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How many times have you heard a songwriter say that the inspiration for one of their greatest songs came in the shower? But the toilet? Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Lionel Richie finally confirmed a long-running story about the latrine-spiration for the second verse of “Lady,” the hit 1980 song he wrote for pal Kenny Rogers.
Back in 2014, Rogers told the Today Show that when the two stars were in the studio working on the song he asked where the lyrics for the second verse were and someone said, “Lionel’s in the toilet writing them right now.” The rest is history, as the song spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
And now, in an interview on Thursday’s (March 30) Drew Barrymore Show, Richie confirmed the story. The American Idol judge explained that after Rogers asked him to write a song for him he began work on a “Lady” as well as a second track called “Goin’ Back to Alabama” (which later appeared on Rogers’ 1981 Share Your Love album).
Halfway through the sessions for “Alabama,” Richie told Barrymore that Rogers changed his mind and said, “‘I don’t want to sing that song. I think I want to do ‘Lady’ first.’” What Rogers didn’t know, though, was that Richie had only gotten the first verse of “Lady” written at that point.
“I said, ‘Excuse me for a minute. Let me, uh, go to the bathroom,’” Richie said he told Rogers, who died in 2020 at age 81. “I’m sitting in the stall writing the second verse to ‘Lady.’” Barrymore was shocked that Lionel could so quickly produce such a massive hit under such pressure and Richie said you’d be surprised when, and where, inspiration can strike.
“You will do some amazing things when you’re scared to death,” he said. “The idea of telling Mr. Rogers that I don’t have the second verse was not going to happen in my lifetime.”
Watch Richie talk about his “Lady” session below.
Neil Diamond has kept a low-profile since announcing his Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis in 2018. But in an upcoming interview with CBS Sunday Morning the 82-year-old singer talks about being in denial for the first year after his diagnosis.
“I’m still doing it. And I don’t like it,” Diamond said about his initial refusal to accept that he has the incurable, progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects the brain and physical movement. “But … this is me; this is what I have to accept. And I’m willing to do it. And, okay, so this is the hand that God’s given me, and I have to make the best of it, and so I am. I am.”
Even after several years, Diamond said it is literally just in the “last few weeks” that he’s finally come to terms with his diagnosis, which has brought some tranquility. “Somehow, a calm has moved [into] the hurricane of my life, and things have gotten very quiet, as quiet as this recording studio,” he told interviewer Anthony Mason. “And I like it. I find that I like myself better. I’m easier on people. I’m easier on myself. And the beat goes on, and it will go on long after I’m gone.”
Diamond — who retired from touring after his diagnosis — also discusses what it feels like to watch his life’s story play out on Broadway in the A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical. He tells Mason that it was, “all pretty hard. I was a little embarrassed. I was flattered, and I was scared… Being found out is the scariest thing you can hope, because we all have a façade. And the truth be known to all of ’em. I’m not some big star. I’m just me.”
Though he has mostly stayed out of the public eye since the diagnosis, Diamond made a rare appearance on Dec. 4 when he surprised the audience on opening night of the musical when he popped up unexpectedly in the balcony during curtain call to help lead the crowd in a singalong of his beloved 1969 hit “Sweet Caroline.”
Diamond’s Sunday Morning interview is slated to air on Sunday (April 2) at 9 a.m. ET on CBS and then stream on Paramount+; watch a preview of the chat here.
Just wanna stay in that lavender haze? Good news — Taylor Swift just dropped a new acoustic version of the Midnights single, and it’s even dreamier than the original.
Filled with lush finger-picked guitar and relaxed percussion, the “Lavender Haze” reimagining arrived Friday (March 31) via an announcement on social media from Taylor Nation. “What if there was a version of Lavender Haze that made you feel like you were floating in a fluffy lavender cloud?” read the tweet. “Oh wait… there is?”
The acoustic version is just the latest twist on track one of Midnights to be released by Swift, who’s currently three weekends in to her sprawling U.S. Eras Tour. She’s previously teamed up with artists such as Tensnake, Snakehips, Jungle and Felix Jaehn for “Lavender Haze” remixes, and in January, the 12-time Grammy winner unveiled a purple-overload music video for the dance-pop single.
To date, “Lavender Haze” has reached a peak of No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, the second highest-charting Midnights track behind lead single “Anti-Hero,” Swift’s longest running No. 1 song ever at eight weeks. “Anti-Hero” has also gotten the acoustic treatment along with its fair share of remixes featuring Bleachers, Roosevelt, Kungs, Jayda G and ILLENIUM.
Earlier this week, Swift made an appearance at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, where “Nothing New” collaborator Phoebe Bridgers presented her with the year’s Innovator prize. “I want everyone to know — especially young people — that the hundreds and thousands of dumb ideas that I had led me to my good ideas,” she said during her acceptance speech Monday (March 27). “You have to give yourself permission to fail. I try as hard as I can not to fail because it’s embarrassing, but I give myself permission to.”
“Make the right choices that make sense for you and someone one day might thing you’re innovative,” she added.
Stream the “Lavender Haze” acoustic version below:
Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
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This week, Boygenius offers three-for-one greatness, Jisoo steps forward as a solo star, and Chlöe delivers on years of promise. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
Boygenius, The Record
Five years ago, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker were all up-and-coming singer-songwriters who decided to combine their indie-rock stylings for a six-song EP, under the name Boygenius; since then, all three artists have enjoyed critical acclaim and exponentially bigger audiences, while their shared EP has adopted cult-classic status. A full Boygenius album could have very well never happened, but what a treat for fans that it now does: The Record not only rejoins three singular talents, but the reunion is rendered with effortless enthusiasm and remarkably affecting writing, as Bridgers, Dacus and Baker reflect on their friendships and artistic bonds by amplifying their solo and collective strengths.
Jisoo, Me
Roughly two weeks before Blackpink makes history by becoming the first K-pop Coachella headliner, the quartet’s Jisoo has made a promising solo debut, with a two-song project, Me, that combines the group’s arena-ready pop craft and a subtly revealed individual skill set. While “All Eyes On Me” unleashes an imposing, mass-appeal chorus defined by Jisoo declaring the titular phrase, “Flower” creeps forward with a vocal delicacy and rich production. Jisoo capably navigates both sonic approaches, turning Me into a well-rounded preview of (hopefully) a larger body of work.
Chlöe, In Pieces
Chloe Bailey possesses a generational level of talent — we’ve known this for a while, based on her work as one-half of Chloe x Halle and her years of solo singles preceding this debut album. Listeners have been waiting for an official project to let those gifts fully shine, and In Pieces functions as that long-awaited showcase, with dazzling vocal displays (the luxurious “Looze U” boasts some breathtaking technical skill) as well as crackling featured guests (“Cheatback,” in which Chlöe plots revenge on a cheating boyfriend alongside acoustic guitar strums and Future’s warbled encouragement, is an easy highlight).
Tyler, The Creator, Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale
“Call Me If You Get Lost was the first album I made with alot of songs that didn’t make the final cut,” Tyler, The Creator shared on Twitter earlier this week. “Some of those songs I really love, and knew they would never see the light of day, so I’ve decided to put a few of them out.” Thus, one of the most critically acclaimed full-lengths of 2021 has been bestowed with eight extra tracks, as “The Estate Sale” deluxe edition, that thankfully live up to the quality of its host album: “Dogtooth” sounds like a no-brainer breakout hit, while “Wharf Talk,” featuring an especially nimble A$AP Rocky, is unrepentant hip-hop joy.
Becky G & Peso Pluma, “Chanel”
While Becky G has spent the past five years reinventing herself as a versatile Latin pop star, Mexican rapper-singer Peso Pluma has recently taken off as a corrido tumbado sensation, flooding the streaming charts with multiple ascendant singles. Together, the two artists inject regional Mexican music with a sense of yearning on the new duet “Chanel,” on which Becky enters relatively unfamiliar musical terrain with a natural ease, while her counterpart’s voice keeps up with her own — no easy feat, considering how Becky’s vocals can outshine plenty of other singers.
Melanie Martinez, Portals
If there were any lingering doubts that Melanie Martinez was not a typical pop singer-songwriter, new album Portals — a meditation on death, reincarnation, repeating patterns and gazing into the universe’s nothingness — should promptly put an end to them. Although Martinez has long operated within lofty concepts and ambitious multimedia executions, Portals also contains some of the most directly accessible songs of her career, from the rhythmic trot of “Spider Web” to the darkly lit pop-rock of new single “Void” — with the new album, Martinez caters to listeners who love enveloping themselves in her world, as well as those looking for a new pop-playlist jam.
BTS‘ Suga hits the road in the 30-second teaser for an upcoming solo documentary slated to air on Disney+ and Weverse. The K-pop superstar is front and center in the clip for SUGA: Road to D-Day, which opens with a quick-cut montage of snapshots of cities around the globe (Seoul, Tokyo, Pyeongchang, Chuncheon, Las Vegas, Malibu and San Francisco) before cutting to footage of Suga on a plane and traveling the world.
“This is my first time walking down this road. I’m really excited right now,” he says while taking a late-night walk while wearing a face mask in the video in which he jets around the globe on his own — including taking a sunset drive through the desert — as he embarks on a one-man adventure in the midst of the boy band’s pause to focus on solo projects.
“Whenever a concert ends and I go in [and say] ‘Ah, I’m tired.’ No like, it’s my first time doing this in my life! Even in Korea I’ve never done this before,” he says in the translation of his inner monologue in the video preview.
At press time no air date has been announced for the special.
Suga’s bandmate, J-Hope, released his solo documentary, j-hope IN THE BOX, on Disney+ earlier this year. Last month, Suga announced the dates for his first-ever solo world tour, which is slated to kick off on April 26 at UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York. The rapper/dancer will play a series of multi-night gigs in Rosemont, IL, Los Angeles and Oakland in early and mid May before jumping to Jakarta on May 26, then Japan in early June, followed by Bangkok, Singapore and two hometown shows in Seoul, South Korea on June 24-25.
Check out the teaser for SUGA: Road to D-Day below.
Jisoo is having some ME time.
The BLACKPINK bandmember steps out for her solo debut with not one, but two songs — “Flower” and “All Eyes On Me.”
Both numbers appear on the single ME, which dropped at the stroke of midnight through YG Entertainment / Interscope Records, and amassed more than 500,000 global pre-orders within two days, according to reps.
Jisoo’s clip blossoms with an official music video stacked with choreographed dancing, fancy hotels, flowers and one luxurious cat.
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With ME, Jisoo becomes the last member of the all-conquering BLACKPINK to release solo music. And she does so in the midst of their Born Pink World Tour, which has reportedly sold 1.5 million tickets, a record for a K-pop girl group.
The superstars are currently in Asia, having completed 14 shows in North America and 10 shows in Europe. Coming soon — a record-setting headline performance at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April, which will see Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa and Rosé collectively become the first all-female K-pop group to perform at the famous fest, followed by a date with the Hyde Park British Summer Time Festival in July.
BLACKPINK was one of the biggest acts on the planet last year. Their album Born Pink, which included the hit single “Pink Venom,” debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 and Official U.K Albums Charts and came in at No. 8 on the IFPI’s year-end global albums chart.
Watch the video for “Flower” below.
Nearly seven years since BLACKPINK officially entered in our area, Jisoo is finally making her solo debut with the two-song project ME.
After two weeks of teases leading up to that included two different visual films released on March 15 and March 21, a poster with ME‘s tracklist and song credits on March 27, and the high-fashion music video teaser for lead single “Flower” on March 28, the full project has finally arrived for pop fans around the world.
The first ME song, “Flower,” is a subtle-yet-powerful sonic rollercoaster. It opens with a delicate blend of violin plucks and snappy, trappy production that spotlights Jisoo’s voice.
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Like some of her best vocal moments on BLACKPINK records, “Flower” sees Jisoo letting loose with emotional warbles and passionate runs before the track shifts gear with a pitched-up vocal sequence that will likely become one of 2023’s most notable earworms. The second track, “All Eyes on Me,” points to Jisoo’s love of robust dance-pop records, which fans saw firsthand via her cover of Zedd and Foxes’ “Clarity” during their In Your Area world tour. Jisoo commands listeners to “Make me feel alive” before demanding “All eyes on me” amid a stomping synth-pop dance breakdown.
Along with ME‘s release at midnight on March 31, the official video for Jisoo’s “Flower” premiered on BLACKPINK’s YouTube channel.
With the release of Jisoo’s solo record, all four BLACKPINK members have now put out chart-topping solo music. The girl group’s solos kicked off in 2018 with Jennie‘s “Solo” single (which hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s World Digital Song Sales chart) before both Rosé and Lisa dropped two-song projects in 2021 (Rosé’s “On the Ground” hit No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S; Lisa’s “Lalisa” peaked at No. 1 on the World Digital Song Sales chart while “Money” topped Rap Digital Song Sales). It won’t be long to see how Jisoo ranks alongside her beloved members.
Watch the “Flower” music video and listen to ME in full below:
GAYLE dropped a new music video for her latest single “Everybody Hates Me” on Thursday (March 30).
The 18-year-old proves she knows a thing or two about how to survive teenage boredom in the visual, which finds her enlisting her entourage of pals to document a casual trip to the grocery store. “Life’s a bi— and I’m not surprised/ If you read my mind, you’d probably cry/ I do it myself all the time/ Life’s a bi— and she’s cool with me/ I’ll let it be, hard world to please/ I live my life like everybody hates me,” she sings on the chorus as her friends push her wildly down the aisles in a shopping cart.
Elsewhere, the teen alt sensation goes for a joy ride in an unmarked moving truck and takes turns with her friends flipping off the handheld camera with glee.
“Everybody Hates Me” is GAYLE’s first single following her trio of 2022 EPs, A Study of the Human Experience Volume One, Volume Two and Volume Two and a Half. The former contained her breakout single “abcdefu,” which earned the singer a nomination for song of the year at the 2023 Grammy Awards and was also covered by Kelly Clarkson with some surprising lyrical modifications the same day the teenager’s new video dropped.
GAYLE is currently serving as an opener on Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour — an opportunity that came about after the superstar saw her perform at the 2022 Nashville Songwriter Awards last fall.
Watch the music video for GAYLE’s “Everybody Hates Me” below.
Like countless other fans over the years, Julie Bowen put her hat in the ring for Harry Styles‘ heart at one of his recent concerts. Her homemade sign at the 29-year-old pop star’s January show in Inglewood, Calif., got a lot of laughs for its bold message — “Harry, I’m old but I know what I’m doing” —which the actress opened up about in a Thursday (March 30) appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show.
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Speaking with Hudson, Bowen explained that she attended the concert with a group of kids including her son who all made signs of their own. “They’re like ‘Harry, I love you,’ and I went with five girls and my son,” she recalled.
The Modern Family star was inspired to make a heart-shaped sign decorated with a string of Christmas lights, adding her personal proposition for the “As It Was” singer. “I think, like, he could do worse than me,” she told Hudson. “I mean I’m not the youngest, but I think I could show him a good time.”
The 53-year-old Happy Gilmore actress excitedly showed off her sign on Instagram, taking a video from her spot in the venue before Styles went on. “Harry, I’m here!” she cheered.
Bowen had previously professed her admiration for the Grammy winner on The Ellen Degeneres Show, where she said she’d definitely come out of dating “retirement” if Styles were interested in a courtship. “Hell yeah,” she said on the talk show. “Look at him!”
Unfortunately for her and millions of other heartbroken fans, the “Watermelon Sugar” singer might be off the market once again following his relationship and split from Don’t Worry Darling director and costar Olivia Wilde. Styles was recently spotted making out with model Emily Ratajkowski on the streets of Tokyo following his concerts in the city’s Ariaka Arena.
Watch Julie Bowen talk about her flirty Harry Styles sign below:
New music from SEVENTEEN is on its way! The boy band announced its forthcoming mini-album, FML, on Thursday (March 30).
The project is slated to be released April 24 via PLEDIS Entertainment, and will arrive just nine months after SECTOR 17, the repackaging of the K-pop idols’ fourth full-length Face the Sun. That deluxe album, featuring previously released singles “Hot” and the English-language “Darl+ing” as well as new cuts such as “_World,” “Circles” and “Cheers,” earned the 13-piece act a career high on the Billboard 200 by peaking at No. 4. (The original version had previously landed at No. 7 earlier in 2022.)
To herald the announcement, SEVENTEEN unveiled the first teaser poster for FML on its social media accounts. According to a release, the image “interweaves still photos of a bed on a puddle of water, a reading lamp and a boxing ring, all tinted in muted shades of blue.” Hours ahead of the reveal, the group also posted a mysterious teaser reading “Welcome to SEVENTEEN STREET…COMING SOON” along with a diverse array of emojis including a calendar page, a cat and a frog, twinkling stars and a desert island.
CARAT will be able to begin pre-saving the mini-album on Friday (March 31), with more information about the process expected to drop on Weverse.
Seventeen previously teased the existence of FML at its Carat Land show earlier this month, with S.Coups telling the crowd in Seoul, “Some day in April, we will be back with a great album. We will be back to make your April great.”
Check out SEVENTEEN’s teasers for FML below.
Welcome to 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐓 💎📅 : 🐱/🐸 ~📍 : 🍡✨🏝𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐎𝐎𝐍— 세븐틴(SEVENTEEN) (@pledis_17) March 30, 2023
