Music

Sabrina Carpenter Scores Second No. 1 In Australia

Forget the summer of Sabrina Carpenter. The U.S. pop star is also warming-up Australia’s chart through the southern winter.

Carpenter scores her second leader in less than two months as “Please Please Please” (Island/Universal) lifts 4-1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, for its first stint at the top.

Her first leader, the platinum-certified “Espresso,” holds at No. 2 on the Australian chart, published Friday, June 21, giving Carpenter a rare 1-2. “Espresso” topped the national tally for a week in May.

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Closing out the top 3 on the latest ARIA Chart is Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (via Empire), one of three country tunes in the top 10, including Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s “I Had Some Help” (unchanged at No. 6 via Universal) and Dasha’s “Austin” (up 14-10 via Warner Music).

Over on the ARIA Albums Chart, Billie Eilish logs a fourth week at No. 1 with Hit Me Hard And Soft (Interscope/Universal), ahead of Taylor Swift’s former leader The Tortured Poets Department (Universal), holding at No. 2.

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U.S. country star Luke Combs bags the top debut with Fathers & Sons (Columbia/Sony), his fifth studio album. It’s new at No. 3, extending Combs’ streak of top 10s to five – a career tally that includes a No. 1 for his 2019 record What You See Is What You Get. Album track “The Man He Sees in Me” is the top new cut on the ARIA Singles Chart, at No. 38.

Meanwhile, Fred Again bags a second top 10 on the ARIA Albums Chart with USB (Atlantic/Warner), new at No. 4. The English producer and artist made history in Australia earlier this year with a sold-out “pop up” arena tour.

Also, $uicideboy$ debut at No. 6 with New World Depression (Orchard), their fourth studio album. That’s a career best effort for the New Orleans rap duo.

Finally, Nick Cave collaborators Dirty Three bag a first top 50 album with Love Changes Everything (Remote Control/Inertia), new at No. 12, while homegrown indie band Hockey Dad bow at No. 15 with Rebuild Repeat (BMG/ADA), for their third top 20 album.

Paul McCartney Dances to ‘But Daddy I Love Him’ With Taylor Swift Fans in London: Watch

“But Daddy I Love Him,” the big song that kicks off Taylor Swift‘s Tortured Poets Department set on The Eras Tour, had Paul McCartney dancing with fans at London’s Wembley Stadium on Sunday (June 23).

The Beatles legend, who just turned 82, was a VIP guest at Swift’s third concert at Wembley this weekend. Videos showed his arrival at the stadium, but one clip in particular is quite special, capturing an experience that would be priceless to any McCartney/Swift fan.

As Swift sang the “But Daddy I Love Him” lyric about how cynics and saboteurs can’t “counteract chemistry, undo the destiny” of her relationship with the song’s muse, a group of fans simply basking in the moment caught McCartney’s attention.

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McCartney took note of the concertgoers’ dance moves and joined in.

“You ain’t gotta pray for me/ Me and my wild boy, and all this wild joy,” Swift is heard singing in the video embedded below. McCartney sways and seems to sing along to some of the lyrics, alongside a number of wonderstruck concertgoers who couldn’t have guessed this encounter would happen.

Snapshots from Wembley Stadium on social media showed McCartney was approachable earlier in the day, too, partaking in the Eras Tour tradition of trading friendship bracelets.

Also spotted with friendship bracelets at Swift’s Sunday show in London was Jon Bon Jovi, and among the many other famous faces seen during her three-night takeover at Wembley were Prince William on Friday and Tom Cruise on Saturday. Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce was in town for the London gigs, and unexpectedly made his Eras Tour stage debut during Tortured Poets‘ “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” in costume.

It’s not “So Long, London” for Swift yet. The Eras Tour revisits Wembley for five more nights in August, due to demand, but heads to several other cities before then, including Dublin, Amsterdam, Zurich and Milan over the next few weeks.

The Tortured Poets Department is currently spending its ninth consecutive and total week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

See McCartney dancing shamelessly to the album’s “But Daddy I Love Him” in London below.

Lucky Prince Fans Saw the World’s First Look at the ‘Purple Rain’ Musical During Celebration 2024

“I’m trying to get you hyped and excited,” exclaimed theater director Lileana Blain-Cruz at the Minnesota State Theatre in Minneapolis on Saturday (June 22). “I’m trying to get a motorcycle on stage!”

Hot off directing a visually extravagant, emotionally stirring production of John Adams’ El Niño at the New York Metropolitan Opera (she’s the resident director at Lincoln Center Theater), Blain-Cruz has proven she’s adept at helming massive, complicated productions. But in spring 2025 at the State Theatre, she’s facing an audience even more passionate and exacting than New York City theater critics – Prince fans.

On Saturday, a theater full of the “purple fam” were treated to the first public preview of an upcoming stage musical adaptation of Prince’s Purple Rain film as part of the five-day Celebration 2024 event in the Purple One’s hometown. And with Blain-Cruz – who repeatedly hopped out of her chair and solicited audience feedback while flaunting a flashy purple blazer – directing, it’s clear this stage musical has an advocate who can match the enthusiasm of Jerome Benton hyping up Morris Day during a performance by The Time.

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Joining Blain-Cruz during the preview – a panel discussion that boasted a work-in-progress look at three of the musical’s stage numbers – were book writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, fresh off a Tony win for Appropriate; music director Jason Michael Webb, whose credits include the Broadway hit MJ The Musical; and Bobby Z., who drums in The Revolution and recently joined the production as a music adviser alongside fellow Prince associate Morris Hayes. (Tony-winning producer Orin Wolf appeared at the tail-end of the hour-long panel, too.)

“This is not Hamilton,” joked Jacobs-Jenkins, who assured the audience of diehards that his book will draw on the 1984 film’s screenplay (written by Albert Magnoli and William Blinn) without radically reworking it. Even so, he said he intends to further develop the character of Apollonia and make some necessary pacing changes to fit a stage production: “A play is a play, and a movie is a movie.”

While the director is hellbent on getting that motorcycle on stage (she says the image of Prince “staring into her soul” on the Purple Rain bike is one of her earliest memories of the genius), she acknowledges some limitations of the medium. “I can’t get a Lake Minnetonka that isn’t actually Lake Minnetonka on stage,” she jested, while still promising to bring the “epic” nature of a Met Opera production “to something as sublime as Purple Rain.”

“It is an opera — it’s a tragedy and a triumph,” agreed Bobby Z. “I got to see Prince build a revolution from 1977 to the Parade album [in 1986].” Similar to many operas that have stood the test of time, Purple Rain comes complete with an unforgettable villain – Morris Day, Prince’s real-life friend and colleague who played a deliciously narcissistic version of himself in the 1984 film. For the world’s first musical preview of the Purple Rain musical, attendees of Celebration 2024 got to see performers portraying Day and Benton preen and camp it up in character before playing a solidly grooving version of The Time’s “Jungle Love” and “777-9311.” (Morris Day himself hit that same stage later on Saturday to perform an assortment of The Time classics and bust out some dance moves.)

“There only so many of these Black icons that we have,” mused Webb. “Working with the Michael [Jackson] legacy prepared me for the one I really wanted — which is this one.”

Explaining that he was looking to present some of the songs through a different lens, the multi-talented Webb brought out a performer (introduced only as Rachel) to portray Apollonia and duet with him on “Take Me With U.” The song is bombastic and string-drenched on the album, but this teaser version – which started out in an elegant, stripped-down vein before working up to a full-band sound – demonstrated that these songs can soar in a variety of stylings (something hardcore Prince fans already well know).

Acknowledging that the soundtrack’s nine songs are not enough material for a Broadway musical, they also revealed that the Purple Rain stage musical will draw on Prince’s full catalog, including songs that didn’t even appear in the film. Case in point: Before the event wrapped, the Apollonia performer returned to the stage with two others to perform “The Glamorous Life” as Vanity 6. While that Prince-penned song is certainly well-suited to the time period – it came out in 1984 and reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 that fall – it’s not a Vanity 6 number at all, but rather a hit performed by Sheila E.

But why not take some creative liberties? The team behind this production is openly gunning for a Broadway run after debuting Purple Rain in Minneapolis, so the bar is high. As long as the songs are a sonic and thematic match for the realm of Purple Rain, who cares whether a tune appeared in the film? Broadway is a tough market, and success is far from guaranteed for musicals based on the works of pop hitmakers (though that isn’t stopping plenty of artists from trying). Prince’s rich, rewarding catalog deserves a wide audience, so it only makes sense for the team behind this production to put their best high-heeled boot forward as they reimagine his magnum opus for the stage.

Taylor Swift in London: Travis Kelce Makes Eras Stage Debut, ‘Us’ With Gracie Abrams Has Live Premiere

Taylor Swift‘s Wembley Stadium show got silly Sunday night (June 23) when Travis Kelce made an unexpected appearance on the London stage during the singer’s Tortured Poets Department set. Plus, the tour date marked the live debut of Swift’s newest song.

The couple had some fun at the third of a trio of Swift’s concerts at Wembley this weekend. Kelce, after watching the show among friends, family and celebrities all three evenings in London, made his Eras Tour stage debut at the start of “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” The Kansas City Chiefs tight end carried an exhausted Swift to the couch on set in the over-the-top final act of her Tortured Poets extravaganza.

The audience whooped in surprise at the sight of the NFL player on Swift’s stage; he’s been spotted at a handful of Eras concerts, but usually as a VIP spectator who’s trading friendship bracelets or vibing to songs like “Blank Space,” “Karma” and “So High School.” Among those watching at Wembley Sunday night was Paul McCartney.

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Kelce played along with Swift’s dancers, in character to get the star ready to “fake it ’til you make it” for the crowd and smile, “even when you wanna die” — as the song goes.

“I was grinnin’ like I’m winnin’/ I was hittin’ my marks/ ‘Cause I can do it with a broken heart,” Swift sings on the pop track with a cheeky chorus: “I’m so depressed, I act like it’s my birthday every day/ I’m so obsessed with him, but he avoids me like the plague/ I cry a lot, but I am so productive, it’s an art/ You know you’re good when you can even do it with a broken heart.”

When The Tortured Poets Department era of the show ended, the pop star began her acoustic set, which typically features one guitar and one piano performance of songs she hasn’t ever, or doesn’t often, play live. Lately, she’s been presenting many of her surprise song picks as mashups.

On Sunday, she told the stadium that “if you know the words to this one, you get extra credit points ‘cause it’s only been out for like two days.”

“It’s my friend Gracie’s,” she added, speaking of Gracie Abrams, who just released the album The Secret of Us, which includes a duet with Swift. (The night they wrote the duet “us.” will be hard to forget, as the songwriting session wound up in flames: a candle caused a small kitchen fire that Swift managed to put out herself with a fire extinguisher.)

Swift performed “us.” live for the first time, beginning on guitar and joined by Abrams on piano when she arrived on stage alongside her.

“I just love this girl so much,” Swift said at one point.

She also praised her as a collaborator: “Writing with her, she’s just so badass. That’s a writer.”

The two hugged as the song concluded, and then Swift offered London a medley of some 1989-era fan favorites: “Out of the Woods,” “Is It Over Now?” and “Clean.”

Check out clips of all of those unique moments from Sunday’s show at Wembley Stadium below.

Watch Travis Kelce carry Taylor Swift on the stage for the “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” bit:

Watch Taylor Swift and Gracie Abrams perform ‘Us’ together, plus Swift on piano for a mashup of “Out of the Woods,” “Is It Over Now?” and “Clean.”

Fans Choose Peso Pluma’s ‘Éxodo’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music in All-Genre Poll

Peso Pluma‘s Éxodo has topped this week’s new music poll that features artists in various genres of music.

Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (June 21) on Billboard, choosing the Mexican star’s highly anticipated new album as their favorite new music release of the past week.

Peso’s two-disc set brought nearly 52% of the vote on the poll, securing an edge ahead of new releases from Post Malone featuring Blake Shelton (“Pour Me a Drink”), Ariana Grande featuring Brandy and Monica (“The Boy Is Mine”), Gracie Abrams (The Secret of Us), Coldplay (“feelslikeimfallinginlove”), and others.

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With one disc powered by his signature corridos and the second packed with hard-hitting trap and hip-hop songs, Peso’s 24-track Éxodo showcases the Mexican star’s duality and versatility. The star-studded project features guest appearances by Cardi B (“Put Em in the Fridge”), Quavo (“Pa No Pensar”) and Rich the Kid (“Gimme a Second”), among many others.

Éxodo follows Peso’s massive year in 2023, which included the release of his history-making Génesis. The album debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, earning the highest ranking for a Mexican music album on the tally. Earlier this year, the set won the Grammy for best música mexicana album (including tejano).

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Peso Pluma, Billboard‘s 2023 Rookie of the Year, catapulted to stardom last year placing more than 20 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in a span of months. The hitmaker is currently on his Éxodo Tour, which includes upcoming stops in Miami, Dallas, Nashville and Atlanta.

Trailing behind Éxodo on this week’s poll is Post Malone and Blake Shelton’s “Pour Me a Drink,” with 17% of the vote. The party song is the latest track from Malone’s forthcoming country album, F-1 Trillion.

See the final results of this week’s poll below. Check out Billboard‘s Friday Music Guide to catch up with more must-hear releases from this week.

Taylor Swift Notches Ninth Week Atop Billboard 200 With ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department notches its ninth consecutive and total week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated June 29). It earned 126,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending June 20 (down 1%), according to Luminate.

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Of Swift’s 14 No. 1s on the Billboard 200, Poets now has the second-most weeks at No. 1; only 1989 and Fearless, each with 11, have more weeks at No. 1.

Swift adds her 78th career week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, extending her record among soloists. (Elvis Presley has the second-most among soloists, with 67.) The total encompasses her 14 leaders. (She’s tied with Jay-Z for the most No. 1s among soloists.)

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Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, Don Toliver nets his fourth top 10 effort, and best week by units earned, with the No. 3 debut of Hardstone Psycho; $uicideboy$ score their highest-charting album ever, and best weekly units sum, as New World Depression launches at No. 5; Luke Combs nabs his sixth top 10 with the No. 6 bow of Fathers & Sons; and NAYEON achieves her second top 10 with NA’s start at No. 7.

With four debuts in the top 10, the region has the most new entries since a little over a year ago, when six albums debuted in the top 10 on the June 17, 2023-dated list.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new June 29, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on June 25. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of The Tortured Poets Department’s 126,000 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 93,000 (down 11% — it’s No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums for a ninth week; its SEA units equal 121.32 million on-demand official streams of the deluxe edition’s 31 songs), album sales comprise 33,000 (up 42%) and TEA units comprise less than 1,000 (down 11%). The album’s sales grew 42% in the tracking week thanks largely to two new CD variants of the set that shipped to customers. The two CDs, which were sold exclusively in Swift’s webstore, were briefly available to pre-order in early June. Both CDs contain the standard album’s 16 songs and an acoustic bonus track (one includes “Down Bad” and one includes “Guilty as Sin?”).

Notably, as The Tortured Poets Department has spent its first nine weeks at No. 1, it joins just five other albums that have achieved that same feat: Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time (first 12 weeks at No. 1, of its total 19 weeks at No. 1 in 2023-24); Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (all 10 of its weeks at No. 1 were from its debut atop the chart, 2021); Drake’s Views (first nine weeks at No. 1, of its total 13 weeks at No. 1 in 2016); Whitney Houston’s Whitney (all 11 of its weeks at No. 1 were from its debut atop the chart, 1987); and Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life (first 13 weeks at No. 1, of its total 14 weeks at No. 1 in 1976). (For context, today, it’s common for albums to debut at No. 1. However, before 1991, when the Billboard 200 began utilizing Luminate’s electronically monitored tracking information, only six albums debuted at No. 1, including Whitney and Songs In the Key of Life.)

At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft is a non-mover, with 84,000 equivalent album units earned (down 20%).

Don Toliver’s Hardstone Psycho debuts at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 76,500 equivalent album units earned, his best week by units. Hardstone marks the hip-hop artist’s fourth consecutive top 10, the entirety of his charting releases. Of the 76,500 earned by the album in its opening week, SEA units comprise 57,000 (equaling 75.98 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 16 songs on its streaming edition; that marks his largest streaming week ever), album sales comprise 19,500 (his best sales week yet, all from digital download album purchases) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.

Hardstone Psycho was announced on May 22 and features guest turns from Cash Cobain, Future, Kodak Black, Metro Boomin, Travis Scott, Teezo Touchdown and Charlie Wilson. The set’s release was preceded by a trio of songs, all of which reached the top 40 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: the Toliver-solo cuts “Bandit” and “Deep in the Water,” and “Attitude,” featuring Wilson and Cash Cobain.

The album’s first-week sales were bolstered by a mid-week release of a deluxe digital download album, sold exclusively through Toliver’s webstore, for $5, containing four additional bonus tracks exclusive to this download version and features from Lil Uzi Vert and Yeat.

Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time holds at No. 4 on the new Billboard 200 with 73,000 equivalent album units (up 2%).

$uicideboy$ clock their highest-charting album and biggest week by units earned as New World Depression debuts at No. 5 with 66,000 equivalent album units earned. It’s the fourth top 10-charting effort for the hip-hop duo (comprising cousins $crim and Ruby da Cherry) and first to reach the top five.

Of the album’s 66,000 units earned in its first week, SEA units comprise 46,000 (equaling 62.75 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 13 songs, marking the act’s biggest streaming week), album sales comprise 20,000 (with 16,000 of that sum on vinyl, bolstered by its availability across six variants — it’s the top-selling vinyl album of the week and the act’s best-ever sales week on vinyl) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The album was announced in early March and its release was preceded by the release of the song “Us Vs. Them,” which become the act’s first charting hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Luke Combs collects his sixth top 10 on the Billboard 200 as his new Fathers & Sons bows at No. 6 with 60,000 equivalent album units earned. The set was released on June 14 with little warning, as the country star announced the effort on June 6 alongside the release of its first cut, “The Man He Sees in Me.” The track debuted at No. 14 on the Hot Country Songs chart dated June 22.

Fathers & Sons is a thematic album “about being a dad” and was issued June 14, two days before the Father’s Day holiday. Combs has two sons, both under the age of 2.

Of the 60,000 units earned in Fathers & Sons’ first week, SEA units comprise 45,000 (equaling 58.11 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 songs), album sales comprise 14,000 (it was widely available as a digital download album; it had just one CD and one vinyl LP, both sold exclusively via Combs’ webstore) and TEA units comprise 1,000.

NAYEON nets her second top 10-charting title on the Billboard 200 as the TWICE member’s second solo album, NA, enters at No. 7 with 47,000 equivalent album units earned. The set was announced in May and not preceded by any pre-release songs. (The set’s first single is “ABCD,” released simultaneously with the album on June 14.) Of the album’s 47,000 units earned, album sales comprise 43,000 (making it the top-selling album of the week; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 4,000 (equaling 5.41 million on-demand official streams of the set’s seven songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The album’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across 15 CD variants and two vinyl variants, all containing branded paper merchandise.

Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess continues to climb the chart, as the buzzy artist’s album steps 10-8 (a new peak) with 46,000 equivalent album units earned (up 19%, the set’s best week yet). With a gain of nearly 7,500 units in the tracking week, the album also scores the week’s Greatest Gainer trophy, indicating the chart’s biggest unit gain of the week. During the tracking week ending June 20, Roan played the Bonnaroo Music & Artist Festival (June 16). Her interview and performance on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (which aired early in the morning of June 21, and garnered wide attention through its social media clips that day) will impact next week’s chart (dated July 6).

Rounding out the top 10 are Charli XCX’s Brat (falling 3-9 in its second week with 45,000 units earned; down 42%) and Wallen’s chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album (dipping 7-10 with 44,000; up less than 1%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

Dave Grohl Playfully Jokes About Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour at Foo Fighters’ London Show: ‘We Actually Play Live’

Dave Grohl may be getting himself into hot water with Swifties.

The Foo Fighters frontman poked fun at Taylor Swift‘s blockbuster The Eras Tour while onstage with his rock band at London Stadium on Saturday (June 22). The Foos’ concert happened to coincide with the pop superstar’s nearby show at Wembley Stadium.

“I tell you, man, you don’t want to suffer the wrath of Taylor Swift,” Grohl told the crowd after mentioning that Swift’s tour was also passing through London. “So we like to call our tour the ‘Errors Tour.’ We’ve had more than a few eras, and more than a few f—ing errors as well. Just a couple.”

The rocker jokingly added, “That’s because we actually play live. What?! Just saying. You guys like raw, live rock ‘n’ roll music, right? You came to the right f—ing place.”

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Saturday also marked Swift’s second of three sold-out concerts at London’s Wembley Stadium as part of her record-breaking Eras Tour. Some the “Anti-Hero” hitmaker’s fans didn’t take kindly to Grohl’s comments on social media.

“I love Foo Fighters but that was very bad out of Dave Grohl to say that and so unnecessary?” one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “I’ve seen both them are Taylor live and both do equally as good of a live show in their own genres. Completely out of character for him to act like this, disappointing to see.”

Another user added, “ngl dave grohl is the last artist i expected that from, he’s usually so kind, positive and a good force in the music industry, feeling dissapointed.”

Others online observers came to the Grohl’s defense and dismissed his words as playful onstage banter.

“I’ve loved Dave Grohl essentially my whole life. I don’t agree with what he said, however Foo Fighters and Taylor have two completely different music shows. Rock and Roll shows are very different than her incredible pop shows. I dont think he meant to be rude,” a fan wrote on X.

Another added, “After watching the video, I don’t think Dave Grohl was saying Taylor didn’t sing live. I think he was just making a joke about how when you sing live there will be errors.”

Grohl, who is known for his humor and down-to-earth personality, has been a champion of Swift in the past. In 2016, he told a story of the time the 14-time Grammy winner saved him from utter embarrassment in front of Beatles legend Paul McCartney at a party. He also previously praised her decision to re-record her entire catalog in a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone.

Watch Grohl’s onstage remarks about Swift’s Eras Tour on TikTok here.

Krist Novoselic’s New Band Covers Nirvana’s ‘Love Buzz’ in Kurt Cobain’s Hometown

Krist Novoselic is reviving a Nirvana favorite with his new band.

On Friday (June 21), the former Nirvana bassist appeared alongside his latest group The Bona Fide Band at Make Music Day in Aberdeen, Wash., the town where he and Kurt Cobain grew up and formed the iconic grunge band.

During Friday’s free performance, The Bona Fide Band — comprising Novoselic (bass), Screaming Trees’ Mark Pickerel (drums), Jillian Raye (vocals), Jennifer Johnson (vocals) and Kathy Moore (guitar) — performed a cover of Nirvana’s “Love Buzz,” which appears on the group’s 1989 debut album, Bleach.

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“Love Buzz,” with its catchy opening bass line, was released by Sub Pop in 1988 as the first single from Bleach. The track was originally recorded by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue in 1969.

The Bona Fide Band, which is “playing mostly Giants in the Trees and 3rd Secret songs,” according to a website link shared through Nirvana’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, has a handful of live appearances lined up in Washington through late July, including stops in Seattle and Tacoma. The five-piece made its live debut at Easy Street Records in Seattle on Thursday (June 20).

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Giants in the Trees and 3rd Secret both featured Novoselic as a member. 3rd Secret was a supergroup consisting of Pearl Jam/Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron and Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil. The band released its self-titled debut in 2022.

Novoselic formed The Bona Fide Band in an effort to raise awareness for his new political party in Washington, the Cascade Party.

“It’s not just a run-of-the-mill party,” Novoselic told Seattle’s KOMO News. “We’re trying to do something different, we’re trying to be seminal, we’re trying to break ground. I’m also looking for something like that.”

The bassist, who serves as the party’s chair, says that in order to establish the Cascade Party, he needs to host conventions and run a presidential ticket. That’s where the Bona Fide Band’s live appearances come in.

“Need to get 1,000 valid signatures to qualify as a bona fide party, so these shows are actually political conventions, but there’s not going to be hardly any speeches from the stage,” Novoselic told KOMO. “We’re not going to go up there and clobber people with a bunch of rhetoric. Basically, please sign the petition if you want to see a new party in Washington State.”

He also hopes The Bona Fide’s shows will bring a sense of nostalgia to those in attendance.

“If it brings back memories and feelings for people, that’s the magic of music,” the musician said. “We’re not going to contaminate that with politics. We’re not going to make these political speeches.”

This year marked the 30th anniversary of Cobain’s death. The Nirvana frontman was found dead by suicide on April 8, 1994.

Watch Novoselic’s The Bona Fide Band cover Nirvana’s “Love Buzz” here.

Taylor Swift Debuts ‘thanK you aIMee’ Live, Sings ‘Castles Crumbling’ With Hayley Williams in London

London is a “special” place to bring The Eras Tour, Taylor Swift said during her acoustic set at Wembley Stadium Saturday night (June 22).

At the second of three shows this weekend, the pop star decided to perform a song she’d never played live before. She also welcomed Hayley Williams to the stage for a duet.

“We get to play Wembley Stadium eight times this summer. When I’m thinking about that, you think about just being grateful and being thankful,” Swift told the crowd, showing appreciation for their support. (She’s got her trio of concerts in London this weekend, and she’ll return to Wembley for five additional shows later this summer, from Aug. 15-20.)

“On the other hand,” commented Swift, who was about to deliver the first of the night’s two surprise song performances, “it really makes me think about how every time somebody talks s— it just makes me work even harder.”

“I’ve never played this one before. Wish me luck,” she said, and then on acoustic guitar launched into “thanK you aIMee,” from The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. It marked the first-ever live performance of the track that has her singing, “All that time you were throwin’ punches, I was buildin’ somethin’/ And I can’t forgive the way you made me feel/ Screamed, “F— you, Aimee” to the night sky as the blood was gushin’/ But I can’t forget the way you made me heal.”

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“I don’t think you’ve changed much/ And so I changed your name and any real defining clues/ And one day, your kid comes home singin’/ A song that only us two is gonna know is about you,” she adds in a later verse.

Swift performed “thanK you aIMee” as a mashup with Speak Now‘s “Mean,” another song about how she’s triumphed over naysayers.

“Someday I’ll be singing this song at Wembley,” she quipped, singing an improvised line to the melody of “Mean.”

To top off that moment Saturday night, she brought out Hayley Williams (who had opened the show with Paramore earlier) for a live duet of “Castles Crumbling,” their collaboration from the Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) vault. Swift and Williams sat side-by-side at the piano as they sang.

Swift recalled the last time they’d played live together: on The Speak Now Tour, when she welcomed Williams to the stage to perform Paramore’s “That’s What You Get” with her at a 2011 Nashville date.

Below, watch clips of Swift’s surprise song set from night two at Wembley. Stay up-to-date with the complete list of surprise songs she’s played on The Eras tour here.

Taylor Swift Performs ‘The Black Dog’ for the First Time at London Eras Tour Concert

Taylor Swift delivered the live debut of “The Black Dog” on night one of her Eras Tour in London.

The 34-year-old pop superstar’s first-time performance of the emotional ballad arrived during the surprise songs portion of her concert at London’s Wembley Stadium on Friday (June 21).

“I’ve never played this one live before,” Swift told the crowd, as seen in a fan-captured clip on X (formerly Twitter).

Wearing a long orange dress and seated at a piano, the singer beautifully performed “The Black Dog,” which appears on her double album, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. The song reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May.

The TTPD track was mashed with “Come Back…Be Here,” from her 2012 Red album and “Maroon,” off 2022’s Midnights. Friday’s surprise songs set also featured a mashup of “Hits Different” and “Death By a Thousand Cuts.”

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Some have speculated that “The Black Dog” is about the 1975 frontman Matty Healy, who Swift was rumored to have briefly dated in 2023. The song name-checks pop-punk band The Starting Line, which Healy’s group has covered live in recent years.

“I just don’t understand/ How you don’t miss me in The Black Dog/ When someone plays The Starting Line/ And you jump up, but she’s too young/ To know this song that was intertwined/ In the magic fabric of our dreaming,” Swift sings on the chorus of “The Black Dog.” “Old habits die screaming.”

The songstress’ hurt turns to anger as her words shift to, “And I hope it’s shitty in The Black Dog/ When someone plays The Starting Line/ And you jump up, but she’s too young/ To know this song that was intertwined/ In the tragic fabric of our dreaming/ ‘Cause tail between your legs, you’re leavin’.”

During the opening night of her London stint, Swift also took some backstage selfies with Prince William, who was celebrating his 42nd birthday. “Happy Bday M8! London shows are off to a splendid start,” she wrote on Instagram alongside the photo, which included the prince’s kids and her boyfriend Travis Kelce.

Swift’s Eras Tour is set for three shows at Wembley Stadium from June 21-23. Paramore is the special guest for all three shows, with METTE opening the kickoff concert, Griff the second show and Benson Boone the third.