Lizzo has a brand-new album out now called Special, and to celebrate, the “About Damn Time” singer recorded a segment for Jimmy Kimmel Live! called “Undercover Sing,” where she surprised some of her fans by appearing to them in person.

The unsuspecting “Lizzbians” were told they were chosen to listen to Lizzo’s new album and have their reactions recorded for a fake website. What they didn’t know was that Lizzo herself was actually watching them from the next room.

As each person listened to one of the songs, Lizzo serenaded them with improvised lyrics tailored just for them, then snuck up behind them.

One of the funniest moments came when she stood directly behind a young man named Mike, who failed to realize it, even as Lizzo fed him hints like “I’m somewhere in this room.” It wasn’t until she jumped up and yelled, “Michael, turn around!” that he spotted her.

The participants were also surprised with tickets to Lizzo’s show at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.

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If there’s one thing to know about Luke Bryan — well, aside from the fact that he’s got some serious booty-shaking onstage dance moves — it’s the fact that when he gets a day off, he loves to go fishing.

So, there was no better way to celebrate his birthday weekend than with a special fishing trip, and the country superstar brought his family along with him.

Luke — who turned 46 on Sunday — showed off his catches in a social media post this week, along with snapshots of his two sons Bo and Tate plus his nephew Til, all holding fish of their own.

“It was a good birthday,” the singer wrote alongside the snapshots.

Though she’s not in the pictures, Luke’s wife, Caroline, was likely on this fishing expedition, too. In her birthday post for her husband, she promised to go fishing with Luke for his birthday.

Caroline also posted a video from the trip that shows the fun chaos of being a “boy mom,” riding along in a van with Luke and the boys as she yells, “Happy birthday Luke!”

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CMA Fest 2022 may be over, but the fun’s just beginning for Elle King and Dierks Bentley, who are co-hosting ABC’s upcoming CMA Fest television special.

The show, which will revisit some of the festival’s best and most exciting performances, gets an extra boost from Dierks and Elle’s fun, easygoing onscreen dynamic. Their chemistry comes from a real-life friendship, Elle explains, which developed over collaborations like 2016’s “Different for Girls” and this year’s new duet, “Worth a Shot.”

“I mean, anything that Dierks and I do together is fun and funny, because we’re just kind of, in the nicest way, idiots. In the best way,” Elle says with a laugh.

For a first-hand look at that goofiness she’s talking about, check out the music video for “Worth a Shot,” where they star as a couple on the rocks in the Wild Wild West. Even though the song’s subject matter is serious, Dierks and Elle’s playful friendship shines through, and it’ll be even more front-and-center when they take the stage for CMA Fest.

“We just make each other laugh. So nothing we do feels like work,” Elle explains.

CMA Fest — which was filmed at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium — airs August 3 on ABC. It’ll be available to watch the next day on Hulu.

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July has been a very special month for Missy Elliott: she celebrated a birthday and the 25th anniversary of her iconic 1997 debut album, Supa Dupa Fly.

The legendary rapper turned 51 on July 1 and was the guest of honor at a spectacular birthday bash in Atlanta on July 15. The Grammy winner received a Recording Industry Association of America platinum plaque for being the only female hip-hop artist with six certified Platinum studio albums. Atlantic Records also presented her with a custom plaque in recognition of the success of Supa Dupa Fly.

“As a solo artist I’ve been in the game for 25 years, but in the music industry I’ve been here for 29. I’ve been reflecting on that. It’s a huge accomplishment – especially when you’re still around,” Elliott tells Essence.
“It’s just an amazing feeling. You go through a lot of ups and downs, so to still be standing is always a blessing.”

Timbaland, Lil’ Kim, Trina, Serayah, Taraji P. Henson, Jermaine Dupri, Irv Gotti and Kandi Burruss were among the stars greeting Missy at her birthday party. She grew up with Timbaland in Virginia, and they’ve recorded numerous hits together.

Elliott says one of the keys to their longevity is that they concentrated on being original.

“I’m not a person who watches everyone else – I think that’s the biggest thing. When me and Timbaland came in, we weren’t watching other people’s videos, we weren’t listening to the radio like that,” Missy added. “Because if you don’t see, or you don’t hear, then you end up creating your own sound. But if you begin to watch and listen, then a lot of times you end up catering to what’s happening right now.”

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Lizzo‘s latest hit, “About Damn Time,” is a super-fun, disco-flavored bop, but according to her producer, it’s much more than that — it’s what Lizzo felt “the world needed at that exact moment.”

Speaking to Vulture, producer Ricky Reed said “About Damn Time” is “a core song about love.”

“That might seem weird at first, because it’s not explicitly about being in love with a person. But the thing that she really, really, really wanted to get across was, we need a song and a message to help us collectively step out from fear. So what’s the opposite of fear? It’s love,” he says.

Reed adds, “So, our plan with that song was to make a record that helps people step out from fear, step out from darkness, step out from sadness, whatever form it’s taking, and find your power and find love.”

“She thought that’s what the world needed at that exact moment,” Reed explains. “She put a lot of thought into it.”

Overall, Reed says, Lizzo insisted that the album address the “collective trauma” that is the pandemic and then try to “lift people up.”

He notes, “She’d say this over and over: ‘I’m an artist, I have to reflect the times.’ So we would always make sure, at every turn, that we were going to reflect the times. We can’t do that in the last few years without talking about what’s been going on.”

But of course, the album’s not a downer. It’s just that, as Reed explains, “You can’t lift anyone up without getting through the hard stuff first … before you move on to partying.”

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Yet another Imagine Dragons video is now a member YouTube’s billion views club.

The group’s visual for “Demons” has hit the milestone, following in the footsteps of the clips for “Radioactive,” “Thunder” and “Believer.”

Imagine Dragons reacted to the news by tweeting an exploding head emoji.

“Demons” and “Radioactive” appear on ID’s 2012 debut album, Night Visions, while “Thunder” and “Believer” are singles from 2017’s Evolve.

All four songs are also members of the RIAA Diamond club, having all been certified for 10 million units. Imagine Dragons is the first band with four Diamond-certified singles.

Meanwhile, Imagine Dragons released a new album, Mercury — Act 2, earlier this month. The record, the companion to last September’s Mercury — Act 1, features the single “Bones.”

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