In addition to Drake’s surprise album Honestly, Nevermind, check out this week’s New Music Friday for the culture’s latest and greatest in music.
Chlöe Bailey, “Surprise” – The singer dropped her latest solo single, along with a music video, and both are steamy. “Feel like you cheatin’ the positions I play for you/Surprise, tonight you get my freaky side,” she sings.
John Legend feat. Muni Long, “Honey” – The second single off Legend’s upcoming album marks the first time Legend and Long have collaborated as artists, though they’ve worked together as songwriters before.
Lil Baby feat. 42 Dugg & Veeze, “U-Digg” — The bumping new track and its music video, which Lil Baby directed, follow last weekend’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Baby’s new documentary, Untrapped.
Chance the Rapper feat. Joey Bada$$, “The Highs and the Lows” — The song is part of an interdisciplinary art piece showing at Art Basel in Switzerland. Chance will also be showing the piece Sunday at The Dusable Museum of African American History in Chicago during his Juneeteenth celebration and barbecue.
HBO Max evidently chose not to run “for your consideration” advertising to snag a possible Emmy for its sitcom The Garcias, but show creator Jeff Valdez wasn’t taking that sitting down.
He and his creative team have branded New York City’s Times Square themselves — up to and including one of the location’s most famous spaces, the backside of the so-called Naked Cowboy.
The guitar-playing fixture at the Crossroads of the World has been affixed with ad space promoting the show, in what publicists are calling a**-vertising, to try to snag the attention of Television Academy voters.
His guitar has been replaced with one reading FYC [for your consideration] featuring a cast photo, while his famous tighty-whities read “FYC Garcias.”
The Naked Cowboy, aka Robert John Burck, has become a one-man tourist attraction since he first wore his six-string, and not much else, in Times Square in 1998.
For over 40 years, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival has been taking place in New York’s Prospect Park. It’s one of the city’s longest-running outdoor performing arts festivals — and it’s free.
The summer-long festival kicked off last week and Executive Producer Diane Eber dished to ABC Audio on what festival-goers can expect.
“First and foremost, good vibes,” she shares. “We worked really hard to create those good vibes across the board. From our staff, from the moment you get in line, we want that experience to start.”
In addition to the good vibes, comes good music, and Eber assures they’re booking “a little bit of something for everyone.”
New to this year’s lineup is the Juneteenth UnityFest concert on Sunday, June 19, featuring some of the biggest gospel artists like Tye Tribbett, Deborah Cox, Israel Houghton, and more — and Eber credits Robert Randolph as the mastermind.
“He reached out to us,” she explains. “You know, we know him as an amazing guitarist and he had this vision and was like, ‘I’m doing this and I’m going to do it somewhere.’ And we were like, ‘Do it here.'”
“We worked closely with Robert Randolph Foundation and UnityFest to curate this, and it felt really important that it wasn’t us curating something, but that a Black artist came to us and was like, ‘This is how it should be, and that it was through their voice.'”
Whether you attend for the Juneteenth UnityFest or for another act, Eber expressed that “the core of what we do is providing a space for art and community to come together in a beautiful outdoor setting, which feels more important than ever now.”
“Our vision for this season is the concept of to gather together, the power of joy,” she adds.
Joe Jonas couldn’t hide the truth when taking a lie detector test for Vanity Fair. The “Cake By the Ocean” singer admitted the idea sounded “like a great idea on paper” but soon regretted his choice.
The questioning started with a bang, asking if Nick Jonas was being honest when he declared himself the favorite child. With a sigh, Joe remarked that’s “very much so” the truth. “Thanks mom and dad,” he deadpanned.
Joe attested he wasn’t bothered that Nick is the golden child — but the lie detector stated otherwise. Then again, he confessed his parents are still bitter they weren’t told he and Sophie Turner eloped in Las Vegas. DJ Diplo famously spilled the beans by livestreaming the supposed-to-be secret ceremony.
When asked about his brothers, the DNCE frontman stated he has the best vocal range, but when it came to naming the better songwriter, Nick was the winner in Joe’s mind.
When discussing other hot button topics, he confirmed the rumor that he was on the exclusive dating app, Raya, adding, “I mean, who wasn’t?” Joe also admitted to sliding into Turner’s DMs and said he did that to at least “10” others before finding love with his now-wife.
Speaking of Turner, Joe revealed he will “happily take the short king trophy” because the Game of Thrones star is taller than him. “Me and my wife have this debate for a long time now that I like to make her mad by making her think that we’re actually the same height,” he revealed. Joe added, “My type has always been tall women.”
Joe also revealed he threw his infamous purity ring “in the trash,” adding he thought it was “creepy” he was asked about his virginity so much when he was a teenager.
HAIM will be performing at Moon Man’s Landing, a new festival created by Kid Cudi.
The “Day ‘n’ Nite” rapper himself will headline the bill, which also includes Playboi Carti, Don Toliver, Pusha T, Dominic Fike, 070 Shake, Jaden and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.
Moon Man’s Landing takes place September 17 in Cleveland. Tickets go on pre-sale next Wednesday, June 22, at 10 a.m. ET. For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit MoonMansLanding.com.
HAIM, meanwhile, just wrapped a U.S. tour in support of their 2020 album, Women in Music Pt. III, earlier this week. They’ll be playing shows in Europe over the next month before returning to the U.S. in July to open for two Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts.
You can also catch HAIM this fall at the Firefly and Ohana Encore festivals.
Paul McCartney‘s magical mystery tour of a life brings him to his 80th birthday this Saturday.
The music that McCartney has made as a member of The Beatles and a solo artist has served as the soundtrack to so many people’s lives and has inspired countless musicians.
Several well-known artists have shared birthday wishes and messages for McCartney with ABC Audio.
The Who‘s Pete Townshend says he has Sir Paul’s phone number saved in his own mobile phone, and he plans to text him “Happy Birthday” on his big day.
“As for him turning 80, you know, he’s perennial,” Townshend adds. “I don’t know how he keeps going. He obviously loves performing. And it can’t be anything to do with money.”
Longtime Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain describes McCartney as “the quintessential songwriter.”
“[P]robably only Elton John that I can think of…has been so prolific, and has left us with such enduring melody,” Cain adds. “[McCartney] is the king of melody, as far as I’m concerned. No one comes close to what he’s laid down. And he continues to bring it.”
Founding Doobie Brothers singer/guitarist Pat Simmons declares, “Congratulations to Paul McCartney on being one of the greatest singer/songwriters of all time, and still doing it. Just…thanks for the inspiration from the rest of us.”
Simmons also recalls the first time he saw McCartney in concert several years ago in Japan.
“It was…a fantastic show, maybe one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, period, as far as…musical presentations,” says Pet. “The guy played for three hours straight, never took a break, sang like he was 18 years old…Paul was top of his game, and as far as I hear, he still is.”
Here are a few other birthday messages for McCartney:
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell: “My old friend, Paul McCartney. Happy birthday, brother, I hope I make it as far as you did.”
The Monkees‘ Micky Dolenz: “Happy birthday! I love him to death. And health and happiness, you know? He’s incredible.”
The Rascals‘ Felix Cavaliere: Paul is probably one of the two, three greatest songwriters of our time. There’s no question about it. Prolific is not the word…I really applaud him for still being out there working. I know he loves it just as much as we love it, and [I’m] just happy to have known him over the years…Happy birthday.”
Katy Perry and Silk Sonic are relative newcomers to Las Vegas, but they’ve already been honored by one of Sin City’s main publications, Las Vegas Weekly.
Each year, the publication hands out awards voted by either its editorial staff or its readers, highlighting everything from the best restaurants and spas in the area to the best place to take the kids and the best strip clubs. Of course, Las Vegas’ many entertainment options are also ranked, and that’s where Katy and Silk Sonic come in.
Readers voted Katy the “Best Strip Headliner” for her PLAY residency at Resorts World. The mag calls it “colorful, campy and cool,” and says that the show’s “elaborate costumes and props already rank among some of the most memorable ever to grace a Las Vegas Strip stage.”
The Las Vegas Weekly editorial staff, meanwhile, voted Silk Sonic the Best New Residency, saying Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak “bring infectious humor” to their show at Park MGM’s Dolby Live theater, as well as their music, described as a “soul-centric celebration.”
Meanwhile, readers voted Lady Gaga’s Jazz & Piano show, which has been a Las Vegas fixture at Park MGM since early 2019, as Best Production Show.
As the publication writes, “If you’ve heard Gaga’s torchy big band renditions of Great American Songbook classics and her stripped-down, swooningly gorgeous takes on her own hits, you know why Weekly readers deemed it the best in an impressive, crowded field.”
After years of being a country star, Faith Hill is no stranger to being a performer, but the singer says that acting as a different character on the set of 1883 posed a different, exciting kind of challenge.
“Having the opportunity to play a character other than myself was nice,” she tells actor Courteney Cox for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series. “It was really rewarding.”
An extra perk for Faith was being able to act alongside her country superstar husband, Tim McGraw, who played the character of James Dutton — her on-screen husband — on the show.
“And to be able to do it with Tim was remarkable. And we’ve been married for 24 years. We’ve done everything together,” Faith continues, explaining that though both of them had acted in the past, co-starring was new. “This was the first thing we had never done together.”
Still, even after all these years on stage, Faith says that performing still feels fresh. “I love performing, and it does come naturally to me three songs in,” she admits. “I stand near my band most of the time, and I’m constantly having to be reminded, ‘Oh yeah, the audience is that way!’”
A day before Paul McCartney celebrates his 80th birthday, the music legend has announced plans to release a limited-edition box set gathering together his three self-titled solo albums — 1970’s McCartney, 1980’s McCartney II and 2020’s McCartney III — on August 5.
The McCartney I II III collection, which can be pre-ordered now, will be available in three formats -– a three-CD set, a three-LP black-vinyl package and a limited-edition three-LP colored-vinyl set.
All three versions will feature three photo prints with notes from the former Beatles star about each record. The box set also will boast newly created cover art.
The common thread between all three albums is that Paul wrote, produced and recorded almost entirely by himself.
Released in April 1970, McCartney was Paul’s debut album and signaled the breakup of The Beatles. The record spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, although no singles were released from it. The album included the enduring song “Maybe I’m Amazed” as well as such gems as “Every Night,” “Junk” and “Teddy Boy,” three tunes that McCartney previously had worked on with The Beatles.
McCartney II was released in May 1980 and found the veteran rocker experimenting with synthesizers and modern recording techniques. The album reached #3 on the Billboard 200 and included the chart-topping hit “Coming Up” and the tune “Waterfalls,” which was a top-10 single in the U.K.
McCartney III was recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown and was released at the end of December 2020. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200.
Here’s the McCartney track list:
“The Lovely Linda”
“That Would Be Something”
“Valentine Day”
“Every Night”
“Hot as Sun/Glasses”
“Junk”
“Man We Was Lonely”
“Oo You”
“Momma Miss America”
“Teddy Boy”
“Singalong Junk”
“Maybe I’m Amazed”
“Kreen-Akrore”
Here’s the McCartney II track list:
“Coming Up”
“Temporary Secretary”
“On the Way”
“Waterfalls”
“Nobody Knows”
“Front Parlour”
“Summer’s Day Song”
“Frozen Jap”
“Bogey Music”
“Darkroom”
“One of These Days”
And here’s the McCartney III track list:
“Long Tailed Winter Bird”
“Find My Way”
“Pretty Boys”
“Women and Wives”
“Lavatory Lil”
“Slidin'”
“Deep Deep Feeling”
“The Kiss of Venus”
“Seize the Day”
“Deep Down”
“Winter Bird/When Winter Comes”
Donato Sardella/Getty Images for New York & Company — Warner Bros. Pictures
The first look of Ryan Gosling as Ken in the Barbie movie caused a sensation online, and it wasn’t lost on his partner, Eva Mendes.
The actress and entrepreneur retweeted Warner Bros. peek at Ryan’s bleach blonde locks and Barbie doll plastic-tanned eight pack, noting with the hashtag, “#ThatsMyKen.”
Mendes, mom to Gosling’s daughters Esmerelda and Amada, added to her social media followers of the 2023 movie, “So. F. Funny. So. F. Good. So F excited for you to see this…”
Mendes, 48, has had “her Ken,” 41, in her collection for 10 years.
Barbie, which will feature Margot Robbie as the blonde bombshell let loose in the real world, also stars Simu Liu, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, and America Ferrera.
