Back in April, at the 2022 CMT Music Awards, fans got the collaboration they never knew they needed when Jimmie Allen and Little Big Town shared the stage with R&B legend Monica for a rendition of her song “Pray.”

Now, Monica’s got a full-blown country album in the works, which she says she’s been working on with Brandi Carlile. The project, called Open Roads, might seem like a left turn for the singer — but it actually dates back to her decadeslong Dolly Parton fandom.

“My Dolly Parton obsession began — and it hasn’t ended — and what it was, was that my love for my family is really my connection to her,” Monica tells ET Online.

“I was in her park [Dollywood] at about 10 years old, and the lady working told me, ‘Well, I’m Dolly’s first cousin and she gives us a job, a car and an apartment. It’s amazing,’” the singer recounts. “So when I met her and I realized all of these people are related to her and she built all of this, it really helps her family and community, that’s when my love for her began in country music.”

Of course, Dolly is a dream collaborator for Monica’s album, but she’s not the only one: The singer also names Mickey Guyton and Chris Stapleton as people in the country genre who she’d love to work with.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Sean Paul is back and is getting a little help from his friend Gwen Stefani in his new and nostalgic-themed music video, “Light My Fire.”

The clip dropped Wednesday, which sees the pair — and a bunch of women — hanging out at a house party. While Gwen is downstairs while everyone is grooving to the music, Sean is upstairs and flirting with a woman — who’s dressed in a glittery dress — who’s sitting in a bathtub.

Gwen has her hair twisted into a top knot with blond dreads spilling out from either side, and she’s dressed in the colors of the Jamaican flag.  

The song’s third collaborator, Shenseea, then makes her dramatic entrance and the party steps on the gas — the drinks start pouring and people begin lighting up. The video ends with someone throwing meat on the grill as it erupts into flames.

“‘Light My Fire’ is an epic dream come [true],” Sean said of his new music video in a press release. “I’ve been a fan of Gwen Stefani forever and Shenseea — I am so proud of all she’s accomplished in such a short time.”

He continued, “‘Light My Fire’ is a big, bad lovers rock song and we had to represent it with a big, bad video. We went retro on the attire in the video, and basically getting ready to party and some lovers rocking. It’s a vibe we hope everyone gets when they listen to the track — feel good and party lovers rock style.”

“Light My Fire” can be heard off Sean’s new album, Scorcha, which is out now. You can also catch the trio performing the new song Wednesday night on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which begins airing at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A limited-edition 17-CD Grateful Dead box set featuring six full previously unreleased concert performances that the band played at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden during the early 1980s will be issued on September 23.

In and Out of the Garden: Madison Square Garden ’81, ’82, ’83 features audio of shows that took place March 9 and 10, 1981; September 20 and 21, 1982; and October 11 and 12, 1983.

The collection features a custom box and includes liner notes by acclaimed music journalist David Fricke, who writes about The Grateful Dead’s deep connection to and history with New York City.

In addition to versions of classics like “Uncle John’s Band,” “Fire on the Mountain” and “Truckin’,” the shows featured The Dead performing several songs that would eventually appear on their 1987 album In the Dark, including the hit “Touch of Grey.”

“These performances … are six of the best the Dead played at the Garden, any of which could have been released on their own,” Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux says. “We’re thrilled, though, to allow these six complementary shows to be housed together, each one its own story, its own event.”

Only 12,500 copies of the 17-CD box set, each individually numbered, will be available. You can preorder copies now exclusively from Dead.net. High-res digital versions also are being sold at the website.

In advance of In and Out of the Garden, a performance of “Feel Like a Stranger” from the March 9, 1981, show has been made available digitally and an animated companion video has debuted on The Dead’s official YouTube channel.

Also on September 23, the March 9, 1981, concert will be released individually as a three-CD set, digitally at Dead.net and via traditional retail outlets.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Oasis‘ 1997 album Be Here Now is being reissued in celebration of its upcoming 25th anniversary.

The set will be available with remastered audio on vinyl and cassette on August 19, two days before the album’s original release date.

Coming off the star-making success of 1995’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, Be Here Now was among the most anticipated new albums of the ’90s. In Oasis’ native U.K., it holds the record for the most copies sold in the first seven days of any album’s release.

Despite its initial success, Be Here Now is a polarizing record among fans and critics and is now often seen as the end marker of the phenomenon that Oasis and Britpop had become in the ’90s. It also marked the final Oasis album to include founding members Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs and Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan.

Be Here Now was previously reissued in 2016 with a newly remixed version of the single “D’You Know What I Mean?” by Noel Gallagher. Along with the news of the 25th-anniversary reissue, a new lyric video for the Noel mix has been released, which you can watch now on YouTube.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Pro baller LeBron James had some clarifying to do after recently commenting on WNBA star Brittney Griner‘s detainment in Russia. 

In the trailer for the latest episode of his HBO show, The Shop, James said that if he were in Griner’s unfortunate position, he’s not sure he’d be willing to return to a country that has yet to come to his rescue. 

“Over 110 days, now how could she feel like America has her back?” James said in the short clip. “I would be feeling like, ‘Do I even want to go back to America?'”

His comments were met with backlash from some social media users who viewed his thoughts as disrespectful. 

James took to Twitter Wednesday to issue clarification.

“My comments on ‘The Shop’ regarding Brittney Griner wasn’t knocking our beautiful country,” he wrote. “I was simply saying how she’s probably feeling emotionally along with so many other emotions, thoughts, etc inside that cage she’s been in for over 100+ days!”

He added, “Long story short #BringHerHome.”

As previously reported, Phoenix Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard spoke to the media about Griner’s continued detainment, comparing her situation to that of James, a male sports player. 

“If it was LeBron [James], he’d be home, right?” Nygaard asked, according to USA Today. “It’s a statement about the value of women. It’s a statement about the value of a Black person. It’s a statement about the value of a gay person … We know it, and so that’s what hurts a little more.”

Griner has been held in Russia since Feb. 17, when she was detained at Sheremetyevo International Airport for her possession of vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in the country. She pleaded guilty to drug charges in court, saying that the vape cartridges were in her luggage unintentionally.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Dream Theater‘s John Petrucci has announced his first-ever solo headlining tour.

The guitarist will be supporting his 2020 solo album, Terminal Velocity, which notably features ex-Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, marking the former bandmates’ first collaboration since Portnoy left the prog-metal outfit in 2010.

Portnoy will also be playing drums on the tour, which so far only includes three dates: October 7 in Boston, October 13 in New York City and October 15 in Washington, D.C. A press release assures that more stops will be announced.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, July 15. For more info, visit JohnPetrucci.com.

Dream Theater, meanwhile, released their latest album, A View from the Top of the World, last October.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Meghan Trainor says she wrote “Bad for Me” after her therapist asked her to write a letter. Soon, she composed a new song about needing to establish a healthy distance from a toxic family member.

Speaking with Billboard, she and song collaborator Teddy Swims explained why this song is indicative of a shift in how the younger generations discuss mental health.

“I think this generation is the first people that are really starting to dissect and understand that there are issues, mentally, that people are facing and that it’s okay to discuss and deal with those things,” said Teddy as Meghan nodded in agreement. 

He continued, “I’m sure that all our parents and parents’ parents had just as bad trauma and issues as we do and it just wasn’t normalized to speak about it.”

Meghan also revealed why Teddy was the perfect person to join her on this vulnerable track. “I was a super fan of Teddy’s and I didn’t know him at the time, so when I wrote the song, I was listening to it with my husband Daryl [Sabara] in bed… And he sat up and was like, ‘This is your Teddy Swims song.’ And I was like, ‘This is my Teddy Swims song!'” she explained.

The Grammy winner got in touch with the singer, and as Teddy revealed, they were in the studio “two or three days later” to work on “Bad for Me.”

The song has debuted on Billboard‘s Adult Pop Airplay chart and has currently entered the top 40 — an accomplishment both happily celebrated.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Five Seconds of Summer is celebrating hump day with brand new music. 

The Australian super group released their latest track, “Blender,” which blends both pop and punk elements.

The two-and-a-half-minute song tackles a toxic relationship that turns up the passion and the drama.

While the group sings, “I’d die for you,” they reveal just how unhealthy it is to stay with their lover.  

“All the things you said in my head/ Ricochetting off the bed/ Nothing left, what a mess/ Oh, my God, it never ends/ Now we’re stressed and depressed/ And we’re going ’round again/ In an еmotional blender,” frontman Luke Hemmings croons.

And while it’s made apparent that it’s best they separate, Luke and Calum Hood confess, “But we just can’t keep away/ When you know me like you do/ It’s supernatural, got me howling at the moon.”

The new release comes just after 5SOS took over Good Morning America on Tuesday to perform “Me, Myself & I.”

Both tracks will appear on the group’s fifth studio album, 5SOS5, which arrives September 23. The 19-track project celebrates the band’s 10-year career by featuring tracks with “reflective and intimate lyrics” about their journey, per the official release.

5SOS previously released the tracks “Take My Hand” and “Complete Mess,” which will also appear on the new album. The singers are currently on their Take My Hand World Tour and will play another sold-out show tonight at Pier 17 in New York City.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.