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Several top Contemporary Christian Music artists and bluegrass artists — including Steven Curtis Chapman, Brandon Heath and Darin & Brooke Aldridge — are teaming up to aid people in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee who have been impacted by the destruction of Hurricane Helene.
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On Nov. 14, the benefit concert Mountain Aid: Music for Healing, Strength for Tomorrow will feature Chapman, Heath, Point of Grace, Jason Crabb, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, musician/humorist Sean Dietrich (Sean of the South), The Jason Lovins Band, TaRanda Greene and event organizers Chosen Road. The event will be held at Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee.
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All proceeds from the concert will benefit the aid organization Samaritan’s Purse. Mountain Aid: Music for Healing, Strength for Tomorrow” is presented by Food City in affiliation with IMC Concerts and the city of Johnson City, Tenn. Tickets are $20 (with children ages 2 and under admitted free).
“Chosen Road is thrilled to help bring Mountain Aid to life,” Chosen Road co-founder Jonathan Buckner said in a statement. “When we heard how many of our friends and neighbors in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee were affected, we knew we had to take action. Our dear friends in the Jason Lovins Band agreed, and they stepped up in a special way to help make this event possible. We’re so grateful for their support, as well as for all the amazing artists who are graciously lending their time and talents for a night to remember. These mountains and the people who call them home have shaped our music and we owe so much to them. Our prayer is that Mountain Aid will not only help raise funds and bring hope for those in need but will, most importantly, make an eternal impact in Appalachia.” “Point of Grace is so grateful to be part of Mountain Aid,” added Point of Grace member Shelley Breen. “The images we have seen are beyond heartbreaking, and we will not forget the victims as they try to rebuild their lives. Lending our voices to encourage and raise funds for them is truly an honor. We are praying even now for a huge turnout of support for these precious souls who have lost so much.”
The music community has stepped up in a significant way in the wake of Hurricane Helene, with artists including Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, R.E.M., Jason Isbell and Metallica helping in various ways to aid those impacted, while Luke Combs, Eric Church, James Taylor, Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow and Billy Strings spearheaded a concert over the weekendin North Carolina, which raised over $24 million to help with hurricane relief efforts.
More than half a century into his career, Bruce Springsteen is one of the biggest rock stars on the planet. But is he a billionaire? After Forbes magazine reported in July that the blue collar hero had an estimated fortune that it pegged as conservatively north of $1.1 billion, the New Jersey icon set the […]
The Weeknd and Anitta aren’t pulling punches with the promo for their upcoming collaborative single. In an Instagram post on Sunday (Oct. 27) Queen of Brazilian pop Anitta wrote “Isn’t he beautiful?” alongside an image of what appeared to be an ultrasound of a baby with razor-sharp teeth and a forked tail.
Weeknd (who now goes by his birth name, Abel Tesfaey), responded “WOW! HE LOOKS SO BEAUTIFUL [crying face emoji].” While the post didn’t offer much more information, eagle-eyed fans noticed that the date on the image was Wednesday morning (Oct. 30), which appeared to indicate when their pair’s anticipated collaborative single will drop. Abel’s label, Republic Records commented, “sweet baby angel,” while a number of other artists also weighed in, including Saweetie (“Good bye”) and Ryan Tedder (“Whoaaaa”), among others.
The pregnancy promo came two days after Anitta posted a pic of herself in a black bikini rocking a giant baby belly and an infrared light face mask with the caption, “It was meant to be kept a secret…,” which Tesfaye responded to with, “OMG… CONGRATS [crying laughing emoji]; on X, Tesfaye reposted the pregnant pic and wrote, “@Anitta you hid it so well in São Paulo.”
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At press time, spokespeople for Tesfaye and Anitta had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on the posts or a confirmed release date for the song.
The dynamic duo performed their as-yet-unreleased uptempo new song “São Paulo” during a massive show by Weeknd in Brazil on Sept. 7 and Abel spoke to Billboard Brazil about collaborating with Anitta for his upcoming Hurry Up Tomorrow album. After Abel visited São Paulo, Brazil in Oct. 2023 on his After Hours Til Dawn tour, producer Mike Dean asked Anitta for a vocal track to complement the “Blinding Lights” singer’s special performance set.
“Anitta is a great friend. What she sent was so awesome that we created the song,” said Tesfaye of the vocal bits that were so far beyond his expectations that he composed a song that became the centerpiece of the new live show. “We knew it was too special to just play on stage. We saw great potential in the song and found the beat, which is the heart of the show,” he said.
Anitta was equally excited by the team-up, saying, “I wrote some verses as a joke and never imagined they would become serious. Suddenly, I received the finished song. I loved it! I felt very honored and flattered. I’ve always been a big fan of his and his work. I never imagined this would happen, and now it’s a dream come true. It’s a little more Brazilian funk, as promised, around the world.”
Check out Anitta’s post below.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce may have been more than 1,700 miles away from each other on Sunday (Oct. 28), but that didn’t stop the singer from paying tribute to her NFL boyfriend during the third and final Eras Tour show in New Orleans. While Swift was wrapping up the penultimate run of Eras U.S. […]
The Harris campaign will continue to rock this week with another campaign event featuring prominent musical guests. According to an announcement for the When We Vote We Win event in Madison, WI on Wednesday (Oct. 30) evening, it will feature Democratic Presidential candidate current V.P. Kamala Harris, as well as appearances from Gracie Abrams, Remi […]
British indie band The Maccabees have announced that they will reunite for a live show in London next summer.
The band split in 2017 and released their last album, Marks To Prove It, in 2015, which landed at No.1 on the U.K. Official Album Charts. The Maccabees will perform their first live show in eight years at London’s All Points East festival in Victoria Park on August 24, 2025.
Tickets go on general sale at 10 a.m. GMT on October 31 from the festival’s official website. Special guests for the 50,000-capacity show will be announced in due course.
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Speaking of the reunion guitarist Felix White said in a statement: “In the intervening years we’ve been to All Points East a lot, separately. It’s become a bit of a landmark festival for us, always checking who’s on the line-up. I’d go and have a great time throughout the day, but there was always this pinch of regret watching headliners that we could’ve done it ourselves one day too. I thought that moment had passed, and it was something I was prepared to come to terms with that I was always going to miss. I think we’re all kind of shocked and excited that we get to do it together again.”
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His brother, guitarist Felix White, added that The Strokes‘ performance at the festival in 2023 was part of the motivation to get the band back together. “I could see that they were enjoying it, realizing how great what they had created together was. Being a band, you are usually in a mindset of, ‘We can do better’ and you’re always chasing something else,” Felix said.
“This is an opportunity to realize that whatever we had in that moment was pretty special and get to enjoy it again. It’s a chance to appreciate everything, and especially how it impacts other people and created a community.”
The band formed in London in 2004 and released four studio albums: Colour It In (2007), Wall Of Arms (2009), Given To The Wild (2012) and Marks To Prove It (2015). They split in 2017 and performed a farewell tour in the U.K., which included three nights at the capital’s 10,000-capacity Alexandra Palace.
Following the band’s split, frontman Orlando Weeks released a string of solo records, while brothers Felix and Hugo White formed 86TVs, which released its self-titled debut in August.
They are the first act to be announced for 2025’s All Points East festival. This year’s edition included headline sets from Kaytranada, Loyle Carner, Mitski, LCD Soundsystem and more.
We’re very excited to say we are getting back together to headline @allpointseastuk on Sunday, August 24th. Pre-sale is Wednesday 10am and general on sale Thursday 10am.Good luck. We’re looking forward to seeing you at Victoria Park. With love,The Maccabees x pic.twitter.com/tmrizZvJ0m— The Maccabees (@themaccabees) October 28, 2024
Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin were among the prominent artists who showed support for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign on Sunday (Oct. 27) after a speaker at a Donald Trump rally made a racist joke about Puerto Rico. All three boosted a video from the Democratic candidate pledging to do her best for the citizens of the island nation following what CNN described as a Trump rally brimming with “blistering anti-migrant rhetoric [that] ranks alongside the most flagrant demagoguery by a major figure in any Western nation since World War II.”
Their show of support for Harris came after comedian/podcaster Tony Hinchcliffe opened for convicted felon Trump at a rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden by offering up the racist jibe, “There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
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In addition, Hinchcliffe — one of nearly 30 speakers who warmed up the crowd for twice impeached former Pres. Trump — also made other racist and sexist jokes about Latinos (“they love making babies… there’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country”) as well as racist jibes about his Black “buddies” who he “carved watermelons” with and an antisemitic joke about how “Jews have a hard time throwing that paper.”
According to reports, the attempts at humor did not go over well inside the room, where they were met with tepid applause. And in an unusual apology from the Trump campaign, a senior advisor said in a statement afterwards that “this joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” seemingly in reference to the Puerto Rico joke. The Harris campaign referred to the Hinchcliffe set as “a vile racist tirade against Latinos.”
The racist comment immediately galvanized the trio of Puerto Rican artists, with Bad Bunny re-posting a video message from Harris in which she discussed the importance of the election for the citizens of the U.S. territory, reminding them what Trump “did and did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader” after the nation was hit with devastating damage after Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017; a new report revealed that the Trump administration obstructed an investigation into why officials withheld $20 billion in hurricane relief from P.R. following Maria.
In addition to Bad Bunny sharing the message with his 45 million Instagram followers, Martin also boosted the Harris video to his nearly 19 million followers on his Instagram Stories, adding the message, “I remember @kamalaharris,” as did Lopez, whose re-post to her 250 million Instagram followers included links to Harris’ socials as well as a hands clapping emoji. Martin also claimed that his posts on X with similar content were being suppressed on the platform owned by Trump financial backer Elon Musk.
“Despacito” star and P.R. native Luis Fonsi reposted the Hinchcliffe video on his Stories with the message “Are you serious?,” as well as a portion of the Harris video and a lengthy personal note responding to the hate speech. “I understand comedy, I’m a big fan of it,” he wrote. I love roasts, trust me I get it. BUT… this is far from comedy. Not now, not against my island [Puerto Rico flag emoji], my people. Hell nah!”
Fonsi said it’s okay to have different views, but racism is not acceptable. ““We are not OK with this constant hate. It’s been abundantly clear that these people have no respect for us and yet they want our vote,” Fonsi wrote. “I purposely wrote this in English cause yes we’re American too.”
The shocking comments from Hinchcliffe at the Trump rally where CNN reported Republican candidate Trump and his MAGA surrogates spewed “racist, vulgar attacks at Harris and Democrats” came nine days before Americans go to the polls, and just a few after Trump’s former chief of staff, retired Marine General John Kelly, said the former reality TV star fits into the “general definition of a fascist” and frequently praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It also comes as both Harris and Trump are spending precious time and money in the waning hours of the campaign to win over voters in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, where nearly 500,000 Puerto Ricans live, representing the third-largest P.R. diaspora in the U.S.
While the quartet of P.R.-born superstars did not explicitly endorse the Harris campaign in their posts, the show of support for the Democrat vying to the the first woman and person of Asian American descent to become President comes as both campaigns have been laser-focused on trying to win over crucial voting blocks including Black and Hispanic men.
With just over a week to go before Election Day, the DNC is kicking into high gear.
On Monday (Oct. 28), the DNC announced a historic “I Will Vote” ad campaign targeting Black voters through ads in 55 Black publications and on 48 Black radio stations across the United States. Grammy-winning Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers Stevie Wonder, John Legend and LeToya Luckett-Coles are set to lend their voices to the campaign, alongside Emmy-winning actress and producer Kerry Washington.
Wonder, Legend, Luckett-Coles and Washington each voice a unique ad focusing on a different element of the upcoming election. Wonder stresses the merit and importance of voting in elections because they “determine our future”; Legend explicitly notes the Democrats’ triumph in capping insulin prices at “$35 a month for seniors”; Luckett-Coles reminds listeners that “several women in states across this country are literally dying because they rolled away our rights to reproductive health care” and Washington encourages voting “if you want to lower the cost of living.”
“This investment showcases Democrats’ unwavering commitment to reaching Black voters where they are and through the platforms they trust – including familiar Black voices that will reach them on the airwaves – to ensure they have the resources they need to cast their ballot in the most important election of our lifetimes,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement. “We know that the Black vote will play a major role in the outcome of this election … In this last sprint to Election Day, the Democratic Party is taking no vote or community for granted, using every opportunity to engage with every facet of our diverse coalition of voters in order to elect Democrats up and down the ballot this November.”
Some of the Black digital and print publications that will feature the new ad campaign include African News Digest, The Baltimore Times, Ebony News Today, The New Orleans Tribune, Pride Magazine, Star of Zion, Word In Black and The Villager.
The “I Will Vote” campaign coincides with the DNC’s HBCU Homecoming Tour in partnership with BET We V.O.T.E., which featured Spelman College and Morehouse College’s Spelhouse Homecoming as its final stop. The tour also visited Winston-Salem University (Sept. 28), Lincoln University (Oct. 12), Virginia State University (Oct. 12), Howard University (Oct. 19) and North Carolina A&T State University (Oct. 19).
All of the artists involved in the “I Will Vote” campaign have lent their support to the Democratic Party in the past. At this year’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago (held Aug. 19-22), Wonder performed his 1973 Hot 100 top 10 hit “Higher Ground” (No. 4); a few weeks later, the music legend unveiled a poignant new single titled “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart,” his first new song in four years. That track soon gave way to a short arena tour called Sing Your Song! As We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart.
Legend also performed at the 2024 DNC. The EGOT winner teamed up with Sheila E. for a spirited rendition of “Let’s Go Crazy” in tribute to Prince, who shares a home state with Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz (Minnesota). Though she is not a musician, Washington also lent her star power to the DNC, serving as emcee for the convention’s final night while staging a reunion with Scandal co-star (and fictional president!) Tony Goldwyn.
Luckett-Cole, who boasts a Billboard 200 No. 1 album of her own (2006’s LeToya), is a former member of Destiny’s Child. During her time in the Grammy-winning vocal group, she sang alongside Kelly Rowland, LaTavia Roberson and Beyoncé, whose Kendrick Lamar-assisted “Freedom” has served as Vice President Kamala Harris‘ official campaign song.
Tyler, the Creator released his seventh studio album, Chromakopia, on Monday (Oct. 28) via Columbia Records. He released one single on DSPs ahead of the project, “Noid,” with a music video featuring Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning The Bear actress Ayo Edebiri. Chromakopia arrives three years after his last album, Call Me If You Get Lost, which […]
In excerpts from his memoir The Voice Inside, published by The Australian, Australian music legend John Farnham has made shocking allegations against his late former manager, Darryl Sambell, claiming he was secretly drugged “for years” early on in his career.
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“He drugged me for years and I had no f—ing idea,” Farnham wrote in his memoir. “I caught him one day. I was drinking a cup of coffee and there was a pill only half-dissolved in the bottom. When I asked him what it was, Darryl replied, ‘That’s just something to help you stay awake.’”
Farnham, best known for his hit “You’re The Voice,” reflected on the long-lasting impact of this discovery, expressing regret over his silence at the time. “I feel so ashamed of myself for not realising what Darryl was up to or speaking up more often to put him back in his place. I didn’t question any of it, I just went along as if nothing was off-key.”
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He added, “I still don’t know why I didn’t react more. I put it down to being young, under stress, tired and feeling unsure and insecure about my own instincts.”
Farnham claimed that Sambell’s need for control would dominate every aspect of his life during their professional relationship. For years, he said, Darryl controlled “where and when I worked, what I sang, what I wore, what I ate.”
Reflecting on the trauma of those years, the music icon admitted how difficult it has been to come to terms with his past. “Many years have passed since then and, up until now, I’ve found it very hard to unpick what happened to me. But now that I’ve confronted on it, I look back on that time with sorrow. I’m annoyed at myself for being so gullible and trusting.”
He added, “I gave away control of my career, my direction and my life. I was a young bloke and I needed a manager.”
Sambell managed Farnham’s career until 1976, when the singer finally ended their professional relationship. The split marked a turning point in Farnham’s life, allowing him to rebuild his career with manager Glenn Wheatley.
Under Wheatley’s guidance, Farnham released Whispering Jack in 1986—a defining moment that propelled him to international acclaim and saw him peak at No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report albums chart.
Farnham’s storied career is filled with accolades. He’s won 21 ARIA Awards from 60 nominations, including Album of the Year for Whispering Jack and Single of the Year for “You’re The Voice” in 1987, with the single topping the Kent Music Report singles chart for seven weeks from 3 November to 21 December. In 2003, Farnham was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
Beyond the ARIAs, Farnham has earned Mo Awards for Best Male Vocal and Entertainer of the Year, and a Logie for Best Teenage Personality early in his career. He received the JC Williamson Award in 2004 for lifetime achievement in live performance, and was named Australian of the Year in 1987. His contributions to music and charity earned him the Officer of the Order of Australia in 1996, and he was inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame in 2015.
More recently, John Farnham: Finding The Voice—released through Sony Pictures with a companion soundtrack via Wheatley Records/Sony Music Australia—became Australia’s highest-grossing feature-length music documentary of all time. The soundtrack debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA Chart, marking Farnham’s 20th top 10 appearance. The documentary also won the 2024 AACTA Award for Best Documentary and the 2024 TV Week Logie Award for Best Documentary.
From his childhood in Melbourne to his recent battle against cancer, The Voice Inside delves into both the highs and the significant challenges that have shaped Farnham’s life. You can pre-order the book at Hachette Australia.
