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The Hills in Springfield: The Weeknd is coming to ‘The Simpsons’

March 7, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The Weeknd has a pretty big gig coming up…he’ll be appearing on The Simpsons! He confirmed his exciting new venture on Twitter, saying he is “proud of this one.”

The Weeknd shared a link to a story from his fans’ watchdog account, The Weeknd Access, which reports that he will “voice the character of ‘Orion Hughes’ in the new episode of ‘The Simpsons’ which will premiere this March 20th.” Not much else is known about his stint on the long-running animated sitcom.

The Grammy winner has dreamed of voicing a character on The Simpsons for years. He apparently spoke it into existence when talking to Variety in 2020. “An obvious bucket list would be to work on The Simpsons,” he said. “That would be a dream — and if they’re reading this, I actually have a pretty cool idea if they’re down.”

The Weeknd has previously crashed the animated universes of American Dad and Robot Chicken, where he either spoofed himself or created alternate versions of his musical personas. “I want to continue to create different Weeknds in alternate universes,” he also said in the same Variety interview.

Ghost announces “release ritual” celebrating upcoming album, ‘Impera’

March 7, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Ghost will be celebrating the arrival of their new album with a “release ritual.”

The virtual event is set to stream live on YouTube this Thursday, March 10, at 2 p.m. ET, and will be followed by an “afterparty” exclusively for YouTube Premium subscribers.

As for what a “release ritual” actually entails, that’s not totally clear, but a trailer for the celebration promises that it’ll include Papa Emeritus IV, frontman Tobias Forge‘s persona for the Impera album cycle, and the Nameless Ghouls that make up the rest of Ghost.

Impera, the follow-up to 2018’s Prequelle, arrives this Friday, March 11. It includes the previously released songs “Hunter’s Moon,” “Call Me Little Sunshine” and “Twenties.”

Maren Morris is taking “Circles” to the “epic” and “crazy” ACMs stage for its TV debut

March 7, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Maren Morris‘ new single, “Circles Around This Town,” will get the Vegas treatment tonight when she performs its TV debut at the 2022 ACM Awards.

The show is taking place at Allegiant Stadium, a venue that, Maren says, was pretty dazzling even during rehearsals. “It’s beautiful, and the stage that we’re performing it on is so high up, it almost popped my ears,” Maren explains.

In fact, the stage is so massive that it was even a little daunting to a seasoned pro like Maren. “It’s kind of overwhelming how big it is in there,” she admits.

Still, once the crowd and her country-star peers assemble for the big night, Maren says it’s sure to be an unforgettable experience. “It’s very crazy, but so epic, and the whole window wall is behind us, so you just see the [Las Vegas] Strip,” she describes. “It’s gonna be beautiful.”

In addition to her performance, Maren is a nominee at tonight’s awards show. The event starts at 8 p.m. ET, and it’ll stream on Amazon Prime Video. Dolly Parton, Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett are co-hosting the show.

Chaka Khan taking part in Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit this May in Atlanta

March 7, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Chaka Khan is one of many female artists set to take part in a new festival that Mary J. Blige is launching in partnership with Pepsi and Live Nation Urban this spring that celebrates women and their achievements.

The inaugural Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit will take place in Atlanta over Mother’s Day weekend, from May 6 to May 8. It will feature performances by Mary J. and Khan, as well as by Kiana Ledè, City Girls, Xscape, Queen Naija, Ella Mai and more.

“The idea for the festival came to us after early listening sessions of my latest album with my family and friends and women in the industry,” Blige explains in a statement. “Each time, the people in the room would share a story, oftentimes of heartbreak or pain, but they always ended with joy and love and how their girlfriends or mom or sister helped them find their voice and strength.”

Mary adds that after two years stuck inside because to the pandemic, she felt women “deserved” this kind of experience.

“I’m so grateful to all of the performers, vendors, and participants for committing themselves to our inaugural event and I am so excited to do this in a city that has been rocking with me since the very beginning of my career,” she says. “I am proud to create this with my sisters and I look forward to an undeniably beautiful and special experience.”

Presale tickets will be available starting Tuesday, March 8, at 10 a.m. ET, with tickets going on sale to the general public on Thursday, March 10, at 10 a.m. ET at SoaWFestival.com.

Deep Purple cancels concerts in Russia and Ukraine; band members write messages protesting Russian invasion

March 7, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Deep Purple has canceled their upcoming concerts in Ukraine and Russia, which had been scheduled to take place on May 31 in Kyiv and June 4 in Moscow, respectively, in the wake of Russia’s military invasion of its neighboring country.

Coinciding with the cancellations, all five current members of Deep Purple have posted messages on the band’s official website and social media pages regarding the harrowing situation, prefaced by a note that reads, “As a rule, Deep Purple is apolitical, but on this occasion…”

The messages also are accompanied by the lyrics to the group’s Cold War-inspired 1970 song “Child in Time.”

Frontman Ian Gillan writes, “If speaking out means we shall never see our Russian friends again, then that is a big sacrifice, but nothing compared with never again seeing our Ukrainian friends who are being killed to satisfy the psychopathic ambitions of the Russian leader. I would like to see Russians on the streets in their millions, to show their disgust at the Ukrainian invasion, and I’d like to dream that very quickly, Russia can find some modern leadership that will bring them back into the world as friends. We have so much in common.”

Bassist Roger Glover writes, in part, “We condemn [Russian President Vladimir] Putin‘s military for the atrocities to innocent men, women and children in Ukraine[,] and we apologize to our Russian and Ukrainian fans that the shows have been cancelled. We live in hope that we can fulfill those dates in the future.”

Drummer Ian Paice‘s message reads, partly, “What’s happening is beyond distressing. It’s criminal and should be treated as such. The invasion of Putin’s army into Ukraine, (because that’s what it is), I hope will turn out to bring his ultimate downfall.”

Check out all the messages at Deep-Purple.com.

Kanye vs. Pete Davidson beef spills over to Starbucks tip jars in viral TikTok

March 7, 2022 by WDNY Radio

While Kanye West‘s song “Eazy” takes more than a veiled dig at Pete Davidson — “dig” being the operative word, as Ye buries an animated avatar of the SNL star alive — the flap has gone viral in another way.

In a TikTok video that has been liked more than 771,000 times and counting, it seems workers at one Starbucks are doing their own market research as to whom customers are backing in the beef, by using tip jars.

The video from user @dejapoo00 shows a pair of boxes meant for workers’ tips, with one marked with the name of Kim Kardashian‘s estranged husband, and the other her rebound boyfriend.

Just by the cash and the comments alone, Davidson is on top: It shows more bills in his box compared to Ye’s, the latter of which has collected a smattering of spare change.

“The kanye one full of coins bc only 16 yr old boys side with him,” snarked one TikTok user.

Another commented, “I’d empty my wallet for pete.”

Others saw the darker side of ‘Ye’s video, which he defended Sunday as, “…not a proxy for any ill or harm.”

One TikToker noted, “Kanye has been unhinged & making Kim feel threatened. That’s 100% not okay & that’s why Pete’s winning.”

Ahead of the 2022 ACMs, Luke Bryan says he’s learned never to take awards show recognition for granted

March 7, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Jordan Davis and Luke Bryan’s “Buy Dirt” is heading into tonight’s ACM Awards ceremony nominated in three categories, and though Luke isn’t the primary artist or a writer on the song, he says its message is enormously important to him.

“[Jordan is] so amazing at all this and having so much fun, and I am, too,” Luke says ahead of the show. “That song is really important for me to be on, too. I’m really honored to be a part of it.”

Luke’s been lucky enough to put out many songs that are special to him over the course of his career, but he knows it’s never a given that a special song will get recognition at an awards show. One example that comes to mind is his chart-topping 2013 ballad, “Drink a Beer.” The song reflects on the loss of a loved one, a pain that Luke knows all too well — when he performed it at the 2013 CMA Awards, he dedicated it to his late siblings, Chris and Kelly.

But “Drink a Beer” was never nominated at an awards show, though in Luke’s opinion, it “probably should have been nominated for some stuff,” or even “won Song of the Year.”

Luke has learned never to take awards show recognition for ganted, which makes “Buy Dirt”’s multiple mentions all the more special. “It’s always amazing to have the opportunity to try to win one of these awards,” he notes.

The ACMs will stream tonight at 8 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video. Dolly Parton is co-hosting the event with Gabby Barrett and Jimmie Allen.

Post Malone seeks to dismiss lawsuit over “Circles”

March 7, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Post Malone didn’t mince words over his pending lawsuit over his 2019 hit, “Circles.” The suit was filed by Canadian musician Tyler Armes, who claims he’s owed songwriting credit.

According to Rolling Stone, Armes says he’s due partial ownership of the song because he contributed a guitar riff to it. The singer adds he was originally offered publishing royalties capped at five percent, but Posty’s team withdrew the offer when he tried negotiating for a higher number.

Now, Malone’s firing back. Through his lawyers, he responded that Armes contributed an “admittedly extremely commonplace guitar chord progression” and that a “fragment of guitar melody” he sang did not make it into the final piece.

Rolling Stone reports Malone further responds, “Armes does not have a shred of affirmative evidence with which to meet his burden of proof that his alleged contribution to the guitar melody is original. Armes admitted that his contributions did not even rise to the level of originality, which is also required in addition to the fixation requirement. He either conceded that his ideas were commonplace musical devices or failed to meet his burden to demonstrate any originality otherwise. Armes thus cannot even establish the threshold requirement that he made a copyrightable contribution.”

Posty seeks to have the lawsuit dismissed. A hearing has been set for April 4.

Holy update, Batman! ‘The Batman’ actually made $134 million over the weekend

March 7, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Holy update, Batman! ‘The Batman’ actually made 4 million over the weekend

As reported, The Batman was this weekend’s box office champ, but a recalculation of the numbers shows that the film made even more money than previously thought.

Variety reports that Robert Pattinson‘s first turn as the Dark Knight actually made $134 million in the U.S.; estimated numbers on Sunday had said that the Matt Reeves-directed movie had made $128.5 million.

The discrepancy was chalked up to a stronger-than-thought Sunday performance stateside. The movie made $34.1 million on the last day of the weekend, when ticket sales generally slow down. The Warner Bros. film has earned $258 million worldwide.

The Batman notched the best weekend performance of 2022, and it’s only the second film in the pandemic era to open to over $100 million in a weekend — the other being the more than $1.8 billion-grossing Spider-Man: No Way Home, which opened late last year.

Meanwhile, one of those fans who apparently checked out The Batman this weekend was none other than Taylor Swift.

Taylor took to her Instagram Stories over the weekend to praise the new film, and, in particular, Zoë Kravitz‘s portrayal of the iconic character, Catwoman. Certified cat-fan Taylor posted a photo of Kravitz onscreen, adding, “@zoeisabellakravitz IS THE CATWOMAN OF DREAMS,” Taylor captioned the post. “The Batman was PHENOMENAL!!”

Taylor and Zoë have apparently been friends for quite a while: There are photos of them out together in New York City in 2016.

Carly Pearce shares why she’ll “always cherish” ACM Awards co-host Dolly Parton

March 7, 2022 by WDNY Radio

There’s many reasons for Carly Pearce to be excited about the ACM Awards, but perhaps the biggest one is that her idol, Dolly Parton, is co-hosting.

As a teenager, Carly and her family moved from their native Kentucky to Pigeon Forge, TN, where she became a performer at Dollywood, an experience that trained the “Every Little Thing” singer for her future success.

“Dolly Parton has always been a huge inspiration in my life ever since I was a little girl,” Carly tells Hello! magazine. “She has taught me so much over the years from her kindness and the way she treats others, to her incredible songwriting and her ability to speak from the heart in all of her songs. Her impact on myself and country music as a whole is something I’ll always cherish.”

The country legend is co-hosting the 57th annual ceremony with Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett, where Carly is nominated for four of the night’s awards: Album of the Year for 29: Written in Stone, Female Artist of the Year, Music Event of the Year and Video of the Year, the latter two for her duet with Ashley McBryde on “Never Wanted to Be That Girl.”

Carly and Ashley will perform the track when the ACM Awards air live from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas tonight at 8 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video.

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