Music

03 Nov 2022

2023 CMT Music Awards to Air Live From Austin, Texas

The 2023 CMT Music Awards are headed to the Lone Star State.

CMT and CBS have revealed that the 2023 CMT Music Awards will air Sunday, April 2, 2023, live from Austin, Texas’ Moody Center, via CBS. The Paramount Global country music tentpole event returns for its global premiere exclusively via the CBS Television Network and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

Kelsea Ballerini, who recently released her album Subject to Change, will return for a third consecutive year as co-host of the CMT Music Awards. Ballerini surprised Carrie Underwood during her Wednbesday (Nov. 2) stop at Moody Center on her The Denim & Rhinestones Tour, where they revealed Underwood as the first performer for the 2023 CMT Music Awards. Underwood has won the most honors of any artist at the CMT Music Awards, with 25 trophies to date.

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“Both Austin and Nashville are two of the world’s greatest music cities and we couldn’t be more excited to announce the return of the CMT Music Awards on CBS than with co-host Kelsea Ballerini surprising Carrie Underwood, our most awarded artist, in the middle of her incredible live performance at Moody Center – the exact venue where we’ll all be back exactly five months from today!” shared Margaret Comeaux, John Hamlin, Leslie Fram and Jason Owen, executive producers of the CMT Music Awards, via a statement. “Our fans are in for an unforgettable night of music with plenty of surprises, as the Live Music Capital meets Music City for the first time ever on a national stage in what will be a true country music extravaganza.”

“The programming team at Oak View Group and Moody Center has spent the past two years cultivating this relationship and working to endear CMT, CBS and Paramount to Austin and our new, world-class arena. CMT’s commitment to Austin reflects those efforts and we couldn’t be more grateful and excited to host them next year,” added Michael Owens, vp, programming, Moody Center.   

“We are beyond thrilled to welcome the CMT Music Awards to Moody Center in 2023! This event will have not only a huge financial impact on Austin and its tourism industry, but it will also showcase two of the top music brands globally, Austin as The Live Music Capital of the World and Country Music Television,” added Tom Noonan, president/CEO, Austin CVB. 

This year marked the CMT Music Awards’ debut on CBS, where the show garnered 5.89 million viewers, a 529% increase from June 2021, while also earning 2.7 billion impressions on social platforms.

02 Nov 2022

Tim McGraw Spotted Wearing Dad Tug McGraw’s Phillies Jersey at World Series Game

Country singer Tim McGraw wore his late father’s Phillies jersey at game 3 of the World Series on Tuesday night.

McGraw’s late dad, Tug McGraw, was a left-handed pitcher and a major figure during the 1980 World Series, winning a ring with the Phillies.

While Tim McGraw was enthusiastic about showing off his father’s jersey, the singer had a complicated relationship with Tug. 

“I didn’t know he was my dad,” Tim said in a 2013 interview with Larry King. “I was 11 years old, and I was rummaging around in mom’s closet and found a birth certificate. I was growing up in Louisiana, and my mom was divorced, and we were barely getting by.”

The singer then met his father for the first time that year, but would not be reunited with the busy athlete again for another seven years. Despite their physical distance, McGraw says he still felt close to his father and was elated to find out he was his son. “When I found out Tug McGraw was my dad, it gave me something in my little town in Louisiana, something that I would have never reached for,” he said in an interview with Esquire. “How could I ever be angry?”

The motivation from his award-winning father surely was effective for McGraw, who’s experienced extensive success in the world of country music, including 26 No. 1 hits on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart.

02 Nov 2022

Imagine Dragons & The Strokes to Headline Inaugural Edition of Lollapalooza India

MUMBAI – Rock bands Imagine Dragons and The Strokes will headline the first Indian edition of Lollapalooza in January 2023, it was announced Wednesday (Nov. 2).

The festival, which will take place at Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Racecourse on Jan. 28-29, is promoted and co-produced by Indian ticketing platform and entertainment company BookMyShow, along with global producers Perry Farrell and C3 Presents, which is owned by Live Nation. The Mumbai leg will mark the Asia debut of Lollapalooza, which expanded to Santiago, São Paulo and Buenos Aires in South America, and Berlin, Paris and Stockholm in Europe over the past decade.

Other international names in the lineup for Lollapalooza India — several of whom will be staging their first concert appearances in the country — include rock bands Greta Van Fleet and The Wombats; singer and Got7 member Jackson Wang; pop artists Alec Benjamin, Chelsea Cutler, Japanese Breakfast and Raveena; dream-pop group Cigarettes After Sex; and electronic music producers Apashe, Diplo, Imanbek, Kasablanca, Madeon and Zhu. Though it isn’t part of the official announcement, Farrell’s Kind Heaven Orchestra will also play the event, he told Forbes in September.

Among the Indian acts on the bill are Indo-Canadian rapper AP Dhillon, who is among the most streamed artists on Spotify and Apple Music in India; and homegrown heavyweights rapper Divine and Prateek Kuhad, rock band The Yellow Diary and metal group Bloodywood, whose album Rakshak hit the top 100 of the Billboard Top Album Sales chart in March on the back of an international fan campaign.

Around 40 acts will perform to a cumulative audience of approximately 60,000 people at Lollapalooza India, early bird tickets for which sold out within 36 hours, a representative for BookMyShow told Billboard. Tickets are on sale from lollaindia.com.

Check out the Lollapalooza India lineup below:

Lollapalooza India

Courtesy Photo

02 Nov 2022

Kelly Clarkson Delivers Smooth Cover of Z.Z. Hill’s ‘Someone Else Is Steppin‘ In’

Kelly Clarkson once more proved that she can truly sing any genre when she dipped into R&B and soul for her latest Kellyoke cover.

On Wednesday’s (Nov. 2) episode of her popular daytime talk show, the superstar delivered a buttery smooth rendition of Z.Z. Hill’s 1982 hit, “Someone Else Is Steppin’ In.” Dressed in a flirty periwinkle dress, she delivered every high and low note flawlessly, backed by a full horn section and her band.

The song was originally featured on Z.Z. Hill’s 1982 album, The Rhythm & the Blues, released just two years before the singer’s death.

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Later in the episode, Selena Gomez stopped by, and dished on what it was like to work with Steve Martin and Martin Short on their popular Hulu comedic drama series, Only Murders in the Building.

In September, the beloved American Idol winner kicked off season four of her Emmy-winning Kelly Clarkson Show. In the three seasons that the daytime talk show had been on the air before that, Clarkson has won an impressive five Daytime Emmys. Clarkson won outstanding entertainment talk show host all three seasons her show has been on the air. 

Other recent Kellyoke picks by Clarkson for her daytime show have included Monica’s “Angel of Mine,” Faith Hill’s “Breathe,” Solomon Burke’s “Cry to Me,” Joni Mitchell’s Christmastime classic “River,” John Legend’s “In My Mind,” “Heartbreak Anthem” by David Guetta, Galantis and Little Mix and more.

Check out Kelly Clarkson cover of Z.Z. Hill’s “Someone Else Is Steppin’ In” below.

02 Nov 2022

OneRepublic’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Hit ‘I Ain’t Worried’ Flies to No. 1 on Adult Pop Airplay Chart

OneRepublic‘s “I Ain’t Worried,” from the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack, ascends to No. 1 on Billboard‘s Adult Pop Airplay chart (dated Nov. 5).

The song marks the Ryan Tedder-fronted group’s fourth leader on the list and first since “Counting Stars” spent seven weeks at No. 1 in 2013-14. Before that, the act reigned with “Good Life,” for four weeks in 2011, and as featured on its first entry, Timbaland’s “Apologize,” which ruled for six weeks in 2008.

In August, “I Ain’t Worried” became OneRepublic’s 12th Adult Pop Airplay top 10. In between the song and “Counting Stars,” the group reached the top 10 with “Lose Somebody,” with Kygo (No. 8, 2020); “Connection” (No. 9, 2018); “I Lived” (No. 10, 2015); and “Love Runs Out” (No. 4, 2014).

Meanwhile, Tedder adds his 11th Adult Pop Airplay No. 1 as a co-writer. In addition to OneRepublic’s four leaders, he’s topped the chart as a co-author of: Lil Nas X’s “Thats What I Want” (2022); Jonas Brothers’ “Sucker” (2019); Maroon 5’s “Maps” (2014) and “Love Somebody” (2013); Gavin DeGraw’s “Not Over You” (2012); Kelly Clarkson’s “Already Gone” (2009-10); and Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” (2008).

On the all-genre, multi-metric Billboard Hot 100, “I Ain’t Worried” has so far reached No. 6, marking OneRepublic’s fourth top 10 and first since “Counting Stars” in 2014.

“I Ain’t Worried” is the second hit from the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack. The set’s “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga rose to No. 12 on Adult Pop Airplay in July.

02 Nov 2022

Tyler Perry Shares Stories of Jewish Allyship to Black Community Amid Kanye West’s Antisemitism

Tyler Perry fought back against Kanye West‘s recent barrage of antisemitic commentary by sharing his family’s personal connection to the Jewish community during his childhood.

“This first photo is of my mother with these adorable children she worked with at a Jewish community center,” the filmmaker wrote, captioning a post on Instagram depicting his mother’s class of 3-year-olds at the Jewish Community Center Nursery School. “I remember her coming home from work one day devastated because there was a bomb threat and my mother was horrified that there were people who wanted to blow up a building full of children because they were Jewish.

“I blurred their faces but think about that. It brought her back to that pain of having to live through the bombing of a church in Alabama where three little black girls died,” he continued, tying the moment emotionally to his mom’s experience during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Perry then went on to explain that his mom “made sure that I knew the commonality of what black people and Jewish people have endured” and made a moving argument about the crucial role allies can play in helping marginalized people regardless of race, ethnicity or creed.

“She not only taught me about slavery but she also taught me about the Holocaust,” he wrote. “But in teaching me about all our common pains she also taught me about the allies that Jewish people have been for black people. Case in point, look at the founding members of the NAACP – it took allies to get us to a better place in this country and those allies didn’t look like us.”

In another slide, Perry shares photos of Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney and Michael Henry Schwerner, three civil rights activists from New York who were abducted and killed in what were called the Mississippi Burning Murders. The trio had been working to register Black voters in Mississippi at the time.

“It was Jewish allies that were murdered in Mississippi trying to help us get the right to vote,” Perry continued. “I can fill this post with so many examples including my own allies that I work with today who have helped me grow a business that has allowed me to hire more black people than most businesses in Hollywood. No one makes it alone. Refuse hate!!”

While Perry didn’t refer to directly to Ye in the post, the rapper has created his own downward spiral in recent weeks by making increasingly disturbing antisemitic claims in the press, prompting multiple brands, from Balenciaga and Adidas to Gap and Foot Locker, to cut ties with him.

Read Perry’s powerful post about allyship below.

02 Nov 2022

‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Sets the Record Straight on His Relationship With Madonna

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is just days away from premiering on The Roku Channel, and “Weird Al” Yankovic himself stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss the parody on musician biopics.

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Notably, Fallon mentions that Evan Rachel Wood portrays Madonna, who plays a major part in the film. The host then asks Yankovic to reveal the true nature of his relationship with the Queen of Pop. “There are a few little nuggets of truth spread throughout the biopic,” he said. “Our relationship is platonic, by the way. The only time I actually met her was in 1985, and I talked to her for maybe, like, 45 seconds backstage. That’s the extent of the whole relationship.”

“She’s in the whole movie, by the way,” Fallon notes, to which Yankovic replies with a laugh, “Oh, she’s a huge part of the movie.”

The duo then discuss the famous “Yankovic bump,” in which an artist’s song gets a sales boost after Weird Al does a parody. In the film, the concept is hilariously exaggerated, with Madonna doing anything to get the “Yankovic bump.”

In real life, however, the boost happened to stars like Nirvana. “My ‘Smells Like Nirvana’ parody came out, and we got call from Nirvana’s record label saying thank you,” Yankovic recalled, adding that thanks to his song, the band’s Nevermind album sold an extra million units.

Watch the full Tonight Show interview with Yankovic below, and catch Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe, on The Roku Channel starting on Nov. 4.

02 Nov 2022

Kid Cudi, Berry Gordy & More to Be Honored at Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Black Cinema and Television

Kid Cudi, Berry Gordy, Angela Bassett, Michael B. Jordan and Quinta Brunson are slated to be among the honorees at the fifth annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television. Hosted by actor/comedian Bill Bellamy, the event will take place on Monday, Dec. 5 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

The celebration, sponsored by the Critics Choice Association, will recognize honorees in 15 categories.

“The Celebration of Black Cinema & Television has grown tremendously over the last five years,” CCA CEO Joey Berlin said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be able to recognize such outstanding projects across both film and television, and to honor these incredible actors and filmmakers for their work.”

“It has truly been a year to celebrate,” added CCA board member Shawn Edwards, who is serving as executive producer of the event. “The unprecedented amount of content about the Black experience on film and television made it very difficult to choose our honorees for this milestone year. And our special Icon Award honoree, Berry Gordy, pushed open a heavy door during the ’70s and ’80s through his Motown Productions with a string of movies and TV series that helped pave the way for future Black storytellers.”

The show will be televised on KTLA in January and shown nationwide on Nexstar stations throughout the month of February to tie in with Black History Month.

The show is produced by Madelyn Hammond and Javier Infante of Madelyn Hammond & Associates.

The Critics Choice Association is the largest critics organization in the U.S. and Canada, representing nearly 600 media critics and entertainment journalists. It was established in 2019 with the formal merger of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association.

Here’s a complete list of this year’s honorees:

Kid Cudi: The musician and actor, born Scott Mescudi, will be honored with the Groundbreaker Award for his starring role as Jabari in the Netflix television event, Entergalactic, which he also created. Cudi won a Grammy 11 years ago for his featured role on Kanye West’s “All of the Lights,” which was named best rap/sung collaboration.

Berry Gordy: The songwriter, producer, director, entrepreneur and Motown founder, will receive the Icon Award for his contributions to music, film and popular culture. Gordy will also be honored, alongside his lifelong friend Smokey Robinson, at the MusiCares person of the year gala on Feb. 3, 2023.

Angela Bassett: The actress, who received a 1993 Oscar nomination for portraying Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It, will receive the Career Achievement Award for her career as well as her recent role as Queen Ramonda in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Michael B. Jordan: The actor, producer and director will receive the Melvin Van Peebles Trailblazer Award for his contributions to the industry and in celebration of his directorial debut with the United Artists Releasing film, Creed III. In addition to directing the film, he reprises his role as Adonis Creed, and also produces under his Outlier Society production banner. Jordan received an Emmy nomination four years ago as an executive producer of HBO’s Fahrenheit 451, a nominee for outstanding television movie.

Quinta Brunson: The multihyphenate, who received Emmy nominations this year for acting, executive producing and writing on Abbott Elementary, will receive the Actress Award for Television for her work on ABC’s hit series, which she created and also executive produces. Brunson won an Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series.

Danielle Deadwyler: The actress will be honored with the Actress Award for Film for her role as Mamie Till-Mobley, mother of the murdered Emmett Till, in the Orion Pictures and United Artists Releasing film, Till.

Nicco Annan: The actor will receive the Actor Award for Television for his role as Uncle Clifford on the STARZ series, P-Valley.

Elegance Bratton: The writer and director will accept the Social Justice Award for his work on the A24 film, The Inspection.

Brian Tyree Henry: The actor will be awarded the Supporting Actor Award for his performance as James Aucoin in Apple Original Films and A24’s Causeway.

Ayo Edebiri: The actress and comedian will receive the Rising Star Award presented by IMDbPro for her role as Sydney Adamu on the FX series, The Bear.

Quincy Isaiah The actor is the other recipient of the Rising Star Award presented by IMDbPro for his role as Magic Johnson in the HBO Original series, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.

Jonathan Majors: The actor will be presented with the Actor Award for Film for his role as Jesse Brown in Columbia Pictures and Black Label Media aerial war epic, Devotion. Majors received an Emmy nomination last year for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for HBO’s Lovecraft Country.

Gina Prince-Bythewood: The director will receive the Director Award for Film for her work on TriStar Pictures and Entertainment One’s critically-acclaimed The Woman King.

Nikyatu Jusu: The writer/director will receive the Breakthrough Film Award for the Amazon Studios and Blumhouse film, Nanny.

The Wonder Years cast: The Ensemble Award will be presented to the cast of the reboot of ABC’s 1980s sitcom — Elisha “EJ” Williams, Dulé Hill, Saycon Sengbloh, Laura Kariuki, Julian Lerner, Amari O’Neil, and Milan Ray.

02 Nov 2022

Adele Spent Her Halloween Dancing to Rihanna & Dressed as a ‘Men in Black’ Agent

Call her Agent A. Adele spent her Halloween channeling Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones from Men in Back and dancing to Rihanna.

In a video posted by a fan page on Tuesday, the superstar is seen getting down to RiRi’s 2010 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “What’s My Name?,” featuring Drake, on an empty dance floor with a male pal. As Adele swings her hair over her shoulders, she rocks a chic black suit, white shirt and tie a la the 1997 sci-fi movie starring Smith and Jones.

A separate tweet shows the “Easy on Me” songstress taking a photo with friends at the “Night of Terror” party in Los Angeles on Monday night. In the snap, she wears black shades and wields one of the famous “neuralyzers” that Agent K and Agent J use in the film franchise to erase people’s memories of their alien encounters.

A few days before Halloween, Adele dropped a music video for her latest 30 single “I Drink Wine.” During a Q&A with fans celebrating the release of the visual, she clued the world in on the fact that, apparently, we’ve all been pronouncing her name incorrectly since the start of her record-breaking career. (For future reference, it’s “Uh-del,” not “Ah-del.”)

Turns out the mispronunciation wasn’t the only thing to come out of the Q&A either. While she hasn’t had time to listen to Taylor Swift‘s Midnights yet, Adele praised her fellow superstar in response to another fan’s question, calling her “one of the greatest songwriters of our generation.”

Check out Adele’s Men in Black-inspired Halloween getup below.

02 Nov 2022

Bizarrap & Quevedo Earn Their First No. 1 on Latin Airplay Chart

Both Bizarrap and Quevedo can check off a new career milestone as “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52” hits No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart (dated Nov. 5) — the first No. 1 for both acts. The new achievement lands after their team-up led both, the Billboard Global 200 chart (six weeks) and the Global Excl. U.S. chart (four weeks) starting the July 30-dated rankings.

“Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52” advances to the top slot in its seventh week on Latin Airplay thanks to an 8% gain, to 9 million, earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 30, according to Luminate.

With the move, Bizarrap and Quevedo join four other acts who have notched their first champ through their first showing on the list in 2022. Here are this year’s new winners:

Artist, Title, Accompanied Artists, Peak Date
Victor Cárdenas, “El Incomprendido,” with Farruko & DJ Adoni, Jan. 29
DJ Adoni, El Incomprendido,” with Farruko & Victor Cárdenas, Jan. 29
Lisa, “SG,” with DJ Snake, Ozuna & Megan Thee Stallion, April 2
Megan Thee Stallion, “SG,” with DJ Snake, Ozuna & Lisa, April 2
Bizarrap, “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52,” with Quevedo
Quevedo, “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52,” with Bizarrap

The collaboration between Argentinian Bizarrap and the Spaniard Quevedo outs another pairing, Romeo Santos and Justin Timberlake’s “Sin Fin,” after its one-week command.  

Meanwhile “Vol. 52” leads Latin Rhythm Airplay for a second week.

Elsewhere, “Vol. 52” steps 12-11 on the multi-metric Hot Latin Songs chart despite a decline in both streams and sales. The song dips 5 in U.S. streams with 4.1 million logged in the week ending Oct. 27. It also falls 7% in downloads sold in the same period.