Music News

07 Nov 2023

New Full-Time Gannett Taylor Swift Reporter: ‘No Different Than Being a Sports Journalist Who’s a Fan of the Home Team’

When Gannett posted a job listing in September for a full-time Taylor Swift reporter you could practically hear the digital snap of resumés flying through the ether as aspiring writers tripped over themselves for the potential gig of a lifetime. Now that the glitter has settled, Variety reported on Monday (Nov. 6) that the nation’s largest newspaper chain has hired 35-year-old avowed Swiftie Bryan West for the coveted gig.

The Arizona writer who recently moved to Nashville for the job said despite the hand-wringing and scoffing from some quarters about the journalistic sense of having a dedicated Swift scribe, he doesn’t see how his new gig differs from any other reporting beat.

“I would say this position’s no different than being a sports journalist who’s a fan of the home team,” he said. “I just came from Phoenix, and all of the anchors there were wearing Diamondbacks gear; they want the Diamondbacks to win. I’m just a fan of Taylor and I have followed her her whole career, but I also have that journalistic background: going to Northwestern, winning awards, working in newsrooms across the nation. I think that’s the fun of this job is that, yeah, you can talk Easter eggs, but it really is more of the seriousness, like the impact that she has on society and business and music.”

West set out to prove his bona fides by rattling off some deep-dive Swift knowledge and opinions, including his thoughts on the Vault songs from the singer’s new 1989 (Taylor’s Version) re-release — which debuted atop Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart — “Now That We Don’t Talk” and “Say Don’t Go,” the latter of which he professed to be a “huge fan” of.

“When you listen to it, she screams a harmony of ‘I said “I love you”‘ [in a bridge near the end of the track], and that’s why I really like it: It’s the harmony she screams that’s muted,” he said of his favorite moment in the extra track.

West said his background being a “one-man-band” reporter who often shoots the video of his interviews for the digital versions of Gannett’s dailies helped him gain an advantage in the race to hire a reporter the chain likely hopes will attract young readers to titles from the chain that has drastically reduced staff positions over the past 20 years.

And while the posting seemed like a stunt to many, Michael Anastasi, the Tennessean‘s editor — West will work out of their offices — said the chain was “very pleased” with the caliber of respondents. “I think if we ended up hiring five more people, we would have highly qualified candidates” for all the positions, he said. “It ran the gamut from veteran hard-news reporters, including at least one very established White House reporter, to Swifties who have blogs and are influencers … and of course there were a number of fans who just were following their dreams and hoping to win the lottery. But what we ended up with was someone who I think has the great balance between being a veteran journalist who has serious news chops and someone who understands everything about Taylor’s world and the universe that he’s stepping into.”

The job, as laid out by the paper’s news director, is not a dusty, traditional “three print stories a week” grind, but rather one that will involve video, social media, interaction with Swifties, hitting shows, red carpets, the CMAs and “wherever people are enjoying or reflecting on who Taylor Swift is.”

In fact, West — who met Swift once backstage on the opening night of her 2018 Reputation tour — confirmed that he will be at CMA-related events all this week during his first week on the job, wasting no time jumping into the fray. And, it was actually that pic, along with a short list of serious story ideas that expanded into a two-page PDF over the course of the interview process, that secured the job.

Aware that Swifties can be judge, jury and executioner to writers who offer up even the mildest rebukes of her art, West told Variety that he addressed his objectivity in his video submission for the job by citing three of the singer’s tracks he cannot stomach: “Stay Stay Stay,” “False God” and “It’s Nice to Have a Friend.”

Swift is the leading finalist with nods in 20 categories at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards. You can watch the BBMAs here, and via Billboard and the BBMA’s social media channels on Nov. 19.

07 Nov 2023

Nicki Minaj Urges Barbz to Refrain From Harassing Haters: ‘Never Threaten Anyone on My Behalf’

If you’ve ever gotten sideways with the Barbz in comments, you know how hard the Nicki Minaj fan army will go in support of their queen. But over the weekend, Minaj took to her Instagram Story to ask her most ardent supporters to tap the brakes when it comes to defending her honor.

“Dear Barbz, be sure to never threaten anyone on my behalf,” she wrote according to screen grabs of the missive. “Whether on the internet or in person. Whether in jest or not. I don’t [and] never have condoned that.” Minaj did not specify if her comments were inspired by a certain incident, or just a general heads-up to be kind to one another during turbulent times.

She then quickly pivoted to what’s next for her, which, as every member of the Barbz nation knows, is her upcoming Pink Friday 2 album. “We have an amazing album right around the corner 12/08/23,” she said of the sequel set that she recently pushed back from its original November 17 release date — to avoid bumping into pal and longtime mentor Lil Wayne’s joint album with 2 Chainz, Welcome 2 Collegrove, also due out that day — to her December birthday.

“It feels so surreal & euphoric,” she added.

“I have never in my life been so in love with something that I’m working on,” Minaj said of the album that has been five years in the making in a recent lengthy Instagram live video. Nicki said she’s delayed the collection because she had writer’s block during her pregnancy and didn’t want to say “freaky” stuff. Pink Friday 2 is the follow-up to Minaj’s 2018 album, Queen.

“So this entire album will be the biggest gift I have ever given humanity thus far,” she promised. “The new album date for this incredible body of work that I am so proud of is on a very special day to me and to the Barbz.”

07 Nov 2023

Fugees’ Pras Talks Hip-Hop Legacy as He Awaits Sentencing in Conspiracy Case: ‘I Trust the Process’

It’s Sunday night, backstage ahead of the second Los Angeles show of Lauryn Hill and the Fugees’ anniversary tour. It will be a few hours yet before Hill opens the concert with a solo set of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, 25 years after its release. The seats in the arena are slowly starting to fill.

Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, a founding member of the Fugees, is sitting in his dressing room at the Kia Forum, watching the Buffalo Bills play the Cincinnati Bengals. Tonight is a celebration — of his landmark group, of all of the generations who have loved their music — and of his freedom, however much remains.

In April, the rapper accused in multimillion-dollar political conspiracies spanning two presidencies was convicted of 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, after a trial in Washington, D.C., federal court that saw testimony from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio.

“Some of the lyrics, this art, is imitating my life right now,” he reflects on Fugees’ legacy and this tour, taking place 27 years after the release of the Grammy-award winning The Score, his rap trio’s second, final, and culture-shaping album. “Especially when I talk about feds and this and that.”

The “Ms. Lauryn Hill & Fugees: Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 25th Anniversary Tour” has dates scheduled through mid-December. Michel, who faces up to 20 years in prison on the top counts, doesn’t have a sentencing date yet. But, he says, he was never concerned about being able to do the tour.

“I trust the process,” Michel explains. He has a new attorney, Peter Zeidenberg, and is optimistic.

Last month, Michel argued in a motion for a new trial that, among other errors, his previous defense attorney used an “experimental” generative AI program to help write closing statements. In the closings, the attorney appeared to confuse key elements of the case and misattributed lyrics — “Every single day, every time I pray, I will be missing you” — to the Fugees instead of Diddy, according to the motion for a new trial.

“Obviously there’s been a little bit of progress, so we’ll see what happens,” Michel says.

Despite that run-in with artificial intelligence, though, he hasn’t soured on the concept: The world needs to recognize the technology is in “its infancy stage,” Michel says, and there’s a long way to go. “It’s the future.”

Outside his dressing room, the narrow hallways of the famed Inglewood venue are full of excited spectators made up of friends, family, fans — including an ecstatic Tiffany Haddish. Wyclef Jean’s room quickly becomes the center of the party, with Drake’s “Started from the Bottom” playing over a loudspeaker as he shows off his performing fit.

Far too often, reunions feel like cheap plays at nostalgia — not so much a celebration of the great work that came a couple decades prior, but an attempt at capitalizing on collective memory. There is no such sentiment here. When Jean, the third member of the Fugees, thinks about the way these performances affect him, it’s a homecoming — and the result of many years of hard work.

“If you ever created a band like in high school the first year of college, that’s what it feels like. So, like the Beatles, for example. It’s almost like you rehearse all your life through high school so you never have to rehearse again,” he says. “And tonight is monumental, because the arena we’re playing here, this is (where) the early Lakers (played). And so that’s how I always explain the Fugees. You know, I said, it’s like Showtime Lakers.”

The Fugees’ message is prescient, too — Michel points out a song like “Mask,” and its resonance with members of a younger generation who have gone through the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s almost like we prophesized a lot of things,” he says.

So how does a group know when they’ve got some magic? That a reunion tour is truly special? Jean compares it to a mountain — people don’t see the “combustions” that formed it over years — only “the end result, which is beautiful,” he says.

“And that’s sort of like how music is made,” Jean says. “So, when you make music that’s vulnerable, whether it is Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Fugees, Nas’ Illmatic, 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’, it’s going to always last forever.”

Close to 10 p.m., Hill emerges. She is awarded a plaque for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill receiving diamond RIAA status; quotes from bell hooks appear on the screen behind her. In the first of many surprises, Nas appears on stage to perform “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That).”

Hill is joined by Jean and Michel, and it is as if no time had passed. Then Cypress Hill’s B-Real comes out, as does Lil Wayne for “Ready or Not” and “A Milli.”

Afterward, fans pour out into the night. Nearby, rapper Travis Scott’s show is wrapping up at SoFi Stadium. The two audiences weave into one in the street; here are the past, present, and future of hip-hop, intertwined.

06 Nov 2023

The Weeknd Postpones Australia & New Zealand Tour Dates ‘Due to Unforeseen Circumstances’

The Weeknd has postponed the Australia and New Zealand leg of his After Hours Til Dawn Tour two weeks before it was supposed to start.

According to the singer’s rep, fans received an email from the ticketing companies with this statement: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, we must reschedule the Australia/New Zealand tour. New dates will be announced next year and current tickets will be valid for the new shows. Refunds will be available for those unable to attend the new dates. Deeply disappointed but can’t wait to be there with you!”

Australian ticketing company Ticketek posted the message on The Weeknd’s tour page as well as a statement from Live Nation Australia & New Zealand: “We understand fans will be disappointed, and Live Nation is focused on working with The Weeknd to secure a new tour schedule. We will make a further announcement as soon as possible.”

The “Blinding Lights” singer was scheduled for an 11-date trek in Brisbane (two dates at Suncorp Stadium), Sydney (three dates at Accor Stadium), Melbourne (four dates at Marvel Stadium) and Auckland (two dates at Eden Park) starting Nov. 20 and ending Dec. 9, according to his website. The After Hours Til Dawn Tour celebrates his 2020 album After Hours and 2022 album Dawn FM, both of which led the ARIA Albums Chart (He has four total No. 1 albums in Australia, including 2015’s Beauty Behind The Madness and 2016’s Starboy.)

Mike Dean and Chxrry22, the latter of whom is signed to his label XO Records, were originally slated to open for The Weeknd. Dean and Kaytranada recently opened for his Latin American leg, which began on Sept. 26 at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico and wrapped on Oct. 25 at Estadio Akron in Zapopan, Mexico.

06 Nov 2023

Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty to Donate to Gaza Relief Effort: ‘Palestinian Civilians Must Be Protected’

On Monday (Nov. 6), the Selena Gomez-fronted makeup brand Rare Beauty shared a post to its Instagram feed condemning the recent Israeli airstrikes in Gaza — which follow an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas at the Nova Music Festival that killed at least 260 people — and shared that it will be donating to Palestinian relief organizations in light of the conflict.

“We are devastated by the images and reports coming from the Middle East,” the post reads. “Thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and millions of civilians have been displaced and left without access to food, water, medicine or basic necessities for survival. A large number of these victims are children. Palestinian civilians must be protected, period.”

In addition to denouncing all forms of antisemitism and Islamophobia, the post continued, “Rare Beauty will be making donations to the International Red Cross/ Red Crescent Societies – Magen David Adom and Palestinian Red Crescent Society – who are providing urgent care on the ground. We will also be donating to UNICEF to help get urgent medical relief and resources to the children of Gaza.”

The post concluded with mental health resources that readers could use should they or someone they know need them.

The Rare Beauty post arrives after Gomez issued a statement on Oct. 31 stating that she would take a social media break because of the “horror, hate, violence and terror that’s going on in the world” and that an Instagram post would not be enough to end the Israel-Hamas war.

“I’ve been taking a break from social media because my heart breaks to see all of the horror, hate, violence and terror that’s going on in the world,” she wrote via her Instagram Story. “People being tortured and killed or any act of hate towards any one group is horrific. We need to protect ALL people, especially children and stop the violence for good.”

The Only Murders in the Building star concluded her post, sharing, “I’m sorry if my words will never be enough for everyone or a hashtag. I just can’t stand by innocent people getting hurt. That’s what makes me sick. I wish I could change the world. But a post won’t. Love, Selena.”

Shortly after Gomez’s statement, she drew backlash online due to the resignation she expressed in her statement in light of being one of the most-followed individuals on Instagram (she currently sits at No. 3 with 430 million followers on the platform). The singer/actress followed up her post on Nov. 2 by explaining that she would be deleting Instagram and reiterating that she does “not support any of what’s going on.” Her account remains active as of press time.

See Rare Beauty’s announcement below.

06 Nov 2023

Nearly Half of All Albums Sold in the U.S. Last Week Were Taylor Swift’s ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’

Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Nov. 11), selling a whopping 1.359 million copies in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 2, according to Luminate. As previously reported, that marks the biggest sales week of 2023, the largest sales week of any album since 2015, and the sixth-biggest sales week for an album since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991.

1989 (Taylor’s Version) is Swift’s 13th No. 1 on Top Album Sales.

The first-week sales of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) were so large, they accounted for 43.8% of all albums sold in the U.S. in the tracking week: 1.359 million of the total 3.102 million sold. Further, focusing just on the physical copies of the album Swift sold (CD, vinyl and cassettes), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) sold 1.261 million copies – representing 46.9% of all physical album sales last week (2.689 million physical albums were sold across all titles in the U.S.).

The sales of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) were enhanced by its availability in 15 collectible physical formats: five color vinyl variants, eight CD editions and two cassette editions. Of the five vinyl variants, Target carries a color variant that includes one bonus track (“Sweeter Than Fiction”). The album is also available to buy in two digital download editions: a standard 21-song version and a deluxe 22-song version (which adds a re-recorded version of the album’s “Bad Blood,” featuring Kendrick Lamar).

So far in 2023, Swift’s catalog of albums, across all of her titles, have sold 4.531 million copies – which accounts for 5.4% of all albums sold this year by all artists combined (83.758 million sold year to date). Swift is by far the year’s top-selling act by total album sales. Her collected albums have sold six times more than the year’s No. 2-selling act, Stray Kids, with 753,000 sold.

Elsewhere in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, the latest releases from SEVENTEEN, Grateful Dead and Duran Duran debut.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. The new Nov. 11, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Nov. 7. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

At No. 2 on Top Album Sales, SEVENTEEN’s SEVENTEENTH Heaven: 11th Mini Album arrives. It’s the sixth top 10-charting effort for the Korean pop group. The set bows with 98,000 copies sold, effectively all from CD sales, bolstered by its availability across 16 collectible CD variants.

The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds falls 2-3 in its second week, with 33,000 sold (down 65%).

Grateful Dead’s latest archival live album release, Dave’s Picks, Volume 48: Pauley Pavilion, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 11/20/71, debuts at No. 4 with 19,000 sold. It’s the 38th top 10-charting set for the band since Top Album Sales launched in 1991.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s chart-topping The Name Chapter: Freefall dips 3-5 with 15,000 sold (down 48%).

Duran Duran’s new Danse Macabre debuts at No. 6 with 14,000 sold. It’s the fourth top 10-charting title on the 32-year-old Top Album Sales chart. The album’s sales were bolstered by its availability in five different vinyl iterations (adding up to a little over 5,000 sold), but its CD was its best-selling format, as its singular available CD sold nearly 6,000 copies.

Rounding out the new top 10 on Top Album Sales are four former No. 1s from Swift: Midnights (rising 8-7 with 13,000; up 48%), Lover (6-8 with 13,000; up 28%), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (11-9 with nearly 13,000; up 74%) and Folklore (9-10 with 12,000; up 43%). With five Swift titles in the top 10 concurrently, it’s the second time Swift held at least half of the top 10 in the same week. She previously did it on the July 22-dated chart, with six titles.

In the week ending Nov. 2, there were 3.102 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 75.5% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 2.689 million (up 88.9%) and digital albums comprised 413,000 (up 20%).

There were 1.233 million CD albums sold in the week ending Nov. 2 (up 105.1% week-over-week) and 1.434 vinyl albums sold (up 76.8%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 29.245 million (up 0.8% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 38.585 million (up 18.4%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 83.758 million (up 5.7% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 68.296 million (up 10.1%) and digital album sales total 15.462 million (down 10.1%).

06 Nov 2023

Chrissy Teigen to Star Alongside David Chang in New Series ‘Chrissy & Dave Dine Out’

Chrissy Teigen is coming to a television screen near you.

On Monday (Nov. 6), Hulu announced that Teigen will star in the new unscripted show Chrissy and Dave Dine Out, in which she and co-stars David Chang and Joel Kim Booster will hit up restaurants in Los Angeles for a series of foodie endeavors and engaging conversations.

According to a press release, the trio “will take viewers to must-try restaurants in Los Angeles that are unexpected and, at times, off the beaten path. While David gets his hands dirty in the back of house with the restaurant’s chef, Chrissy and Joel will hold court in the front of house, hosting an always loose, unexpected and entertaining dinner party with undeniably delicious food and great conversation.”

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Teigen, Chang and Booster will handpick celebrity guests to feature in the show’s conversation segments, with the first episode taking the trio to Pizzeria Bianco. Jimmy Kimmel will appear on the premiere alongside his wife, writer Molly McNearney. John Legend, Teigen’s husband, will also guest star in addition to appearances from Kumail Nanjiani, Regina Hall, Simu Liu and other celebrities.

Teigen previously starred in Chrissy’s Court for a total of 30 episodes, with the series running from 2020 to 2022. She also doubles as an executive producer Chrissy and Dave Dine Out. Chang is a restaurateur and author who founded the Momofuku restaurant group. Booster is an actor and writer who wrote, produced and starred in Hulu’s 2022 rom-com Fire Island.

Chrissy and Dave Dine Out will premiere on Hulu on Jan. 24 at 10 a.m. ET. See the first teaser for the series in the video below.

06 Nov 2023

Katy Perry & Orlando Bloom’s Daughter Daisy Dove Makes Public Debut at Vegas Residency Finale

Sure, Prince Harry and Céline Dion both showed up to the final performance of Katy Perry‘s Play Las Vegas residency, but the most adorable high-profile appearance had to be from Perry and Orlando Bloom‘s daughter Daisy Dove.

The 3-year-old made her public debut at her mom’s grand finale — and got to hear how she inspired the multimillion-dollar-grossing show — on Sunday night. Fan-captured footage from the elaborate performance shows the “Roar” singer shouting out her baby girl. “Daisy! I love you so much,” Perry exclaimed. “You’re my best friend. I’m so glad you’re here.”

Daisy — who sported a precious red-and-white polka-dot dress and sat alongside her father — was born three years ago, just two days before the release of Perry’s fifth album Smile. The album peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and housed the Billboard Hot 100 top 20 hit “Never Really Over.”

The “Witness” singer’s set featured a plethora of heartwarming moments for her family. During a spirited rendition of “Hot N Cold,” Perry quipped, “Mommy was a little bit wild back then!” The lighthearted vibes continued as Bloom and his daughter showed off their moves as Perry performed “Chained to the Rhythm.”

In accordance with this being the final Play show, Perry delivered an emotional speech detailing the show’s inspiration. “I created this show after the birth of my daughter, Daisy Dove,” she said while fighting tears. “When I met her, it was like all the love I was ever searching for finally showed up. She made me whole and she healed me, and she showed me how to play again. So this show is for everyone’s inner-child and for the hope that maybe if we could all see life through the eyes of a child, we would be free. ‘Cause never forget love is and will always be the key.”

Perry has sent three albums to the top of the Billboard 200 and earned nine chart-toppers on the Hot 100, including “Teenage Dream,” “Dark Horse” (with Juicy J) and “Firework.”

Check out some fan-captured footage of the final Play show:

06 Nov 2023

Sheryl Crow Gave Olivia Rodrigo This Simple But Important Piece of Life Advice

Sheryl Crow is all about supporting young artists, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee opened up about working with 20-year-old Olivia Rodrigo, who performed with Crow during the ceremony and participated in presenting her with the honor.

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“It’s really cool,” Crow told ET of working with Rodrigo. “I mean, you know, I got to sort of lift her up a little bit, because she’s got a new record [out]… I know how hard the second record is, the sophomore. You’re competing with the success of your first record, and she nailed it.”

She also revealed the piece of advice she gave the “Vampire” singer. “I said, you know, ‘If you can, just write down one sentence every day, of what happened during that day, because you will someday look back [at] this, and try to remember all the things.’”

“The other thing [I told her] is to just stay in the work and stay out of the chatter,” she continued. “That’s a major thing.”

After performing “If It Makes You Happy” with Crow at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, Rodrigo appeared in a video montage about Crow’s career that featured Stevie Nicks and Maren Morris. In the clip, the “Get Him Back!” singer praised Crow’s lyricism, and especially the line “scrape the mold off the bread and serve you French toast again” from “If It Makes You Happy.”

“Nobody could say that besides Sheryl. She says things I would have never thought of in the most beautiful way,” Rodrigo said. The love is mutual, with Crow naming Rodrigo “the real deal” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon the night before.

After her onstage moment with Crow, Rodrigo described the experience in a statement to Billboard. “It was an honor to join Sheryl on stage and I am so excited for her to be inducted into the RRHOF! I am a massive fan of hers and her incredible songwriting. She’s equally as kind as she is talented and I feel so lucky that I was able to be part of celebrating such a legend.”

06 Nov 2023

Machine Gun Kelly Reacts to Backlash Over Viral Formula 1 Interview: ‘My Anxiety Has Won’

Machine Gun Kelly attended his first Formula 1 event with the Brazilian Grand Prix over the weekend, but the “Bloody Valentine” rocker came under fire on social media following an awkward interaction with Sky Sports reporter, Martin Brundle.

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In the short grid-walk interview, MGK is visibly uncomfortable as he seemingly struggles to hear Brundle over the sounds of the crowd and racetrack. When Brundle asked what’s currently going on in his career, the musician simply replied, “I don’t think about my career.”

After a series of awkward questions and responses, MGK eventually asks Brundle to play air piano to accompany his air guitar. When Brundle confused, Kelly gave the camera a thumbs down and left the interview, to which Brundle joked that he won’t be making the rocker’s Christmas card list this year.

The tense interview was met by mixed reactions online, with fans calling out MGK for being rude to Brundle and having the “worst” vibe. “My vibe is ‘the worst’ how?” Machine Gun Kelly responded on Twitter on Sunday (Nov. 5). “Because someone put a microphone in my face essentially forcing me to do a random interview when I was just trying to enjoy an event? Because car engines were so loud I couldn’t hear him? Please tell me more about why I’m the worst.”

He followed up by asking another Twitter user why they “posted this pointless video” of the interview. The “I Think I’m Okay” star concluded his thoughts with an insight into how he’s doing mentally. “My anxiety has won. I hate being in public,” he wrote. See below.