Music News
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Hey, pigs! All of our dreams practically came true when Nine Inch Nails announced in January that the band was hitting the road for the Peel It Back world tour in 2025. (“Practically,” because some of us are still awaiting that new album announcement.) It didn’t take long after the news arrived for fans to […]
A day ahead of El Clásico, Travis Scott made his debut in Barcelona with a thrilling concert on May 10, which Spotify has now turned into a short film. Spotify Presents: Travis Scott Live From Barcelona arrived on the streaming service’s platform on Thursday (June 5) about a month after Scott hit the Spanish stage […]
1D has hit 1B — again. More than a decade after its release, the music video for One Direction‘s “Night Changes” has surpassed a billion views on YouTube, marking the band’s fourth visual to reach the milestone. Directed by Ben Winston and posted in November 2014, the “Night Changes” music video gave fans the chance […]
Arthur Fonzarelli could have had a way different vibe if the team behind beloved 1970s/early ’80s sitcom Happy Days had gone with their second choice. At least according to The Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz, who told People magazine that back in the day he auditioned for the role of the jukebox-smacking, shark-jumping bad boy with a heart of gold.
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After his run on The Monkees (1966-1968), the last surviving member of that American fab four said he was on the hunt for a role that would break him out of the mop top drummer cage, so in 1973 he auditioned for the role of Arthur “The Fonzie” Fonzarelli, the leather jacket-wearing greaser next door who became the break-out star of the show.
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“I almost got it,” Dolenz, 80, said. “Supposedly it was between me and Henry [Winkler]. He remembers it too. The story I heard is that he was in the waiting room, saw me come in, and thought, ‘Oh s–t, I’ll never get this — Micky Dolenz is here!’ So we laugh about it now. He’s a good friend and a brilliant talent.”
While Yale School of Drama grad Winkler came into his audition with plenty of stage experience and roles in the indie movies The Lords of Flatbush and Crazy Joe, Dolenz was already a seasoned TV pro by the time he auditioned for Happy Days. At 11, he got the lead role of Corky in the adventure series Circus Boy, which ran on NBC for one season before jumping to ABC for another short run in 1957. A young Dolenz then scored a few TV roles in the late 1950s and early 1960s — credited as Micky Braddock — before being cast as Micky on The Monkees alongside Michael Nesmith, Davy Jones and Peter Tork.
When that show ended, Dolenz decided to focus on directing and producing, realizing that his gig as the spacey, floppy-haired drummer would likely get him typecast like his father, George Dolenz, an actor he said got pegged as a “swashbuckling romantic lead in sword-fighting movies” such as The Purple Mask and Sign of the Pagan.
“After Circus Boy, I went to a few auditions as a 12-year-old, and the minute I walked in, they’d say, ‘Circus Boy’! That’s just typical in this business. I knew it was par for the course,” said Dolenz, who added that after the Monkees it was more of the same. “‘What are you doing here? We don’t need any drummers!’” he said casting directors would tell him.
Following his pivot to a number of small movie roles and voice work on dozens of cartoons in the 1970s, “I’m a Believer” singer Dolenz said he has no regrets about the one that got away. “Oh my God, he’s just so good,” he said of Winkler, who parlayed his iconic role into a fifty-plus year career on TV (Mork & Mindy, Arrested Development) and movies (Night Shift, The French Dispatch). “I was definitely not as good as he was. Come on — he was The Fonz! He had that New York, New Jersey thing down. I’m from Southern California. It wasn’t gonna happen!,” Dolenz said.
Dolenz is going on tour this summer with his Songs & Stories tour, which mixes his iconic hits with stories about fellow L.A. legends such as Joni Mitchell, David Crosby and Jim Morrison. The tour is slated to kick off on August 11 at the Ocean City Music Pier in Ocean City, NJ.
ESPN is giving Lil Wayne fans a sneak peek at his The Carter VI album mere hours before it arrives. Unreleased track “The Days” featuring Bono has been used in a promo ad for game one of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday (June 5). “I pledge allegiance […]
Tiësto and Sexyy Red are revving their engines with the just-released collab “OMG!”
The slinky song, in which Sexyy Red opines about maxing out credit cards, breaking the rules and being “too high to be cool” over the Dutch producer’s woozy beat, comes from the forthcoming soundtrack to the Brad Pitt-starring racing film F1.
“Who would have thought that Tiësto would have a collab with Sexyy Red?” the producer recently told Billboard backstage at EDC Las Vegas. “No one, absolutely no one, but here it is, and it’s an amazing track. I think people will really like it. It’s super dance.”
“OMG!” has been in the works for awhile, with Tiësto playing it during a huge performance in October at the annual dance gathering ADE. The track comes from the F1 the Album soundtrack, with the corresponding film hitting theaters on June 27, the same day the soundtrack will be released.
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This soundtrack brings together a collection of musical titans including music by Dom Dolla (who’s slick contribution “No Room For a Saint” came out last month), Doja Cat, ROSÉ, Peggy Gou, Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran, Raye, Burna Boy, Roddy Rich, Madison Beer, Tate McRae, Don Toliver and Myke Towers.
Tiësto, a known racing fan, also makes a cameo in the film, which stars Pitt as an aging F1 driver who returns to the sport after a long absence, along with Damson Idris, Kerry Condon and Javier Bardem. F1 The Movie was directed by Joseph Kosinski, who also directed the global blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick.
Listen to “OMG!” below:
Lorde revealed in a new interview that she has multiple favorite songs from her upcoming album, Virgin. But on the other side of the coin, there’s one that she can’t even listen to because of how raw it is — and it’s about a pretty NSFW topic.
Speaking to Jake Shane on an episode of his Therapuss podcast posted Wednesday (June 4), the New Zealand native shared that track seven — which is named after a popular pregnancy test brand — is particularly emotional for her. “There’s a song that I love so much called ‘Clearblue’ that is about unprotected sex,” she began, laughing.
“And just the experience of taking a pregnancy test, and like, this flood of emotions that goes through your body,” she continued, noting that the track is one of several “slammers” on the album. “Whatever you want to say — it’s such a moment.”
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“That whole song just destroys me,” Lorde added. “I can’t even really listen to it.”
According to the pop star, “Clearblue” is one of several songs on Virgin that features sexual content, despite the album’s contradicting name. She explained to Shane of the title, “It speaks to a sort of purity, but the album is quite sexual, so it wasn’t sexual purity … virgin steel, virgin hair, all of these things that denote purity, but I’m also kind of always trying to take me to my teen self.”
Arriving June 27, Virgin will mark Lorde’s first album in four years. In the weeks leading up to its release, she’s been open about how the confluence of stopping birth control, recovering from disordered eating habits and embracing her gender fluidity have shaped the project’s direction.
The album’s subject matter and percussive, electric sound are expected to mark a distinct shift from the Grammy winner’s last project, Solar Power, which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. That LP found Lorde singing about her gravitation toward a more peaceful, unplugged lifestyle after years of living the pop-star life following the successes of 2013 debut album Pure Heroine and 2017 follow-up Melodrama. But on Therapuss, she revealed that the concept of Solar Power doesn’t really resonate with who she is today.
“I love Solar Power so much, and I truly needed to make it,” she told Shane. “I wouldn’t be here with another album if I hadn’t made Solar Power, but I think it showed me that you sort of just have no choice but to be what you’re supposed to be. Me sort of disappearing and being all wafty and on the beach, I was just like, ‘Actually, I don’t think this is me.’ I just am this person that’s meant to make bangers that f–k us all up … I love to vibe out. That is me to my core.”
Watch Lorde’s full Therapuss interview above.
K-Pop boy band ENHYPEN dropped their sixth mini album, DESIRE: UNLEASH, on Thursday (June 5), an 8-track collection of upbeat dance pop tunes produced by Grammy-winner Cirkut (Katy Perry, Lady Gaga). Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The EP opens with the midtempo tune “Flashover” and features […]
Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” has become an anthem for the Edmonton Oilers, and the hit played throughout Rogers Place arena after the Oilers won game one of the Stanley Cup against the Florida Panthers in overtime on Wednesday night (June 4). NHL icon and former Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky was in the building as […]
Everything definitely changes for good in Wicked‘s second part, with the sequel’s new trailer showing how Oz is turned upside down by the actions of Ariana Grande‘s Glinda and Cynthia Erivo‘s Elphaba — as well as the entry of a certain gingham-wearing Kansan.
Arriving late Wednesday (June 4) as the first Wicked film returned to theaters for one night only in North America, the For Good teaser gave fans their first full taste of what’s to come in the darker, more intense sequel. “Elphaba Thropp, I know you’re out here — just come in before the monkeys spot you,” the blonde “Yes, And?” singer says in its opening scene, stepping out onto a balcony before the green-ified Pinocchio star silently appears, spooking her.
The nearly three-minute trailer then previews how the film’s plot unfurls, with the former best friends fully stepping into their chosen fates. Elphaba busies herself trying to expose the corruption helmed by the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), while Glinda dons a tiara and becomes the people’s princess of the Emerald City, playing directly into the faux warlock’s agenda. At one point, Grande’s character walks down the aisle in a dramatic wedding dress to marry Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), who leads the hunt against the banished Elphaba before appearing to turn back to the pointy-hatted heroine’s side.
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“For a while there, I thought you’d changed,” she tells him during one tense moment.
“I have changed,” Bailey whispers back.
The trailer comes as there’s still several months to go before Wicked: For Good hits theaters in November, one year after the first installment in the Jon M. Chu-directed duology premiered. The 2024 movie was a massive success, so far grossing upward of $755.9 million worldwide — more than any other film adaptation of a Broadway musical — and winning two Oscars at the 2025 ceremony.
The Part 1 soundtrack also performed splendidly, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The new For Good trailer gives fans a taste of the film cast’s takes on the second half of the Wicked stage musical’s songbook, with Grande and Erivo delivering a few emotionally charged lines of tear-jerking duet “For Good.”
“Because I knew you, I have been changed for good,” they sing over a shot of the Tony winner telling a tearful Glinda, “You’re the only friend I’ve ever had.”
The trailer also shows several clips teasing one of the most pivotal developments of the musical’s second half: Dorothy Gale’s arrival in Oz. Though viewers never see her face directly, there are shots of her in her signature blue-checkered dress, walking down the Yellow Brick Road with Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. Viewers also see the iconic foursome standing before Goldblum as he commands them to “bring me the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West.”
In an interview with Vanity Fair published the same day as the trailer’s release, Chu discusses how he approached including the Judy Garland-originated character — who only ever appears as a shadow in the Wicked stage musical — in the films. “That intersection is the place that we were first introduced into Oz,” the director told the publication, which also shared brand new first-look photos.
“We tread lightly, but try to make more sense of how it impacts our girls and our characters than maybe the show does,” he continued. “We’re delicate.”
Watch the first Wicked: For Good trailer above.