Photos from a 1991 gig Nirvana played six days after the release of Nevermind are being turned into NFTs, with some of the proceeds from their auction going to charity.
Forbes reports that the pictures were taken at J.C. Dobbs in Philadelphia on October 1 by photographer Faith West, as the band played to about 150 people. To mark what would have been Kurt Cobain‘s 55th birthday, the NFTs are going up for auction on February 20 via Pop Legendz, a website West founded, and the NFT platform Rarible.
There are four unique NFTs created from 10 never-before-seen images, and bidding starts at 67 Ethereum, a digital currency, which is worth about $250,000. Each buyer will also get a fine-art print of one of the images, signed by the photographer. The 10 images are also being auctioned off individually as NFTs, in both black-and-white and color versions.
A second tier will allow 200 Nirvana fans to buy 14 artworks that have been created from three of the images, for $499. 100 copies each of 21 still images will be sold for $99 each. You can buy those with either Ethereum or a credit card.
According to the Pop Legendz site, half of the auction’s proceeds will benefit The Trevor Project, which works to prevent suicide among at-risk LGBTQ+ youth. Additionally, a portion of the other half of the proceeds will go to Grid Alternatives, which brings solar power to working poor families.
Kanye West always has control of his music and fashion empire, and now he’s demanding final approval of the three-part documentary about his career, jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy.
“I’m going to say this kindly for the last time. I must get final edit and approval on this doc before it releases on Netflix,” the 22-Grammy winner posted on Instagram Friday morning. “Open the edit room immediately so I can be in charge of my own image,” he continued. “Thank you in advance.”
Directed by Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah, the film’s title was derived from West calling himself a “genius.” jeen-yuhs features never-before-seen footage from the last 20 years of Ye’s life. The docu opens at the beginning of his career in 2002, one year before he released his debut single, “Though The Wire.”
The film is set to premiere on Sunday, January 23 at the Sundance Film Festival and can be viewed online. The doc’s first act, Vision, will be shown in theaters nationwide on February 10 for a one-day engagement. jeen-yuhs will debut February 16 on Netflix.
The trailer includes scenes in the studio with Jay-Z and Pharrell Williams, the latter of whom says of Kanye, “This man can do everything himself.”
Ye also reviews a song from his debut album in the clip. Yeezy appears with Yasmine Bey, then known as Mos Def, and they rap “Two Words” from West’s 2004 album, The College Dropout. It was RIAA-certified four-times Platinum and remains Kanye’s best-selling project of his career.
If you keep up with Kane Brown, you probably know the singer’s on a path to “be the fittest guy in country music,” as he recently told Men’s Health.
If you happen to be on a similar journey, you’ll be interested to know the “One Mississippi” hitmaker’s also giving us a glimpse at how he plans to do it.
On the road, he likes to do high reps of simple exercises that use only his body weight for resistance, like pushups, squats, and planks that add a shoulder tap. If he can find a boxing gym, he’ll head there, too.
If your gains aren’t equal to Kane’s, don’t worry. He also revealed to Men’s Health something he hasn’t talked about a lot: In high school, he was the QB of the football team, the captain of the basketball squad and a baseball pitcher, while also running track.
Chris Janson’s next studio album is officially on the way. On Twitter, he shared that the project, called All In, is “coming this spring.” To kick off the song rollout, he released the title track.
“All In” is a catchy, irrepressible declaration of love, and it’s firmly rooted in the singer’s real life. The music video for the song features snapshots of Chris and his wife Kelly Lynn, piecing together a collage of the early days of their relationship and their life together as a married couple.
It’s not the first time Kelly has inspired one of Chris’ songs: In 2020, he topped charts with the romantic “Done.”
Beyond saying it’ll arrive in the spring, Chris didn’t offer up too many details about when fans can expect his new album to arrive. In the meantime, though, you can catch him live on the road, since his Halfway to Crazy Tour launches next month.
Last year, Chris released his heartstring-tugging single, “Bye Mom.”
A new post on her official Facebook page is giving fans a final message from Emmy-winning icon Betty White, who died December 31, just shy of her 100th birthday.
Her voice hoarse, a smiling Betty says, “I just wanted to thank you all for your love and support over the years. Thank you so much.”
She added, “Stick around.”
The message, the post explained, was meant to run on her social media to celebrate the animal loving Golden Girls legend’s 100th birthday, which would have been on January 17.
“She was using the occasion of her 100th birthday to celebrate YOU – her fans,” the post explained, “She knew how lucky she was; she felt the love, and she never took it for granted.”
The post also thanked fans for donating in her honor as part of what became known as the #BettyWhiteChallenge. “As we continue to see number [sic] coming in from all over the world — it’s just absolutely amazing how much money all of you raised for the animals through #thebettywhitechallenge. She could never have imagined such an outpouring of love and would have been so grateful to everyone.”
The video was posted, “as a thank from Betty and the animals.”
Following the success of his Power franchise and his BMF series, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson will now explore the murders of Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., and other rappers in Hip Hop Homicides.
Fiddy will produce the eight-part series with Mona Scott-Young who created the Love & Hip Hop franchise. Hosted by former TMZ personality Van Lathan, Hip Hop Homicides will air later this year on WEtv as well as the ALLBLK streaming service, Deadline reports.
“G-Unit Film and Television has thrived by telling real stories. As I continue to grow my current slate, premium non-scripted programming will be a major focus,” the rapper/actor/producer says in a statement. “Hip hop loves things that are damaged. This series will shed light on the artists that didn’t make it through the struggle.”
Scott-Young adds, “50 and I created this show in response to the disturbing number of murders in hip hop. With this boots-on-the-ground investigative series, we will look to closely examine and explore leads surrounding these cases with the hope of finally providing loved ones with answers.”
As previously reported, last month, Jackson announced that he is developing a series based on Snoop Dogg’s 1996 murder trial. Named after Snoop’s 1993 hit song, “Murder Was the Case,” the show will explore when the “Gin and Juice” rapper was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting of Philip Woldemariam, a member of a rival gang. Snoop, who was acquitted, was represented by the late Johnnie Cochran, famous for also representing O.J. Simpson in his 1995 trial for the murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman.
50 Cent will also be hosting the annual Maxim Super Bowl party on Saturday, February 12 at the City Market LA.
Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Image
Michael Bublé announced a rather unique way he plans to hype his upcoming single, “I Will Never Not Love You,” which drops next Friday — he’s allowing himself to be grilled by his fans.
In a press release, the Canadian singer announced that he’ll be opening himself up to a fan-fueled Q&A session that will be streamed live. Fans are invited to record themselves asking Michael their burning questions and share them on social media using the hashtag #AskAwayWithBuble. It appears written questions will not be accepted.
The deadline to get your on-video questions in on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is Monday, January 24, at midnight PST. Then, the singer will be subjected to answering them on a livestream set for Friday, January 28 — the same day his new single drops.
So, while you’re thinking about what you want to talk with Michael about, go pre-save his new song on Apple Music, Spotify or Deezer.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Boston Calling festival, scheduled for May 27-29, 2022 at the Harvard Athletic Complex in Boston, will featureFoo Fighters, The Strokes and Metallica as headliners.
Dave Grohl and company will headline the first night, Friday, May 27, with The Strokes performing Saturday and Metallica closing things out on Sunday.
Also on the bill are Weezer, HAIM, Cheap Trick, Glass Animals, Modest Mouse, Run the Jewels, The Struts, grandson, Avril Lavigne and many more.
Tickets are on sale now with packages ranging from $370 to $2,000.
Thomas Rhett has some big tour news to share this week: He’s hitting the road for his Bring the Bar to You headlining trek in June.
“Man, it feels good to share this tour news,” the singer says. “I’ll never take for granted being able to come see y’all and I’m so fired up to play some of these new ones that were made for these nights in mind. I have a feeling things are gonna get loud — I’m counting down the days already!”
Joining Thomas on tour this year are “Pretty Heart” hitmaker Parker McCollum and up-and-comer Conner Smith. Tickets go on sale next Friday, January 28 at 10 a.m. local time, but there’s a special pre-sale available for members of the star’s fan club, HomeTeam.
The tour takes its name from a yet-to-be-released song off of Where We Started, a new album he’s planning to put out on April 1.
Fans will have plenty of opportunity to listen to that track and the rest of Where We Started before they catch Thomas on tour. He’s kicking things off with two back-to-back nights in Gilford, New Hampshire on June 17 and 18.
The party will wrap up in mid-October. For full dates and details, visit ThomasRhett.com.
Brian May and Meat Loaf in 2004; Denise Truscello/WireImage
The music world is mourning the death of Bat Out of Hell singer Meat Loaf, who passed away Thursday at the age of 74. A cause of death is unknown at this time. The singer and actor, born Marvin Lee Aday, sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, appeared in more than 65 movies, and won a Grammy in 1994 for “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).”
Among the many stars saluting Meat Loaf on social media were Queen guitarist Brian May, Randy Bachman of The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive fame, Meat’s former duet partner Cher, and current Queen singer Adam Lambert, who played Eddie — the character Meat Loaf portrayed in The Rocky Horror Picture Show — in the 2016 TV revival of the musical film.
Other tributes came from Meat’s former duet partner Boy George, Rick Astley, and Bonnie Tyler who, like Meat Loaf, also recorded hit songs by the late Jim Steinman.
Here’s what the music world is saying about the larger-than-life singer with the powerhouse voice:
Brian May: “Completely gutted that Meat Loaf has left us. Always full of madness, with the innocent sense of naughtiness of a 5-year old, Meat was forever young. I called him Mr Loaf, and he called me when he wanted some wacky guitar playing. We had so much fun so many times, and, just three months younger than me, he felt like a brother. Dear Meat, the world is mourning and will miss your fine and powerful presence for a very long time. RIP.”
Randy Bachman: “What a legend, what a career, what a legacy. Rest In Peace, Meatloaf. Thank you for the lifetime of music that will stay with us forever.”
Cher: “Had So Much Fun With Meatloaf When We Did “Dead Ringer”. Am Very Sorry For His Family, Friends, & Fans. Am I imagining It, or Are Amazing Ppl In The Arts Dying every other Day⁉️”
Adam Lambert: “A gentle hearted powerhouse rockstar forever and ever. You were so kind. Your music will always be iconic. I’m sure you’re singing concerts in the great beyond. Rest In Peace sir.”
Boy George: “R.I.P Meatloaf. Love and prayers to all his family and close friends. He once turned me upside down in a Chinese Restaurant in St Johns Wood.”
Rick Astley: “Meat Loaf. What a legend. Rest in peace.”
Bonnie Tyler: “I am shocked & saddened by the sudden death of Meat Loaf. He was, as you might imagine, a larger than life character with a voice & stage presence to match & is one of those rare people who truly was a one off talent and personality. Rest In Peace.”
Rob Thomas: “I was sitting in a hotel lobby one evening with friends when a nice woman came over and said ‘Loaf would like you to come up to his room’ I was taken aback but you gotta go where the loaf tells you to go. I went up to his room and he was sitting on his bed listening to a cassette of my local band, pre Matchbox, Tabitha’s Secret. It turned out he had been listening to that since the late 90s and was a big fan and just wanted to connect. It was a surreal and wonderful moment with a legend and I’m thankful for it. #rip Marvin and Long Live Loaf.”
Ted Nugent: “Rest in peace my soulbrother soulmusic bloodbrother! A great man great American rocksolid in the asset column of the American dream! The wonderful Meatloaf force of nature will be with us forever.”
