Chris Rock took to the podium during the National Board of Review honors in New York City Tuesday evening, and his surprise appearance might have some wishing he was back as host of this year’s Academy Awards.

Rock poked fun at Licorice Pizza, Paul Thomas Anderson‘s award-winning coming of age film, according to USA Today. 

“I’m here for Paul Thomas Anderson,” Rock reportedly said, “a person who has never cast me…Nothing!” joked the 57-year-old stand-up. “Not even to wash his car!”

Rock admitted, however, that Licorice Pizza was “probably the best movie I saw this year,” but allowed, “I only saw about four movies,” before adding, “It’s a good thing I’m not hosting the Oscars this year, like, ‘I hope you saw this [stuff], because I didn’t'”

Of the film, in which Cooper Hoffman‘s high school-aged character ends up in a relationship with an older Alana Haim, Rock riffed, the leading man is, “not obviously handsome enough to get Alana, and that’s kind of the (plot) of the movie.”

He added of Hoffman’s character, “He works really hard. And she learns that money and hard work do for men what women think plastic surgery does for them.”

Rock also took a shot at Licorice Pizza‘s Sean Penn for reportedly filming a documentary in Ukraine amid the battles there. “I know he has something to do with this war. I know he’s mixed up in it,” Rock said. “Sean Penn is getting waterboarded as we speak.”

Jabs notwithstanding, Licorice Pizza won National Board of Review’s Best Film Prize at the ceremony, and has been nominated for three Oscars, including Best Picture, at this year’s 94th Annual Academy Awards, which air live on ABC on March 27.

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Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood‘s Radiohead side project The Smile has released a new song called “Skrting on the Surface.”

The track is actually a reworking of a Radiohead rarity, which the band had performed live a handful of times in 2012. You can listen to The Smile’s “Skrting on the Surface” now via digital outlets.

“Skrting on the Surface” is the third song from The Smile, following “The Smoke” and “You Will Never Work in Television Again.”

The Smile, which also features drummer Tom Skinner of the band Sons of Kemet, will embark on a European tour this May.

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Megan The Stallion, who’s currently on tour with her “Sweetest Pie” collaborator Dua Lipa, shared a hilarious behind-the-scenes video of her getting ready for their pit stop in Denver.

Taking to TikTok, the self-proclaimed “biggest Chanel bag owner” said she teamed with Dua, who asked her to “pop on” some of her tour dates. Megan documented herself checking out a nearby museum before the show and noted the trippy, neon-colored decorations.

“I thought I was in Euphoria,” she cracked, referencing the hit HBO show. “I really think that this whole place is for people who do acid but I do not do drugs because dare to be different, b****!”

Meg then shuttled off to the venue and said it was “cute” how Dua prepared her green room for her. She showed off a bunch of cookies the “Levitating” hitmaker made for her arrival, which included some decorated to look like “hottie sauce” bottles and, of course, celebrated their sweet new collaboration.

Megan then shared snippets of her opening the show and later joining Dua on stage to perform “Sweetiest Pie,” as the crowd goes wild. “Dua Lipa and I killed it,” Meg declared.

Meg is set to do it all again when Dua takes her Future Nostalgia tour to Tulsa on March 17, which is tonight, and in Phoenix on March 20.

(Linked video contains uncensored profanity.)

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Michael Ray just premiered the music video for his new single, “Holy Water,” and it’s an especially personal clip for a few different reasons.

For one thing, it was filmed nearby his hometown of Eustis, Florida, at the church he and his family went to when he was growing up. The singer got a chance to put the visual spotlight on some of the places that were near and dear to him as a kid, and many of the people featured in the video are family members and friends to the singer.

But that’s not the only story that’s true to life in “Holy Water.” The song — which tells the story of a preacher who’s got a side operation selling moonshine — is a little slice of Michael’s family history, too.

“My family has a little back history of running some moonshine through the state of Florida,” the singer told fans in a livestream Q&A that aired on YouTube before the music video’s premiere. “So I knew I wanted to really show a different side of my town, but also give y’all some history on where I’m from and places that meant a lot to me.”

“Holy Water” follows Michael’s multi-week chart-topper, “Whiskey and Rain.” Both those tracks come off his Higher Education EP, which came out last year.

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After a week of teasing, Muse has premiered the new single “Compliance.” Not only that, but the U.K rockers have also announced their new album, Will of the People.

The ninth studio effort from the “Uprising” trio — and their first since 2018’s Simulation Theory — will arrive August 26. Along with “Compliance,” which is streaming now alongside a video on YouTube, Will of the People also includes the previously released single “Won’t Stand Down.”

According to a press release, there is “no bowing to any singular genre” on Will of the People. Indeed, the synth-y “Compliance” certainly stands in contrast with the heavy riffs of “Won’t Stand Down.”

“Will of the People was created in Los Angeles  and London and is influenced by the increasing uncertainty and instability in the world,” says Bellamy. “A pandemic, new wars in Europe, massive protests and riots, an attempted insurrection, Western democracy wavering, rising authoritarianism, wildfires and natural disasters and the destabilization of the global order all informed Will of the People.” 

“It has been a worrying and scary time for all of us as the Western empire and the natural world, which have cradled us for so long are genuinely threatened,” he continues. “This album is a personal navigation through those fears and preparation for what comes next.”

Here’s the Will of the People track list:

“Will of the People”
“Compliance”
“Liberation”
“Won’t Stand Down”
“Ghosts (How Can I Move On)”
“You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween”
“Kill or Be Killed”
“Verona”
“Euphoria”
“We Are F***ing F***ed”

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Tasha Cobbs Leonard is celebrating the success of her song “Gotta Believe.” The track has hit number one on Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart, making it her fifth number-one on the chart overall.

“I wrote ‘Gotta Believe’ as a testament of God’s faithfulness through a difficult time on our fertility journey,” Tasha tells Billboard. “For this song to be the most-played song at gospel radio the same week we finalized adoption of my precious new baby is amazing! I am so grateful.”

Last week, Cobbs Leonard shared the details of her adoption with People, revealing she and husband Kenneth had welcomed a son named Asher.

“Gotta Believe” follows Cobbs Leonard’s “In Spite of Me,” which topped the Gospel Airplay chart last June.

In other news, Cobbs Leonard was tapped by specialty footwear and lifestyle company The Athlete’s Foot as the first female recipient of its StAART program, which stands for Strategic African American Retail Track. As a new franchise owner of The Athlete’s Foot, she’ll help with the program’s mission of increasing African American representation and ownership within the sneaker industry.

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“You broke me first” singer Tate McRae hopes her music teaches young people it’s okay to have an emotional outlet to express themselves.  

Tate acknowledges she isn’t the only artist who turns her turbulent emotions into songs, telling ET Canada she views music as “a very universal thing.”

The Canadian singer shouted out Olivia Rodrigo, who transformed her heartbreak into the Grammy-nominated album SOUR.  Tate called Olivia “incredible” and said she is “very lucky to be around” her and have her as a friend.  “I think we’re all very ambitious people and I feel like, if you surround yourself by ambitious people, it’s obviously going to inspire you,” she explained.

Also touching upon her friendship with Conan Gray, Tate continued, “I feel like you always wanna put yourself in rooms full of people who are better than you — or people who are gonna push you — because, otherwise, you’re just gonna be settling for less with yourself, which no one wants to do.”

Tate recently released her single “She’s All I Wanna Be” and said the song came from “a very genuine place” even though she says it’s a “bizarre concept for a really upbeat pop song.”  She revealed the song “started as a ballad,” but she emailed the song’s producer and asked if it could be turned “into a punk song, just for fun.”  

“And then it turned out to be a really crazy track,” Tate exclaimed.

Tate’s followup single, “Chaotic,” drops March 25.

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Tones and I has released a new song called “Eyes Don’t Lie.”

“‘Eyes Don’t Lie’ is written about a large loss of someone/something,” the “Dance Monkey” artist says. “Resenting the person/feeling you get and realizing it was a toxic person/feeling all along. Someone taking advantage of you and you taking advantage of yourself. Feeling better off and putting that last bit of bitterness behind you.”

You can listen to “Eyes Don’t Lie” now via digital outlets. Its accompanying video, co-directed by Tones herself, is streaming now on YouTube.

“Eyes Don’t Lie” is the first song from Tones and I to follow her 2021 debut album, Welcome to the Madhouse. She launches a U.S. tour in support of the record in July.

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Country upstart Breland knew he’d been having some major success, thanks to songs like “My Truck” and “Cross Country” as well as duets with Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley and Mickey Guyton. But he never expected to be nominated at major country music awards shows — at least, not so soon.

However, when the nominees list for the 2022 CMT Music Awards came out this week, Breland’s name appeared not once but three times. He was overwhelmed by the recognition, the singer admits to People.

“I got the news and I was immediately sobbing. I was just a wreck,” the singer recounts, adding, “I don’t take it for granted at all.”

The first people he celebrated with were his parents, who are musicians themselves, Breland went on to say. “They have always been such a big support of what I’m doing. And now that we’re starting to see some of the dividends that that hard work is paying, I just feel I owe it to them to make sure they’re the first ones to know,” he says.

Breland’s celebration plans also include his March Madness bracket and a “glass of wine,” he continues, saying “It’ll be good to relax and pop one with my homies.”

Breland recounts his path to stardom — and contemplates the road not taken — in the new music video for his song, “Cross Country.”

The 2022 CMT Awards are set for Monday, April 11. Voting is open now.

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