Music News
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Ed Sheeran has found yet another novel way to promote his upcoming Play album. After opening a pop-up pub in Ipswich, MA and encouraging fans to share archival messages and videos from their “Old Phone” and recording several international takes on the album’s first single, “Azizam,” the singer dialed up a new clever idea over […]
Janet Jackson will receive the ICON Award at the 2025 American Music Awards, which will air live from Fontainebleau Las Vegas on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26. The 11-time American Music Awards winner will also perform on the show, marking her first television performance since 2018.
There have been two previous recipients of the ICON Award: Rihanna in 2013 and Lionel Richie in 2022. The honor is bestowed upon an artist whose music has had undeniable cultural and global influence over the music industry. Jackson received a similar award, the Ultimate Icon Award, at the 2015 BET Awards.
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This year’s American Music Awards will kick off summer with host Jennifer Lopez, who is also set to perform on the show. The 51st AMAs will air live coast-to-coast at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on the CBS, and stream on Paramount+ in the U.S. Tickets are available now on Ticketmaster.
Jackson, 58, has been a recording star since 1982, when her debut album was released on A&M. She has amassed 10 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and seven No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200.
She’s also set to kick off yet another leg of her popular Las Vegas residency, JANET JACKSON: LAS VEGAS, returning to the Resorts World Theatre stage on May 21 for a six-show run through May 31.
Jackson has won five Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination for best original song, along with multiple MTV Video Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards.
Jackson has set many Billboard chart records over the years. Her 1986 album Control was the first by a woman to yield five top 10 hits on the Hot 100. Her 1989 album Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 is, to this day, the only album to generate seven top five hits on the Hot 100. Her 1993 album janet tallied six top 10 hits on the Hot 100, making her the first artist to notch five or more top 10s on the Hot 100 from three different albums.
Jackson stands as one of only four artists to have a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 in the 1980s, ’90s, ’00s and ’10s — alongside Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand and U2.
In 2019, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (with Janelle Monáe doing the honors), joining her brothers, The Jackson 5, who were inducted in 1997. Michael Jackson received a solo induction in 2001.
Kendrick Lamar leads this year’s American Music Awards nominations with 10 nods, followed by Post Malone with eight; and Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan and Shaboozey with seven each.
Fan voting for the 2025 American Music Awards is now open via VoteAMAs.com and the @AMAs Instagram profile in all award categories. Voting closes Thursday, May 15, at 11:59:59 p.m. PT, with the exception of collaboration of the year and social song of the year, which will remain open for web voting through the first 30 minutes of the AMAs broadcast.
The American Music Awards is the world’s largest fan-voted awards show. The show is produced by Dick Clark Productions and will broadcast globally across linear and digital platforms.
This Memorial Day, the AMAs will pay special tribute to U.S. troops and veterans.
The AMAs and Easy Day Foundation, a Las Vegas-based nonprofit organization committed to helping Veterans transition to civilian life, will partner to present several special in-show moments that celebrate veterans while raising funds for a variety of national and local organizations. The American Music Awards x Easy Day moments will include two performances and the presentation of a special award honoring a marquee talent who uses their platform to make meaningful contributions to the veteran community, as well as inspirational stories from active-duty service members and veterans.
The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
Tina Arena was forced to pause her Melbourne concert on Friday (May 10) after a physical altercation broke out near the front of the stage at the Palais Theatre, prompting security to intervene and the singer to directly address the crowd.
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The incident took place during Arena’s Don’t Ask Again 30th Anniversary Tour, where she was performing material from across her decades-long career. According to reports from 7News and the Herald Sun, the disruption began when a man and a woman began shouting at each other, with the woman reportedly punching and kicking audience members around her.
Arena halted the show immediately after noticing the commotion. “Darling, you need to leave the show,” she told the disruptive concertgoer before addressing the rest of the audience.
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“Ladies and gentlemen, if we could please just have some calm in this hall, I would really, really appreciate it,” she said. “I’ve never experienced anything like this in 50 years.”
The concert paused as venue security escorted the parties involved out of the venue. Witnesses said the woman resisted, at one point reportedly throwing herself to the ground and yelling at guards not to touch her. Arena remained onstage, refusing to resume the show until the situation was fully handled.
“If there’s something that needs to be discussed, please do it outside. I won’t commence the show until this is the case,” she told the crowd.
Entertainment reporter Peter Ford described the moment as “startling” during a segment on Australian breakfast show Sunrise, adding, “It’s not what you expect at a Tina Arena concert. But she stayed composed and was resolute in getting control of the room.”
The disruption came just one night after another unexpected moment on Arena’s tour. During her Thursday (May 9) performance at the same venue, the singer paused mid-show to reprimand audience members for leaving to use the restroom.
“Back in my day, you wouldn’t leave to go to the toilet unless you were sh—ing your pants,” Arena said from the stage, drawing gasps and laughs from the crowd.
Arena is currently touring nationally to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her 1994 breakthrough album Don’t Ask, which was certified 10-times Platinum in Australia and included hits such as Billboard Top 50 single “Chains,” “Sorrento Moon (I Remember),” and “Wasn’t It Good.” The tour continues this week with shows across Queensland.
Arena has sold over 10 million albums worldwide and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2015.
Irish hip hop act Kneecap will still be headlining Wide Awake Festival 2025 as planned, the festival has announced. It will mark the band’s first show since they performed at Coachella last month.
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The news arrives following a period of intense scrutiny on the West Belfast trio in the weeks after Coachella. At the end of their sets, Kneecap displayed messages on the war in Gaza, writing: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F–k Israel; free Palestine.”
The group went on to face criticism from a number of industry figures including Sharon Osbourne, who called for their U.S. visas to be retracted. A group of politicians, meanwhile, called for Kneecap to be removed from a series of U.K. festival line-ups this summer.
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Scrutiny continued when counter-terror police in London announced (May 1) an investigation into videos of band members allegedly calling for the death of elected British MPs and shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah.” The group have since gone on to issue a statement to their Instagram account: “Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay,” it read in part.
Consequently, German headline shows in Hamburg, Cologne and Berlin for this summer have been pulled, alongside previously-announced appearances at Hurricane and Southside Festivals. A night at the Eden Project, Cornwall, was also cancelled last month but has since been replaced with three new dates in the nearby city of Plymouth, south west England.
Wide Awake have now shared a statement across their social media platforms confirming Kneecap’s headline performance is still slated to go ahead next week (May 23). “After positive discussions with key stakeholders, Wide Awake Festival can confirm that, as planned, Kneecap will be performing at this year’s festival on Friday May 23 at Brockwell Park,” it began.
“Wide Awake has a proud history of supporting the alternative music scene, and we look forward to staging another unforgettable event showcasing the very best emerging and established talent.”
The post also featured a lengthy signatory list of artists sharing their support for Kneecap and the “freedom of expression,” featuring names such as Pulp, Fontaines D.C., Primal Scream, Massive Attack, Self Esteem and Amyl and The Sniffers, among others.
Other acts set to perform at Wide Awake, which takes place in Brockwell Park, south London, include English Teacher, CMAT, Peaches, Fat Dog and more. Tickets and the full line-up can be found on the event’s official website.
The full lineup for Olivia Rodrigo’s headline show at London’s BST Hyde Park series has been announced.
The huge outdoor gig will take place in the capital on June 27, two days before the pop phenomenon’s much-anticipated Glastonbury headline slot. She will be joined by special guests Girl In Red and The Last Dinner Party, who were confirmed for the gig last November.
Today (May 13), eight more support acts have been added to the bill: Flowerovlove, Caity Baser, Between Friends, Florence Road, Katie Gregson-Macleod, Ruti, Aziya and Déyyess.
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Irish band Florence Road came to prominence on TikTok last year, where they shared covers of contemporary pop songs including their takes on Rodrigo’s “Obsessed” and “Making The Bed.” In April, the four-piece released an acoustic ballad entitled “Anxiety,” which was produced by Dan Nigro, known for his work with Rodrigo and Chappell Roan.
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Baser has enjoyed a flurry of activity in recent months. Following the release of her single “Watch That Girl (She’s Gonna Say It),” the Southampton-raised musician has completed a tour of intimate venues across the U.K. and dropped another new track, “Running From Myself.”
Singer-songwriter Gregson-Macleod is eyeing up the release of her EP Love Me Too Well, I’ll Retire Early EP in July, which will arrive via Matt Maltese’s Last Recordings On Earth label. Aziya has drip-fed a slew of singles throughout 2025, the most recent being the grungy “Diamonds,” which dropped in April.
The BST Hyde Park shows have a history of supporting emerging acts, platforming newer names in the early stages of their career. Over the past few years, the likes of Sam Fender (Bob Dylan and Neil Young, 2019), The Last Dinner Party (The Rolling Stones, 2022) and Elmiene (SZA, 2024) have performed at the festival before going on to break into the mainstream.
The other headliners for BST Hyde Park 2025 are: Zach Bryan (June 28 and 29) Noah Kahan (July 4), Sabrina Carpenter (July 5, 6), Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts (July 11), Stevie Wonder (July 12) and Jeff Lynne’s ELO (July 13). Remaining tickets can be found here.
Rodrigo unveiled her second LP Guts in 2023, which she has supported with extensive global touring. In April, she performed the largest show of her career to date at a sold-out Estadio GNP Seguros in Mexico City, which holds a capacity of 65,000 fans.
Turnstile returned to their hometown of Baltimore over the weekend with a powerful purpose. The Grammy-nominated hardcore band staged a free benefit concert on Saturday (May 10) at Wyman Park Dell, drawing thousands of fans and raising over $35,000 for charity.
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The event marked the band’s first live performance in nearly a year and served as a high-energy preview of their upcoming album Never Enough, out June 6 via Roadrunner Records, which includes recently released singles “SEEIN’ STARS” and “BIRDS”.
Fans traveled across the country to attend the 16-acre event, which featured moshing, crowd-surfing and sing-alongs. QR codes throughout the park allowed fans to donate to Health Care for the Homeless, which offers medical, dental, therapy and addiction support services to Baltimore’s most vulnerable populations.
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Kevin Feldt, senior director of institutional advancement at the organization, told the Baltimore Banner that the event gave them “the opportunity to share our mission with thousands.” The band financed the show entirely on their own, with help from Unregistered Nurse Booking founder Dana Murphy and a team of more than 60 people.
Turnstile will play a record release show June 5 in Brooklyn, N.Y., before going on a more extensive tour including festival stops at Primavera Sound, Glastonbury, Ottawa Blues and III Points, among others.
The event follows the announcement last month of the band’s new album — its first in four years following the highly acclaimed, Grammy-nominated Glow On — and the release of the Never Enough title track. While Mike Elizondo (Linkin Park, Fiona Apple, Eminem) produced the last record, frontman Brendan Yates takes the production reins on the new album, which was recorded between the band’s hometown of Baltimore and Los Angeles.
Billboard named Turnstile’s Glow On one of the best albums of 2021, placing it at No. 27 on the list. The record also debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at No. 30.
Robert Fripp is recovering after undergoing emergency heart surgery last month, the legendary guitarist has revealed.
The King Crimson co-founder shared the news in a YouTube video posted with his wife, singer and actor Toyah Willcox, on May 11. In the clip, the 78-year-old explained that he unknowingly suffered a heart attack in early April while traveling to Italy for a performance with The Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists.
Fripp initially believed his symptoms were related to acid reflux. “I’d been suffering what I considered to be acid reflux for a couple of weeks,” he explained. “On the Saturday morning I flew, it felt a little bit more.”
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“I was in A+E not quite knowing what was going on other than I knew they were going to do something, and an orderly came along and shaved my balls,” Fripp continued. “Now the dear man, I really didn’t wish his job on him at that point. Now this is the thing. So you’re concerned with my heart, fine. What are you doing shaving my balls?”
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Upon landing in Bergamo on April 6, Fripp’s companions took him directly to a cardiac hospital instead of waiting for a scheduled doctor’s appointment. There, doctors discovered dangerously elevated troponin levels, a protein that indicates damage to the heart. “You’re supposed to have 10 of these, but you’ve got 500,” a doctor reportedly told him.
The guitarist underwent five hours of surgery, followed by intensive care and a second operation. Despite the ordeal, Fripp still managed to perform with the 124-member ensemble at Villa Sancelso. He is now on medication for life and slowly adjusting to the change.
“It was stunning. The audience were prepped with orchestral manoeuvres and it really was a magical event for me,” he added.
Willcox, visibly emotional in the video, praised the medical team and expressed her gratitude. “I’m so proud of you and so grateful to your team who kept us all informed,” she said. Fripp also urged fans to take symptoms seriously. “If you think you have heartburn or acid reflux, really look into it. It might be something more.”
Fripp, widely regarded as one of the most innovative guitarists in rock history, founded King Crimson in 1968. Beyond the band’s genre-defying catalog, he’s contributed to landmark records from David Bowie, Brian Eno, and Peter Gabriel. In recent years, he’s reached a new audience through the couple’s viral “Sunday Lunch” YouTube series, where the two cover rock classics with a theatrical twist.
‘Weird Al’ Yankovic has been a staple of pop culture and the musical world at large for over 40 years now, and comedian John Mulaney feels it’s high time that Yankovic received the recognition he’s due with an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
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Speaking to Rolling Stone recently, Mulaney – himself a diehard fan of the Rock Hall – reflected on this year’s list of inductees, which includes the likes of The White Stripes, Outkast, Cyndi Lauper, and Soundgarden, but didn’t include the likes of Phish, who won’t be inducted this year despite winning the fan vote.
“The music they introduced my generation to as well was hugely important,” Mulaney said of the Vermont veterans. “I learned to be eclectic from them. They were always getting compared to the Grateful Dead, but they had this whole world of influences that was really fun to pick up on and cross-check.”
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When speaking of Chubby Checker, Mulaney reflected on the impact that he had upon the world of novelty music, specifically thanks to the likes of his debut single “The Class,” which peaked at No. 38 on the Hot 100 upon its release in 1959.
“I’m a big proponent of novelty music,” Mulaney admitted. “I’m a big proponent of ‘Weird Al’ getting into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This is one step closer, though I don’t know why they need to be led via steps. ‘Weird Al’ brought more people to music than is recognized at all.
“I will, in fact, greatly devalue my coolness by saying [when I was young], it wasn’t until ‘Smells Like Nirvana’ defanged ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ that I could enjoy ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’” Mulaney added. “It was scary at first. It just was like, ‘I’m pretty happy, I’m a kid.’ I needed a way in. And after you laugh at ‘Smells Like Nirvana,’ you go, ‘Oh, this is a really good song.’”
Despite Yankovic having been eligible for inclusion into the Rock Hall since 2005, he’s yet to be nominated on any annual ballot. However, chairman John Sykes did admit in December that the influential musical satirist has “come up in conversations” over the years.
“He’s a genius,” Sykes explained. “He has made brilliant versions of the songs, but I’ll be honest: He’s never made it close to the ballot.”
Though it remains to be seen whether or not Yankovic will make it onto the ballot in future years, Sykes’ comments also saw him reflect on other artists who are yet to make it in, despite continued support. This included the likes of The B-52s, the Pixies, and even Phil Collins‘ solo career.
“There’s been a group of nominees who’ve been passionate about the Pixies,” Sykes said. “The same thing with Warren Zevon, who actually did get on the ballot one year. I’m passionate about Warren, and he’ll get in, too. But the Pixies have had a lot of support.”
Given that this year will indeed see the late Zevon inducted into the Rock Hall, it appears that Mulaney and the legion of Yankovic’s fans might just need to sit tight.
Days after American actor Nicolas Cage shared an anecdote about being mistaken for Australian musician Nick Cave, the latter has now chimed in to say that theirs is a shared experience.
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Cage’s comments were made in an interview with The Guardian last week, responding to a reader’s question about a 2022 tall tale from Cave which recounts the pair apparently meeting due to their similar names.
“I don’t think there’s a day that goes by where I’m not mistaken for Nick Cave,” Cage explained.
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“I do remember that Cave was very nice,” he added. “We were at an animal sanctuary, I believe – I think Sealy Animal Hospital in Texas – and he was terrific. I said hello and wanted to shake his hand. I said: ‘Only one letter separates us – G. Nick Cave, Nick Cage.’”
Cage’s original story was shrouded in mystery, given that it heavily referenced Cave’s own tale from 2022 in which he responded to readers of his Red Hand Files website who respectively asked if Cave has ever met Cage, or added an “untrue component to a story to make it more interesting than it actually is.”
Cave’s ensuing story saw him recounting a case of mistaken identity at the Healesville Sanctuary in his home state of Victoria, before apparently meeting Cage in the back of a local pub where the actor claimed that “Only one letter separates us!”
Though Cave’s 2022 post is a clear shaggy dog story, a new post on his Red Hand Files site has seen him respond to fans asking about the actor’s recent interview. “I read Nic Cage’s piece in The Guardian, and I relate to his experience,” Cave explained. “There has always been a persistent and somewhat perplexing confusion surrounding our names.”
As he continued, Cave recounted a lengthy story in which he visited a bar while living in São Paulo and met a Brazilian man named Diego who mistook him for Cage, with the musician adopting the guise of the actor due to the pity he felt for the young man.
“After a while, I began to warm to my theme,” Cave explained. “I told him that making Raising Arizona was the most extraordinary experience and a highpoint in my career, that John Goodman was a fascinating and complex character, and how it was a real privilege to work with the Coen brothers and that they were ‘masters of their craft’ and all this bullsh–t.”
“Anyway, these confusions between me and Mr. Cage happen fairly often. But I don’t mind. I’m a fan,” Cave wrote at the end of his story. “Have you guys seen Mandy? My God. What a film.”
Though the likes of Hall & Oates might be heavily associated with the contentious ‘yacht rock‘ genre, Daryl Hall himself has expressed disdain towards the classification.
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Used as a way to refer to the soft pop-rock and blue-eyed soul of the ’70s and ’80s, the term ‘yacht rock’ was initially coined by makers of a 2005 mockumentary series of the same name. The series itself was a popular one, lasting from 2005 until 2010 and even resulting in a 2024 HBO ‘Dockumentary‘ that explored the genre in deeper detail.
However, while the likes of Michael McDonald and even John Oates have been receptive to the original show, Hall is singing a far different tune. In the latest episode of the Broken Record podcast, Hall told interviewer Justin Richmond that he’s far from a fan of the concept.
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“This is something I don’t understand. First of all, yacht rock was a f–king joke by two jerk-offs in California, and suddenly it became a genre,” he explained. “I don’t even understand it. I never understood it. It’s just R&B with maybe some jazz in there. It’s mellow R&B, smooth R&B. I don’t see what the yacht part is.
“People misjudged us because they couldn’t label us,” he continued. “They always came up with all this kind of crap, soft rock and yacht rock and all this other nonsense. And none of it, none of it really describes anything that I do, really.”
In 2007, Oates reflected on the success of the Yacht Rock series, explaining that it was the “beginning of this whole Hall & Oates resurrection,” and even noting that “a lot of things have happened because of Yacht Rock.”
It’s little surprise that both Hall and Oates have differing views on the matter, given that the pair’s 2024 dissolution was given an air of finality when Hall claimed in March that they would never again perform together. “That ship has gone to the bottom of the ocean,” he explained. “I’ve had a lot of surprises in my life, disappointments, betrayals, so I’m kind of used to it.”
The Hall & Oates dissolution first began back in November 2023 when the pair became embroiled in a legal dispute. Described by Oates as “a very boring business issue,” the crux of the issue began when Hall filed suit against his former partner over Oates’ attempt to sell his half of the duo’s joint venture Whole Oates Enterprises to Primary Wave Music without Hall’s consent.