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Keith Urban is set to bring his high-octane live show on the road in 2025, when his High and Alive World Tour launches May 22 in Orange Beach, Alabama, at The Wharf Amphitheater. Joining Urban on the tour will be Chase Matthew, Alana Springsteen and Karley Scott Collins. Following the Alabama kick-off, the tour will include stops in Chicago, Salt Lake City, Houston and Nashville, Tennessee.
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“Playing live is what I live to do,” Urban said in a statement. “Looking out from a stage and seeing people singing, forgetting about all the stress in their lives, cutting loose, and feeling ALIVE – that’s what it’s about for me. Lots of hits, new songs, things we won’t even think about until we’re onstage – and loads of guitar. We’re gonna make this tour the best night of your life!”
The tour takes its name from Urban’s latest album, High, which debuted at No. 10 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart following its September release. Tickets for Urban’s High and Alive World Tour will go on sale Dec. 13 at 10 a.m. local time, with additional North American show dates to be revealed in the coming months.
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Urban is slated to announce international dates for the High and Alive tour at a later date.
See the full list of 2025 tour dates below:
May 22: Orange Beach, AL @ The Wharf Amphitheater
May 23: Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
May 24: Charleston, SC @ Credit One Stadium
May 30: Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
May 31: Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park Raleigh
June 12: Gilford, NH @ BankNH Pavilion
June 13: Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
June 14: Wantagh, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
June 19: Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 22: Clarkston, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre
June 26: Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
June 27: Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
June 28: Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Music Center
July 17: Denver, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
July 18: Salt Lake City, UT @ Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
July 19: Nampa, ID @ Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater
July 24: TBA
July 26: Inglewood, CA @ Intuit Dome
Sept. 25: Chicago, IL @ United Center
Sept. 26: TBA
Sept. 27: Omaha, NE @ CHI Health Center
Oct. 2: Hershey, PA @ Giant Center
Oct. 3: Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
Oct. 4: Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
Oct. 9: Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena
Oct. 11: Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman
Oct. 16: Greenville, SC @ Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Oct. 17: Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
Drake, by common consensus, has been a smart and savvy businessman over the course of his music career. So some in the music business have been puzzled following the megastar rapper’s widely ridiculed legal filing last week against his own label, Universal Music Group (UMG), as well as Spotify, for an illegal “scheme” to boost the popularity of Kendrick Lamar‘s May 2024 diss track “Not Like Us.” They wonder if the move was a strategy for a potential future contract negotiation.
“Drake could be creating his own leverage by filing the suit against UMG,” says Josh Binder, an attorney who represents pop and hip-hop stars including Gunna, Marshmello, Lisa of BLACKPINK and Ivan Cornejo. “Most lawsuits are settled pre-litigation. My gut says this isn’t going to a jury. Drake could be using the suit to alter his existing deal.”
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Although Binder has no inside information on Drake’s filing, which alleges UMG “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves” in its effort to amplify Lamar’s Drake diss track, he says the case could drag out and cause bad publicity for both Drake and UMG: “Settling it would, at a certain point, be worthwhile to both parties.”
In the Nov. 25 filing, Drake alleged that UMG used bots and other means to boost the prominence of “Not Like Us” on streaming services; the rapper’s attorneys accused the label of giving Spotify a deal on licensing rates in exchange for recommending the song to users who’d played non-Lamar tracks. They also alleged a civil violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, frequently employed against organized crime, as well as deceptive business practices and false advertising — including allegedly paying Apple to have Siri steer users to the Lamar track. The legal action states that the label “conspired with and paid currently unknown parties to use ‘bots’ to artificially inflate the spread of ‘Not Like Us’ and deceive consumers into believing the song was more popular than it was in reality.”
In a second filing the following day, which alleged payola to iHeartMedia to boost the song at radio, he went even further, saying UMG knew Lamar was defaming Drake by “falsely” accusing him of being a “certified pedophile,” yet released the track anyway. This filing reads in part: “UMG designed, financed and then executed a plan to turn ‘Not Like Us’ into a viral mega-hit with the intent of using the spectacle of harm to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, massive revenues.”
Of the legal filings, Universal Music released a statement saying that the “suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” and several music-business attorneys echoed that sentiment to Billboard. “I can’t believe this is anything more than a publicity stunt,” says Howard King, who has represented Metallica, Dr. Dre and Pharrell in high-profile cases. “I don’t see how Drake has standing to challenge the record industry for doing what he knows they also do for him — using all available resources to promote an artist’s profile and music.”
But others in the business agreed Drake could be using the widespread publicity he generated from last week’s legal actions as a negotiating point for a future record deal negotiation with UMG. (Drake initially signed with Young Money, an imprint distributed by Universal-owned Republic Records, then later became a Republic artist.) One source tells Billboard that Drake’s latest deal, signed in 2021 and described as “LeBron-sized” by Variety at the time, isn’t far from expiring, and the most logical explanation for Drake damaging his reputation so publicly with the legal filings was to communicate his unhappiness to UMG and aim for a lucrative new deal, or even equity in UMG.
“It’s possible that it was done to have some leverage against his label,” says Gandhar Savur, a New York music attorney, adding that he has no knowledge of Drake or UMG’s affairs. “However, my initial impression was that he’s just trying to publicly discredit the track.”
Drake is one of the streaming era’s most successful stars, having passed the 50 billion mark in 2018. Lamar’s latest album, GNX, scored 364 million Spotify streams in its first week, in late November, but Drake holds the record for first-week hip-hop albums, with 589 million for 2018’s Scorpion and 497 million for 2021’s Certified Lover Boy.
If contract negotiations with UMG were to break down, sources say, an artist of Drake’s stature could follow the lead of Kanye West, who did not renew his contract with Def Jam/Universal after it expired and has since released albums on his own label via DIY distribution services, scoring a two-week No. 1 in February with Vultures 1 and a No. 2 debut in August with Vultures 2. “He could move forward without a deal,” King says of Drake. “He can certainly distribute the music without a label, especially domestically, and would need to have a management team capable of promotion and marketing. Of course, he would give up the big advance and have to fund production costs himself.”
Drake, however, as a viable global superstar, is in a different situation from Ye, whose prior antisemitic comments made getting into business with him a publicity headache for most labels. Binder doesn’t see the dominant rapper following West’s DIY path. “I would imagine [Drake] would want the infrastructure of a label,” he says.
Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande are used to competing on the Billboard Hot 100. But now they’re squaring off against each other at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards as well. Gomez and Grande are both nominated for best performance by a female actor in a supporting role in any motion picture for their roles in Emilia Pérez and Wicked, respectively. Gomez has a second nomination for best performance by a female actor in a TV series, musical or comedy for Only Murders in the Building.
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Other music stars who got nods in the nominations announced on Monday morning (Dec. 9) include: Miley Cyrus, Maren Morris and Robbie Williams, all nominated for best original song – motion picture; Donald Glover, who has released music as Childish Gambino, for best performance by a male actor in a TV series, drama, for Mr. and Mrs. Smith; and Zendaya, best performance by a female actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy for Challengers.
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Cynthia Erivo is nominated for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture – musical or comedy for her as Elphaba role in Wicked. Timothée Chalamet is nominated for best performance by a male actor in a motion picture – drama for his performance as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Edward Norton is nominated in the supporting actor category for his performance as Pete Seeger in that same film.
Clément Ducol and Camille have three nominations in the music categories for their work on Emilia Pérez. They are nominated for best original score and have two of the best original song nominees— “El Mal” and “Mi Camino.” They cowrote the former song with the film’s director/writer, Jacques Audiard.
Nine Inch Nails‘ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have two nominations in the music categories. They are nominated for best original score for Challengers and best original song for “Compress / Repress” which they wrote for that film with the film’s director, Luca Guadagnino.
Emilia Pérez was the most-nominated motion picture, with 10 nods, followed by The Brutalist (seven), Conclave (six), and Anora and The Substance (five each).
The Bear was the most-nominated TV show with five nods, followed by Only Murders in the Building and Shōgun (four each). Netflix was the top distributor for both film and TV. It had 13 nominations on the film side, followed by A24 with 12. It has 23 nominations on the TV side, followed by HBO/Max, with 14.
Actors Mindy Kaling and Morris Chestnut presented the nominees for the 2025 Golden Globes on Monday morning and the 82nd Annual Golden Globes will air live on Sunday, Jan. 5, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on CBS and stream on Paramount+ in the U.S. The show will be held at its usual home, the Grand Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
This will be the second year the Globes have presented the cinematic and box office achievement category. The nominees are Alien: Romulus, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Deadpool & Wolverine, Gladiator II, Inside Out 2, Twisters, Wicked and The Wild Robot. In its first year, the award went to Barbie over such rivals as Oppenheimer and Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.
The Golden Globe Awards, which likes to call itself “Hollywood’s Party of the Year,” is the first major awards show of the season. It’s also the world’s largest awards show to celebrate the best of both film and television.
Comedian Nikki Glaser is set to host the show for the first time. Viola Davis and Ted Danson have been named as recipients of the Cecil B. DeMille Award and the Carol Burnett Award, respectively. They will be recognized on the Golden Globes telecast. In addition, they will be feted at a separate gala dinner on Friday, Jan. 3, also at the Beverly Hilton. This marks the first time that the Golden Globes will host a special evening dedicated to the recipients of these two honorary awards.
Multi-Emmy Award-winning producing duo Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner of White Cherry Entertainment will return as executive producing showrunners for the 82nd Golden Globes. Dick Clark Productions will produce the show.
Best motion picture – drama
The Brutalist (A24)
A Complete Unknown (Searchlight Pictures)
Conclave (Focus Features)
Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures / Amazon MGM Studios)
September 5 (Paramount Pictures)
Best motion picture – musical or comedy
Anora (Neon)
Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
Emilia Pérez (Netflix)
A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures)
The Substance (Mubi)
Wicked (Universal Pictures)
Best original score – motion picture
Volker Bertelmann (Conclave)
Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist)
Kris Bowers (The Wild Robot)
Clément Ducol, Camille (Emilia Pérez)
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (Challengers)
Hans Zimmer (Dune: Part Two)
Best original song – motion picture
“Beautiful That Way” –– The Last Showgirl; Music & Lyrics By: Andrew Wyatt, Miley Cyrus, Lykke Zachrisson
“Compress / Repress” –– Challengers; Music & Lyrics By: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Luca Guadagnino
“El Mal” –– Emilia Pérez; Music & Lyrics By: Clément Ducol, Camille, Jacques Audiard
“Forbidden Road” –– Better Man; Music & Lyrics By: Robbie Williams, Freddy Wexler, Sacha Skarbek
“Kiss The Sky” –– The Wild Robot; Music & Lyrics By: Delacey, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack, Ali Tamposi
“Mi Camino” –– Emilia Pérez; Music & Lyrics By: Clément Ducol, Camille
Best motion picture – animated
Flow (Sideshow / Janus Films)
Inside Out 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Memoir of a Snail (IFC Films)
Moana 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Netflix)
The Wild Robot (Universal Pictures)
Cinematic and box office achievement
Alien: Romulus (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Deadpool & Wolverine (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Gladiator II (Paramount Pictures)
Inside Out 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Twisters (Universal Pictures)
Wicked (Universal Pictures)
The Wild Robot (Universal Pictures)
Best motion picture – non-English language
All We Imagine as Light (Sideshow / Janus Films) – Usa / France / India
Emilia Pérez (Netflix) – France
The Girl With the Needle (Mubi) – Poland / Sweden / Denmark
I’m Still Here (Sony Pictures Classics) – Brazil
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Neon) – Usa / Germany
Vermiglio (Sideshow / Janus Films) – Italy
Best performance by a female actor in a motion picture – drama
Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl)
Angelina Jolie (Maria)
Nicole Kidman (Babygirl)
Tilda Swinton (The Room Next Door)
Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here)
Kate Winslet (Lee)
Best performance by a male actor in a motion picture – drama
Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)
Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown)
Daniel Craig (Queer)
Colman Domingo (Sing Sing)
Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)
Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)
Best performance by a female actor in a motion picture – musical or comedy
Amy Adams (Nightbitch)
Cynthia Erivo (Wicked)
Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez)
Mikey Madison (Anora)
Demi Moore (The Substance)
Zendaya (Challengers)
Best performance by a male actor in a motion picture – musical or comedy
Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain)
Hugh Grant (Heretic)
Gabriel Labelle (Saturday Night)
Jesse Plemons (Kinds of Kindness)
Glen Powell (Hit Man)
Sebastian Stan (A Different Man)
Best performance by a female actor in a supporting role in any motion picture
Selena Gomez (Emilia Pérez)
Ariana Grande (Wicked)
Felicity Jones (The Brutalist)
Margaret Qualley (The Substance)
Isabella Rossellini (Conclave)
Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez)
Best performance by a male actor in a supporting role in any motion picture
Yura Borisov (Anora)
Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)
Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown)
Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)
Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice)
Denzel Washington (Gladiator II)
Best director – motion picture
Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez)
Sean Baker (Anora)
Edward Berger (Conclave)
Brady Corbet (The Brutalist)
Coralie Fargeat (The Substance)
Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine as Light)
Best screenplay – motion picture
Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez)
Sean Baker (Anora)
Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold (The Brutalist)
Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain)
Coralie Fargeat (The Substance)
Peter Straughan (Conclave)
Best television series – drama
The Day of the Jackal (Peacock)
The Diplomat (Netflix)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)
Shōgun (FX/Hulu)
Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
Squid Game (Netflix)
Best television series – musical or comedy
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
The Bear (FX/Hulu)
The Gentlemen (Netflix)
Hacks (HBO | Max)
Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Best television limited series, anthology series or motion picture made for television
Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
Disclaimer (Apple TV+)
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (Netflix)
The Penguin (HBO | Max)
Ripley (Netflix)
True Detective: Night Country (HBO | Max)
Best performance by a female actor in a television series – drama
Kathy Bates (Matlock)
Emma D’arcy (House of the Dragon)
Maya Erskine (Mr. & Mrs. Smith)
Keira Knightley (Black Doves)
Keri Russell (The Diplomat)
Anna Sawai (Shōgun)
Best performance by a male actor in a television series – drama
Donald Glover (Mr. & Mrs. Smith)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Presumed Innocent)
Gary Oldman (Slow Horses)
Eddie Redmayne (The Day of the Jackal)
Hiroyuki Sanada (Shōgun)
Billy Bob Thornton (Landman)
Best performance by a female actor in a television series – musical or comedy
Kristen Bell (Nobody Wants This)
Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary)
Ayo Edebiri (The Bear)
Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building)
Kathryn Hahn (Agatha All Along)
Jean Smart (Hacks)
Best performance by a male actor in a television series – musical or comedy
Adam Brody (Nobody Wants This)
Ted Danson (A Man on the Inside)
Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building)
Jason Segel (Shrinking)
Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building)
Jeremy Allen White (The Bear)
Best performance by a female actor in a limited series, anthology series, or a motion picture made for television
Cate Blanchett (Disclaimer)
Jodie Foster (True Detective: Night Country)
Cristin Milioti (The Penguin)
Sofía Vergara (Griselda)
Naomi Watts (Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans)
Kate Winslet (The Regime)
Best performance by a male actor in a limited series, anthology series, or a motion picture made for television
Colin Farrell (The Penguin)
Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer)
Kevin Kline (Disclaimer)
Cooper Koch (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story)
Ewan Mcgregor (A Gentleman in Moscow)
Andrew Scott (Ripley)
Best performance by a female actor in a supporting role on television
Liza Colón-Zayas (The Bear)
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks)
Dakota Fanning (Ripley)
Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer)
Allison Janney (The Diplomat)
Kali Reis (True Detective: Night Country)
Best performance by a male actor in a supporting role on television
Tadanobu Asano (Shōgun)
Javier Bardem (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story)
Harrison Ford (Shrinking)
Jack Lowden (Slow Horses)
Diego Luna (La Máquina)
Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear)
Best performance in stand-up comedy on television
Jamie Foxx (Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was)
Nikki Glaser (Nikki Glaser: Someday You’ll Die)
Seth Meyers (Seth Meyers: Dad Man Walking)
Adam Sandler (Adam Sandler: Love You)
Ali Wong (Ali Wong: Single Lady)
Ramy Youssef (Ramy Youssef: More Feelings)
The Golden Globes are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Corporation. PMC is also the parent company of Billboard.
Rosé is hitting the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon stage — on her own this time. The star will be joining the show in-studio as a solo artist outside of BLACKPINK for the first time on Wednesday (Dec. 11), as she previously delivered a pre-taped performance of “On the Ground” in 2021 during the height […]
With the inauguration of a new president just six weeks away, many in country music’s creative community recognize they have a role to play.
In his first administration, Donald Trump was frighteningly comfortable making life difficult for people who exercised their First Amendment freedom of speech rights — threatening, for example, to revoke TV licenses over negative coverage and calling for a federal investigationof Saturday Night Live over a skit.
For his second administration, Trump and some of his cabinet nominees have vowed to exact revenge on his perceived enemies, including journalists whose coverage he deems unflattering. Some former White House staff and advisers say Trump aspires to rule as an autocrat.
Songwriters, artists and musicians — like reporters — make their living transmitting messages, and many are aware that on certain days, they may be led to create music that might seem contrary to a thin-skinned ruler. Do they self-edit and slink to the next subject? Or do they stand up and speak their piece?
Songwriter Dan Wilson, who co-wrote Chris Stapleton’s “White Horse,” which won the Country Music Association’s single and song of the year, is familiar with the issue. He worked with The Chicks, co-writing the Grammy-winning “Not Ready To Make Nice” after they were booted out of country’s mainstream for criticizing then-President George W. Bush and the Iraq War.
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“As I’ve learned firsthand in the past, critiquing the president can be a fraught and dangerous thing to do,” Wilson said on the red carpet before the CMA Awards. “Generally, doing what artists do anyway, which is pointing things out that no one else will talk about, that could be a dangerous thing to do, but I don’t think that’s going to stop.”
Most songwriters, particularly in country music, don’t address political topics in their work on a regular basis. And plenty of those creators — when pressed in recent weeks on how Trump’s return to the White House might influence their art — shrugged off the subject, saying they were apolitical or didn’t feel comfortable talking about it publicly.
But others were particularly sensitive about the subject. In the past, Trump has incited his followers to intimidate his detractors, and many see his return to office as a threat to their personal freedoms and, possibly, to their safety. Artists are already acutely aware of the potential reaction of the audience and media gatekeepers.
“You always think about that stuff,” Phil Vassar noted at the ASCAP Country Awards red carpet. “You’re writing songs — ‘Can I say that in a song?’ ”
Under normal conditions, songwriters ask that question to avoid commercial and/or artistic repercussions. But in authoritarian regimes, expression is tightly guarded, creating additional emotional hurdles. In Russia, the population is famously loath to speak ill of top government officials. Vladimir Putin has jailed artists whose music opposes his rule. In Afghanistan, music has been outlawed in its entirety.
“The arts are frightening because the arts reveal people to themselves,” Rosanne Cash said at a Dec. 4 party for her new Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit, “Rosanne Cash: Time Is a Mirror.” “The arts are inherently political in that bigger sense, that it changes people and wakes them up.”
Not everyone sees the incoming administration as a threat. Jason Aldean, Chris Janson and Brian Kelley all participated in the Republican Convention in July, and Big Loud artist Lauren Watkins is hopeful that “we are going to have more freedom of speech.”
Meanwhile, Julie Williams, a mixed-race, queer artist, is already concerned about being canceled by emboldened conservatives under a Trump administration. The day after the election, she wasn’t convinced she had the strength to play a Nov. 7 show celebrating her new EP, Tennessee Moon. But the audience response helped her recognize that her songs might be even more important over the next four years.
“For me, when I get a chance to be onstage and sing songs about growing up in the South or my queer journey, it makes me feel like I have a little bit of control, a little bit of power, over what’s happening in the world,” she said on the CMA Awards carpet. “While I can’t change what’s happening at the national level at the moment, at my shows, I can help create an environment that people feel like they belong, that they feel like there’s somebody that loves them, and just to share my stories and hope that the audience hears themselves in it.”
It’s not only the songwriters and artists who sense they have a mission. Found Sound Media founder Becky Parsons, who specializes in management and PR for women and minority artists, is encouraging her acts — including Sarahbeth Taite and Fimone — to present themselves authentically through their art. And she intends to do that herself.
“I’m not going to be silent,” Parsons said on the CMA Awards carpet. “I’m not going to sit down and play by your rules. I’m going to break your rules. I’m going to create the world that I want to see. Not everybody has the luxury to do that, but thankfully, I do, and that’s the kind of future in country music and the world that I want to see.”
For many artists, the mission headed into the new administration is less about confrontation than about bringing disparate people together. Willie Nelson famously did that by attracting an audience of cowboys, college students and hippies with country music in the mid-1970s. Today, The War and Treaty, Charlie Worsham, Home Free, Frank Ray and Niko Moon aim to act as a bridge between communities.
“I’m kind of over being on any one team, and I’m ready to talk to people — especially people that I don’t agree with — and better understand what their plight is,” Worsham said on the CMA carpet. “And I think country music is uniquely poised to speak to this moment.”
Moon is similarly dedicated to putting “love and positivity out there into the world.”
“We’re living in strange times,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean we have to be strangers. We’re more similar than we are different.”
That said, if Trump follows the Project 2025 agenda, as many fear he may, it is likely to embolden his most ardent supporters, who have at times resorted to violence — in Charlottesville, Va., in 2016 or in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, to name two examples. It would be easy, in such an atmosphere, for cultural groups under siege to withdraw from the public space. But that’s all the more reason, openly gay country artist Chris Housman said, for creatives to speak out. He concedes that he went into a mini-depression after the election and admits that he’s among the faction of Americans who considered leaving the country. But he’s not going anywhere.
“I get so much inspiration and motivation out of challenging stuff and uncertainty and being uncomfortable,” Housman said on the CMA carpet. “It kind of feels like it’s ground zero here in the South, and in America in general, right now. If everybody leaves, if all the queer people leave, then it’s not going to change anything. So I’m just trying to dig in for that motivation and inspiration.”
Digging in against an autocrat is not comfortable. But staying quiet has consequences, too. As Thomas Jefferson noted, “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for men of good conscience to remain silent.” Creatives who self-censor to avoid controversy might make their lives a little easier for the short-term, but they also won’t make much of a long-term difference. Artists who stood up in the past — such as Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Bob Marley and Johnny Cash — influenced the eras in which they made their music, but they also helped to improve future generations’ understanding of their times.
“A lot of the reason that we are able to remember fascists and dictators is because of the work of creatives, because of the work that we’ve done in documenting things from our authentic perspective,” said Supreme Republic Entertainment founder Brittney Boston, whose clients include rapper DAX and country singer Carmen Dianne. “I think it’s really important as an artist right now to be honest, to write from your heart, because a lot of people are going to be too scared to do that, and people are going to be craving that authenticity.”
If nothing else, the creative class has an opportunity as Trump moves into office threatening retribution. On those occasions when artists or songwriters have something to say, but hold back to avoid scrutiny, they chip away at their own freedoms. Those who decline to self-censor their work often discover a greater sense of empowerment, even as they continue a free-speech tradition that was etched into the Constitution.
“You find the limits of your courage, don’t you?” Rosanne Cash said rhetorically. “Let’s just go for it.”
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It’s peculiar to hear Jacob Slater talk so effusively about “the quiet life” when he is renowned for one of the most intense, rib-shakingly loud live sets on the indie circuit. He’s the sort of artist, it seems, who is striving to find meaning in life’s simpler moments.
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“I haven’t had a break in a long while,” he says, eyes narrowing as he lights a cigarette. The smoke plumes drift towards a large Bob Dylan poster spread across the ceiling. “The sea is cold and there’s been waves here the past few days, so it’s been good to get back out there. I’m a little bit rusty, though, as I now spend so much time out of the water.”
The Wunderhorse frontman has been readjusting to the natural rhythms of life in his adopted locale of Newquay, Cornwall. It’s here where the 27-year-old trained as a surf instructor a few years ago, a solo venture that helped to relight his creative fire after burning bright and crashing out in the much-hyped but short-lived London punk band Dead Pretties. Recently, he has spent his time sleeping in, listening to records, and catching up with friends over coffee. Best of all, Slater says in a blissed-out tone, there is little to no mobile phone signal. The temptation to go off-grid clearly looms large.
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Returning to the coast has become an outlet for Slater’s newfound sense of lightness. Rarely at home, he’s spent much of 2024 insulated inside a touring bubble, playing shows across Europe with Fontaines D.C. and racking up huge British festival appearances at the likes of Reading & Leeds and TRNSMT. In August, Wunderhorse’s second LP, Midas (Communion Records), hit No.6 on the Official U.K. Charts upon release; a major feat, given that 2022 debut Cub failed to crack the Top 40.
On his birthday, Slater got a call from his manager saying they had booked a gig at London’s 10,000-capacity Alexandra Palace next spring. In November, the group supported Fontaines D.C. throughout Europe, and now, through December, the band are opening for Sam Fender at arenas across the U.K. and Ireland, capping off an extraordinary year.
Though often mired in themes of self-destruction and volatility, the music of Wunderhorse is uplifting, cathartic, and compassionate. The four-piece are cult stars at the threshold of mainstream crossover, a reality that they are now encountering on the road. Each night, they come eye-to -eye with a predominantly young fanbase that has recently ballooned in size as a result of “unexpected” TikTok popularity. “Not to sound like an old man, but I really don’t know how that whole ‘online thing’ works. Yet it seems to be a real beast,” says Slater, speaking over video call.
It was after a headline show at Glasgow’s Barrowlands venue last month that Slater realized the band’s profile was changing. Combating a disrupted sleep schedule that had left him feeling like “a nocturnal creature,” he ventured out, alone, to walk off all the adrenaline he had worked up on stage. What he found was a city gradually revealing itself through characterful people, foggy images of bars shuttering up for the night, and the distant expanse of the M8 motorway.
Only an hour earlier, with sweat beads lining his forehead, he had been growling into the mic, stomping as each song reached its soaring climax. Video footage of the performance circulated on social media the following day, with clips of gig-goers crying and barking doing the rounds. Wunderhorse may have already inspired fan tattoos and custom trainers, but this felt like a new level of visibility altogether.
“Recently, the audience has solidified a bit more in its demographic,” Slater explains. “At first, I didn’t quite know how to take it when people were telling us that we had young fans. But I remember when I was younger, music meant so much to me. It still does, of course, but music has a particular potency when you’re a teenager. If people are connecting with us at that age, then that’s amazing.”
Initially a one-man endeavour, the first seismic shift in Wunderhorse’s trajectory took place when Slater decided to expand the project to a full band in the early days of creating Midas. He brought Harry Tristan Fowler (guitar), Peter Woodin (bass) and Jamie Staples (drums) into the fold, having met each of them at gigs in London and their native Hertfordshire. Slater figured out early that the best way to approach music was to build his own world and invite people in; he and his bandmates soon honed their bluesy, expansive, emotionally-weathered sound after bonding over seminal records from Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.
The release of Cub, meanwhile, had left Slater feeling as though he was treading water as a lyricist. Much of the album’s writing resonated because of its unvarnished frankness about a dark personal history, traversing selfishness (“Purple”), nihilism, and traumatic teenage experiences (“Butterflies,” “Teal”). For its author, however – who was in recovery from addiction issues at the time – having to accept the circumstances of his previous life for what they were became too much of a mental burden to bear.
“This is probably not the stuff you’re meant to say in interviews, but I think every artist has songs they wrote when they were younger and now struggle with,” Slater says, grinning beneath a big, raggedy scarf. “You start to realize that, whatever you write, you’re going to have to live with it for a long time. If people are singing songs back to you and you don’t like the words that you’ve written, then you end up standing on stage feeling like you’ve deceived yourself.”
Wunderhorse
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Slater notes how his record contract stated that Cub was meant to see him “deliver 18 songs at a minimum.” Only 11 tracks made the final cut, and he put “any leftovers that didn’t fit into the Wunderhorse world” onto 2023 solo LP Pinky, I Love You. Curiously, eagle-eyed fans noticed that, a few weeks back, the earliest Wunderhorse music videos had been removed from YouTube; they responded by creating a Google Drive folder with all the newly missing clips. Today, Slater admits this was his doing: “If I had it my way, there would be no promo, there’d be no videos. I find it all really difficult because it’s not the way that my brain works.”
Releasing Midas didn’t banish Slater’s feelings of alienation towards the music industry entirely, but it did explore a more peaceful coexistence within it. It seems as though the search for salvation he sings of on “Silver” is starting to bear fruit. Despite it all, Slater thinks that aspects of his life today would astound his younger self: he is thoughtful yet steadfast in describing how publications describing Wunderhorse as “generational,” only two albums in, can be disorienting for a musician still coming to terms with his changing stature.
“Worrying whether you’re going to become this ‘grand thing’ that people are saying you are will only cause you to get in the way of yourself. Nobody even knows what such titles mean,” he says. “Any songwriter who has stood the test of time has managed to stay true to who they are. Like, did Bob Dylan wake up one day and go, ‘I’m gonna be generational?’ No.”
It’s clear that Slater sees a gap between his intentions and the public’s reaction to his musical output. He’ll later mention how Midas’ “Superman” was “completely misunderstood” by listeners, but he’s also trying to let go of these things which are out of his control. “Nobody’s ever going to feel what you felt when you wrote the song as everyone is at the center of their own universe,” he says. “And that’s part of the magic.” True self-acceptance: Slater is steadily getting there, inch-by-inch, wave-by-wave, song-by-song.
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Is it 2017 all over again? Dej Loaf & Jacquees link back up to complete our childhoods with a sequel from their fan favorite ‘F*ck a Friendzone’ project. The first collab mixtape dropped on February 10, 2017, with the leading club smash, ‘At The Club’. It was remotely impossible (still is the case) to go into any club without hearing that song.
Years later, the duo linked back up and dropped the single, ‘Just Another Love Song’ which will be on F*ck a Friendzone 2
Earlier this year Dej Loaf made an appearance on Jacquees’s mixtape ‘Come Back to Me’ on the track ‘If I’ which had a very similar bop to At The Club. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it right?
After a few years apart, the two artists are diving back into the creative process, blending Jacquees’ smooth R&B vocals with Dej Loaf’s unique blend of rap and melody. Their reunion has generated significant buzz, with fans eager to hear what this duo will create in 2024. This long-awaited collaboration promises to be a musical treat for their dedicated audiences.
Dej Loaf has been extremely low-key in recent years, with little new music released since her 2017 album Liberated. While she has teased new material and occasionally shared snippets on social media, fans have been eagerly waiting for her next full project. The Chicago rapper’s absence from the spotlight has left a noticeable gap in the music scene, especially considering her breakthrough with hits like “Try Me” and “Back Up.” Despite this silence, her loyal fanbase remains down and READY for a comeback, anticipating that when Dej Loaf does return, it will be with a fresh, impactful sound that reaffirms her unique style.
The Rolling Stones are celebrating the one-year anniversary of their Hackney Diamonds album with a special 2-LP vinyl re-issue. The legendary band’s 24th studio album dropped last October, marking their first new full-length LP of original material since 2005’s A Bigger Bang. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news […]
Two months after his shock death in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Liam Payne is being remembered by his girlfriend Kate Cassidy. In one of her first social posts following Payne’s passing, Cassidy posted a TikTok video on Sunday (Dec. 8) in which the 25-year-old influencer looked back on the couple’s love affair via a series of happy moments set to Mazzy Star’s 1993 beloved bummer “Fade Into You.”
The series of short vignettes opens with the couple chilling in a wood cabin, before turning to quick clips of them walking up marble steps hand-in-hand, slow dancing in a room with stars projected on the ceiling and a playful bit where a laughing Payne drags Cassidy around the kitchen floor by her ankles.
Elsewhere they go bowling, Cassidy assures the singer that he looks “stunning,” they play with their dog, share snacks on dates, visit Disneyland, celebrate New Year’s Eve, snuggle in bed and goof around on a toboggan. The melancholy video captures intimate moments where Payne and Cassidy are traveling the world, hugging, building Lego sets and, in the final image, sharing a kiss and a laugh. “I love you,” Cassidy captioned the post.
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Cassidy — who dated the former One Direction singer for two years — had been traveling with Payne in Argentina in the time leading up to his death. The singer died on Oct. 16 after falling from the third floor balcony of a luxury hotel in Buenos Aires.
A few days later, Cassidy addressed his passing in an Instagram Story, where she thanked her followers for “all of the kind words and love that has been sent my way.” She added, “I have been at a complete loss. Nothing about the past few days have felt real. I ask and pray that you’ll give me the grace and space to navigate this in private.” She also addressed Payne directly, writing, “Liam, my angel. You are everything. I want you to know I loved you unconditionally and completely.”
A week later, Cassidy posted another message to Payne, writing, “My heart is shattered in ways I can’t put into words. I wish you could see the huge impact you’ve had on the world, even as it feels so dark right now. You are — because I can’t say were — my best friend, the love of my life, and everyone you touched felt just as special as I did,” Cassidy continued. “None of this feels real, and I can’t wrap my head around this new reality of not having you here. I’m struggling to figure out how to live in a world without you by my side. Together, we got to be kids again, always finding joy in the smallest things.”
She also shared a note Payne wrote just weeks earlier in which he said he hoped to marry her within the year. Payne was laid to rest on Nov. 20 in south-east England in a private funeral attended by family and friends, including his 1D bandmates – Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan – as well as The X Factor‘s Simon Cowell, former late night host James Corden and Cassidy.
Payne’s autopsy confirmed that he suffered internal and external bleeding and multiple traumatic injuries from his fall. According to a translated copy of the toxicology report, in the days leading up to his death, Payne reportedly had “alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressants” in his system.
Guns N’ Roses have plotted a 2025 summer tour of the Middle East and Europe that is slated to kick off in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 23, which will be the veteran hard rocker’s first-ever stop in the country. The 24-show run will be the band’s first outing since they wound-down their 2023 world tour at the Hell & Heaven Fest in Toluca, Mexico in November 2023.
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Announcing the shows on their Instagram on Monday morning (Dec. 9), the band wrote, “Because what you want N’ what you get are two completely different things.” After opening in Saudi Arabia, the tour will visit the United Arab Emirates before moving on to stadiums in Europe, with shows in Georgia, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, the U.K., Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary and Serbia. The tour is currently slated to wind down in Bulgaria on July 21, with no .
Support on the tour will come from Public Enemy, Rival Sons and the Sex Pistols fronted by Frank Carter on select dates. Nightrain fan club tickets will be available in a presale beginning Tuesday (Dec. 10) at 9 a.m. local time with a general onsale slated from Friday at 9 a.m. local; click here for information on both. PE hype man Flavor Flav was elated by the news, writing on X, “I’M GOING ON TOUR WITH GUNS N’ ROSES, !!!! Letz go,!!!”
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GNR haven’t release a new album since 2008’s decade-plus in the making Chinese Democracy. In October, bassist Diff McKagan told SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk that the group has been working on new material. “There’s definitely a desire and a plan for new music,” he said. “Yeah, for sure.” At press time the band has not announced any other 2025 tour dates.
Check out the 2025 GNR Middle East/European dates below.