Sam Smith, FINNEAS and Tori Kelly are among the artists who’ve recorded fresh takes on songs from the hit Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen and its upcoming movie version, which hits theaters September 24.

Sam has teamed with R&B singer Summer Walker for one of the musical’s signature numbers, “You Will Be Found,” while Tori sings another well-known song, “Waving Through a Window.”  Dan + Shay and Carrie Underwood have teamed up to record “Only Us,” which will be released on Friday.

Meanwhile, SZA and FINNEAS have each recorded versions of new songs written exclusively for the film by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the duo behind the music of The Greatest Showman and La La Land. 

SZA has recorded a track called “The Anonymous Ones,” while FINNEAS has cut “A Little Closer.”The Dear Evan Hansen motion picture soundtrack featuring all these recordings will be released on September 24.  The album is mostly made up of the songs performed by the movie’s stars, including Ben Platt, Julianne Moore, Amandla Stenberg and Amy Adams.

Here’s the Dear Evan Hansen original motion picture soundtrack track listing:

“Waving Through A Window” – Ben Platt & Dear Evan Hansen Choir
“For Forever” – Ben Platt
“Sincerely Me” – Colton Ryan, Ben Platt & Nik Dodani
“Requiem”– Kaitlyn Dever, Danny Pino & Amy Adams
“If I Could Tell Her” – Ben Platt & Kaitlyn Dever
“The Anonymous Ones” – Amandla Stenberg
“You Will Be Found” – Ben Platt, Amandla Stenberg, Liz Kate, DeMarius Copes, Isaac Powell, Hadiya Eshe & Dear Evan Hansen Choir
“Only Us” – Kaitlyn Dever & Ben Platt
“Words Fail” – Ben Platt
“So Big / So Small” – Julianne Moore
“A Little Closer” – Colton Ryan
“You Will Be Found” –Sam Smith feat. Summer Walker
“The Anonymous Ones” –SZA
“Only Us” –Carrie Underwood & Dan + Shay
“A Little Closer” –FINNEAS
“Waving Through A Window” –Tori Kelly

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She may not be able to find a “Better Man,” but perhaps she can locate a “Rocket Man.”

Elton John appears to be teasing a collaboration with Eddie Vedder. In his Instagram Stories, the “Tiny Dancer” icon posted the names of a variety of different artists, including the Pearl Jam frontman, superimposed over an image of sparkling rhinestone stars.

Other musicians listed include Gorillaz, Miley Cyrus, Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder, Brandi Carlile, Nicki Minaj, Lil Nas X and Dua Lipa. Given that Elton just released a new song with Lipa called “Cold Heart,” it would appear that he’s now teasing a whole collection of duets, akin to his 1993 album, Duets.

John also previously teamed up with Gorillaz for a track off the cartoon band’s 2020 album, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, and worked with Cyrus on a star-studded rendition of Metallica‘s “Nothing Else Matters.”

Whatever is happening, it appears we’ll know for sure on Wednesday. In a separate Instagram post, John declared, “Announcement tomorrow,” alongside a rocket emoji.

 

 

 

 

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Do Dan + Shay and Carrie Underwood have a collaboration in the works? 

On Tuesday, the Grammy-winning duo posted a video of a live orchestra playing in the studio, and tagged the fellow superstar alongside the raised-eyes emoji. Carrie replied to the video with a winking-face emoji, and the post sent fans into a frenzy speculating what the two acts have up their sleeves. 

“I’m not readyyy this is gonna be crazyyyy,” one fan writes in the comments section, while another adds, “the VOCALS are gonna slay so hard I cannot handle this,” and yet another suggests that a collaboration of this caliber has the power to “break the internet.”  

Earlier in the day, Dan + Shay incited speculation when they posted a throwback photo on their Instagram Stories of them with Carrie at the 2019 American Music Awards.

News of the possible collaboration comes weeks after Dan + Shay dropped their chart-topping new album, Good Things, which features their hit Grammy-winning collaboration with Justin Bieber, “10,000 Hours.” Meanwhile, Carrie’s latest collaboration with Jason Aldean, “If I Didn’t Love You,” is racing up the country charts.

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Billie Eilish‘s Disney+ special Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles debuts on Friday, but we have our first look at it now, with a full-length clip of her performance of “Oxytocin.”

In the clip, an animated Billie peels out in a sleek convertible sports car and speeds through a tunnel as red streaks of light flash by.  The video then cuts to real-life Billie onstage at the Hollywood Bowl, bathed in red light, as she sings the track from Happier Than Ever. 

As previously reported, the special will feature Billie performing every song from the album in order, joined by her brother FINNEAS and additional musicians, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

The special had its official premiere Monday night at The Grove in L.A.  The drive-through experience featured socially distanced photo ops, dinner and a live performance by the L.A. Philharmonic performing five songs from Happier Than Ever.  Billie and FINNEAS were both in attendance.

Disney is the parent company of ABC Audio.

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Following his recent homophobic comments, which led to him being banned from several events, it was announced Tuesday that DaBaby met virtually with Black leaders from HIV organizations last week.

During the meeting, HIV facts were discussed by representatives from the Black AIDS Institute, Gilead Sciences COMPASS Initiative Coordinating Centers, GLAAD, National Minority AIDS Council, The Normal Anomaly Initiative, Positive Women’s Network-USA, Prevention Access Campaign, the Southern AIDS Coalition, and the Transinclusive Group.

One hundred twenty-five organizations support an open letter to the “Suge” rapper, which states, “When HIV continues to disproportionately impact Black Americans and queer and transgender people of color, a dialogue is critical. We must address the miseducation about HIV expressed in your comments, and the impact it has on various communities.”

A joint statement added, “We believed that if [DaBaby] connected with Black leaders living with HIV that a space for community building and healing could be created.”

At the Rolling Loud festival last month in Miami, DaBaby said on stage, “If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that’ll make you die in two or three weeks, put your cellphone light in the air.” During the meeting, DaBaby apologized for his comments. 

The leaders said after the meeting, “We wish for him to use his platform to relay that critical information to his fanbase and encourage people to get tested and know their status. During our meeting, DaBaby acknowledged that the HIV facts we presented, many of which he himself was unaware of,  are what every American needs to know. HIV is preventable and when treated properly, cannot be passed on.”

They added, “Celebrities and influencers of all backgrounds have the power to defeat the stigma that fuels the epidemic.

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Nia DaCosta accomplished a major career milestone when her supernatural slasher flick Candyman bowed at number one in theaters over the weekend — she became the first Black woman to debut a film at number one at the domestic box office with a $22.4 million opening.

Deadline reports that DaCosta, who directed the “spiritual sequel” of the first Candyman movie, which came out in 1992, also grossed the second-highest opening over a three-day period for a Black female director.  Ava DuVernay‘s 2018 film A Wrinkle in Time holds the top honor, with a $33.1 million opening weekend.

DaCosta, 31, co-wrote Candyman alongside Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld.  The 2021 reboot is the first in the horror franchise’s nearly 30-year history to feature an all-Black main cast. Candyman is the second film DaCosta’s directed, behind her 2018 debut, Little Woods.

Now, DaCosta is onto her next big project — the Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels, which is due out November 11, 2022.

Candyman — which stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris and Colman Domingo — is in theaters now.

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Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam has tapped an all-star lineup for its 10th anniversary. 

Florida Georgia Line will serve as one of the headlining acts of the three-day festival, taking place in Panama City Beach, Florida June 3-5. They join previously announced headliners Old Dominion and Brooks & Dunn. 

Jordan Davis, Maddie & Tae and Mitchell Tenpenny have also been added to the lineup, joining other performers Scotty McCreery, “My Boy” singer Elvie Shane, Tyler Rich and more. 

FGL replaces Chris Stapleton, who was set to headline the 2021 event but had to bow out of the new date in 2022 due to a scheduling conflict. 

The 2020 edition of Gulf Coast Jam was postponed to June 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a surge in COVID-19 cases across the U.S., festival organizers decided to move the 2021 event, originally planned for Labor Day weekend, to 2022. Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam COO Mark Sheldon says the first weekend in June will be the festival’s new permanent date. 

Tickets are available now.

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