Music News

05 Dec 2022

Lizzo, Lil Nas X & Machine Gun Kelly Lead Lineup for Mad Cool Festival 2023

Mad Cool Festival announced its 2023 lineup on Monday (Dec. 5) with headliners including Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Machine Gun Kelly and more.

The three artists will hit the stage in Madrid on the festival’s opening day, July 6, along with Robbie WIlliams, while Sigur Rós, The 1975, Franz Ferdinand, Rina Sawayama and Paolo Nutini help round out the Thursday roster.

Headliners for the following two days include Queens of the Stone Age, The Black Keys, Sam Smith, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Liam Gallagher and The Prodigy, with one slot each on Friday, July 7 and Saturday, July 8 yet to be announced. Additional artists across the second and third days of the festival will include the likes of Rüfü Du Sol, Jacob Collier, Angel Olsen, The Driver Era, Jamie XX, Years & Years, Sylvan Esso and more. Honey Dijon, The Blessed Madonna, Anfisa Letyago are among the DJs slated to take over The Loop for non-stop dance sets on each day.

Three-day passes for the fest go on sale to the general public on Dec. 15 with single day tickets available for purchase starting Dec. 29. A presale for each by Santander SmartBank will begin three days prior on, respectively, Dec. 12 and 26.

Last year’s fifth anniversary of the Spain-based event brought Metallica, Imagine Dragons, Twenty One Pilots, Muse, Kings of Leon and Pixies to the capital city after two years of the festival being cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Check out the entire Mad Cool Festival 2023 roster below.

05 Dec 2022

Shania Twain Talks Body Image and ‘Flattening’ Her Breasts to Avoid Sexual Abuse By Late Stepdad

Shania Twain is opening up abuse she suffered a a child that caused her to take extreme measure to avoid being assaulted by her late stepfather. In an interview with the Sunday Times Style magazine, the “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” singer, 57, revealed that her struggle with body image stems from the sexual and physical abuse she suffered from stepfather Jerry Twain, which caused her to change the way she looked to deal with the abuse.

Shania Twain Harry Styles

Shania Twain Says a Collaboration With Harry Styles ‘Would Be My Dream’: ‘Magic Will Happen, I’m…

“I hid myself and I would flatten my boobs,” Twain explained of a method she devised in an attempt to avoid attention. “I would wear bras that were too small for me, and I’d wear two, play it down until there was nothing girl about me. Make it easier to go unnoticed. Because, oh my gosh, it was terrible — you didn’t want to be a girl in my house.”

When Twain’s stepfather and mother died in a 1987 car crash when she was 22-years-old, the singer had to raise her three younger siblings in destitute conditions in Timmons, Ontario as she was attempting to launch her singing career. “Then you go into society and you’re a girl and you’re getting the normal other unpleasant stuff too, and that reinforces it,” she said. “So then you think, ‘Oh, I guess it’s just s—ty to be a girl. Oh, it’s so s—ty to have boobs.’ I was ashamed of being a girl.”

Twain recalled the conundrum she faced when promoting her music between the need to lean into and appreciate her body and her femininity in the wake of the sexual trauma of her early years. “All of a sudden it was like, well, what’s your problem? You know, you’re a woman and you have this beautiful body?,” she recalled thinking. “What was so natural for other people was so scary for me. I felt exploited, but I didn’t have a choice now. I had to play the glamorous singer, had to wear my femininity more openly or more freely. And work out how I’m not gonna get groped, or raped by someone’s eyes, you know, and feel so degraded.”

After signing a recording contract and beginning work with her producer and future first husband Robert “Mutt” Lange, Twain described herself as the kind of woman who, “When I walked in the room, it’s like, don’t even get any closer. It was clear in my body language. And I think maybe what young girls can learn too is to exude that confidence.” Besides, Twain said, “I was never an exhibitionist for the sake of, like, saying, you know, ‘Look at my t–s.’ It was really me coming into myself. It was a metamorphosis of sorts.”

Over the years, Twain explained, she learned how to control the narrative, love her body and to, “speak and tell a story about myself by the way I moved my body, the drape of the fabrics, the colors, where the focus was.”

Twain received the Music Icon award at last week’s 2022 People’s Choice Awards, where she also performed a medley of her biggest hits. The country superstar’s sixth studio album, Queen of Me, is slated for release on Feb. 3.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

05 Dec 2022

Suga Reveals Which BTS Member Was the First to Listen to RM’s Solo Album: Watch

Suga‘s show is off to a great start. The BTS rapper released the debut episode of Suchwita on Monday (Dec. 5), in which his fellow group mate RM discussed his debut solo album Indigo, shared his fears while making the project, and revealed which member of the group was the first to listen to the album when it was complete over drinks.

Speaking of what it’s like to release an album, RM said, “I feel a little strange. Basically what this is, you and I have been in this field for about the same time considering we started music around the same time. It’s been 15 years [since we started pursuing music] and yet in a sense, this is my first album. So after 15 long years I finally have a chance to prove to myself in the form of a solo album. That’s what I felt.”

Going into recording of the album, RM was happy to have the chance to make a statement about who he is as an artist now on Indigo, because “to be honest, in my Mono album, I had doubts and concerns for about half the songs in there, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case for this album.”

Suga then revealed that “J-Hope was the only one who listened to all tracks before the release” — something that RM noted is actually a rare occurrence for the BTS boys.

“Usually we don’t ask each other to listen to our album. Before Jack in the Box was out, I think I was the first one to listen to it before its official release,” he added. “So I told him when my album was ready that I would want him to listen to it first. That’s how I got Hobi to listen to it. I usually don’t do that kind of thing, but I invited him to give back what I got from him.”

RM’s debut solo album Indigo was released on Friday, Dec. 2. To celebrate the release, the rapper performed tracks from the album for NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series.

Watch RM and Suga’s chat on Suchwita above.

05 Dec 2022

Adele Gushes Over Lizzo During Las Vegas Concert: ‘She’s Such an Amazing Person’

Lizzo doesn’t need a sentimental man or woman to pump her up anymore, because Adele‘s already got it covered. During one of the “Easy on Me” singer’s recent Las Vegas residency concerts, Adele took a moment to share her admiration for the Yitty founder and praised her new documentary Love, Lizzo — and Lizzo returned the favor on Twitter soon after.

“I met her at a house party,” Adele recalled to her audience of her first introduction to the “About Damn Time” musician. “She was like, ‘I’m a singer.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, amazing.’ I’m having a karaoke party this week if you want to come. We’ve had a few really one-on-one emotional girlfriend conversations. I really think very highly of her.”

She went on to give a rave review of Lizzo’s new biographical film Love, Lizzo, released in November on HBO Max. “Her documentary — and I hate music documentaries,” said the “Rolling In the Deep” vocalist, who kicked off her five-month residency at The Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace in November. “I ain’t got time for no one doing documentaries in their 30s or 40s. Unless it’s Tina Turner or the Beatles, get out of town.”

“But I absolutely loved it,” Adele continued. “It was so sincere. It was so truthful. I laughed, I cried, I loved seeing all the footage and the photographs of her when she was little.”

“She’s such an amazing person,” the 15-time Grammy winner added. “She is so thoughtful, she sends flowers to you, she remembers things about you. She’s amazing, so I’d like to give her all of my love.”

Lizzo took notice of Adele’s sweet words about her, and reposted a video of the concert moment on Twitter Sunday (Dec. 4). “ADELE I LOVE UUUUU RIGHT BACK & I WANTED TO GO TO THAT KARAOKE PARTY SO BAD WE GOTTA DO IT BIG IN VEGAS BABY,” she wrote in her caption. “@Adele thank you for watching #lovelizzo.”

Watch Adele gush over Lizzo at a recent concert and see Lizzo’s reaction to the moment below:

05 Dec 2022

Nick Cannon Remembers Son Zen a Year After Baby’s Death: ‘I Will Never Get Over’ It

Nick Cannon is marking the one-year anniversary since the death of his infant son Zen.

“Physically I’m definitely on the mend but Mentally and Spiritually I’m broken,” the soon-to-be father of 12 wrote alongside a black-and-white photo of himself cradling baby Zen on Instagram Monday (Dec. 5). “Been tossing and turning all night, and as much as I know I need rest, last night I couldn’t sleep at all. I can’t believe it’s been a year already since the toughest day of my life occurred.

“Such a painful anniversary,” he continued. “Losing a child has to be the heaviest, most dark and depressive experiences that I will never get over. A mixture of guilt, pain, and sorrow is what I suppress daily. I am far from perfect and often fall short and make decisions in my life that many question, but anyone who knows me knows my heart. I love hard, I love big and I love with my entire Heart and Soul and I just wish my Little Man could’ve felt more of that love while he was here on Earth.”

Born to model Alyssa Scott, Zen was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer and only lived to be five months old before passing away in December 2021. At the time, Cannon and Scott defended their decision to forgo seeking treatment, explaining that they wanted to give Zen the best quality of life possible without subjecting him to the rigors of chemotherapy.

Cannon, who was hospitalized over the weekend with a bout of pneumonia, concluded his post by writing, “I know a few days ago I wrote a post from my hospital bed saying I will be okay and I just needed rest so don’t waste your prayers on me but I can definitely use those prayers right now… Continue to Peacefully Rest My Son, Zen Scott Cannon. We Love you Eternally.”

Since Zen’s death, the host of The Masked Singer has welcomed four more kids with other women. Scott, meanwhile, is currently pregnant with her and Cannon’s second child together, and the latter’s twelfth altogether.

05 Dec 2022

Kanye West Questions Elon Musk’s Ethnic Heritage, Suggests Twitter Boss May Be ‘Genetic Hybrid’

After getting booted from Twitter again last week for posting an image of a swastika, Kanye West uploaded his latest bizarre, racially charged statement on Instagram on Sunday (Dec. 4), in which the embattled artist who now goes by Ye questioned Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s heritage while suggesting he’s possibly a “genetic hybrid.”

“Am I the only one who thinks Elon could be half-Chinese?,” West asked. “Have you ever seen his pics as a child?” Musk was born in South Africa to a Canadian mother and South African father and it was unclear what West was referring to in questioning the billionaire Space X/Tesla founder’s ethnicity. The racially charged comment from the disgraced MC whose once-massive music and fashion portfolio has gone into free-fall since he began a now month-long spree of spouting antisemitic and racist statements continued with another bizarre suggestion about Musk’s genetic makeup.

“Take a Chinese genius and mate them with a South African super model and we have an elon,” Ye added. “I say an Elon because they probably made 10 to 30 Elon’s and he’s the first genetic hybrid that stuck.” Musk, whose chaotic tenure atop the Twitter org chart has seen an exodus of some prominent users and his re-platforming of formerly banned one-term president Donald Trump and accounts that promote white nationalism and neo-nazi causes, treated the West post as the kind of edgelord provocation he relishes.

“I take that as a compliment!” Musk responded of the seeming accolade to the norm-busting billionaire who has long been obsessed with artificial intelligence and exploring the limits of the human form.

West also tacked on another provocative statement, adding, “Let’s not forget about Obama.” At press time it was unclear what the latter was referring to, though he did double-down on mentioning the former president by adding, “I’m sorry for using curse words in church but I don’t have another word for Obama yet.” The post ended with a promotion for Ye’s second presidential bid.

Alongside the Insta slide, West appeared to be mocking his race-baiting in the comment to his post, writing, “On Jay Zs birthday Future president of the United States Ye uses Mark Zuckerberg’s platform to incite a mass investigation of Elon Musk’s childhood photos in the midst of Balenciagagate. I call this The theory of everything Problem solved Praise God.”

West was booted off Musk’s Twitter again last week for posting the Nazi symbol inside a Jewish star, which capped a week in which he repeatedly stated “I like Nazis” on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ talk show while praising reviled Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. West — who does not appear to have any new music or fashion projects to promote in the wake of his business empire’s crash — has been on a month-long media tour in which he has sparked widespread condemnation for his endless stream of antisemitic comments.

Without mentioning Ye by name, President Joe Biden issued a pointed statement on the dangers of antisemitism and the embrace of Nazis on Friday. “I just want to make a few things clear: The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure,” Biden tweeted in a statement. “And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides. Silence is complicity.”

The strongly worded statement from Biden starkly contrasted with the recent scene at Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago resort, where the twice-impeached president hosted Ye as well as far right activist and white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who is also known for spewing antisemitic rhetoric. Also present at the lunch that Trump hosted on the high-visibility patio at his golf club was Ye’s apparent 2024 presidential campaign manager — who has reportedly since been fired — professional right-wing troll Milo Yiannopoulos, who has been blocked from most major social media platforms for his slurs against Islam and feminism, and his embrace of antisemitic figures.

West’s repeated amplification of antisemitic tropes and insults comes amid a rising tide of such toxic rhetoric in the nation. In April, the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks anti-Semitic behavior nationwide, reported a 34% rise in anti-Semitic incidents in 2021 (to 2,717), which averaged out to more than seven such incidents per day.

05 Dec 2022

A$AP Rocky Recreates Viral Mosh Pit Meme, Nods to ‘Weekend At Bernie’s‘ in ’S—tin‘ Me’ Music Video: Watch

It’s a weekend at A$AP’s. On Monday (Dec. 5), A$AP Rocky dropped an eclectic music video for his new song “Shittin’ Me,” and it features references to everything from his viral Rolling Loud mosh pit meme to the 1989 dark comedy Weekend at Bernie’s.

The Grin Machine-directed video begins with the 34-year-old rapper feeling on top of the world, wearing a flashy suit as he gives orders to an office of employees, leafing through stacks of dollar bills and dodging paparazzi camera flashes. Things take a turn for the worse, though, when he dives into a mosh pit and gets buried in a sea of fans — just like that viral, meme-generating moment from his Rolling Loud set earlier this year.

Rocky then collapses and dies in an empty room, but that doesn’t stop his “friends” in the video from puppeteering his dead body around town à la Weekend at Bernie’s. They continue benefitting off his fame and fortune, and film a video with him rigged to marionette strings.

Both the Krash-produced song — which dropped Friday (Dec. 2) — and the video were released in collaboration between Rocky’s creative agency AWGE and EA’s new video game Need for Speed Unbound. “Shittin’ Me” is featured in the game, as is the “F–kin Problems” rapper himself; he appears in-game as the leader of a new precision-driving mode called Takeover Events, where players can beat Rocky to win his custom-designed Mercedes 190 E.

“It has been a pleasure getting to be a creative collaborator with EA on the new Need for Speed game,” Rocky said in a statement. “’Shittin’ Me’ serves as the lead track from the game soundtrack and with so much excitement around it, it was only natural to also do a music video. Grin Machine did a great job paying homage to the game collaboration with AWGE with the fun wacky aesthetics, and shout out to krash and hec for the music as always.”

Watch A$AP Rocky’s new music video for “Shittin’ Me” below:

05 Dec 2022

Red Hot Chili Peppers Announce 2023 World Tour Featuring Iggy Pop, The Roots, The Strokes & More

The Red Hot Chili Peppers announced the dates for their 2023 world tour on Monday morning (Dec. 5), a massive outing that will have the veteran pop rock funkers playing a mix of stadium and festival dates. The 23-date tour is support of the two studio albums the Chili Peppers released this year, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen, is slated to kick off on March 29 with a show at BC Place in Vancouver and feature stops in Las Vegas, Minneapolis, San Diego and Phoenix, as well as a slot at the Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama on May 19.

The tour will feature support for a wide variety of rock, pop and hip-hop acts on a rotating basis, including The Strokes, Iggy Pop, The Roots, The Mars Volta, St. Vincent, City and Colour, Thundercat and King Princess. The dates will follow-up on the group’s recently completed 40-date North American/European stadium tour and an upcoming January 2023 swing through Australia and New Zealand featuring opening act Post Malone.

The European portion of their 2023 tour will kick off on June 18 at the Pinkpop fest in Landgraff, NL and feature appearances at a number of summer festivals, including Rock Werchther and Mad Cool, winding down on July 23 with a show at Hampden Park in Glasgow, UK; The Glasgow show was originally scheduled for summer 2022, with all existing tickets for the original date valid for the make-up gig.

Tickets for the tour will go on sale on Friday (Dec. 9) at 10 a.m. local time here.

Check out the RHCP’s 2023 tour dates below: 

March 29 – Vancouver, BC @ BC Place *~

April 1 – Las Vegas, NV @ Allegiant Stadium #~

April 6 – Fargo, ND @ FARGODOME ^~

April 8 – Minneapolis, MN @ US Bank Stadium ^~

April 14 – Syracuse, NY @ JMA Wireless Dome ^~

May 12 – San Diego, CA @ Snap Dragon Stadium >+

May 14 – Phoenix, AZ @ State Farm Stadium ^+

May 17 – San Antonio, TX @ Alamodome ^+

May 19 – Gulf Shores, AL @ Hangout Music Festival =

May 25 – Houston, TX @ Minute Maid Park ^+

June 18 – Landgraaf, NL @ Pinkpop =

June 21 – Warsaw, Poland @ PGE Narodowy < 

June 24 – Odense, DK @ Tinderbox =

June 26 – Mannheim, DE @ Maimarktgelände <

June 30 – Leuven, BE @ Rock Wercther =

July 2 – Milan, IT @ I-Days =

July 6 – Lisbon, PT @ NOS Live =

July 8 – Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool =

July 11 – Lyon, FR @ Groupama Stadium <~

July 14 – Vienna, AT @ Ernst-Happel Stadion <~

July 17 – Carhaix, FR @ Les Vieilles Charrues =

July 21 – London, UK @ Tottenham Hotspur Stadium %~

July 23 – Glasgow, UK @ Hampden Park %~ 

Key

^ The Strokes

< Iggy Pop

% The Roots

# St. Vincent

> The Mars Volta

* City and Colour

+ Thundercat

~ King Princess

= Festival Date

05 Dec 2022

The 1975’s Matty Healy Jams Out With Dashboard Confessional at Audacy Beach Festival

The 1975‘s Matty Healy was back in his safe space on Sunday (Dec. 4) at the Audacy Beach Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida over the weekend when he jumped on stage to join Dashboard Confessional for the final song of the emo band’s set. Healy strapped on an electric guitar and strummed for his life as DC ran through the raucous “Hands Down” from the band’s beloved 2003 album A Mark, A Mission, a Brand, a Scar.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

“Emo multiverse is glitching @dashboardconfessional,” Healy wrote on Instagram along with a clip of the surprise moment.

For longtime fans, however, it wasn’t that much of a stretch for the two men to hit the stage together. Healy has long expressed his love for the Chris Carrabba-fronted band. In 2019, Healy hopped up on stage with DC at St. Pancras Old Church in London where they collaborated on a performance of the 1975’s “Sex,” with DC covered in 2017 on their Covered and Taped covers EP.

It was the latest stage surprise on the 1975’s current North American At Their Very Best tour, during which Healy has rolled out a series of seemingly unscripted moments, including the frontman sneaking a brief, passionate smooch with bassist Ross MacDonald during a show in San Francisco on Nov. 29, laying a kiss on a fan onstage and eating raw meat during a gig.

The 1975 are nearing the end of the tour, which is slated to hit Denver’s Mission Ballroom on Tuesday night (Dec. 6) and wrap up at the Robert Morris University UPMC Events Center in Pittsburgh on Dec. 17.

Check out Healy’s post below.

05 Dec 2022

Aerosmith Cancel Second Las Vegas Residency Gig Due to Steven Tyler’s Illness

Aerosmith informed fans on Sunday night (Dec. 4) that the band’s scheduled Deuces Are Wild Las Vegas residency show scheduled for Monday night (Dec. 5) has been cancelled due to singer Steven Tyler‘s ongoing illness.

“Unfortunately tomorrow’s show, Monday December 5th, in Las Vegas has to be cancelled,” read a Twitter statement from the band. “Steven Tyler said, ‘On the advice of my doctor, I’m taking more time to rest… There is nowhere we’d rather be than on stage surrounded by the greatest fans in the world. We sincerely apologize.”

At press time, the band had not shared any additional information on what is ailing the 74-year-old singer. This is the second show Aerosmith has cancelled this week due to Tyler’s sickness. On Friday they wrote, “it is with great disappointment that we are forced to cancel tonight’s show in Las Vegas due to Steven feeling unwell and unable to perform.”

At the time, they anticipated being back on stage tonight. The band said that tickets purchased through Ticketmaster for the show will be automatically refunded; all other refunds will be available at point of purchase. The band’s current Deuces run is slated to wind up later this week with shows on Thursday (Dec. 8) and Sunday (Dec. 11) and at press time those shows at Dolby Live at Park MGM were still on their schedule.

Earlier this summer, Aerosmith cancelled some shows to allow Tyler to voluntarily enter a treatment program after the singer who has struggled with addiction issues in the past said he relapsed after using pain meds following foot surgery.

Read the band’s statement below.