Music News

03 Jan 2025

Sabrina Carpenter Shares (Then Immediately Breaks) Her NSFW New Year’s Resolution for 2025

Sabrina Carpenter‘s list of new year‘s resolutions is short and sweet — but that doesn’t mean she’s not already having trouble keeping them.

In a hilarious Instagram post Thursday (Jan. 2), the 25-year-old pop star shared photos from a recent ski trip with friends and wrote, “new year’s resolution no more d–k jokes.”

Then, already going back on her word, Carpenter added, “it’s gonna be really hard.”

In some of the snaps, the “Taste” singer poses in front of a snowy backdrop in a glamorous blue snowflake-patterned dress, a ski lift running across the horizon behind her. In others, she models a Hello Kitty snowsuit while frolicking in the snow with her friends.

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Carpenter also shared footage from her trip to the slopes on TikTok, featuring clips of her friends singing karaoke, hitting a piñata, hanging out in a hot tub and throwing snowballs. “leaving these losers in 2024 :’) they don’t know it yet,” she joked in her caption.

The Girl Meets World alum’s vacation is well-deserved after a year of hard work that paid off big time for Carpenter in 2024. Following the runaway success of her summer smash “Espresso,” the musician scored her first-ever No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Please Please Please,” spent four weeks atop the Billboard 200 with Short n’ Sweet and was named Billboard‘s No. 2 greatest pop star of 2024 (outranked only by Kendrick Lamar).

Going into 2025, Carpenter is gearing up to continue her Short n’ Sweet Tour with a European leg kicking off in March. She’s also nominated for six Grammys ahead of the February ceremony, including best new artist and song, record and album of the year.

See Carpenter’s TikTok below.

03 Jan 2025

PinkPantheress Posts Studio Pic and Teases Her Return: ‘Oh We Are Sooo Back #2025’

PinkPantheress is prepping a return this year. The 23-year-old English singer/songwriter born Victoria Walker who cancelled all her remaining 2024 tour dates in August — including planned gigs opening for Olivia Rodrigo and Coldplay and her own Capable of Love headlining tour — to focus on her “physical health and overall wellbeing” teased a re-emergence on her socials this week.

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“oh we are soooo back #2025,” the “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” singer wrote on X alongside two snaps of her working a laptop in what looks like a home studio. “i missed y’all [heart emoji] thanks for waiting on me.”

PP has been mostly off the radar since her August announcement, in which she wrote. “It is with the heaviest heart that sadly have to announce that i will not be able to continue with the rest of my live shows this year in order to focus on my physical health and overall wellbeing. It appears i have reached a wall which i am struggling to penetrate through. this will include my GUTS tour, Field Day, Summer Sonic, FORM, III Points, and Australia/NZ appearances.”

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Though the news was disappointing, Pantheress promised fans at the time that she will be back on stage when she’s feeling better. “I would like to thank all of you, as well as my touring team and Olivia for giving me the platform to perform some super fun shows,” she said. “I’m sad to disappoint anyone and can only hope we will be in each other’s company once i return to health.”

Though no new music has been formally announced, the singer appears to have been working hard on her sophomore release, promising “new music soon” on Instagram last August.

PinkPantheress broke out in 2021 while still at university when she posted the single “Break It Off” on TikTok, which led to the 2022 release of her breakthrough single, “Boy’s a Liar,” later remixed with Ice Spice in a version that hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. She released her debut album, Heaven Knows, in 2023 and her most recent solo single was last year’s “Turn It Up“; she also appeared on 2024 collabs with Kaytranada (“Snap My Finger”) and Le Sserafim (“Crazy”).

03 Jan 2025

Neil Young Reverses Glastonbury Withdrawal, Cites ‘Error’ for Earlier Stance

Neil Young has announced that he will be headlining Glastonbury Festival in June, just days after he said that he would withdraw from the festival and called it a “corporate turn-off.”

Earlier this week (Jan. 1), Young wrote on his website: “The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all time favorite outdoor gigs,” Young wrote in the brief update. “We were told that BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in. It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being.”

He continued, “We will not be playing Glastonbury on this tour because it is a corporate turn-off, and not for me like it used to be. Hope to see you at one of the other venues on the tour.”

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The Canadian rocker made a new statement on his website on Friday (Jan. 3) posting: “Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury festival, which I always have loved. Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!”

The festival will take place at Worthy Farm, Somerset in England on June 25-29, and he will perform with his new band The Chrome Hearts. Young previously topped the bill in June 2009.

At the time of his withdrawal, Young did not expand on the role that the BBC had played in his decision to withdraw. The BBC has been a longtime partner of the festival, broadcasting performances across television, radio and online. In 2009, the BBC broadcast a number of Young’s songs on its channels. In recent years entire sets from headliners have been broadcast live; in 2024, Coldplay and Dua Lipa’s sets were streamed globally on the BBC website.

Festival boss Emily Eavis confirmed the news on her personal Instagram account: “What a start to the year! Neil Young is an artist who’s very close to our hearts at Glastonbury. He does things his own way and that’s why we love him. We can’t wait to welcome him back here to headline the Pyramid in June.”

Young is the first headliner confirmed for 2025’s edition. Other names such as The 1975, Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles, Sam Fender and more have all been rumoured to appear. Sir Rod Stewart will take on the traditional Legend’s Slot on the Sunday afternoon.

In November 2024, Young revealed plans for a European tour, which will feature mostly outdoor venues. He followed up with another message on Wednesday (Jan. 1), telling Neil Young Archives readers that “tour announcements for the summer are coming very soon.”

03 Jan 2025

The Wanted’s Max George Headed Back to Hospital After Strange ‘Flicking’ Feeling in Chest Following Heart Surgery

The Wanted‘s Max George has given fans another update about his health. After revealing plans to spend the Christmas holiday in hospital to deal with an undisclosed heart problem, the 36-year-old former boy bander said he is headed back to deal with some additional issues.

In an Instagram video posted earlier this week, George noted that he’d had a pacemaker installed to help regulate his heartbeat before saying that he was scheduled to go back to the hospital again this week due to some issues with the device. “I’ve been getting this flicking feeling in the left side of my chest,” he said in the clip in which he’s petting his bulldog Albert.

“I’m actually getting it right now,” he said in the video. “I was wondering if you guys knew what it might be or if you’ve experienced it yourself because the doctors aren’t too sure. Maybe it’s touching a nerve and it’ll go away in time or they might have to move a wire slightly, but I’m all ears because all I’m doing is research. I know nothing about pacemakers. This came completely out of the blue. Any information I could get would be most appreciated.”

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Fans, of course, were more than happy to weigh in after George captioned the post with a request for any help his followers might be able offer. “Hubby has heart failure and has an ICD fitted (defibrillator + pacemaker in one) and he has a Boston Device on his bedside cabinet which downloads automatically and sends to the hospital. He had a shock – the hospital knew and called us straight away. They also know when he paces irregularly. Look into this Max. You’ll be okay,” wrote one.

Another said their mom is a nurse and she said that it was likely just the pacemaker’s battery regulating his heartbeat and that things should be fine, while another one had a similar device installed said they’ve had that feeling before and it’s likely a matter of needing a small adjustment.

In a December 10 update, George posted a picture of his chest after the pacemaker surgery, writing, “Say hello to my little friend! Given the last 10 days, this is the best Christmas present I could have ever wished for. Pacemaker is in. Operation took around 2 and half hours. The main issue being some of my veins had collapsed where the wires were meant to go… But the hospital surgeons, doctors and nurses at the NHS have been incredible. I owe everything to them.”

He added that the surgeon installed the device just under a “very special tattoo” on his chest, the date 04.08.1988, the birth date of his former Wanted bandmate, Tom Parker, who died in 2022 at age 33 due to brain cancer.

While it’s been a rough month, on New Year’s Eve George gave thanks for everything he has, writing, “2024.. Certainly a year I won’t forget! So lucky to have the life that I have. I can’t wait for the next chapter, no matter what challenges lie ahead. I wish everyone an amazing night tonight.. and that 2025 brings you good health and the best year!”

British boy band The Wanted – whose other members inclue Nathan Sykes, Jay McGuiness, Siva Kaneswaran and the late Parker — went on indefinite hiatus in 2014. After Parker’s death, the living members reunited to re-record their song “Gold Forever” in his honor. George and Kaneswaran got together earlier this year to form The Wanted 2.0, with the duo touring the U.K. last summer, with brief another run of English dates planned for this year, including a pair of summer festival gigs.

Check out George’s video below.

03 Jan 2025

Kesha Thanks Animals For Helping ‘Tik Tok’ Have Its Best Day Ever on Spotify: ‘Ya’ll Give Me Purpose’

Just a few days in, Kesha is already having a killer 2025. The “Delusional” singer took to X on Thursday (Jan. 2) to crow about the fact that her debut single, “Tik Tok,” is back on top again. “It was 15 years ago that I got my first #1 song! YALL did that. And the fact that tiktok had its biggest streaming day EVER yesterday blows my mind. Thank you for supporting my art yall give me purpose,” she wrote.

After performing the song on Dick Clark’s New York Rockin Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2025, the track — which was the lead single from Kesha’s 2010 debut album, Animal — earned its most-streamed day ever on Spotify. According to a chart Kesha shared, the song that has nearly 1.4 billion streams to date, got a major NYE bump, picking up nearly two million streams over the past few days for a 98% spike.

“This song is for the wild ones, the party girls, the ones who go too hard and laugh too loud and say too much. I love u,” Kesha added. “thank you animals!!! Now Alexa play TikTok LOUDER PLEASE.”

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“Tik Tok” was released in August 2009, but didn’t hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 until the first week of January 2010, giving Kesha the first chart-topper of the decade; it then spent nine weeks at the pinnacle and a total of 38 weeks on the chart.

Wearing a fire engine red bodysuit and matching boots, Kesha rocked the stage on New Year’s Eve, where she also performed her current single, “Joyride,” which is slated to appear on her upcoming studio album on her own Kesha Records imprint.

See Kesha’s post and her NYE “Tik Tok” performance below.

02 Jan 2025

Motörhead’s Mikkey Dee Details Near-Death Sepsis Diagnosis

Former Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee says he’s lucky to be alive following a sepsis diagnosis over the holiday period.

The Swedish percussionist shared news of his health scare on social media on Thursday (Dec. 2), explaining that he had been hospitalized following a blood infection he described as “very serious”.

“I was admitted for three weeks but now I am home fighting this bastard bacteria,” he shared. “Thankfully, I have received fantastic care at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, my hometown.

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“So thanks a million to all the Doctors and Nurses that have been giving me the most excellent care,” he added. “After several operations, I am now back home and the numbers are all going in the right direction. Still lots of recovery and rehab in front of me.”

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In an interview with Swedish publication Aftonbladet, Dee expanded upon the experience. He told the outlet that what began as a simple sprain quickly evolved into something far worse on the weekend before Christmas.

“The ankle swelled up like hell, then it took on a weird shape and appearance and looked like an overcooked ham,” Dee said. “I became very ill so I had to go by ambulance to Sahlgrenska and there they found that I had sky-high values, so I became priority one there.

“It was surgery right away, the first of three. They cut away what was dead and infected and badly infested. It was not a good journey I was on… Another day and I’d be playing drums with Lemmy in heaven. I can say that.”

In some strange synchronicity, Dee’s brush with death occurred almost nine years to the day since his Motörhead bandmate Lemmy Kilmister passed away, on Dec. 28, 2015. Notably, his health scare also took place mere weeks after he took to social media to refute premature reports of his death.

First rising to fame as a member of Danish outfit King Diamond in the ’80s, a stint with Don Dokken saw Dee recruited by Motörhead to replace Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor on drums. Dee would remain with the group until their 2015 dissolution in the wake of Lemmy’s passing, and joined German rockers the Scorpions the following year.

02 Jan 2025

V & Park Hyo Shin’s ‘Winter Ahead’ Wins Favorite 2024 K-Pop Song in Fan-Voted Poll

V and Park Hyo Shin got festive to wrap up 2024, and it earned them a win on Billboard‘s recent fan-voted poll for best K-pop song of the year.

Getting into the spirit of the season, fans voted for V and Park Hyo Shin’s collaboration, “Winter Ahead,” which won the competition with 50% of the votes. Closely following in second place was V’s BTS bandmate Jung Kook with “Never Let Go.” ATEEZ’s “Ice on My Teeth” came in third, followed by TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s “Deja Vu” and aespa’s “Supernova.”

V has long been open about his love of jazz, and personally reached out to Park — with whom he has a “longstanding friendship,” according to a press release — to record “Winter Ahead” together. The track was written by Jesse Harris, the songwriter behind Norah Jones’ contemporary jazz-pop staple “Don’t Know Why.”

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The 29-year-old superstar also released a hardcover photo book called TYPE 1 over the summer. “V participated in every step of the planning and production, from selecting the travel destination to deciding on the title and the photobook’s components, culminating in a 224-page photobook packed with various moments he wishes to share with ARMY,” according to a post about the project on HYBE’s app.

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Back in March, V dropped his first post-military enlistment single, “FRI(END)S,” which was written entirely in English. The song followed his September 2023 EP Layover.

For 2025, V is set to reunite with his BTS bandmates after the group members all complete their mandatory South Korean military service.

See the full list of results for the 2024 K-pop song poll below.

02 Jan 2025

Billie Eilish’s ‘Birds of a Feather’ Closes Out 2024 as Spotify’s Most-Streamed Song of the Year

Billie Eilish‘s “Birds of a Feather” soared to even higher heights just before the new year, with the Hit Me Hard and Soft track becoming Spotify‘s most-streamed song of 2024.

As announced Thursday (Jan. 2) by Interscope, “Birds of a Feather” moved to the top spot of the streamer’s year-end song statistics in the final weeks of 2024. On Spotify, the song boasted a total of 1.781 billion streams at press time.

The soaring ballad was previously named the third-most-streamed song in Spotify’s 2024 Wrapped, bested only by Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” at the time. The former’s fizzy summer anthem now has 1.778 billion streams on the platform.

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The news comes less than eight months after the nine-time Grammy winner released “Birds of a Feather” along with the rest of her third studio album. The track reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the LP debuted at the penultimate spot on the Billboard 200. In September, Eilish dropped a paranormal music video for “Birds of a Feather” directed by Aidan Zamiri, and in October, she performed the song on Saturday Night Live.

Eilish is currently on break from her Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour, which wrapped its North American leg Dec. 21 after a five-night stay at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. She’ll pick back up again February for a run of shows in Australia in February and March followed by a European leg kicking off in April.

See Interscope’s announcement below.

02 Jan 2025

Jimin’s ‘Muse’ Wins Favorite 2024 K-Pop Album in Fan-Voted Poll

It was a landmark 2024 for Jimin, and the star snagged yet another win in Billboard’s recent fan-voted poll for best K-pop album of 2024.

With 41% of the votes, the singer’s Muse took the victory. However, four of the top five was claimed by Jimin’s BTS bandmates, with Jin’s Happy coming in second, RM’s Right Place, Wrong Person in third and J-Hope’s Hope on the Street, Vol. 1 in fourth. Stray Kids’ ATE rounded out the top five.

Muse marked Jimin’s second solo project following his 2023 Face EP, and the highly anticipated album arrived in July. The effort marked his second straight album to enter at the runner-up position on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, while the set’s single “Who” bows at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Global 200 — his first solo leader on the latter chart.

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Jimin rounded out the year with an immersive exhibit a the Ace Missions Studios in Los Angeles titled “The Truth Untold,” which gave fans a look into his creative process, as well as a peek into his personal diaries, lyric notebooks and other behind-the-scenes materials.

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For 2025, Jimin is set to reunite with his BTS bandmates after the group members all complete their mandatory South Korean military service.

See the full list of results for the 2024 K-pop album poll below.

02 Jan 2025

50 Cent Calls Danielle Fishel ‘Fine Forever’ After Meeting ‘Boy Meets World’ Star at Las Vegas Show

A quarter-century after Boy Meets World ended, 50 Cent is finally meeting the girl. Following his recent show in Las Vegas, the rapper posed with Danielle Fishel — who played Topanga Lawrence on the iconic series — and wrote afterward on Instagram that the actress is going to be “fine” forever.

In a photo posted on New Year’s Eve, both Fifty and Fishel smile at the camera while standing close together, the “In Da Club” artist making finger guns while stretching one arm behind the Girl Meets World alum’s shoulder. “@daniellefishel just said fvck it, shes gonna be fine forever,” he wrote in his caption. “Happy New Year’s Eve.”

In the comments, Fishel returned the compliments. “AHHHH! I had the BEST time – thanks for putting on such an amazing show,” she wrote. “You were the perfect way to end 2024. G-Unit forever!”

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The actress also shared the photo onto her own account and gushed, “Ended 2024 in the BEST way – in Las Vegas watching @50cent put on an absolutely incredible show.”

“My mind was blown and I danced and sang the *entire night,*” she added. “Thank you the biggest to 50 for being such a freaking GEM. ❤️”

The hip-hop titan’s New Year’s show marks the fourth show in his six-performance In Da Club mini-residency at Las Vegas’ PH Live Theater & Show Venue. “I get to take it up a notch [with] the production value of the show and put on a special show,” 50 told Billboard of the venture in October. “The show itself is a dream. We gotta turn it up a notch. I’m gonna be there for New Year’s [Eve]. That’s the real turn up.”

He now has just two shows left, slated for back-to-back nights Jan. 3 and 4. Afterwards, fans are hopeful the “Candy Shop” rapper will get back in the studio for a joint album with Eminem — something the Detroit artist teased in a December interview with SiriusXM’s Shade 45.

“That would be great,” Em said at the time. “We just gotta stop bulls–tting and just do it. I would never say it’s not possible, what the f–k?!”

“Looks like I’ll be back in the booth after all !” 50 wrote on Instagram shortly afterward. “Just gotta do this residency in Vegas first.”