Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Chris Cornell Estate
The surviving members of Soundgarden made a surprise appearance during Americana musician Brandi Carlile‘s show at Washington State’s famed Gorge Amphitheatre over the weekend.
Carlile invited Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd on stage to perform the Soundgarden songs “Black Hole Sun” and “Searching with My Good Eye Closed.” The trio had previously joined Carlile to record studio versions of both tracks for a Record Store Day single last fall.
“Welcome back to the Gorge, my friends in Soundgarden!” Carlile said in introducing the grunge legends. “Are you ready to sing and scream for one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands in the world?”
Carlile previously sang “Black Hole Sun” at the 2019 Chris Cornell tribute concert. She also performed that night with Temple of the Dog and Audioslave.
Ally Brooke‘s next musical move will be en español.
Billboard reports that the “Low Key” singer has signed a new record deal and is recording her first Spanish-language album, which will feature collaborations with both Latin and pop artists. One of the partners in her record deal is entertainment attorney Simran A. Singh, whom Ally met through her friend Suzette Quintanilla, the sister of Ally’s idol, the late singing superstar Selena.
Singh, who also works with Latin superstars Daddy Yankee, Ozuna and Anuel, tells Billboard, “We began working [together] and I said, ‘What do you think about doing a Spanish album?’ She said she’d love to and we instantly clicked.”
The former Fifth Harmony member will debut her new music during Billboard Latin Music Week in Miami the week of September 20. She’ll release a new single after that.
Speaking to Hola! magazine about the project, Ally says, “My album’s going to be very diverse. So there are songs that are: get ready to dance, get ready to have a good time, and kind of just have fun. Really fun, uplifting songs, very female empowered anthems, and also there are some vibey songs.”
“I feel like maybe my audience won’t expect that, but being able to be in this new chapter in my life where I have a new team now, I’m working with the new system, it’s just given me such vibrant energy in life and inspiration,” she adds. “And it’s unlocked a part of me that I’ve never been able to unlock before.”
Last year, Ally released her first book, Finding Your Harmony.
The Judds, Ray Charles, Eddie Bayers and Pete Drake will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame’s class of 2021.
Charles, whose 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music reached #1 on the Billboard 200 and sent his collaboration with Willie Nelson on “Seven Spanish Angels” to the top of the country charts, represents the Veterans Era Artist category.
With 14 #1 hits including “Mama He’s Crazy,” “Rockin’ with the Rhythm of the Rain” and many more, The Judds are in the Modern Era Artist category. Both Bayers, a drummer for the likes of George Strait, Kenny Chesney and Dolly Parton, and pedal steel guitar player Drake, who performed on Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man” and “He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones, tied for the Recording and/or Touring Musician category.
The announcement was made on Monday morning on YouTube by Country Music Hall of Fame member Reba McEntire. The induction ceremony for the class of 2021 will take place at the CMHOF in 2022.
Delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the induction ceremony for the CMHOF class of 2020 — including Dean Dillon, Marty Stuart and HankWilliamsJr. — will occur in November.
Lizzo opened up in a tearful video Sunday about the abuse she’s received following the release of “Rumors,” her latest single that features Cardi B.
Talking to fans via a 13-minute Instagram Live, which is now on YouTube, the Grammy winner battled tears as she detailed the racist and sexist attacks that made her “hurt so hard.”
The “Juice” singer said, while she does her best to spread love and positivity, “Sometimes, I feel like the world just don’t love me back.”
“People saying s*** about me that just doesn’t even make sense,” said Lizzo. “It’s fat-phobic, and it’s racist and it’s hurtful. If you don’t like my music, cool. If you don’t like ‘Rumors’ the song, cool.”
Lizzo said she is “overwhelmed” and has “been in shock since the song came out” because of the abuse hurled at her. She vowed to prioritize her mental health, which means she will only “focus on positive comments from here on out.”
Following her post, celebrities like Cardi B, Missy Elliott and Jameela Jamil have rallied to her defense.
In support of her “Rumors” collaborator, Cardi tweeted Sunday, “When you stand up for yourself they claim your [sic] problematic & sensitive. When you don’t they tear you apart until you crying like this. Whether you skinny, big, plastic, they going to always try to put their insecurities on you. Remember these are nerds looking at the popular table.”
Jamil called the attacks on Lizzo “deranged” in a lengthy Instagram post and declared, “Only sick people spend time going after innocent artists and not actual oppressors/abusers/criminals online.”
As for Missy, she sent several bouquets of flowers to Lizzo and urged her to “continue to shine and be blessed through your next journey,” which Lizzo shared via Instagram story.
In a Facebook post over the weekend, Gallup wrote, “With a slightly heavy heart I am no longer a member of the Cure! Good luck to them all.”
Responding to a comment on the post, Gallup shared that he is “OK,” but adds he “just go fed up of betrayal.”
Gallup played with The Cure from 1979 to 1982, and then again from 1984 all the way to his departure this year. He’s been the band’s longest-tenured non-Robert Smith member.
Smith previously called Gallup his “best friend” in a 2019 NME interview, adding that the bassist has been the “heart” of The Cure’s live band. He was one of 10 Cure members to be inducted along with the band into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
Neither The Cure nor Smith has publicly commented on Gallup’s post as of late Monday morning.
Meanwhile, The Cure has long been working on one or several new albums. The group’s most recent studio effort is 2008’s 4:13 Dream.
Jennifer Hudson is still feeling the emotional effects of playing the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, in the new biographical drama Respect.
Hudson tells ABC Audio that even though the film has long since wrapped, she still feels the gravity of getting to portray one of the most renowned vocalists of our time.
“It’s like, ‘Oh, my God. It’s super exciting. I can’t believe this — the biggest honor, dream.’ It’s what I wanted to do and everything,” the singer shares. “But then at the same time, it’s the scariest thing. And it still is. It’s like, ‘Oh, my God, what did I do?'”
Thankfully for Hudson, who was personally picked by Franklin to portray her, she had the perfect cheerleader to motivate her along the way.
“[I]t was [Aretha’s] encouragement that got me through it,” Hudson reveals. “Like, who gon’ wake up and say they’re going to be the Queen of Soul — or even try? Nobody. Not even me…even with her singing. But, it was her encouragement to say, ‘You can do this,’ that made me say, ‘Okay, if she said I can do this, then I’m gonna give it a try. And I’m gonna do my best.’ And that’s how I was able to get through it.
“And my faith as well,” Jennifer adds.
Respect, also starring Forest Whitaker and Marlon Wayans, is in theaters now.
When Lady Gaga‘s version of A Star Is Born came out in 2018, Barbra Streisand, who starred in the 1976 version of the film, praised it, and Gaga, as “wonderful,” and said she “loved it.” She also visited the set and gave the film “a blessing,” according to director Bradley Cooper. Only now, she appears to be singing a slightly different tune.
Appearing on the Australian TV show The Sunday Project, Streisand explained that when the remake of A Star Is Born was first announced, it was going to star Will Smith and Beyoncé, and she thought it was really “interesting” and “different,” and was a “great idea.”
“So I was surprised when I saw how alike [Gaga’s version] was to the version I did in 1976,” Streisand continued. When the interviewer suggested that perhaps she should take that as a compliment, Streisand responded, “I don’t know. I thought it was the wrong idea. Hey, look…I can’t argue with success, but I don’t care so much about success as I do originality.”
Cooper and Gaga’s A Star Is Born scored eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Actress. It won for Best Original Song, “Shallow.” Streisand’s version got four nods, and won for Best Original Song, for “Evergreen.”
(Streisand talks about “A Star Is Born” at about 4:53 into the video.)
In one of a series of tweets thanking fans for supporting this weekend’s box office champ, Free Guy, star and producer Ryan Reynolds says it’s getting a sequel.
He mentioned of the pandemic-delayed film: “Aaaannnnd after 3 years messaging #FreeGuy as an original IP [intellectual property] movie, Disney confirmed today they officially want a sequel. Woo hoo!! #irony”
The decision from Disney came on Saturday, even before the film’s weekend box office performance was tallied.
Ryan included a gif of co-star Taika Waititi repeatedly mouthing “Albuquerque Boiled Turkey” — part of a riff his character, Antwan, had about the superiority of sequels over original ideas.
Director Shawn Levy explained during a recent press event that he and Reynolds had been “floating” ideas for what a second movie could do, if they were given the chance to make it, and touched on the “irony” Reynolds mentioned.
“We have bandied about and flirted with some ideas,” Levy explained. “But my favorite thing in Free Guy is that we have Taika’s character in an original new movie, literally mock the possibility and value of releasing something new. Right? Like it’s so rare that a studio lets you make a big budget new movie.”
He added, “But I will say that for anyone who’s seen the movie, if we make Free Guy 2…[I]t is a hundred percent Free Guy 2: Albuquerque Boiled Turkey based on one of seven million improv lines by Taika Waititi.
Reynolds apparently agreed, tweeting that “If it isn’t called, ‘Albuquerque Boiled Turkey’ we’ve failed.”
Foo Fighters are mandating that anyone set to attend their shows in Alaska must prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or have tested negative for the virus prior to the event.
Anchorage Daily Newsreports that the band, set to perform three shows in the state between August 17 and August 21, will not be requiring masks at their events, but masks are encouraged. However, the band is requiring that fans show proof of vaccination at the door or a negative COVID-19 test that was taken within 48 hours of the concert. Audience members must also show an ID that matches the information on the vaccination card or negative COVID-19 test document.
Prior to their Alaska shows, the Foos performed before a fully vaccinated audience in June at New York City’s Madison Square Garden — the venue’s first arena show since COVID-19 shut it down in March 2020.
Following its release on Friday, the duo’s new album has set a record by becoming the first country album in the streaming era to be RIAA-certified Gold upon its release, defined as 500,000 units sold.
The duo celebrated the album’s release with a concert at Centennial Park in Nashville that drew 10,000 fans.
Additionally, the Grammy-winners’ current single, “Glad You Exist,” sits at #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, the latest in a streak of six consecutive #1 hits that includes “Tequila,” “Speechless,” “All to Myself,” the crossover smash “10,000 Hours,” featuring Justin Bieber, and “I Should Probably Go to Bed.” The duo has also scored three other chart-topping singles, starting with “Nothin’ Like You,” “From the Ground Up” and “How Not To.”
Dan + Shay have also announced that “Steal My Love” is their new single, with the video dropping tonight at 6 p.m. ET. They’re set to perform on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday night.
