State Champ Radio Music News
Page: 193
05/27/2025
Chesney leads Billboard’s 100-position Top Country Artists of the 21st Century retrospective. Below, find a breakdown of the 2000-24 top 10.
05/27/2025
Sabrina Carpenter might be a pro at dominating stages in the real world, but now she’s set her eyes on the world of Fortnite, teaming up for their newly announced Dance With Sabrina Jam Stage Experience.
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Carpenter was initially welcomed into the Fortnite universe in early April, joining in for the festivities of Fortnite Festival season eight. Her involvement has already resulted in a handful of her tracks being made available as part of the Season 8 Music Pass, with her outfits and instruments also being offered up to those who like their gameplay Short n’ Sweet.
Now, she’s expanding her virtual reach even further, with Carpenter inviting fans to jump onstage as she takes over the Festival Jam Stage. The newly announced Dance With Sabrina interactive music experience will be running continuously from Friday, May 30, at 3 p.m. ET until Monday, June 16, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
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Dance With Sabrina will see players invited to take part in her vibrant and critically acclaimed live show. Players are able to test their rhythm as they match to the beat of Sabrina’s 2024 Pop Airplay-topping singles “Bad Chem” and “Espresso” as they fill their heart meter.
Those with the highest heart meter by the song’s end will be able to contribute to the gig as Dance Leader, Special Effects Pro or Video Artist for the next song. The skilled players who manage to match the most beats for the whole shot will ultimately be able to appear side-by-side with Sabrina in the finale snapshot.
“Artists come to Fortnite to connect with their fans and create in-game music experiences that are authentic to their music and style,” said Emily Levy, Director of Music, Talent & Influencer at Epic Games, in a statement. “When Sabrina came to Fortnite, we saw seas of Sabrina Carpenter Outfits populate matches and perform synchronized Dance Emotes, so we knew we had to celebrate this season with an epic dance party inspired by our players and their incredible energy.”
Alongside the newly announced experience, Fortnite have also dropped some further good news for fans of Carpenter, with her “Bad Chem” Jam Track and “Bad Chem” Emote set to be available in the “Bad Chem” Bundle when it arrives in the Fortnite Shop on Thursday, May 29, at 8 p.m. ET.
The see-saw story of The Who‘s drummer chair continued to tilt over the weekend when former, then current and then former again time keeper Zak Starkey clarified that he had not been fired from the band but rather “retired.” The 59-year-old son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and in-demand session player wrote in an Instagram […]
Tom Morello has never been one to mince words when it comes to his thoughts on Donald Trump. The firebrand Rage Against the Machine guitarist and solo star joined his friend and fellow rock agitator Bruce Springsteen over the weekend in giving a NSFW salute No. 27 from the stage.
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Performing at the Boston Calling 2025 music festival on Sunday (May 25), Morello took the stage in front of a towering backdrop that featured a series of images of the president amid a sea of oversized buttons that spelled out “F–K TRUMP.” If that message wasn’t clear enough, at one point during his set, Morello flipped his instrument up to play with his teeth and revealed another pointed message aimed at the current administration taped to the back of his guitar that read “F–k I.C.E.,” in seeming reference to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency charged with implementing Trump’s aggressive deportation policy.
Introducing a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” Morello dedicated the track to The Boss, noting that the rocker has been “in a tussle with the president lately” after the Jersey giant recently dubbed the current administration “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous,” a broadside that raised the ire of the commander in chief.
“Bruce is going after Trump because Bruce, his whole life, he’s been about truth, justice, democracy, equality,” Morello said. “And Trump is mad at him because Bruce draws a much bigger audience. F–k that guy.” According to Boston.com, at the top of his set, Morello invited fans to enjoy “the last big event before they throw us in jail.”
In the midst of the Trump administration’s attack on universities it claims are not doing enough to combat antisemitism, Morello also mentioned his alma mater, Harvard University, which has particularly drawn Trump’s ire. In its latest actions, the administration has threatened to strip the school of more than $3 billion in grants following Trump’s order to freeze more than $2.2 billion in federal funding grants for the university and threats to revoke its tax-exempt status. Morello praised Harvard’s recent decision to offer a free online course called “We the People: Civic Engagement in a Constitutional Democracy.”
Morello, who graduated with honors from Harvard in 1986 with a B.A. in political science, described the class as a primer on “basic U.S. government, understanding the Constitution, and how to recognize a dictatorship takeover of your country.”
The lash out against Trump by Morello amid the president’s slash-and-burn reshaping of democratic norms came after Springsteen kicked off his Land of Hope and Dreams tour in Manchester, England on May 14 by lambasting the blitz of strong-arm actions that many political pundits have deemed authoritarian.
“In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,” Springsteen told the crowd. “Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against the authoritarianism, and let freedom ring.”
As is his wont, Trump replied to Springsteen’s harsh words with one of his all-caps Truth Social disses, calling the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer “highly overrated” and “dumb as a rock.” The president continued, “Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country.”
On the precipice of what many financial experts say could be a ruinous global recession sparked by Trump’s unpredictable, see-saw tariffs, the president continued his attacks on Springsteen over the ensuing days, adding in another of his favorite targets: Taylor Swift. On May 16, the 78-year-old leader of the free world wrote, “Has anyone noticed that, since i said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer ‘HOT?‘”
While Swift has not responded to the unprovoked attack to date, Springsteen was unbowed, doubling down on his disdain for Trump on May 17, telling a crowd in Manchester, “Things are happening right now that are altering the very nature of our country’s democracy, and they’re too important to ignore… In my home, they’re persecuting people for their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. That’s happening now… In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. That’s happening now. In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers,” calling Trump an “unfit president” who is running a “rogue government.”
Jennifer Lopez left it all on the floor during her whirlwind 2025 American Music Awards hosting gig on Monday night (May 26). After dancing to a breathless six-minute, 23-song medley of the year’s biggest hits in a sparkling Tron-like futuristic leotard on the stage at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas — and kissing a couple of […]
Fresh off the back of revealing their first round of performing artists, SXSW Sydney has detailed the first wave of music speakers for its 2025 event.
Taking place in Sydney from October 13-19, the third outing of the Australian event will feature “some of the world’s best thinkers, buyers and culture-makers,” as per a press release.
Leading the charge of their first speaker announcement is Emmy Award-winning Jen Malone, who is best-known as one of Hollywood’s most in-demand music supervisors thanks to her credits such as Euphoria, Wednesday, Mr & Mrs Smith and more.
Malone is joined by Dr. Marcus Collins, who is renowned as an Award-winning marketing professor, cultural translator and best-selling author, having also previously served as the former director of digital strategy for Beyoncé.
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A number of international figures have been confirmed for the first round of speakers, including Senior Director of A&R at All Flowers international label Group, Alex Berenson; Rareform’s Hallie Anderson; tech entrepreneur Andrew Batey; and Brian Hobbs, the Director of Music Festival Programming at SXSW.
Other international names added to the first round include Founder of Hong Kong’s Clockenflap Festival Justin Sweeting (Hong Kong); Apodaca Group and Pal Norte Festival’s Macarena González (Mexico); Meng Ru Kuok CEO of Caldecott Music Group (Singapore); Sally Dunstone, Agent/Partner from Primary Talent (UK); and Lucy Atkinson, Senior Agent at ATC Live (MØ, Erika De Casier) (UK).
A strong contingent of local names are also on the schedule for this year, including John Watson, President of Eleven Music and John Watson Management; music industry consultant Jono Harrison; and host of Airing Your Dirty Laundry podcast, Daphne Berry.
“SXSW Sydney is about big ideas, bold conversations and unexpected connections,” said SXSW Sydney’s Head of Music, Claire Collins. “It’s a chance to hear directly from the people who open doors — the buyers, curators and deal-makers — and to better understand how to cut through, stay independent, or scale globally.
“Whether you’re building a team, exploring how AI can support your creative and business goals, or just looking for inspiration from other creative industries, this is where the conversations start.
“We’re proud to bring this talent to Sydney, and to connect them with the broader SXSW Sydney community,” Collins added. “It’s a week packed with fun, discovery, and opportunities to connect, collaborate, and imagine what’s next for music in our region and around the world.”
The first round of music speakers joins a solid selection of performers which have already been confirmed for the 2025 edition of SXSW Sydney, including Australian acts such as Swapmeet, RICEWINE, and Jamaica Moana, alongside names from Ireland, Thailand, Japan, New Zealand, and the U.K.
Further speakers and performers are expected to be announced in the coming months, with more than 300 international and domestic artist performances set to feature on the final schedule.
Grimes will no longer be appearing at this summer’s World Pride celebrations in Washington, D.C., citing a need to attend to unspecified “family issues.”
Announced as part of the two-day celebration which runs from June 6–7, Grimes was originally announced as part of the Saturday lineup, which also features Troye Sivan, Kim Petras, Raye, Sofi Tukker, and a DJ set from RuPaul, but has now removed herself from the event.
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“Hello friends, I am so so sorry and regretful to say I have to cancel my pride show in order to deal with family issues,” Grimes wrote in a statement shared to social media on Monday (May 26).
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“I want to say that I am aware the situation has been a great inconvenience to the fans for some time, and I am truly determined to make sure this is no longer the case very soon,” she added. “I think the show is still going to be amazing and the lineup is great. I hope this is early enough and gives people enough time if they wish to change their plans. And I *will* make this up to you guys very soon.”
The World Pride event has not announced any replacement for Grimes, but did issue a statement on their Instagram Stories addressing her decision to leave the lineup. “We’re sending love and support to Grimes during this time as she steps away to focus on personal matters,” they wrote. “We fully support her decision and are thinking of her and her family.”
No specifics have been given as to the “family issues” Grimes mentioned in her post, though she has previously taken to social media to criticize former partner Elon Musk and his behavior as the father of her three children.
In February, she responded to Musk’s decision to bring their first-born son to a White House briefing, claiming, “He should not be in public like this.” Several days later, Grimes tweeted directly at Musk, saying in a since-deleted tweet, “plz respond about our child’s medical crisis. I am sorry to do this publicly but it is no longer acceptable to ignore this situation.”
The D.C. World Pride event will launch on Friday, June 6, with Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton, Marina, and others set to perform on the opening night.
05/26/2025
See who stole the show during this year’s AMAs.
05/26/2025
Sir Rod Stewart capped the 2025 American Music Awards by accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award and giving the audience one of his patented high-energy performances to end the show on Monday (May 26).
The 80-year-old icon was introduced by five of his eight children — Kim, Ruby, Renee, Liam and Sean — who honored their dad’s 60-year career, which has seen him sell millions upon millions of albums worldwide thanks to such Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits as “Maggie May, “Hot Legs,” “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” and “Some Guys Have All the Luck.”
“I’m absolutely flabbergasted — I had no idea they were here,” a gobsmacked Rod the Mod said after hugging it out with his brood, cheekily joking that he’s got “eight all together … I didn’t have a television.”
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Stewart recalled that when he started singing in the early 1960s, “well before all of you lot were here,” he said, gesturing to the crowd, “the reason I got into it was because I had this burning ambition to sing. That’s all I wanted to do. I didn’t want to be rich or famous.” The vocalist who began his career singing blues and R&B standards in his native England before joining the Jeff Beck Group and then Faces and launching his mega-successful solo era, thanked all the musicians he’s played with over the years as well as his biggest influences, including Sam Cooke, Temptations singer and solo star David Ruffin and blues great Muddy Waters.
Honors aside, Stewart seemed genuinely touched that five of his children were sharing the stage with him, shouting out the sweet surprise once again before plugging his Caesars Palace residency gig and then jauntily skipping over to the stage to perform his 1988 Hot 100 No. 12 hit “Forever Young.”
Wearing daringly tight pinstriped black pants, a white tuxedo jacket and a ruffled white shirt opened to reveal his chest and a chunky necklace, the raspy voiced icon looked ageless as he played air guitar while singing “May good fortune be with you, may your guiding light be strong/ Build a stairway to heaven with a prince or a vagabond/ And may you never love in vain,” as a trio of backup singers in shimmering black minidresses echoed the song’s ageless chorus back to him.
Stewart’s spirited show-closer also roped in a three-man bagpipe team, adding a bit more pizzazz to a performance that also spun through a Vegas-worthy tap dance break and a double fiddle and marching band drum solo.
Watch Stewart accept the Lifetime Achievement Award below.
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.
The 2025 American Music Awards lit up Las Vegas on Monday (May 26), featuring performances from some of the world’s biggest stars as well as prizes celebrating the most major moments in music this past year. Kicking off the show was host Jennifer Lopez, who opened with an eye-catching dance performance set to a hodgepodge […]
