State Champ Radio Music News
Page: 119
Organizers of the 2025 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival are sharing updated refund details following the event’s abrupt cancellation due to severe weather.
In a social media post shared Friday (June 20), organizers announced that all ticket buyers will now receive a 100% refund, reversing an earlier decision to offer only 75%. They also noted that future dates for the Manchester, Tenn., event will not be announced at this time.
“We want you to know that were still listening and actively discussing plans to improve The Farm that we love so much,” the statement read on Instagram. “At this time, we will not be announcing future dates.”
Bonnaroo initially offered a 75% refund after heavy rains flooded campgrounds, forcing the four-day festival to shut down after just one day of performances. But after widespread backlash and an online petition demanding full refunds — which garnered more than 6,000 signatures, according to Nashville’s WZTV — organizers changed course.
Trending on Billboard
The updated refund policy comes amid uncertainty about Bonnaroo’s future plans. “When plans for the future take shape, you all be the first to know,” the statement continued.
“Everyone who works on this show loves Bonnaroo deeply. Some of us have been here since the early years, some were fans first, and some are new but fell in love with it as soon as they felt your energy and spirit on The Farm. We look forward to this show all year. It’s what re-energizes us and restores our faith in community every single summer.”
Organizers added, “Our main goal is to give you the most memorable weekend of your lives every year. This cancellation broke our hearts beyond measure, but we knew it had to happen for your safety. Thank you for your patience and perseverance through this difficult situation.”
The 2025 edition of Bonnaroo launched on June 12, featuring performances from Luke Combs, Dom Dolla, Insane Clown Posse and Rebecca Black. But just a day later, severe thunderstorms prompted an evacuation notice, and the remainder of the festival was canceled. Other headliners scheduled for the canceled days included Tyler, The Creator, Olivia Rodrigo, and Hozier.
Read Bonnaroo’s full refund statement on Instagram below.
Morgan Wallen continued his trend of making grand entrances with sports icons during the launch of his I’m the Problem tour in Texas.
Before taking the stage at Houston’s NRG Stadium on Friday (June 20), the 32-year-old country superstar made an electrifying entrance at the home of the NFL’s Houston Texans. This time, he was joined by former Texans legend Andre Johnson.
Wallen and Johnson walked side by side as their moment was broadcast on the venue’s jumbotrons, with Wallen’s 2022 hit “Broadway Girls” featuring Lil Durk blasting through the speakers. In a surprise twist, Houston businessman and philanthropist Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale — owner of Gallery Furniture and known for his massive sports bets — also joined the walkout.
The walkout moment, which has become a highlight at Wallen’s shows — with previous guest appearances including Travis Kelce, Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady — was shared on Wallen’s Instagram. Fellow country star Jelly Roll couldn’t help but react in the comments.
“Just when I think you can’t goat yourself anymore — you bring out Mack in Houston- CRAZZYYYYY. Love you bubba,” Jelly wrote.
Trending on Billboard
Wallen’s concert at NRG Stadium marks the start of his 20-date I’m the Problem tour, which runs through Sept. 13 and visits 10 cities. The trek features supporting acts Koe Wetzel, Miranda Lambert, Brooks & Dunn, Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock and Thomas Rhett.
“I spend months at this point getting ready to get on tour, just getting in shape,” Wallen recently told Apple Music Country. “I don’t have to be in any kind of crazy shape to record in the studio. With how big my stage is, how much I run around, and how much effort that me and the guys put into it, I don’t think you would know that by just listening to the record.”
The outing supports Wallen’s chart-topping fourth studio album, I’m the Problem, which has held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for four consecutive weeks since its May 16 release.
Watch Wallen’s walkout with Andre Johnson and “Mattress Mack” on Instagram below. And check out the tour’s setlist here.
LAS VEGAS — While New Kids on the Block might seem like a perfect fit for Las Vegas, the veteran boy band had somehow never found themselves with a Sin City residency — until Friday night (June 20).
The Right Stuff residency kicked off night 1 at Dolby Live at Park MGM, with NKOTB gracing a stage previously headlined by Usher, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey and more superstars. But when the Boston boys were getting started 40 years ago, they had a different perception of Vegas than the entertainment destination it’s become.
“When you’re young, you think you’re really cool,” Jordan Knight told Billboard on Friday ahead of the residency kick-off. “And if somebody said, ‘You guys are going to be doing Vegas in your 50s,’ my thought probably back then would be like, ‘Oh no, no. That’s so corny. … That’s where acts just retire.’ But us doing this right now, I feel like we’re being true to ourselves, really. I don’t think we’re selling out to commercialism or Vegas or whatever it may be. I think we’re just being really true to ourselves. Yes, we have some bells and whistles, but I think we’re just using it really tastefully.”
There were definitely bells and whistles — like the high-flying moment that saw all five members hoisted up among the rafters in individual telephone booths to get as close as possible to every fan in the 5,000-capacity venue — but at its core, this was the New Kids show that their Blockhead superfans have come to expect. That is, the once-teenybopper pop stars (now ranging in age from 52 to 56) left every drop of energy, enthusiasm and love they had on the stage to put on a fun, escapist show in their new home of Vegas, with dates through February. That included the megahits, of course — “Step by Step,” “Hangin’ Tough” and the residency’s namesake “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” — but it also included gems from every one of the band’s seven non-Christmas studio albums, all the way back to their 1986 self-titled debut.
For his part, Jonathan Knight is finding that he’s able to enjoy things at this stage of the band’s career more than those chaotic early days. “When we started, we were just kids,” Jonathan told Billboard just before the show. “I think when we look back at that, nobody prepares you for this. I mean, I would never think at 56 years old, I would be in Vegas, when I was 20. Just being able to, for me personally, just being here, being in the moment, I mean back then, it was just such a blur.”
To keep Friday night’s show from becoming a blur, Billboard has rounded up the five best moments from New Kids’ nonstop fun opening night.
Using Every Inch of the Stage — And Beyond
LAS VEGAS — For New Kids on the Block‘s first-ever Las Vegas residency — which kicked off Friday night (June 20) at Dolby Live at Park MGM — the veteran boy band had a lot of ground to cover in their night 1 setlist. As they explained onstage, Joey McIntyre officially joined the group in […]
Polo G has settled a legal dispute over a planned European tour he cancelled in 2023, ending dueling contract and intellectual property theft claims between the Chicago rapper and a Dutch concert booking agency. The rapper (Taurus Bartlett) was in the middle of exchanging evidence via the legal discovery process with booking agency J. Noah […]
CCM singer Brandon Lake recently surprised his “Hard Fought Hallelujah” collaborator Jelly Roll with some stellar news about their hit collab. In a video he shared on Instagram on June 20, Lake surprised Jelly Roll with a plaque commemorating that “Hard Fought Hallelujah” had been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), […]
Trying to keep track of every one of Nick Cannon‘s 12 children is a difficult task for most — and apparently, it’s not particularly easy for Cannon himself.
During an appearance on The Really Good Podcast with host Bobbi Althoff, Cannon was asked to list out each of his 12 children’s names. The actor and host told Althoff “I usually get in trouble” when trying to name each of his kids, but proceeded to try his best.
“I’ll lay them all out for you, keep me honest. There’s ‘Roc, ‘Roe, Golden, Powerful, Rise, Onyx, Legendary, Zion, Zillion, Zen,” he said, before trailing off. “See this is where … How many [are left?]”
Trending on Billboard
In the spirit of keeping him honest, Cannon named Moroccan and Monroe, the twins he had with Mariah Carey; Golden Sagon, Powerful Queen and Rise Messiah with Brittany Bell; Onyx Ice Cole with LaNisha Cole; Legendary Love with Bre Tiesi; twins Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir with Abby De La Rosa; and the late Zen with Alyssa Scott.
The only two kids Cannon missed in his list were his two latest children: Beautiful Zeppelin, who he had with De La Rosa; and Halo Marie, who he had with Scott.
Elsewhere on the podcast, Cannon explained to Althoff why he has so many children, with the Drumline star saying that he has what he calls a “king complex” when it comes to procreation. “You know, Black men, we always be like, ‘What’s up king?’ I really think I’m the king,” he said, before explaining to Althoff that kings of the past would have lots of children to “enlarge their territory.”
Watch a clip from Cannon’s interview below:
Lizzo is feeling “Good as Hell” these days, and she’s not shy about sharing how she’s lost weight. In a wide-ranging interview with podcaster Trisha Paytas on the Just Trish podcast episode that dropped Thursday (June 19), the star opened up about the various ways she’s tried to get in shape — including weight-loss drugs.
“Wooooooohoooooo! I feel like I worked really really hard, and was intentional with what I did with my body,” the singer said when Paytas asked her how she felt about her weight loss. “So when I get compliments … I really receive it. … I don’t take it any weird way because I tried to do this.”
When the podcaster noted that she thinks Ozempic would be the only way she herself could lose weight, Lizzo confirmed that she has tried the drug. “I’ve tried everything,” the four-time Grammy winner shared. “It’s just the science for me. Calories in vs. calories out. Ozempic works because you eat less food — it makes you feel full. So if you can just do that on your own and get mind over matter, it’s the same!”
Trending on Billboard
But ultimately, it wasn’t Ozempic — which is a diabetes medication used off-label to help with weight loss — that helped Lizzo lose weight. It was changing her diet. “What did it for me was … well, actually, was not being vegan, ’cause when I was vegan, I was consuming a lot of fake meats,” she shared. “I was eating a lot of bread. I was eating a lot of rice, and I had to eat a lot of it to stay full, but really I was consuming, like, 3,000 to 5,000 calories a day.”
The star — who has been open about her weight-loss journey and has shared videos of herself working out and eating healthy — explained that she was vegetarian for about 10 years, and moved on to a vegan diet in 2020, before giving it up in 2023. “So for me, when I started actually eating whole foods and eating, like, beef and chicken and fish, like, I was actually full and not expanding my stomach by putting a lot of fake things in there that wasn’t actually filling me up,” she shared.
Lizzo continued by noting that it was a trip to Japan that had her start to eat meat again. “I heard the Japanese diet is the healthiest diet in the world, so I was there and I was like, ‘I’m going to try the food here,’ and my body was so happy. My body was like, ‘More, more please!’”
While adding meat back to her diet helped Lizzo on her weight-loss journey, she emphasized that just because it worked for her, doesn’t mean it’ll work for everyone. “I don’t like to tell people too much about releasing weight, like what I did. I don’t want people to do what I did and it doesn’t work for them. Everybody’s body’s different!” she said. “I don’t know what your bloodwork is like. I don’t know how your body breaks down food, sugar. I don’t know. But I know for me, I just had to start eating meat again.”
Watch Lizzo’s interview on the Just Trish podcast above. The discussion about weight loss begins a little after six minutes in.
Kacey Musgraves is recuperating after sustaining an injury from a fall while in Mexico. In a post to Instagram Stories on Friday (June 20), Musgraves shared an image of an x-ray shot of her ribs. She wrote over the image, “Sooo I’m in Mexico with a f—in’ broken rib. Wednesday night it was raining and […]
Since blasting onto the scene with his breakthrough hit “Beautiful Things,” Benson Boone has become the internet’s favorite punching bag. But instead of trying to prove them wrong, the singer decided to lean in with his latest music video.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
On Friday (June 20), Boone dropped the tongue-in-cheek music video for his new song “Mr. Electric Blue,” off his just-released LP American Heart. From the start of the clip, Boone goes out of his way to play with all the worst things the internet has to say about him when he walks into “Industry Plant Records” wearing a t-shirt that simply says “one hit wonder” for a frank conversation with his sleazy agent (played by his frequent songwriting collaborator Jack LaFrantz).
“Have you not been on the internet? Everything is terrible, Benson! We put all of our money into ‘moonbeam ice cream’ and the backflip, and it’s done absolutely horrible,” LaFrantz’s character tells an exasperated Boone. He informs the singer that he owes his faux label $10 million, and suggests that he find “a new gimmick” like “good songwriting.” At the suggestion, Boone deflates: “You know I can’t do that.”
Trending on Billboard
What ensues is a madcap montage, where Boone takes as many odd jobs as he can to raise the money. He walks dogs (while wearing another T-shirt that says “”), mows lawns (for a company called “Auto-Tune Trimmers”), washes cars (with bumper stickers declaring “mustaches are lame”) sells his sparkly jumpsuits and even opens a moonbeam ice cream truck. Of course, that still doesn’t stop the criticism from coming — when he’s recognized by a little girl as “the guy who sings ‘Beautiful Things,’” she quickly humbles him: “Your music is terrible.”
For his hustling and hard work, Boone makes a grand total of $168, but begs LaFrantz’s agent to give him another chance. But his agent assures him that he found a better solution, saying he “sold your entire catalog to retail chains, fast food chains and movie theaters,” promising that “you’ll be the most overplayed artist in the world, and I’ll be rich.” A dejected Boone sighs and smiles, saying “that’s all I’ve ever wanted,” before celebrating his ubiquity.
It’s far from the first time Boone has commented on the way people perceive him. The singer posted a TikTok back in April, explaining that he could understand people not liking him or his music if there were more people offering concrete reasons for their distaste. “I just read a comment that said ‘idek why I hate Benson Boone but it feels right,’” he wrote on the video. “Like WHAT!!? how am I supposed to improve after reading that? At least say something valid like ‘he low key just flips everywhere can he [do] anything else?’”
Watch the full video for Boone’s “Mr. Electric Blue” above.
