Music

02 Dec 2022

Taylor Bennett Opens Up in Sound Mind’s Latest Episode of Unmasked

Chicago-born rapper Taylor Bennett grew up around music and was constantly working on his craft with his older brother, Chance the Rapper. Over the years, Bennett has carved his own lane as an independent music artist, entrepreneur, and advocate. 

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In 2015, Bennett released his debut project, Broad Shoulders, which quickly became a classic of the mid-2010s underground hip-hop SoundCloud era. The EP was headlined by a track named after the project which included a standout feature from Bennett’s older brother Chance. The single took Bennett’s career to new heights and he began to gain mainstream traction. He went on to release Restoration of an American Idol in 2017, BE YOURSELF in 2018, and THE AMERICAN REJECT in 2019 before taking a few years off from dropping new music. Earlier this year, Bennett returned with a new project, Coming of Age, which features iconic artists like Mr. Hudson and Jeremih. 

One year after coming out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Bennett released his 2018 EP BE YOURSELF and launched a clothing brand under the same moniker. The phrase “be yourself” is much more than a brand or album name to the Chicago native.  On the project, Bennett tackled some important internal conversations he’s never faced publicly or with family and friends. The cover is symbolic of Bennett accepting himself and features the rapper in rainbow underwear and a birthday hat surrounded by balloons. 

In Sound Mind’s latest episode of Unmasked, Bennett credits coming out as the moment he started to gain self-confidence. He is passionate about using his story to build others up and help fans work through any mental health challenges they face. 

“Mental health is so important to me. Every day I try to be my best self so I can show up as a father, a manager, and an artist. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I feel it’s my duty to share my story and connect with others so we can build each other up and combat any mental health challenges we may face. That’s what music is all about. I’m grateful for Billboard and Sound Mind’s “Unmasked” series which helps me do that. If someone out there is struggling, I hope they know they’re not alone. Let’s “unmask” mental health together.”

Unmasked is focused on promoting mental health resources, as well as fostering an open dialogue about mental health for artists and audiences alike. It is imperative that the music industry creates more spaces for artists to be open and honest about their struggles with mental health. Check out Taylor Bennett on the latest episode of Unmasked above and stay tuned for more from Sound Mind. 

02 Dec 2022

First Stream: New Music From RM, Metro Boomin, Lewis Capaldi and More

Billboard’s First Stream serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

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This week, RM presents a bold solo vision, Metro Boomin ends another big year with a superstar affair, and Lewis Capaldi’s latest will turn your frown upside down. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:

RM, Indigo 

Even with the context of every recent solo project from the members of BTS, which have presented their millions of listeners with individual aesthetics and ideas, RM’s official solo debut Indigo ruptures with artistic ambition from the opening minutes, where he raps about his humanity over a buttery R&B beat before Erykah Badu slides in with a majestic pre-chorus. Indigo wriggles free of easy classification, much like its creator: the moment one tries to peg the project as a mainstream hip-hop effort, a song like the arena-ready sing-along “Wild Flower” or the forlorn strummer “Lonely” upends expectations. RM’s curiosity balances out his natural talent on Indigo, resulting in an accomplished, multi-faceted solo step.

Metro Boomin, Heroes & Villains 

From Future to 21 Savage to The Weeknd, Metro Boomin has helped mold the sound of some of the biggest mainstream stars of the past decade as a producer and songwriter — so when he releases his own projects, they (and many others) naturally show up to pay homage. Heroes & Villains, the long-awaited follow-up to the Atlanta studio whiz’s underrated 2018 opus Not All Heroes Wear Capes, is a star-studded heat check before the end of the year that allows superstars to operate over slow-rolling beats (“Trance,” a bleary-eyed team-up between Travis Scott and Young Thug, is a highlight), as well as engage in some rollicking genre exercises (“Creepin’” joyfully re-creates Mario Winans’ “I Don’t Wanna Know” with The Weeknd and 21 Savage).

Lewis Capaldi, “Pointless”

Lewis Capaldi became a star on the strength of sorrow: his singles “Someone You Loved” and “Before You Go” grew into unlikely top 10 Hot 100 hits while embracing heart-wrenched balladry, as the singer-songwriter bet on unbridled emotion as a commercial vehicle and won handily. “Pointless,” the second taste of his upcoming sophomore album Broken By Desire to be Heavenly Sent, taps into another rush of feelings, but this one could soundtrack a wedding dance instead of a tearful night in bed: “Everything is pointless without you,” Capaldi sings, the intensity of his voice and stabs of piano drawing the listener into his love story.

Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time (Sampler) 

After nearly two years of watching his Dangerous: The Double Album become one of the biggest commercial LPs of the past decade, and rebuilding trust in and out of Nashville following some high-profile controversies, Morgan Wallen is setting himself up for a major 2023, with a recently announced international stadium tour accompanied by a three-song sampler of an upcoming studio project. “One Thing at a Time,” “Days That End in Why” and “Tennessee Fan” don’t try to reinvent Wallen’s appeal, instead augmenting the long-running juxtaposition between his rustic, lived-in voice and sparkling, sophisticated country-pop songwriting, while also suggesting that fans will have plenty to look forward to in the new year.

Latto feat. GloRilla & Gangsta Boo, “FTCU” 

From the moment you realize that the acronym “FTCU” stands for “f-ck the club up” in the new collaboration between Latto, GloRilla and Gangsta Boo, you hope that the trio can come as correct as Three 6 Mafia and Waka Flocka Flame did on their respective destroying-the-club anthems from different generations of hip-hop. Fortunately, they deliver: “FTCU” is pure, menacing fun, with Latto dropping threats with efficiency and GloRilla relying on her drawl to accentuate punchlines like “Walk up in your party, make that bitch my party, ayy.”

Arcangel, Sr. Santos 

Sr. Santos, the new project from former Arcangel & De La Ghetto leader Austin “Arcangel” Santos, will likely draw most of its attention toward the explosive Bad Bunny team-up “La Jumpa,” which sounds ready to dominate clubs for the foreseeable future. Although Arcangel’s new album gains strength from its high-wattage collaborators — Bizarrap, Myke Towers and Duki all swing by — the reggaetón veteran also sounds reinvigorated on the project, surrounding the guest-heavy portions of the projects with sizzling solo tracks like “La Roca” and “PortoBello.”

02 Dec 2022

Meghan Trainor on the Lessons Motherhood Taught Her – And How It Led to Comeback Hit ‘Made You Look’

In the time since Meghan Trainor dropped her third studio album Treat Myself in January 2020, her life has completely transformed. That October, she revealed that she was pregnant with her first child. She released A Very Trainor Christmas the same month, and early the following year, the 28-year-old Nantucket native welcomed her son, Riley, with her husband, Spy Kids star Daryl Sabara.

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Now a mother, Trainor says that she has learned to focus more on “what actually matters” and being her most authentic self for her new baby. That has involved spending loads of time on TikTok, posting casual videos dancing with her family or sharing personal and hilarious tidbits about her life. “I’ve been more real and open than ever. I even talk about my love for MiraLAX online,” she jokes to Billboard.

The platform has also boosted one of her biggest hits in the past few years: her fresh take on doo-wop, “Made You Look,” first began to spread across TikTok thanks to a dance trend started by users Brookie and Jessie that has since become inescapable. Trainor has gotten in on the fun, and to date, nearly two million user-created videos on the platform have utilized the track as a backing sound. “Made You Look” reaches a new No. 24 high on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Dec. 3, marking Trainor’s highest-charting hit since “Me Too” reached No. 13 in 2016.

Below, the pop star tells Bilboard about the details behind “Made You Look” — including how she drew inspiration from a familiar hit to create the song — how music has changed over her decade-long career and what being a mother has taught her.

How did “Made You Look” come together?

It was one of the last songs I wrote for the album. I knew I needed my self-confident banger that I always do on my albums, and I was really studying “All About That Bass.” I was like, “Why did this work so well?” I think everyone just loves to sing along to a song that’s like, “I am awesome, I am the sh-t, I am hot.” Especially after having a baby, I was already struggling to love my body. I was covered in a C-section scar crossing over all my stretch marks and I was really struggling to like myself, but also like myself in front of my own husband.

My therapist had me stand in front of the mirror naked every day and the first day, I was shaking and hated it. By the third day, I noticed things that I liked about my body and I was like, “Wow, this is so powerful.” So, I was in the shower one day and I was like, “Yeah, they could dress me in all these fancy clothes, but when I’m at my grungiest and at home, that’s when my husband is like, ‘You’re the prettiest girl in the world. You’re the hottest.’ ” I wanted to put that in a song, and I wrote the chorus in the shower.

Your C-section scar is how you gave birth to your son, though. That’s so special.

Exactly. I was at the point where I would say to my husband, “Please don’t look at it. Don’t look at my scar!” He’s like, “That’s my favorite mark there ever was. That’s where my boy came out of. That’s the most special thing in the world!” I had never thought about it like that.

How is making music different for you since having your son?

It’s more important now. I guess I’m also more mature, because I’m older and been through more, so now, I’m at an age and point in my life where I’m like, “Here’s what actually matters and here’s what doesn’t. I’m not going to stress anymore.” I really had to work with my therapist on what I can and can’t control. These stretch marks are here, [I have to] get used to them and learn to love them because I can’t control whether they go away or not. In my songwriting, I try to put in that “let it go” vibe.

What was your reaction when “Made You Look” started blowing up on TikTok?

I was so surprised, because it’s so hard to get a song to be successful on TikTok. You don’t want to be out there every day like, “Check out my new song!” I like being vulnerable on that app, and I feel weird being on there just to promote my music. This song was important to me, though, and I knew it would help people with their confidence.

When I saw the dance from the TikTokers Brookie and Jessie, [it] was so fun and they made it look so cool. It was hard to learn, but now that I know it, I do it literally every day. I love the dance so much. It blew up and popped off, but now I see people doing other stuff to the song. I saw a girl who was learning how to be a chef, someone practicing how to cut a vagina while giving birth and a horse giving birth to my song. That’s the coolest part of TikTok. The whole world is on there.

What are some of the biggest differences you see in music trends and on the Hot 100 over the course of your career?

Obviously, TikTok rules the world. For the last album, I was like, “I’ll do every piece of promo you want me to do. If this works, I’ll do it.” But it didn’t work. So, for this album, I made a priority to do “TikTok days” and make content. This app allows for a whole day of fun work for us, and it doesn’t feel like work. I get to be at home and make videos that go viral, and it still helps my music and connect with strangers all over the world. I went live on TikTok this morning and people from Ethiopia were in there. People are like, “Hi from South Dakota! Hi from South Africa!” And I’m like, “Oh my God!” It’s just the best app to connect with everyone globally.

I’ve been more real and open than ever. I even talk about my love for MiraLAX online. The best part of that is that it seems to be what everyone likes. They like me being myself. That’s easy to do for me, rather than [being] like, “Oh, I’m a celebrity that no one can touch, and I wear Gucci and Prada. Don’t talk to me.” It’s easier and more fun this way. Finally, for the first time in a long time, I really, really love my job again. I love promoting music again.

It also feels like you found a renewed love for music on Takin’ It Back.

Yeah! My last album I was chasing radio so hard and was going more pop because I was trying to run away from the doo-wop stuff. I was like, “No, I can do all the genres! I love pop! I love dance!” Then, I was like, “Alright, let’s do the doo-wop. Let’s give the people what they want.” I realized, then, my love for it. I wrote the verses of “Made You Look” over lunch while laughing. We were like, “Oh, it should be, ‘Call up your chiropractor just in case your neck breaks from looking at me.’ ” We were having a ball.

One thing that definitely hasn’t changed through your albums are your messages of empowerment.

I’m trying to do that for everyone out there. The best reward is [that] I’ve been getting letters from fans that start with, “Your music helped me so much growing up.” That’s better than any compliment ever.

What are you excited for with the holidays coming up? You’re a big Christmas fan and even have a holiday album.

Yes, my decorations are already up and I put up the tree. I’m also trying to get pregnant. I’m trying to have four kids and get them out. I don’t know if we’ll tour next year, because touring is so exhausting and brutal still.

Especially if you do get pregnant.

I mean, I don’t know if I’m as cool as Cardi B. The icon that’s like, “Sure I can tour and perform and do SNL pregnant.” I don’t know if I’m as strong as her. I remember being pregnant and being like, “I really should lay down.” I was pooped, so I don’t know if I want to sign up for a tour and then get pregnant while doing that. It’s a big debate, but if something happens and I can open for someone or do a short run, I would love to do something like that. I also want to put out a book about pregnancy. After giving birth, I feel like I can do anything. So, I’m just picking new goals and making new dreams.

What’s the biggest thing you learned through motherhood?

Mom guilt is [a] very similar pain to struggling with loving yourself. I’m a very hard critic on myself in everything I do. With loving myself and music and my talent, I’m my worst critic. I noticed that mom guilt is a very similar feeling. Immediately, I had the worst mom guilt because I started working right away and I was like, “Oh, he’s saying ‘dada’ first and it’s probably because he doesn’t know me!” That’s not the case at all. I had to learn, “Hey, be easy on yourself. You’re doing the best you can and that’s all that matters.” Watch out for mom guilt, and just know that I have it too and I’m working on it.

A version of this story originally appeared in the Nov. 19, 2022, issue of Billboard.

02 Dec 2022

Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox Team Up For Sexy Nail Polish Photoshoot

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly have never shied away from a little PDA. But in their new ad campaign for the actress’ Play With Fire nail polish kit collab with her fianceé’s UN/DN LAQR nail brand, they get entangled to celebrate some vibrant colors inspired by Megan’s favorite crystals and gemstones.

In one of the snaps, Fox’s emerald green nails grip the back of MGK’s neck as he lays his hands — in a bright blue shade — over hers. In the second pic, she stares at the side of Colson’s neck while cradling his throat with her right hand.

“I know you. I have known you so many times, in so many different forms, in so many different lives,” reads a tagline for the collection which includes six hues, including: Past Life (bright Lapus Lazuli blue), Brutal Honesty (malachite green), Twin Flame (ruby red), Deep Breath (shattered “glass” iridescent effect), Third Eye (lilac purple) and Nothing Matt(er)s (matt top coat).

“The collection is themed around some of my favorite crystals and gemstones, I love wearing jewel tones as they play well against my natural coloring,” Fox told Allure about the range of colors that also reflect the natural world and changing seasons. “Winter is a time for all types of ‘hibernation’ or turning inward; we see this with animals as well as plants during this season. This is a waning (withdrawing) time, not a waxing (growing) time.”

In an accompanying video set to MGK’s “Sid & Nancy” Fox gets her nails done as she lays in bed and the couple hit a number of red carpets while the actress strikes a series of seductive poses while showing off some of her Fire colors.

Check out the images from the campaign below.

02 Dec 2022

Britney Spears-Inspired Musical ‘Once Upon a One More Time’ Sets Broadway Run for June 2023

Britney Spears’ biggest hits are getting a fairy-tale makeover with the arrival of Once Upon a One More Time on Broadway.

Produced by Tony winners James L. Nederlander and Hunter Arnold, the musical comedy will open at the Marquis Theatre on June 23 following previews, which begin May 13. Directed and choreographed by Keone and Mari Madrid (Beyond Babel, Karate Kid), the show combines classic storybook characters — think Cinderella, Snow White, Little Mermaid and more — with hits from Spears’ extensive, award-winning music catalog.

The show is billed as being inspired by music performed and recorded by Spears, who is otherwise not known to be involved. According to a rep for the production, all of the musical compositions in the show are licensed through their publishers with the approval of the songwriters. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to a lawyer for Spears for comment.

Described as a revisionist fairy tale, Once Upon a One More Time is a “musical adventure about claiming your own happily ever after,” according to the production. Singles like “Oops I Did It Again,” “Lucky,” “Circus” and “Toxic” serve as the soundtrack to a fairy-tale book club upended by a rogue fairy godmother, who decides to drop The Feminine Mystique into the laps of women who have known little else outside of “bird-made dresses and true love’s kiss.”

With an original story written by Jon Hartmere (Bare, The Upside), the production’s creative team includes David Leveaux (Nine, Romeo and Juliet) as a creative consultant, scenic designer Anna Fleischle (Hangmen, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), costume and hair designer Loren Elstein (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead), lighting designer Kenneth Posner (Wicked, Beetlejuice), sound designer Andrew Keister (KPOP, On Your Feet!) and projection designer Sven Ortel (Newsies).

The show was originally slated for a pre-Broadway run in Chicago in 2019 at the James M. Nederlander Theatre, but delayed its opening to spring 2020. In March, the pandemic shut down theaters across the country, with producers deciding to cancel the show’s Chicago engagement.

Once Upon a One More Time would make its world premiere in December 2021 at Washington D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company, where it eventually extended its limited engagement from Jan. 3 to 9 due to demand.

Spears, who is not credited as part of the creative or producer team, was present for an early reading in 2019, according to The Washington Post. Ahead of the musical’s abandoned Chicago run, during which Spears was still in her now-ended 13-year conservatorship, Playbill reported that the pop icon called the production “a dream come true for me.”

“I’m so excited to have a musical with my songs — especially one that takes place in such a magical world filled with characters that I grew up on, who I love and adore,” she continued in a statement at the time.

Before the musical’s D.C. run in 2021, Hartmere said he was “given access to all of Spears’ songs,” according to an interview with the Post. “The only thing I was told was that she loves fairies,” he said of Spears. “And I was like, ‘That’s it, that’s what we’ve got to go on.’”

“I knew the songs that everybody else knew,” he added. “I didn’t know the deep cuts. She literally has a song [called] ‘Cinderella.’ I was like, ‘All right, I have to do this.’”

The news comes on the pop icon’s 41st birthday.

This story was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

02 Dec 2022

Toby Keith Gives Promising Update After Stomach Cancer Battle: ‘We’ll Look at Something Good in the Future’

Toby Keith is opening up about his battle with stomach cancer in a new interview with the CMT Hot 20 Countdown. The 61-year-old country legend revealed earlier this summer that he was taking a break from music to undergo chemotherapy, radiation and surgery after getting a stomach cancer diagnosis in the fall of 2021.

“I’m thinkin’ about getting back in fighting shape,” Keith said in a preview of the interview posted earlier this week. “I need a little bit of time to rest up, heal up… it’s pretty debilitating to have to go through all that. But as long as everything stays hunky dory then we’ll look at something good in the future. The full interview will air on Saturday (Dec. 3) at 9 a.m. ET.

“Last fall I was diagnosed with stomach cancer,” Keith tweeted in June. “I’ve spent the last 6 months receiving chemo, radiation and surgery. So far, so good. I need time to breathe, recover and relax. I am looking forward to spending time with my family. But I will see the fans sooner than later. I can’t wait.”

Keith cancelled some dates as a result of the diagnosis, then made a surprise appearance at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse in Lexington, Kentucky in early November, where owner Ruby said he performed songs including his 2003 hit “I Love This Bar”; it was Keith first performance since revealing his cancer diagnosis.

Ruby also shared a photo of himself with Keith, saying, “Grateful for my good friend Toby Keith! Rocking our Lexington stage after a year of kicking cancer’s a–!”

Watch an excerpt from Keith’s interview below.

02 Dec 2022

Watch BTS‘ RM Recreate NPR ’Tiny Desk’ Studio For Intimate 3-Song Set

Dedicated ARMY veterans will likely be dissecting the set of RM’s NPR Tiny Desk concert for the rest of the month. To celebrate the release of his solo album, Indigo, the BTS rapper born Kim Nam-joon recreated an amazingly detailed replica of the Washington, D.C.-based Tiny Desk office set in South Korea, complete with shelves packed with tasty Easter eggs.

But the focus, of course, was on the vocals, which the 29-year-old star delivered on with ease, beginning with the jazzy opening track of his three-song set, “seoul.” The chilled-out bilingual song from RM’s 2018 mono mixtape set a mellow mood for the 18-minute mini-show, complete with warm keyboards and restrained beats from drummer JK Kim.

After the opening track, RM said it was about his second home town in South Korea, before introducing his band and noting that the album version of the opening track from Indigo, “Yun,” features R&B legend Erykah Badu, who, unfortunately, could not make it to Seoul for the session. RM also explained that it was inspired by Korean painter Yun Hyong-keun, who, “was always saying that you should firstly be a human before you do some art or do something, so this song is inspired by his lifelong message,” he said, adding that one of the artist’s images is on the Indigo cover.

While the band played the slow-rolling soul rap tune, Badu’s recorded vocals floated above the chorus as RM dropped his mashed-up English/Korean bars over the loungey arrangement. “F–k the trendsetter/ I’mma turn back the time/ Back the time, far to when I was nine,” he rapped before seamlessly slipping into Korean for the rest of the first verse.

RM said that though he’s been doing music for 15 years — 10 of them with BTS — Indigo is his first official full-length solo album. “I went all the way just to release these 10 tracks and 10 colors out of my soul and out of my ego,” he said of the album that dropped on Friday (Dec. 2) in the midst of BTS’ open-ended group hiatus.

“This time I finally could show the world what’s really inside me and what I wanted to do,” he added of the collection he’s been working on since 2019 with the band, which also featured Jaeshin Park on bass and DOCSKIM on keyboards.

For the final track, RM slid into Indigo‘s funky second track, “Still Life,” which he said was inspired by a visit to a “random” museum where he saw lots of paintings from the 19th century with that title, giving him the idea to write a song about his life being like a canvas on which he exhibits himself to the whole world. The soul clap tune was the perfect excuse to bust out some of BTS’ signature coordinated dance moves, but given the setting, RM had to make do with dropping his emphatic verses from an office chair as the band swirled up some sinuous grooves behind him.

Watch RM’s Tiny Desk concert below.

02 Dec 2022

Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon Talk Playing Tammy Wynette and George Jones, Bouncy Castles and Loving Nashville

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were both long gone by the time Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain began filming George & Tammy, a six-episode series that premieres on Showtime Dec. 4. However, the actors still found a way to commune with the legendary country artists.

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“We came to Nashville and did some recording,” Shannon tells Billboard. “The studio that we recorded at was adjacent to the cemetery where George is buried and Tammy’s remains are. So, we would sing their songs and then go and visit them.” Wynette died in 1998 and Jones in 2013.

Playing the country icons was daunting, the actors admit, especially when it came to doing their own singing. “I had so much anxiety and stress about trying to sound like her, but that’s an impossible thing to do,” Chastain says. “She had a once-in-a-lifetime gift.”

Taking on the emotional weight of the troubled couple, who were married from 1969-1975, could also be taxing, so Shannon would try to lighten the mood “if you think fart noises are funny,” he says, cracking Chastain up. “We did actually do something that probably no one would ever expect,” she adds. “We had a bouncy castle day because it was someone’s birthday and I got Mike into the bouncy castle, which is a sight I thought I’d never see.”

The pair, who have been friends since they appeared together in 2011’s Take Shelter, sat down with Billboard recently in Nashville to discuss how they prepared for their roles, why they did their own singing and reveal their favorite Jones and Wynette songs. 

Billboard: Jessica, Abe Sylvia, whom you worked with on The Eyes of Tammy Faye, is writer and co-executive producer of George & Tammy. Is that how you got involved?  

Chastain: No, someone approached me in 2011 at the Golden Globes, and said, “Hey, do you want to play Tammy Wynette?” It was like my first awards show and I was like, “Yeah, that sounds great. I love that song.” (laughs) There were many, many iterations of it, different directors. And budget wise, it was so expensive with all the music and all the stories we wanted to tell in two hours, it just felt like it wasn’t going to happen. At one point, it just kind of disappeared because it was so expensive. And then, in the beginning of the pandemic, Abe called me and said, “What if we make it a mini-series?” And that sounded very exciting. I’ve been reading about Tammy Wynette for 11 years.

Michael, you’ve said you didn’t know that much about George and that you’re more into jazz. What was your interest in playing him?

Shannon: Jessica asked me about it. I read his autobiography. I was really seduced by his voice, by his singing and his songs. I felt a little self-conscious about it because I don’t think I really resemble George Jones much, but I was excited to have an opportunity to sing and tell a story through singing because I do like to sing.

You used to have your own band. How did that help you since you’ve been in front of an audience performing? 

Shannon: I don’t get super nervous about being up in front of a bunch of people, but to try and sing like George is no small feat. I don’t really think anybody can sing like George. But I sure worked hard on it, and we had a vocal coach, Ron Browning, who helped us train for a few months before we even started shooting. 

What was your approach in terms of capturing their vocal styles?

Shannon: We wanted to tell the story through singing. The part that really intrigued me is how George and Tammy would tell the story of their life every time they sang together or alone. Even though the songs oftentimes weren’t written by them, they were still communicating by singing them. You can pick the same song and watch 10 different performances of it and get 10 completely different stories just based on the way they’re looking at each other. We could have just lip-synced everything, but I think in order for us to inhabit the people, we had to perform.

When you were doing your research, was there one thing that you clued in on that helped you find the character? 

Chastain: I don’t know that this is right at all–I never had the opportunity to meet her–but I felt like she was an incredibly sensuous person, watching her sing, watching her interviews. Everything about her, I think she loved being a woman. She loved cooking. She loved makeup and hair. I found that to be a way in. She loved men at a time where you get married and stay married forever, she married five times. I think a lot of that also has to do with the fact that she loved being around men. Again, my interpretation, but it was kind of my way into playing her.

What about for you, Michael? 

Shannon: I don’t know. It’s such a complex journey, George’s life. Every day when I got to work, there was an interview I’d listen to. It was an interview that George and Tammy did together. It coincided with the release of record that they made together for Epic and George talks about finally getting to Epic 17 years (in). It was kind of my morning ritual, put that on and listen to his voice. Listen to him and Tammy together. 

There’s a scene in Ken Burns Country Music documentary where record producer Billy Sherrill calls them wounded animals. These are really talented, but tragic people.

Chastain: I think what’s so interesting sometimes about people is when they’re not afraid of their darkness and they’re willing to live in it and willing to explore it and try to move through it. And I think a lot of times we live our lives trying to hide it from others, try to appear to be perfect and hide anything that feels ugly or might upset someone away. The thing about George and Tammy that you see when they sing together is they were just so open. She was in another time period, so she had to hide a lot about who she was, but I don’t think she had to hide from George. I don’t know how I would have been able to even approach playing this character without coming to set knowing that Mike was going to be there playing George because when you’re telling those kinds of stories, you need open people willing to go to dark places to do it.

Do you think they were the love of each other’s lives? 

Chastain: We gotta be careful because there’s some people still alive. Do you know what I mean? Oof.

Shannon: I’ll put it this way, I don’t really see the point in making this show if the basic premise of the show isn’t that George and Tammy were the love of each other’s [lives]. That’s kind of the Christmas tree that all the ornaments are hanging on, at least in this particular show. Now, there’s 555 million versions of the story and everybody’s got a different one. Neither one of us would say this is the absolute, irrefutable God’s honest truth of every single moment of George and Tammy’s life, but it’s the story that we signed on to tell. 

Chastain: And sometimes being with a love of your life isn’t a healthy thing…It’s not written in any of the books, but people who were there said that they were still romantic later in life. So that’s in our show so I’m not speaking out of turn. So, there were a lot of surprises.

Whether musically or otherwise, after they split, they always found their way back to each other.

Chastain: And when she died, George wrote letters to DJs talking about the circumstances of her death. They were always connected.

What’s your favorite George song and favorite Tammy song? 

Chastain: I love “The Race Is On.” I think that’s one of the best songs ever written. I love the lyrics. I love the music. And for her, “Apartment No. 9.” That’s pretty great.  

Shannon: “Help Me Make It Through the Night” for Tammy. With George, “Bartender’s Blues.”

Lasting impressions of Nashville? 

Chastain: I just loved the people that we got to work with. The guys in the band, a lot of them are session players here in Nashville. There were times I would come on to set and, Mike, I think you were getting ready to do “Beneath Still Waters” and in the breaks all the guys would just start playing and Michael started singing a different song and they would just be jamming. That was incredibly inspiring to be around that all the time. I loved the people here in Nashville and the kind of music history that I got to learn.