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On his fast-track to the top, the Kid LAROI cut tracks with Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Lil Durk and his late bestie Juice WRLD. His latest collaboration sees the Australian singer and rapper step out with McDonald’s.
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Through a new partnership unveiled this week, LAROI launches the McCrispy chicken burger across the fast-food chain’s Australian outlets.
It’s the second time flipping McDonald’s burgers for Laroi, who stars in a new nationwide campaign, which includes “The Next Big Thing” TVCs and behind-the-scenes social clips. Last year, the Kid and Macca’s teamed up for Australia’s first local “Famous Order” campaign.
“I love a good chicken burger and am a huge Macca’s fan,” he comments in a statement, “so when I found out McDonald’s was launching its best chicken burger yet, I had to get involved.”
Though based in Los Angeles, the 20-year-old LAROI (real name Charlton Howard) is one of Australia’s favorite homegrown artists.
As a teen, LAROI led the Billboard 200 with F*ck Love, and ruled the Billboard Hot 100 with “Stay,” his global hit with Bieber. The Sydney-raised artist also hit No. 1 on the singles and albums charts in his homeland, smashing records along the way.
He returned to Australia in May and June 2022 for the End of the World Tour, which stopped at arenas and outdoor spaces across the country. And he can add to his growing collection of industry honors at the 2023 ARIA Awards this November, where he nabs nominations for best solo artist and song of the year for “Love Again” (Columbia/Sony Music).
LAROI gives a push to the McCrispy, which is now installed in the restaurant’s permanent menu next to the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Cheeseburger and Fillet-O-Fish.
According to reps, the burger, filled with 100% Aussie RSPCA-approved crispy chicken breast, shredded iceberg and cos lettuce, tomato, Aussie Jack cheese and a new signature sauce, served in a soft glazed bun, has already “performed exceptionally” across other markets including the U.S., U.K., Sweden, France and Spain.
Singers Vanessa Amorosi, Toni Watson, and Kate Ceberano were in the winner’s circle Wednesday night (Sept. 27) at the 2023 Australian Women In Music Awards (AWMA), held in Brisbane.
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Amorosi, who has lived in Los Angeles for the past 13 years, returned to home soil for this year’s event, at which she performed a new work from her forthcoming eighth album, Memphis Love, slated for release Nov. 17, and collected the inspiration award.
Meanwhile, Watson, the one-time busker who led the charts in 30 countries with “Dance Monkey,” recognized as one of the five most-streamed songs on Spotify (with 2.9 billion plays), scored the songwriter award. Watson solely wrote “Dance Monkey,” and is currently abroad working on her sophomore album, expected to drop in 2024.
“I genuinely think Australia has some of the best songwriters in the world,” she said via a pre-taped acceptance speech. “We write some of the best music with integrity and a lot of heart. I say that wherever I go.” There are “more women coming out and expressing themselves, we’ve got so many amazing artists coming up, so many exciting female coming out of the Australia music industry. It’s truly an honor to be someone helping pave the way.”
Established in 2018, AWMA shines a light on accomplishments of women across all areas of Australia’s music industry.
Other winners at The Tivoli included Vika & Linda (artistic excellence), Ashli (emerging artist), and soul singer Renee Geyer was posthumously inducted into the AWMA Honour Roll, alongside Judy Stone.
In a first, all three nominees for the lifetime achievement award went home with the prize, presented to a female artist or musician who has made an outstanding artistic contribution to the field of recording and/or live performance during her lifetime. Ceberano, Clare Moore and Jeannie Lewis jointly accepted the honor.
“I’ve been up for many awards in my life, and I’ve never really gotten any of them. I couldn’t be more proud,” remarked Ceberano, a legend in these parts who has been at the top of the game since the 1980s, initially as a singer with The Models and I’m Talking, before embarking on a successful solo career.
The triumvirate on stage, she quipped, were the “last of the Mohicans,” and “of a generation, it seems, that came through before social media and we weren’t being watched while we were doing what we were doing. And we still did it.”
During proceedings, Tony Burke MP, minister for the arts, made a pledge to support the AWMA’s cause. “I’ve never understood why so much in the system has made it so hard,” he explained in a pre-recorded bit. “I want to make sure that your careers are just as easy to prosper as it is for men in the industry. I don’t know why its harder to get radio play, why its hard to get festival lineups, I don’t know why its been harder for fundamentals, like just having a safe workplace. But I want you to know you have a government determined to fix this,” he said, pointing to the creation of Creative Australia, formed through the National Cultural Policy.
Organizers handed out 23 AWMAS to some of the industry’s “most accomplished and emerging female artists, musicians and music practitioners,” with winners decided by a 37-member music industry panel.
The AWMA caps a two-day conference and live music program, and is supported by the Queensland government.
“AWMA is calling on the industry to adopt gender equality as a core music industry value as a matter of priority, significant policy change needs to occur at both state and federal level to ensure women form an equitable part of the industry,” comments AWMA executive producer and program director Vicki Gordon. “Gender bias can only be addressed by prioritizing inclusivity and representation as core music values.”
Performers included Dami Im, Vika & Linda, Hot Brown Honey, and an all-star rendition of AC/DC’s “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll),” featuring Amorosi and the Bull sisters on lead vocals, and Sarah McLeod on lead guitar.
Check out all the AWMAs winners.
2023 Australian Women in Music Awards winners:
Studio ProductionRobyn Lee Payne
Artistic ExcellenceVika & Linda
Diversity in MusicCerisa Benjamin
Music JournalistJane Gazzo
Excellence in Classical MusicCelia Craig
Emerging ArtistAshli
Creative LeadershipClaire Edwardes
Inaugural ARIA Executive Leader Game ChangerEmily Collins
Inaugural Women in Heavy MusicEmmy Mack
Lifetime AchievementKate CeberanoClare MooreJeannie Lewis
Tina Arena Special ImpactOana Gilbert (posthumous)
Honour RollJudy StoneRenée Geyer (posthumous)
Music LeadershipMarianna Annas
FilmmakerTriana Hernandez
Live Production TouringJenny Moon
Live Creative ProductionNaomi Price
Music PhotographerMia Mala McDonald
HumanitarianAlison Hams
SongwriterToni Watson (Tones & I)
Inspiration AwardVanessa Amorosi
SYDNEY, Australia – As Jet flies through a particularly busy stretch, the reunited rock band strikes a catalog deal with BMG.
Terms were not disclosed in the arrangement, announced Thursday (Sept. 28), which sees BMG acquire Jet’s recordings.
BMG gets rights to the band’s first two albums for Australian and New Zealand, Get Born (2003) and Shine On (2006), the global royalty stream for these recordings in perpetuity, plus global rights to their third album Shaka Rock (2009).
Included in the pact are such Billboard Hot 100 hits as “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” (peaking at No. 29), “Look What You’ve Done” (No. 37), and “Cold Hard Bitch” (No. 55).
After years on the sidelines, the classic lineup of Nic Cester (vocals/guitar) his brother Chris Cester (vocals/drums), Cam Muncey (vocals/guitar) and Mark Wilson (bass) recently reformed ahead of their induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame, set for Nov. 15 during the annual ARIA Awards in Sydney.
They’re currently on the road for a national tour, a 20th anniversary celebration of Get Born, an album that won six ARIA Awards back in 2004, is nine-times platinum-certified, and recognized as one of the top 5 highest-selling Australian rock albums of all time.
BMG president, Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia, Heath Johns negotiated what he describes as a landmark deal,” extending the global publishing pact between both parties, forged in 2017.
Jet, he continues, are a “generation-defining band who achieved global success of the rarest kind.”
All three studio albums impacted the top 40 on the Billboard 200 chart, and cracked the Official U.K. Albums Chart, with Get Born peaking at No. 14 and Shine On going one better, at No. 13. Career sales top 5 million, reps say.
Jet’s works have enjoyed a second life through syncs across international advertising campaigns, feature films, TV series and video game franchises, the most memorable an Apple iPod campaign in the 2000s featuring “Are You Gonna Be My Girl.”
BMG, explains Sydney-based Johns, “has become the fastest-growing music company in Australia via our organic recordings and publishing growth and now, as we expand our scope via acquisition, I can think of no bigger statement than the acquisition of the Jet catalog.”
Since opening for business in Australia in 2016, BMG has signed a roster of Australian and New Zealand acts including Chet Faker, Angus & Julia Stone (ANZ), Daniel Johns, Dope Lemon, Hockey Dad, Julia Stone, The Living End, Pacific Avenue, Ladyhawke, CHAII, Dune Rats and Winston Surfshirt.
“With big decisions like this it comes down to personal relationships. We’ve known the BMG team for years,” notes Chris Cester in a statement announcing the new agreement. “We’re already with BMG for our publishing and they do what they say they’re gonna do. That’s a rare thing in this business. Sooner or later you figure out that’s the only thing that matters, if you’re serious about what you do.”
If every dog has its day, today very much belongs to Hurricane.
Hurricane, a Border Collie, and his human Adrian Stoica are the winners of the latest, 18th season of America’s Got Talent, their dog show capturing the hearts of the American public.
Magician Anna DeGuzman came second in the 2023 competition, announced Wednesday (Sept. 27), and dance troupe Murmuration came third.
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Indonesian singer Putri Ariani and acrobat duo the Ramadhani Brothers respectively round out the top 5.
The top ranked singer this year, Putri made a notable impression on the judges, particularly Simon Cowell, who gave the teen his Golden Buzzer. “Nobody can take away the fact that you are an amazing, amazing singer. And performer. And person,” Cowell told Ariani.
The judges also adored Stoica and Hurricane’s double-act, apparently as much as armchair voters.
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“I was on my feet then I sat down, then I was on my feet. It just shows you how tough it is,” Howie Mandel enthused earlier in the season, following an act to Smash Mouth’s “I’m a Believer.” “We didn’t know whether to stand, we didn’t know whether to sit. He’s a dog, he gets more cues than we do. That’s my favorite dog Act ever on AGT.”
Sofia Vergara though the dog-and-man show “was perfection” and Heidi Klum remarked, “it is mind blowing to me how you do this routine with him.”
Added Cowell earlier in the season: “I think in terms of stepping up from the audition to the Live Show, this is the best act we’ve seen tonight. This was live, and that was a tricky routine. She was amazing.”
Stoica and his canine buddy collect the $1 million prize and a coveted Las Vegas residency.
The two-hour finale on NBC featured special performances from 30 Seconds to Mars, Jason Derulo, Jon Batiste, Leona Lewis (in a duet with Putri) and Season 17 winners The Mayyas.
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The chart-topping film soundtrack to Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music will be reissued on Dec. 1 in an array of new expanded, remixed and remastered formats. Among them: a lavish Super Deluxe Edition boasting over 40 previously-unreleased tracks – 11 of which are never-before-heard alternate takes from the 1965 blockbuster movie.
One of those alternate takes is an unreleased rendition of the film’s opening number “Prelude / The Sound of Music,” by the film’s star Julie Andrews, and cast. The song is now available to stream and download (Sept. 27) — listen below.
And, for the first time, all of the Academy Award-winning film’s music – including every musical element from the movie – will be included on the Super Deluxe Edition of the album. Among those classic songs: “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Edelweiss,” “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” and “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.”
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The Sound of Music soundtrack spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1965 and was a near-constant presence in the top 10 from the spring of 1965 through the spring of 1967. It spent a staggering 109 weeks in the top 10 – the most of any soundtrack in the chart’s history. In 2015, Billboard ranked The Sound of Music as the most successful soundtrack of all time on the chart.
The Super Deluxe Edition of The Sound of Music will be available as either as a four-CD/one-Blu-ray audio boxed set or as a digital download album. The Blu-Ray audio disc contains the film’s full score in hi-resolution audio, as well as a new Dolby Atmos mix of the original 16-track soundtrack released in 1965.
The boxed set features new liner notes written by film historian and preservationist Mike Matessino, who remixed and remastered the album from the original multi-track tapes.
The Super Deluxe Edition is one of multiple new iterations of The Sound of Music that Craft Recordings will release on Dec. 1. (Craft is the catalog label for Concord.) The Sound of Music will also be reintroduced in a Deluxe Edition (on two-CDs) and a three-LP vinyl collection (including a “Picnic Meadow Green”-colored vinyl pressing limited to 500 copies worldwide). A standard edition of the album will also be refreshed, where the original 16-track 1965 soundtrack will be reissued digitally in standard digital, HD digital and in a Dolby Atmos mix. (The standard digital album will also be available in multiple non-English-language editions, including Spanish, German, French and Italian).
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“It’s been wonderful to collaborate across all of Concord’s divisions to help bring this historic and culturally significant reissue to light,” says Sig Sigworth, president, Craft Recordings and chief catalog officer, Concord, in a statement. “This deluxe edition has been years in the making, with Craft Recordings working in concert with Concord Publishing and Concord Theatricals (home of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization). We’re delighted that The Sound of Music fans around the world, old and new, will be able to enjoy the iconic soundtrack in a brand new listening experience, more than a half century after its original release.”
Imogen Lloyd Webber, SVP at Concord Theatricals on behalf of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization adds: “This reissue of The Sound of Music, lovingly—and painstakingly—curated by the team at Craft with collaboration from so many at Concord, alongside Mike Matessino, is a landmark moment in the history of the title. It is a truly fitting tribute to the last of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals and one we hope fans across the world will treasure for years to come.”
For a full recap of the tracklists for each variant of the album, visit the Craft Recordings website. A summary of the new iterations is below:
The Sound of Music Soundtrack 2023 Reissues:
Super Deluxe Edition (4-CD/1 Blu-Ray boxed set)100 tracks on the CDs, 62 tracks on the Blu-Ray audio disc.
Super Deluxe Edition (Digital Download Album)84 tracks
Deluxe Edition (2-CD)46 tracks
Deluxe Edition (3 vinyl LPs, plus a “Picnic Meadow Green” color variant triple LP limited to 500 copies worldwide)46 tracks
Original 1965 Release (Standard Digital [inclusive of multiple international language versions such as Spanish, German, French and Italian] & HD Digital)16 tracks
Original 1965 Release (Dolby Atmos)16 tracks (all in 2023 Stereo Mixes)
It turns out, Jason Mraz just wants to dance.
The 46-year-old artist has enjoyed an impressive recording career, yielding two Grammy Awards across two-plus decades, and earning the Hal David Songwriters Hall of Fame Award. Nine of his songs have impacted the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including two top 10s.
On Tuesday night (Sept. 26), Mraz showed off his other talents on the season 32 premiere episode of Dancing With The Stars, when he strutted his stuff with a Cha Cha.
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Mraz and his dance partner Daniella Karagach danced to one of his own songs, “I Feel Like Dancing,” and landed a hattrick of sevens – placing the pair equal second, just one point from the top of the early leaderboard.
This hidden skill, Mraz pointed out, might have something to do with an unusual physical feature; he claims to have an extra vertebra in his spine.
Veep star Matt Walsh won’t be around to dance another day. After his own cha cha with Koko Iwasaki was bracketed in the bottom three, fans voted, the judges weighed in and Walsh was walking.
Mraz is competing for the Mirrorball Trophy, now renamed in honor of the late head judge Len Goodman.
Mraz will hope his DWTS run goes deep. On Sept. 22, Atlantic/Rhino will release the 15-year anniversary edition of We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. We Deluxe Edition.
The forthcoming collection will be available as a three-LP, two-CD set, and digitally. We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things originally peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, following its release in 2008, and is one of his five top 10 appearances on the albums chart. In June, Mraz released his eighth studio album, Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride.
Watch Mraz’s first-up dance on DWTS below.
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When Putri Ariani performs, jaws drop, tears fall.
That happened again, when Ariani delivered her last performance Tuesday night (Sept. 26) for the 18th season finale of America’s Got Talent.
Hailing from Indonesia, the gifted singer and pianist scored Simon Cowell’s Golden Buzzer during the audition phase, the judges remarking that she sounded like, or indeed was, an angel. On that occasion, she performed two songs, the second of which was “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word.”
For the finale, Ariani performed another Elton John and Bernie Taupin classic, “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”. Sat at a sparkling grand piano, and complemented with a gospel choir, Ariani had the room on its feet — including all four judges.
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Last time, Cowell was left “speechless.” On this occasion, the Brit found his words.
“It’s got nothing to do with the fact I gave her the Golden Buzzer,” he remarked afterwards, “I think any one of us would have given Putri the Golden Buzzer. It’s just that you are one of those rare little diamonds we come across every few years. Who is naturally born to do this.”
The teenage contestant is blind, an obstacle she overcomes when performing. “You’ve overcome so much in your life, to hopefully fulfill your dream on this show,” Cowell added. “And boy, after that do you deserve it.”
Fellow judge Howie Mandel remarked that, every time, in every round, Putri “hit it out of the park.” Her voice and her talent, “perfection.” If this was just a singing competition, she had it in the bag, he remarked. AGT, however, is broader than that, with dancers, magicians, comedians and more lining up in the 11-strong final.
Heidi Klum said it was a “moving” performance. “You could’ve not done it any better.”
Ariani had the final word. “I believe we are able, we are capable and we are equal. So, don’t be afraid to keep reaching for your dreams. Your dream will come true if you believe it.”
The winner will be announced Wednesday (Sept. 28) in the second of the two-part final on NBC.
Watch Putri Ariani’s performance below.
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Yodeling is an artform so difficult to master, it ought to come with a warning — “only try this at home.”
Ruby Leigh is an exception. The 16-year-old from Foley, Missouri stopped by NBC’s The Voice on Tuesday (Sept. 26) for a Blind Audition that was both brave, unexpected and fabulously executed.
Looking the part of a golden-era country star and wielding an acoustic guitar, Leigh hit a cover of Patsy Montana’s 1935 “I Want To Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart,” said to be the first country song by a female artist to sell more than one million copies. The youngster’s rendition was soaked in thigh-slapping country and western. And yes, yodeling.
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From the opening bounce, the coaches realized they were in for something different. All four turned.
“I truly never heard anything like what you just did,” John Legend explained. “I loved how clear and precise and piercing and beautiful your tone was. And then when you started doing the yodeling, it was like, how was a human being able to do the things that you’re doing? You could win the voice, honestly.”
Gwen Stefani revealed her own secret talents at yodeling, though admitted they were nothing when stacked against the superior Leigh.
The contestant’s energy was “just insane,” remarked Niall Horan. “You got a four chair for a reason.” This kid is “exciting,” he added.
Reba McEntire, the country icon, spoke last. “Being as young as you are, and being a fan of Patsy Montana, I’m a third generation rodeo brat, so Patsy Montana, a country western singer, not just country – there is a difference – I’m very flattered, very proud of my heritage that you’re singing this song.”
McEntire’s mom taught the country legend to yodel, which she duly gave an example of. It was a thinly-veiled sales pitch. Was it a winning one?
Of course it was. Leigh steps into Team Reba.
“Ruby could be a star and have a huge following,” Reba told the cameras afterwards.
The 24th season of The Voice premiered Monday night at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock.
Watch below.
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