Music News

03 Jan 2025

Here’s How Justin Bieber Reacted to Not Seeing ‘Queen’ Rihanna Perform Her Own Songs at Karaoke

Justin Bieber is just as bummed as fans are that he didn’t get to see Rihanna‘s latest impromptu performance.

Over the weekend, RiRi made a pitstop at Manhattan’s Girls Love Karaoke, where she took over the stage to perform “Needed Me” and “Sex With Me” from her 2016 album Anti.

“Missed seein u sing Queen,” he wrote on his Instagram Story Friday (Jan. 3) with the goat, crown and shocked reaction emojis over a clip he reshared of his Def Jam labelmate performing “Needed Me.”

“Don’t do too much because, you know, I got five minutes. My battery’s about to burn out. There’s a lot of cameras. I didn’t come here for this s–t,” Rihanna said in a video recap of the event posted to Girls Love Karaoke’s Instagram.

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The last time the “Work” hitmaker delivered a full concert was in March, when she performed during the pre-wedding celebration for Anant Ambani, the son of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, and Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar, India. It was the first time she put on a full show since her Anti World Tour in 2016. Coincidentally, Bieber performed at another of the same couple’s pre-wedding celebration months later, marking the “Sorry” singer’s first performance since he canceled the remainder of his Justice World Tour in 2023 due to health concerns.

Both superstars have been quiet on the music front and have prioritized starting their own families, but Rihanna previously teased that she and her partner A$AP Rocky have been cooking up something new. “I already got stuff that I feel like I could make hits out of,” she told Entertainment Tonight in April. “Me and Rocky are really trying to figure out who’s gonna use what because it’s so good.”

03 Jan 2025

This $34 Beauty Product is the Star of Doechii’s ‘Denial Is a River’ Music Video

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It’s safe to say that Doechii‘s viral sitcom-inspired “Denial Is a River” is already the best music video of 2025. From the vintage Family Matters style visuals, to her captivating rapping, to the surprise guest appearances from Zack Fox and Ricky Thompson, there’s a lot to love. However, there’s one element of the video that’s unexpectedly stealing the show, her makeup.

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The product in question is the Urban Decay Face Bond Luminizer. In the latter half of the video, Doechii puts the makeup on full display as she slowly transitions from the sitcom set to a close-up mirror shot of her getting touch ups. The luminizer is a lightweight, liquid illuminator infused with light-catching shimmer and pearls for a soft-focus glow that lasts all day.

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At only $34, the Face Bond Luminizer comes in eight different shades ranging from deep hues to light pinks; Doechii is wearing the shade “Half-Baked.” It’s made from a waterproof formula containing a nourishing dose of niacinamide, and is sweat-, humidity- and smudge-resistant, giving a golden hour glow for up to 12 hours. It’s made to multi-task and can be applied on bare skin or blended with your fave moisturizer, oil, color product or foundation. Shop the Urban Decay Face Bond Luminizer here.

Following the release of her new video, Doechii will continue to keep up her new year momentum at this year’s Grammy Awards. The Tampa rapper is looking to take home up to three Grammys when the ceremony airs Feb. 2; check out the full list of nominations here.

Watch Doechii’s “Denial Is a River” music video below.

03 Jan 2025

Young Thug Addresses YSL RICO Case on Lil Baby’s New Album ‘WHAM’

Young Thug made his return to music on Friday (Jan. 3) when he appeared on Lil Baby’s new album WHAM for an assist on “Dum, Dumb, and Dumber” with Future.

Thugger doesn’t waste any time addressing his two-plus-year jail stint as part of the enduring YSL RICO case.

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“Yeah, n—a, King Spider back/ I don’t even believe I was locked up, for real, for real/ I was havin’ my way the whole time, fool, you know what I’m saying,” Thug raps about the jail bid over Wheezy’s skittering production.

Young Thug was arrested on racketeering charges in May 2022 and remained behind bars while the longest case in Georgia’s history yet unraveled.

He finally reached a plea deal and secured his release in October, when he was sentenced to 15 years of probation as Thug pleaded guilty to possession of drugs and firearms charges while pleading no contest to a handful of others.

Gunna was also arrested with Thug and 26 others in May 2022 as part of a sprawling 56-count indictment. However, he reached an Alford plea agreement in December 2022 and was released.

In the time since, Gunna has continued to battle allegations of snitching from fans, and Lil Baby, once a sidekick, has distanced himself from affiliating with the YSL rapper. Attorney Steve Sadow, who represented Gunna in the case, has vehemently insisted his client did not cooperate with authorities and had no impact on Young Thug’s case.

“This long post is solely to set out the truth. Gunna did NOT cooperate, and did NOTHING and said NOTHING to cause harm to Thug’s case,” Sadow tweeted in part on Friday (Jan. 3). “He spent 8 months in jail and was released in Dec. 2022 after entering an Alford plea. Gunna’s plea could not and was not used at Thug’s trial and he was never even named as a witness.”

He concluded his message: “THOSE THAT HAVE AND CONTINUE TO BAD MOUTH GUNNA, GET OVER IT. NUFF’ SAID.”

Young Thug hasn’t addressed his relationship with Gunna since his release outside of a since-deleted November tweet snipingat the Atlanta rapper. “Gunna stop acting like we friends on the internet, I don’t know you my guy,” he cryptically penned at the time. Minutes later, the tweet was gone.

Listen to Young Thug on Lil Baby’s “Dum, Dumb, and Dumber” below:

03 Jan 2025

Neil Young to Release ‘Lost’ 1977 Album ‘Oceanside Countryside’

Neil Young is rolling out another gem from the vault. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame icon announced on Friday (Jan. 3) that one of his great “lost” albums, Oceanside Countryside, will be released on February 14 through Reprise Records.

“This analog original album was recorded in 1977 and unreleased. These songs are the original mixes done at the time of the recordings in the order I planned for the album,” Young said in a statement about the latest release in his Analog Original Series (AOS). The album was originally recorded from May-December 1977, just before the release of his 1978 folk/country album Comes a Time, which featured such beloved songs as the title track, “Lotta Love,” “Human Highway,” “Field of Opportunity” and “Four Strong Winds.”

“I sang the vocals and played the instruments on Oceanside in Florida at Triad studios and Malibu at Indigo studio,” Young aded. “I sang the vocals and recorded with my great band of friends, Ben Keith [steel guitar], Joe Osborn [bass], Karl T. Himmel [drums], and Rufus Thibodeaux [fiddle] at Crazy Mama’s in Nashville on Countryside. I hope you enjoy this treasure of an Analog Original recording, recorded by Tim Mulligan, as much as I do. Listening to it now, I think I should have put it out back then.”

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All the songs on Oceanside are performed solo by Young, with a group of friends joining him on Countryside, including Keith, Thibodeaux, Himmel and Osborne, with Tim Drummond on bass for “The Old Homestead,” which also features The Band’s Levon Helm on drums.

In addition to featuring many of the same musicians as Comes a Time, Oceanside Countryside also has a trio of songs (“Goin’ Back,” “Human Highway” and “Field of Opportunity”) that also appear on that album. The vinyl version of Oceanside will include tracks on the CD of the same name from Young’s Archives Vol. III release. Young noted that the tracklist for the upcoming album — which was recorded on tape — reflects how he originally planned to release the LP, which will be available in analog and on vinyl for the first time ever with the original mixes done at the time of the recording.

Though a number of the songs on Oceanside originally appeared on Archives Vol. III, the release noted that the versions are “not always the same.” Specifically, the versions of “Lost in Space,” “Captain Kennedy” and “The Old Homestead” on the analog original vinyl release date from the Hawks & Doves album from 1980. In addition, “Field of Opportunity” and “Dance Dance Dance” are the original versions that have backing vocals from Young instead of Nicolette Larson, whose vocals appeared on Archives Vol. III.

Check out the track listing for Oceanside Countryside below.

Side one: Oceanside

“Sail Away”

“Lost in Space”

“Captain Kennedy”

“Goin’ Back”

“Human Highway”

Side two: Countryside

“Field of Opportunity”

“Dance Dance Dance”

“The Old Homestead”

“It Might Have Been”

“Pocahontas”

03 Jan 2025

Zendaya Was ‘Devastated’ at 13 When Beyoncé Didn’t Sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Her at Concert

Zendaya learned a lesson the hard way at a Beyoncé concert back when the Euphoria actress was 13.

While speaking to W as part of the publication’s best performances package, which went live Friday (Jan. 3), Zendaya revealed that she didn’t have many celebrity crushes as a tween — but she did “have a Beyoncé poster on my wall, because I went to her concert for my 13th birthday,” she said.

The Challengers star went on to share a humbling memory from the show. “I was devastated that she didn’t sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me, because I guess it was close to her birthday and she was singing to the audience,” Zendaya continued. “My dad was like, ‘Do you want me to put you on my shoulders?’ I was like, ‘No, that’s so embarrassing.’”

“Then, after, I was like, ‘Damn, I should have let him put me on his shoulders so she would’ve seen me,’” the Golden Globe winner added. “Thirteen-year-old me was very devastated that Beyoncé didn’t sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her.”

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The “Break My Soul” singer may not have noticed 13-year-old Zendaya that day, but Bey certainly would in the future. In 2016, the Dune actress appeared alongside the 32-time Grammy winner in the latter’s Lemonade album film, and Bey’s mom, Tina Knowles, even said in April that Z reminds the matriarch of her famous eldest daughter.

In addition to the concert, Zendaya also opened up about another experience from her teens that she’s still a little salty about: coming in second place on season 16 of Dancing With the Stars. The then-16-year-old performer — whose dance partner was Val Chmerkovskiy — lost out to Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough in 2013, something which Zendaya said she’s “still harboring a little animosity.”

“I felt that loss,” she told W. “I was only 16 years old, and it was highly stressful. Being on live television every week? It’s so scary. I took it very seriously, which, in retrospect, I wish I didn’t. I wish I’d enjoyed it a little bit more and just was like, ‘Eh, whatever.’ You know what I mean? But I was stressing myself out. I really went through it on that.”

See Zendaya on the cover of W below.

03 Jan 2025

Bad Bunny Reveals Tracklist for Upcoming Album ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’

Bad Bunny revealed the tracklist to his upcoming sixth studio album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, on Friday (Jan. 3). 

The Puerto Rican artist — who first teased “17 bomb tracks” on his X account on Christmas Day — revealed all of the track titles in an Instagram carousel post simply captioned with a baby blue heart. The first photo shows two plastic chairs under a plantain tree, whereas the second had the album’s tracklist. 

With song titles such as “Nuevayol,” “Voy a Llevarte Pa PR,” “Welita” (“grandmother”), “Veldá” (“truth”) and the recently released “Pitorro de Coco,” Bad Bunny’s new set is an ode to his native Puerto Rico and its people. 

A yellow sticker of a coqui (the island’s native frog) with the phrase “Puerto Rico, we’re still here” further emphasizes that sentiment. He also reeled in a group of emerging and well-known Puerto Rican collaborators including Dei V, Omar Courtz, Rainao, Chuwi and Pleneros de la Cresta. 

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The set of songs comes just moments after the artist dropped a melancholic short film that was written and directed by Benito himself and Arí Maniel Cruz Suárez. It features iconic filmmaker Jacobo Morales — who starred in Bad Bunny’s teaser video that announced his new album — and Morales’ loyal friend Concho (voiced by Kenneth Canales).

A contrast to his 2023 trap-heavy Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, Bunny’s sixth project “is dedicated to all of the Puerto Ricans and the Puerto Ricans around the world,” as written on the album’s tracklist art. See it in his Instagram carousel below:

03 Jan 2025

Ariana Grande Says She Checks Up on ‘Love Is Blind’ Couples to ‘Make Sure They’re Still Together’

Ariana Grande is a hopeless romantic when it comes to Love Is Blind, which the singer revealed is her favorite reality TV series in a recent interview with W. 

In her cover story for the publication’s best performances issue published Friday (Jan. 3), the 31-year-old singer-actress gushed that the experimental Netflix dating series is “just fantastic.” The show – which premiered in 2020 — blindly pairs up singles who aren’t allowed to see one another in person until they get engaged, at which point they have just a few weeks to live together before deciding whether they want to get married or part ways. 

The legitimacy of the concept might raise some eyebrows, but Grande said that she has faith the show’s couples can go the distance. “Of course, I do,” she said. “Some of them do. I check sometimes.” 

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“I’ll go to Instagram and find these people and make sure they’re still together,” the “Yes, And?” singer added. “I need to know what’s happening.” 

Grande was one of several stars who posed for W‘s best performances package, for which she also spoke about her career-shifting role as Glinda in Jon Chu’s Wicked films. Her co-leading lady, Cynthia Erivo, as well as Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldańa, Zendaya, Paul Mescal and more also all spoke to the magazine about their respective breakout film projects this year. 

In addition to all things Wicked and Love Is Blind, the R.E.M. Beauty founder also told the publication about the movie that’s always guaranteed to make her cry — and it’s not one you might expect. “The Waterboy, with Adam Sandler, makes me cry,” Grande said. “When they’re mean to Bobby Boucher, I cry. I don’t like it. I love Bobby Boucher.”  

“He says, ‘Would you please still be my friend?’ and I lose it,” she added before conceding, “But I cry at everything.” 

Watch Grande’s video interview above, and see her on the cover of W below.

03 Jan 2025

Jennifer Lopez Rocks Black String Bikini and Furry Boots In Aspen Vacation Pics

Jennifer Lopez rang in 2025 in style. The singer posted a round-up of her late 2024 Colorado getaway on Instagram on Thursday (Jan. 2), including a revealing pic in which the 55-year-old singer/actress stripped down to a black string bikini matched with furry boots and a black hat.

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“We’ll be back Aspen,” Lopez captioned the video soundtracked by Moto Bandit’s “Daylight Doom.” In the clip, a smiling Lopez is surrounded by her crew, who match her vibe with their own bespoke cowboy hats and Western wear as they watch the star do a hoe down near a Christmas tree.

Elsewhere, Lopez trims a different tree, stares into the camera while wearing a fuzzy wool hat, goofs around with her 16-year-old twins with ex Marc Anthony, Emme and Max, and hits the slopes. There are snowmen galore, as well as a late night fireworks display viewed from a sleigh driven by one of her friends. Lopez spent the holidays in the Colorado ski town, as evidenced by earlier videos posted on Christmas Eve of a family hang and snaps of the kids opening presents on Christmas Day.

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One conspicuous absence in the videos and pics was Lopez estranged husband Ben Affleck, with whom she split in August after two years of marriage; E! News reported that the couple were spotted hanging out a few days before Christmas in Los Angeles.

After starring in the Netflix sci-fi flick Atlas last year and the wrestling drama Unstoppable, Lopez will be seen next in the latest film adaptation of the musical drama Kiss of the Spider Woman, where she will take on the lead role of Ingrid Luna alongside co-star Diego Luna.

03 Jan 2025

Lil Baby Releases New Album ‘WHAM’ Featuring Young Thug, Future & More: Stream It Now

After lying low, Lil Baby said it was his turn to kick off 2025. The Atlanta rapper sets the tone for the year with the arrival of his WHAM album on Friday (Jan. 3).

Short for Who Hard As Me, WHAM serves as Baby’s fourth studio album and features a loaded cast of Young Thug, Future, Travis Scott, Rod Wave, GloRilla, 21 Savage and more throughout the 15 tracks.

Coinciding with the project’s release, Lil Baby released a black-and-white visual for early album standout “F U 2X” directed by Shaq Simmons.

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Fans’ eyes are being drawn to “Dum, Dumb, and Dumber” featuring Super Slimey running mates Future and Young Thug. It’s Thugger’s return to music with his first official verse since reaching a plea deal in the YSL RICO trial and being released from jail in October after two years behind bars.

“Yeah, n—a, King Spider back/ I don’t even believe I was locked up, for real, for real/ I was havin’ my way the whole time, fool, you know what I’m saying,” Thug raps about his jail bid.

Thugger even took to X to clarify one of his bars regarding the beauty of American women.

“When I said these U.S b—–s kinda bad I meant ‘bad girls’ not ugly girls.. we got the prettiest girls on earth,” he wrote.

This is not all for Lil Baby, either. In an Instagram comment on Friday, he promised a fan that he’s planning to roll out a deluxe edition of WHAM on Jan. 7. There’s also a full-length second project slated for later in 2025.

Stream WHAM below.

03 Jan 2025

Bruce Springsteen Praises Jeremy Allen White’s Singing in ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’ Biopic

Bruce Springsteen has been spending time hanging around the set for the upcoming biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere and so far he’s very impressed with the movie’s star, Jeremy Allen White. The actor best known for playing perpetually harried chef Carmy Berzatto on The Bear has been filming the movie that will tell the story behind the making of the Boss’ stark 1982 character-heavy album Nebraska.

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In a recent chat with SiriusXM E Street Radio’s Jim Rotolo, Springsteen, 75, talked about whether it’s been strange to be on set as he watches Allen portray a thirtysomething version of him. “A little bit at first, but you get over that pretty quick and Jeremy is such a terrific actor that you just fall right into it,” Springsteen said. “He’s got an interpretation of me that I think the fans will deeply recognize and he’s just done a great job, so I’ve had a lot of fun. I’ve had a lot of fun being on the set when I can get there.”

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More importantly, at a time when Timothée Chalamet is earning praise for his original vocals in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, Rotolo wondered what The Boss thinks of White’s singing in the film. “He sings well. He sings very well,” Springsteen said. “You know, and Jeremy Strong [as Springsteen’s longtime manager Jon Landau] and Odessa Young [as then-girlfriend Faye], you know, it’s a tremendous cast of people. They cast the film beautifully, so it’s very exciting.”

Directed and written by Scott Cooper, the adaptation of Warren Zanes’ book of the same name, the movie has gotten full support from Springsteen. Last year, White told GQ that in addition to hours and hours of video study to nail Bruce’s signature raspy singing and speaking cadence he’s also been working with a vocal coach.

“I’ve got a really talented group of people helping me train vocally, musically, to get ready for this thing,” White told the magazine. “I’m also really lucky [that] Bruce is really supportive of the film, and so I’ve had some access to him and he’s just the greatest guy.” Before cameras started rolling, White was asked last June if he planned to do his own singing in the film, telling Variety, “we’re gonna try, we’re gonna try our best.”

In the same interview with Rotolo, Springsteen also confirmed a late 2024 press release teasing that this year will bring a new collection that will “look back at Springsteen’s storied recording career, featuring never-before-heard material.” When Rotolo asked about that release teasing unheard tunes, Springsteen simply confirmed, “there will be.” The singer also debuted a new song called “Girlfriend” in honor of late Replacement’s guitarist Slim Dunlap on the episode.

Listen to the interview below.