Halsey caused quite a stir after claiming their label held up the release of a new single on the condition they fabricate a “fake viral moment on TikTok.” After a brief back and forth with their label, Astralwerks-Capitol, Halsey has emerged victorious.
“If you have the internet you have probably heard that I’ve been trying to put this song out for a long time,” the Grammy nominee announced Tuesday, while sharing the promotional artwork for the new song. “And I’m thrilled you’ll finally get to hear it. So Good, song on June 9th and video (directed by@zoneaydin) the next day.”
The promotional image shows Halsey and their partner, Alev Aydin, sharing a passionate kiss and is fashioned with retro ’70s vibe with a technicolor bullseye focused on their lips.
Aydin separately announced the single on his Instagram: “Ash wrote a song about me, and asked me to write and direct a music video for it. SO GOOD drops June 9th, video out day after!”
In addition to announcing “So Good,” Halsey also treated fans to several behind-the-scenes moments of their ongoing tour. One sweet photo showed them bonding with their and Aydin’s son, Ender, who they say “gave me my flowers.”
As previously reported, the “East Side” singer said they simply couldn’t release their new music on their own because the label “owns the master.” According to Halsey, the song and its music video were both ready to go for over a month, which only added to their mounting frustration.
Capitol Music has since issued a statement on the forthcoming single’s release, saying in a tweet, “We are an artist first company that encourages open dialogue. We have nothing but a desire to help each one of our artists succeed.”
Former Arcade Fire member Will Butler has released two new solo songs.
The tracks, which mark Butler’s first solo material since he left the “Wake Up” outfit, are titled “A Stranger’s House” and “Nearer to Thee,” and are available now via digital outlets. “A Stranger’s House” is also accompanied by a video, which you can watch now streaming on YouTube.
Along with the new tunes, Butler has announced a run of U.S. tour dates kicking off in August. Tickets go on sale this Friday, June 3, at 10 a.m. ET.
Butler, the younger brother of Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler, announced his departure from the band last March.
“There was no acute reason beyond that I’ve changed — and the band has changed — over the last almost 20 years,” Will wrote at the time. “Time for new things.”
He added, “The band are still my friends and family.”
Will’s previously released three solo albums, the most recent of which being 2020’s Generations.
Arcade Fire, meanwhile, released their new album WE earlier this month. They’ll launch a U.S. tour in support of the record in October.
Kevin Nixon/Classic Rock Magazine/Future via Getty Images
Earlier this year, Jon Anderson teamed up with the students of the Paul Green Rock Academy for a five-date U.S. tour, and now the former Yes frontman is set to head out on the road with the talented young musicians for more shows this summer.
The new tour will feature Anderson and the students performing Yes’ 1972 album Close to the Edge in its entirety in honor of its 50th anniversary, plus other classic tunes and deep cuts by the prog-rock legends, as well as tunes from Anderson’s solo catalog, mashups and more.
The performances will showcase lush arrangements of the songs, including choral vocals, horns and other musical elements.
The trek currently features 13 dates and is mapped out from a July 7 concert in Plymouth, New Hampshire, through an August 6 show in Albany, New York.
Anderson says about performing with the Paul Green Rock Academy, “There are so many wonderful moments in my musical life, and being on stage with these young teenagers performing Classic Yes songs makes me so happy and proud … It’s a marvel and a tremendous pleasure for me.”
He adds, “They are a joy to be with and so much fun!!! I am grateful, thankful and feel very blessed to be able to sing along with them. [My wife] Janee and I love them all.”
Paul Green, meanwhile, explains that he was impressed with Anderson and the students’ performances of two songs from Close to the Edge — the title track and “And You and I” — at concerts last April. He adds, “Then when I heard it was the 50th anniversary of the album I just knew we had to do the whole thing. Jon agreed.”
Check out the full list of dates at Anderson’s Facebook page.
The official social media platforms for Star Wars posted a unified message of support for Obi-Wan Kenobi star Moses Ingram, after she shared on Instagram racists comments people had directed at her.
“There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist,” the message reads.
“We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva’s story to unfold. If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist.”
Moses’ video begins with a collection of nasty comments, including claims her character Reva was a “diversity hire” by Darth Vader. The actress then addresses her followers directly.
“Long story short, there are hundreds of these. Hundreds,” the actress begins, adding she also sees so many messages of support. “And that means the world to me,” Ingram says.
“I think the thing that bothers me … that that feeling inside of myself … that I just have to shut up and take it, grin and bear it … But I’m not built like that,” she says defiantly.
Moses then thanked fans who have stood by her. And to the trolls? “Y’all are weird,” she says.
According to an interview in the U.K. Independent, Ingram was warned by Lucasfilm about racist comments that were made about Star Wars sequel stars Kelly Marie Tran and John Boyega. “It was something that Lucasfilm actually got in front of and said, ‘This is a thing that, unfortunately, likely will happen. But we are here to help you; you can let us know when it happens,'” Ingram says.
Lucasfilm is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
Anita Baker took a moment during her Las Vegas show over the weekend to shoutout Chance the Rapper, who was in the audience.
In a video of the moment posted to Twitter, Baker credits Chance with helping her regain ownership of her master recordings.
“You should say hello to a friend of mine by way of the music industry and by way of helping me to get ahold and ownership of my master recordings,” she says in the clip.
Chance tweeted in response to the video, “I saw one of THE greatest performances of my LIFETIME last night! Thank you so much @IAMANITABAKER for being an inspiration and an icon to so many of US.”
The mutual lovefest continued with Baker writing that Chance’s attendance at her show “brought tears to her eyes” and Chance responding that he is “honored and blessed” to call her a friend.
Baker announced in September 2021 that she won a long legal battle to regain her masters. “All My Children Are Coming Home,” she wrote on social media, with a photo of her first five studio albums: 1983’s The Songstress;The Rapture from 1986; 1988’s Giving You the Best That I Got;Compositions from 1990; and her 1994 release, Rhythm of Love.
Jimmie Allen and Michael Ray are among the artists speaking out about their mental health in partnership with ACM Lifting Lives.
In the new digital series The Check-In, multiple country stars are opening up about their mental health journeys, candidly “sharing stories from their own mental health experiences over the recent few years and revealing how music has played a crucial role in their healing process,” according to ACM Lifting Lives.
“You feel like your world is maybe coming to an end five years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago. It probably doesn’t even matter anymore,” Michael shares in a video advertising the series. “Learn to see the most beautiful things in life and really take it in. And I would also tell myself that everything’s going to be alright,” Jimmie says.
John Osborne and Lindsay Ell‘s episodes have already been released. New episodes will air throughout the summer, with Brett Eldredge; Chase Bryant, who previously opened up about his experience surviving a suicide attempt; and Caitlyn Smith also participating.
Justin Bieber is having a hard time accepting that his baby sister is entering high school. His half sister, Jazmyn, recently turned 14 and to celebrate, the “Ghost” singer took a sweet stroll down memory lane.
“Can’t believe im saying this but Happy 14th birthday to the sweetest, most beautiful, precious, little sis a brother could ask for,” Justin wrote, sharing a carousel of photos that documents their relationship.
The Grammy winner shared a recent selfie of Jazmyn making a face and two throwbacks of the two when the world was just getting to know Justin.
The two are related through their father, Jeremy Bieber, who had Jazmyn and her 12-year-old brother, Jaxon, during his relationship with ex Erin Wagner.
Jeremy has since married ChelseyBieber, and the two share their 3-year-old daughter, Bay.
(WASHINGTON) — Following a holiday weekend with at least 12 mass shootings across the country, President Joe Biden met with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at the White House on Tuesday morning, as families in Uvalde, Texas, prepared tiny caskets for the first funerals this week.
Biden told reporters he would meet with lawmakers on the issue of guns, but he didn’t say when that would happen or provide more details, according to the print pool reporter covering Biden’s Oval Office meeting with New Zealand’s prime minister.
Responding to a question about whether he’d meet with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell about guns, Biden replied, “I will meet with the Congress on guns, I promise you,” according to the print reporter.
Shortly before, inside the Oval Office, Biden praised Ardern’s leadership on a range of issues and said, “We need your guidance.”
“There’s an expression by an Irish poet, it’s ‘too long a suffering that makes us stone to the heart.’ Well, there’s an awful lot of suffering,” Biden told Ardern. “I’ve gotten to more mass shooting aftermaths than I think any president in American history, unfortunately…And so much of it, much of it, is preventable, and the devastation is amazing.”
The two leaders were set to discuss combatting terrorism and radicalization to violence, the climate crisis, and the Indo-Pacific economy, according to the White House, but Ardern’s appearance in the wake of the elementary school massacre offered a side-by-side picture of two Western nations with starkly different responses to gun violence.
After a gunman murdered 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, and streamed it on Facebook as it happened, Ardern led a dramatic push to restrict firearms in New Zealand within weeks of the attack. Less than a month after the attack, all but one of 120 Kiwi lawmakers voted to permanently ban military-style semiautomatic weapons and assault rifles.
“Can I bring the sincere condolences from the people of Aldi and New Zealand for what you have experienced and Texas and New York, and it’s been devastating to see the impact on those communities,” Ardern said, also raising a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, this month where ten Black people were killed in a grocery store.
“Our experience, of course, in this regard, is our own but if there’s anything that we can share that would be of any value, we are here to share it,” she added.
In the U.S., meanwhile, gun control legislation has remained stalled for decades as Senate Republicans have used, or threatened to use, the filibuster to block such legislation. A small group of bipartisan senators — including Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Tom Tillis, R-N.C., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., are meeting by Zoom Tuesday afternoon on gun reform talks, multiple sources told ABC News, as advocates and everyday Americans alike demand action in the wake of the latest violence.
Asked last week about New Zealand’s decision to ban most semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles in 2019, Ardern explained to CBS host Stephen Colbert how the country introduced a system to buy back guns from civilians and destroy them.
“I can only speak to our experience in New Zealand, but you know when I watch from afar and see events such as those today I think of them not as a politician, I see them just as a mother and I’m so sorry for what has happened here,” Ardern said.
“Then I think about what happened to us and all I can reflect is — we are a very pragmatic people. When we saw something like that happen everyone said ‘never again,’ so then it was incumbent on us as politicians to respond to that,” she continued. “Now, we have legitimate needs for guns in our country for things like pest control and to protect our biodiversity, but you don’t need a military-style, semi-automatic weapon to do that. So we got rid of them.”
After Biden told protesters in Uvalde on Sunday “we will” when they demanded the U.S. “do something,” it’s unclear if the president will get more involved on the issue since largely punting action to Congress. Biden has suggested assault weapons be banned and that lawmakers revisit the 1994 law but said in Texas, “I can’t outlaw a weapon. I can’t change the background checks.”
Tuesday also marks the first White House visit of a leader from New Zealand since 2014.
Måneskin has debuted the video for “Supermodel,” the band’s latest single.
The clip shows the Italian rockers chasing after the titular supermodel, who’s escaped a party with a mysterious, glowing purse akin to the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. There are also references to several other ’90s films, including Run Lola Run and Eyes Wide Shut.
You can watch the “Supermodel” video streaming now on YouTube.
The song “Supermodel” premiered earlier this month. It follows last fall’s “MAMMAMIA.”
Måneskin will launch their first North American headlining tour in October.
Dan + Shay are Kenny Chesney superfans and are pledging their allegiance through song.
The duo is currently one of the opening acts on Kenny’s stadium-sized Here and Now Tour. Ahead of their show at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, they debuted a new song they wrote in honor of the impact Kenny has had on them.
Dan + Shay hopped on Instagram to share the brand new track, with Dan Smyers revealing that it’s inspired by how much Kenny’s music means to them and how they used to go to his shows every summer. “It’s an absolute dream come true for us to be on this tour,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’re still just fans.”
With the lyrics pulled up on bandmate Shay Mooney‘s phone, the two turned the empty Nissan Stadium into their personal stage as they performed the acoustic number that references Kenny’s hit “I Go Back” while recalling the first time they met him.
“The first time I shook his hand/All I said was was thank you, man/You introduced me to country music/You’re the reason that I do it,” Shay croons, leading into the chorus. “Every time I hear that song/I’m right back there in that parking lot/Drinking discount beer with my best friends/We were drunk before we ever got in/And just like him it stops me in my tracks/Singing I go back.”
Many fans took to the comments to demand that the duo officially record the song, with one referring to it as “the song of the summer.”
Carly Pearce and Old Dominion are also part of the lineup of Kenny’s tour, which continues through the summer, concluding with a two-night stay at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on August 26 and 27.
