Charlie Puth has four Grammy nods, headlined multiple world tours and has collaborated with some of the biggest names in music — but that all apparently pales in comparison to his latest achievement: starring in a Super Bowl commercial.
“I’ve never done a Super Bowl commercial before and somehow I’m fortunate enough for it to happen for me this year. I’m still pinching myself,” the “Light Switch” singer told Billboard. “If you had told me 10 years ago when I was attending Berklee [College of Music] that I would be on a Super Bowl commercial, animated [and] showing myself musically I wouldn’t believe you.”
Charlie stars alongside rapper Megan Thee Stallion in Frito-Lay’s “Unleash Your Flamin’ Hot” Big Game commercial, which features wild animals singing while eating chips.
The 30-year-old singer said he “was in right away” after hearing the pitch. “The premise is that all these animals eat these Flamin’ Hot products and they become musically active, they start harmonizing and being in synch and perfect tempo with each other and that’s what happened to me life as well,” Charlie remarked, joking he’s also “off to the races writing 5 songs” whenever he eats his favorite snack.
Charlie plays a beatboxing fox while the “Savage” rapper plays a songbird — a vermilion flycatcher to be precise — in the commercial, which features animals belting out “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa.
The “One Call Away” singer raved about working with Megan, saying, “It’s technically a collaboration. I think she’s wonderful and I have nothing but good things to say about her… And I know that she just graduated college, which is really impressive and great that she has time to do that while being a pop superstar.”
The commercial will air in full on Sunday, February 13, during the Super Bowl.
The spring outing will launch March 21 in Atlanta, and will come to a close April 16 in Houston. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 4, at 10 a.m. local time.
For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit WolfAlice.co.uk.
Wolf Alice will be touring in support of their 2021 album Blue Weekend, which features the single “Smile.” Along with the headlining dates, the U.K. outfit’s 2022 schedule includes a number of high-profile opening gigs for Harry Styles, Bleachers and Halsey.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. and Russia are moving ahead with their diplomatic engagements over Russia menacing Ukraine, according to senior State Department officials, after the two countries’ top diplomats spoke Tuesday.
But as talks continue to proceed, there have been no results yet — with more than 100,000 Russian troops still massed on Ukraine’s borders, including increasingly in its northern neighbor Belarus.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin said the U.S. has “ignored” Russia’s key demands that NATO bar Ukraine from joining and pull back allied troops from Eastern European countries — his first comments on the crisis in over a month.
But his government is still analyzing the U.S. response to Russia, laid out in a formal proposal hand-delivered by the U.S. ambassador in Moscow last week, he said.
During a critical call, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “did agree that the ideas on both sides that have been exchanged did form the basis for the potential for serious discussion on a range of issues,” said a senior State Department official.
Those ideas include issues like arms control and greater transparency in military exercises, they added, expressing some hope that Russia’s continued engagement could lay the groundwork for real negotiations.
But for now, Russia is still formulating its response to those U.S. ideas, senior State Department officials said Lavrov told Blinken. Once they are finalized, they will be sent to Putin for approval and then sent to the U.S. After that, Blinken and Lavrov will speak again, the senior officials said.
“I do think they agree that ideas in that non-paper could be the basis for a constructive conversation about how he enhance security in Europe,” said a second senior State Department official. The “non-paper” is what U.S. officials have called the U.S. response to Russia’s original demands.
But Lavrov didn’t outright say that during the call, they conceded. Later on Tuesday, Putin seemed more dismissive of the U.S. proposal, saying, “It is already clear that Russia’s fundamental concerns have been ignored.”
Pressed on whether the Russians may be buying time or stalling before a renewed attack on Ukraine, the second senior State Department official said, “Because we don’t President Putin has made a decision [on whether to further invade Ukraine], we think it’s important to keep the diplomatic option on the table — so to the extent that Russia wants to engage in that diplomatic track, we are also open to having that continued diplomatic engagement.”
Blinken and Lavrov didn’t agree on when or how those talks would continue, but the U.S. has called for them to include one-on-one meetings, as well as negotiations between NATO and Russia and dialogue at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a Cold War-era forum that includes the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine.
On Monday, Moscow sent the U.S., as well as several NATO allies and OSCE members, a similar letter seeking clarification about security principles enshrined in one of the OSCE’s key documents, the Helsinki Final Act, according to U.S. and Russian officials. The letter was not Russia’s response to the U.S. proposal, but seems to be part of its effort to formulate one.
“NATO refers to the right of countries to choose freely, but you can not strengthen someone’s security at the expense of others,” Putin said Tuesday during a press conference with Hungary’s autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
As the U.S. and NATO wait for that formal response, Blinken again urged Russia to deescalate tensions by pulling back troops, heavy weaponry, and equipment from Ukraine’s borders. But Lavrov gave no indication during the call that Russia would do so, the senior officials said.
“All of the actions that we are seeing on the ground do not suggest escalation. We continue to see in fact more Russian troops coming not only to Russia’s border with Ukraine, but as you know, also to Belarus for these supposed exercises,” the second senior State Department official said.
Russia and Belarus have said those forces are preparing for military exercises to improve their readiness. But the U.S. said Monday it has evidence that more than 30,000 Russian troops will mass in Belarus in the coming days, citing declassified U.S. intelligence — a concerning move that puts them within two hours of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.
Graham Nash has joined Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and others in asking that his music be removed from Spotify because the streaming service has been hosting Joe Rogan‘s popular podcast, which many medical and scientific professionals have charged with spreading potentially harmful misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccines.
Nash has issued a statement explaining his decision to have his solo recordings pulled from Spotify, which also appears to reference comments Rogan made in an Instagram video posted Monday in which the host addressed some of the accusations regarding his podcast.
“There is a difference between being open to varying viewpoints on a matter and knowingly spreading false information which some 270 medical professionals have derided as not only false but dangerous,” Graham writes. “Likewise, there is a difference between misinformation, in which one is unaware that what is being said is false, versus disinformation which is knowingly false and intended to mislead and sway public opinion. The opinions publicized by Rogan are so dishonest and unsupported by solid facts that Spotify becomes an enabler in a way that costs people their lives.”
In Rogan’s video, he denies “trying to promote misinformation,” adding, “I’m not trying to be controversial. I’ve never tried to do anything with this podcast other than just talk to people and have interesting conversations.”
After Young and Mitchell announced they were removing their music from Spotify, the company announced that it will be adding content advisories before podcasts that discuss COVID-19.
“Personally, there are plenty of individuals and views on Spotify that I disagree with strongly,” wrote Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek. “It is important to me that we don’t take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them.”
The 2022 CMT Awards have found a new venue and air date.
The show will air live from Nashville at the historic Municipal Auditorium, in addition to other venues across the city, on April 11 at 8 p.m. ET. This marks the inaugural broadcast of the CMT Awards on CBS.
A statement from CMT hints that the show will feature “world premiere performances and one-of-a-kind collaborations from in and around Music City.”
The CMT Awards was originally slated to air on April 3, but the date was moved after the Grammy Awards, which also air on CBS, had to be rescheduled from January 31 to April 3 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Details on the nominees and voting process for the 2022 show will be announced in the coming weeks. The CMT Awards will also be available to stream on Paramount+.
Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival
Dave Matthews Band is returning to the road this summer.
The “Ants Marching” outfit has announced a North American headlining tour, set to kick off May 11 in Austin, Texas. The lengthy outing will come to a close with a two-night stand at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on September 19 and 20.
Tickets won’t go on sale to the general public until February 25, but if you’re a member of the DMB Warehouse fan club, you can request access to pre-sale tickets now through February 8 at 3 p.m. ET.
Selena Gomez opened up about how society’s impossible beauty standards — specifically about always looking young and beautiful — were harmful to her mental health. The 29-year-old now hopes to help her impressionable young fans to also walk away from that same, unhealthy mindset.
“From the time I can remember, I’ve always felt like I had to be perfect or look a certain way,” Selena told Glamour UK. “Being in the public eye from such an early age certainly comes with a lot of pressure. It’s hard to feel comfortable when you feel like everyone is watching, judging, and commenting on the way you look.”
Selena continued, “It took me a long time to realize that I only wanted to be myself — that what made me unique was also what made me beautiful… Self-confidence is still something I work on daily, but when I stopped trying to conform to society’s unrealistic standards of beauty, my perspective entirely shifted.”
Looking back at the life lessons she’s learned, Selena wishes most to tell her younger self, “Makeup is something to have fun with, but not something you need.”
“I used to think I needed to wear makeup to feel pretty, and I can definitely say that has changed as I’ve gotten older,” the Rare Beauty mogul explained.
As for the advice she’d give her fans who may be struggling to overcome the same insecurities, Selena had several ideas. “I’m a big advocate for therapy,” she began. “I also love to keep sticky notes around my house with positive affirmations. I have a lot of various ones, but “I am enough” is a favorite of mine — I call them ‘Rare Reminders.'”
She also endorses “taking a scrolling break from social media” to help combat the pressure to appear a certain way.
The NFL has announced its pregame entertainment lineup for the Super Bowl, and country music will be represented with Mickey Guyton.
The Grammy nominated country star is set to perform the national anthem ahead of the game, when the Cincinnati Bengals will face off against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA on February 13 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
“Look at God. I am shook, I am grateful, I am praise dancing,” Mickey shares on Twitter. “So excited to be singing the national anthem at #SBLVI on February 13th!”
As previously reported, the halftime entertainment for Super Bowl LVI will include Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar. Zedd, Maren Morris‘ collaborator on “The Middle,” will serve as the pregame DJ during player warmups.
The Super Bowl will air on NBC and Telemundo and stream live on Peacock.
The Smile, which also features drummer Tom Skinner of the band Sons of Kemet, made their live debut last year at the Glastonbury 2021 livestream event, and they just played a trio of livestreamed concerts in London this past weekend. The group has so far officially released two songs: “You Will Never Work in Television Again,” and “The Smoke.”
Following Meat Loaf‘s death at age 74 on January 20, the powerhouse singer’s albums and songs have shot up the Billboard charts like, well, bats out of hell.
First of all, Meat Loaf’s classic 1977 album Bat Out of Hell re-entered the Billboard 200 at #13, one spot higher than it originally peaked back in 1978. The album, which has been certified 14-times Platinum by the RIAA, moved 28,000 album equivalent units during the most recent week-long tracking period, according to MRC Data, a 3,677% increase from the previous week.
Bat Out of Hell also debuted at #1 on the Top Rock Albums chart and re-entered the Catalog Albums tally at #1.
Meanwhile, Meat Loaf’s chart-topping 1993 sequel album Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell re-entered the Billboard 200 at #91 after notching 10,000 album equivalent units during the latest tracking period, a 2,320% surge from the previous week.
Bat Out of Hell II included Meat Loaf’s only #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).” The tune has now debuted at the top of the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart and Hard Rock Streaming Songs tally.
Those two songs were streamed 4.4 million and 4.5 million times in the U.S., respectively, during the most most tracking week, accounting for 40% of Meat Loaf’s song streams.
As for Meat Loaf’s epic Bat Out of Hell track “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” it debuted at #1 on the Hot Hard Rock Songs and Hard Rock Streaming Songs charts.
Looking at Meat Loaf’s overall catalog, it amassed 21.1 million on-demand official audio and video streams in the U.S. during the latest tracking period, a 1,422% increase from the previous week, according to MRC Data reported by Billboard.
