While many people were learning how to bake sourdough bread during quarantine in 2020, Jimmie Allen took to the bowling alley instead. 

The hit country singer developed a passion for bowling at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, so much so he frequented Nashville bowling alley, Tusculum Strike & Spare during quarantine. “I really got into it and I was like ‘yo, this is great!” he tells Entertainment Tonight about his newfound love for the sport. 

In addition to getting a coach, he’s also joined multiple bowling leagues, including one with his band. Among his frequent bowling partners is his mother, Angela, friend Chuck Wicks, a fellow singer who’s married to Jason Aldean‘s sister Kasi, and MLB player Mookie Betts. 

“I went and bought my own balls. I bought six balls, got some shoes,” he describes of his dedication to the activity. 

Jimmie can’t get enough of the sport, so much so he’ll make stops at local bowling alleys across the country while on tour. He’s been spotted playing a round at Buffaloe Lanes South Bowling Center in Raleigh, N.C. and Sioux Falls Sport Bowl in South Dakota.  

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Halsey doesn’t feel that speaking out online after the shooting in Ulvade, Texas, that left 19 children and two adults dead will do any good — but they did it anyway.

“It is so difficult to make statements and engage in conversations about lives lost to gun violence and mass shootings because it is so frequent and so horrific,” they wrote on their Instagram Story. “But unfortunately, it is also a routine news story for this generation and it shouldn’t be.”

The star continued, “I have nothing of value to add to this conversation because it never seems to move forward. And I don’t think a graphic from a musician is going to do anything but add noise to an already loud discussion.”

That being said, Halsey went on to write, “Just like many of you, as a mother, I’m scared. As a big sister I’m scared. As a citizen I’m angry. I can’t think of anything to say besides make sure you’re registered to vote.”

“I just want all school-age children to be protected and not grow up in the epicenter of trauma,” they concluded. “It is so futile and revolting that lawmakers protect guns over our youth. It’s despicable.”

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Judas Priest is having an eventful year that will see the band mount a lengthy, new European leg of its ongoing 50 Heavy Metal Years tour and will culminate with the veteran British rockers getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this November.

Beyond that, frontman Rob Halford reports that the band is continuing to work on a new album that will be a follow-up to their 2018 studio effort, Firepower.

“We’ve stopped kicking the tires and now we’re in tracking,” Halford tells ABC Audio about the status of the record.

He also reveals that he’s planning to add some new material to the project that, judging by his comments, will be based around unfinished archival recordings.

“You can never have enough songs when you’re making an album,” he notes. “Songs that you didn’t even know you had bits and pieces and fragments of, suddenly they become an incredibly important part of your record.”

Regarding the sound of the album, Rob notes, “The music that we’re making now is representative of where Priest is at this probably sixth decade of our existence when it comes out…It sounds great. I’m really pleased.”

He adds, “I’m really, really happy that…we’re not dropping the ball. Not that we ever have. But it’s good, because there are some elements in there that we’ve never…kind of discovered before.”

Asked if he thinks the album may be ready for release sometime next year, Halford responds cagily, “He raises his hands, he shrugs his shoulders and he goes, ‘Meh.'”

Judas Priest launches its 2022 European trek on May 31 in Berlin.

As previously reported, the band will be inducted into the Rock Hall in conjunction with receiving the Musical Excellence Award. The ceremony takes place November 5 in Los Angeles.

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Kane Brown will take his 2022 Blessed & Free Tour international this fall, with dates lined up for Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and even someplace he’s never been before: Australia.

“I’m excited,” the singer tells ET Online. “… I heard it was beautiful. It’s one of my biggest markets outside the United States, so I’m really excited to go out there. At first we thought it was gonna be for a festival, but I think we’re over there for two weeks.”

It’s also his first time performing abroad since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and while he’s been away, he’s made a number of new career moves. Now, “[t]hat’s cool, ‘cause we’re going to bigger venues,” Kane says.

What’s on his wish list of places to visit while he’s on the international leg of us tour? “I hope I get to [go] back to Ireland,” he says. “That was one of my favorite places.”

By the time Kane jets out for his international dates, he just might have a new album to share. The singer’s been releasing new music and hinting at his next full album, which he hopes will be out in 2022 or early 2023.

Most recently, he dropped his new single “Like I Love Country Music,” along with a fun music video that embraces his traditional country side.

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Stone Temple Pilots have canceled their performances at the last five shows of their U.S. tour with Halestorm and Black Stone Cherry because “a member of [their] touring party … tested positive” for COVID-19 during routine testing for the virus.

STP announced the news in a post on their social media sites: “Out of an abundance of caution, we must regretfully cancel the remaining shows on our tour with HALESTORM,” adding, “HALESTORM and BLACK STONE CHERRY will still be performing as scheduled.”

The five affected dates were last night’s show in Evansville, Indiana; tonight’s concert in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and performances on May 27 in Deadwood, South Dakota; May 28 in Moorhead, Minnesota; and May 30 in Missoula, Montana.

STP’s message concludes, “Thank you to everybody who has come out to see a show, and an extra special thank you to HALESTORM. We’ll be back out there as soon as we can.”

In November of last year, the band canceled the final two dates of their fall tour after someone in their organization tested positive for COVID-19, while the following month bassist Robert DeLeo announced that he had caught the virus.

Stone Temple Pilots’ next concert is scheduled for June 4 in Addison, Texas.

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Nick Jonas is counting his lucky stars his baby girl, Malti Marie, whom he shares with wife Priyanka Chopra, is home after spending “100 plus days in the NICU” shortly after birth.

Appearing Wednesday on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the youngest member of the Jonas Brothers raved about being a first-time dad, “It’s pretty wild.” He also said of his adorable daughter finally coming home, “She’s the best. It’s just been a magical season of our life.”

“It’s a blessing to have her home. It’s been wonderful,” he continued. Nick kept details under wraps and instead extended his congratulations to Kelly for scoring nine Emmy nods for her daytime talk show.

The two celebrated with a cocktail, with Kelly announcing, “I love it when we drink on my show … Y’all had fabulous drinks at your house when I came [over].”  

As previously reported, Nick and Priyanka spoke openly about finally being a family of three earlier this month after news broke in January that they welcomed their first child. The couple revealed on Mother’s Day that their daughter spent “100 plus days in the NICU” after she was born.

Nick and Priyanka had thanked the medical teams at Rady Children’s La Jolla and Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles “who were there selflessly every step of the way,” but declined to reveal the health complications that caused Malti’s NICU stay.

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A new studio version of Bob Dylan‘s classic folk song “Blowin’ in the Wind” will be sold at a Christie’s auction in London on July 7.

Billboard reports that Dylan recently recorded his new version of the tune with acclaimed producer T Bone Burnett using Burnett’s new ultra-high-definition Ionic Original audio format, details of which were unveiled last month.

The recording will be up for bid as part of Christie’s “Exceptional Sale,” and its value is estimated between $752,000 and $1.2 million. Prior to the auction, people will be able to listen to the Ionic Original disc by appointment at Christie’s locations in Los Angeles on June 8 and New York on June 15, and in conjunction with a public exhibition in London from July 2 to July 7.

The auction of the updated version of the tune coincides with the 60th anniversary of the original recording of “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

“Sixty years after Bob first wrote and recorded ‘Blowin’ in the Wind,’ he is giving us a new recording of his song; one that is both deeply relevant for our times and resonant with decades of the artist’s life and experience,” Burnett says in a statement. “We’re grateful to Christie’s for their belief in the ‘Ionic Original’ and for presenting Bob’s masterful recording to the world in a unique and meaningful way.”

The new rendition of “Blowin’ in the Wind” is the first recording to use the Ionic Original technology, which was developed by Burnett’s NeoFidelity Inc. company.

As reported last month by Variety, Dylan recorded a series of new versions of his well-known songs that will be released by NeoFidelity on a new Ionic Originals medium, which resembles a vinyl LP but is made of aluminum.

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The Offspring frontman Dexter Holland gave the commencement address at this month’s graduation ceremony for the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.

Holland detailed his circuitous journey to graduating from USC with a Ph.D. in molecular biology in 2017, which, of course, was interrupted by singing in a Platinum-selling punk rock band. He also shared a story about how working in the lab when he was a graduate student led to him coming up with the line “You gotta keep ’em separated” from the Offspring song “Come Out and Play.”

“I believe that there’s an intersection between art and science,” Holland said. “And that even in our scientific field we draw upon our creativity.”

You can watch a stream of the USC Keck School of Medicine 2022 commencement ceremony now via YouTube. Holland’s remarks begin around the 42:20 mark.

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