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Before he was a chart-topping rapper-turned-rockstar, Post Malone was just a kid who got his alias from a rap name generator and was bullied throughout school for his “weirdo” personality.
On the latest episode of Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, the “Circles” singer opened up about his humble beginnings growing up in upstate New York, sharing he used to picked on quite a bit by his classmates. “I’ve always been kind of an introverted kid,” he explained. “I loved to express, I love making music forever, I love playing games. Weird, a little weirdo.”
“I moved when I was nine, and then I used to get bullied a whole bunch in school,” he continued. “I guess for dressing the way I did. We wore skinny jeans and all that stuff, and that was just kind of like a new deal. I don’t know. And people’d throw gum in my hair… Kids are mean.”
On another note, when asked which of his famous tattoos he’d remove, Post replied, “For my mommy, something on my face.”
The 28-year-old artist is fresh off the Friday (July 28) release of his new album Austin, named after his own real first name (Post is actually his legal last time, and as he shared with Cooper, “Malone” was suggested by an online generator). He’s currently in the middle of a global trek dubbed the If Y’all Weren’t Here, I’d Be Crying Tour. Just after recording his Call Her Daddy episode, he performed in Boston and brought out his “Dial Drunk” collaborator, Noah Kahan, for a surprise performance.
The “Sunflower” musician also touched on his relationship to alcohol and misconceptions that he’s on drugs, both of which he spoke about previously in a recent interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe. “Everybody thinks I’m on drugs,” he told Cooper. “I am not on drugs. People can see me on stage and they might take my dance moves, people are like, this is what meth looks like… like I’m not on meth.”
Listen to Post Malone’s full Call Her Daddy interview here.
In celebration of Taylor Swift’s six sold-out SoFi Stadium shows in the Los Angeles area starting this week, the Grammy Museum presents a special pop-up exhibit, “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (At Grammy Museum),” open now through Sept. 18.
The exhibit, which is on display in the museum’s fourth floor theater gallery, immerses the visitor into the world of Swift’s recent “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” music video, with a display of 11 costumes and two instruments from the video. The costumes were all worn during Swift’s original Speak Now era.
The music video features actors Joey King and Taylor Lautner breaking Swift out of a museum vault while Presley Cash waits in the getaway car. This is said to be a symbolic representation of how it has felt for Swift to have her fans help her reclaim her music through their support of her first three “Taylor’s Version” re-recordings, all of which have entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1. Swift wrote and directed the music video, with help from director of photography Jonathan Sela, ASC.
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“Taylor Swift is about to make history in Los Angeles by setting the SoFi stadium record for the most performances as a headliner,” Jasen Emmons, chief curator and vice president of curatorial affairs at the Grammy Museum, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to honor this achievement by creating an immersive space for her fans and our community to continue celebrating her all month long.”
Swift’s Speak Now album topped the Billboard 200 for six weeks in 2010-11. The album spawned five top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 – “Mine” (No. 3), “Back to December” (No. 6), “Mean” (No. 11), “Sparks Fly” (No. 17) and “Ours” (No. 13). The album received a Grammy nomination for best country album, but was passed over for an album of the year nod. “Mean,” which Swift wrote in response to her critics, won two Grammys – best country solo performance and best country song.
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) spent its first two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It is the first of the “Taylor’s Version” re-releases to accomplish that feat.
For more information regarding ticket reservations for the exhibit, visit the Grammy Museum’s website.
Exhibit highlights include 13 artifacts, all of which were worn or played by Swift during her original Speak Now era. The first nine artifacts listed here are from the Speak Now tour:
Swift’s vintage lace dress from her Speak Now Tour
Swift’s Eric Winterling dress from her Speak Now Tour
Swift’s custom REEM ACRA dress from her Speak Now Tour
Swift’s Valentino gown from her Speak Now Tour
Swift’s Jenny Packham dress from her Speak Now Tour
Swift’s Susan Hilferty dress from her Speak Now Tour
Swift’s Jenny Packham dress from her Speak Now Tour
Swift’s Gibson Les Paul red sparkle top guitar from her Speak Now Tour
Swift’s Deering banjo from her Speak Now Tour
Swift’s Zara dress from her “Mine” music video
Swift’s Temperley dress from her “Mean” music video
Swift’s vintage flapper-style dress from her “Mean” music video
Joey King’s Monsoon white dress and wig from Swift’s “Mean” music video
No, Francia Raisa wasn’t forced to donate her kidney to Selena Gomez — something the actress felt the need to clear up in the Aug. 1 episode of Josh Peck’s Good Guys podcast.
“Never in my life did I picture this,” Raisa began on the show, touching on the speculation that she and Gomez are no longer friends, or that the How I Met Your Father star was somehow forced to give up her kidney to the pop musician in 2017. “I know she and I both went public with our situation years ago … press got ahold of the story and we wanted to tell it.”
“I just felt it in my heart, and I knew, I knew I was a match,” she continued, reflecting on the organ donation process. “No one forced me to do anything. It came out of the genuine kindness of my heart.”
Raisa donated her kidney to Gomez six years ago after the Rare Beauty founder suffered organ damage caused by Lupus. However, the pair of friends seemed to drift apart in the years that followed.
Things came to a head last year when Raisa didn’t appear to take too kindly to a comment Gomez made in an interview with Rolling Stone, during which the singer-actress said Taylor Swift was just about her “only friend in the industry.”
“Interesting,” Raisa commented on a post sharing the quote, to which Gomez replied, “Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know.”
Since then, Raisa has faced an onslaught of hate comments from Gomez’s fans, not unlike the bullying Hailey Bieber says she faced earlier this year regarding her marriage to the “Lose You to Love Me” singer’s ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber. Gomez jumped on Instagram Stories in March to discourage fans from bombarding Hailey with negativity. And, just this week, Gomez seemed to squash feud rumors with Raisa by publicly wishing her happy birthday on Instagram, posting several photos of their friendship through the years.
Still, Raisa says she doesn’t like to read her social media comments because of how severe the negativity is. “I can’t read the comments because I don’t do well with that,” she told Peck. “I really don’t. People are so mean, and they hit you like, right there. Someone said, ‘Oh, you’re just looking for attention because your career is a flop.’ And I’m like, ‘Is it a flop?’ But guys, there’s no beef.”
Watch Francia’s Good Guys interview above.
Black queer dancer O’Shae Sibley was fatally stabbed outside of a New York City gas station on July 29 while vogueing to Beyoncé’s Renaissance album, according to The New York Times. Now, Queen Bey is paying tribute to the late dancer on her website. “Rest in power, O’Shae Sibley,” she wrote in all caps. Sibley, […]
Fans of Broadway’s Britney Spears musical Once Upon a One More Time demanding “gimme more” just got lucky — or, more specifically, “Toxic.” The team behind the show – which finds fairy tale princesses singing Spears’ pop classics while discovering their own agency beyond “happily ever after” – is offering up a new cast performance clip from the production. This OUAOMT video shows the play’s antagonists, Stepmother (Jennifer Simard) and Narrator (Adam Godley), singing a twisted update on “Toxic,” Spears’ Grammy-winning top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
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In case you haven’t seen the Britney-approved Broadway musical yet, brace yourself for this take on “Toxic.” Yes, the unforgettable strings are present, but the song’s delirious dance-pop energy has been subverted into an unsettling, disorienting electronic abyss, making this a villainous vocal showcase for Simard and Godley, both two-time Tony Award nominees.
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If you think this version brings to mind the moody music of a Grammy-sweeping “Bad Guy,” you’re not wrong. “We love ‘Toxic’ as it was originally created, but tonally, it was too inherently playful for a musical narrative that needed to darken and take a turn,” Keone & Mari Madrid, the directors and choreographers of OUAOMT, tell Billboard. “So, we decided to take inspiration from some of our old work with Billie Eilish. Basically asking ourselves, ‘If Billie covered “Toxic,” what might that sound like?’ Our cast and creative team all leaned in to that dark, monochromatic tone.”
“It’s an honor and responsibility to try and do justice to Ms. Spears, and the song for which she won her first Grammy. There is only one Britney, and I think it would be a mistake to try and do an impression,” Simard tells Billboard. She adds that a total re-imagining of the song was a necessity for the storytelling arc of the musical. “It is a real turning point in the show where we illustrate that fairytales are, in fact, dark. If that moment doesn’t work, the entire show doesn’t work. No pressure! But I think we did it,” she says. (You can watch the video above for proof of that.)
“We all realized early on that it was vitally important that ‘Toxic’ shows these two characters, Stepmother and Narrator, undergoing a complete transformation. Story-wise, it is a crucial turning point, as the Stepmother takes matters into her own hands and transforms Narrator into something – that by the end of the number – even she can’t control,” says Godley, who joins Simard during the mind-bending “Toxic” performance. “At the heart of it, of course, is Jennifer’s unmatched ability to sing the number in such an incredibly powerful, extraordinary, and unexpected way. “
“This is undeniably a huge hinge moment for the show. Narrative-wise. Energy-wise. It’s the ‘dark night of the soul’ and if we’re not delivering here, the rest of the story truly suffers,” Keone & Mari Madrid tell Billboard. “Jennifer and Adam helped us find such a delicate yet sensual dance of power that happens between their characters. They bring so much to the table – and are incredible humans, as much as they are artists. One example is Jennifer’s wild-siren-song-note at the end of the number. It was something she was keeping in her pocket, that we didn’t know she had, and when she brought it forward that moment really brought the number to a crescendo. That vocal absolutely nails everything home.”
You can check out Simard’s eyebrow-raising note beginning at the 3:15 time stamp. Be sure to catch Liv Battista’s eerie back bend at the 1:40 mark — keep in mind she’s doing that move eight times a week.
“All our company and our departments came through for this moment,” the directing-choreography duo tell Billboard. “And when all the elements are firing together, it’s really something.”
Once Upon a One More Time is currently running at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway in New York City.
California’s lieutenant governor and other elected officials on Tuesday urged Taylor Swift to postpone her upcoming Los Angeles concerts as a way to stand in solidarity with striking hotel workers. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and dozens of state and local politicians signed an open letter telling Swift that her tour makes the region’s hotels money, with some properties […]
Bebe Rexha is going through a break up. The “I’m Good (Blue)” singer revealed during her July 28 London concert that she and her boyfriend of three years, Keyan Safyari, have ended their relationship. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Rexha confirmed the split before performing her […]
Taylor Swift is expressing gratitude to the crew that helped keep her Eras Tour going. The “Bejeweled” superstar has reportedly given $100,000 bonuses to each truck driver of her tour before the Saturday night (July 29) show in Santa Clara, Calif., according to TMZ and ET. Swift has around 50 drivers on her tour, making […]
Nick Jonas enjoyed a month of soaking up the summer sun with his family, and took to Instagram to document his activities over the month of July. In the series of photos shared to Instagram on Tuesday (Aug. 1), the Jonas Brothers star is seen lounging at the beach and on boats with his wife […]
After sending fans into a clue-finding frenzy, Olivia Rodrigo has now ended their suffering by at last unveiling the official tracklist to her upcoming sophomore album, Guts. In a second teaser video Tuesday (Aug. 1) — which followed one day after Rodrigo shared a mysterious clip filled with hidden song titles for fans to decode […]
