Bonnie Raitt will be starting the new year with an impressive new honor at the upcoming Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy announced Thursday that she’ll receive their Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award celebrates those who “made outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording,” per the press release.
“Wow what a surprise, I’m speechless,” 10-time Grammy winner Raitt said in a statement, reacting to the announcement. “Thank you so much to all those at The Recording Academy for selecting me to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award!”
Bonnie will pick up her trophy at the Special Merit Awards and 64th Annual Grammy Nominees Reception event on January 30, 2022.
The “Something to Talk About” singer also heads into the new year with a brand-new album, her 21st overall. Titled Just Like That…, it’s due out January 28, with preorders available now on her website.
Bonnie tells the Recording Academy of her upcoming work, “I’m really aware of how lucky we were to be able to safely come together and record this album last summer… After this particularly tough time, we can’t wait to get back on the road to do what we love and have some great new songs to play.”
The 64th annual Grammy Awards air January 31 starting at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
With a few weeks left before we step into the new year, Twitter is looking back at its biggest movers and shakers of 2021. Among those who frequently took over the trending charts were BTS, Taylor Swift and Lil Nas X.
The social media service unveiled its annual Year on Twitter data on Thursday and crowned BTS as this year’s most tweeted-about music act, based on worldwide interactions. When looking at just the U.S., the K-pop sensations rank fourth.
BTS member Jungkook also can pat himself on the back for having the second biggest tweet of the year worldwide — coming right behind President Joe Bidensaying his inauguration marks “a new day in America.” Also globally, Jungkook’s selfie with a kissy-face emoji was more popular than former president Barack Obama congratulating PresidentBiden on his victory and also Vice President Kamala Harris celebrating her first day on the job.
Taylor is this year’s most talked-about female artist in the U.S., with Twitter noting that her newly re-recorded Fearless and Red albums ignited a flurry of Twitter activity. The Grammy-winner is also the country’s fifth-most tweeted-about musician but, globally, she’s right behind BTS at number two.
Lil Nas X is not only the third-most tweeted-about musician and fifth-most tweeted-about celebrity in the U.S., his Montero debut is the third-most tweeted-about album of 2021.
Beyoncé also got a whole lot of Twitter love this year, with the service naming her the third-most tweeted-about female artist. When compared to all other artists, she finishes the year at number seven.
Britney Spears‘ conservatorship battle placed her into the top 10 on the same list. The “Toxic” singer ends 2021 in ninth place.
A new book of Gorillaz artwork is set to be released next year.
The appropriately titled The Gorillaz Art Book includes never-before-seen pieces by the virtual band’s co-creator, Jamie Hewlett, along with contributions from guests artists including The Cure‘s Robert Smith and actor/Tenacious D frontman Jack Black.
For the 288-page tome, Gorillaz once again teamed up with publisher Z2 Comics, which also put out 2020’s Gorillaz Almanac. Other artists who’ve worked with Z2 include Machine Gun Kelly, Yungblud, Rise Against, Jimmy Eat World and Sublime.
You can pre-order The Gorillaz Art Book now via Z2Comics.com. It’s expected to arrive in April 2022.
If you’ve ever wanted to hang out at Reba McEntire’s house, you’re in luck: A Southern Colonial mansion in Lebanon, Tennessee that the country superstar formerly called home is now becoming a five-star luxury venue and resort.
Originally built in 1960, the stunning, 13,000-sq. ft home, called The Estate at Cherokee Dock, has been an event space since 2017. It’s been available to host various high-profile and celebrity events for years, and just last month, The Bachelor stars Ben Higgins and Jessica Clarke held their wedding reception at the estate.
Now handled by Nashville management company Infinity Hospitality, the estate will be turned into a luxury resort, also offering event experiences to guests. The full-service venue will boast amenities like spa treatments, golf, live music and even horseback riding, according to a statement from Infinity Hospitality CEO Nathaniel Beaver.
Meanwhile, Reba’s continuing to expand her empire in her home state of Oklahoma: She announced plans for a restaurant and venue called Reba’s Place last month.
Adele has set record after record with her groundbreaking album, 30, but she revealed in a new interview that we never would have heard it had it not been for “Hotline Bling” rapper Drake.
Speaking toRolling Stoneon Thursday, the “Easy on Me” singer admits it was once very possible the album would have never seen the light of day because of its pandemic-related delays.
After 30‘s release was pushed back by over a year, Adele began flirting with the idea of never releasing it because it chronicled a set chronological point in her life — her divorce from husband Simon Konecki. The Grammy winner felt every delay further distanced her from that time, and another setback would cause 30 to lose its full emotional impact.
“If it wasn’t coming out now, I think I probably would never put it out,” Adele confessed. “I know I would’ve changed my mind and been like, ‘It’s moved on. Let’s start the next album.'”
Luckily, it didn’t come to that and we have Drake to thank for changing her mind.
“I had that conversation with Drake… He kept having to push his album [Certified Lover Boy] back,” she recalled. “Suddenly he just announced that it was out and was like, ‘I feel like I’ve been working on it for so long because I’ve been sitting on it.’ I feel a bit like that.”
“I couldn’t do that to this album. I feel like it deserves to come out,” Adele said.
30, which was finally released on November 19, 2021, is now the top-selling album in the U.S. and has set multiple streaming and radio records.
After announcing during his Tuesday TV show that his five-month-old son, Zen, died Sunday from brain cancer, Nick Cannon explained on his show Wednesday why he decided to return so quickly after Zen’s passing.
“A lot of people keep asking me like, ‘Man why are you even at work?’ Especially my family members, ‘Boy, you need to go sit down somewhere, you got too many jobs already. Allow yourself to just be yourself,’ ” Cannon said.
“I appreciate that, all of that advice and I know it comes from a place of care. But to me, this isn’t work, this is love.”
As Nick thanked everyone for their support, Zen’s mother, Alyssa Scott, posted an emotional Instagram video montage tribute.
Paired with Jhené Aiko‘s song “Promises,” Scott wrote, “Oh my sweet Zen. The soreness I felt in my arm from holding you is slowly fading away. It’s a painful reminder that you are no longer here. I caught myself looking in the backseat as I was driving only to see the mirror no longer reflecting your perfect face back at me. When I close a door too loudly I hold my breath and wince knowing a soft cry will shortly follow. It doesn’t come. The silence is deafening.”
“We were a team,” Alyssa continued. “It feels unbearable running without you now.”
The video showed Zen playing with a toy piano, taking a bath, and Scott rocking her baby in her arms as he looked up at her.
“It has been an honor and privilege being your mommy,” Scott ended her tribute. “I will love you for eternity.”
When Cannon revealed on his TV talk show that Zen had died, he praised Scott, telling his listeners: “Alyssa was just the strongest woman I’ve ever seen.”
Machine Gun Kelly trades a microphone for a revolver in a new clip from the upcoming Western movie The Last Son.
In the film, the “Bloody Valentine” rocker plays Cal, the son of a “murderous outlaw” Isaac LeMay — portrayed by Avatar‘s Sam Worthington — who believes he is cursed to die at the hands of one of his children. Thus, LeMay begins hunting down and killing his children, including Cal.
It turns out that may not be so easy, since Cal takes after his father in at least one way. The clip, which premiered via Billboard.com, shows MGK leading a gun-toting crew into a bank, with ill intentions.
To find out what exactly those intentions are, you can catch The Last Son in theaters and on-demand this Friday, December 10. The film also stars Thomas Jane and Heather Graham.
Kelly’s past film credits include roles in The Dirt, Bird Box and Beyond the Lights. You can also see him in this year’s Midnight in the Switchgrass, which led to his relationship with Megan Fox.
Meanwhile, Kelly and frequent collaborator Mod Sun are co-directing and co-writing an upcoming film called Good Mourning with a U.
If you can’t get enough of Paramount Network’s Yellowstone — and the ratings suggest you can’t — there’s now a new official podcast for that.
Hosted by Jefferson White, who plays Jimmy on the hit show, the first episode has just dropped, featuring cast members Wes Bentley and Luke Grimes.
The podcast’s producers promise its first season will boast guests including show creator Taylor Sheridan, as well as stars including Kelly Reilly, Gil Birmingham, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, Ryan Bingham, Jen Landon, Mo’ Brings Plenty, and Forrie Smith.
The Yellowstone podcast, presented by Wynn Las Vegas and produced by 101 Studios, will also welcome stars from the upcoming Yellowstone prequel 1883, which stars Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Sam Elliott, Isabel May, and LaMonica Garrett.
Alanis Morissette took over Broadway with her two-time Tony Award-winning musical Jagged Little Pill. Now, she’s coming for your local bookstore.
According to a press release from Abrams Books, young adult author Eric Smith has teamed with he “Ironic” singer to transform her musical, based on the album of the same name, into a novel. The novelization is further assisted by Jagged Little Pill‘s musical co-creators, the Oscar-winning Diablo Cody and Glen Ballard.
Jagged Little Pill uses Alanis’ songs to tell the story of The Healys, a seemingly perfect suburban family that’s struggling with many of of today’s hot-button issues, from addiction to racial and sexual identity. One critic even called it “the most woke musical of all time.”
Cody said in a statement toRolling Stone, “This show was written with young, energetic audiences in mind, and I hope this beautiful book helps connect even more teens to our musical.”
The Jagged Little Pill novel will be told through the eyes of five teenagers who grapple with their own issues, but their individual stories intersect when a mutual friend is sexually assaulted at a party by an abuser who might get away with it.
Jagged Little Pill hits bookstands on April 26, 2022. It is available for pre-order now.
(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — History could be made for Starbucks workers in labor-friendly Buffalo, New York, on Thursday.
The National Labor Relations Board is set to count votes for a union election collected from three Starbucks outposts in upstate New York as the workers seek to form the coffee chain’s first union in the U.S.
The vote count is scheduled for Thursday afternoon despite resistance from Starbucks, which filed a request for a review with the NLRB and sought to have all Buffalo-area stores included in the election. On Tuesday, the NLRB denied Starbucks’ request for a review, setting the stage for the votes from the three separate stores in the area that have filed for union elections to be counted. Each of the three stores will be voting for a unionization bid individually.
The efforts to unionize in Buffalo also come amid unique labor market conditions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the number of workers quitting their jobs hovers at record-high levels and major companies have struggled to fill service industry roles. The apparent labor shortage has given workers an edge in negotiating in the workplace, and been linked to the new labor force activism seen across the country in recent months.
The workers are seeking to unionize with Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, and call their group the Starbucks Workers United. The employees have received support from progressive lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
“Once again Starbucks tried to stop partners from voting, and once again they failed. At this point the company has strayed so far from its original values it’s hard to recognize the company I started with,” Michelle Eisen, a barista at a Buffalo-area Starbucks, said in a statement released by Starbucks Workers United. “This is exactly why we need a union — so our voices can be heard and we can work to make Starbucks the company we used to love.”
In a letter to employees, whom Starbucks calls “partners,” CEO Kevin Johnson reiterated the company’s wish to have all Starbucks locations in the Buffalo-area be included in the vote.
“Unlike others in our industry who operate a franchise model, we have a network of company-operated stores that work together to create a better partner experience,” Johnson wrote on Tuesday. “Why does this matter? Many of you have told me you greatly value the flexibility to work between stores, to swap and pick up shifts, giving you the opportunity to connect with partners across different stores as one community.”
“Because of this, we feel strongly that all partners in Buffalo should have a voice in the elections, which may unfortunately not be the case,” Johnson added. “While we recognize this creates some level of uncertainty, we respect the process that is underway and, independent of any outcome in these elections, we will continue to stay true to our Mission and Values.”
Johnson also touted the company’s investments in staffing, saying it’s “investing an unprecedented $1 billion in wages, training, and hours, deploying new equipment and technology and continuing to support leaders in markets across the country.”
In late October, as unionization efforts in Buffalo were in full swing, Starbucks announced it would be raising wages and making other changes to improve working conditions. By summer 2022, all hourly employees will make an average of $17 per hour, the company said in its fourth quarter earnings release, with hourly rates for baristas in the U.S. ranging from $15 to $23.The unionization bid comes after Starbucks reported record fourth-quarter consolidated net revenues of $8.1 billion.
