Bonnie Raitt is set to help Brandi Carlile celebrate motherhood next May. The singer is one of several artists who have signed on for Brandi’s new Mothership Weekend festival, taking place May 12 to 14 aka Mother’s Day weekend, in Miramar Beach, Florida.
“This is a celebration of matriarchy through rock & roll,” Brandi shares on Instagram. “Bring the kids, bring your wife, bring your mom, or just come alone and you’ll immediately find yourself surrounded by family.”
Bonnie is booked to perform Sunday, right before Brandi’s headlining spot, with Fancy Hagood also on Sunday’s bill. Brandi also headlines Friday, on a bill that includes Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats and Danielle Ponder, with Hozier headlining Saturday’s bill with Mavis Staples,The Milk Carton Kids and Katie Pruitt.
Tickets go on sale December 5 through the festival’s website.
Beyoncé‘s Renaissance previously topped the Billboard 200, as well as Billboard‘s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top R&B Albums, but now it’s making its mark on the dance/electronic charts.
Billboard reports the album is now dominating the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart after the publication noticed the reception from the dance community and reevaluated its genre categorization.
While the album is now catching steam in the dance/electronic categories, Renaissance‘s singles have long been charting in the genre. Following the project’s release, “Break My Soul,” “Pure/Honey,” “Summer Renaissance” and “Thique” landed on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. Most recently, the viral TikTok hit “Cuff It” debuted on the Hot Dance/Mix Show Airplay.
Renaissance dropped in July as Bey’s seventh studio effort. It’s been nominated in both R&B and dance categories for the Grammy Awards next year. The album, which is part of a three-act project, was recently named among TIME‘s Best Albums of 2022; it’s #3 on the list.
(ATLANTA) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday seemed poised to grant a Justice Department request to rescind the appointment of a special master in the investigation into the handling of classified material seized in August from former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
In a hearing Tuesday afternoon, a three-judge panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned an assertion from Trump’s attorney that “this is an extraordinary case” that warranted intervention from an outside arbiter to review all the materials seized in the August search.
“Other than the fact that this involves a former president, everything else about this is indistinguishable from any pre-indictment search warrant,” Judge Andrew Brasher said.
The attorney for Trump, Jim Trusty, insisted Trump was looking for no special treatment but asked the court to consider “a political rival has been subjected to a search warrant where thousands of personal materials have been taken.”
Arguing for the Justice Department, Sopan Joshi of the Solicitor General’s office called the appointment of a special master by a district court judge an “extraordinary judicial intrusion into a core executive branch function.”
The judges pressed Joshi and Trusty as to whether there was any similar case where a judge has exercised such jurisdiction to intervene in an ongoing criminal investigation prior to indictment with any showing of “callous disregard” for the rights of the potential defendant.
Neither could name such a case, but Trusty suggested that by having the process play out they could perhaps find evidence that Trump’s rights were violated.
Trusty also sought to take issue with how agents conducted the search, noting that in addition to presidential records and documents with classification markings they also seized items like “golf shirts and pictures of Celine Dion” which he said should have no relevance to their criminal investigation.
But Chief Judge Bill Pryor noted it wasn’t unusual for such personal items to be swept up in a court-authorized search.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily the fault of the government. If, if someone has intermingled classified documents in all kinds of other personal property,” Pryor said.
DOJ is urging the appeals court to overturn special master Raymond Dearie’s appointment and have the roughly 13,000 documents returned to investigators examining whether Trump unlawfully retained highly sensitive documents involving national defense information after leaving the presidency, and potentially obstructed justice in resisting the government’s efforts to retrieve them.
The appeals court previously granted a request from DOJ to stay portions of a ruling by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that had blocked the government from using roughly 100 documents with classification markings recovered from Mar-a-Lago in its investigation and demanded they be handed over to special master Dearie.
The Justice Department then moved for an expedited appeal to end Dearie’s review in its entirety, saying its inability to access the non-classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago was also significantly hampering its ongoing criminal investigation.
It was the first in-person meeting between top department officials and Trump’s legal team since Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith last Friday, which Garland said was warranted in part because of Trump’s announcement he would again run for president in 2024.
Smith has been tasked with overseeing the continuing criminal investigation of classified records seized from Trump’s estate in August as well as the separate probe into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn his election loss to President Joe Biden.
In a filing Monday afternoon, the Justice Department formally notified the court of Smith’s appointment and stated he had reviewed the filings in DOJ’s case and that he “approves all of the arguments that have been presented in the briefs and will be discussed at the oral argument.”
Last week, officials said Smith was preparing to make his return to the U.S. from the Netherlands where he was serving as a chief prosecutor of war crimes at the Hague.
In a filing last week, officials from the department accused Trump and his legal team of engaging in “gamesmanship” in their fight to retain the roughly 13,000 documents in Dearie’s possession by asserting that when he ordered the packing of materials in the White House that were then transported to Mar-a-Lago, they were in effect automatically designated as his own “personal” records.
But at the same time, his attorneys said if Dearie rejected that argument for certain documents, they should have the opportunity to claim they are covered by executive privilege and should be shielded from the government.
They argued Trump’s legal team has put forward a “sweeping and baseless theory” to support their claims over the documents under a reading of the Presidential Records Act, saying Trump “appears to be claiming that he can unilaterally ‘deem’ otherwise Presidential records to be personal records by fiat.”
And even if Trump were correct in his claims, DOJ says, it would amount to a “red herring” regarding their right to access the documents as part of their ongoing criminal investigation.
“Documents commingled or collectively stored with the classified materials located at Plaintiff’s premises were lawfully seized by the FBI in accordance with the terms of the court-authorized search warrant because of their relevance to the government’s ongoing investigation,” top DOJ counterintelligence official Jay Bratt said. “That relevance exists irrespective of whether they were personal papers or government records. In the absence of a valid and substantiated claim of privilege, all such documents must now be made available to the investigative team.”
Paramore has shared a statement supporting the LGBTQ+ community following the mass shooting at the Club Q nightclub in Colorado Springs last Saturday, which killed at least five people and injured many others.
The post begins with Hayley Williams and company taking issue with “when someone says to not politicize moments like the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs,” declaring, “The hatred and the prejudice against any marginalized group is historically political.”
“Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric is hatred, be it policy or a locker room conversation,” Paramore writes. “Politicians and other powerful people have a choice. Just like walking into a nightclub full of human beings and taking their lives was a choice in favor of hatred.”
“If you spew hate and it echoes, expect an infinite amount of potential outcomes,” the band continues. “Including people coming to the conclusion that maybe it’s time to start holding people accountable for the way they use their power to divide and normalize hatred. “
The statement concludes with Paramore writing that their “hearts go out to the entire community in Colorado Springs,” along with the “LGBTQ+ community and the families and friends who lost precious people who are more than just a statistic or a headline.”
(Note Language) Meek Mill‘s Flamerz mixtape series continues with its fifth installment. Flamerz 5 is out now, but it’s not on your typical streaming services. It’s solely available on Audiomack, DatPiff and other mixtape sites.
“I don’t want Flamerz 5 on no streaming service,” Meek tweeted of his new project. “This strictly underground music…Billboard can’t rate it…Just rate the music…I’d bet you a million I can make the United States/world play it with one upload button…Been doing it since MySpace lol.”
Flamerz 5 sees Meek putting his lyrical spin on songs including Ice Spice‘s “Munch,” Burna Boy‘s “Last Last,” GloRilla and Cardi B‘s “Tomorrow 2” and DJ Khaled‘s “Last Last.”
His decision to stay away from streaming services comes after several gripes about his past record deals and the overall music industry. In a recent Q&A, Meek said he let go of the idea of releasing the Expensive Pain deluxe album when he realized the amount of money he was making.
“I let those albums go once I seen I was get 13. Cents to every dollar, once I really figured that out I ain’t promoting no label s*** I don’t eat off…My money come from my name and brand,” he explained.
He complained that the label rewarded him with a plaque for “Going Bad” featuring Drake, but was unable to tell him how much he made, despite knowing the song itself earned $24 million in record sales.
As a result, Meek said he “lost all trust for that whole system!”
“Now I got a real point to prove to show you can survive without getting rapped!” he tweeted.
A fifth person has come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler.
The woman, going by the pseudonym Sabina, tells Pitchfork that she was involved in an “ongoing abusive relationship” with Butler between 2015 and 2018.
“Emotionally abusive, manipulative, toxic, and using his power dynamic to exploit my body at times that were convenient for him,” Sabina says.
Sabina says she met Butler in 2015 when she was 22 and he was 35. The relationship became sexual later in 2015, which she describes as “aggressive” and “ultimately dehumanizing.”
“I felt like I just had to do what he said,” Sabina says. “I was not really comfortable with some of the things he was asking me to do, but doing them anyway.”
In 2017, Butler sent Sabina an unsolicited sexually graphic photo of himself, which she describes as “really, really disrespectful and scary and gross.”
“It felt like that specific encounter was crossing a line that he shouldn’t have crossed and it was shocking,” Sabina says.
Pitchfork previously reported in August on four other people who accused Butler of sexual misconduct, including sexual assault in one case. In a statement to Pitchfork, Butler maintained that his encounters with all four accusers were “mutual and always between consenting adults.”
A rep for Arcade Fire did not respond to Pitchfork’s request for comment regarding this new allegation.
Despite the allegations, Arcade Fire has continued touring behind the band’s new album, WE, which is nominated for a 2023 Grammy, though opening artists Beck and Feist dropped off their respective legs during the worldwide trek.
If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively.
Tuesday marked the 25th anniversary of the death of INXS frontman Michael Hutchence. The singer’s suicide at age 37 certainly came as a surprise to many, including his U.S. manager, Martha Troup, who says on the day of his death he was discussing his plans for the future.
“He wanted to start a publishing company. And he wanted to get an apartment in New York,” she tells the New York Post. “That’s what he said to me.” But, she says a few hours later he sounded different in a message he left. “He goes, ‘Things aren’t good, you know?’ And then the next one was like, ‘Hey, are you there?’” she says. “In the second one, it was more like he was tired. It was, like, almost sadness I heard in his voice.” He was found dead only hours later.
Troup calls Hutchence magical, noting, “He was the quintessential rock star. He was mesmerizing. He had a sensuality about him.” But she says he was also shy and sensitive: “He had his ups and downs, and he had his insecurities.”
Troup says that before his death the rocker was making plans for an Australian tour, but she was concerned because “he just seemed out of sorts.” She suggested cancelling the tour, but he insisted he couldn’t cancel, saying, “I would never do that to the fans in Australia.’”
Meanwhile, friend Dorothy Carvello still believes Hutchence didn’t mean to kill himself. “I’m not sure that he really intended to do that,” she tells the Post. “I think it was a rash act that happened in the heat of the moment, whatever happened. Because think about it — no [suicide] note. And for somebody whose job was to write words, I always found that strange.”
Mariah Carey might have lost her bid to become the de facto Queen of Christmas, but Camila Cabello may have just found her own seasonal title — the queen of “quismois.”
A new meme has hit social media that makes fun of the ultra stylized way Camila pronounces the holiday in “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” Instead of saying “Christmas” in the song, Camila sings it like “quismois.”
It didn’t take long for Camila to catch wind of the new meme, so she took to TikTok to share a fake video showing what supposedly went down before she hit up the recording studio. Camila plays herself and her talent manager, who tries in vain to get her to say the word correctly.
The talent manager tries and fails to get Camila to pronounce the word properly. Camila tries singing it, repeats the phrase “Merry Christmas” and recites it slowly — but it appears the singer isn’t aware she is butchering the word.
The vocal coach eventually gives up and tells a delighted Camila, “It’s gonna be great.”
“Me before recording my version of I’ll be home for christmas (quismois),” she joked in the caption.
Fans are lauding Camila for getting in on the joke, calling it a “queen move” fit for the “quismois queen.”
(NOTE LANGUAGE)Advance tickets for the sequel Avatar: The Way of Waterare now on sale, and James Cameron — or, more accurately, Disney-owned 20th Century Studios — certainly hopes you buy some.
To GQ, Cameron explained the long-in-development sequel to the 2009 original — the highest-grossing movie of all time — has a, pardon pun, high water mark to hit to make its money back.
When asked how expensive the movie was to make, Cameron claimed, “Very f***ing.”
The Titanic Oscar winner then elaborated, “You have to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history. That’s your threshold. That’s your break even.” He also referred to the movie, which is the first of four planned sequels, “the worst business case in movie history” in terms of risk over reward.
That said, Cameron is never anything if not confident, speaking on the movie’s bleeding-edge computer graphics and other cinema tech. “I’m attracted by difficult. Difficult is a f***ing magnet for me. I go straight to difficult,” he says. “And I think it probably goes back to this idea that there are lots of smart, really gifted, really talented filmmakers out there that just can’t do the difficult stuff. So that gives me a tactical edge to do something nobody else has ever seen, because the really gifted people don’t f***ing want to do it.”
To see what “difficult” looks like, check out exclusive interviews with the cast of The Way of Water on Fandango, which polled its moviegoers and found — happily for Cameron, no doubt — that Gen Z-aged moviegoers called the December 16 release their most anticipated film of the year.
Carly Pearce’s life these days looks a whole lot different than it did when she was writing songs for her last album, 29: Written in Stone.
And that’s a good thing: Much of that project was inspired by her highly public divorce from fellow artist Michael Ray, and the grief she experienced after the unexpected death of her longtime producer, Busbee.
Now, a few years later, Carly’s in a happier place. She’s got a new man in her life, and her career has skyrocketed to the tune of accolades, number-one hits, hosting gigs and even an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry.
As she looks ahead to her next musical chapter, Carly says that there’s one big thing that hasn’t changed.
“I think what fans have shown me is they want to see how I see the world,” she explains in an interview with her record label. Though life may be “much fuller and richer now,” it’s still not without its challenges.
“You don’t just wake up one day and say, ‘Everything’s great, and yay!’” Carly goes on to say. “So I think this one is more…navigating, to me, the best season of my life, honoring what I have been through, honoring that some of those things will live on with me as I carry through my life. And celebrating that I made it through in such a wonderful way.”
Carly recently shared some in-the-studio snapshots with fans on social media, revealing that she’s started cutting her new album.
