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“This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once won best song written and/or recorded for a film at the Guild of Music Supervisors Awards on Sunday (March 5) at The Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. This was the guild’s first in-person awards gala since 2020.
The award was presented to songwriters Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski Miyawaki; performers David Byrne, Mitski and Son Lux; and music supervisors Lauren Marie Mikus and Bruce Gilbert. Lott accepted the award saying “Making this movie was its own award. To be acknowledged on top of that feels unfairly awesome.”
“This Is a Life” is an Oscar nominee for best original song. At the GMS Awards, it beat nine other songs, including two that are also Oscar nominees in that category – “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick.
Final-round Oscar voting is now underway. The five-day voting period closes Tuesday March 7. The Oscars will be presented on Sunday March 12.
Everything Everywhere All at Once won a second GMS Award on the night — best music supervision for a film budgeted $25 million and under. That award went to Mikus and Gilbert.
Music supervisor Rob Lowry also scored double wins for his work on Cha Cha Real Smooth and Do Revenge.
The GMS Awards celebrate achievements in the craft of music supervision in film, television, documentaries, games, advertising, and trailers.
Oscar-winning songwriter Paul Williams received the Icon Award. He related his recent joy at hearing one of his ’70s songs, “I Won’t Last a Day Without You,” on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. He praised music supervisors for extending the life of a song. He noted that “For a songwriter, it’s attention [but it can also be] food on the table and gas in the car.”
Sam DeRosa, Nella Rojas and Joshua Radin participated in the Williams segment, which included the Oscar-winning “Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)” and the Oscar-nominated “The Rainbow Connection.”
Pilar McCurry was posthumously awarded the Legacy Award. Macy Gray performed her 2000 hit “I Try” in tribute to McCurry, who was an early champion.
Ruth B gave the night’s opening performance – “Paper Airplanes” from A Jazzman’s Blues. Ruth B co-wrote the song with Terence Blanchard. Joel C. High, the guild’s president, was music supervisor on the film.
Other performers were Gaby Moreno, who sang the GMS-nominated “A Song in My Heart” from The Valet; and Joy Oladokun, who sang the LGBTQ-themed “Pride.”
The event was produced by the Guild of Music Supervisors Awards production committee, headed by president Joel C. High and vice president Madonna Wade-Reed. Show production was handled by Angelia Bibbs-Sanders from ABS Collective with talent producer Julie Donsky, and technical production by Nick Urbom from Big Push Media Group.
For the first time this year, video game composers were nominated alongside music supervisors in a new category – best music supervision in a video game (original). Four other new categories were added – best music supervision for a non-theatrically released film; best music supervision for a trailer – series; best music supervision for a trailer – video game & interactive; and best music supervision in advertising: $500,000 total production & post-production budget.
For more information on the ceremony, visit GMSAwards.com. For more information on the organization, visit GuildofMusicSupervisors.com.
Here is the complete list of nominees for the 13th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards, with winners checked.
FILM
Best song written and/or recorded for a film
“Paper Airplanes” from A Jazzman’s Blues; Songwriters: Ruth Berhe, Terence Blanchard; Performer: Ruth B; Music Supervisor: Joel C. High
“Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Songwriters: Robyn Fenty PKA Rihanna, Ludwig Göransson, Ryan Coogler, Temilade Openiyi PKA Tems; Performer: Rihanna; Music Supervisor: Dave Jordan
“Honey to the Bee” from Catherine Called Birdy; Songwriters: James Marr, Wendy Page; Performer: Misty Miller; Music Supervisors: Jen Malone, Nicole Weisberg
“Vegas” from Elvis; Songwriters: Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Amala Dlamini, David Sprecher, Rogét Chahayed; Performer: Doja Cat; Music Supervisor: Anton Monsted
WINNER: “This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once; Songwriters: Ryan Lott, David Byrne, Mitski Miyawaki; Performers: David Byrne, Mitski, Son Lux; Music Supervisors: Lauren Marie Mikus, Bruce Gilbert
“Turn Up the Sunshine” from Minions: The Rise of Gru; Songwriters: Jack Antonoff, Sam Dew, Patrik Berger, Kevin Parker; Performers: Diana Ross, Tame Impala; Music Supervisors: Mike Knobloch, Rachel Levy
“Ready As I’ll Never Be” from The Return of Tanya Tucker; Songwriters: Tanya Tucker, Brandi Carlile; Performers: Tanya Tucker, Brandi Carlile; Music Supervisors: Jill Meyers, Drew Bayers
“Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick; Songwriters: Lady Gaga, BloodPop; Performer: Lady Gaga; Music Supervisor: Randy Spendlove
“Carolina” from Where the Crawdads Sing; Songwriter: Taylor Swift; Performer: Taylor Swift; Music Supervisor: Spring Aspers
“A Song in My Heart” from The Valet; Songwriters: Gaby Moreno, Heitor Pereira; Performer: Gaby Moreno; Music Supervisor: Howard Paar
Best music supervision for film budgeted over $25 million
Joel C. High – A Jazzman’s Blues
Dave Jordan – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
WINNER: Anton Monsted – Elvis
Julie Glaze Houlihan – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Tom Wolfe, Manish Raval – The Greatest Beer Run Ever
Maureen Crowe, Becky Bentham – I Wanna Dance With Somebody
Rachel Levy, Mike Knobloch – Minions: The Rise of Gru
Linda Cohen – Spirited
Mike Knobloch, Natalie Hayden, Lucy Bright – TÁR
Tom MacDougall – Turning Red
Best music supervision for film budgeted $25 million and under
Joe Rudge – Armageddon Time
Robin Urdang – Bones and All
WINNER: Lauren Marie Mikus, Bruce Gilbert – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Dushiyan Piruthivirajah – Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
Natalie Hayden, Garrett McElver – Spoiler Alert
Best music supervision for film budgeted $10 million and under
Jonathan McHugh – Butter
Willa Yudell – Call Jane
WINNER: Rob Lowry – Cha Cha Real Smooth
Guillaume Baurez – Corsage
Rupert Hollier – Living
Rob Lowry – On the Count of Three
Leah Harrison, Season Kent – Press Play
Graham Kurzner, Orian Williams – sam & kate
Joe Rudge – X
Best music supervision for a non-theatrically released film
Jane Abernethy, Jessica Berndt – Along for the Ride
Joel C. High, Sami Posner – Blue’s Big City Adventure
WINNER: Rob Lowry – Do Revenge
Gabe Hilfer, Henry van Roden – Fresh
Raven Davenport, Shannon Murphy – Love in the Villa
Becky Bentham – Matilda (Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical)
Lauren Denemark, Julian Drucker, Andrew Weaver – Purple Beatz
Rob Lowry – Wendell and Wild
Howard Paar – The Valet
TELEVISION
Best song written and/or recorded for television
“Walking On Sunshine” from Acapulco – Season 1 Ep. 10 – “You Should Hear How She Talks About You”; Songwriter: Kimberley Rew; Performers: Rodrigo Urquidi, Rossana de León; Music Supervisors: Javier Nuño, Joe Rodriguez
“Maybe Monica” from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Season 4 Ep. 5 – “How to Chew Quietly and Influence People”; Songwriters: Tom Mizer, Curtis Moore; Performer: Josh A. Dawson; Music Supervisor: Robin Urdang
WINNER: “Perfect Day” from Better Call Saul – Season 6 Ep. 9 – “Fun and Games”; Songwriter: Harry Nilsson; Performers: Dresage, Slow Shiver; Music Supervisor: Thomas Golubić
“Two Shots” from The Afterparty – Season 1 Ep. 3 – “Yasper”; Songwriters: Jack Dolgen, Jonathan Lajoie; Performers: Ben Schwartz, Sam Richardson, Jamie Demetriou; Music Supervisor: Kier Lehman
“Trouble” from MOOD – Season 1 Ep. 6 – “F*** the Fake Sh**”; Songwriters: Nicôle Lecky, Camille Angelina Purcell ‘Kamille’, Kwame Kwei-Armah Jr ‘KZ’; Performer: Lecky; Music Supervisors: Ed Bailie, Abi Leland
“Let’s Live for Today” from Pachinko – Season 1 Ep. 8 – “Chapter Eight”; Songwriters: Michael Julien, Guilio Rapetti Mogol, Norman David Shapiro; Performer: Leenalchi; Music Supervisor: Michael Hill
“Seduce & Scheme” from Rap Sh!t – Season 1 Ep. 3 – “Something for the Hood”, Ep. 4 – “Something for the Clubs”, Ep. 5 – “Something for the Weekend”, Ep. 6 – “Something for the Gram”, Ep. 7 – “Something for the DJ”, Ep. 8 – “Something for the Road”; Songwriters: Larry Dwayne Batiste, Isaac Earl Bynum, Khia Chambers, Brittany Dickinson, Aida Goitom, Floyd Nathaniel Hills, Clayton Richardson, Seandrea Sledge, Bill Summers. Kevin Toney, Michael J. Williams; Performers: Shawna & Mia; Music Supervisors: Sarah Bromberg, Stephanie Diaz-Matos, Philippe Pierre
“Get It on the Floor” from P-Valley – Season 2 Ep. 6 – “Savage,” Ep. 9 – “Snow”; Songwriters: Julian Mason, Antwon D. Moore, Megan Pete, Kelton Lanier Scott II; Performers: J. Alphonse Nicholson, Megan Thee Stallion; Music Supervisors: Sarah Bromberg, Stephanie Diaz-Matos, Katori Hall
Best music supervision – television comedy or musical
Kier Lehman – The Afterparty Season 1
WINNER: Kier Lehman – Insecure Season 5
Nora Felder, Janine Scalise – Better Things Season 5
Ed Bailie, Abi Leland – MOOD Season 1
Adam Anders, Amanda Krieg Thomas – Monarch Season 1
Robin Urdang – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4
Thomas Patterson – The Resort Season 1
Amanda Krieg Thomas – Pam & Tommy Season 1
Best music supervision – television drama
Ciara Elwis – Bad Sisters Season 1
Thomas Golubić – Better Call Saul Season 6
Justin Kamps – Bridgerton Season 2
Jen Malone, Adam Leber – Euphoria Season 2
Ollie White – Industry Season 2
Dave Jordan, Shannon Murphy – Ms. Marvel Season 1
Stephanie Diaz-Matos, Sarah Bromberg, Katori Hall – P-Valley Season 2
WINNER: Nora Felder – Stranger Things Season 4
Best music supervision – reality television
Peter Davis – The Challenge: All Stars Season 3
Sarah Bromberg, Gary Lubansky, Eric Medina – Sweet Life: Los Angeles Season 2
Brandon Boucher – The Real World Homecoming Season 3
Greg Danylyshyn, Ben Hochstein – The Kardashians Season 1
Jon Ernst – Siesta Key Season 4
WINNER: Adam Brodsky, Rivka Rose – The Come Up Season 1
DOCUMENTARIES
Best music supervision for a documentary
Dawn Sutter Madell – All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Justin Feldman – Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues
Jonathan Zalben – Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes
WINNER: Allison Wood – Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off
Best music supervision in a docuseries
WINNER: Amanda Krieg Thomas – The Andy Warhol Diaries
Ross Sellwood – My Life as a Rolling Stone
Dan Wilcox – Street Food USA
Barry Cole – They Call Me Magic
Andrea von Foerster – Welcome to Wrexham
VIDEO GAMES
Best music supervision in a video game (synch)
Ryan Tomlin, Brandon Young – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Alex Hackford, Duncan Smith – Gran Turismo 7
Raphaella Lima, Cybele Pettus, Steve Schnur – Need for Speed Unbound
WINNERS: Dylan Bostick, Josh Kessler – Saint’s Row V
Best music supervision in a video game (original)
Simon Landry, Rossen Yankov – Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök; Composer: Stephanie Economou
WINNERS: Steve Schnur – Battlefield 2042 DLC – Season 1 – Zero Hour | Season 2 – Master of Arms | Season 3 – Escalation; Composers: Hildur Guðnadóttir, Sam Slater
Brandon Young – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II; Composer: Sarah Schachner
Richard Beddow – Total War: Warhammer III; Composers: Jamie Christopherson, Jim Fowler, Ian Livingstone, Simon Ravn, Tim Wynn
TRAILERS
Best music supervision in a trailer – film
WINNER: Evelin Garcia – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Teaser “Leaders”
Deric Berberabe, Jordan Silverberg – Elvis (trailer 2)
Anny Colvin – Avatar: The Way of the Water
Gregory Sweeney – Men Official Trailer
Matthew Bailey, Shawn Stevens – Empire of Light, Trailer “Home”
Sanaz Lavaedian, Marina Polites – Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Scenery Samundra, Gregory Sweeney – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Official Teaser Trailer
Bobby Gumm – Three Thousand Years of Longing
Maggie Baron – Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Cynthia Blondelle, Heather Kreamer – Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 Official Trailer
Best music supervision in a trailer – series
Will Quiney – Atlanta Season 3 ‘Visitors’
Bobby Gumm – Stranger Things 4
Scenery Sumandra, Gregory Sweeney – The Idol – Official Teaser #3
Brian Sotelo – Black Bird
WINNER: Deric Berberabe, Jordan Silverberg – The White Lotus – Season 2
Dylan Bostick, Chris Restivo – Atlanta “Shillin’”
Deric Berberabe, Jordan Silverberg – The Boys Season 3 (full trailer)
Kelsey Mitchell – Perry Mason Season 2 Teaser (HBO)
Evelin Garcia – Andor – Teaser “Reckoning”
Emma Allaway, Eduardo Fontes Williams – The Crown Season 5
Best music supervision in a trailer – video game & interactive
Glenn Herweijer, Simon Landry, Ben Sumner, Jack Thompson – Assassins Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök – Cinematic World Premiere
WINNERS: Lindsey Kohon, Naaman Snell – Destiny 2: The Witch Queen – Launch Trailer
Raphaella Lima, Michael Sherwood – Wild Hearts Reveal Trailer
Lindsey Kohon, Ryan Tomlin, Brandon Young – Warzone 2.0 Launch Trailer | Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0
Lindsey Kohon, Ryan Tomlin, Brandon Young – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II – World Gameplay Reveal Trailer
ADVERTISING
Best music supervision in advertising (synch)
Buzzy Cohen, Quinn Donnell – Airbnb – Strangers
Mike Ladman, Brad Nayman, Brandy Ricker – New York Times – Independent Journalism | The New York Times | Jordan
WINNER: Abbey Hendrix, Jonathan Wellbelove – Apple – The Greatest
Josh Marcy, Nicole Palko – Apple – iPad – Election
Ben Dorenfeld, Zach Pollakoff, Anton Trailer – Johnnie Walker – Anthem
Jessie Kalikow, Scott McDaniel, Nargis Sheerazie – Apple – Chocolate
Andrew Kahn, Morgan Thoryk – Zillow – Nightswimming
Frederic Schindler – Amazon Fashion – Amazon Fashion Holiday 2022
Best music supervision in advertising (original music)
WINNERS: Sunny Kapoor, Mike Ladman, Brad Nayman, Brandy Ricker – Meta – Good Ideas Deserve to be Found: A (Slightly) Life-Changing Story
Mike Ladman, Brad Nayman, Brandy Ricker – Hennessy – HENNESSY X NBA: GAME NEVER STOPS
Will Eichler, Chip Herter – Taco Bell – The Grande Escape
After seven weeks, nothing and no one can cut down Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” (via Columbia) in the U.K.
“Flowers” stays put for a seventh consecutive No. 1 on the Official U.K Singles Chart, published March 3. It’s still the most streamed song in the market, according to the Official Charts Company, where it racks-up another 5.2 million streams.
With its reign heading towards two full months, “Flowers” becomes the longest-running No. 1 by a female solo artist in the U.K. since Adele’s “Easy On Me,” which logged eight non-consecutive weeks at the summit in 2021 and 2022.
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The all-time leader among solo female artists is Tones And I, the former busker from Australia whose “Dance Monkey” ruled for 11 weeks in 2019.
With “Flowers” digging in for another title, PinkPantheress must make-do with another stint at No. 2 for “Boy’s a liar” (Warner Records).
Sparks fly for the Weeknd, as the Canadian R&B star’s 2016 track “Die For You” (Republic Records/XO) roars into the top 10 for the first time, thanks to the release of a new cut featuring Ariana Grande. It’s up 37-4, for Abel Tesfaye’s 14th U.K. top 10 hit.
U.S. rapper SuperStar Pride (real name: Cadarrius Pride) earns the highest new release in the U.K. this week, with his breakthrough independent release “Painting Pictures” (via SuperStar Pride). Sampling Faith Evans’ “Soon As I Get Home,” it’s new at No. 33 on the latest tally, for SuperStar Pride’s U.K. chart debut.
Finally, Brighton, England-based pop newcomer Caity Baser enjoys her first U.K. top 40 single with the viral number “Pretty Boys” (EMI/Chosen Music), soaring 91- 35, while SZA scores a fourth top 40 appearance from her hit sophomore album SOS, as “Snooze” (RCA/Top Dawg) gets the wake-up call, lifting 47-40. SOS also yielded “Kill Bill” (currently at its peak position of No. 3), “Shirt” (No. 17) and “Nobody Gets Me” (No. 27).
There are no banana peels for Gorillaz, as the virtual group swings to No. 1 on the U.K. chart with Cracker Island (via Parlophone).
Gorillaz’ eighth and latest album had led at the midweek stage, and it goes on to complete the chart race in first place.
Fronted by Blur’s Damon Albarn and Tank Girl artist Jamie Hewlett, the band now has seven top 10 appearances on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, and two leaders, including 2005’s Demon Days.
Cracker Island also reigns over the Official Vinyl Albums Chart, as the most-purchased record on wax in the U.K., the Official Charts Company reports.
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Arriving at No. 3 on the latest all-genres survey, published March 3, is Good Riddance (Interscope), the debut full-length LP from Los Angeles-born singer and songwriter Gracie Abrams.
Also new to the latest tally is Adam Lambert’s fifth studio album High Drama (EastWest/Rhino). It drops in at No. 5, for the U.S. pop star’s second solo top 10 appearance and career-best chart position.
Lambert’s previous solo best is a No. 8 for The Original High from 2015, though his Live Around The World LP with Queen went to No. 1 in 2020.
Obey Robots, the duo of Laura Kidd (Penfriend, She Makes War) and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin member Gareth “Rat” Pring, nab a top 20 with One in a Thousand (My Big Sister Recordings). It’s new at No. 14
Further down the list, U.S. rapper and producer Yeat bags his first U.K. Albums Chart appearance with Aftërlyfe (No. 20 via Geffen); London rockers Shame scoop a third top 40 with Food for Worms (No. 21 via Dead Oceans); Scottish singer-songwriter Callum Beattie enjoys a career peak with Vandals (No. 22 via 3 Beat/AATW); Manchester rock act The Slow Readers Club earn a fourth top 40 with Knowledge Freedom Power (No. 29 via Velveteen); and Texas-based singer and rapper Don Toliver delivers a third top 40 with Love Sick (No. 36 via Atlantic).
The flight of another Free Bird is over.
Gary Rossington, the last surviving original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, died on Sunday (March 5), at the age of 71, nearly four months before the band was planning to set out on its next tour.
No cause of death was given, though the guitarist had been dealing with health issues over the past couple of decades and particularly since the mid-2010s, when heart ailments occasionally sidelined Rossington, and the band.
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In an official statement Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote that, “It is without deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington today. Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does. Please keep Dale, Mary and Annie and the entire Rossington family in your prayers and respect the family’s privacy at this time.”
During a 2016 interview with Billboard, promoting his Take It on Faith album with wife Dale Krantz-Rossington — who’s also a Skynyrd back-up singer — Rossington said that despite his health battles he’d made a decision to go on playing and die with his proverbial boots on.
“It’s just in my blood, y’know?,” he explained. “I’m just an old guitar player, and we’ve spent our whole loves and the 10,000 hours of working to understand how to play and do it. So I think once you’ve got something going for yourself you should keep it up and keep your craft going. When you retire, what’s next? I like to fish, but how much of that can you do, right? So I want to keep doing what I do now.”
Rossington was the last man standing in a band that formed during 1964 in Jacksonville, Fla., starting with bassist Larry Junstrom and drummer Bob Burns in a trio called Me, You, and Him. Signer Ronnie Van Zant, who played on a rival baseball team, jammed with the team after one of their games, playing the Rolling Stones’ “Time Is on My Side,” and the rest was history.
Skynyrd settled on its name around 1970, taking it from Leonard Skinner, the strict physical education teacher at Robert E. Lee High School; Skinner was particularly hard on boys who had long hair, which led Rossington to drop out of school.
After working the local and regional scene Skynyrd was discovered by Al Kooper, founder of Blood, Sweat & Tears, who signed the band to his Sounds of the South label. “We were a little bit of everything, really,” Rossington said of the burgeoning band’s approach. “We loved all the British invasion stuff and, of course, the Allman Brothers and Stax and that stuff. There were just a lot of things we stirred together.”
The band’s debut album, (Pronounced Len-‘nerd ‘Skin-‘nerd) was released on Aug. 13, 1973 and featured the lengthy anthem “Free Bird,” which would become Skynyrd’s signature song. The group continued to build a following through hard touring and tracks such as “Sweet Home Alabama” — its answer to Neil Young’s “Southern Man.” Rossington co-wrote that track as well as other Skynyrd favorites such as “I Ain’t the One,” “Things Goin’ On,” “Don’t Ask Me No Questions,” “Gimme Back My Bullets” and “What’s Your Name.”
The first phase of Skynyrd ended on Oct. 20, 1977, when a Convair CV-240 carrying the band from Greenville, S.C. to Baton Rouge, La., crashed near Gillsburg, Miss., killing three band members (Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and his older sister, backup singer Cassie Gaines), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick and both pilots. Rossington and other suffered severe injuries and put the group on hold immediately after.
“We couldn’t imagine going on after something like that,” he said. “We were a brotherhood, and when you lose your brothers you can’t just go on.” He and guitarist Allen Rossington formed the Rossington Collins Band, which lasted nearly four years and two albums before breaking up in 1982. Skynyrd, meanwhile reformed in 1987, ostensibly to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the plane crash; the band has continued ever since, recording nine more studio albums and going through a number of number of lineup changes.
Rossington — who is part of a guitarist core that included Collins (who passed away during 1977), Ed King (who died in 2018), Hughie Thomasson (who died in 2007), Rickey Medlocke and others — was the only Skynyrd member to appear on all of its albums.
Rossington said that despite the healthy issues, he was motivated to continue in order to pay tribute to his fallen bandmates — including longtime bassist Leon Wilkeson and keyboardist Billy Powell. “These guys created so much great music that people still love today,” Rossington noted. “I’m the last one here, so to be able to tell their story and make sure they’re remembered, I’m blessed to be able to do that. It’s, like, my responsibility.” He had, however, missed some shows and only played portions of others in recent years.
In 2016 Krantz-Rossington noted that she and her husband had agreed that continuing to play music was the best thing for him. “He said to me, ‘I would much rather go out kickin’ than sitting here in my chair, and that was the last time we talked about it,” she said. “After that we just decided to ask for God’s mercy and do it til we drop.”
Tributes to Rossington began hitting social media immediately after the band’s announcement. Longtime friend Charlie Daniels wrote, “the last of the Free birds has flown home. RIP Gary Rossington, God Bless the Lynyrd @Skynyrd band. Prayers to Dale and the rest of his family.”
Skynyrd is, in fact, planning to join forces with ZZ Top for The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour starting July 21 in West Palm Beach, Fla. it’s expected to go on, even though Johnny Van Zant — younger brother of Ronnie Van Zant and Skynyrd’s frontman since 1977 — has said that, “I don’t think you can have Lynyrd Skynyrd without Gary Rossington.”
In addition to Krantz-Rossington, the guitarist is survived by their two daughters and several grandchildren. No funeral or memorial information has been announced.
Miley Cyrus is going back to her roots for an Endless Summer Vacation special with Disney.
Cyrus will lead the show in every imaginable way. The pop superstar serves as executive producer on Miley Cyrus ‒ Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions), during which she’ll showcase new music from her forthcoming studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, including a performance of “Flowers.”
Disney Branded Television’s “music-focused performance special” will feature seven additional tracks from the new album, one of her “chart-topping classic hits” and a collaboration with Rufus Wainwright.
Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions) is produced by Cyrus, creative production company RadicalMedia, HopeTown Entertainment, Crush Management and Columbia Records, and is set to premiere on Friday, March 10, at 1 p.m. ET on Disney+.
It’s a sort of homecoming for Miley, who achieved lift-off in her early years as the star of Hannah Montana, which aired on the Disney Channel for four seasons between March 2006 and January 2011.
Cyrus kicked off the “Backyard Sessions” in 2012 as a series for fans, offering a glimpse at the singer with her band, chilling outdoors.
The special is, of course, a tie-in with Cyrus’ eighth studio album Endless Summer Vacation, due out March 10 via Columbia Records. It’s the followup to Plastic Hearts, which crowned Billboard’s Top Rock Albums Chart and hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
Its global hit “Flowers” has racked up six consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Official U.K. Singles Charts. And in the land Down Under, “Flowers” has just nabbed its seventh straight week at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart.
Jacob Bixenman and Brendan Walter are directors of Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions), and Marcell Rév is director of photography.
After cutting seven studio albums, changing style and music direction in the fickle pop world, and surviving a near fatal overdose, yes, Demi Lovato is still alive.
At the stroke of midnight, the U.S. artist dropped “Still Alive,” her contribution to the Scream VI soundtrack.
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It’s the first taste of Lovato’s new music since releasing her seventh studio album, Holy Fvck, back in 2022.
The pop-punk fueled full-length contained collaborations with Yungblud, Royal & the Serpent and Dead Sara and ultimately topped three separate Billboard tallies: Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums.
Mike Shinoda is on production duties for “Still Alive,” which sees Lovato cruising in that pop-punk lane and spitting out lyrics that illustrate a living hell.
On it, she sings: “Already died a thousand times / Went to hell but I’m back and I’m breathing / Make me bleed while my heart is still beating / Still alive”.
Lovato, of course, came very close to losing it all when she overdosed on heroin in 2018. She’s since spoken candidly about the incident, and the ongoing road to recovery from a binge that left her with three strokes, a heart attack, and blind spots in her vision.
“Still Alive” is accompanied by an official music video, which features a creep in that familiar Ghostface mask, terrorizing some poor folks. Watch to the end for Lovato kicking some butt.
Jensen Noen directs the “Still Alive” music video, which can be seen below. The next installment in the Scream franchise is due out March 10 in cinemas.
Harry Styles is king of the road, and king of the charts as Harry’s House returns to No. 1 in Australia.
As he winds his way around the country for a run of stadium shows, Styles’ third studio album returns to No. 1 on the national chart for a ninth non-consecutive week, ARIA reports.
Harry’s House first summited in May 2022 and stayed there for three weeks. Then, a four-week block at No. 1 in July and August, and another week-long stint in late August 2022.
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Styles seven-show Love On Tour lap of Australia and New Zealand, produced by Live Nation, has also put heat on his sophomore album Fine Line, up 7-5, and a string of singles.
Gorillaz swing in at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart, published March 3, with Cracker Island.
The album, which features collaborations with Perth, Australia producer and Tame Impala leader Kevin Parker, plus Bad Bunny, Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, Thundercat and others, is the virtual band’s eighth studio set and second leader after Plastic Beach, which reached the penthouse in 2010.
Also new to the latest albums survey is The Twin Set’s Tines of Stars Unfurled, the solo debut from You Am I frontman Tim Rogers. It’s new at No. 4. Also, U.S. pop artist Adam Lambert debuts at No. 7 with High Drama.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Miley Cyrus’ ”Flowers” locks down a seventh consecutive week at No. 1, equaling the reign of Miley’s dad Billy Ray Cyrus, with 1992’s “Breaky Heart.”
Following the release of fresh cut with Ariana Grande, The Weeknd’s 2016 track “Die For You” finds new life, blasting 41-3 to the national chart, for a new peak position.
The top debut on the latest tally belongs to Harry Styles’ former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan, with “Heaven,” opening at No. 30, while homegrown house producer Dom Dollar marks his first appearance on the ARIA Top 50 with “Rhyme Dust.” A collaboration with U.S. electronic producer MK, “Rhyme Dust” bows at No. 32.
Happy Women’s History Month!
March serves to commemorate and celebrate the vital role of women in society — including the ways in which women have shaped and progressed the music world.
Some of music’s greatest female artists have given fans a firsthand account of their influence, sharing the obstacles they’ve overcome and the triumphs they deserved in powerful, moving memoirs.
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In honor of Women’s History Month and National Reading Day on Thursday (March 2), we’ve compiled 10 of our favorite memoirs by female musicians. See them below.
Amazon
The Meaning of Mariah Carey
$11.96 $29.99 60% OFF
The elusive chanteuse gives a candid, unfiltered story of her life in her memoir, chronicling “the ups and downs, the triumphs and traumas, the debacles and the dreams, that contributed to the person I am today” in The Meaning of Mariah Carey.
“Writing this memoir was incredibly hard, humbling and healing,” Carey wrote in the description. “My sincere hope is that you are moved to a new understanding, not only about me, but also about the resilience of the human spirit.”
The Meaning of Mariah Carey is available in hardcover, kindle and audiobook.
Amazon
Just Kids Illustrated Edition
$23.99 $39.99 40% OFF
The National Book Award-winning, coming-of-age memoir has become a staple in music literature, with Smith highlighting her youth alongside Robert Mapplethorpe as artists chasing their dreams in New York City. Just Kids by Patti Smith is available in hardcover and audio CD.
Amazon
Lady Sings the Blues: The 50th-Anniversay Edition with a Revised Discography (Harlem Moon Classics)
$16.99
Billie Holiday’s wildly honest autobiography chronicles the iconic jazz singer’s difficult Baltimore upbringing in which she ran errands at a whorehouse all the way through her thriving music career — touching on the devastating racism Holiday experienced and the heroin addiction that ended her life too soon.
Lady Sings the Blues is available in hardcover, paperback and Kindle.
Amazon
More Myself: A Journey
$14.99 $29.99 50% OFF
Part autobiography, part narrative documentary, Alicia Keys gets candid in More Myself: A Journey. shares her path from her childhood in Hell’s Kitchen and Harlem to stardom, pulling the curtain back on her “complex relationship with her father, the people-pleasing nature that characterized her early career, the loss of privacy surrounding her romantic relationships, and the oppressive expectations of female perfection.”
Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business
$42.00
The country icon’s 1994 memoir, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business, delves deep into her life since leaving home at age 18 to pursue a music career, touching on ” her personal philosophies, her marriage, her friendships, and achievements.”
Amazon
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir
$17.00
Named after her lyric in “Modern Girl,” the Sleater-Kinney guitarist shares her experience leaving a difficult family situation and propelling into a world where music heals, invents and creates a sense of community in Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein. The funny, candid look on Brownstein’s life also chronicles the flourishing excitement of the era’s era’s independent music subculture.
Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good
$15.99 $26.00 39% OFF
In Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good by Tina Turner, the living legend sheds light on her path to peace in her memoir, in which she details how her Buddhist practices helped her out of the darkest times of her life.
Amazon
A Natural Woman: A Memoir
$16.99 $18.99 11% OFF
Released in 2013, this deeply personal memoir touches on Carole King’s extraordinary life that inspired Broadway’s Beautiful, chronicling “her journey as a performer, mother, wife and present-day activist.”
Amazon
Reba: My Story
$7.99
In her characteristically down-to-earth memoir, My Story, Reba McEntire tells the funny, inspiring tale of her life from “her childhood in Oklahoma working cattle with her ranching family to her days on the rodeo competition circuit, from her early days as a performer in honky-tonks to her many awards and a sold-out appearance at Carnegie Hall.”
Amazon
I Put A Spell On You: The Autobiography Of Nina Simone
$11.59 $15.99 28% OFF
Nina Simone shares her powerful, triumphant and tempestuous life in her memoir, I Put a Spell on You. Moving through the highest highs of her career success and the lowest lows of failed marriages, arrest and the threat of imprisonment, mental breakdown, poverty and attempted suicide.
Amazon
Jennifer Lopez unveils her most transformative two-year-period as an artist and a mother in her 2015 memoir, True Love. In the book, Lopez opens up about confronting challenges, overcoming fears and ultimately emerging a stronger person.
BRISBANE, Australia — BIG WETT is set to make a splash with a new deal through Play It Again Sam, Billboard can exclusively reveal.
To celebrate her partnership with the independent music specialist, announced Wednesday (March 2), BIG WETT drops a fresh cut, “NUMBER 1 PUSSY,” produced by Confidence Man’s Reggie Goodchild.
“NUMBER 1 PUSSY” arrives with an eye-catching official video, directed by Lewis Stephenson and edited by Joe Aguis (Pollen Arts).
The Melbourne native “is a superstar in the making,” reckons Russell Crank, London-based head of A&R at Play It Again Sam. “Armed with huge hooks, banging beats and bucketloads of NSFW fun, everything about BIG WETT is totally addictive”.
Director of [PIAS] Australia Mari Stuart adds, “Like most people who have been lucky enough to catch her live, the [PIAS] Australia team have fallen in love with the enigma that is BIG WETT. For the uninitiated, be warned about the ridiculously fun and very NSFW lyrics you’ll soon have stuck in your head”.
Straddling a sound that captures the energy of electroclash, ‘90s rave and femme power, BIG WETT built the buzz when she uploaded a batch of demos to Soundcloud in late 2021.
Your folks will hate the tunes “EAT MY ASS” and “KING DICK,” but they caught the attention of the right people — tastemakers at triple j, Triple R, RTR FM, PBS FM, 4ZZZ and elsewhere. As soon as promoters caught her riotous performances, she landed on some of the country’s biggest stages.
Breakout performances at Bigsound 2022, Meredith Music Festival and Gaytimes will be followed by slots at Pitch Music and Arts Festival in Moyston, Brighton’s The Great Escape and this Saturday (March 4) for the BIG WETT Mardi Gras Party in Sydney.
“I’m so excited to be surrounded by the team at [PIAS] who really understand the project, and who are excited to see it grow,” comments BIG WETT in a statement. “We’re all stoked to be releasing more music over the next year together and really giving each song a chance to have its own moment”.
Founded in 1982 by Kenny Gates and Michael Lambot, Play It Again Sam is the imprint at the heart of the [PIAS] Label Group, which oversees the business’ various record label interests and is a leader among Europe’s independent music companies. Its global roster includes Lykke Li, Anna of the North and Soulwax
Last year, Universal Music Group (UMG) struck a deal to acquire a 49% shareholding in parent PIAS Group.
After a weeks-long shower of bad publicity and multiple artist withdrawals, Australia’s Bluesfest has removed the controversial rock band Sticky Fingers from its lineup.
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The popular, and long-running, music festival today (March 2) issued a statement in which organizers remarked, “Bluesfest cannot, sadly, continue to support Sticky Fingers by having them play our 2023 edition, and we apologise to those artists, sponsors and any others we involved in this matter through our mistaken belief that forgiveness and redemption are the rock on which our society is built.”
In recent days, festival director Peter Noble had doubled-down on his decision to book the polarizing band, despite growing calls from within the music community to boycott the event.
Melbourne prog-rock outfit King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard and two-time Australian Music Prize winner Sampa The Great recently withdrew from the lineup in protest to the inclusion of Sticky Fingers, with King Gizz issuing a statement remarking that “as a band and as human beings, we stand against misogyny, racism, transphobia and violence.”
Sticky Fingers has a reputation that, well, sticks.
The issues relate to the past behavior of lead singer Dylan Frost, who has been accused of threatening Indigenous musician Thelma Plum and making racist remarks at a gig featuring Indigenous punk band Dispossessed.
Sticky Fingers took a break after those incidents allegedly occurred in 2016, reuniting again in 2018.
Frost went on to address his mental health battles, and issued a statement in which he said he was “wholeheartedly against racism, and so is the band,” and that he doesn’t “condone or in any way excuse violence against women, straight up, I never have and I never will.”
Noble and Bluesfest’s statement claims “the narrative that they continue to deserve to be cancelled, as well as anyone who publicly supports them, is difficult to accept, wherein a portion of society and media passes eternal judgment toward those, in this case, a diagnosed mentally ill person whom we feel doesn’t deserve the continued public scrutiny he’s being given.”
The message continues, “We thank everyone who has contacted us and advised their support in this matter, especially those suffering from a mental illness who feel they cannot have their illness supported in a manner whereby they feel included in society.”
It’s not the first time Australian event organizers have performed a u-turn on Sticky Fingers.
In 2018, the band withdrew from the Newcastle fest This That, with promoters explaining at the time that “if their inclusion began to impact negatively on the other artists performing and our Newcastle and wider communities, that it would be best if they refrain from performing. That’s the decision we have both taken today.”
Sticky Fingers, notes Bluesfest in its statement, “has done so many good deeds that have never been reported, including building and funding recording studios and music education programs in disadvantaged regional communities.”
After enduring a two-year obstacle course which included the pandemic, floods, border closures, public health orders, and more, the 2022 edition of Bluesfest welcomed more than 100,000 revelers.
The 2023 edition of Bluesfest is set for April 6-10 at Byron Events Farm, with headliners including Gang of Youths, Paolo Nutini, Tash Sultana, Bonnie Raitt, the Doobie Brothers and more.
Read the full statement from Bluesfest below.
Bluesfest Byron Bay Statement Regarding Sticky Fingers
We are sad to announce that Bluesfest has decided that Sticky Fingers is to step off the Bluesfest 2023 line-up.
Bluesfest cannot, sadly, continue to support Sticky Fingers by having them play our 2023 edition, and we apologise to those artists, sponsors and any others we involved in this matter through our mistaken belief that forgiveness and redemption are the rock on which our society is built.
The narrative that they continue to deserve to be cancelled, as well as anyone who publicly supports them, is difficult to accept, wherein a portion of society and media passes eternal judgment toward those, in this case, a diagnosed mentally ill person whom we feel doesn’t deserve the continued public scrutiny he’s being given.
We thank everyone who has contacted us and advised their support in this matter, especially those suffering from a mental illness who feel they cannot have their illness supported in a manner whereby they feel included in society.
Sticky Fingers has done so many good deeds that have never been reported, including building and funding recording studios and music education programs in disadvantaged regional communities.
We will now move on, put this behind us and continue to plan and present our best-ever edition of Bluesfest… proudly.
For those that wish to know more, there is a carefully researched article in The Australian in 2018 that took the trouble to examine the facts, unlike a lot of the current published material.