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Nine years into MAMAMOO‘s career as a leading, chart-topping K-pop girl group, the quartet has announced their first-ever tour dates for the United States.
As the next step in the act’s “MY CON” world tour that traveled across Asia in late 2022 and early 2023, Whee In, Solar, Moon Byul and Hwa Sa will visit nine arenas for their inaugural Stateside tour. The U.S. leg begins in New York on May 16 before wrapping in Los Angeles on June 4. Venue information wasn’t immediately available at press time beyond shows in arenas.
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The tour dates will mark MAMAMOO’s live Stateside return as well. The group has not performed in the States since appearing at the 2019 KCON Los Angeles festival. The trek is presented by Mammoth Inc. and Sugar Monkey Live.
The new “MY CON” tour dates follow the group’s latest EP, Mic On, released in November of last year, which included the single “Illella” that peaked at No. 5 on Billboard‘s World Digital Song Sales chart. Beyond group activities, the members have remained active with their solo music and projects. Solar and Moon Byul even teamed up as a duo for MAMAMOO+ for 2022 single “Better” and have new music together coming out later this month.
Tickets go on sale on at 10 a.m. local time on March 29 via Ticketmaster. See the full U.S. tour dates below.
MAMAMOO 2023 MY CON U.S. Tour Dates
May 16 – New York, NYMay 18 – Baltimore, MDMay 20 – Atlanta, GAMay 22 – Nashville, TNMay 24 – Fort Worth, TXMay 27 – Chicago, ILMay 31 – Glendale, AZJune 2 – Oakland, CAJune 4 – Los Angeles, CA
Ed Sheeran is gearing up to release his new song, “Eyes Closed,” on March 24, and on Wednesday (March 15), he gave fans some insight on the heartbreaking inspiration behind the track.
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“This song is about losing someone, feeling like every time you go out and you expect to just bump into them, and every thing just reminds you of them and things you did together,” he wrote alongside two black-and-white photos of himself drinking at what looks to be a run-down bar. “You sorta have to take yourself out of reality sometimes to numb the pain of loss, but certain things just bring you right back into it.”
The four-time Grammy winner went on to mention his friend Jamal Edwards, a music entrepreneur who died in February 2022 of cardiac arrest at age 31. “Blue was Jamal’s colour, but now is all I feel. And I guess music helps heal, so I’m dancing with my eyes closed to try get through it,” Sheeran concluded his message.
Earlier this month, Sheeran announced that – (pronounced Subtract), the last installment in Sheeran’s decade-long mathematical album era, will be arriving on May 5 via Atlantic Records.
“I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art,” he explained of the upcoming album in his announcement.
“I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air,” he shared. “As an artist I didn’t feel like I could credibly put a body of work into the world that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life. This album is purely that. It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. For the first time I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life. This is last February’s diary entry and my way of making sense of it. This is Subtract.”
Darren Criss competed on NBC’s That’s My Jam on Tuesday (March 14) and was tasked with several new spins on “Toxic” by Britney Spears.
The challenge came when the actor was assigned the brand new game “One Song, Many Genres” by host Jimmy Fallon’s giant chrome microphone lever. “I did Glee; I feel like I’m prepped for this,” Criss stated. “It’s kind of a complicated song, I would fare much better if I did this with a guitar. Is that OK if I play guitar on this? … So if I can’t sing it, at least I’ll be able to play.”
After coordinating with the band on the correct key, the Glee alum launched into Spears’ 2004 single in the style of ’70s soul. “Baby can’t you see I’m callin’?/ A guy like you should wear a warnin’/ It’s dangerous, I’m fallin’,” he sang before quickly having to transition to heavy metal, complete with a throaty growl. “There’s no escape, I can’t wait/ I need a hit, baby gimme it/ You’re dangerous, I’m lovin’ it.”
From there, Criss cycled through a litany of wide-spanning musical genres, from new wave and ska to Brazilian lounge and Eurodance before finishing up the song as a bluegrass jam.
Elsewhere during the episode, his teammate Sarah Hyland performed Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle” in the pop-punk style of Avril Lavigne for “Wheel of Musical Impressions,” while Billy Porter nailed a gospel version of Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” and Patti LaBelle performed her own “Lady Marmalade” in a game of “Nonsense Karaoke.”
Watch Criss reinvent “Toxic” in seven different genres below.
Shawn Mendes has roped some friends and family into the ad for his new sustainable Tommy Hilfiger collaboration, Tommy X Shawn Classics Reborn. The 28-piece mens and womenswear capsule collection launched on Wednesday (March 15) with an ad featuring sister Aaliyah Mendes, artist/songwriter and friend Jon Vinyl, producer Mike Sabath, artist Ahmad Cissé, author/model Maye Musk, designer Czarina Kwong, models Yvesmark Chery and Jane Pathammavong and champion for change Deprise Lons.
“I’m so excited to be working with my Tommy Hilfiger family on the Classics Reborn collection,” said Mendes in a statement promoting the line that features materials crafted from recycled textiles and Recycrom, a new dye-making technique that reprocesses fibers by turning pre-consumer factory cutting waste into a colored powder. “The collection is so special to me because I was able to work with Tommy Hilfiger to co-create this range which includes these amazing, high-quality, sustainable versions of their most classic clothing items.”
“What if we could reinvent what once was tossed aside?,” Mendes asks in the ad for the clothing line that leans into the brand’s signature red, white and blue color palette. “Take it, remake it, change is always vital. There’s not better time to surround yourself with inspiration, with people who move you. With clothing made from discarded fabrics, colored with memories and reborn into new icons.”
The release notes that the collection was inspired by Hilfiger’s take on “pre-90s prep,” with an emphasis on inclusivity across four principles: Color Reborn, Materials Reborn, Self Reborn and Community Reborn. “The Tommy X Shawn Classics Reborn collection marks another step towards realizing our vision for sustainability, as we aim to create fashion that Wastes Nothing and Welcomes All,” said Hilfiger in the statement. “Shawn is an impressive young man and advocate for positive change. We’re proud to partner with him and continue playing our part in creating a more responsible future of fashion.”
To mark the launch of the global campaign, Hilfiger and Mendes are hosting a series of events in London, Berlin, Milan and Mexico City; the pieces are available here and in Tommy Hilfiger stores and retail partners worldwide.
Check out the Tommy X Shawn ad and some images from the campaign below.
Shawn Mendes x Tommy Hilfiger
Cass Bird
Shawn Mendes x Tommy Hilfiger
Cass Bird
Jisoo dropped the first visual teaser of her upcoming solo project ME on Wednesday (March 15) and the result is simply stunning.
The breathtaking clip shows the BLACKPINK singer wielding a giant poppy while draped in a feathery high-fashion ensemble of black-and-white striped fur. To complement the look, the idol also shows off a long, white manicure and keeps her makeup editorial yet sparse with a pale pink lip and small black lines drawn above her eyelids.
With its focus on fashion, the preview doesn’t give fans much of a hint at what Jisoo’s solo debut will sound like, with only a few spare, drawn-out notes playing before the scene fades to black to reveal the single album’s title in bold, red font.
Still, Jisoo’s more than 70 million followers couldn’t get enough of the gorgeous visual. “They need to change the name of the color red to jisoo,” one Blink raved in the comments. Another wrote, “I have no words. You are just killing me. I can’t wait for this,” while a fan page dedicated to the idol’s bandmate Lisa declared, “This giving me goosebumps.”
Several others utilized a new feature on Instagram to drop their favorite gifs of Jisoo from various BLACKPINK music videos in the comments section.
ME is set for release on March 31 via YG Entertainment and Interscope Records, and will follow the solo debuts of Jisoo’s bandmates in recent years, including both Lisa’s LALISA and Rosé’s -R- in 2021, and Jennie’s swaggering track “SOLO” in 2018.
In fact, Rosé marked the two-year anniversary of her mini album, which contained the record-breaking “On the Ground” and “Gone,” on her Instagram feed earlier this week, writing, “It’s been two years since the release of my first single album -R- ♡ thank you for all the love and support to all my fans. I love you all eternally.”
Watch Jisoo’s beautiful visual film teaser for ME above.
Jennifer Stone has a magical bond with Selena Gomez. So of course, when the pop star became the center of recent rumored drama with model Hailey Bieber, her former Wizards of Waverly Place co-star came to her defense.
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In a Tuesday (March 14) TikTok, Stone declared her allegiance to “#teamselena” with a video mouthing along to Jamie Lee Curtis ranting, “People should shut the f–k up, back the f–k off, and let this woman shine her light.” (The Oscar winner made that comment while defending Ariana DeBose’s viral BAFTAs rap performance in February.)
“When people try to mess with my people…backoff,” the actress captioned the TikTok.
Stone also stamped the video with a series of hashtags making her feelings for the Rare Beauty founder’s haters clear: #growup #jealousyjealousy #shineyourlight #womenforwomen and #teamselena.
The video follows a series of posts and comments on social media between Gomez, model Bieber and Kylie Jenner, which were interpreted by many online as being shady. (See a breakdown here.) Since then, thousands of fans have joined Stone in commenting on the alleged drama and have taken sides.
Stone’s TikTok comes just a couple weeks after she and cohost David DeLuise had Gomez as a guest on their new podcast, Wizards of Waverly Pod. The Only Murders in the Building star opened up about being the “happiest I’d been in my whole life” while playing Alex Russo on the Disney Channel sitcom, and shared that her biggest regret was “not staying in touch” with her co-stars after the show wrapped.
“I felt ashamed of the decisions that I made,” Gomez explained. “I didn’t want you guys to see me in the state that I was in because A: You would have told me the truth which terrifies me, and B: I didn’t want to let you down.”
Watch Jennifer Stone pledge allegiance to #teamselena in her TikTok below:
Soul singer/songwriter Bobby Caldwell, best known for his 1978 hit “What You Won’t Do For Love,” has died at 71. His wife, Mary Caldwell, announced the news in a tweet on Wednesday morning (March 15), writing that, “Bobby passed away here at home. I held him tight in my arms as he left us. I am forever heartbroken. Thanks to all of you for your many prayers over the years. He had been ‘FLOXED,’ it took his health over the last 6 years and 2 months. Rest with God, my Love.”
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While Mary Caldwell didn’t specify what ailment the singer suffered from, “Floxed” generally refers to a condition the Regenerative Medicine L.A. treatment center says arises from the adverse effects of consuming fluoroquinolone antibiotics such as Ciprofloxacin, Levaquin or Avelox; no additional information on the cause of Caldwell’s death was available at press time.
Robert Hunter Caldwell was born on April 15, 1951 in New York City and got his first big break serving as the rhythm guitarist for Little Richard in the early 1970s before going solo later in the decade and scoring a hit out of the box on his TK Records debut with the No. 9 Billboard Hot 100 single “What You Won’t Do For Love.”
In a 2005 interview with NPR, Caldwell said the Miami-based label with a largely Black, R&B roster didn’t “want it to be well-known that I was white,” which explains why his picture was left off the cover of his self-titled debut. Additionally, he said the record was initially completed without the smooth, jazzy ballad “Love,” which Caldwell wrote and cut in a hurry to please TK boss Henry Stone. The song went on to cement Caldwell’s reputation as a “blue-eyed soul” star and it has been covered since by everyone from Boyz II Men to Michael Bolton, Roy Ayers and Snoh Aalegra; it was also sampled by Tupac Shakur on “Do For Love.”
He scored again in 1980 with the gentle piano pop tune “Open Your Eyes” from that year’s Cat in the Hat album, which was later sampled by producer J Dilla for the song “The Light” from Common’s Like Water for Chocolate album.
Describing his sound, which mixed pop with smooth jazz, R&B and a Brazilian/island vibe, Caldwell told NPR that his time growing up in Miami soaking up all kinds of music — “Haitian, reggae, Latin, pop, R&B” — as well as befriending his real estate mom’s client, reggae icon Bob Marley, helped him find his signature groove.
Caldwell continued to release albums throughout the 1980s, 1990s and into the mid-2010’s, all the way through his final collection, 2015’s Cool Uncle. He also wrote the hit 1986 duet “The Next Time I Fall” for Amy Grant and Chicago’s Peter Cetera, as well as songs for Neil Diamond, Boz Scaggs, Ayers, Chicago and Natalie Cole, among others.
See Mary Caldwell’s tweet and listen to “What You Won’t Do For Love” below.
Bobby passed away here at home. I held him tight in my arms as he left us. I am forever heartbroken. Thanks to all of you for your many prayers over the years. He had been “FLOXED,” it took his health over the last 6 years and 2 months. Rest with God, my Love. -Mary Caldwell— Bobby Caldwell (@bobbycaldwell) March 15, 2023
Since Blake Rose started busking as a teen, he became determined to make music his career. Growing up in Perth, Australia, his first step was to move to where he felt the industry was: Los Angeles. “When I first started traveling to America, that hustle was crazy,” he says, recalling how he would stay until he ran out of money, then return home to gig and go door to door selling his CDs. “I would raise enough money, come back to L.A. and when it ran out I’d go back, just rinse and repeat.”
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Now, the 25-year-old singer-songwriter has a permanent residence in L.A. – and a budding career to tend to. The February release of his second EP, You’ll Get It When You’re Older, out on AWAL, earned him his first late night spot on The Late Late Show With James Corden and an opening gig on the UK/Ireland leg of Mimi Webb’s upcoming tour. “Half the time after each show, I’m replying to every fan that sends me a message,” says Rose. “I’m just trying to create a community as I’m growing.”
FOUNDATION
Blake Rose didn’t grow up in a musical family. “My parents weren’t even necessarily music fans, per se,” the Australian singer-songwriter admits. He grew up on Elvis (the one artist his parents did listen to often) and throwback radio stations that played hits from the ’80s. But without any direct connection or apparent path to becoming an artist himself, he says, “I think I was just delusional. There wasn’t really a story that I followed of someone close to me that had gone from nothing to becoming a superstar or something like that.”
He did, however, see a similarity between him and one superstar in particular: Ed Sheeran. Rose says like Sheeran, he too got his start in music by busking. During a family road trip through Australia, at one of the caravan parks Rose noticed a younger kid sitting at the communal campfire singing songs with his guitar for tips. “I was like, ‘Ah, I could try this out.’” (At the time, Rose needed to raise money to send himself on a school trip to Sri Lanka.)
At the family’s next stop in Cairns, Rose auditioned for – and received – a busking permit and after his first day made $300. “It kind of shifted my mindset drastically, like, ‘Oh shit. I could actually do this.’ Soon after, when Rose was 15, he went to see Sheeran in concert – and it accelerated his ambition. “I came back from that show, bought a loop pedal and was doing that for like, six months. It lit the biggest fire underneath me.”
DISCOVERY
Rose quickly became aware he could only take a career in music so far on his own. “I knew that I needed management simply from the Justin Bieber story,” he says. “Scooter Braun was such a huge part of it — so I was introduced at a young age to the fact that you need a manager to help you get to the places you want to get to.”
He says he wasn’t actively seeking management, but also admits, “I kind of had no idea what I was doing.” He always had an eye on Los Angeles, so he started traveling to the U.S. frequently to make connections. “I was just trying to insert myself into a world where the music industry exists and hope that the right opportunities would arise,” he says. He experienced some “very sketchy” management situations early on, before meeting Amanda Samii (then at Kobalt) at an event, who introduced him to Best Friends Music’s Brandon Goodman.
“I played hard to get with Brandon for a few months,” recalls Rose, who started working with Goodman in 2018. “I knew in my gut that Brandon was the guy, but I needed to make sure that I explored all my options first. So I circled back to Brandon a few months later and I was like, “Man, let’s do this.” And he was a huge part in building the team around me: He introduced me to my lawyer and then we got a publishing deal and then [he] introduced me to AWAL. And we just went from there.”
FUTURE
In 2021, Rose released his debut EP, A World Gone By, and this February followed it up with You’ll Get It When You’re Older, an especially vulnerable seven-track project that drew inspiration from his sister’s struggle with addiction. “With the last record, though it was still a personal record, a good chunk of those stories weren’t necessarily autobiographical,” says Rose. “They were stories I’ve made up or heard from someone else that I wanted to put into a song, mixed among stories that were about me. On this record, every song is about something that’s happened in my life – and I’m talking about a story that I’ve lived with for a very long time, that I’ve been hesitant to share.”
He says while writing When You’re Older he would send his family songs “gradually” so that they had a sense of what was coming. But it wasn’t until one month before the EP arrived that they had a proper conversation about how honest he should be. “I still had the option of being ambiguous, which I’ve done in the past because I wasn’t ready to talk about it and I didn’t want my sister to feel like I was throwing her under the bus because she was still in the depths of it,” he explains. “And luckily now, she’s coming out the other side and I feel like this is a much better time to start sharing that story.”
To celebrate EXO member KAI dropping his latest solo album Rover, nearly all his band members came together for a light-hearted reaction viewing of his new music video.
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For the first time together in years — after different members handled their mandatory Southern Korean military service from 2019 to 2023 — EXO’s Suho, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O, Xiumin, Sehun and KAI gathered as eight to review KAI’s new single, gain some insight from their bandmate, and tease upcoming EXO music.
Despite being active with solo albums and special releases, EXO has not released music together as a whole group (which includes ninth member Lay, who is currently active in China) since 2018 with their sixth studio album, Don’t Mess Up My Tempo, which became their highest-charting entry on the Billboard 200 when it peaked at No. 23.
Despite the friendly viewing, KAI admitted his nerves and how it was the first time watching one of his solo music videos with his members. “I feel so nervous,” he shared. “It feels like an evaluation session. It feels really odd.”
Yet his band mates showered KAI with compliments on his dancing (Xiumin said, “I love that choreography”), single choice (“The song is so good,” commented D.O), and future success with “Rover” (Chanyeol said, “This should make it to the Billboard charts”).
After applauding at the end, several EXO members shared additional reviews.
“First of all, I really like the style of the song,” youngest member Sehun said. “The choreography is good. I think the producing was great too. Everyone agrees, right?”
Chen added, “From what we’ve seen from KAI before, we know he’s a great performer but from this music video, I was also able to see more of KAI as a person, like his acting, the whole atmosphere. I think it’s fair to say I could feel that he’s matured more. I could see a more manly side.”
“I loved it because it seemed like you relaxed more,” Baekhyun, a member of SuperM with KAI, said. “You went for less. I liked how I could tell you did that.”
Chanyeol even suggested that the guys “make this an EXO song” and “choose this as our next song,” a tease for their highly anticipated comeback album together. KAI shared that he “actually really mentioned that” suggestion before Chanyeol brushed off the idea and countered that “only KAI can pull this off.”
Before the video ends, EXO leader Suho shared a heartfelt message while asking fans to support KAI’s new music: “We, EXO, will always be rooting for him by his side as well.”
Watch the full reaction video for why KAI chose to shorten his new single, different movie and dance inspirations in the visual, and more from the EXO members.
Lindsay Lohan announced her surprise pregnancy news with husband Badar Shammas on Tuesday (March 14) and her comments have been flooded with well wishes from Paris Hilton, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert and more.
“Congratulations love! So happy for you…Welcome to the Mommy Club!” wrote Hilton, who recently welcomed her very first child with husband Carter Reum as well via surrogate. The heiress’ aunt, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards, added, “OMG… So happy for you!!!!” with a single red heart emoji.
Seyfried, who co-starred with Lohan in 2004’s Mean Girls, commented, “This is WONDERFUL NEWS!!” from her official Instagram account while Chabert, a third member of The Plastics, wrote, “I’m thrilled for you!!!! So exciting.”
Other famous faces to add their heartfelt congratulations to Lohan’s news included Donatella Versace (a trio of sparkle emojis), Bella Thorne (“OMG Congrats!”), Kathy Hilton (“I am so happy for you” with a flurry of emojis), Quinta Brunson (“Omg congrats Lindsay!”), Nancy Meyers (“Lindsay!!!!!! I’m so excited for you!”) and more.
Ahead of the pregnancy announcement, Lohan had commented on the possibility of recording a new album while promoting her Netflix holiday romance Falling for Christmas. “If you hear music from me, it will hopefully be in a movie musical,” she said in an interview with Who What Wear at the time. “I’ve done a ton of songs that are sitting, waiting. Maybe five years down the line, I’ll do another album.”
Though it’s been 18 years since her sophomore studio effort, 2005’s A Little More Personal (Raw), the “Rumors” singer did record a new cover of “Jingle Bell Rock” for the end credits of her latest Christmas movie.
Check out all the comments on Lohan’s exciting baby news below.
