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Post Malone expressed his gratitude to Beyoncé after joining her stunning NFL Halftime Show performance during the Texans-Ravens game at Houston’s NRG Stadium on Christmas Day. On Saturday (Dec. 28), the 29-year-old singer shared a heartfelt message to Queen Bey, 43, on X (formerly Twitter). “thank you @Beyonce so much for havin me out in […]
Engaged couple Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco shared a loved-up photo over the holiday weekend that shows the two of them kissing on a cozy armchair. The soon-to-be-married pair look very comfortable in the snapshot — especially Gomez, whose face is hovering above Blanco’s and whose hand is pointing his chin upwards as she comes […]
Mark Ronson is remembering legendary producer Quincy Jones.
In an emotional piece shared with The Guardian on Thursday (Dec. 26), Ronson reflected on his personal experiences working with Jones — who passed away in November at the age of 91 — and the profound impact the music icon had on his life and career.
“Losing Quincy is like a black hole swallowing part of the musical universe,” Ronson wrote. “But his work will live forever, as will his lessons. Keep striving for that deeper knowledge. Always leave space for something bigger than yourself. Because sometimes, magic happens when we get out of the way.”
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Ronson opened the tribute by recalling a passage from Jones’ 2001 autobiography, Q, in which the legendary musician describes walking away from a successful career in order to study music theory and composition in Paris.
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“Imagine reaching the pinnacle of success, especially as a young Black musician in segregated 1950s America, and saying thanks, but I’m starting over for the sake of chords and harmony,” Ronson wrote. “I fantasize about having that kind of courage.”
“But that’s the peril of holding Quincy as a yardstick,” he continued. “He’s an impossible standard. For producers and arrangers like me, he didn’t just raise the bar; he hid it where no one could reach.”
Ronson also reflected on the years he spent with Jones, particularly when he was engaged to the legendary producer’s daughter, Rashida Jones, in the early 2000s. The two producers also collaborated on the song “Keep Reachin’,” featuring Chaka Khan, for the 2018 Netflix documentary Quincy, directed by Rashida Jones.
“Over the years, he would send me kind notes — he had a particular fondness for Amy [Winehouse] — and we’d often hang out whenever I played the Montreux jazz festival, his beloved stomping ground,” Ronson wrote. “Seeing him there, stage right, seated in his director’s chair — looking every bit the debonair godfather of music, smiling back at you — elicited a wild mix of emotions.”
He added, “The greatest producer and arranger of all time, watching your every move, was utterly terrifying. And yet he only radiated generosity. All he wanted was for you to win, to shine. He had already achieved the unimaginable. Now he existed as something rare and beautiful — a benevolent cheerleader for the wonder of music itself.”
Jones passed away on Nov. 3 at his home in Los Angeles. A 28-time Grammy Award winner, Jones was revered for his groundbreaking work as a producer and arranger on iconic albums, including Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987).
Jones was also the guiding force behind the recording of the all-star charity single “We Are the World” in 1985, which rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and featured a star-studded lineup of artists, including Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and Kenny Rogers.
Hayley Williams may be gearing up for her first solo tour in 2025.
On Friday (Dec. 27), the Paramore frontwoman hinted at the possibility of solo dates in an Instagram Story celebrating her 36th birthday. In her note, Williams reflected on the tour she had to cancel in 2020 in support of her debut solo album, Petals for Armor, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m going to try and finally play some shows next year that would’ve happened nearly 5 years ago now,” she wrote. “That is, if the world doesn’t f—ing stop before then. Here’s hoping.”
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Petals for Armor was released in March 2020, and Williams had planned a European and North American tour to support the album. However, the pandemic forced her to cancel those shows as venues around the world shut down.
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“Wow. I am going on tour. Myself. It’s not Paramore and truthfully, it’s just a little terrifying,” she wrote at the time. “But if I know anything, it’s that there’s no safer place (besides at home with my dog) than to be in a room, in front of the people who’ve grown up singing my lungs out for. There was a time I thought I wouldn’t tour Petals for Armor. What a joke. I must.”
During the pandemic, Williams shifted to virtual performances, including an NPR Tiny Desk concert filmed in Nashville, and released her surprise sophomore album, Flowers for Vases/Descansos, in 2021.
In 2023, after the lockdowns lifted, Paramore returned with their sixth studio album, This Is Why. The pop-punk band supported the release with a tour that included dates opening for Taylor Swift on her record-breaking Eras Tour.
In her celebratory post on Instagram, Williams also thanked fans for their well-wishes and shared a personal reflection.
“35 felt like tilling soil and throwing little seeds down. Waiting, waiting, waiting to see,” she wrote. “36 is exciting and a little scary, already. So much to hope for. I’m still in the dirt, ready for whatever might grow. Fruit?”
Tina Knowles is fiercely defending her daughter Beyoncé after the pop superstar’s NFL Halftime Show performance on Christmas Day.
On Friday (Dec. 27), the proud mother took to social media to respond to the criticism surrounding Queen Bey’s stunning performance at the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans game at NRG Stadium. The 12-minute set, now available for streaming on Netflix, had generated some backlash, prompting Knowles to speak out in her daughter’s defense.
Knowles began by reposting a fan’s message on Instagram that called out those who had negative things to say about the performance.“Irrespective of whether you like Beyoncé’s music or not, it is PROOF and motivation that no matter how undeniably talented you are, people will always, ALWAYS, always have some negative ish to say,” the fan’s comment read.
In her caption, Knowles agreed with the fan, writing, “My sentiments exactly! It is mind-boggling to me that you would take your precious Christmas day and watch a performance of someone you hate and you don’t think has talent so that you can go talk ish about it later.”
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She continued, “Obviously you are so obsessed with them , addicted to them , and secretly admire them , wish you could be them, that you cannot help but to watch and critique and comment and say dumb ridiculous stuff that makes you look like a joke !! So go to another channel when it’s halftime watch goofy cartoons or Bozo the clown or something you can relate to and see yourself in. Said with love.”
Knowles also reflected on her daughter’s strength, adding, “I have learned so much from her warrior spirit, of when they go low I work harder ‘No weapon formed against me shall prosper’ one ,two , three waiting for the fake bots to come’.”
She followed up with several posts celebrating the positive reactions to Bey’s performance, including a comment from Bun B, who praised the superstar’s career: “I think quietly, this entire time we’ve watched her rise. She’s probably the single most intentional performer, musician and entertainer in our culture. Beyoncé knows exactly who she is, and she understands that when she does something, things change,” the rapper said.
The Houston-born superstar’s halftime show featured songs from her latest album Cowboy Carter, a country-infused project that topped the Billboard 200 for two weeks. The performance included collaborations with Shaboozey, Post Malone, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer and others, showcasing tracks like “16 Carriages” to “Texas Hold ‘Em,” “Levii’s Jeans” and “Jolene.” Beyoncé’s 12-year-old daughter Blue Ivy Carter also joined her on stage as a dancer, just as she did on the Renaissance World Tour.
Following the performance, Beyoncé teased a new project set for release in 2025. In a cryptic post on social media, she shared a video of herself riding a majestic white horse while waving an American flag. The clip ended with a black screen featuring the message: “1.14.25.” She simply captioned the post with, “Look at that horse.”
12/27/2024
Perry produced some of the biggest and best hits on the Hot 100 in the ’70s and ’80s.
12/27/2024
As she goes into the new year, Gwen Stefani is reflecting on one of her 2024 highlights: No Doubt‘s headline-making Coachella reunion.
“Performing at Coachella and feeling all that love for us after all this time was kind of overwhelming,” the “Hollaback Girl” singer reportedly told U.K. magazine HELLO!, noting that she still feels “incredibly lucky” for the experience months later.
“We hadn’t done anything together for so long, so to do that and be there for each other, with all of our families, meant so much to me,” Stefani continued. “It had been so long but it was as if we had never been apart.”
No Doubt took the stage for the first time since 2015 in April, appearing as special guests on the second night of the California festival. During the band’s set, Olivia Rodrigo joined the Voice coach to duet on “Bathwater,” and the rockers cycled through all of their biggest hits, including “Don’t Speak” and “Just a Girl.”
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Formed in 1986, No Doubt released six albums — including nine-week Billboard 200 chart-topper Tragic Kingdom — before disbanding in the mid 2010s. Stefani released her debut solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby., in 2004.
Two decades later, the vocalist is fresh off the release of her fifth studio album, Bouquet, which arrived in November. The LP features “Purple Irises,” a duet by Stefani and husband Blake Shelton, which the couple performed together at the 2024 ACM Awards in May.
A couple months later, the pair celebrated their three-year wedding anniversary. “It has always been you,” Stefani wrote on Instagram at the time, while the country crooner posted a selfie with his wife and gushed, “I love you!!!!!!!!!!”
Taylor Swift and Dolly Parton have fans working 9 to 5 trying to figure out if a collaboration between the two blonde country–pop crossover superstars is in the works.
That’s because the “Jolene” singer appears to have given the Eras Tour headliner a “follow” on Instagram, as reported by Uproxx and a number of fan accounts on social media. That tiny movement alone has sparked a wave of speculation that Parton may be gearing up to get in the studio with Swift — or, better yet, that the former might just be featured on the latter’s highly anticipated Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version).
“I’ll never shut up if Queen Dolly is on Debut TV,” one Swiftie tweeted Wednesday (Dec. 25), while another person commented, “IF DOLLY IS ON DEBUT TV I WILL NEVER RECOVER IT WILL BE THE BEST THING THATS EVER HAPPENED.”
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“IF DOLLY IS ON DEBUT TV IM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PERSON I’LL BECOME,” wrote a third fan.
Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version) is one of two re-records — the other being 2017’s Reputation — that Swift has left to release in her Taylor’s Version series, which has found the star dropping revamped versions of her first six albums since 2021. So far, she’s unveiled re-recordings of 2008’s Fearless, 2010’s Speak Now, 2012’s Red and 2014’s 1989.
Released in 2006, the 14-time Grammy winner’s self-titled debut LP marks the most distinctly country-sounding album in her discography — so it only makes sense that she would enlist Parton, one of the genre’s biggest legends, to help out. Swift has previously tapped other stars to duet on From the Vault tracks for her Taylor’s Version projects, including Keith Urban for “That’s When” from Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Phoebe Bridgers for “Nothing New” from Red (Taylor’s Version) and Paramore’s Hayley Williams for “Castles Crumbling” from Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
Plus, Parton and Swift are openly fans of each other. In November 2023, the “Anti-Hero” singer told The Hollywood Reporter, “Dolly is a force of evolution and transformation in our industry, but she does it with such playful levity it almost looks effortless. Her sense of humor and mischief are easily my favorite things about her, because I think it forces the world to reconcile that a woman can be a serious artist and writer who also has raucous fun with it, can make people laugh and be in on every joke.”
“Taylor Swift is amazing what she has done with her career,” Parton said of Swift in an interview with Variety the following September. “I just admire her very much and how she’s handled her business, her personal life and what all she has meant to so many young people. [She’s] been a great inspiration.”
Paris Hilton wants you to unwrap her, but she didn’t leave much to take off in a cheeky holiday video set to Ariana Grande‘s “Santa Tell Me” on Christmas Day. In an NSFW clip posted to Instagram on Wednesday (Dec. 25), the businesswoman leaves little to the imagination while wearing red pumps and matching fingerless […]
SEVENTEEN made sure its CARATs had a shiny and bright Christmas this year. The K-pop group delivered a rollicking take of Brenda Lee’s holiday classic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” during The Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade special, which aired on ABC and Disney+ on Wednesday (Dec. 25). “These superstars have been selling out […]