” A new Breaking Benjamin album, the follow-up to 2018’s Ember, is in the works.
Breaking Benjamin will play the Sonic Temple festival on Thursday. They’ll launch a full U.S. tour in September with support from Chevelle and Starset.
The Strokes have premiered a new song called “Falling Out of Love,” a track off the band’s upcoming album, Reality Awaits.
Like the previously released single “Going Shopping,” “Falling Out of Love” finds frontman Julian Casablancas experimenting with vocal effects similar to what he does with his Voidz side project.
Reality Awaits is due out June 26. It marks the first Strokes album since 2020’s The New Abnormal.
Olivia Rodrigo performs at the Disney Advertising Upfront, May 12, 2026 in New York City. (Disney/Michael Le Brecht II)
Olivia Rodrigo was the surprise guest Tuesday at Disney’s annual Upfront presentation in New York City — and she brought a special guest onstage to sing with her.
As WABC-TV reports, host Jimmy Kimmel and his 11-year-old daughter, Jane, introduced Olivia at the end of the event, during which Disney presented its new slate of programming to advertisers. She performed her new single “drop dead,” as well as “good 4 u” and “get him back!”
As captured in fan-shot video, during “get him back!” Olivia ran into the audience and brought Jane onstage, and the two sang the song together, danced and jumped up and down.
Olivia’s presence at the event wasn’t a surprise given her Disney history: Before she became a global pop superstar, she starred in the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark, followed by her star-making stint in the Disney+ show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
Foo Fighters downsized in space but not in sound to play NPR’s Tiny Desk performance series.
Dave Grohl and company ripped through a five-song set while confined to the titular Tiny Desk, playing the classics “Learn to Fly,” “My Hero” and “Everlong,” as well as two tracks off their new album, Your Favorite Toy: “Spit Shine” and “Child Actor.”
“It’s an honor to be here,” Grohl said. “I’ve watched so many of these Tiny Desk shows and have a bunch of favorites.”
During the choruses of “My Hero,” Grohl led the crowd in a sing-along, declaring, “It’s not so tiny now!”
You can watch the Foo Fighters Tiny Desk performance streaming now on YouTube.
Foo Fighters will be playing much larger venues when they launch a North American stadium tour in August.
The Country Music Association is extending its partnership with Disney for six more years, meaning annual specials like CMA Awards, CMA Fest and CMA Country Christmas will air on ABC through 2032.
The new contract adds an important new aspect, with the 2026 CMA Awards set to stream live on Disney+ for the first time ever.
“For two decades, Disney has been CMA’s partner in celebrating excellence in country music and bringing its artists and storytelling to audiences around the world,” CMA CEO Sarah Trahern says in a news release. “Extending our collaboration with Disney and expanding the show to livestream on Disney+ marks an exciting next step for CMA, allowing us to reach new audiences while continuing our role in elevating and shaping the genre.”
“As I prepare to retire at the end of the year,” she continues, “ensuring CMA is strongly positioned for the future has remained one of my highest priorities, and I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built together. As we approach The 60th Annual CMA Awards this fall and a new chapter for CMA Fest in the new stadium in 2027, I’m excited for what’s ahead for both CMA and country music.”
The 60th CMAs will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 18, as construction on the new home for the Tennessee Titans continues.
The first CMA Awards were held in 1967, and the show has gone on to become the longest-running yearly music awards ceremony on broadcast TV.
U2 shoot music video in Mexico City (Photo Credit: Hector Vivas/Getty Images for U2)
U2 has been working on a new album for quite a while and it sounds like they’re finally getting ready to give fans their first taste of the record.
The Irish rockers were in Mexico City Tuesday filming a music video on top of a school bus, which was surrounded by fans. According to a press release, the video is for the track “Street of Dreams,” which will appear on U2’s yet-to-be announced album, which is expected to be released later this year.
The band shared a clip of their Mexico City takeover on Instagram, adding the caption, “Hopped a bus in Mexico City, destination: Street of Dreams,” along with what is likely a lyric from the song, “‘Justice an obsession, love is a procession down the street of dreams.’”
But it seems the video shoot didn’t go off without a hitch. According to a separate post on Instagram, “thunder and rain crashed the generator for the film shoot,” forcing the band to take cover. The post notes, “a bewildered but welcoming neighbour let the U2ers crash their apartment at dinner time and out to their balcony.”
The post is accompanied by a video showing the band entering the local’s home, and then taking to their balcony. The crowd below serenaded U2 with their song “Vertigo,” with Bono and the band joining them. The band also played along as the crowd sang their hit “Desire.”
U2’s next release will be their first album of new material since 2017’s Songs of Experience. They did release two EPs with new material — Days of Ash and Easter Lily — in February and April, respectively.
Leave it to Chris Stapleton to wax philosophical about country music awards shows.
Of course, he does know a thing or two about the topic, since he’s the most-nominated male artist at Sunday’s 61st ACMs, with a chance to take home six more trophies.
“These things are fantastic things to win, but when you get nominated or invited to these kinda parties, in my estimation, you’ve already won and you’ve already gotten to be far beyond [what] anybody who’s a musician could ever dream of getting to do,” he reflects.
“As far as thinkin’ about goin’ into somethin’,” he adds, “I’m always genuinely surprised to win anything and I’m always grateful for it.”
So where does Stapleton keep his impressive trophy collection?
“Some of ’em, we put ’em out on the road in the VIP section for the fans to see,” he answers. “That’s who they belong to. … I don’t feel like they really belong to me. I don’t have ‘em in my house or anything like that. I don’t sit around making a shrine to myself or anything.”
“We try to make sure that the fans get to see ‘em and enjoy ‘em as much as possible. Some of ‘em are in the Country Music Hall of Fame and places where they can be enjoyed by the people that got me to where I could earn them.”
Stapleton’s one of the rare ACM Triple Crown winners, having picked up new male, male and entertainer to earn the honor.
He could add his sixth male artist honor on Sunday, along with potential trophies for “A Song to Sing” with Miranda Lambert.
The 61st Academy of Country Music Awards stream live from Las Vegas Sunday on Prime Video.
John Ford Coley performs at Rock The Yacht 2019 at Mayo Center Performing Arts on August 20, 2019 in Morristown, New Jersey. (Photo by Bobby Bank/Getty Images)
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the soft rock hit “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” by England Dan and John Ford Coley, and to mark the occasion, a new take on the song has just been released.
The reimagined version has Coley “reuniting” with his late singing partner Dan Seals, with Coley singing the second verse, not just the harmonies like he did in the original song.
“I’d Really Love to See You Tonight,” written by Parker McGee, was a huge hit for the duo, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. But Coley says he and Seals originally “fought against” recording it. Of course, their first instinct turned out to be the wrong one.
“The first time that I knew that I was wrong was when I saw the first royalty check,” Coley tells ABC Audio, explaining he and Seals originally didn’t like the song because they wanted to be known as singer-songwriters.
“Unfortunately, all the songs that we had written generated about $1.98 in sales,” he jokes.
The song has caused some confusion over the years, with fans mishearing what Seals is singing in the opening of the chorus, as he mumbles the line “I’m not talking about moving in.” Coley says to this day he still gets people asking about it.
“I’ve gotten, ‘I’m not talking about wiggling, M&M’s, Bolivia, linen,’ it just goes on,” he says. ”And I get a couple that I cannot repeat in polite company.”
Looking back, the 77-year-old Coley can’t quite believe it’s been 50 years since the song came out.
“It’s ironic for me because I don’t even think I’m 50 years old myself yet,” he says. “And to have something stay around that long, I mean, I’m flabbergasted, staggered by the whole thing.”
Deep Purple is giving fans the first taste of their upcoming album, SPLAT!
The band has just released a video for the record’s first single, “Arrogant Boy,” which is the lead track from the album.
SPLAT!, dropping July 3, explores the idea of the end of humanity as a transformation rather than a destruction, with the album’s description noting it sees the end “not in any crude apocalyptic sense but as a metamorphosis beyond physical existence.”
It is Deep Purple’s first album since 2024’s =1.
Deep Purple is set to kick off a European tour on June 11 in Finland. The trek includes several festival appearances, including a show at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 12. They launch a North American tour Aug. 4 in Raleigh, North Carolina, with dates confirmed through Sept. 12 in Sparks, Nevada.
A complete list of dates can be found at DeepPurple.com.
Flyer for Everyday’s Friday: Lyrics, Loungin’ and Laughing (Live Nation)
Ice Cube and Mike Epps are celebrating 30 years of the Friday moviefranchise with a one-night-only event taking place July 17 at the Long Beach Amphitheater in Long Beach, California.
Cube will take the stage to perform some of his greatest hits, while Mike will entertain the crowd with his stand-up comedy. There will also be performances from special guests Warren G and Scarface, and cash prizes for the best Friday character costumes.
“Fridayhas always been about and for the fans who made it a classic and kept it alive for nearly 30 years,” Cube said in statement. “To be able to step back out there with Mike Epps and bring that energy to the stage for a one-night-only experience in Long Beach is special. This show represents the beginning of the next chapter.”
Mike shared a similar sentiment. He added in his own statement, “Every day for the last 30 years someone has told me how much they loved The Friday Franchise and how much the characters mean to them. To reunite with Cube and bring this one night only experience to the fans is incredible.”
Tickets to the one-night-only event, dubbed Everyday’s Friday: Lyrics, Loungin’ and Laughing, become available Thursday at 10 a.m. PT via the venue and Live Nation presales. General ticket sales then begin Friday at 10 a.m. PT.
Friday was released in 1995, with Cube as the lead character Craig Jones, a newly employed man who teams with stoner pal Smokey, played by Chris Tucker, to try to pay off a $200 debt. Chris was replaced by Mike’s character, Daymond “Day-Day” Jones, who made his debut in Next Friday (2000) and returned for Friday After Next (2002).
