djfrosty

17 Aug 2023

Westlife Sets ‘Hits’ Tour of North America

Westlife is going west for a first-ever tour of North America.

The hitmaking Irish boyband will embark on a multi-date trek in 2024, timed around St. Patrick’s Day, Ireland’s national day of celebration.

Westlife: The Hits Tour is scheduled to kick off March 13 at Meridan Hall in Toronto, followed by dates at Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway (March 14), New York’s Radio City Music Hall (March 16), and Chicago Theatre (March 18).

“North America, we can’t wait to see you! It’s gonna be EPIC,” reads a message on the group’s socials.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

According to a statement, the brief run will feature the band’s many hits, including “Swear It Again,” “Flying Without Wings,” “World Of Our Own,” “My Love,” “If I Let You Go,” and “Hello My Love.”

But first, a U.S. TV debut on Monday, Aug. 21 with a spot on Good Morning America.

Formed in 1998, Westlife made an immediate, and sizeable, impact in the British Isles.

They hold the record for most consecutive No. 1s in the U.K. (seven) and most singles to debut at the summit.

All told, they’ve scored eight No. 1 albums in the U.K. and have an impressive haul of 14 No. 1 singles, one of the biggest for any act, surpassed only by the Beatles and Elvis Presley. Twenty-five Westlife singles have hit the U.K. top 10.

According to Warner Music’s EastWest division, which signed the act in 2021 — also on St. Patrick’s Day — the group has sold over 55 million records worldwide.

The foursome of Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne (past member Brian McFadden is no longer with the band) reunited for the 2019 album release Spectrum, which again ruled the Official U.K. Albums Chart. Their career trophy collection includes two Brit Awards, four MTV Awards and a venue record at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, which they sold-out five times.

16 Aug 2023

Jerry Moss Remembered by Peter Frampton, Herb Alpert, Amy Grant & More: ‘He Loved Great Music’

After news of the death of legendary music executive Jerry Moss on Wednesday (Aug. 16), many of the artists he worked with over the decades shared remembrances and tributes.

Moss worked closest with Herb Alpert, with whom he co-founded A&M Records in 1962 as an independent music company. The label was behind classic albums such as Alpert’s Whipped Cream & Other Delights, Carole King’s Tapestry and Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive!, among many others. Alpert shared this simple statement with Billboard on Wednesday: “I never met a nicer, honest, sensitive, smart and talented man then my partner Jerry Moss.”

Frampton shared his reaction to the news on X (formerly Twitter), writing in part, “Jerry was a true gentleman and if it weren’t for him, so many lives might have turned out very differently.”

Below, find tributes from Amy Grant, Quincy Jones, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (which inducted Moss and Alpert in 2006) and more.

Amy Grant: “My first awareness of A&M Records was seeing the iconic logo on the inside of a Carole King record. A&M Records was known by all to be the “artist label” and it was a dream come true when they signed me. In getting to know Jerry Moss over the years, I was amazed by the breadth of his interests. Whether it was music, horse racing or trekking thru Africa, excellence defined everything in which he invested his talents and passions. Jerry – I will remember you.”

Herb Alpert: “I never met a nicer, honest, sensitive, smart and talented man then my partner Jerry Moss.”

Peter Frampton: “I am so sorry to hear Jerry Moss has left us. Jerry was a true gentleman and if it weren’t for him, so many lives might have turned out very differently. He loved great music and went out of his way to make a place where artists could find themselves and create with his lovely encouragement and patience. I love you, Jerry, and my thoughts are with wife Tina and the entire family. Rest now my dear friend.”

Quincy Jones: “Jerry Moss was the consummate music man, [whose] love of all genres of the art-form was unabashed. That was why when I decided to get off the soundstage and back into the recording studio in 1969, I knew there was only one record label for me to go to that would give me the creative freedom that I was seeking, and that record label was A&M with Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. In my almost 70 years in the music business, I can say without a doubt that my time at A&M was one of the most artistically and professionally fulfilling times of my life and I attribute that in large part to the environment that Jerry created on that hallowed ground that was A&M Records. His spirit will live on forever through the great records that he helped bring to the world.”

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: “In Memoriam: 2006 Inductee Jerry Moss founded A&M Records in 1962 with partner Herb Alpert and led it to become the most successful independent record company in history. The company’s legendary culture focused on the artist first and became a home for many innovators to thrive, including fellow Inductees Janet Jackson, Quincy Jones, Cat Stevens, Carole King, The Go-Go’s, and the Police.”

The Music Center: “The Music Center mourns the loss of Jerry Moss, co-founder of A&M Records, who passed away on Tuesday. Jerry was an incredible inspiration for artists and had a keen ability to help them explore and hone their craft. His remarkable talent and his partnership with Herb Alpert led to the creation of one of the record industry’s most successful labels. The Music Center is very grateful for the longstanding support of Tina and Jerry Moss and honored to name our expansive plaza as Jerry Moss Plaza in 2020. Jerry was dedicated to giving back to the community by supporting arts experiences that resonate in the hearts and minds of all Angelenos and meaningfully impact their lives. His artistic influence and business savvy, along with the opportunities he provided for numerous extraordinarily talented artists, changed the course of music forever. That was his gift to us all. We offer our heartfelt sympathies to Tina and the entire Moss family.”

16 Aug 2023

In 1966, Jerry Moss Won a Grammy for Record of the Year

Jerry Moss, who died Wednesday (Aug. 16) at age 88, received many honors in his lifetime. He and Herb Alpert, his business partner and friend of more than six decades, received a Trustees Award from the Recording Academy in 1997. Nine years later, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (One of A&M’s top stars, Sting, did the honors.)

Moss also won a Grammy in competition. In 1966, Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’ propulsive instrumental “A Taste of Honey” won the Grammy for record of the year. Alpert won two awards in that category, as both the artist and co-producer – with Moss.

 “A Taste of Honey” was the second instrumental to win a Grammy for record of the year, following Percy Faith and His Orchestra’s serene “Theme From A Summer Place.” The two records were released just five years apart, but they sound decades apart, with the dynamic Alpert hit sounding much more contemporary.

Moss and Alpert were also nominated for album of the year that year for co-producing Alpert’s blockbuster Whipped Cream and Other Delights. The following year, they were nominated for both record of the year and album of the year for co-producing Alpert and the TJB’s “What Now My Love” and the ensemble’s album of the same name. (Again, Alpert was also recognized as the artist.)

Moss landed his fifth and final Grammy nomination in 1973 for co-producing the original cast album from Cyrano with legendary producer Phil Ramone (who died in 2013). It was nominated for best score from the original cast show album.

16 Aug 2023

Talking Heads to Reunite for ‘Stop Making Sense’ 40th Anniversary Screening

Fans have been hoping for a Talking Heads reunion since the early 1990s, and their wish is finally coming true in a small scale way.

Members David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison will appear together publicly for the first time since their 2002 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction at an upcoming 40th anniversary celebration of the band’s beloved concert film Stop Making Sense. A newly restored version of the movie will be screened on Sept. 11 at Cineplex’s Scotiabank IMAX Theatre as part of the Toronto International Film Festival, according to Spin.

The group will also partake in a Q&A moderated by filmmaker Spike Lee, before the refreshed Stop Making Sense premieres on Sept. 22 via distributor A24.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The original Stop Making Sense was shot over three nights during four shows at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles in December 1983 and has since been added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

It features the group performing such now-classics as “Psycho Killer,” “Slippery People,” “Burning Down the House,” “Life During Wartime” and “Once in a Lifetime,” as well as Frantz/Weymouth side project Tom Tom Club’s oft-sampled “Genius of Love” on a spare stage.

Watch the Stop Making Sense 2023 trailer below.

16 Aug 2023

Bradley Cooper Sheds Light on Leonard Bernstein & Felicia Montealegre’s Relationship in ‘Maestro’ Trailer

Bradley Cooper is stepping into the producer and director’s seat for Netflix’s Maestro, in which he stars as American conductor and cultural icon Leonard Bernstein. The film, which details the lifelong relationship between Bernstein and wife Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein — played by Carey Mulligan — released its first trailer this week.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The trailer starts out with Bernstein and Montealegre sitting back to back in the middle of a grassy field, playing a number-guessing game. After shouting out multiple wrong numbers, Montealegre suggests the budding star “try to just concentrate.” Bernstein quips, “Maybe I should stop and think for a second,” to which she replies, “You should stop and think because I am sending it to you … oh, we need to build up a very strong connection.”

Scenes from Bernstein’s life then play in succession, from him falling in love with Montealegre and conducting a young choir, to receiving high praise from people within the music industry and having extramarital affairs with men. The trailer concludes with the pair walking with their hands wrapped around each other toward an area surrounded by trees.

Following the trailer’s arrival, Cooper and the film received some backlash for the prominence of the prosthetic nose Cooper wears, with some claiming it to be an anti-Semitic costuming choice. “The genuinely insane part is that standard pre-prosthetic Bradley Cooper looks much more like the historical Leonard Bernstein than the film version,” one Twitter user wrote. Another added, “This isn’t about making a non-Jewish actor look more like Leonard Bernstein; it’s about making a non-Jewish actor look more like a Jewish stereotype.”

Bernstein’s three children, Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein, chimed in on the discourse, stating that they were largely included in the process of the film. The family additionally stated that their father would likely not have an issue with the use of a prosthetic nose being used to bring his character to life.

“It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of his efforts. It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose,” the children shared in a statement posted to Instagram. “Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well. Any strident complaints around this issue strike us above all as disingenuous attempts to bring a successful person down a notch — a practice we observed all too often perpetrated on our own father.”

Maestro is scheduled to arrive Dec. 20 on Netflix and will be shown in select theaters starting Nov. 22. The film will premiere at the New York Film Festival on Oct. 2 at David Geffen Hall, where the New York Philharmonic, which Bernstein led for over a decade, plays.

Watch the trailer for Maestro in the video above, and see comments about Cooper’s appearance — as well as the statement from the Bernstein family — below.

16 Aug 2023

Usher “Boyfriend,” Travis Scott “Delresto (Echoes) & More | Daily Visuals 8.15.23

HipHopWired Featured Video

Keke Palmer Usher video Darius Jackson troll Boyfriend

Source: @kekepalmer / Twitter

A few months ago Keke Palmer’s boyfriend flew off the handle after Usher now infamously serenated the talented actress at one of his shows, but if you thought that would faze either of the aforementioned artists, think again.

Looking to troll Keke’s boo something ridiculous, Keke Palmer stars in Usher’s latest visuals to “Boyfriend,” where Keke recites the lyrics to the song on her way to meet Usher at a casino where the two busts some synchronized moves and get turnt up next to the slot machines. Usher might have to shoot the fair one with homie after this one LOL.

Travis Scott meanwhile stays on his visual grizzly and drops off a new clip for “Delresto (Echoes)” where he uses some interesting vintage and semi-erotic imagery to entertain the eye while he rides in the backseat of a robotically driven taxi. Yeah, we don’t know what to make of this.

Check out the rest of today’s drops including more work from Travis Scott, Soulja Boy, and more.

USHER – “BOYFRIEND”



TRAVIS SCOTT – “DELRESTO (ECHOES)”



TRAVIS SCOTT – “HYAENA”



SOUJA BOY – “WAVES ON WAVES”



BIG HIT – “TAKE SOME OFF OF THAT”



EST GEE – “XXL”



POLO G – “HOOD POET”


https://youtube.com/watch?v=obwqgSylFJ0&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

CASKEY – “FIRESTARTER”



HipHopWired Radio

Our staff has picked their favorite stations, take a listen…

16 Aug 2023

Herb Alpert Recalls the ‘Pivotal Moment’ With Jerry Moss That Set A&M Records’ Course

Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, who died Wednesday (Aug. 16) at his home in Los Angeles, launched A&M Records out of Alpert’s garage in 1962 with the intent of making it friendly home for artists. 

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The label — which the pair sold to PolyGram for $500 million in 1989 — went on to carry that ideology to wild success, working with such artists as Sting, Janet Jackson, Cat Stevens, Peter Frampton, Amy Grant, Dionne Warwick and Alpert and his own hitmaking band, The Tijuana Brass. 

A story from A&M’s early history reflects Alpert and Moss’s artist-first attitude, even when it potentially could harm the label’s bottom line. One of the label’s first signings was Waylon Jennings in 1964. Alpert went to Arizona and produced several songs with Jennings, including the Bobby Bare-penned “Four Strong Winds.” “It was a really good recording,” Alpert told Billboard in an Aug. 15 interview, the day before Moss’s passing, for a separate story. 

RCA label head and legendary guitarist Chet Atkins heard the recording and liked it so much, “he made some overtures to Waylon about when he gets out of the contract with A&M, he’d like to talk to him,” Alpert says. “He shouldn’t have done that because Waylon was under contract to us and it seemed like he was jumping over our bones a bit, but I loved Chet. He was certainly a brilliant musician as well as administrator.” 

Jennings wanted to be a country artist, while Alpert wanted to take him “a little more pop,” Alpert says. “[Waylon] told me confidentially that Chet Atkins wanted to see him, so Jerry and I decided to let Waylon out of his contract so he could go with Chet and RCA. I remember we told Waylon and he couldn’t believe we were willing to do that. I remember the day that Jerry and I signed his release.” 

As they let Jennings go, they were well aware of the future country legend’s potential, but cared more about letting him pursue his artistic vision than keeping him yoked to A&M.  “I looked at Jerry and said, ‘Man, this guy’s going to be a big star,’ and Jerry said, ‘I know it.’ And I got goosebumps thinking that if we could be that honest with our artists, we’re gonna be a big success,” Alpert says. “It was a pivotal moment for me and my feeling about A&M Records and what we were doing.” 

Upon learning of Moss’s passing Wednesday, Alpert simply said in a statement, “I never met a nicer, honest, sensitive, smart and talented man then my partner Jerry Moss.”

16 Aug 2023

Rita Ora Celebrates Husband Taika Waititi’s Birthday in Sweet Post

Taika Waititi turned 48 years old on Wednesday (Aug. 16), and Rita Ora showered her husband with love in a swoon-worthy Instagram post.

“Happy birthday to the funnest smartest man I have ever come across in my life,” she wrote alongside a series of photos of the filmmaker. “You keep me together in moments I don’t think I can. Thank you for showing me what love really is. Here’s to many more moments of me stealing your jokes and telling them 10x louder so people think I’m the funny one. I LOVE YOU.”

Earlier this year, Ora revealed that she and Waititi tied the knot in a secret wedding ceremony last summer. “Yes. I am officially off the market, people,” she said in an interview with the U.K.’s Heart Breakfast Radio, per ET Canada. “I chose to keep it more private and keep it to myself…It was exactly, exactly how I wanted. It is nice to keep some things just to myself sometimes. It was nice and sweet. Sorry it’s not that interesting. One day I will throw a big party.”

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The Thor: Love and Thunder director and the “Praising You” singer tied the knot after striking up a romance the year prior. Waititi also recently gushed about the moment Ora proposed while the two were on vacation in Palm Springs, Calif., just a few weeks before the wedding.

“She proposed to me, and I said yes instantly,” he recalled to Vogue.

16 Aug 2023

FIFTY FIFTY to Feature Sabrina Carpenter on New Version of ‘Cupid’: Here’s When It Arrives

FIFTY FIFTY has made numerous strides in recent months, scoring their first viral single, snagging a spot on the Billboard 200-No. 2-charting Barbie: The Album, and earning their first nomination at the MTV VMAs. Continuing their break into the American market, the K-pop group — which consists of members Sio, Saena, Aran and Keena — will release a new version of the viral hit “Cupid” with a feature from Sabrina Carpenter.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

“‘Cupid’ with @SabrinaAnnLynn,” the group shared via Twitter, with a cupid’s bow and red-heart emoji. “Coming out this Friday, Aug 18!” Carpenter reshared the announcement to her Instagram Story after the group shared the news.

Following the announcement, a snippet of Carpenter’s new verses on the track started to make the rounds on social media. The “Nonsense” singer appears to slot easily into the song, stepping up to the plate to lament the way the object of her affections makes her feel. “I wish that I wasn’t so naive/ And he didn’t turn me on so well/ My heart aches a real good melody,” she sings.

“Cupid” has earned FIFTY FIFTY numerous accolades on the Billboard charts. When the song reached the top 10 of the Pop Airplay chart in July, FIFTY FIFTY became the second K-pop group – behind BTS – to do so. The track has so far peaked at No. 17 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart.

See FIFTY FIFTY’s announcement below.

16 Aug 2023

Oliver Anthony on Labels ‘Rushing’ to Sign Him: ‘We Just Want to Take Things Slow’

Over the past week, Oliver Anthony has summited the music charts, thanks to his viral hit “Rich Men North of Richmond,” which highlights working-class frustrations (and, in some of its most controversial lyrics, the country’s welfare system) and has been met with both intense praise and backlash.

The song first gained national attention late last week, when RadioWV’s YouTube live video for the song began gaining millions of views (that YouTube post now has more than 16 million views). By the end of Aug. 11, “Rich Men North of Richmond” topped the iTunes country chart, and since then, “Rich Men” has soared to the top of the all-genre iTunes chart. According to Luminate, the daily official on-demand U.S. streams for “Rich Men North of Richmond” grew to over 3 million on Tuesday (Aug. 15). The song also resides at No. 1 on the Spotify Top 50-USA chart, as of Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 16).

The song and YouTube video gained traction initially, in part, through various media personalities who shared the video, including John Rich, Joe Rogan and Matt Walsh, as well as Barstool Sports and conservative outlet Breitbart posting it on social media.

The consumption of Anthony’s music extends beyond “Rich Men.” His song “Ain’t Gotta Dollar” is currently No. 1 on Spotify’s Viral 50 chart, with five of his other songs resting in the chart’s top 10 on Wednesday afternoon, as of publishing.

These numbers have swiftly led to an industry feeding frenzy for Anthony, with one label head telling Billboard, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before.”

Anthony acknowledged the rush of record labels trying to sign him on Wednesday, when he posted on social media to let his followers know about a show this coming Saturday at Eagle Creek Golf Club and Grill in Moyock, North Carolina.

“We are working on a full line up of shows with bigger accommodations in the near future,” Anthony wrote on his official music Facebook page. He also noted, “Everyone in the ‘industry’ is rushing me into signing something, but we just want to take things slow right now. I appreciate your patience.”