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Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz sign on as executive producers of ‘Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story’

March 19, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz have joined the team behind the film Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story, according to Deadline. They will serve as executive producers, joining Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath, Misfits Entertainment’s Andee Ryder, The Creative Coalition’s Robin Bronk, and The Kwame Brathwaite Archive’s Kwame S. Brathwaite and Robyn Brathwaite.

According to Deadline, Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story follows Kwame Brathwaite, and his work as a photographer and activist. He helped launch the Black Is Beautiful movement, and captured images of both everyday people and celebrities.

Among those he photographed are Stevie Wonder, Muhammad Ali, Marvin Gaye, Roberta Flack, Nina Simone and The Jackson 5.

The news comes after Alicia surprised fans with a performance at Grand Central Terminal’s 50th anniversary celebration.

“Performing with just strings, piano, bass, and guitar in that massive, iconic space was pure magic. Every train I’ve ever run to catch flashed through my mind as I looked out and saw a sea of faces sharing this once-in-a-lifetime moment with me. I love you all so much!” she said on Instagram.

It also follows Swizz’s announcement that Westies, a show for which he serves as a consulting producer, is heading to MGM+.

“From the dream team that gave you @godfatherofharlem!!!!!! We hope you’re ready for our new show THE WESTIES,” Swizz wrote.

The Westies premieres on July 12.

Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready prepares ‘my version of a rock opera’ with ‘Farewell to Seasons’ project

March 19, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready is releasing a new graphic novel called Farewell to Seasons, which is set in the Seattle music scene of ’80s and ’90s. It will be accompanied by a soundtrack of original music, which McCready tells ABC Audio he wanted to sound like “my version of a rock opera.”

“I wanted to push myself to be able to write something that’s specifically about something,” McCready says. “Not just a song, but a whole story.”

While he’s known for shredding songs like “Even Flow” and “Alive,” Farewell to Seasons showcases another aspect of McCready’s musical repertoire.

“I wanted to write something where I sang on it,” McCready says. “To be honest with you, I took four years of singing lessons and I wanted it to be good, so I’ve been working on it for a long time. And I feel really good about it now.”

The Farewell to Seasons soundtrack is presented as a piece written by David Williams, a character in the graphic novel. To bring that to life, McCready recorded with musicians including Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses, Stefan Lessard of Dave Matthews Band, drummers Mike Musburger, Chris Friel and Nate Yaccino, and vocalist Molly Sides.

“It’s not necessarily any genre really,” McCready says. “It’s just, I want it to be part of the mythology of the story.”

Farewell to Seasons and its soundtrack are due out in October, and are available to preorder now. As for McCready’s day job, he says Pearl Jam is still looking to find a new drummer following the 2025 departure of Matt Cameron.

“The four of us are ready to keep doing stuff, but we don’t have anybody in line right now,” McCready says. “I’m excited when that happens, because we’ll get right into it when we do.”

Lindsey Buckingham says reissue of ‘Buckingham Nicks’ was a ‘pleasant surprise’

March 19, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Back in September, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks reissued their only studio album as a duo, 1973’s Buckingham Nicks. In a new video, Buckingham explains why he felt the time was right for the rerelease.

In a video posted to Buckingham’s social media accounts, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer calls the reissue “a pleasant surprise on a number of levels.”

“We had talked about releasing it a couple of times earlier in maybe the 10 or so years previous and couldn’t really agree on anything,” he says. “But I think you have to look at the timing of it as something that perhaps was meant to be. That now, as we sort of have evolved into this point in our respective careers and lives, I think both Stevie and I are able to appreciate the arcs that we’ve both experienced individually and together for 50-something years.”

He says the reaction to it “was just a completion of the circle, a completion of the karma.”

“And there’s just a lot of good energy flying around anyway in both our lives, and even the way we’re beginning to interact again,” he says, referring to his previous estrangement from Nicks. “And so I think the timing of the release of Buckingham Nicks was right and seems to be resonant with what’s going on in our lives.”

While Buckingham Nicks wasn’t a commercial success, shortly after the release Mick Fleetwood heard a track from the album and was so impressed he invited Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham insisted his then-girlfriend Nicks come with him, and the pair officially joined the band on New Year’s Eve 1974.

Still got hockey fever? ’Shoresy’ sets the tone

March 19, 2026 by WDNY Radio

If you finished your umpteenth rewatch of Heated Rivalry and are still craving more hockey drama, try giving Shoresy a shot.

The Canadian series, which streams on Hulu in the U.S., follows the Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs, a hockey team that plays in the senior NOSHO league. While the Persimmon Pomapoos would sound tougher, the Blueberry Bulldogs are led by the notorious Shoresy, played by series creator Jared Keeso, who’s known for his hard hits, incessant chirping, and increasingly creative and profane mom jokes.

That premise might not suggest a lot of emotional weight, but Shoresy has a surprising amount of heart, which has kept fans returning for five seasons.

“I love the unique mix of raw, risky, edgy, oddball humor that’s also laced with so much intelligence,” Tasya Teles, who plays team owner Nat, tells ABC Audio. “Then you have these really heartfelt stories and speeches and life lessons that they weave throughout each episode.”

Shoresy is a highly stylized show, featuring wordless close-up montages of the players alongside scenes of rapid-fire dialogue and repeated turns of phrase. To bring that stylized world to life, the Shoresy cast fittingly mirrors a hockey team.

“It’s because we’ve become such a cohesive unit,” Teles says. “Everybody knows each other in such an intimate way, we all move together as one, and it just makes it really easy.”

Throughout the show’s five seasons, you also get to know the Shoresy characters away from the rink as they pursue romantic relationships — you start an episode, and there’s Shoresy, being good to Laura Mohr — but at its core, the series is about the value of hockey and the good it does for the local community.

“There’s so much integrity and honor and selflessness that hockey players have and maybe isn’t seen,” Teles says.

Disney is the parent company of Hulu and ABC News.

Music notes: Sabrina Carpenter, ‘Golden’ and more

March 18, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Sabrina Carpenter responded on social media to someone who believes that her song “Manchild” is a diss at all men. A clip of Sabrina singing the song at Lollapalooza Chile, with fans shouting out the lyric “Useless!,” prompted someone to write, “women are always like ‘men are useless’ but sabrina carpenter is like 4 foot 11, she cant even climb into a mid size SUV without help.” Sabrina wrote back,”yes i can ?”

Thanks to its win and performance at the Oscars on Sunday, the KPop Demon Hunters hit “Golden” and the movie’s soundtrack are way up in streams and downloads. Billboard reports that “Golden” experienced a 608% increase in sales since the Oscars, while sales of the soundtrack increased 282%.

David Archuleta will release his DEVOUT EP on March 27, featuring songs he wrote to accompany his memoir of the same name. You can preorder the three-song EP now. He says in a statement the tracks are “a bit more raw, more vocally focused, and really about telling the story to complement the story I tell in my memoir. “

Doja Cat has new music coming. She tells Vogue for an April cover story that she’s got another project on the way, which will either be a standalone EP, or a deluxe version of her most recent album, Vie. She tells Vogue that she hopes it will “surprise people,” adding that it’s “bubbly” and “futuristic.”

Foo Fighters tease new Your Favorite Toy song, ‘Caught in the Echo’

March 18, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Foo Fighters are teasing a new song from their upcoming album, Your Favorite Toy.

The track is called “Caught in the Echo” and will arrive Friday. You can hear a 30-second preview now via the Foos’ Facebook.

“Caught in the Echo,” which opens the album, will be the third cut to be released off of Your Favorite Toy, following the single “Asking for a Friend” and the title track. The record will arrive in full on April 24.

Foo Fighters will play a one-off show in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on April 28, followed by headlining sets at the Welcome to Rockville and BottleRock Napa festivals in May. They’ll launch a full North American stadium tour in August.

Shakira says Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination is ‘pretty crazy,’ ‘a huge motivation’

March 18, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Shakira is nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, and if she gets in, she will be the first Latina woman ever to do so. Shakira says that sort of recognition seemed impossible to her in the past, and she gives all the credit to her fans.

“I thought someone was joking with me. I had to double-check, and then I just felt really grateful,” Shakira tells Billboard of finding out about her nomination. “It’s not something you expect. I’m so over the moon with my fans who’ve been supporting me for 30 years already, and they continue to … make things like these that sound almost impossible happen.”

Shakira says she “started out as a rock kid” who was a big fan of Nirvana, Metallica and Led Zeppelin. She adds, “It’s pretty crazy, honestly. I grew up in Barranquilla [in Colombia] and I dreamt about things like these, but I never thought that they could come true.”

The “Whenever, Wherever” singer says that if she makes the final cut in April, she’d “be so humbled and thrilled to be representing Latin music, Latina women, and the fans of rock and roll in my Hispanic community.”

But even if she doesn’t, Shakira — who points out that she’s put rock songs on all her albums — says, “[T]o me, just being nominated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is a huge motivation. It’s a huge honor, but also I think it’s gonna inspire me even more for the next years.”

Meanwhile, Shakira’s current tour has set a record as the highest-grossing tour of all time by a Hispanic artist, earning nearly $422 million.

Jay-Z to celebrate milestone anniversaries of ‘Reasonable Doubt,’ ‘The Blueprint’ with Yankee Stadium shows

March 18, 2026 by WDNY Radio

The speculation that Jay-Z would be hosting shows to celebrate his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, turned out to be true. He has announced a show at Yankee Stadium that will celebrate 30 years of the project, as well as a show in honor of the 25th anniversary of his album The Blueprint.

The Reasonable Doubt celebration is set for July 10, followed by The Blueprint show on July 11.

“Two historic nights to celebrate the iconic albums Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint,” read a post from the Roc Nation Instagram account.

Speculation about the shows began in February, when fans noticed he had updated his name on streaming services to the classic stylization seen on his 1996 debut.

He has since launched a new website, jayz30.com, and announced vinyls for “N**** What, N**** Who (Originator 99)”; Reasonable Doubt single “Dead Presidents”; The Black Album’s “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”; and “Wishing on a Star” featuring Gwen Dickey from the 1998 project In My Lifetime, Vol. 1.

Hov’s shows will be his second and third performances of the year, following his headlining set at The Roots Picnic on May 30.

Reasonable Doubt, released on June 25, 1996, spawned the tracks “Ain’t No N****,” “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” “Feelin’ It” and “Dead Presidents,” among others.

The Blueprint, which arrived Sept. 11, 2001, was home to songs including “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” “Jigga That N****” and “Girls, Girls, Girls.”

David Byrne, The Zombies among nominees for 2026 Libera Awards

March 18, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and The Zombies are among the nominees for the 2026 Libera Awards, which celebrate the best in independent music.

Byrne is recognized in the best pop record category for his 2025 solo album, Who Is the Sky? The Zombies have earned a nomination in the best reissue category for Odessey and Oracle: Mono Remastered, the 2025 reissue of their 1967 sophomore album, which includes their iconic track “Time of the Season.”

“We’re truly honoured to be part of this year’s celebration,” The Zombies wrote on Instagram. The band is also releasing a mono remaster of their 1965 debut album, Begin Here, on April 17.

The 2026 Libera Awards will take place June 8 in New York City.

Netflix announces new rom-com show from ‘Emily in Paris,’ ‘Sex and the City’ creator

March 18, 2026 by WDNY Radio

First he had Carrie Bradshaw, then Emily Cooper and now Darren Star is introducing audiences to a brand-new TV heroine.

Netflix has announced the Sex and the City and Emily in Paris creator’s latest project: a rom-com TV series based in the Napa Valley. Called Uncorked, the new show comes from co-showrunners, writers and executive producers Star and David Schulner.

Uncorked follows “the life of a talented but self-destructive winemaker who returns to Napa for her second chance at love, legacy and that elusive 100 point wine,” according to an official description from Netflix. “This is a woman whose greatest passion is also her fatal flaw — a failing that usually begins before lunch on Tuesday.”

“Seeing audiences around the world fall in love with Emily in Paris has been a dream,” Star said in a press release. “As Emily’s story continues to inspire and unfold, I’m excited to continue my relationship with Netflix and explore a new world with Uncorked. We’re diving straight into the legacy and romance of Napa Valley, where every great vintage has a unique story to tell.”

Schulner said that he and Star “wanted to create a series that explores what happens when your greatest passion is also your Achilles’ heel.”

“With Napa’s beauty and bounty as our setting, we hope the audience never wants to leave. We want to thank Netflix and Universal Television for indulging our copious amounts of day drinking in the name of meticulous research,” Schulner said.

Emily in Paris, Sex and the City and its two films, as well as Star’s shows Younger and Uncoupled, have generated 435 million total views between the first half of 2023 and the second half of 2025, according to Netflix. The streamer noted that Emily in Paris accounted for over 250 million of those views.

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