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Call it the “Three Faces of Bey.” Beyoncé tries on a trio of distinctive looks in a new promo video for her SirDavis American Whisky brand. The nearly two-minute ad cued to Betty Davis’ 1974 soul funk classic “They Say I’m Different” opens with the singer in a long platinum wig and black cocktail dress […]
It was the Boss set you were kicking yourself for missing. After a world tour in which they largely hewed to a familiar set list, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band ripped up the playbook last weekend during their Sept. 15 headlining slot at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival in Springsteen’s old Asbury Park stomping grounds in his native New Jersey.
At his final scheduled show in the U.S. for now, Springsteen looked out at the huge crowd spread out along the beach and ripped off an instant-classic three-hour-plus show full of hometown stories and some of the beloved (and deep cut) tracks fans yearn for. Now, whether you were there and can’t stop thinking about it, or couldn’t make it, the whole set is available on CD and as a stream via nugs.net.
According to the show notes, the Sea.Hear set included the tour premieres of the songs “Blinded By the Light,” “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?,” “Thundercrack,” “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” and “Meeting Across the River,” as well as the returns of “Local Hero,” “Jungleland” and “Jersey Girl.” The set also marked the return of backup singer Patti Scialfa during “Tougher Than the Rest” after she’d sat out a number of shows over the past year while battling the blood cancer multiple myeloma; Scialfa revealed her diagnosis in the recent documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
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Springsteen posted a video recap of the Sea. Hear set on his Instagram over the weekend with highlights from the triumphant gig.
In addition to the above, the set also included: “Hungry Heart,” “Racing in the Street,” “Wrecking Ball,” “Thunder Road,” “Born to Run,” “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” among others. The Sea.Hear set joins more than two dozen live album streams Nugs.net has available from the tour, including shows at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., as well as gigs in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, London, Stockholm, Helsinki and Barcelona, and many more.
Also, just in time for the sprint to the Nov. 5 presidential election, Springsteen released the 15-track live collection The Live Series: Songs of Conscience over the weekend. The collection of live performances recorded between 1981-2023 features songs that ask hard questions about where we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going, including “This Land Is Your Land,” “The Promised Land,” “Born in the U.S.A.,” “57 Channels (And Nothin’ On),” “Souls of the Departed,” “Long Walk Home,” “The Rising,” “Sun City” and “Last Man Standing,” among others.
Listen to Songs of Conscience here.
2024 has been a massive year for Fontaines D.C. In June they played a well-received set at Glastonbury and followed it up with another at Reading & Leeds Festival last month. Their fourth album Romance landed at No.2 on the Official Album Charts in the U.K. and was a critical smash.
Now, they’ve got the thumbs up from Elton John who has shared his love for the band in a new interview on his Rocket Hour radio show on Apple Music.
Speaking to Fontaines D.C.’s frontman Grian Chatten, the icon was effusive with praise: “For me, you’re the best band out there at the moment,” he said when introducing his guest onto the show. You can watch the full clip below.
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“Having watched you at Glastonbury, having heard the new album, you’ve just grown every album,” John told Chatten. “You seem to have found your feet with this album in such a big way… it’s a brilliant record.”
John, who has used his Rocket Hour show to spotlight emerging talent, continued: “I think this album takes you – and I’ve been around for a long time – to a different level, and it’s going to stay around for a long, long time. But what’s more important about it: the music is really, really, really special. Congratulations on everything, Grian. It’s bloody wonderful.”
The praise is at odds with Liam Gallagher’s feelings on the band, who clapped back at the band following an interview where Fontaines said that the Oasis reunion didn’t excite them. ““F–k them little spunkbubbles I’ve seen better dressed ROADIES,” Gallagher wrote in one tweet. “They look like a sh-t EMF,”
The Irish band have released four albums, Dogrel (2019), A Hero’s Death (2022), Skinty Fia (2022) and Romance (2024), all of which landed in the Top 10 of the U.K. Album Charts and in their native Ireland. Romance, released in August, was their first on their new label home of XL Records, whose roster includes Radiohead, The Prodigy and more.
Fontaines were recently forced to cancel a handful of gigs in the US due to vocal injury to Chatten. The band pulled shows in Portland, Seattle and Vancouver this past weekend, and the tour is scheduled to resume in San Francisco tomorrow evening (September 24).
They’ll then head to Europe and the U.K. and Ireland for some of their biggest gigs to date in October and November. Perhaps John will be down the front…
Jay-Z and Roc Nation teamed up with SL Green and Caesar Entertainment in late 2022 to launch a bid to open New York City’s first full-scale casino in Times Square. With a finite amount of licenses expected to be granted by New York State in 2025, Roc Nation is looking to improve their bid’s attractiveness […]
The long drought is over for Snow Patrol, as the alternative rock act nabs the U.K. No. 1 with The Forest Is The Path (via Polydor).
The Northern Irish-Scottish band, comprised of Gary Lightbody, Johnny McDaid and Nathan Connolly, previously led the Official Chart with 2006’s Eyes Open – almost two decades ago.
The leader at the midweek stage, The Forest Is The Path is Snow Patrol’s eighth studio album, and eighth top 10 appearance.
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“We are absolutely over the moon, it’s our first Number 1 album in 18 years and we’re overjoyed,” reads a statement from Snow Patrol to the Official Charts Company. “Thank you so much to everybody who bought it and streamed it, and everybody that helped us make it, and everybody that’s helped us over these last 30 years.”
Also arriving on the chart is London Grammar’s fourth studio album The Greatest Love (Ministry of Sound), new at No. 3. It’s the best-seller on wax this week. The Greatest Love is London Grammar’s fourth top 10 appearance, a tally that includes two leaders (2017’s Truth Is a Beautiful Thing and 2021’s Californian Soil).
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Meanwhile, Eminem’s former leader The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace) roars back into the top 5 following the release of an “Expanded Mourner’s Edition.”
Over on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, published Friday, Sept. 20, Sabrina Carpenter completes a fourth week at No. 1 with “Taste” (Island).
It’s the third U.K. chart leader this year for Carpenter, lifting her total weeks at No. 1 in 2024 to 16, the OCC reports. With that effort, she becomes the solo female artist with most combined weeks at No. 1 in a calendar year.
Olivia Newton-John also clocked up 16 weeks in 1978, by way of Grease duets with John Travolta on “You’re The One That I Want” (nine weeks) and “Summer Nights” (six weeks).
Finally, after her performance at last week’s VMAs, Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” (Island) rebounds 3-2, its equal peak position. Also, the U.S. pop artist’s “HOT TO GO!” improves 11-9, a new peak, and “Pink Pony Club” makes its Official Chart debut at No. 21, for Roan’s fourth U.K. top 40 appearance (“Red Wine Supernova” hit No. 31).
Sabrina Carpenter enjoys a sweet return to No. 1 in Australia, and another chart double.
The U.S. pop singer and actor’s hit album Short n’ Sweet (Island/Universal) rebounds 2-1 on the ARIA Chart, published Friday, Sept. 20, for its third non-consecutive week at the summit.
Meanwhile, Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) (via Interscope/Universal) blasts 48-2, following the release of the “Expanded Mourner’s” edition, featuring two new tracks and a new cut of “Fuel.” The LP logged two weeks at No. 1 in July.
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Closing out the top three on the latest ARIA Chart is Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft (Interscope/Universal), up 4-3, ahead of collections by Chappell Roan and the Weeknd, respectively.
The top debut on the latest frame belongs to Keshi, the Asian American artist and former oncology nurse, as Requiem (Island/Universal), his sophomore album, opens at No. 14. That’s a significant improvement on the No. 72 peak for his debut album from 2022, Gabriel.
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Aussie alternative rock newcomers Surf Trash ride the wave to No. 17 with their debut album The Only Place I Know (BLVE), the best-placed homegrown LP on the chart. Hailing from Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, the band is led by Andrew Scott (drums/ lead vocals), Lachlan Jackson (guitar), Patrick Russell (guitar) and Nick Scott (bass). U.K. and Europe tour dates will kick off in February 2025.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Carpenter’s “Taste” retains top spot for a fourth consecutive week, ahead of Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With A Smile” (Warner/Universal) and Billie Eilish’s “Birds Of A Feather,” respectively.
According to ARIA, female artists have claimed No. 1 on the tally for seven straight weeks.
The top debut belongs to Canadian singer and songwriter Tate McRae with “It’s OK, I’m OK,” new at No. 14. McRae has landed top 10 hits in Australia with “You Broke Me First” (RCA/Sony), which hit No. 7 in 2020, and with 2023’s “Greedy,” which climbed as high as No. 2.
Finally, the Weeknd fires up with “Dancing In The Flames,” new at No. 19. “Dancing,” lifted from his forthcoming album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, is one of his 36 top 50 hits on the ARIA Chart, a tally that includes “Blinding Lights,” which reigned for 11 weeks in 2020 and finished the year as the best-selling single. The Canadian artist will embark on a stadium tour of Australia this October; his After Hours Til Dawn trek will visit Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium for two shows, and Sydney’s Accor Stadium for a pair of concerts.
Nicki Nicole kicked off her Alma Tour USA — her first in the United States — and the Argentine singer-songwriter and rapper is performing all her fan-favorite songs, from “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 13” to “Dispara,” “8 AM,” “Qué Le Pasa Conmigo?” and more.
The first concert of the tour took place Sunday (Sept. 22) at Irving Plaza in New York City, a venue with a capacity of 1,200, and it was sold out. Accompanied by bassist and musical director Juan Kuj, drummer K2, and keyboardist Benja Rampoldi — and dressed in white mini shorts and crop top with triangular cutouts at the torso and blue platform boots — Nicki opened the set with her 2019 collaboration with Bizarrap, immediately setting the mood for a fun, energetic night.
Throughout an hour-and-a-half, she kept a mostly young audience eating from the palm of her hand, singing not only songs from her latest album, Alma, but also hits from her previous LP, Parte De Mí, as well as collaborations with other artists (which played on recordings while Nicki sang live) and more recent singles like “Ojos Verdes.”
She also received gifts from her fans — flags, flowers, and others — and pleased a small group of fans who asked to come on stage to take photos with her in a handwritten sign she managed to read among the audience.
“Thank you all so much for being here. I can’t believe it,” said Nicki evidently excited to be there, amid cheers from the crowd. “I truly love you. Thank you so much.”
Nicki Nicole’s seven-date U.S. tour continues on Wednesday (Sept. 25) in Houston, followed by stops in Dallas, Miami, Chicago, and San Diego, before ending on Oct. 4 in Los Angeles. After this, the Argentine star will travel to Mexico to perform at the capital’s iconic National Auditorium on Oct. 8, and on Oct. 12 at Fundidora Park in the city of Monterrey. (For tickets and details, click here)
Below, the complete setlist from the first show of Nicki Nicole’s Alma Tour USA. The song list is subject to changes in each city.
“Nicki Nicole: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 13”
Katy Perry lit up the second weekend of Brazil’s Rock in Rio 2024 by officially unveiling her highly anticipated album 143 during a high-octane performance Sept. 20 on the festival‘s iconic Palco Mundo (Main Stage).
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It marked the third time the pop star has performed at Rock in Rio—twice for the Brazil edition and once in Lisbon. Her most recent main stage performance featured an entirely new setlist and custom-designed visuals, where she performed new tunes and beloved classics in front of over 100,000 festivalgoers.
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As if the album launch wasn’t enough excitement for one night, the “Woman’s World” singer surprised fans by bringing out pop legend Cyndi Lauper for a powerful duet of the icon’s Billboard chart-topping 1984 hit, “Time After Time.”
“I want to sing one of my fave songs, it means so much to me, especially in Brazil,” Perry told the crowd as she brought Lauper to the stage.
“I want to be exactly like you when I grow up, exactly like you,” Perry told the “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” singer. “You are so incredible, so connective, so full of life, so full of energy.”
Rock in Rio’s CEO, Luis Justo, spoke of the significance of Perry choosing the festival for the album launch: “A global launch by an artist like Katy Perry is a rare opportunity. We not only have the trust of the audience, who show up in large numbers but also of the artists who find Rock in Rio to be the best place to be close to their fans and give them the pinnacle moment of their careers—an exclusive and entirely premium experience.”
The celebration began earlier in the week, with Perry hosting an exclusive listening session of her new album backstage at Cidade do Rock on Sept. 18. A select group of Brazilian fans was invited to hear 143 in its entirety before the album’s official release, with the singer personally interacting guests.
With headliners like Ed Sheeran, Travis Scott, Mariah Carey, and many others on the bill, Rock in Rio 2024 is one of the most popular festivals on the global music calendar, and Perry’s high-energy performance – along with her surprise duet with Lauper – undoubtedly stands out as one of its defining moments.
Lauper’s legendary track “Time After Time,” co-written by Lauper and Rob Hyman, was released as the second single from her debut album, She’s So Unusual. In June of this year, “Time After Time” celebrated the 40th anniversary of its milestone, when it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984.
Prior to that, Lauper came close to the top spot with her debut single, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” which peaked at No. 2 in March 1984, blocked by Van Halen’s hit “Jump.” However, “Time After Time” succeeded in dethroning Deniece Williams’ “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” spending two weeks at No. 1 before being replaced by Duran Duran’s “The Reflex.”
Stream Katy Perry’s album 143 below.
Chappell Roan hasn’t endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for president, despite the pop star’s longtime advocacy for trans rights and the LGBTQ+ community.
The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer-songwriter weighed in on the 2024 election in a profile published by The Guardian on Saturday (Sept. 21).
“I have so many issues with our government in every way. There are so many things that I would want to change. So I don’t feel pressured to endorse someone. There’s problems on both sides,” Roan explained.
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She added, “I encourage people to use your critical thinking skills, use your vote — vote small, vote for what’s going on in your city.”
She says she most wants to see a change in trans rights in the U.S. “They cannot have cis people making decisions for trans people, period,” said Roan.
While Roan’s quote to The Guardian resulted in backlash on social media from fans who expect her to publicly endorse Harris over Donald Trump, given Harris’ pro-LGBTQ+ stance, the quote alone can easily be taken out of context. Roan has been clear about her values in words, performance and actions.
On tour, Roan invites local drag artists to be her supporting act, and as The Guardian reports, “For every U.K. tour ticket sold, £1 goes to the LGBTQ+ rights charity Kaleidoscope Trust, and at the merch stand in Manchester there are signed risograph prints selling for £100, with proceeds going towards aid for Palestine.”
Over the summer she declined an invitation from the White House to perform for a Pride event. She actually wanted to show up and protest the Biden administration’s involvement in Israel’s attacks on Gaza instead of being paraded as a performer, she told Rolling Stone. Her publicist, concerned for her client’s safety, talked her out of it: “You f— with the president and the government, your security is not the same, and neither is your family’s.”
At Gov Ball she dedicated her song “My Kink Is Karma” to the administration. “We want liberty, freedom and justice for all,” she said. “When you do that, that’s when I’ll come.”
In August Roan urged people to make their voices heard, telling Rolling Stone, “Right now, it’s more important than ever to use your vote, and I will do whatever it takes to protect people’s civil rights, especially the LGBTQ+ community. My ethics and values will always align with that, and that hasn’t changed with a different nominee.”
“I feel lucky to be alive during an incredibly historic time period when a woman of color is a presidential nominee,” she added. Harris, meanwhile, has featured the Roan’s music in her campaign, including the song “Femininomenon.”
Stars including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish,
Tens of thousands of Brazilians gathered at Rio de Janeiro’s mega-festival Rock in Rio on Friday (Sept. 20), with many staking out spots of artificial grass all day to hear the headliner, Katy Perry. As her music keyed up, the enormous screens around the stage showed someone else in their bottom corners — a sign language interpreter.
The red-haired woman — with a chunky chain belt and a gem between her eyebrows — snapped her fingers and swayed, then pumped her arms as the beat gathered force.
“It seems like I’m on stage with her, in front of everyone,” the interpreter, Laísa Martins, told the Associated Press afterward. And as Katy Perry belted out her first verse, Martins started signing.
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Rock in Rio is featuring sign language interpreters on its big screens for the first time in its 40-year history. It’s one of Latin America’s biggest festivals, drawing 100,000 people a day over seven days, and Sunday is its last day.
Inside a container backstage, interpreters sign in front of a green screen, with their images appearing above the stage to ensure deaf people across the thronging crowd can follow. Organizers also invite dozens of deaf people and their companions into a VIP area, right by the stage and close enough to speakers to feel the music pulsing through their bodies.
How a 2015 law helped Brazil start championing accessibility
Interpreters have started popping up at festivals and concerts across Brazil in recent years. Their sudden ubiquity stems from Brazil’s ambitious 2015 inclusion law that sought to put the country at the global forefront of accessibility and, among other things, established that people with disabilities have the right to access cultural events while guaranteeing organizers provide means of doing so.
Some interpreters have drawn the spotlight themselves with their flair and flashy dress, gaining thousands of social media followers. Demand for them is surging so much that many start working before even finishing their education, said Lenildo Souza, president of the nationwide federation of sign language interpreters’ associations.
In Brazil, 2.3 million people are partially or completely deaf, according to the national statistics institute. But fewer than two-thirds of those who are completely deaf know how to use Brazilian sign language, and far less among those with some hearing. That’s because people opt for cochlear implants, learn only lip-reading, or go deaf later in life, said Souza.
As such, subtitles could be more effective at transmitting lyrics; Colombian singer Karol G sang so quickly at times Friday night that some words were lost on Amorim, who isn’t fluent in Spanish. But Amorim said interpreters convey more than just lyrics of songs, which they study intensively ahead of the show. They dance to the rhythm and pull faces to transmit the music’s energy and emotion — be it euphoria, rage, mystery or sensuality. That pumps up the crowd, deaf and hearing people alike.
“We express the whole idea of the song with our expressions, with our body. We want to express the entire musical context and use literally our entire body,” said Amorim, whose older sister is deaf. “Our feet are cut off there [on the screen], but during samba songs, we’re dancing samba. It’s just like that.”
Putting deaf people up front
Rock in Rio is already one of the most accessible festivals for deaf people in the world, said Thiago Amaral, coordenador de pluralidade (diversity coordinator). Still, his team is working to innovate, and future editions could include vibrating platforms or a product similar to the vibrating vests they tested last year, he said. This year was also the first that Rock in Rio offered audio description earpieces for those with limited vision.
One of the deaf people at Rock in Rio on Friday was Henrique Miranda Martins, 24. His whole family is big into music, especially samba — his uncles play the four-string cavaquinho and pandeiro, a handheld frame drum — and he was always around it growing up. But Martins can hear little from his right ear and nothing from his left, so could never fully connect or participate.
Last year, he went to his first-ever concert with sign language interpreters, Coldplay, and it became his favorite band — even before its single whose official video features people signing. Then Martins went to the Lollapalooza festival in São Paulo. And last week he traveled from São Paulo to party with his parents at Rock in Rio.
He was most hyped to see Brazilian singer Iza on Friday, and waited to enter the special section by the stage. Iza started playing, just off to his left, but he faced the opposite direction, watching her on the screen with an interpreter in its corner. He danced and signed along with the interpreter, often in synchrony.
“I can follow the interpreter and I’m very happy to be able to feel the music and live this experience,” Martins said, speaking through an interpreter. “For deaf people, it’s very important. We can’t be outside this here. We need to be inside, with accessibility, together with everyone participating in everything. I’m very happy.”
Rock in Rio’s camera scanning the crowd found Martins vibing and locked in. For a few seconds, he was up on the big screen for everyone to see, smiling wide with his head thrown back and shaking both hands in the air — the sign for applause.