Music News

23 Oct 2023

Watch ‘American Idol’ Winner Iam Tongi Deliver a Laid-Back Cover of a Morgan Wallen ‘Dangerous’ Hit

Iam Tongi, season 21 winner of American Idol, has been hard at work since being crowned the show’s champion in May. The 18-year-old Hawaii native has been releasing solo music and posting covers of his favorite songs, the latest of which includes a cover of Morgan Wallen‘s “Sand in My Boots.”

The singer’s acoustic take of the song arrives alongside a video, which features him playing the guitar arrangement, with the help of another musician working to flesh out the country track’s twangier sections.

“Yeah, but now I’m dodging potholes in my sunburnt Silverado/ Like a heart-broke Desperado, headed right back to my roots/ Somethin’ bout the way she kissed me tells me she’d love Eastern Tennessee/ Yeah, but all I brought back with me was some sand in my boots,” Tongi languidly sings on the chorus, injecting his own flair into the song.

In a press release for the cover, Tongi shared, “I have immense respect for Morgan Wallen, and ‘Sand in My Boots’ is a song that truly touches my heart. The raw emotion in the lyrics and the soulful melody resonate with me on a profound level.”

“Sand in My Boots” served as the third single from Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album. The track peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent a total of 41 weeks on the all-genre tally.

Up next for Tongi is small tour of North America that’s set to kick off on Oct. 25 at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City. The trek will make stops in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, D.C. and North Carolina before concluding on Dec. 13 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului, Hawaii.

Watch Tongi cover Wallen’s “Sand in my Boots” in the video above.

23 Oct 2023

Here’s How Travis Kelce Reacted to Being Called Taylor Swift’s ‘Boyfriend’

Is Travis Kelce officially Taylor Swift‘s boyfriend? Fans seem to think so after seeing a now-viral TikTok of the Kansas City Chiefs tight end reacting to the label.

In a video shared by user @jeffjulian, Kelce is buttoning his shirt after his football game on Sunday (Oct. 22), when a fan shouts, “Let’s go, Taylor’s boyfriend!” In response, the football star raises his hand in a fist above his head, as one does when they’ve won something. See the TikTok video here.

While Swift and Kelce have not publicly confirmed the status of their budding romance, the “Anti-Hero” singer and the athlete were seen interlocking fingers once again as they left Sunday’s Chiefs vs. Chargers game. Earlier in the day, Kelce assisted the Chiefs in defeating Los Angeles 31-17 at Arrowhead Stadium, which Swift watched from a private box suite with Brittany Mahomes, wife of KC quarterback Patrick Mahomes, all while wearing a No. 87 friendship bracelet. Sunday’s game marks the fourth Chiefs match attended by the 12-time Grammy winner this season.

Swift was also spotted giving Kelce a kiss on the cheek in an Instagram photo posted by wide receiver Mecole Hardman’s girlfriend Chiarah Gordon on Monday (Oct. 23), adding fuel to the fire of relationship rumors between the two superstars.

It’s been an exciting week for Swift, whose “Cruel Summer” hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 songs chart dated Oct. 28, 2023. The song, which previously peaked at No. 3, was originally released on Swift’s 2019 Republic Records album Lover.

23 Oct 2023

Ariana Grande Jokingly Teases ‘AG7’ Title as ‘Goat Mother’

Ariana Grande hasn’t forgotten about AG7. In a recent Instagram post, the 30-year-old pop star joked that her seventh album will be called “goat mother,” sharing photos and videos on Instagram with dozens of goats on an idyllic farm.

The “Positions” singer shared a carousel of photos with friends and family Monday (Oct. 23), several of which showed the vocalist and her mom interacting with animals. “ag7: goat mother,” she teased in her caption.

The R.E.M. Beauty founder also shared a snap with her longtime collaborator Max Martin, the Swedish producer who’s worked on Grande hits such as “Problem,” “Break Free” and “Bang Bang” with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj. Grande and Max attended Norbert Leo Butz’s show at 54 Below this month, marking the second time Grande has shared a photo of Martin amid rumors that she is working on her next LP with the pop-music mastermind in New York City. Earlier this month, she posted a selfie with the &Juliet composer.

“Thanks @arianagrande for coming to see me at @54below I met this incredible lady when she was (gulp) 11 years old backstage at @wicked_musical,” Butz wrote on Instagram Monday, sharing a selfie with Grande. “She is a dream. What an honor to have a moment to talk ? with the one and only #maxmartin.”

Grande also shared the snap of Martin and and Butz in her Instagram Stories, writing, “my two favorite worlds colliding,” and tagging the Broadway star.

Fans are eager for a new Grande album, especially as it’s been three years since her most recent album, Positions, came out in 2020. However, the singer has admittedly been more focused on filming the Wicked live adaptations and working on her beauty brand as of late.

In her post, Grande also included photos of her seated inside an open guitar case and posing with Cynthia Erivo, the Elphaba to her Glinda. She captioned the photo of herself with Erivo in a corresponding Instagram Stories, “@cynthiaerivo forever and ever my favorite image. i love you so much.”

23 Oct 2023

Taylor Swift Kisses Travis Kelce in New Photo

Taylor Swift’s got that red lip, classic thing that Travis Kelce likes — and that’s why she planted a kiss on the Kansas City Chiefs tight end’s cheek.

In a new Instagram photo posted by wide receiver Mecole Hardman’s girlfriend Chiarah Gordon on Monday (Oct. 23), the couple is seen smiling and posing with Swift and Kelce. However, in the second photo of the carousel, the “Lavender Haze” singer is seen planting a kiss on the tight end’s cheek. See the photos here.

While this is the first kiss we’ve seen between the rumored couple, the duo have been seen holding hands frequently over the past few weeks, most recently after the Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers game on Sunday night (Oct. 22). Swift and Kelce were interlocking fingers as they left Arrowhead Stadium, marking the fourth Chiefs match attended by the 12-time Grammy winner this season. For the occasion, she rocked a Chiefs sweater and represented Kelce with a a No. 87 friendship bracelet.

Last weekend, Swift and Kelce held hands in New York City on their way to the Oct. 14 Saturday Night Live after party, shortly after the two made surprise cameos on the show’s season 49 premiere. The next day, they grabbed dinner at a restaurant in the West Village, hand-in-hand again.

It’s been an exciting week for Swift, whose “Cruel Summer” hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 songs chart dated Oct. 28, 2023. The song, which previously peaked at No. 3, was originally released on Swift’s 2019 Republic Records album Lover.

23 Oct 2023

October Skies, Nights & Trees: 15 Songs About the 10th Month of the Year

Ah, October — beacon of pumpkin spice lattes, cinnamon-scented candles, Gilmore Girls reruns and Halloween decor. It’s the time of the year when autumn finally feels like it’s kicking into high gear. 

And it’s no wonder why the 10th month has been a muse to so many musicians over the decades, from tried-and-true 20th century songwriters to fresh-faced Gen Z artists. October love also knows no genre bounds; everyone from Eric Whitacre to Deadmau5, James Taylor and Alessia Cara have turned in tributes to the coziest, spookiest, most colorful 31 days of the year, spanning classical, electro house, folk rock, pop and beyond. Simply typing “October” into Spotify’s search field yields hundreds of results.

Even more vast is the canon of songs devoted to autumn itself, from Sinatra classics such as “Autumn Leaves” to Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” (“Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place”), or Ed Sheeran’s entire 2023 album, Autumn Variations. There’s also a lot to be said about the subgenre of music dedicated to Halloween alone, although you won’t see “Monster Mash” or “Spooky Scary Skeletons” on this list – this story is only for tracks with “October” in the name, odes to the month as a whole in all its versatility and warmth.

With the change of seasons, it’s time to give playlists a refresh, too. Queue up these 15 tracks centered around the month of October, from an indie-pop offering by Girl in Red to an alt-rock throwback from Yellowcard, and enjoy the season:

23 Oct 2023

Blink-182 Announce ‘One More Time!’ 2024 North American Tour: See the Dates

Blink-182 is returning to North America one more time. Just days after the release of the trio’s new album, Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker have announced plans to bring their new songs on the road in North America next year.

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Tickets for the One More Time Tour — named after the band’s Oct. 20 album — will go on sale this Friday, Oct. 27, at 10 a.m. local time for each venue. The trek will kick off June 20 in Orlando, after which the rock group will make stops at both stadiums and arenas across the United States. The leg will end with one show in Canada; Aug. 15 at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Produced by Live Nation, the band’s 30-date North American tour features a hometown performance at Petco Park in San Diego as well as shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Citi Field in New York, Fenway Park in Boston, and more. Blink also has dates scheduled in Australia, New Zealand, Peru and Mexico throughout the first half of 2024.

Pierce The Veil, a fellow rock band native to San Diego, will join the North American leg as a special guest.

The tour announcement ties a bow on an exciting year for the “All The Small Things” musicians, who announced in October last year that DeLonge would be reinstated as part of the band. The singer/guitarist had previously left the group twice, once in 2005 and again in 2014. Their new album One More Time… marked the first time Blink’s classic lineup had been in the studio together in a decade and features 17 Barker-produced tracks, including Alternative Airplay No. 1s “Edging” and “One More Time.”

See the announcement, which contains the full list of tour dates, below.

23 Oct 2023

J. Cole Announces Dreamville Festival 2024: Here Are the Dates

On the heels of an impressive feature run this year, J. Cole has announced the dates for Dreamville Festival 2024. Via a press release, the Grammy-winning rapper and his acclaimed Dreamville artist collective detailed all of the preliminary information for the event’s fourth iteration.

The Dreamville Festival will return to Raleigh, N.C., April 6-7. An early-bird ticket sale will kick off imminently, with e-newsletter and SMS text subscribers receiving first access. The festival will once again return to Dorothea Dix Park, Raleigh’s largest public park, and will also offer attractions and activities for fans of all ages, including carnival rides, immersive art installations, dozens of local vendors, food trucks and community organizations from the Wake County region.

The lineup for Dreamville Festival 2024 will be announced at the top of next year. Next year’s headliners will follow Usher, Burna Boy and a double-billing of J. Cole and Drake. In addition to the headliners, last year’s Dreamville Festival also included performances from Summer Walker, J.I.D., Ari Lennox and more.

The news regarding Dreamville Festival 2024 arrives on the heels of a major career milestone from Dreamville head honcho J. Cole. On Oct. 21, he earned his first-ever Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single with “First Person Shooter,” one of the breakout hits from Drake’s For All the Dogs album. The achievement comes the same year Cole matched his previous Hot 100 peak (No. 2) with “All My Life,” a crossover rap smash from Lil Durk that recently received a pair of remixes from Burna Boy and STRAY KIDS.

In addition to “First Person Shooter,” J. Cole has earned 11 other Hot 100 top 10 hits, including “Middle Child” (No. 4), “Deja Vu” (No. 7) and “Kevin’s Heart” (No. 8). On the Billboard 200, he has sent all six of his studio albums to the top.

23 Oct 2023

SEVENTEEN Returns With 11th Mini Album ‘SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN’: Stream It Here

CARATs, SEVENTEEN‘s 11th mini album, SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN, is finally here. The K-pop group’s latest album arrived on Monday (Oct. 23), along with a technicolor video for the project’s lead single, “God of Music.”

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The video for the soul inspired, funky pop track features the group — which consists of members S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino — parading around Budapest, bringing music to life and spreading joy and their love for music in various spots around the city.

“What is our happiness/ Don’t fret, let’s just dance and sing/ This is our happiness/ One morе time, hey/ Music is our breath/ No dangеr here, keep taking it in/ Everybody, let’s listen up/ If there is a God of Music/ This is a message for you/ Gather one note after the other, mm/ Dance and sing, this feels amazing,” the member gleefully sing on the chorus.

Other tracks on the album include “SOS,” produced by Marshmello, and songs from each of the group’s units — “Back 2 Back” (Performance Unit), “Monster” (Hip-hop Unit), and “Yawn” (Vocal Unit). SEVENTEEN also thanks its devoted fanbase on tracks “Diamond Days” and “Headliner.”

With SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN, the K-pop group has a chance at continuing its top 10 streak on the Billboard 200. Previous set FML peaked at No. 2 on the all-genre tally in May, and spent a total of nine weeks on the list. SEVENTEEN’s fourth album — a repackage of Face the Sun — peaked at No. 4 in August 2022 and enjoyed four weeks on the survey, while its parent release charted at No. 7 in June 2022 and spent seven weeks on the chart.

Stream SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN in the link below, and watch the video for “God of Music” above.

23 Oct 2023

Travis Barker Unveils His Madame Tussauds Wax Figure: ‘It Looks So F–king Real’

Travis Barker is the latest celebrity to be transformed into a wax figure for Madame Tussauds, as unveiled Sunday (Oct. 22) at the museum’s Las Vegas location.

Fitted with clothes donated by Barker himself — including a leather jacket, boots, pants and studded belt — the Blink-182 drummer’s statue looks to be one of Madame Tussauds’ most realistic-looking figures to date. His tattoos were replicated perfectly, as were his dark eyebrows and bright blue eyes.

“I’m honored, I’m flattered, I’m shocked,” the musician said at the unveiling ceremony, where he posed for pictures with his wax twin. “It looks so f–king real.”

Barker’s figure even features some of his signature silver jewelry, including his nose rings, chain necklace and wedding ring, which represents his marriage to Kourtney Kardashian. The Poosh founder — who is currently expecting the couple’s first child together — wasn’t in attendance at her husband’s wax figure debut, but the drummer was spotted showing her his duplicate over FaceTime.

The “All The Small Things” artist later posted some of his own photos with his wax lookalike on Instagram, writing, “Come say hi to my clone @madametussaudsusa.”

According to the press release, Barker worked closely with the Madame Tussauds team of sculptors, colorists, hairdressers and stylists to produce his wax figure, which is now the most-tattooed installment ever created by the museum. Each of his 100-plus tats was closely matched using 3D scanning, with the stenciling and coloring processes taking approximately nine weeks total.

Barker and Kardashian, who both have kids from past relationships, are on their way to becoming parents once again. The couple recently experienced a health scare regarding the pregnancy, which led Blink-182 to postpone a few overseas shows “due to an urgent family matter” as the drummer raced home to be with the reality star as she underwent urgent fetal surgery.

“That experience opened my eyes to a whole new world of pregnancy that I didn’t know about in the past,” Kardashian recalled of the incident in an interview with Vogue. “It was terrifying … I’ve finally been able to let go of the fear and worry that everybody else put in us because of this pregnancy.”

See more photos from the unveiling of Travis Barker’s wax figure below:

23 Oct 2023

Here’s What Jay-Z Says Is the Right Answer to Whether $500K or Lunch With Him Is Worth More

At long last, the world finally has an answer to a question that has tormented social media for years. In a clip from Jay-Z‘s upcoming interview with Gayle King on CBS Mornings interview with Gayle King, the music mogul weighed on whether it’s a smarter choice to choose lunch with him over $500,000 cash.

“You’ve gotta take the money,” the “Big Pimpin’” rapper said in a teaser clip, pointing out that all his wisdom is already in his work. “You’ve got all that in the music for $10.99.”

With a discography that spans 13 Billboard 200 No. 1 albums, collaborative projects with Linkin Park and Beyoncé, and hundreds of memorable guest verses, the Brooklyn rap icon isn’t wrong when he says it’s all in the music.

“I wouldn’t tell you to cut a bad deal. Like, take the $500,000, go buy some albums, and listen to the albums,” he continued. “It’s all there. If you piece it together and really listen to the music for the words, well, what it is, it’s all there.”

Jay-Z’s new two-part interview with King will feature an exclusive tour of the Brooklyn Public Library’s “Book of HOV” exhibit, a sprawling archival undertaking that chronicles the vast expanse of his career, from his lengthy Grammy-winning catalog to his landmark business deals across the realms of sports, music, alcohol, film and public service.

The “lunch with Jay-Z or $500K” meme has been going viral on social media — in various iterations — since at least 2017. The premise of the question is whether the rapper can provide an amount of wisdom and sound advice that would theoretically be worth more than $500,000 in cold, hard cash. The question has ignited passionate responses for years, with some pointing to Jay-Z’s storied career to justify choosing the meal option, while others place their bets on the money management skills and pick the $500K.

“Everything that I said was gonna happen, happened,” Jay-Z added in his chat with King. “Everything that I said I wanted to do, I’ve done.”

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