Avatar has premiered a new single called “Valley of Disease.”
“There is a sickness, a stranger, and a harmful way,” vocalist Johannes Eckerström says of the track. “A twisted landscape untouched by the sun. I leave the rest up to either you or me, but never both at the same time. You can only enter this place alone, and my path isn’t yours. Your secret is safe with me, but so is mine.”
You can listen to “Valley of Disease” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.
“Valley of Disease” follows Avatar’s 2021 batch of one-off singles, which include “Going Hunting,” “Barren Cloth Mother,” “So Sang the Hollow,” “Construction of Souls” and “Cruel and Unusual.”
Avatar has also been working on a new album to follow 2020’s Hunter Gatherer.
Black Sabbath‘s been going through “Changes” for a half-century.
The metal pioneers’ fourth album, Vol. 4, was released September 25, 1972, 50 years ago this Sunday.
Following in the footsteps of 1970’s one-two punch of Black Sabbath and Paranoid and 1971’s foundational sludge metal opus Master of Reality, Vol. 4 continued to bring the heavy with songs including “Snowblind,” a not-so-subtle reference to the band members’ drug habit.
In between Tony Iommi‘s signature chugging riffs and Ozzy Osbourne‘s demonic wail came a surprise in the form of “Changes,” a tender, introspective piano ballad. Speaking previously to ABC Audio, Iommi shared that he and his Sabbath bandmates were unconcerned with how “Changes” might be perceived.
“The first thing that it had to please was us,” Iommi sad. “We’d always done that with Sabbath music.”
“It wasn’t, ‘Is anybody gonna like it?'” he added. “We have to … start off with us first, because we’re presenting ourselves. So if we like it, then we just hope that everybody else liked it.”
Vol. 4 is now certified Platinum by the RIAA. Black Sabbath reissued the album in 2021 with 20 unreleased recordings, including outtakes, live tracks, instrumentals and alternate versions.
The late Mama Cass Elliott of The Mamas and the Papas will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next month.
The star ceremony will take place October 3 at 11:30 a.m. PT and will be streamed live at walkoffame.com. Among those who’ll speak at the ceremony are Michelle Phillips — the other “Mama” in The Mamas and the Papas — as well as longtime pal John Sebastian. Cass’ daughter Owen Elliott-Kugell and Cass’ sister Leah Kunkel will also speak.
The star — the 2,735th star to be awarded — will be located at 7065 Hollywood Blvd.
As a member of The Mamas and the Papas, Cass scored six top 10 hits, including “Monday Monday,” “California Dreamin'” and “Dedicated to the One I Love.” The group sold over 40 million records and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Cass then went on to a solo career, scoring hits like “Make Your Own Kind of Music” and “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” She died of heart failure in London in 1974.
After filing a $28 million lawsuit against Triller for allegedly missing payments for their Verzuz series, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz have settled with the video service.
“Verzuz has always been a platform that is by the artists, for the artists and with the people,” the Grammy award winning producers said in a statement, according to Rolling Stone. “We’re glad to come to an amicable agreement with Triller and continue giving fans the music and community that they’ve come to know and love from the brand.”
Swizz told Rolling Stone he was ready for a battle with Triller.
“Was I ready to go to war? Yes. Am I used to it? I’m from the South Bronx. But I had to take my emotions out of it,” he says. “There were too many creatives for me to lock this whole thing in the lawyers’ box.”
When asked if Verzuz will return, Swizz added, “Yeah, harder than we ever went.”
Following the settlement, Triller Executive Chairman Bobby Sarnevesht said in a statement, “This is a victorious moment in the Triller and Verzuz relationship as we march together toward the public markets.”
“At the end of the day just like any Thanksgiving or family gathering, there are disagreements, but like any good family we all forgive each other in the end and come back stronger than ever,” he added. “We are glad we put this disagreement behind us and couldn’t be more excited for the next chapter.”
As the pandemic temporarily stopped concerts, Beatz and Timbaland launched Verzuz in 2020 as an online alternative for hip-hop and R&B performances.
Triller bought Verzuz in 2021 for an undisclosed amount. As part of the settlement, Swizz and Timbaland are receiving an unspecified increased ownership stake in the company.
Lainey Wilson is previewing her upcoming album, Bell Bottom Country, with another new song called “Live Off.”
It’s a tune that’s particularly special to her, the singer shared on Twitter. “[‘Live Off’] is all about the things that make my world go ‘round,” Lainey explains. “My hometown, my dog, my family, my friends.”
A twangy, midtempo anthem, the song’s story is structured around all the things Lainey “lives off.” Even more important than food or money, she sings, is the place where she comes from and the people (and pets) she shares her life with.
Bell Bottom Country is due out on October 28 and features other previously released songs like “Heart Like a Truck” and “Watermelon Moonshine.”
It’s also got a song called “Those Boots (Deddy’s Song,)” a track that’s extra meaningful in light of the health problems that Lainey’s father has faced. When her dad was hospitalized recently, the singer canceled a couple of shows and opened up with fans about her close relationship with him as she requested their prayers.
Lainey is also a featured vocalist on the newest single from Hardy, a grisly story song called “Wait in the Truck.”
Capital Concerts/Capital Concerts via Getty Images
Andy Grammer is known for being the good guy in the music industry, but he admits he sometimes struggles with his mental health — and says that’s perfectly normal.
Speaking to Healthline, the “Fresh Eyes” singer said the pandemic forced him to take a hard look at how he was managing and coping with his mental health struggles.
“[When] it got completely quiet and I was not allowed to leave my house and not allowed to be around thousands of people and not allowed, honestly, to just be distracted, I was forced to sit with myself, and that was not super fun,” Andy admitted.
He added, “[I] realized, oh, I got a lot of work inside, invisible work to do here that I don’t think I would have done as soon if it hadn’t been for the pandemic.”
Andy is encouraging his male fans to take their mental health seriously in an upcoming appearance on the Man Enough podcast. His forthcoming episode tackles “what it is about guys that we feel like going to therapy is weak or something.”
“I had to be completely destroyed to say, ‘Ok, fine, I’ll go to therapy.’ Why does it have to be that way? Why do I have to be so clearly not capable of going about my day to then say, ‘Ok, I think I need some help,'” he questioned.
Andy also hopes to normalize going to therapy because it can be scary for some.
“I was afraid to own the darker sides of myself. So, therefore, it’s just a little bit scary to acknowledge that to even yourself that you’re not perfect,” he explained. He urged his fans to “deal with the stuff inside yourself” so you can become “a complete version of yourself.”
If you’re a Rolling Stones fan, you’ve no doubt seen the photo of the band members in drag on the U.S. version of the single “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?” Now, you can see that photo come to life: The original 1966 video for the song has been officially released.
Director Peter Whitehead created the black-and-white video using footage from the single artwork photoshoot. All five original members of the band — Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and Brian Jones — are shown dressed as women, standing around on a New York City street. Well, everyone is standing around except for Wyman: He’s sitting in a wheelchair wearing a women’s military uniform, which includes a skirt and pumps.
The footage of the band in drag is intercut with a clip of Jagger walking through what looks like an art fair on the street, plus random shots of the other band members.
Along with that visual, the band has released a live performance video of the same song, also shot by Whitehead. That one — filmed on September 23, 1966 during a performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall –shows the band being mobbed onstage by screaming fans.
“Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?” was a top 10 U.S. hit in 1966.
Ozzy Osbourne has premiered the second episode of his ongoing series, which documents the making of his new solo album, Patient Number 9.
The episode, titled “The Sabbath Connection,” focuses on Ozzy’s reunion with Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi on the record. Iommi plays on two Patient Number 9 songs: “No Escape from Now” and “Degradation Rules.”
In between, a number of the other Patient Number 9 guests and collaborators — including Pearl Jam‘s Mike McCready, Guns N’ Roses‘ Duff McKagan, Metallica‘s Robert Trujillo, Black Label Society‘s Zakk Wylde, Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith and producer Andrew Watt — share what Black Sabbath means to them.
You can watch “The Sabbath Connection” streaming now on YouTube. The third and final episode premieres next Friday, September 30.
Patient Number 9 was released earlier this month. It also includes guest spots from Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
(WASHINGTON) – Republicans are going on the attack in Wisconsin — drawing a “fact check” in rebuttal from the state’s Democratic governor — as they press what they see as an advantage on the issue of crime and law enforcement support in the final weeks before crucial midterm races there.
A recent spate of ads released by GOP groups attacking the Democratic nominees running for office have pushed them to go on the defense, with incumbent Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday working to debunk, he said, a TV spot from the Republican Governors Association that claimed his policies played a role in the release of hundreds of violent criminals by the state’s parole commission.
Democratic operatives say conservatives’ focus on crime is a distraction from other key issues on which voters view them less favorably, like abortion access post Roe. Evers’ Republican challenger, Tim Michels, opposes abortion in almost all cases.
“I’m principled; my wife and I, we know we have to answer to somebody higher than anybody on the face of this earth. We’re pro-life because of our faith,” he has said.
But a Marquette University Law School Poll released earlier this month analyzing Wisconsin’s Senate and governor race showed that 61% of registered voters were concerned about crime. The issue ranked among the top-five issues for voters in the state.
In response to the RGA ad, which sought to link Evers to the release of “over 800 convicted criminals,” “270 murderers and attempted murderers” and “44 child rapists,” the Evers campaign said “of the 884 convicted criminals released under Gov. Evers’ administration, nearly half were released because their release was required by law.”
His campaign stressed that, in Wisconsin, “only the parole chair can decide who gets let out of prison on parole. The governor has no role in these decisions,” adding that the parole chair, John Tate, “never received a full confirmation hearing” and that he was unanimously recommended for confirmation by a Republican-controlled Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety.
And as to the RGA ad’s claims that the governor’s “liberal policies” have made local communities less safe, Evers’ campaign pointed out that the governor signed a bill in April preventing violent criminals and sex offenders from being released early from prison in the future. Evers contrasted that with Michels, who opposes gun law changes including so-called “red flag” legislation, which would allow law enforcement to remove firearms from people they believe may present a danger to themselves or others.
Michels said in June: “It’s not the guns. It’s a cultural problem today. And a lot of it is a byproduct of the whole ‘defund the police’ movement, where cops became bad guys.”
The Republican Party and their Wisconsin nominees have also spotlighted two members of the law enforcement community who have publicly announced that they never actually endorsed Democratic Senate nominee Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, despite their names being initially filed under a list by the campaign detailing officers who support him.
Both La Crosse County Sheriff’s Captain John Siegel — who is running for county sheriff — and Racine County Deputy Malik Frazier’s names were listed but have since been removed by the Barnes campaign. The coalition of law enforcement that supports Barnes now includes 15 members, two of whom are active-duty sheriffs from Rock County and Green County.
Wisconsin Right Now first reported on Siegel’s removal from the list. Siegel told the outlet that he never endorsed the lieutenant governor and that he did not plan to endorse anyone in the state’s Senate race.
When reached by ABC News, Lt. Michael Luell, a spokesman with the Racine County Sheriff’s Office, said that Deputy Malik Frazier “expressed some level of surprise” when he saw his name on the list of law enforcement who supported Barnes.
“[Frazier] stated that he may be personally supporting Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, but he did not intend to professionally endorse him, and that professional endorsement was a mistake made by the Barnes’ campaign,” Luell said. (La Crosse County Sheriff’s Captain John Siegel did not respond to a request from ABC News for comment.)
The Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican-aligned super PAC, has recently published multiple ads targeting Barnes’ support to eliminate cash bail, an issue that its supporter say would remove an excessive financial burden on people accused of even minor infractions — but which the GOP ad contends would set “accused criminals free into the community before trial.”
In a statement to ABC News in response to the negative ads, Maddy McDaniel, a Barnes campaign spokeswoman, said: “Ron Johnson defended the criminals whose insurrection injured 140 police officers. He loves to point fingers about crime, but then voted against police funding while Lt. Governor Barnes and Governor Evers actually invested in public safety and law enforcement.”
Some outside Democratic strategists cast the Republican ads focusing on crime as “fear mongering” and a distraction from their other weaknesses on the trail.
“There’s no question that [Republicans] want people to be scared,” said Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki, adding, “They’re trying to create an alternative environment that they think is better for them politically. But we know that the biggest story in American politics this year is the attack on women’s reproductive freedom.”
A new Spectrum News/Siena College poll released this week showed Evers with a 5-point lead over Michels in a race that FiveThirtyEight says favors Evers. The Spectrum/Siena poll also asked voters about their take on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that overturned Roe v. Wade, with 72% of Wisconsinites polled saying they want a new abortion law in the state versus relying on the state’s “1849 law” that broadly bans the procedure.
In a Marquette Law School poll released last week, 51% of Wisconsin voters surveyed said Republican incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson “doesn’t share their values” versus 41% for Lt. Gov. Barnes.
Zepecki, the strategist, said that he believes “nobody buys” that Evers is “just flinging open the jail cell or ushering people out into the streets. That’s insane.”
As for the two members of law enforcement who were removed from the list of endorsements for Barnes, Zepecki said he does not foresee that negatively influencing the relatively small share of undecided voters in Wisconsin.
“I think this is much ado about nothing,” he argued. “This is the stuff that happens when you got campaigns that are trying to do 7,000 things with not enough staff and not enough time before Election Day, so I have a hard time believing that this has got to change anybody’s mind in this election, particularly talking about the truly undecided voters.”
Alec Zimmerman, a spokesperson for Johnson’s campaign, had another view: “Mandela Barnes can’t even tell the truth about who is endorsing his campaign — voters shouldn’t believe a word that comes out of his mouth.”
On Wednesday, Johnson’s campaign announced a bipartisan coalition of 51 sheriffs who had endorsed him.
Speaking to Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, Stevie explains that she was a fan of the song, penned by Stephen Stills, when it first came out. When she was living in San Francisco in 1968, she told herself, “I’m going to record that song one day.” Then, earlier this year, Stevie says, “It just came into my head”; she recorded the song in May.
Stevie claims she had “no idea” that Stephen originally wrote the track about the Sunset Strip curfew riots in LA in the ’60s. But she feels that “For What It’s Worth” is relevant today because in that song, Stills managed “to cover everything that everybody’s complaining about, and fighting against, in the entire world.”
The song includes the lyrics, “There’s battle lines being drawn/nobody’s right, if everybody’s wrong.”
“He managed, in that song, to touch on everything so subtly,” she explains. “You could have said, ‘Okay, is that song about gun violence? Is that song about women’s rights? Is it about immigration?’…you could take it all in, to be about anything that you personally wanted it to be about.”
Stevie tells Lowe it “seemed to be the right time” to cut the song and adds that her message to fans is, “I hope that…whatever your views on anything are, I hope that you can rise above that and take it for what it is. And also, I just hope you like the song.”
