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“Back in the day,” Chubby Checker tells Billboard from his home in New Jersey, “I said, ‘I don’t want to be in the Rock Hall when I’m dead. I want to smell my flowers when I’m here.’ And I’m smelling my flowers…a little late in the game, I would admit, but I’m still alive to see Chubby Checker in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”
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Eligible since the first Rock Hall class in 1986, the 83-year-old responsible for “The Twist” and other dance sensations will finally arrive in the shrine during the Nov. 8 induction ceremony in Los Angeles — on his first nomination, no less. That’s come as a surprise, even shock, to many fans since the news broke about Checker’s induction, but the South Carolina native (born Ernest Evans) says it’s not something he’s been fretting about over the years.
“It’s another milestone — and the beat goes on,” he notes.
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Nevertheless, Checker famously protested outside of the Rock Hall museum in Cleveland back in 2002, but he clarifies that it wasn’t simply about his exclusion from the ranks. “I wanted people to know that Chubby’s music was not being played, that’s all it was,” he explains. “The protest was, ‘Please play Chubby’s music.’ The best thing for any artist is to get his music played, and my music wasn’t getting played and I was a little upset about it. You can walk into the supermarket and hear (sings) ‘Bennie and the Jets’…but not ‘The Twist,’ and you look around the supermarket and every company’s got some kind of twist product, you know? I did it very nicely. I didn’t try to cause any problems. I never protested anything in my life except that.”
Checker will, of course, enter the Rock Hall with ample credentials as a groundbreaker and architect. Inspired to pursue music after seeing country great Ernest Tubb perform at a South Carolina fair when he was four years old, Checker and his family moved to South Philadelphia and he began singing doo-wop as a youth. Nicknamed Chubby by a boss at the produce market where he worked, he auditioned as a teen for American Bandstand host Dick Clark, whose wife Barbara added Checker as a surname as a salute to Fats Domino.
Checker imitated Domino, Elvis Presley and other poplar singers at the time for a 1959 single called “The Class,” after which Clark suggested he take on “The Twist,” which was written by Hank Ballard — based on dances he saw teenagers doing in Tampa, Fla. It was only a modest success for him and his band, the Midnighters. Adding dance moves to his performance, Checker took the song to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during September 1960 and then for a second time in January 1962 — the only single to do that until Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” decades down the road.
“‘The Twist’ gave us what we have on the dance floor — and is still giving us that,” says Checker, who despite his Philadelphia roots was a supporter of the Rock Hall being built in Cleveland, in deference to pioneering radio DJ Alan Freed. “Before (‘The Twist’), Elvis and Little Richard and Bill Haley and Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly, they were doing the swing to their songs. Then Chubby Checker comes along and…the whole world changed.” Checker followed “The Twist” with other dance songs, including “Pony Time,” “The Fly,” “Limbo Rock,” “Let’s Twist Again” and a resurrection of the late ‘40s dance “The Hucklebuck.”
“Chubby Checker never left the dance floor,” he says. “I used to call myself the wheel that rock rolls on, because anyone after Chubby Checker who had a song that you could dance to, they were in my world, that I brought to the dance floor. Dancing to the beat is what we brought, and it’s still there — no matter what it is. It’s called the boogie, and the boogie is still going on. Someone once said, ‘Chubby, you want to do a disco song?’ ‘Why? I did that already.’”
In all, Checker has had 32 songs (and seven top 10 hits) on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2008 Billboard honored “The Twist” as No. 1 on the Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs list, which it held until the Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” took the honor in 2021. Nevertheless, Checker notes, “it will always be the No. 1 song. There will be a number two No. 1 song, a number three No. 1 song, but (‘The Twist’) was the first and will always be the first.”
“The Twist” has also been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. The Rock Hall honored “The Twist” in 2018 by inducting the single as part of a new initiative — a practice that has not been repeated since.
Checker has no intention of recording anything new — “How am I gonna invent the wheel twice?” he asks — but still performs regularly. And that continuing demand, he says, has mitigated any disappointment he may have felt while waiting for his Rock Hall induction.
“Listen, I’m a blessed human being,” Checker says. “In spite of everything, my dreams come true every day. Every time I go on stage my dream comes true, my dream is renewed — that’s what keeps me going. I’m a blessed man in this world.”
R.E.M. have released a five-track benefit EP featuring three remixes of their landmark 1981 debut single, “Radio Free Europe,” ahead of Saturday’s (May 3) World Press Freedom Day. The collection also features the song’s original b-side, “Sitting Still” and instrumental “Wh. Tornado,” a cassette-only song that is being issued on digital and vinyl for the first time. The Radio Free Europe 2025 EP is a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty services (RFE/RL), the broadcasting groups that have delivered uncensored news, analysis and cultural programming in a variety of languages in places lacking a free press since 1949.
The special package includes a never-before-released 2025 remix of “Radio Free Europe” by the band’s longtime collaborator, producer Jacknife Lee, as well as a 1981 remix of the song by the band’s original producer, Mitch Easter. RFE/RL currently broadcast in 27 languages to 23 countries to an audience of nearly 50 million people in places where a free press is either illegal or under threat, often serving as the only line to the outside word for people living under onerous government censorship.
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“Whether it’s music or a free press – censorship anywhere is a threat to the truth everywhere. On World Press Freedom Day, I’m sending a shout-out to the brave journalists at Radio Free Europe,” said singer Michael Stipe in a statement. The band’s effort comes one day after a federal appeals court in Washington ruled that, for now, the Trump administration can continue to withhold money from the RFE/RL — as well as Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks — temporarily reversing two earlier lower-court rulings that stopped the White House from cutting off funds from the outlets as part of its wide-ranging DOGE cost-cutting measures.
DOGE boss and Tesla/Space X CEO Elon Musk has been unequivocal in his disdain for the services, writing in February on X, “shut them down… Europe is free now… nobody listens to them anymore… it’s just radical left crazy people talking to themselves.”
“Radio Free Europe’s journalists have been pissing off dictators for 75 years. You know you’re doing your job when you make the right enemies. Happy World Press Freedom Day to the ‘OG’ Radio Free Europe,” added bassist Mike Mills in a statement. While the band’s members did not directly reference the Trump administration’s efforts to defund the organizations, RFE/RL president and CEO Stephen Capus was more direct in his praise for the song and the group’s efforts to help shine a light on the services’ vital work.
“To me, R.E.M.’s music has always embodied a celebration of freedom: freedom of expression, lyrics that make us think, and melodies that inspire action,” said Capus. “Those are the very aims of our journalists at Radio Free Europe — to inform, inspire, and uphold freedoms often elusive to our audiences. We hold dictators accountable. They go to great lengths to silence us — blocking our websites, jamming our signals, and even imprisoning our colleagues.”
In an interview with CBS Mornings on Friday, Stipe said the band decided to honor the services because “we love journalism, we love freedom of speech… and we love the world.”
Stipe told CBS that when he got the call from the imperiled service asking for some help he said there was no hesitation at all. “It’s important to democracy and a fight against authoritarianism that they remain.” All of the proceeds from vinyl sales of the new remix will go to Radio Free Europe, which is still waiting for its frozen April and May funding as it soldiers on with is rapidly dwindling reserves.
The new EP is being released through Craft Recordings and was overseen by Easter, who first recorded the band at his Drive-In Studio during their first-ever road trip to a professional studio in April 1981; that original session produced “Radio Free Europe,” “Sitting Still” and the instrumental “Wh. Tornado.” In 2009, “Radio Free Europe” was inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry.
Fans can stream and download the EP today and pre-order a limited-edition 10-inch orange vinyl pressing due to ship on Sept. 12 here. You can also click here to make a tax-deductible donation to RFE/RL here.
Listen to the jaunty Jacknife Lee remix and the full EP below.
Everybody’s had the blues.
Merle Haggard‘s observation was true in the 1970s, and it still resonates in 2025 in country music as the genre welcomes a new wave of blues-tinged artists.
Valory released Preston Cooper‘s first radio single — “Weak,” bolstered by Stevie Ray Vaughan guitar tones and Hammond B-3 — to broadcasters via PlayMPE on April 23. RECORDS Nashville took Texas singer-songwriter Ty Myers to radio on April 10 with “Ends of the Earth,” a spacious, almost churchy ballad. And Big Loud’s Alabama-born Kashus Culpepper has steadily rolled out tracks over the last year with videos that feel akin to the Mississippi Delta circa 1945. Culpepper’s catalog invites comparisons to Keb’ Mo’ and Leon Bridges, and his latest track — “Southern Man,” released March 27 — features sweaty slide guitar from bluesy Americana figure Marcus King.
“I think the blues is the root to every genre out there,” Ohio-bred Cooper says. “You always have to have a rhythm, you know. You always have to have a beat. And I think blues starts that for all genres.”
The rise of the blues makes sense in a genre like country that appeals primarily to a working-class audience. The nation has experienced years of division, and economic uncertainties are turning the screws even tighter on the average pocketbook. Consumers are already singing the blues.
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“Blues connects with the human emotion,” Culpepper reasons. “It’s our deepest emotions, it’s pain and sometimes love. And I think blues is always going to be around. I think it’s always going to recirculate and come back around.”
The blues grew directly from pain. Black workers in the mid-1800s — both slaves and free men — were primarily limited to difficult jobs with no possibility of upward mobility, and they used music to keep a consistent pace at their labor and express their misery. W.C. Handy, crafting such titles as “The St. Louis Blues” and “The John Henry Blues,” established the genre’s commercial potential in the early 1900s, and Mamie Smith‘s 1920 recording “Crazy Blues” became the first blues recorded by a Black woman. New York record executives assumed that only African Americans would appreciate the music and established a “race” records market. When country was subsequently committed to disc, it was frequently referred to as “the white man’s blues.”
While the labels segregated the music in their promotional efforts, the sound itself wasn’t that different. The songs recorded by the father of country music, Jimmie Rodgers, in the 1920s and 1930s overlapped in sound with the music of Robert Johnson in the 1930s.
“I love Robert Johnson and Hank Williams,” Culpepper says. “I think at the core, both of them [were about] great storytelling, raw emotion, the real man’s music talking about real emotions. You could have a song talking about the bar, and that’s great. They both had songs [about] being with a lover, or just hanging out, or going down a road and feeling great, or a song about just feeling so down low that you don’t even want to be on this Earth.”
Country’s blues influence was particularly evident in Western swing, and it continued to pop up in the music of Willie Nelson (especially in his song “Night Life”); in Southern rock, which would influence such country acts as Travis Tritt, Hank Williams Jr., Confederate Railroad and The Cadillac Three; and in the Texas soul of Lee Roy Parnell.
Much has been made of Chris Stapleton‘s incorporation of outlaw country and R&B over the last decade, but the new acts all say the blues component of his music had an impact on them.
“A lot of people who are going down the path that I am — you know, country, but also adding a little bit of the old blues and soul influences — would not be able to do what we do without Stapleton,” Myers says. “That artistic flair that he added to country music expanded the lines a little bit, made the box a little bigger.”
Indeed, The Red Clay Strays — which are nominated for two honors at this year’s Academy of Country Music Awards — incorporate a blues thread in their rootsy country sound, and Stephen Wilson Jr.‘s performance of the national anthem before the NFL draft on April 24 in Green Bay, Wis., was a rough-cut, gnarly, acoustic country-blues.
While the sound reflects the current sociopolitical mood, it’s also a reaction to the increasing influence of technology on 21st-century life. Many Americans spend more than half their waking hours tied to an iPhone, a computer and/or a TV. With those impersonal devices commanding people’s attention, it’s natural for consumers to gravitate toward music that more closely reflects humanity and all its imperfections.
“Kids my age, we’re starting to like vintage stuff,” Myers, 17, says. “Old cars, old shoes, old clothes, old fashion — even old lingo is coming back. And especially old music. I think we’ve realized that they did shit better in the ’60s and ’70s. That’s why not only is blues and soul coming back, but also old country. Look at Zach Top. I mean, that’s old, straightforward country, and it makes my heart happy that it’s coming back.”
One of the reasons the blues seem to hang around is that the hard times they address are always present, and the listener is reminded that their heartbreak and heaviness are not unique. Knowing someone else shares their pain frequently helps revive their spirit.
“Blues is a tonic for whatever ails you,” B.B. King once said. “I could play the blues and then not be blue anymore.”
That’s why Culpepper came to appreciate the blues. He heard King, as well as Jimi Hendrix and Albert King, in his household, right alongside Kenny Rogers and Bob Seger. He hopes that, as stylistic walls drop and once-segregated music recombines, his generation of blues-based country artists will provide an emotional tonic for music fans the way that his predecessors influenced him.
“I got an old soul,” Culpepper says, “and I hope that my music is an inspiration for young, upcoming musicians to continue to put that blues and that old rock stuff in new music. That’s my whole [thing]: to be an inspiration.”
Dolly Parton got choked up while talking about her late husband, Carl Dean, during an on-camera interview two months after the businessman’s death.
While speaking about the 40th anniversary of her Dollywood theme park on TODAY Friday (May 2), the country superstar became visibly teary-eyed as soon as host Savannah Guthrie asked how Parton has been doing since Dean died at age 82 on March 3. “Oh, you know what, I get very emotional when people bring it up,” she began.
“But we were together 60 years,” Parton continued. “I’ve loved him since I was 18 years old. It’s a big adjustment, just trying to change patterns and habits. I’ll do fine, and I’m very involved in my work, and that’s been the best thing that could happen to me. But I’ll always miss him, of course, and always love him.”
She added, “He was a great partner to me.”
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As Parton mentioned, she and Dean had been a couple since she was 18 — in fact, they first met the same day the “9 to 5” singer moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music. They got married in Georgia in 1966.
At the time of Dean’s death, Parton released a simple statement asking for privacy, writing, “Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years.”
Three days later, she thanked family, friends and fans for sharing their messages of condolences, and wrote on Instagram, “He is in God’s arms now, and I am okay with that. I will always love you.”
Dean was famously private, preferring to stay far out of reach of his wife’s spotlight. But while he was rarely spotted by the public, Parton once again mentioned how she’s received “so many cards, letters, flowers, from all over the world” in light of his passing on TODAY.
“I had no idea Carl Dean was so famous,” she said with a laugh.
Watch Parton’s full interview above.
Dove Cameron is back with “French Girls,” an espresso shot of electro-pop that finds her continuing to explore moody, campy dance-pop that won’t quit.
“There’s a huge intersection between pain, heartbreak, joy and camp and levity. And that’s where we found ourselves in ‘French Girls,’” Cameron tells Billboard. “The melodrama of being a muse for a sculptor or a painter. There’s something so painfully romantic and also constricting about that. In ‘French Girls,’ the thing that I was really obsessed with was this self-sacrificing mania about being a muse that is not healthy.”
Aside from the song being inspired by her love for Paris and Parisian museums, she confirms that the chorus is a reference to Titanic, specifically the scene where Rose asks Jack to sketch her. And yes, she knows she’s technically misquoting the movie. “The public remembers it differently than what it was: in the movie, it’s ‘draw me like one of your French girls.’ But ‘draw me’ just didn’t sing as well as ‘paint me’.” Given that a lot of people “collectively remember it” as “paint me like one of your French girls” anyway, she took the creative license to tweak the line for her song.
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“I’m definitely not talking entirely about myself,” she explains of the song. “I’m talking about all of the women in the industry that are considered these great, larger-than-life personalities, these Helen of Troy people that we remember in history as these icons of beauty and art who can also be the most tragic figures. In ‘French Girls,’ it was just that (question of), ‘How far do we go to sacrifice ourselves for our art and for our love of what we do and for the people who love what we do?’ Are we interconnected? What is this amalgamation of things that we’re creating together as the audience and the person on the stage?”
Speaking of the stage, it was just announced that Dove Cameron will serve as the opening act on several dates of Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism Tour in the U.K. and Ireland. You can find those dates below.
June 20, 2025 – Wembley Stadium – London, EnglandJune 21, 2025 – Wembley Stadium – London, EnglandJune 24, 2025 – Anfield Stadium – Liverpool, UKJune 25, 2025 – Anfield Stadium – Liverpool, UKJune 27, 2025 – Aviva Stadium – Dublin, Ireland
Green Day got their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday (May 1), with former MTV VJ Matt Pinfield serving as emcee for the ceremony in his first public appearance since suffering a massive stroke in January.
Dressed in rock-appropriate black leather motorcycle jackets — except for drummer Tre Cool, who opted for a traditional suit and tie — the band were introduced by an emotional Pinfield. Making his way to the stage holding a cane, Pinfield said, “What an honor it is to be here today with these three guys that I love. Love their music and love them as people.”
Praising them as “one of the greatest live bands in the world,” Pinfield honored the trio’s breakthrough 1994 classic, Dookie, which he said, “made so many young people pick up guitars, bass, and drums, and want to sing and write songs. And that is what rock ‘n’ roll, punk rock is all about. That beauty, that love, a passing on of that gift. And that’s the thing that’s so special about Green Day and why it’s such an honor to be here today.”
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The ceremony also featured a speech from Green Day’s longtime producer Rob Cavallo, who recalled hearing a demo of “Longview” in 1993 and thinking, “this is the greatest band I have ever heard.” Next up was Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, who jokingly called himself “the modern face of punk.” The star nodded to the band’s earliest days, when they were known as “Blood Rage” and “Sweet Children.”
He also told a story about being in the edit for the Deadpool & Wolverine movie a few years ago and how he imagined a poignant end credit sequence he wanted to express “warmth, gratitude and love.” Then, Green Day’s 1997 classic “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” came on and he realized he had his tune. “I’ve always loved this song. It isn’t just a song because anything that endures the way that this song, along with so many that these gentleman have blessed is with in the world, they endure because they’re a feeling as much as they are a story,” he said.
Reynolds said he wanted to thank singer Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and Cool for letting him use the song, so he found Armstrong’s number after the singer had attended a screening. “It’s cheating to use that song. You could set my colonoscopy to that song and people will weep,” he joked.
Earlier this week, Pinfield said he was “slowly but surely” recovering from the stroke he suffered on January 6 and looking forward to Thursday’s event. “Slowly but surely recovering.. lots of physical therapy.. Fighting my way back!!” he told fans in an update on his health last week. “One day at a time.”
The ceremony ended with the group taking the stage and Armstrong thanking his family and shouting out his mom, saying the Walk of Fame hoopla was like her “Super Bowl,” but also like “being at your own funeral.” He also thanked all the fans who buy their records and come to their shows, while Dirnt shouted out Armstrong’s mom for taking him in when he was a teen and his own mom for making him believe he could do anything.
“I hope everybody comes here and takes pictures for as long as you want to and as long as you can. We’ll never say thank you enough,” Dirnt said, getting choked up. Cool also thanked the fans who showed up and closed down the street for the event, as well as his bandmates, who he sweetly hugged. When the star was finally revealed, Green Day had an unexpected, surprise guest in the form of Public Enemy hype man Flavor Flav, who ran up at the last minute and got down on the ground next to Cool so he could appear in the official pictures.
The Flav crash came two weeks after the rapper hopped on stage with the band on their second Coachella weekend on April 19 dressed as their iconic dirty drunk bunny mascot.
Watch the full Green Day Walk of Fame ceremony and some highlights below.
People watching the 67th annual Grammy Awards, which aired three months ago today, contributed nearly $10 million for Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts. MusiCares reports that that money has made its way to recipients across the region, helping both music professionals and the broader local population affected by the horrific event.
MusiCares has distributed $6,125,000 to more than 3,100 music professionals across Los Angeles. In addition, $3,969,005 has been directed to three community-based organizations: California Community Foundation, Direct Relief and Pasadena Community Foundation.
In addition to the $10 million contributed by Grammy telecast viewers, MusiCares and the Recording Academy raised another $16 million during Grammy weekend thanks to the MusiCares Fire Relief campaign and the annual Persons of the Year gala, which this year honored the Grateful Dead. MusiCares has allocated $6 million of that $16 million to long-term fire relief efforts, while the other $10 million from Persons of the Year gala will be used for MusiCares’ year-round mission delivery.
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“The music community does amazing things when it comes together,” Harvey Mason jr., Recording Academy and MusiCares CEO, said in a statement. “This outpouring of love and support was humbling, whether it was performing or participating on the show, making contributions or donating their time and items for fundraisers. We are grateful for this amazing community and the Grammy viewers who felt inspired to give.”
Laura Segura, executive director of MusiCares, added: “What moved us most in the days following the Grammy telecast wasn’t just the scale of support, it was the spirit behind it. Thousands of people gave what they could, and together, their generosity became a lifeline for those in crisis, which reached far beyond our industry. That’s why we partnered with trusted community organizations who are helping Angelenos across the region access the care, resources and support they need to rebuild.”
MusiCares reports that the median contribution during the Grammy telecast was $53.50.
The Grammy telecast, which was held less than a month after the wildfires broke out on Jan. 7, included several segments dedicated to raising awareness of the crisis. Two of the night’s performances were specifically inspired by the events – Dawes’ opening performance of Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” and Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga bypassing their own nominated smash “Die With a Smile” to perform the Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin’.”
While MusiCares responded within days of the fire’s outbreak to provide immediate assistance, the long-term needs of music professionals are only now coming into sharper focus. From loss of work and instruments to the emotional toll of displacement and trauma, the wildfire tragedy continues to affect lives. MusiCares continues to provide aid through customized case management, mental health support and financial assistance to those with lasting need.
MusiCares Fire Relief funding comes from multiple sources, of which the Grammy telecast was the largest. Fire Relief distributions are made as part of an independent and confidential client case management model overseen by MusiCares. MusiCares expects many more millions to be distributed over the coming year as they continue to serve the fire victims.
To address the broader community impact beyond the music industry, MusiCares and the Recording Academy partnered with three organizations already embedded in the neighborhoods hardest hit by the fires. Here are quotes from leaders in those organizations on the status of recovery efforts.
California Community Foundation (CCF)
“Recovery isn’t just about rebuilding homes,” said president and CEO Miguel Santana. “People who lost their homes also lost schools, churches, stores — the places that connected them to their neighbors to form the community they treasured. As we bring activity back to places like a park, a church, or a school, people can re-connect as a community. Those chances to be together can give people strength and hope as they continue the difficult process of rebuilding their individual lives.”
Direct Relief
“Recovery from wildfires involves more than rebuilding physical infrastructure—it requires addressing complex social challenges such as housing instability, food insecurity, and healthcare disparities,” said Dr. Byron Scott, CEO. “Community health centers and free and charitable clinics serve as vital anchors, providing not just medical care but comprehensive support including mental health counseling, housing assistance, and nutritional services.”
Pasadena Community Foundation (PCF)
“Nonprofits in Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre have been our partners on the ground for more than 70 years,” said Jeannine Bogaard, VP of community impact. “Throughout the last three months, PCF has seen these organizations meet the moment in countless ways—disbursing cash assistance and emergency supplies, securing stable housing, addressing the unique challenges of older adults, rescuing and tending to lost and injured pets, and so much more.”
For more information on the MusiCares Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort or to donate, visit www.musicares.org.
In the years since Young Dolph‘s untimely passing, Key Glock has quietly established himself as one of the biggest rap stars out of Memphis. Since emerging with Glock Season in 2017, each of Glock’s subsequent solo releases — all of which are featureless — have been unbelievably consistent. He’s built a loyal fanbase and carved out a unique space in hip-hop, thanks to his fierce independence. Blending raw street narratives with his commanding flow, Glock has remained a consummate workaholic, and this steady trajectory finally struck gold with 2023’s Glockoma 2.
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That project spawned the biggest hit of his career with “Let’s Go,” a motivational trap anthem laced with a hollering sample from Werchowyna’s “Zoriuska 1” that became a magnet for TikTokers. Despite the big success, Glock followed it up by doing something uncharacteristic of him: he took a break. He wouldn’t go into details about his time off, but he reminds Billboard it’s likely not gonna happen again.
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“After this tape, I don’t know,” Glock states plainly — referring to his 2Pac-referencing Glockaveli, out this Friday (May 2). “This tape is gonna have me busy.”
In an interview with Billboard below, Glock speaks on why he’s still not doing features on his albums, where the 2Pac influence comes from, and how the women in his life shaped his hustle.
At what point did 2Pac’s influence begin to make its way into this album?
It was intentional. Really, this was something me and Dolph planned in 2020, because I been got that chain made, but it was supposed to come out after Yellow Tape. You know, stuff happened, so it just wasn’t on my mind at the time. I took a little break last year away from music, just away from the world — I was like, “This is the perfect time to do Glockaveli.” Cause that’s what Macavelli was. Rebranding, rebirth.
Why did it feel like the right time?
I’ll say, it was more of a personal thing. It was more of a personal thing.
Tell me about the beats on this record. How did you go about choosing the samples on the project?
Most of ‘em I handpicked because I already knew the songs from when I was a young kid. My grandma and my uncles played it. So I was hip to certain blues and soul songs. So when there’s certain songs like that, I just ship it to my producer and tell them to put their own spin on it.
Being from Memphis, how did you first connect with 2Pac’s music? You sampled some stuff of his on this record.
I found out about Pac through my mom. When she told me about Pac, I was like eight years old.
There were a few lines on this project dedicated to your mom and your grandma. On “The Grinch” you say, “Mama ain’t raised no b—h.” What role did the women in your life play as you were growing up and deciding to become a rapper?
They did all they could do. Women can’t really raise a man, no matter what they do or how long they have been with ‘em. My grandmother and my great grandmother and my auntie they raised me good but they didn’t teach me how to be a man. I had to teach myself how to be a man.
What do you want people to know going into this album?
Don’t judge its by its cover.
Obviously, any sort of comparison to 2Pac is gonna have some pushback. What do you say to people who have called you out for Glockaveli.
They try to call it out for religious reasons more than 2Pac. They don’t really say nothing about it being a 2Pac reference. They say it on some more religious stuff, which it’s not. Its the super Christians. They come out the woodwork!
You said in a past interview that Pac was often perceived as a thug and put in this box despite his artistic brilliance. Do you feel any similarities in regards to being put in a box yourself?
I wouldn’t say put in a box, but I would say overlooked. That’s only because I’m not the friendliest artist, basically.
How so?
Not like as far as people or fans, but as far as other artists.
Why haven’t you at this point collaborated with other artists?
Once I said, “I don’t do features.” People took it as they can’t get a Key Glock feature. What I was saying was that I don’t feature people on my songs. So that’s where people got confused.
Why did you initially say that you didn’t collaborate with other artists?
It came from me getting somewhat rejected from a feature. I was supposed to remix “Russian Cream.” I don’t really know exactly what happened, but the communication wasn’t what it was at first. I don’t got no regrets cause everything I’m doing was done successfully.
How have you tried to bridge the gap and connect as time has gone on?
I really don’t, I use it as fuel. How people act and how people move. I use it as fuel and let it motivate me. By me getting turned down for the Russian Cream remix, that put a whole other fire in me. It put a whole other attitude in me, like, ‘I got this, let me show you.’
Is that ever lonely?
Nah, I don’t get lonely. Stuff like that don’t get me down. It charge me up in a good way.
On “3am in ToKEYo” you rap “I came in this world by myself.” You have established yourself as this independent force. How do you keep yourself from getting complacent since it’s just you out here?
I’m never satisfied, in a good way. I always wanna learn more and do more. I always wanna beat whatever was the last thing I did. I always wanna make it better. [My drive] comes from my auntie and my grandma. They was the same type of people. I truly be feeling like I ain’t done it yet. I’m not even at my peak yet. I’m not even in my prime.
So then what do you see for the future of Key Glock then?
Only God knows that one.
Sir Bob Geldof and the team behind Live Aid will celebrate the legendary charity concert’s 40th anniversary this summer with a series of events including a re-broadcast of highlights from the all-star 1985 shows and a new behind-the-scenes BBC documentary.
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First up will be the release of the original cast album for Just For One Day — The Live Aid Musical on July 11, according to NME. The news was announced on Friday morning (May 2) by Geldof and fellow Band Aid Charitable Trust trustees Midge Ure of Ultravox, as well as Harvey Goldsmith and John Kennedy.
“We couldn’t possibly have known that 40 years down the track, the issue would be as vital or the interest as great,” Geldof said about the announcement of the musical and cast album. “Millions of children today are being forced to starve as an instrument of war, and millions of lives are in peril due to AIDS and because of cuts to international aid.” The original Live Aid shows were seen by nearly two billion people around the world and raised more than $125 million for Ethiopian famine relief.
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The musical will hit London’s West End on May 15 following a sold-out run at the Old Vic Theatre. Just For One Day – The Live Aid Musical (Original Cast Recording) will feature songs from the artists who made history at the dual A-list charity shows held on July 13, 1985 in London and Philadelphia, including Queen, David Bowie, U2, Elton John, Madonna, Bob Dylan, The Who, Geldof’s Boomtown Rats, The Police and many more.
There will also be a special 40th anniversary performance of Just For One Day at the Shaftesbury Theatre on July 13, followed by an afterparty with performances from special guests.
BBC Two, CNN and the BBC iPlayer will celebrate the anniversary with the new three-part behind-the-scenes documentary Live Aid at 40, with exclusive interviews with Geldof, U2’s Bono and Sting that will look at the concert’s impact on music, politics and global awareness about famine between the 1985 original and the 2005 Live 8 reboot, according to Variety; it will air in four parts on CNN as Live Aid: When Rock ‘n’ Roll Took on the World.
In addition, BBC Two will air Live Aid the Concert, a 6.5 hour highlight reel of the two shows with backstage footage and interviews with Bono, Queen guitarist Brian May, David Bowie, Elvis Costello and many more.
Check out a promo video for the musical below.
Ed Sheeran is bringing it all back home to celebrate his upcoming Play album. On Friday (May 2), the singer announced the run of shows in Ipswich this summer, which will have the Ed joined by an all-star roster of support acts as she sets up shop at Suffolk town’s Portman Road stadium, home of his beloved Ipswich Town FC football club.
The shows on July 11, 12 and 13 will find Sheeran joined by, respectively, Myles Smith and Tori Kelly on night one, Busted and Dylan on night two and James Blunt and Maisie Peters on the final evening. Sheeran, who last year bought a minority stake in the football club, posted a promo video on Friday morning cued to his new single, “Old Phone,” in which he toiled at drawing the lines on the venue’s pitch alongside a lengthy essay about what the venue means to him.
“Something incredibly exciting to announce. One of the first ever concerts I went to as a kid was at Ipswich Town Portman Road to see Elton John,” he wrote. “James Blunt opened for him, and I got so obsessed with James’ music, it really shaped me as a singer songwriter from then on. I started doing shows around ipswich as a young teenager, in pubs and bars, then moved to London to ‘make it’ because that’s what you did back then. Then things took off for me and I toured the world, but never ended up playing ipswich really, for whatever reason, but mostly because I lived there and thought if I’m gonna do it, it has to be special.”
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The singer said he first wanted to play Portman Road in 2019 when we wrapped up the Divide tour, but because football season was still in full swing he ended up playing elsewhere. “It’s always been such a dream to play Portman Road that I kept badgering the @ipswichtown team, but because I tour so much and football is very rigid in their schedule I always missed the opportunity to play it,” Sheeran added. “Fast forward to now, having become an investor in Ipswich Town, I got a bit more sway and asked if I could launch my new record there, as a one off weekend of shows, and they agreed. I play all around the world, in such amazing stadiums, but nothing means as much as this one here. This really is a true home coming, and is 3 nights only. It’ll be such a special weekend of shows, with a killer line up (shout out @jamesblunt for coming back and completing the circle).”
You can get early access to tickets by pre-ordering Play from Sheeran’s official store by 3 p.m. BST on Tuesday (May 6). A pre-sale will begin at 10 a.m. BST on Wednesday (May 7), followed by a general on-sale at 10 a.m. BST on Friday (May 9); click here for more information on ticketing.
Sheeran recently announced the details about his upcoming eighth studio album, Play, which is due out on Sept. 12 from Gingerbread Man Records/Atlantic Records. His first full-length LP since 2023’s Autumn Variations will feature the Persian-influenced first single, “Azizam” and nostalgic new song, “Old Phone.”
Check out the poster and video pitch for Sheeran’s Ipswich Town shows below.
We are delighted to announce that @edsheeran will be playing three live shows at Portman Road this summer! 🏟️🎶— Ipswich Town (@IpswichTown) May 2, 2025