Music

13 Apr 2023

Paramount+ Announces ‘Thalia’s Mixtape: El Soundtrack De Mi Vida’ Docuseries

Thalia fans, rejoice! The Mexican pop star and actress is celebrating the music that influenced her throughout her life in an upcoming music docuseries, Thalia’s Mixtape: El Soundtrack De Mi Vida.

Partnering with Paramount+, the three-part music docuseries will premiere exclusively on the platform Tuesday, May 2, in the U.S. and Canada. On May 3, it’s slated to launch throughout Latin America, Australia, the U.K., Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The release will also complement the star’s upcoming album, Thalia’s Mixtape, due April 28 via Sony Music. 

Thalia, who is also executive producer and creator of the upcoming docuseries, takes viewers to her musical foundations, uncovering the classics that inspired her and a generation of fans. She is seen rocking out alongside Charly Alberti, the fiery drummer of the timeless Argentine band Soda Stereo, and Roco Pachukote, frontman of ska-rock group Maldita Vecindad. The series then evolves where she entrenches herself into the current, booming Latin music landscape, meeting up with new Mexican pop stars Kenia Os and Bruses.

“This has been my most personal project,” Thalia said in a statement to Billboard Español. “Four years ago, the idea and concept of the mixtape of my life was born in my mind and heart. This docuseries goes through the songs that influenced my path, forging my destiny. I talk to my lifelong idols, the artists behind these legendary songs that marked entire generations with their music. In this series we delve into the stories and origins of these compositions, and as an absolute fan of these great artists, I have the honor of performing these musical gems with them. It’s an incomparable gift.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KObfELic21k

Through interviews, raw footage and modern renditions of classics with veterans and contemporary artists, the show promises to “revisit the history of Latin music and uncover its future in an intimate way not yet seen before.” Thalia has been a longtime supporter of emerging talent, and she continues to shed a spotlight on the most riveting sounds today. She is also an honoree at Billboard’s premiere Latin Women in Music event, taking place May 6, and broadcasted via Telemundo the next day.

“This has been a labor of love for Thalia — to relive and bring to life the music and the most popular songs of her teenage years, and to document and perform in the film with the original artists is a lifelong dream,” said executive producer and entertainment mogul Tommy Mottola, also Thalia’s husband.

Ntertain Studios executive producers Lex Borrero and Santiago Zapata added: “Collaborating with people you admire will always be a dream in whatever your line of work. Thalia’s Mixtape is the perfect blend of documentary and musical, yet another example of the timeless impact Thalia has had and continues to have on music and culture.”  

Thalia’s Mixtape: El Soundtrack De Mi Vida is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and Sony Music U.S. Latin.

13 Apr 2023

More Country Hits Are in the Hot 100’s Top 10 – But Are They That Different From Pop Hits?

Country songs have been few and far between in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 over the past decade. From 2013 to 2022, only 12 top 10 songs represented the genre.

However, during just the first quarter of this year, six top 10s were country songs.

Leading the way for the genre, Morgan Wallen made history as the first country act to score five Hot 100 top 10s in a single week, all from his new album One Thing at a Time (March 18), a feat previously achieved by only five other artists (Taylor Swift, Drake, 21 Savage, Juice WRLD and The Beatles). His “Last Night” first hit the top 10 on the chart dated Feb. 3 and soared to No. 1 a month later. (It returns to the top of the list, dated April 15, this week.)

Joining Wallen, Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” hit No. 10 on the Hot 100 in January.  Together, the acts brought country’s prominence to just over a quarter of all Hot 100 top 10s in Q1 2023 (26%) – tying pop for first place among all genres in that span. In the last decade, country had never reached a double-digit share, previously peaking at 9% in Q4 2020, then powered by hits from Gabby Barrett (“I Hope”) and Luke Combs (“Forever After All”).

While country songs possess certain characteristics that are unique to the genre, such as lap steel guitars, when you look under the hood, they actually have a lot in common with what’s trending in today’s Hot 100 top 10 overall.

For starters, take sub-genres and influences. In the first quarter of 2023, pop, hip-hop and R&B/soul were the top three influences across the top 10, followed closely by rock. All six country top 10s feature a pop influence, 83% a rock influence and half a hip-hop influence. R&B/soul, however, was a no-show, and generally has been in country over the past decade save for Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant to Be” (2018) and Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road” (2017).

Another key commonality between Q1’s country hits and the overall Hot 100 top 10 is lyrical theme. The love/relationships theme rose to its highest quarterly level of prominence since way back in 2015, at 83% of songs, and is part of every Q1 country top 10.

Plus, each country Hot 100 top 10 in Q1 2023 kicks off with an intro that establishes the backing music of the section that directly follows and averages 15 seconds in length. Almost every Hot 100 top 10 in that span also begins with an intro, establishes the backing music of the ensuing section and averages 14 seconds long.

Lastly, in terms of structure, like hits overall in the Hot 100’s top 10 in Q1 2023, country favored shorter song lengths, with half landing in the under-three-minute range. All six country hits also possess two verses, three choruses and at least one post-chorus in their framework, characteristics that are also very much in line with the overall top 10.

So, while these hits stay true to their country roots, they are delicately balanced by qualities that are currently resonating with mainstream audiences, paced by Wallen (whose “Last Night,” in addition to its strong streaming, is both a pop and country radio hit).

Looking ahead, the genre could continue its newfound bigger presence, as country hits bookend the top 10 on the latest Hot 100: Bailey Zimmerman’s “Rock and a Hard Place” revisits its No. 10 high, joining Wallen’s “Last Night” at No. 1.

David and Yael Penn are the co-founders of Hit Songs Deconstructed, which provides compositional analytics for top 10 Hot 100 hits. In 2022, Hit Songs Deconstructed and fellow song analysis platform MyPart partnered to launch ChartCipher, a new platform analyzing hit songs, as defined by Billboard’s charts.

13 Apr 2023

ACM Awards Nominations 2023 Snubs & Surprises

As the final nominees for the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards were announced Thursday (April 13), there were the usual number of expected names, as well as a handful of surprises and snubs.

The eligibility period for nominations ran Nov. 16, 2021-Dec. 31, 2022. The ceremony will stream live on Amazon’s Prime Video from Frisco, Texas, on May 11.

Here is a look at some of the year’s notable surprises and snubs.

Snub: Jelly Roll swept the CMT Music Awards earlier this month, and given how ascendent his star seems to be, it was shocking that he didn’t nab a single nomination — not even for new male artist of the year, which is overstuffed with six acts. Jelly Roll, who broke Billboard’s record for number of weeks at No. 1 on the Emerging Artists chart in February when he hit 25 weeks, also seemed like a contender for a song of the year nod after his confessional “Son of a Sinner” hit No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart.

Surprise: Jason Aldean is no stranger to the winner’s circle, having taken home 15 ACM Awards, including artist of the decade in 2018. He’s even won entertainer of the year before three consecutive years, 2015-17. However, he had fallen out of the category after 2018 and makes a return for the first time in five years this year for his only nomination.

Snub: Maren Morris had a solid six-year run of female artist of the year nominations — including winning at the 2020 ceremony — but her streak is broken this year, perhaps because she is off album cycle. The ACMs have shown her plenty of love in the past, as she’s taken home six trophies over the last several years in a number of categories.

Surprise: Prolific songwriter Ashley Gorley has more than 50 No. 1s to his credit, so his inclusion for penning a song of the year entry is no surprise. However, he pulls off a  hat trick, capturing three nominations in the category for co-writing Chris Stapleton’s “You Should Probably Leave,” Cole Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” and Morgan Wallen’s “Sand in My Boots.” He is the only non-performing songwriter to ever land a trio of songs in the category in one year. Songwriter/artists Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson achieved the feat in 1968 and 1971, respectively.

Surprise: Cole Swindell has received only two ACM nominations in his career, including for new artist in 2015, which he won. He’s making up for lost time this year with five nominations, including song and single of the year for “She Had Me at Heads Carolina.” 

Snub: Similar to Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett has been a contender for six years running — in this case for male artist of the year — but he drops off the list this year. He’s not completely shut out, however, as he earns a nomination for song of the year as a co-writer on “She Had Me at Heads Carolina.”

Surprise: Not only is Kane Brown one of the leading nominees with five nods, but a very pleasant surprise is that he scores two nominations for the first time — including the prestigious entertainer of the year. It marks the first time in 50 years that a biracial or Black artist has been nominated in the category since Charley Pride in 1972. Brown, who previously won video of the year for “Worldwide Beautiful,” also snags his first male artist of the year nomination.

13 Apr 2023

HARDY, Lainey Wilson & More Top 2023 ACM Awards Nominations: Full List

HARDY is the top nominee for the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards, with seven nods. Lainey Wilson, who won two awards last year, is a beat behind with six nods, followed by Cole Swindell, Kane Brown, Luke Combs and Miranda Lambert, with five nods each.

The ACM expanded the number of nominees for entertainer of the year from five to seven this year with Brown and Morgan Wallen receiving their first nominations in the category, while three-time winner Jason Aldean returns with his first nomination in the category in four years. Reigning entertainer of the year winner Lambert is also in the running, along with Combs, Chris Stapleton and Carrie Underwood, all of whom were nominated last year. 

Lambert landed her 17th nod for female artist of the year, which enables her to pass Reba McEntire for the most nominations in the category. McEntire amassed 16 nods from 1983 to 2017. 

Women accounted for three of the five nominees for album of the year: Lambert’s Palomino, Ashley McBryde’s Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville and Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country are competing for the award alongside Combs’ Growin’ Up and Jon Pardi’s Mr. Saturday Night. 

This marks the first time that women (solo artists or all-woman groups) have accounted for three of the five nominations in this category since 1999, when The Chicks, Faith Hill and Jo Dee Messina were all nominated. The Chicks, then known as Dixie Chicks, won that year for Wide Open Spaces. 

Combs’ album won the CMA Award for album of the year in November. Should it win here too, it would be the first album to win album of the year at both shows since Combs’ previous album, What You See Is What You Get, three years ago.

Brown’s “Thank God” (with wife Katelyn Brown) is nominated for single of the year. It’s the first single by a married couple to be nominated in that top category since “It’s Your Love” by Tim McGraw with Faith Hill, which won the 1997 award. 

Carly Pearce & McBryde’s “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” is also nominated for single of the year. It’s the first all-female collab to be nominated in that category since “Does He Love You” by McEntire with Linda Davis 29 years ago. “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” won an ACM Award last year for music event of the year. 

This year’s other nominees for single of the year are Cody Johnson’s “Til You Can’t,” Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” and Wilson’s “Heart Like a Truck.” “Til You Can’t” won the CMA Award for single of the year in November.  

Brown is a first-time nominee for both entertainer of the year and male artist of the year. Brown is the first biracial or Black artist to be nominated for entertainer of the year since Charley Pride, who was nominated the first three years the ACM presented the award (1970-72). The War and Treaty, consisting of married couple Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, are nominated for duo of the year. They are the first Black duo to be nominated in that category. 

Hit songwriter Ashley Gorley co-wrote three of the five songs nominated for song of the year – Stapleton’s “You Should Probably Leave,” Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” and Wallen’s “Sand in My Boots.” Gorley is the only the third songwriter with three songs nominated in the same year, following Merle Haggard (1968) and Kris Kristofferson (1970). 

Maren Morris and Thomas Rhett broke six-year streaks of nominations for female artist of the year and male artist of the year, respectively. But artists can come back after having a streak interrupted, as Kelsea Ballerini proves this year. She is nominated for female artist of the year for the sixth time after missing out last year. 

The ACM Awards split their songwriter of the year category, won last year by HARDY, into two categories this year – songwriter of the year and artist-songwriter of the year. HARDY is nominated in the latter category, along with Combs, Lambert, Wallen and Ernest Keith Smith (ERNEST). 

In another change, the name of the video of the year category was changed to visual media of the year. 

The 2023 Studio Recording Awards and Industry Awards will be presented at the 16th Academy of Country Music Honors, which will be held Aug. 23 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

Here’s a complete list of nominees for the 2023 ACM Awards.

MAIN CATEGORIES

Entertainer of the year

  • Jason Aldean
  • Kane Brown
  • Luke Combs
  • Miranda Lambert
  • Chris Stapleton
  • Carrie Underwood
  • Morgan Wallen

Female artist of the year

  • Kelsea Ballerini
  • Miranda Lambert
  • Ashley McBryde
  • Carly Pearce
  • Lainey Wilson

Male artist of the year

  • Kane Brown
  • Luke Combs
  • Jordan Davis
  • Chris Stapleton
  • Morgan Wallen

Duo of the year

  • Brooks & Dunn 
  • Brothers Osborne 
  • Dan + Shay 
  • Maddie & Tae 
  • The War and Treaty

Group of the year

  • Lady A 
  • Little Big Town 
  • Midland 
  • Old Dominion 
  • Zac Brown Band

New female artist of the year

  • Priscilla Block 
  • Megan Moroney 
  • Caitlyn Smith 
  • Morgan Wade 
  • Hailey Whitters 

New male artist of the year

  • Zach Bryan
  • Jackson Dean
  • ERNEST 
  • Dylan Scott 
  • Nate Smith 
  • Bailey Zimmerman

Album of the year

Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Label(s)

  • Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville – Ashley McBryde; Producer: John Osborne; Label: Warner Music Nashville
  • Bell Bottom Country – Lainey Wilson; Producer: Jay Joyce; Label: Broken Bow Records
  • Growin’ Up – Luke Combs; Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton; Label: Columbia Records
  • Mr. Saturday Night – Jon Pardi; Producers: Jon Pardi, Bart Butler, Ryan Gore; Label: Capitol Records Nashville
  • Palomino – Miranda Lambert; Producers: Jon Randall, Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Mikey Reaves; Label: Vanner Records/RCA Records Nashville

Single of the year

 Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Label(s)

  • Heart Like a Truck – Lainey Wilson; Producer: Jay Joyce; Label: Broken Bow Records
  • Never Wanted to Be That Girl – Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde; Producers: Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally; Label: Big Machine Records/Warner Music Nashville
  • She Had Me at Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell; Producer: Zach Crowell; Label: Warner Music Nashville
  • Thank God – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown; Producer: Dann Huff; Label: RCA Nashville
  • ‘Til You Can’t – Cody Johnson; Producer: Trent Willmon; Label: Warner Music Nashville/CoJo Music

Song of the year

 Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)

  • Sand In My Boots – Morgan Wallen; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Josh Osborne, Michael Hardy; Publishers: Relative Music Group; Sony/ATV Accent; Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing; Sony/ATV Tree Publishing
  • She Had Me at Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Cole Swindell, Jesse Frasure, Mark D. Sanders, Thomas Rhett, Tim Nichols; Publishers: Ashley Gorley Publishing Designee; Be A Light Publishing; Colden Rainey Music; EMI Blackwood Music Inc; Songs Of Roc Nation Music; Sony Tree Publishing; Telemitry Rhythm House Music; Universal Music Corp; WC Music Corp; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp
  • ‘Til You Can’t – Cody Johnson; Songwriters: Ben Stennis, Matt Rogers; Publishers: Anthem Canalco Publishing; Dead Aim Music; The Stennis Mightier Music
  • wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson; Songwriters: Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt, Michael Hardy, Renee Blair; Publishers: Humerus Publishing Global; Nontypical Music; Pile of Schmidt Songs; Rednecker Music; Relative Music Group; Round Hill Verses Publishing; Sony/ATV Accent; Sony/ATV Tree Publishing; The Money Tree Vibez; WC Music Corp; Who Wants to Buy My Publishing
  • You Should Probably Leave – Chris Stapleton; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Chris DuBois, Chris Stapleton; Publishers: One77 Songs; Sea Gayle Music; Songs of Southside Independent Music Publishing; Spirit Two Nashville; WC Music Corp

Visual media of the year

Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)

  • HEARTFIRST – Kelsea Ballerini; Producers: Christen Pinkston & Wesley Stebbins-Perry; Director: P Tracy
  • She Had Me at Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell; Producer: Troy Jackson; Director: Spidey Smith
  • Thank God – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown; Producer: Luke Arreguin; Director: Alex Alvga
  • ‘Til You Can’t – Cody Johnson; Producer: Maddy Hayes; Director: Dustin Haney
  • wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson; Producer: Inkwell Productions; Director: Justin Clough
  • What He Didn’t Do – Carly Pearce; Producer: Ryan Byrd; Director: Alexa Campbell

Songwriter of the year

  • Nicolle Galyon 
  • Ashley Gorley 
  • Chase McGill 
  • Josh Osborne 
  • Hunter Phelps

Artist-songwriter of the year

  • Luke Combs 
  • ERNEST 
  • HARDY 
  • Miranda Lambert 
  • Morgan Wallen

 Music event of the year

Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Label(s)

  • At the End of a Bar – Chris Young with Mitchell Tenpenny; Producers: Chris DeStefano, Chris Young; Label: RCA Nashville
  • She Had Me at Heads Carolina [Remix] – Cole Swindell & Jo Dee Messina; Producer: Zach Crowell; Label: Warner Music Nashville
  • Thank God – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown; Producer: Dann Huff; Label: RCA Nashville
  • Thinking ‘Bout You – Dustin Lynch feat. MacKenzie Porter; Producer: Zach Crowell; Label: Broken Bow Records
  • wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson; Producers: Derek Wells, HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt; Label: Big Loud Records

STUDIO RECORDING AWARDS

Bass player of the year

  • Mark Hill
  • Tony Lucido
  • Steve Mackey
  • Lex Price
  • Craig Young

Drummer of the year

  • Fred Eltringham
  • Miles McPherson
  • Jerry Roe
  • Aaron Sterling
  • Nir Z

Acoustic guitar player of the year

  • Tim Galloway
  • Todd Lombardo
  • Danny Rader
  • Bryan Sutton
  • Ilya Toshinskiy

Piano/keyboards player of the year

  • Jim “Moose” Brown
  • Dave Cohen
  • Charles Judge
  • Billy Justineau
  • Alex Wright

Specialty instrument player of the year

  • Dan Dugmore
  • Stuart Duncan
  • Jenee Fleenor
  • Josh Matheny
  • Justin Schipper

Electric guitar player of the year

  • Kris Donegan
  • Kenny Greenberg
  • Rob McNelley
  • Sol Philcox-Littlefield
  • Derek Wells

Audio engineer of the year

  • Drew Bollman
  • Josh Ditty
  • Gena Johnson
  • Justin Niebank
  • F. Reid Shippen

Producer of the year

  • Buddy Cannon
  • Luke Dick
  • Jay Joyce
  • Joey Moi
  • Jon Randall
  • Derek Wells

INDUSTRY AWARDS

Casino of the year – theater

  • Deadwood Mountain Grand – Deadwood, SD
  • Golden Nugget – Lake Charles, LA
  • Resorts World Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV
  • Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Hollywood, FL
  • Soaring Eagle – Mount Pleasant, MI

Casino of the year – arena

  • Fallsview Casino Resort – Niagara Falls, ON
  • Harrah’s – Council Bluffs, IA
  • Harveys Lake Tahoe – Stateline, NV
  • Mystic Lake Casino Showroom – Prior Lake, MN
  • Northern Quest Resort & Casino – Airway Heights, WA
  • Turning Stone Resort Casino – Verona, NY

Festival of the year

  • C2C: Country to Country – UK 
  • Carolina Country Music Fest – Myrtle Beach, SC
  • Country Concert – Fort Loramie, OH
  • Country Fest – Cadott, WI
  • Country Thunder – Bristol, TN
  • Stagecoach Festival – Indio, CA
  • Tortuga Music Festival – Fort Lauderdale, FL

Fair/rodeo of the year

  • Auburn Rodeo – Opelika, AL
  • Cheyenne Frontier Days – Cheyenne, WY
  • Florida Strawberry Festival – Plant City, FL
  • Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – Houston, TX
  • Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, IA

Club of the year

  • Billy Bob’s Texas – Fort Worth, TX 
  • Coyote Joe’s – Charlotte, NC
  • Grizzly Rose – Denver, CO
  • Gruene Hall – New Braunfels, TX 
  • Joe’s on Weed St. – Chicago, IL

Theater of the year

  • Crystal Grand Music Theatre – Wisconsin Dells, WI
  • Florida Theatre – Jacksonville, FL
  • Grand Ole Opry House – Nashville, TN
  • Orpheum Theater – Omaha, NE
  • Stiefel Theatre – Salina, KS

Outdoor venue of the year

  • Bank of NH Pavilion – Gilford, NH
  • FirstBank Amphitheater – Franklin, TN
  • Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
  • Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA
  • St. Augustine Amphitheatre – St. Augustine, FL
  • The Wharf Amphitheater – Orange Beach, AL

Arena of the year

  • Denny Sanford PREMIER Center – Sioux Falls, SD
  • Dickies Arena – Fort Worth, TX
  • Hertz Arena – Estero, FL
  • Moody Center – Austin, TX
  • Simmons Bank Arena – Little Rock, AR
  • Thompson-Boling Arena – Knoxville, TN

Don Romeo talent buyer of the year

  • Ron Pateras
  • Pat Powelson
  • Michelle Romeo
  • Stacy Vee
  • Troy Vollhoffer

Promoter of the year

  • Patrick McDill
  • Aaron Spalding
  • Ed Warm
  • Adam Weiser
  • Jay Wilson

13 Apr 2023

Darius Rucker’s ‘Wagon Wheel’ Rolled to No. 1: Chart Rewind to 2013

On April 13, 2013, Darius Rucker rode his smash single “Wagon Wheel” to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.

“Wheel” was authored by rock and folk legend Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor (of Old Crow Medicine Show). Dylan wrote the chorus in the early 1970s, with Secor rounding out the verses years later.

The song was released from Rucker’s LP True Believers, which arrived as his third of four No. 1s on Top Country Albums.

With its catchy, sing-along chorus (and such whimsical rhymes as “New England” and “string band”), “Wheel” became Rucker’s most recent of six leaders on Hot Country Songs, among 11 top 10s. He boasts nine No. 1s on Country Airplay, through “Beers and Sunshine” in February 2021.

Rucker was born in Charleston, S.C., and reached mass-appeal success in the ‘90s as frontman of Hootie & The Blowfish. The band notched two No. 1s albums on the Billboard 200 – Cracked Rear View (which has sold 10.4 million copies in the United States, according to Luminate) and Fairweather Johnson – and three top 10s on the Billboard Hot 100.

Rucker was welcomed as a promoted country artist with three straight No. 1 singles on Country Airplay (excluding holiday fare) in 2008-09: “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” “It Won’t Be Like This for Long” and “Alright.”

Now 57, Rucker released his newest track, “Fires Don’t Start Themselves,” March 31. Assisted by hourly plays on participating iHeartMedia stations that day, it debuts at No. 25 on the April 15-dated Country Airplay chart with 6.7 million impressions.

The song is from Rucker’s forthcoming album, Carolyn’s Boy.

13 Apr 2023

Foo Fighters Post Instrumental Snippet of New Song, Ask ‘Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?’

The Foo Fighters are a month away from returning to the stage for the first time since the shocking death of drummer Taylor Hawkins last March and on Wednesday (April 12) they gave fans something more to get excited about with a snippet of a new song.

The unnamed track was posted to the group’s socials and though it is only 12 seconds of instrumental rocking, it features the Foos’ classic mix of thundering drums and stadium-ready, air-punching guitar energy. The surprise drop didn’t provide any additional information about the song or where it will end up, but it was accompanied by the question, “are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

While the world has no idea what the Foos are thinking at the moment, fellow rocker Jack Black had a quick response, “I think so.”

Apart from announcing 25 U.S. and European festival and headliner dates for this summer and fall, the band has kept a tight lid on their plans to solider on without Hawkins. To date they have not announced who will replace the energetic, beloved timekeeper whose death at 50 while on tour in South America devastated the group and their fans. It was unclear at press time who plays drums on the track, what it is called or when it will be released; a spokesperson for the group had not returned a request for additional details at press time.

The band already has one of the greatest drummers in rock history in the fold in singer/guitarist Dave Grohl, but speculation about who will fill Hawkins’ seat has run rampant since the veteran rockers announced their plans to return to the road.

The upcoming outing is slated to kick off on May 24 with a show at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, NH and is currently expected to keep them on the road through an October 5 show at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, TX. Just this week the band added a headliner slot at this fall’s Ohana Festival at Doheny State Beach alongside the Killers, The Chicks, HAIM, Father John Misty and more. They also added six more dates to their tour roster this week with summer and fall shows in Spokane, Salt Lake City, Lake Tahoe, Virginia Beach, Phoenix and El Paso.

The band’s most recent album was the groove-influenced 2021 release Medicine at Midnight.

Check out the Foos’ post below.

13 Apr 2023

Reunited Classic Blink-182 Lineup Last-Minute Addition to 2023 Coachella

After postponing a planned reunion tour due to drummer Travis Barker‘s finger injuries, the reunited classic line-up of Blink-182 will debut on Friday (April 14) on the first night of this year’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. The schedule for this year’s fest was revealed on the event’s Instagram on Thursday morning (April 13) with the caption “Take off your pants and jacket,” which is, of course, a reference to the cheeky title of Blink’s 2001 fourth album of the same name.

The group fronted by singer/bassist Mark Hoppus and returning member guitarist/singer Tom DeLonge is slated to take the Sahara stage for a 6:45 dinnertime slot, sandwiched between Vintage Culture and followed by Jamie Jones on the stage that will be closed out that night by Metro Boomin’.

The slot is the first show by the reunited lineup since they announced they were welcoming DeLonge back into the fold for a third time after the Angels & Airwaves leader split the band in 2015; he had also previously left the group in 2005, before returning in 2009 and then leaving again six years later.

Blink had plotted a South American swing to mark their get-back with DeLonge, which was slated to kick off on March 11 in Tijuana, Mexico. But Barker injured his ring finger twice in two months, requiring surgery that pushed back their return.

Barker first injured the finger on Feb. 7 during rehearsals for the pop-punk trio’s tour. “I was playing the drums at rehearsals yesterday and I smashed my finger so hard I dislocated it and tore the ligaments,” Barker tweeted on Feb. 8. Then, on Feb. 20, Barker shared an Instagram Story in which he showed off his swollen, bruised knuckle, captioning the image “again.”

Hoppus, Barker and DeLonge announced in October that they were reuniting the band’s classic lineup for the 2023-24 world tour and then released the new single “Edging” late last year. On Christmas Eve, DeLonge teased that the trio were working on “the best album we’ve ever made.”

Friday night’s Coachella lineup will also feature the Chemical Brothers, Kaytranada, Burna Boy, Gorillaz and Bad Bunny and another last-minute addition, British singer/songwriter James Blake, who will play the Do Lab stage at 8:30 p.m.

Check out the Friday night Coachella lineup below.

13 Apr 2023

Colin Hay, Colleen Ironside to Be Saluted at 2023 APRA Music Awards

Colin Hay, the singer, songwriter and frontman of beloved Australian rock group Men At Work, and the late trailblazing tour promoter Colleen Ironside are this year’s recipients of the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The prestigious honor will be presented at the 2023 APRA Music Awards, to be held April 27 at ICC Sydney, on Gadigal land.

Hay will be on hand to receive his circular trophy, recognition for a stellar career that launched in the early ‘80s with Men At Work’s hit debut album Business As Usual, and its standout single “Down Under.”

It was a dream breakthrough, the type few acts have done before or since, as the single and its parent topped simultaneously topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, and the group went on to win the Grammy Award for best new artist.

“Who Can It Be Now” logged a single week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982, and “Down Under” would climb the summit later that year, holding top spot for four weeks. Today, the latter song has passed more than one billion streams across all platforms, and is treasured as Australia’s unofficial anthem.

“Overkill” and “It’s a Mistake” both hit the top 10 on the Hot 100, “Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive” cracked the top 40 (at No. 28). Followup LP Cargo peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The band called it quits in 1985, but the music lives on. Career record sales top 30 million, according to APRA.

This award is “for outstanding services to Australian Music,” notes Hay in a statement. “I think services is the key word here. It’s important to realise at some point in your life that it is a valuable thing to be of service. To be of some use.”

Hay’s music would be introduced to new generations through Scrubs and Garden State, and he continues to tour, both as a solo artist and as a guitarist in Ringo Starr’s All-Star Band. “Down Under” has been revisited in recent years with a hit drum ‘n’ bass cut by DJ Luude, and by award-winning Yolŋu surf rockers King Stingray.

Speaking to Billboard over Zoom from Sacramento, CA, Hay admits “Down Under” is “very dear to me. When I wrote the song, I had a lot of fear and trepidation about Australia becoming overdeveloped, like you know, Florida or something,” the Scottish-born artist notes, “and on the other side of the coin, there was this beautiful uniqueness and incredible — a kind of awesomeness — of the country which I thought, ‘we don’t want to lose that’. We have to nurture, it’s a precious thing we have.”

Also at the APRAs, Ironside will be posthumously saluted for a career during which she set the groundwork for a pan-Asian touring network and producing scores of tours in the region.

Ironside, who died in 2022, is equally remembered for her force-of-nature personality.

The concerts giant cut her teeth as a booking agent for the Harbour Premier Agency in Sydney, Australia. She went out on her own, establishing and running APA Booking Agency, which booked INXS, Ratcat, James Reyne, Jenny Morris, Wendy Matthews and Def FX for Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

In 1994, Frontier Touring recruited Ironside as head of its Asia division, where she managed tours by Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Tom Jones and others. In 1999, she established Live Limited and toured the Rolling Stones, Elton John, David Bowie, Sting and other titans of rock and pop music.

Later, in 2005, she began a five-year stint with Live Nation as senior VP of bookings in Pan-Asia, before reviving Live Limited, through which she promoted Janet Jackson in Hong Kong, Bruno Mars in Malaysia and Bob Dylan in Hong Kong and Vietnam.

“Colleen championed Australian songwriters and artists and created live music pathways into Asia with a business acumen that was years ahead of her peers,” comments Dean Ormston, CEO, APRA AMCOS.

And Hay “is a songwriter of the highest level and with the biggest heart, whose songs continue to connect and hit No. 1 on the charts. We look forward to honoring them with the Ted Albert Award at this year’s APRA Music Awards”.

The Ted Albert Award is one of the Australian music industry’s highest accolades, and is decided by the APRA board of writer and publisher directors.

Previous recipients include Paul Kelly, the late Mushroom Group founder Michael Gudinski, Slim Dusty, The Seekers and last year’s recipient The Wiggles.

In other APRA Music Awards news, the most performed international work has been awarded to global smash “As It Was” by Harry Styles, with co-writers Thomas Hull and Tyler Johnson). Universal Music Publishing and Concord Music Publishing are publishers.

As previously reported, Grammy Award winners Flume and Rufus Du Sol are among the artists and songwriters scoring multiple nominations for this year’s ceremony.

Established in 1982, the Australasian Performing Right Association’s annual songwriters’ ceremony is one of the Australian music industry’s favorite events, a worthy counterpart to Britain’s Ivor Novello Awards.

The special moments in the APRAs program includes the performance of those song of the year nominees, often completely reimagined by another star from Australia’s music scene.

For more information visit the APRA website.

13 Apr 2023

Metallica Rocks out With Full-Length ‘Master of Puppets’ Performance on ‘Kimmel’: Watch

We live in interesting times. Need proof? Look no further than the multiple lives of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets.”

The track, which tips in at eight minutes and 30-odd seconds, arrived fully formed in 1986, a time when a new breed of cheesy music was dominating the sales charts and hair metal was growing unchecked.

The title track from Metallica’s third studio album feels like an extension of the band’s opus “One,” a thrash-metal monster that could be used as a device to destroy enemies.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

That’s exactly what happened when Eddie Munson wielded his guitar and unleashed fury in one unforgettable moment in Stranger Things. So unforgettable, “Master Of Puppets” caught fire on DSPs and the track became a bonafide hit, along the way cracking the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time.

The Bay Arena metal legends are residents this week on Jimmy Kimmel Live. After performing new cut “Lux Æterna” on Monday, then The Black Album number “Holier Than Thou”, the four-piece hammered out “Master Of Puppets” in full on Wednesday. It’s apparently the longest song ever performed on Kimmel’s late-night TV show. If you don’t find yourself throwing horns and your head, call the doctor.

On night one, frontman James Hetfield said syncing the song to Stranger Things was an easy decision to make, and that he’s “blown away” that it still turns people on. “It’s like a nine-minute heavy metal song from 1986 that probably predates most of these people by 25, 30 years,” drummer Lars Ulrich added. “It’s just insane. Who would have thought?”

The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band’s four-night stand is a celebration of their forthcoming 12th studio album, 72 Seasons, due out Friday (April 14).

Watch the performance below.

12 Apr 2023

Tampa Superintendent Uses Taylor Swift Songs to Warn Students Not to Skip School for Concert

Taylor Swift‘s The Eras tour is taking over Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday night (April 13), which happens to be a school night. That’s why Hillsborough County Superintendent Addison Davis sent out a letter of caution to students, in a language only Swifties can understand.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The letter, which let students know that an absence to attend the concert will not be excused, was filled with references to various Swift songs. “I understand I am the ‘Anti-Hero’ here, and ‘Call It What You Want,’ but ‘You’re on Your Own Kid’ if you think being a Swiftie is a good excuse for missing important instruction,” the note posted to Reddit reads. “You know ‘All Too Well’ you ‘Should’ve Said No’ to attending a Thursday night concert. Especially one from an artist who is known for putting on a three-hour AMAZING show.”

Read the full letter here.

Davis had a similar idea to a Texas legal-service provider named Karen Vladeck, who wrote her own pun-filled letter for exactly what the superintendent was dreading: asking that her first-grader be excused from school to attend The Eras tour. According to Vladeck, the teacher simply responded in all caps, “THIS MADE MY ENTIRE DAY.”

Swift is currently a month into her Eras Tour shows, which she kicked off in Glendale, Arizona. Following sets in Las Vegas and Arlington, the “Anti-Hero” musician is headlining three shows in Tampa on April 13, 14 and 15.