Music News

28 Feb 2024

Fred Again Sells-Out Surprise Arena Tour of Australia In ‘a Matter of Hours’

Fred Again has done it again, selling out all six of his Australian arena shows within hours of the tour announcement.

The Grammy Award-winning British producer and artist this week announced three-night stands at both Sydney’s 22,000-capacity Qudos Bank Arena and Melbourne’s 15,000-capacity Rod Laver Arena, and a pop-up show on the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane, at a venue yet to be announced.

Over 1 million fans virtually queued for tickets, snapping up more than 100,000 tickets in “a matter of hours” for a sell-out, according to reports for Handsome Tours, which is presented the tour with sister companies Laneway Presents, TEG Live and Astral People.

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With his forthcoming run of Australia, Fred Again (real name Fred Gibson) has taken the concept of a snap tour announcement to another level.

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On Tuesday (Feb. 27), Fred announced a surprise performance at Sydney’s Opera House for that evening via his Instagram, and sold out it “emphatically,” say reps for TEG-affiliated Handsome Tours, with over 145,000 people queuing for less than 3,000 tickets. The one-off show at the Opera House’s Concert Hall set the record for the largest on-sale demand for the iconic venue — all within a 24-hour timeframe.

Off the back of that pop-up show, the full-scale tour announce which too has sold out. All dates will feature support from JOY (ANONYMOUS), who debuted new, unreleased music at Fred’s Sydney Opera House special.

Fred Again has a special — and deep — connection with Australian music fans.

He made his live debut here in January 2023, performing sets at Laneway Festival, selling-out headline shows, and unleashing surprise DJ pop-ups that reportedly sold-out in under 5 seconds, including a set at Sydney’s 5,500-capacity Hordern Pavilion. Last year, he was the most played artist on the triple j, the national youth-focused radio network.

Fred Again Australia Tour 2024:
March 4 — Rod Laver Arena Melbourne Tickets (SOLD OUT)
March 5 — Rod Laver Arena Melbourne Tickets (SOLD OUT)
March 6 — Rod Laver Arena Melbourne Tickets (SOLD OUT)
March 9 — Gold Coast pop-up (venue TBC) (SOLD OUT)
March 12 — Qudos Bank Arena Sydney Tickets (SOLD OUT)
March 13 — Qudos Bank Arena Sydney Tickets (SOLD OUT)
March 14 — Qudos Bank Arena Sydney (SOLD OUT)

28 Feb 2024

Larry David, Ringo Starr & More Celebrities Mourn ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Star Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis, the beloved comedian and actor known for his role as himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm, has died on Tuesday (Feb. 27) after suffering a heart attack. He was 76 years old.

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“Comedian/Actor Richard Lewis passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles last night after suffering a heart attack,” his rep, Jeff Abraham, shared the news via a statement. “His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and asks for privacy at this time.”

Lewis quickly became a fan favorite over 40 episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, including the 2000 pilot episode. In 2021, he announced that he would not return to the series in order to recover from three surgeries, though he ended up making a one-scene appearance in season 11. He ended up returning for the now-airing final season of the HBO program.

Following the devastating news, Lewis’ longtime friend and Curb co-star Larry David shared his own statement of mourning. “Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he’s been like a brother to me,” he wrote in the statement shared by HBO. “He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him.”

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Lewis’ Anything But Love co-star Jamie Lee Curtis also took to Instagram to share a lengthy, emotional tribute to her late friend. “He also is the reason I am sober. He helped me,” she wrote in part. “I am forever grateful for him for that act of grace alone. He found love with Joyce and that, of course, besides his sobriety, is what mattered most to him. I’m weeping as I write this. Strange way of saying thank you to a sweet and funny man.”

Many of Lewis’ famous friends and colleagues flooded social media with messages of love and memories of the comedian. See below.

28 Feb 2024

Jimmy Butler’s Emo Phase Continues in Fall Out Boy’s ‘So Much (For) Stardust’ Music Video

It was never a phase, mom! Especially for Jimmy Butler.

The NBA star appears in the new music video for Fall Out Boy’s “So Much (For) Stardust” released on Wednesday (Feb. 28), bringing back his viral “emo” hairstyle, featuring straightened locks in long bangs across his face, which he originally debuted last October for the Miami Heat’s media day.

In the clip, Butler rocks the exact same hairstyle, but this time paired with a sparkly purple cowboy outfit. He’s seen singing and dancing along to the lyrics in a Western-style venue, before FOB’s bassist Pete Wentz joins him dressed in a similar outfit, but in white.

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Fall Out Boy’s eighth studio album So Much (For) Stardust arrived in March 2023, with the album topping Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart. The project features a total of 13 tracks — including lead single “Love From the Other Side,” “Heartbreak Feels So Good,” a surprise Ethan Hawke collaboration titled “The Pink Seashell,” the album’s title track and more.

“‘Time is luck.’ Finish another tour. You reflect but not like a gem in the sun – more like a year long stare into yourself in another airplane bathroom,” the band — which consists of members Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley — wrote when announcing the album last year. “Sometimes you gotta blow everything you were and put the pieces back together in a new shape. The same but different – the foundation dynamited and the dust used to create the concrete pour. I have a tendency to get a little sad whenever I think about anything…but I also feel pure joy when I think that I exist at the same time as whales or that read happens to rise at a certain temperature. And that we happen to be spinning on this little blue rock at the exact same time together. So much (for) stardust.”

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Watch Fall Out Boy’s “So Much (For) Stardust” below.

28 Feb 2024

Yes, Chance the Rapper Still Wants to Collaborate With Peppa Pig

Chance the Rapper has all types of collaborators under his belt, from Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes and Kehlani to Kanye West, Childish Gambino and beyond. However, the 30-year-old rapper has one team-up on his mind.

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Chance stopped by Late Night With Seth Meyers on Tuesday (Feb. 27), where he gave an update on his musical pursuit of Peppa Pig, the children’s show character that his two daughters — seven-year-old Kensli and four-year-old Marli — are huge fans of.

“I have been trying to [reach out]. It’s just really difficult to get in touch with Peppa,” Chance said with a laugh, before Meyers offered that the lack of communication could be due to the time difference, as the animated pig is based out of the United Kingdom.

The rapper’s interest in collaborating with Peppa Pig began in May 2023, during another appearance on Late Night. “[My daughters] do like my music. They’re really, they’re more into, like, Peppa Pig and their contemporaries,” he said at the time. “But, like, I have a few songs that they’ll listen to.”

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Then, out of his “own desperation,” Chance made a plea with Peppa. “If you’re listening right now, like, I’m trying to work or at least get some autographs for my kids,” he said to the camera. “Shoutout to Peppa Pig.”

Upon seeing the clip, Peppa’s official Twitter account wrote, “@chancetherapper tell your people to call mine #toddlermixtape,” to which Chance replied, “Huge fan, will reach out through the proper channels.”

Here’s to hoping a Chance x Peppa Pig team-up will come to fruition soon. Watch the full Late Night interview below.

28 Feb 2024

Who Are You Most Excited to See Perform at the 2024 Oscars? Vote!

This year’s Oscars ceremony will be broken up by performances from all five of the night’s best original song nominees.

Two of those five are tracks from Greta Gerwig’s Barbie blockbuster: “What Was I Made For?” and “I’m Just Ken.” The former will be performed by Billie Eilish and her brother/producer Finneas during the March 10 broadcast, while the latter will find the movie’s executive soundtrack producer Mark Ronson taking the Dolby Theatre stage with Ryan Gosling, who sings the satirical ballad in the film.

Also on the docket are Becky G‘s blazing Flamin’ Hot contribution “The Fire Inside” and Jon Batiste‘s American Symphony standout “It Never Went Away.” Finally, Scott George and the Osage Singers will deliver what will no doubt be a moving performance of “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from the Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone-led Killers of the Flower Moon.

The 2024 list of best song nominees marks the second time Eilish and Finneas have been recognized in the category, arriving three years after their win for “No Time to Die.” The pair performed the James Bond franchise track at the 2021 ceremony.

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Ronson has also won a best original song statuette, thanks to his work with Lady Gaga and others on the 2018 A Star Is Born ballad “Shallow.” Becky G, Gosling, Batiste and George are all first-time nominees in the category.

Hosted this year by Jimmy Kimmel, the 96th Oscars will air live on ABC and broadcast worldwide at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on Sunday, March 10.

Who are you most excited to see perform during the ceremony? Tell us by voting below.

28 Feb 2024

Everything We Know About the Horses on Bad Bunny’s Most Wanted Tour

Bad Bunny riding a horse at his Most Wanted Tour shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, the vibe is cowboy aesthetic, with fans adopting Western wear, cowboy boots and hats as outfit inspiration for the trek.

For the full cowboy effect, the Puerto Rican superstar — wearing a royal blue suit with fringes — rides out from backstage on a horse at the beginning of the second act of his show. It’s more than one horse that Bad Bunny is traveling with on his Most Wanted Tour, which kicked off a week ago in Utah. Bucky and Trumpet are the horses on tour with El Conejo Malo. So far, Bunny has been riding Bucky. Bad Bunny also travels with the horses’ trainer and the owner.

As expected, fans roared at the sight of Bad Bunny on a horse (although PETA qualified the stunt as an “irresponsible act”). It was perhaps the first time a reggaeton artist incorporated a horse in their show.

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But horses in Latin concerts are not that uncommon. For many years, regional Mexican legacy artists — like Joan Sebastian, Antonio Aguilar and Vicente Fernández — honed their horse-riding skills while also singing, although artists who can sing and ride a horse at the same time today are anomalies. Mexican star Pepe Aguilar is among the few who have continued the tradition.

Besides the horse spectacle, Bad Bunny’s Most Wanted Tour also includes a grand performance by The Philharmonic Orchestra Project, under the leadership of Carlitos Lopez. Spanning two hours, the show is divided into four segments, guiding the audience through Bunny’s musical facets.

The Most Wanted Tour continues with a second night at at the Footprint Center in Phoenix on Wednesday (Feb. 28).

28 Feb 2024

Singer Cat Janice Dead at 31 After Battle With Cancer

Cat Janice, a singer-songwriter whose “Dance You Outta My Head” went viral on TikTok earlier this year, died on Wednesday (Feb. 28). She was 31 years old.

Janice’s brother posted the news to her Instagram page, writing in the caption, “This morning, from her childhood home and surrounded by her loving family, Catherine peacefully entered the light and love of her heavenly creator.”

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The statement continued, “We are eternally thankful for the outpouring of love that Catherine and our family have received over the past few months. Cat saw her music go places she never expected and rests in the peace of knowing that she will continue to provide for her son through her music. This would not have been possible without all of you.”

According to the statement, new music will be released posthumously. “Per Cat’s request, there is some more art that she wants to share too. All in due time,” the statement concludes.

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Janice was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare cancer that develops in the bones and soft tissues, after noticing a lump in her neck, as she explained on TikTok. She underwent surgery, chemo and radiation before being declared cancer-free on July 22, 2022. 

Earlier this year, Janice shared with her followers that the cancer had returned, and she entered hospice. The singer then transferred all of her songs to her seven-year-old son Loren, so that all proceeds from the tracks would go to him.

In a devastating TikTok shared on Jan. 6, she revealed that the cancer had “won” and that she’d be releasing one more song, “Dance Outta My Head,” for her birthday that month. “I want my last song to bring joy and fun! It’s all I’ve ever wanted through my battle with cancer.”

“Please please share this, I need to leave this with [Loren]. If there is anything you need to know, is that the only opinion of yourself is your opinion. Love yourself and be gentle with others. I hope to make it through this but if not, to all a good night,” she captioned the post.

Since then, “Dance Outta My Head” topped the TikTok Billboard Top 50 dated Feb. 17. “Dance You Outta My Head” concurrently reached the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for the first time, lifting 11-10. It earned 5,000 downloads Feb. 2-8, good enough for its first week at No. 1 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales list, and 1.2 million official U.S. streams, according to Luminate.

28 Feb 2024

Pregnant Bhad Bhabie Claps Back at Critics Who Say She’s Not ‘Ready’ to Be a Mother

Bhad Bhabie is about to be a mother, how ’bout that? In a Wednesday (Feb. 28) interview with People, the 20-year-old rapper had a strong message for fans who think she’s too young or inexperienced to have a baby: She’s got this.

“I even see people saying, ‘Oh, I don’t think she’s ready. I don’t think she’s ready,’” Bhabie, who was born Danielle Bregoli, told the publication. “It’s like, ‘How can you, from your computer screen, determine if I’m ready to be a mother or not?’”

“I don’t even be on [social media], so how can you determine that?” she added. “You know? It’s just kind of off.”

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Bregoli first announced her pregnancy to followers in December. Since then, the “Gucci Flip Flops” artist has confirmed she’s expecting a daughter — whom she plans to name Kali Rose — and that the baby’s father is her boyfriend Le Vaughn.

She attributes much of the public’s apprehension over her becoming a mother to the moment she became famous — when she yelled, “Catch me outside, how ’bout that?” in a viral clip from her 2016 appearance on Dr. Phil. Bregoli said that she feels the brash moment clouds people’s perceptions of her, even seven years later.

“People who are nurses and doctors and therapists and lawyers,” she told People, “Do you think if people went back and looked at them when they were 13 and 14 and judged them off that time that they would have that job and be held so high? They’re kids, they’re teenagers. But mine happened to be broadcasted all over the Internet, all over public television.”

The Florida native added: “I wish more people knew my story and really understood the things that made me who I am, and that they wouldn’t just look at a certain time of my life and expect me to be that person forever, especially when I was so young.”

Since her fated Dr. Phil episode, Bregoli has carved out a successful music career under the name Bhad Bhabie. She reached her Billboard Hot 100 peak in 2017 with “Hi Bich,” which made it to No. 68 on the chart.

However, she hasn’t released a song since 2022’s “Vibe Check” with Olivia Lunny — which, she confessed to People, may be her last musical project ever. “I don’t think that’s my party,” she said of stepping away from the music industry.

“I was never really the type of person to sit and think about, ‘Oh, where will I be in five years?’” Bregoli added. “Really, if I wanted to, I could retire right now and be a mom and never come out the house. But I know that I still have more in me, and I feel like I have more to do. I’m still in the middle of figuring out what that is exactly, but I want to make sure whatever I do this time is definitely something that I’m really into and passionate about.”

28 Feb 2024

Watch Sydney Sweeney’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ Meet-Cute (Almost) In New Promo

Rom-coms are fun because of their tried-and-true tropes, and in the latest Saturday Night Live promo, actress Sydney Sweeney and SNL cast member Michael Longfellow pay tribute to the old “bump into each other and fall madly in love” shtick.

In a clip uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday (Feb. 28), Longfellow sorts through potential jokes — “Not funny, not funny, too funny” — as he flicks through a stack of pages walking around set. Sweeney, also wandering around set, has her nose stuck between the pages of a book titled Kafka on the Shore, which happens to be a real 2002 novel written by Haruki Murakami. Naturally, the two performers collide, with Longfellow immediately apologizing and Sweeney insisting, “No, it’s my fault, I’m sorry.”

In true rom-com fashion, Longfellow picks up Kafka and claims to recognize the title as “one of my favorite books of all time” in a ploy to ask Sweeney out on a date. “This is crazy, uh, but would you ever maybe want to…” he begins, cutting himself off once he realizes that Sweeney has already walked away while his head was in the clouds. “Oh, she left a while ago. Cool!” he says. “Whatever, I didn’t like this book, anyways.”

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Right on cue, the lighting magically changes to a purple hue (again) and whimsical music resumes, with Longfellow lamenting, “No. It’s… she said no! Didn’t work. Thank you, though.”

The union of Longfellow and Sweeney in the latest promo is an easter egg for avid SNL viewers. Back in 2022, during his debut SNL episode, Longfellow poked fun at Sweeney for allegedly having Trump-supporting family members.

Sweeney is set to host the next episode of Saturday Night Live this weekend. The actress’ star has been on the rise in recent years thanks to standout performances in The Handmaid’s Tale, Reality, Euphoria and The White Lotus, the latter two of which earned her a pair of Primetime Emmy nominations. Most recently, Anyone But You — the blockbuster rom-com in which she starred alongside Glen Powell — just crossed $200 million at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing romantic comedy in years, per Variety. For Sweeney’s episode, Kacey Musgraves — who is promoting her latest album, Deeper Well — will serve as musical guest.

Check out the latest SNL promo above.

28 Feb 2024

Watch Rihanna Steal A$AP Rocky’s Lip Balm in New Film-Noir Fenty Skin Ad

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are one of the most glamorous couples of the 2020s, but they just proved that their love is timeless with a new Fenty Skin ad set in the 1940s.

In the black-and-white commercial, posted to Fenty’s YouTube channel Wednesday (Feb. 28), the “Umbrella” singer looks stunning in pin curls and a dark lip as she slyly steals a blazer from Rocky’s closet. Both stars are dressed in vintage outfits that look like they came straight from an old Hollywood film-noir set.

At the end of the two-minute clip, Rih and Rocky eat a picture-perfect pancake breakfast at a retro kitchen table. As he reads the newspaper, the “F–kin’ Problems” rapper realizes that the woman in front of him is the one stealing his things — but if there’s one item he won’t part with, it’s his Fenty Lux lip balm. Luckily, both he and the “Rude Boy” star have their own tubes.

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“Keep your lover close but your Lux Balm even closer,” reads the video’s description. “‘Born to Steal: Yours, Mine, Ours’ starring Rihanna and A$AP ROCKY transports us back to an era full of glitz N’ glam where lips speak louder than words.”

This isn’t the first time Rocky has joined Rih in advertising her Fenty empire: He previously plugged the company’s skincare products in his “Riot” music video, and in January, he starred in and contributed bars to a video promoting the Lux Balm.

The couple also recently celebrated Valentine’s Day together at a restaurant in Paris, where Rih and Rocky — who are parents to young sons RZA and Riot Rose — also attended fashion week last month. While in the city of love, Rocky ran into fans with questions about his partner’s long awaited next album — about which he said, “She’s working on it!”

Watch Rihanna and A$AP Rocky star in Born to Steal above.