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It’s only fitting that when you share a bill with an artist who has written a viral hit with your name in the title that you invite said person up to do their thing for you. At least that’s what happened on Saturday when Billie Eilish and “Billie Eilish” rapper Armani White played different stages […]
Fans lined the streets of Sinead O’Connor’s former hometown in Ireland on Tuesday (Aug. 8) to bid farewell to the elfin singer who left a big impression on her devoted followers and the music world.
Ruth O’Shea, who had come to the coastal town of Bray south of Dublin with her two daughters, became teary as she spoke of O’Connor’s significance, saying she had “meant the world to her.”
“She was so rebellious and empowering and inspiring, and my mother hated me listening to her music,” O’Shea said. “She was just brilliant. Brilliant — I loved her, and then the kids, I suppose by osmosis because I played her when they were both growing up, they’d go, ‘Oh God, mom’s listening to Sinead O’Connor, she’s obviously had a rough day.’ She just gave me hope. And I just loved her, I loved her.”
O’Connor, 56, was found unresponsive at her London home on July 26. Police have not shared a cause of death, though they said her death was not suspicious. O’Connor’s family invited the public to line the waterfront as her funeral procession passed by, following a private service.
“Sinead loved living in Bray and the people in it,” her family said in a statement. “With this procession, her family would like to acknowledge the outpouring of love for her from the people of Wicklow (county) and beyond, since she left … to go to another place.”
Fans tucked handwritten notes and flowers behind a chain wrapped around a granite post at the entrance to her former home, thanking her for sharing her voice and her music. One sign listed causes that the singer had expressed support for, including welcoming refugees.
“Thanks for your short special life,” one note read. “Gone too soon.”
O’Connor, a multi-octave mezzo soprano of extraordinary emotional range who was recognizable by her shaved head, began her career singing on the streets of Dublin and soon rose to international fame.
She became a sensation in 1990 with her cover of Prince’s ballad “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which topped charts from Europe to Australia.
She was a critic of the Roman Catholic Church well before allegations of sexual abuse were widely reported. She made headlines in October 1992 when she tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II while appearing on NBC’s Saturday Night Live and denounced the church as the enemy.
She was public about her struggles with mental illness. When her teenage son Shane died by suicide last year, O’Connor tweeted there was “no point living without him” and she was soon hospitalized. Her final tweet, sent July 17, read “For all mothers of Suicided children,” and linked to a Tibetan compassion mantra.
Since her death, celebrities including P!nk and Brandi Carlile have paid tribute to her, and ordinary people have shared acts of kindness she performed.
DJ Casper, the Chicago artist best known for the creation of the party classic “Cha Cha Slide” has died at 58. According to ABC 7, Casper’s wife confirmed to the station that he died on Monday (Aug. 7) after a seven-year battle with cancer.
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As legend has it, Casper (born William Perry Jr.) created his most famous song for his nephew — a Bally fitness trainer — around 1998 as an aerobics exercise with the original title “Casper Slide Pt. 1.” The line dancing track however, with its instructions “To the left/ Take it back y’all/ One hop this time/ Right foot, let’s stomp/ Left foot, let’s stomp/ Cha cha real smooth,” blew up to become a global staple of bar/bat mitzvahs, proms, weddings and any party that needed starting.
In one of his last interviews in May, Casper — who got his DJ nickname thanks to his ubiquitous all-white stage outfits — told ABC 7 that he never imagined “Cha Cha Slide” would become an international smash performed by people all over the world. “When I first did it, I did it as an aerobic exercise for my nephew at Bally’s,” said Casper, who released the song under the name Mr. C the Slide Man. “From there, it just took off. Elroy Smith from WGCI grabbed ahold of it.”
The latter is a reference to the DJ at WGCI-FM in Chicago who picked up a new version, “Casper Slide Pt. 2,” in 2000 and began playing it. The track became a local hit in Chicago and in 2004 M.O.B. Records picked the song up, which later led to a deal with Universal Records and the track’s inclusion on the record, Cha-Cha Slide: The Original Slide Album.
“I have one of the biggest songs that played at all stadiums: hockey, basketball, football, baseball; they played it at the Olympics,” Casper told ABC. “It was something that everybody could do.”
In 2016, a GoFundMe was announced for Casper, revealing that he had been diagnosed with liver and kidney cancer and he told ABC that he’d been losing weight recently and despite shedding 60 pounds he was determined to fight on. “I used to weigh 236 pounds, and I think I’m about 60 pounds less,” Casper said in May. “If you know me, you know I’m not going to stop. I’m going to continue to go. I’m going to continue to go until I can’t go.”
In 2018, Casper made an unexpected cameo in Netflix’s women’s prison drama Orange Is the New Black, when Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren sees visions of everyone in the psych ward doing the “Cha Cha Slide,” including Casper, who is dressed as a prison orderly working the turntables. He was also an on-air personality on iHeart radio station V103 in Chicago and the creator of the streaming station Casper Classic Radio. In 2019, he announced that his cancer was in remission, but it later returned.
The DJ said his legacy was that “Cha Cha Slide” would always serve as a joyful reminder of the power of music to unify people with a positive message. “Anybody that’s going through cancer, know that you have cancer and cancer does not have you,” Casper said in May. “So, keep on doing the ‘Cha Cha Slide.’”
Watch the “Cha Cha Slide” video below.
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BTS‘ V is the latest member of the superstar K-pop group to announce a solo album. BIGHIT Music announced on Tuesday (Aug. 8) that V’s debut solo effort, Layover, will drop on Sept. 8. The collection will feature six tracks: “Rainy Days,” “Blue,” “Love Me Again,” “Slow Dancing,” For Us” and a bonus track piano version of “Slow Dancing.”
In a release announcing the collection, BIGHIT suggested that ARMY listen to the album’s tracks in order, from 1-5, noting that “Slow Dancing” is the focus track of the collection, describing it as a “1970s romantic soul style track [that] exudes a laid-back and free-spirited feeling.”
The announcement was accompanied by a 15-second visualizer in which a series of packages featuring the album float onto the balcony of an apartment building, ending with the album title in all-cap white letters — with the V rendered in purple — filling the screen.
“Love Me Again” is described as a “captivating R&B track that highlights V’s low pitch voice,” while “For Us,” is a “pop R&B track that serves as an epilogue, stirring up deep emotions with V’s vocals and unique lyrics.” All five album tracks will have official videos.
V worked with NewJeans creative director/ADOR president Hee Jin Min on the album, with BIGHIT revealing that Min oversaw the entire production of the collection, including music, choreography, design and promotion. V’s previous solo efforts include “Stigma,” “Singularity,” “Winter Bear” and “Inner Child”; his most recent original solo songs are 2021’s “Christmas Tree,” which was on the soundtrack of the Netflix K-drama Our Beloved Summer and last year’s version of the holiday classic “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.”
The announcement about V’s album comes just after BIGHIT confirmed that Suga has begun his military enlistment process, becoming the third member to enlist in South Korea’s mandatory military service, following Jin and J-Hope.
Check out the Layover teaser below.
Monday’s surprise songs included an acoustic debut & a solo debut, with a particularly poignant “Exile” sing-along.
Looking for some motivation to help power you through the start of another work week? We feel you, and with some stellar new pop tunes, we’ve got you covered.
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These 10 tracks from artists including Cannons, Lauv, BAMBII with Aluna, Meet Me @ the Altar and more will get you energized to take on the week. Pop any of these gems into your personal playlists — or scroll to the end of the post for a custom playlist of all 10.
BAMBII feat. Aluna, “Hooked”
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Toronto-bred DJ BAMBII has become known for her unexpected fusions, ensuring each release offers a new roadmap to the same destination: a good time. On the sultry “Hooked,” she and Aluna journey through gently thumping, and at times oscillating orchestral beats — setting the scene as if the pair are slowly winding down a dim-light, hazy road in no rush at all to reach their destination. — Lyndsey Havens
Saint Motel, “Fine Wine”
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The latest from Los Angeles pop band Saint Motel offers a reassuring take on growing up: “Our bodies will age but we’ll never grow old,” sings frontman AJ Jackson, comparing the process to that of fine wine, becoming better with time. And once the glimmering chorus hits, which sounds tailor-made to accompany an onstage curtain of sparklers, it’s hard not to buy in. — L.H.
Cannons, “Desire”
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“I’ve got a fire / I feel it starting to grow,” Cannons singer Michelle Joy declares on their sensual new single, “Desire”: the line may be a knowing or unwitting callback to “Fire for You,” and like the band’s breakout hit, the new track conveys its yearning message through ’80s textures and clean, dreamy synth-pop. When Cannons release singles that are both smoky and designed for swaying, you better be ready to press the replay button. — Jason Lipshutz
Dylan feat. Bastille, “Liar Liar”
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British singer-songwriter Dylan has specialized in emotionally heightened pop tunes during her speedy ascent, as have Bastille over the course of their mega-streaming career; together, Dylan and the band’s Dan Smith have conjured an intensely magnetic duet with “Liar Liar.” Both singers spit out the titular phrase as a decree against deception, accentuating the song’s piercing strings and sprinting beat with ample charisma. — J.L.
Lauv, “Love U Like That”
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The single artwork for Lauv’s “Love U Like That” is a neon-purple lipstick print — a fitting image for a love song that embraces its listener with enough heartfelt emotion to glow in the dark. Lauv has earned billions of streams with this brand of vulnerable, immaculately constructed pop, and “Love U Like That” once again finds him navigating fizziness with airtight hooks and generous falsetto. — J.L.
Speedy Ortiz, “Ghostwriter”
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“I’m tired of anger” is the lynchpin line on Speedy Ortiz’s bewitching new single “Ghostwriter,” as Sadie Dupuis sings about attempting to live with less rage while also existing in a world full of social injustices that deserve to be called out. Out of all of the singles that Speedy Ortiz has shared ahead of upcoming album Rabbit Rabbit, “Ghostwriter” may possess the most immediately satisfying balance of shimmer and substance, pushing forward with purpose as Dupuis ponders her next move. — J.L.
Chris Farren, “All We Ever”
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“All We Ever,” the best song on Chris Farren’s great new album Doom Singer, essentially exists as a list of the singer-songwriter’s large and small desires: as the guitar surfs forward and a synth hook pops in and out, Farren proclaims that he wants to “fall asleep reading a book,” to “get drunk with my friends,” to “make my mother proud of me,” to “love being alive.” The cover of Doom Singer finds an animated Farren on his knees, pleading with the heavens; “All We Ever,” then, serves as that image’s lovely audio counterpart. — J.L.
LANY, “XXL”
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Perhaps a song that’s nostalgic for the year 2018 will make you feel older than the dirt under your shoes, but LANY sell the not-so-distant look back on “XXL,” an expansive pop-rock track about a misbegotten romance and the too-large hoodie that makes the memories flood back. The repetition of the “XXL” motif, used at the end of each verse and throughout the chorus, serves the song well, turning what could have been a stray observation into a memorable anthem. — J.L.
Meet Me @ The Altar, “Take Me Away (Freaky Friday)”
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For fans of Freaky Friday’s “Take Me Away,” as sung by actress Christina Vidal for the 2003 movie’s House of Blues performance scene, Meet Me @ The Altar put their spin on the classic track and revived it for Gen Z, just in time for the film’s 20th anniversary. Vocalist Edith Victoria injects a fair amount of bite, adding more of the band’s signature pop punk edge to the group’s rendition of the track. — Starr Bowenbank
Puddle Splasher, “Basic Forms”
Following 2019’s The Blankest Blue, Puddle Splasher — Brooklyn based trio consisting of members Dante Fotino, Andy Altadonna and Adam Thibeault — has returned with new single “Basic Forms,” their first in five years that doubles as the first look at an upcoming album. The band continues to dive headfirst into fuzzy, alternative leaning rock as Altadonna’s voice melts into energetic guitar and drum work at the turn of the chorus. — S.B.
Kelly Clarkson is putting herself first following her divorce from Brandon Blackstock, and she’s reflecting that in her lyrics.
The star made noticeable changes to her 2015 hit, “Piece by Piece,” during her Las Vegas residency performance on Saturday (Aug. 5), telling the crowd, “This song I initially wrote just super hopeful, right? And well, sometimes hopeful turns into hopeless, so here we go.”
In the original song, she belts in the chorus, “But piece by piece, he collected me up / Off the ground, where you abandoned things, yeah / Piece by piece, he filled the holes that you burned in me / At six years old.”
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But in her recent performance, Clarkson changed the lyrics from “he” to “I,” according to ET and videos circulating on social media. Additionally, she replaced, “He never walks away / He never asks for money / He takes care of me / He loves me,” with: “I just walk away / when they ask for money / I take care of me / ’cause I love me.”
Clarkson originally wrote the track about her father, who abandoned Clarkson’s family when she was a kid, and her now ex-husband Blackstock. In June 2020, however, Clarkson filed for divorce from Blackstock after seven years of marriage, and she channeled the pain of the split into her 10th studio album, Chemistry. She references “Piece by Piece” in her track named after iconic actor Rock Hudson.
“When I wrote ‘Piece by Piece,’ it was a very hopeful song,” the singer previously told The Hollywood Reporter. “I wasn’t able to say everything at the time. A lot of that song is about what I desired and what I hoped and what I saw in someone. And it turns out I might not be singing that song again. It turns out that I maybe did marry into what I didn’t want to do in the first place. So it’s OK now.”
She continued, “It wasn’t for a couple years, but I think that’s the thing about seeing red flags and seeing things that aren’t healthy and recognizing that and not holding on to hope and potential all the time in a relationship. So just a lot of lessons learned, which is, I guess, all you can hope for, getting that it wasn’t all for naught.”
BLACKPINK is celebrating seven years as a group, and Rosé took to Instagram on Monday (Aug. 7) to honor the exciting anniversary. “Thank you, Blackpink for being such a blessing in my life. I have really been able to experience everything and more than what I have ever dreamed of growing up as an aspiring […]
Ed Sheeran is hoping we heed Hollywood’s warnings against artificial intelligence as it becomes more prominent in mainstream media, music and everyday life. The “Shape of You” singer shared his thoughts on the technology while chatting with Audacy Live before his private show at the Hard Rock Hotel in New York recently. “What I don’t […]
BTS‘ Suga is about to become a military man. BigHit announced on Monday (Aug. 7) that Suga has begun the process initiate his mandatory military service in South Korea.
“We would like to inform our fans that SUGA has initiated the military enlistment process by applying for the termination of his enlistment postponement,” BigHit said in a statement posted to Weverse, promising to keep ARMY informed with any updates.
“We ask you for your continued love and support for SUGA until he completes his military service and safely returns,” the statement concluded. “Our company will spare no effort in providing support for our artist.”
South Korea had initially passed a bill in 2020 that allowed the members of BTS to postpone their mandatory service until they reached age 30. The country’s laws state that citizens are required to enlist between the ages of 18 and 28.
The announcement comes just one day after the K-pop star wrapped up the Asian leg of his Agust D-DAY tour in support of his solo album, D-DAY, which he released under his stage name Agust D. The trek ended with three shows — from Aug. 4 to 6 — at Seoul’s KSPO Dome.
After his performance, Suga appeared on Weverse live to chat with fans. “I came to say hi after my last concert,” he said. After showing off his tattoo at a fan’s request, the artist become a bit emotional when talking about the end of his trek.
“I think I had a fun tour the last couple of months. I really don’t cry,” he said before reflecting on the last decade. “Those past 10 years went by like a film. I started crying from then.”
As his live chat came to an end, he seemed to hint at his upcoming enlistment, though he did not specifically talk about it. “I think it’s a lie if I say ‘soon,’” he told viewers. “Let’s see each other in 2025, OK? Please wait a little bit,” he concluded in his message to ARMY. “2025. See you then!”
BigHit initially announced in October 2022 that the members of BTS — which also includes RM, V, Jin, Jung Kook, J-Hope and Jimin — would be unable to perform together as a whole group until 2025 as the individual members complete their mandated military service. Jin was first to enlist, followed by J-Hope.