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The Weezer movie has added more star power into the mix, with actor and musician Jack Black reportedly joining the cast. News of Black’s involvement in the forthcoming film was confirmed by Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo himself, who took to the band’s Discord server to share an AI-generated image of a film poster featuring Black. […]
Just a day after surprising fans with an in-person preview of her new single, Lorde has officially dropped her latest track, “What Was That.” Announced by the New Zealand singer just 12 hours before its arrival, “What Was That” serves as Lorde’s first piece of new music since her 2021 album Solar Power. Co-produced by […]
After an unexpected comeback with new music in 2023, The Swell Season have announced a full-scale return with their first new album in 16 years.
The duo – comprising Irish musician Glen Hansard and Czech singer and pianist Markéta Irglová – announced that new album Forward would arrive on June 13, with latest single “Stuck in Reverse” accompanying the news.
“It felt right to title the record Forward because it’s a reunion of sorts, but we’re not going backwards,” Irglová said in a statement. “Both of us have grown and changed; we’re in different places and getting to know each other again as the new people we’ve become.”
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First formed in 2005, the pair released a self-titled album the following year and received widespread attention after they featured in the lead roles for John Carney’s 2007 film Once. In 2008, their track “Falling Slowly” took home the Academy Award for best original song, with second album Strict Joy following the next year, reaching No. 15 on the Billboard 200.
Though a number of sporadic performances have taken place since, the pair would release “The Answer is Yes” in 2023, their first new piece of music in well over a decade. It was this recording session that inspired an eventual return. “After our whirlwind that led up to the Oscars and after, we were so busy and with that came a pressure that neither of us particularly wanted, and ultimately we kind of drifted in the middle of all of that hard work and celebration,” Hansard explained.
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“We remained good friends, helping on each other’s records, keeping up with each other’s families. While touring my last record, I realised I just missed her. I remember calling Marketa and saying, ‘Do you feel like doing some gigs?’ She said, ‘Yeah, that sounds great,’ and the shows went really well. Once we were hanging out again, new songs started coming through, and we started trying new ideas and playing the songs onstage.
“From there the idea was to do a little recording and not put any pressure on it, just see what happens, and suddenly we found ourselves making a record,” he added. “And we were both totally into it, and so here we are, a new chapter of our lives.”
Having recently performed a trio of dates across New York City and Boston in March, the pair will embark on a run of shows throughout Europe and the U.K. in May, before another North American return over the summer.
Save this storySaveSave this storySaveLorde has shared “What Was That,” her first original solo track since releasing Solar Power in 2021. The single was teased through a series of cryptic social media posts, voice notes, and audio snippets, and Talia Chetrit shot the cover art. Watch the new song’s video below.“What Was That” got its live debut on Tuesday when Lorde sang along to the track at New York’s Washington Square Park while playing the song on a small speaker. Hours earlier, the New Zealand pop star sent a mass message via her fan text line that she would appear there: “Meet me in the park Tonight 7pm – x x.” Local police and park rangers quickly shut down the event, however, due to an unmanageable crowd size. Footage from the event is featured in the new video.Lorde co-wrote “What Was That” with Jim-E Stack, and she co-produced it with Jim-E Stack and Daniel Nigro. Jim-E Stack also provided drums, keyboards, piano, synthesizer, and engineering, while Nigro contributed bass and electric guitar, piano, synthesizer, and engineering. Another notable electric guitarist on the track is Inc. No World’s Andrew Aged.Solar Power, the highly anticipated follow-up to Lorde’s 2018 album Melodrama, was led by the singles “Solar Power,” “Stoned at the Nail Salon,” and “Mood Ring.” A majority of songs from the record eventually received music videos, including “Fallen Fruit,” “Leader of a New Regime,” “Secrets From a Girl (Who’s Seen It All),” “The Path,” and “Oceanic Feeling.”Lorde stayed quiet over the next couple of years, popping up to join Muna onstage at New York’s Terminal 5 in 2023 and contribute a cover of “Take Me to The River” to A24’s Talking Heads tribute album in 2024. Then, last summer, she was tapped by Charli XCX for a remix of the Brat track “Girl, So Confusing,” all but confirming her as the song’s original subject. They’ve since performed “Girl, So Confusing Featuring Lorde” together at Charli XCX’s Madison Square Garden concert and, earlier this month, her Coachella weekend one set.Read about Lorde in “The 200 Most Important Artists of Pitchfork’s First 25 Years,” and revisit “The 100 Best Songs of 2024,” featuring “Girl, So Confusing Featuring Lorde” at No. 9.
Despite her success at celebrity roasts and comedy specials, comedian Nikki Glaser revealed at the TIME100 Summit on Wednesday (April 23) that there was one joke she told during the 2025 Golden Globes on Jan. 5 that she worried went too far.
“I didn’t say anything that was like, calling anyone ugly or fat,” she told TIME deputy editor Kelly Conniff in New York City. “I think I get a reputation of being mean because of the roasts. I’m hired to be mean for those. [At] the Golden Globes, it’s not my job to ruin their night.”
However, she conceded she was initially concerned enough about a quip aimed at Selena Gomez’s fiancé, producer Benny Blanco, that she ended up texting Blanco to get his permission to go ahead with the line.
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“I said that ‘Selena Gomez is here because of Emilia Pérez and Benny Blanco is here because of the genie who granted him that wish.’ And looking back, I’m like, that could [seem] mean, because everyone’s like, ‘He’s not attractive enough for her,’” she said. “For me, I’ve never looked at them and actually thought that. I feel like she won too. I think he’s really cool. So, because that joke didn’t actually come from a mean place, I felt like it was OK for me to say.”
Still, she was concerned enough about it that she texted him. “I got his number. I said ‘You don’t know me, but I’m hosting this thing, and I hear you’re going to be there. Can I say that you’re there because a genie granted you a wish?’ He was like, ‘That’s hilarious; let me run it by Selena.’ We were all just waiting in the writers’ room. He said ‘Selena thinks it’s great.’ So they gave me permission. It was actually Jimmy Kimmel who told me if you’re worried about a joke and how it’s going to go over, just ask them.”
The fact that Glaser reached out to Blanco to get his permission to tell a borderline-mean joke shows her character. And the fact that Blanco gave her the go-ahead to tell a joke at his expense shows his.
Gomez was nominated for three awards at this year’s Golden Globes: best supporting actress, motion picture for Emilia Pérez as well as two awards (acting and executive producing) for Only Murders in the Building. She didn’t go home with a Globe, but she went home with something better – a partner who is secure in himself and has a good sense of humor.
Glaser was the first woman to host the Globes solo and has already been hired to lead the awards show again in 2026.
At the TIME event, she said that she sensed that the audience this year was unsure of how hard she was going to go in her humor. “When I first walked out, I knew the energy was like ‘We don’t know what she’s going to do. We’ve seen her do the Tom Brady roast most recently’ – that’s kind of where I popped for most people. In retrospect, I looked back at how terrified they all looked because they were like, ‘She’s going to roast us! She’s going to be just as mean as she was to Tom Brady.’ So, I heard from a lot of them that they were really, really scared. I wish I would have known that. I would have done something to defuse that a little bit.
“Next time is going to be a lot more fun because I think they know the tone that I have now. I go [for jokes], but I’m not going to embarrass you. And if you laugh, I’m only going to make you look good because you’re going to look so relatable laughing. It’s one of the best ways for an untouchable kind of celebrity on a pedestal to look normal.”
Here’s a link to Glaser’s 17-minute conversation at the TIME100 Summit.
Billy McFarland says he’s ready to sell Fyre Festival 2 to the highest bidder.
Earlier today, the convicted fraudster took to social media to post a mea culpa about his failures as a festival promoter while once more rebranding Fyre Festival as “one of the most powerful attention engines in the world,” in his words.
The double-speak is part of McFarland’s attempt to liquidate Fyre Festival’s only assets — its trademarks and IP — to the highest bidder now that Fyre Fest 2 has been indefinitely postponed. Early this month, government officials with the city of Playa del Carmen, Mexico, poured cold water on the long-shot festival — designed in part to rehabilitate McFarland’s image following the disastrous, aborted 2017 edition of the event in the Bahamas that resulted in global mockery, competing documentary films and a federal prison sentence for McFarland — by writing on social media that “there is no record or planning of any such event in the municipality.”
McFarland has said the idea for a follow-up festival came to him while serving time in solitary confinement, and he began pitching Fyre Festival 2 after his release from prison in 2022, hyping his plans on social media with splashy videos and spurious claims. As McFarland would finally admit on Wednesday (April 23), he has failed to regain the trust of fans, major talent agencies and the municipal government of Playa Del Carmen.
In his letter to fans, McFarland explained, “I can’t risk a repeat of what happened in Playa Del Carmen, where support quickly turned into public distancing once media attention intensified,” noting, “For FYRE Festival 2 to succeed, it’s clear that I need to step back and allow a new team to move forward independently, bringing the vision to life on this incredible island.”
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On Fyre’s website, where McFarland once hawked $1.1 million ticket packages for Fyre Fest 2, he now features a short pitch deck for the sale of Fyre’s IP, sharing details about Fyre’s web traffic and Google analytics while noting he’s ready to hand off the tarnished brand.
Giving control “to a new group is the most responsible way to follow through on what we set out to do: build a global entertainment brand, host a safe and legendary event, and continue to pay restitution to those who are owed from the first festival,” McFarland wrote, noting that he owes his victims from the first Fyre Festival more than $26 million.
On Monday (April 21), news broke of Fyre’s first licensing deal: an agreement for Fyre Music Streaming Ventures, LLC, a fan-curated on-demand music video streaming service and ad-supported TV channel. As its founder, Shawn Rech, told Billboard: “I just want people to remember the [Fyre] name.”
To view the sales material for Fyre, visit Fyre.mx.
Luis R Conriquez has recently faced public backlash for not performing his narcocorridos at his concert due to a ban by Texcoco, and we’re taking a deeper dive into the genre’s controversial history. Keep watching to learn more about the debate on the genre. Do you think narcocorridos should be banned? Let us know in […]
A rare, celebratory moment of LGBTQ+ representation in the K-pop scene took place in Los Angeles on Tuesday night during the final stop of JUST B’s JUST ODD World Tour, when member Bain took a moment to speak to the crowd while performing a section of the concert solo.
“Before I start the next song, tonight I want to share something with you guys,” he told the audience at the Vermont Hollywood, pausing for a moment before declaring, “I’m f—ing proud to be part of the LGBT community,” with the announcement drawing massive cheers from concertgoers, according to on-the-ground footage.
“Shout-out to my queen Lady Gaga for showing me that being yourself is beautiful,” Bain continued through the supportive shouting. “To everyone out there who’s part of the LGBTQ+ or still figuring it out, this is for you guys. And also, this is for everyone. You’re seen, you’re loved, and you are born this way.” The 24-year-old then broke out into a remixed performance of Gaga’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit and LGBTQ+ anthem “Born This Way.” The star later posted those words on his personal Instagram account with footage from the night.
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Bain and his bandmates Geonu, Lim Jimin, Siwoo, DY and Sangwoo launched the U.S. leg of JUST B’s world tour earlier this month after kicking off in Tokyo in March. Over 10 American dates, the group performed singles like “Medusa,” “TICK TOCK” and “Damage,” with each member also performing solo stages in different cities. Bain’s sets paid homage to 2000s pop divas with covers of Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” Destiny’s Child’s “Survivor,” the Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and “Judas.”
In a final address to the crowd, Bain swam in even more supporting cheers from the audience and his group members.
“L.A., thank you so much,” he shared, per fan footage. “Today, it means a lot to me — I’m so happy that I can be myself,” before one of his bandmates followed up, saying, “We are happy too,” with another confirming with a supportive “Yeah!” Bain closed out by saying, “Until next time: stay bold, stay fierce, and lastly, always, always be your true self,” as his bandmates pushed him to take in the center-stage spotlight.
JUST B debuted on June 30, 2021, under the agency BLUEDOT Entertainment with their first EP, Just Burn, featuring Bang Yongguk of pioneering K-pop boy band B.A.P producing the lead single “Damage.” The sextet has released five EPs and multiple singles to date, including last year’s English pop-punk crossover cut “Daddy’s Girl,” with 2024 proving to be a major year of opportunities for JUST B.
In January 2024, Bain competed in the Korean singing competition Build Up : Vocal Boy Group Survivor, which saw top male vocalists battling for a spot in a new quartet. In September, JUST B formed a supergroup with fellow rising boy band ATBO called The CrewOne to compete on the popular boy-group series Road to Kingdom: Ace of Ace alongside other next-gen K-pop acts like CRAVITY, ONEUS and 8TURN. The CrewOne placed fifth in the finale, but not before Bain got to show off his vocal chops once again in a special performance of the “Vocal Aces,” where he sang alongside fellow powerhouses.
But while K-pop acts are increasingly courting global audiences, with JUST B earning 6 million on-demand official streams for their songs in the U.S. and 22.6 million for their songs globally to date, according to Luminate, Bain’s announcement has the chance to accelerate conversations about representation and acceptance in the industry — particularly given South Korean society’s traditionally conservative stance on LGBTQ issues.
The moment marks one of the very few times an active artist in the Korean pop scene has come out, with it being all the more rare to come from a boy band arguably at the peak of its career. While individual Korean artists like Holland and Mrshll have been open about their LGBTQ identities from the start of their careers — with former idols like Magolpy and Jiae of girl group WA$$UP opening up soon after their careers began — Bain’s disclosure on a major world-tour stage marks a new moment for queer visibility in K-pop.
Holland, Jiae and K-pop’s first LGBTQ boy band LIONESSES have spoken about facing discrimination and homophobia working in Korean entertainment due to their sexual identities, with the scene boasting a history of celebrities’ careers derailed for publicly coming out. One of the most notable examples came via actor Hong Seokcheon, who came out in an interview in 2000, just six years into his award-winning career, leading him to be fired from his television gigs and forced out of the entertainment business. Despite Korea’s still-conservative culture and society, Hong managed to return to entertainment in TV, hosting, and, eventually, acting with significant support from the younger generation. Today, Hong regularly appears on top Korean programming and features top artists on his own programs — most recently having Tomorrow X Together’s Yeonjun on his Treasure Box series.
While BLUEDOT Entertainment did not reply to Billboard‘s request for comment after Tuesday night’s show, the group’s official Instagram did share Bain’s post with a hashtag #ProudOfBain, proving how these few moments in East Hollywood have the potential to resonate and make change far further than the concert hall.
Brian Littrell‘s love for his son Baylee is clearly larger than life. The Backstreet Boys singer’s 22-year-old son Baylee Littrell auditioned for season 23 of American Idol, debuting on the show last month and surviving all the way to this week, before he was eliminated just shy of the top 14 contestants on Monday night. […]
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Source: The Washington Post / Getty / Elon Musk
Phony Stark, aka Elon Musk, learned the hard way that it truly doesn’t pay to align yourself with Donald Trump and ruin people’s lives in the process.
Spotted on BBC, word on the street is Elon Musk has had enough of being involved in government because it’s tanking his bottom line. According to the website, Musk will “significantly” scale back his role in the US Government in response to Tesla’s profits sinking, a direct result of his dealings with Trump, and firing thousands of government workers as part of DOGE’s “cost-cutting” measures in an effort to cut government spending.
Per BBC:
Musk has led the newly created advisory body – the Department for Government Efficiency (Doge) – since last year, putting the world’s richest man at the heart of cutting US spending and jobs.
But Musk said his “time allocation to Doge” would “drop significantly” from next month, adding he would spend only one to two days per week on it after accusations he has taken his focus off Tesla.
His political involvement has sparked protests and boycotts of Tesla cars around the world.
Temporary government workers like Musk contracts are allowed to work only 130 days a year, and for those keeping count, since working from the day of Trump’s inauguration, his contract is set to expire.
It’s unclear whether Musk, who donated $250 million to Orange Mussolini’s campaign, will step down completely from his role at DOGE.
Social Media Vows To Not Let Up On Elon Musk
If Elon Musk thinks he can simply walk away as if nothing happened, social media is telling him to think again.
Users on X, formerly Twitter, are vowing to continue making life miserable for Musk due to his actions and the harm he has caused.
“Elon Musk says he is stepping back from DOGE in May, after having destroyed every government agency, the lives of 280,000 Federal workers, the support system for social security, not to mention thousands of lives overseas by the gutting of humanitarian aid. Don’t let the door hit you, dick,” one post on X read.
Another post read, “Boo hoo poor Elon, he really thinks he can just walk away after all the damage he did. The world won’t rest until everything around him crashes and he ends up the poorest man in the world. There will be no forgiveness. Musk should just flee back to South Africa.”
Welp, this is what you get, Elon Musk. Now deal with it.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.