Music News

During a recent episode of Nova 96.9's Fitzy and Wippa with Kate Ritchie in Sydney, Australia, Keith Urban was busy praising Miley Cyrus when he paid the Grammy-winning singer a strange compliment. Urban had just performed a cover of Cyrus’ hit song, “Flowers,” on the show, and the 56-year-old country superstar then gushed about how he has "always loved Miley,” before going on to say this about her. "I love that voice, man, that voice. She sounds like an ashtray. And I mean that as a compliment. She sounds like the carpet at the RSL!” Later in the interview, Urban discussed the authenticity of some new country artists currently flourishing in Nashville. "It's a funny thing because you still need the support of the system in Nashville,” Urban said. “And if you go about it the right way, like Post [Malone] did, you'll see the love.” (People)

The 2025 Stagecoach Festival is set to take place from April 25-27 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, with headliners Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, and Zach Bryan. This will be the first time that Bryan and Jelly Roll will headline the main stage, while Combs will headline for the first time since 2022. Lana Del Rey is also featured on the lineup, and she famously joined Paul Cauthen at this year’s festival for a duet of “Unchained Melody.” LDR might even perform songs from her forthcoming country album, Lasso, at the fest.

The rest of the lineup features an eclectic mix of acts like Shaboozey, Sturgill Simpson, Backstreet Boys, Nelly, Creed, T-Pain, Brothers Osborne, Midland, and Sammy Hagar. “Last year I got to play Stagecoach for the first time and it was incredible,” Jelly Roll said in a statement. “And I didn’t just get to play. I got to hang out as a fan of artists I love and take my daughter to see some of the best entertainers in our format. Coming back to headline Stagecoach this year is a dream-but I’ll be attending as a fan this year as well, so get ready. See you in April.” (Billboard)

One week before Usher was set to give one of the biggest performances of his life at the Super Bowl Halftime Show at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, the R&B superstar found out that the custom made Jordan 4s he requested wouldn’t be ready in time. So, Usher turned instead to the famous custom sneaker designer, Dominic “The Surgeon” Ciambrone, to come to his rescue and save the show. The pair initially met through their mutual friend Lil Jon, and Ciambrone was already working with Usher to design his sneaker roller skates that he would wear during a portion of the performance, so he handled Usher’s new request in stride.

“I’m like, ‘Yeah, easy,'” Ciambrone recalls. “I think we had a week to do everything — and that shoe was incredibly difficult. The chrome material needed to shine so bright, and we remade that pair of shoes 20 times. We finished Saturday night before the Super Bowl, and a friend of mine drove it from L.A. to Vegas straight to me. It was a beautiful moment for me and my team, because we work so hard on these projects. I don’t think people understand how difficult this is.” (Billboard)

Chappell Roan noticed that tickets for her upcoming concert at FirstBank Amphitheater in Franklin, Tennessee sold out suspiciously quickly, and the breakout pop superstar decided to do something about it. Roan posted a video to X on Wednesday (September 4), expressing her frustration about all of the scalpers who bought up so many of the tickets to her October 1st show, preventing a lot of her true fans from securing tickets to see her perform.

“Scalpers and bots just bought up all the tickets, so we went through and canceled all the scalper tickets we could,” Roan said in the video. “So, from that, we’re gonna release a limited number of tickets to you because I want to make sure that tickets go to people who actually want to come and, like, are fans. I genuinely am so pissed about the scalper situation and think that people actually deserve to get to my show. This is a larger issue. We’re dealing with it. But thank you for understanding, and I cannot wait to see people who deserve to be here. It means everything to me.” In addition to upcoming dates on The Midwest Princess Tour, Roan is also set to perform at the MTV VMAs on September 11. (Uproxx)

Spotify has won a prolonged lawsuit claiming that Eminem’s music was streamed illegally “billions” of times on the platform. Eminem's publisher, Eight Mile Style, had initially sued Spotify back in 2019, claiming that the music streaming service had failed to get proper licenses for hundreds of the rapper’s songs. The judge wrote that Eight Mile knew for years that its songs were being played on Spotify, but had chosen to do nothing in order to build a more lucrative legal case against them.

“Eight Mile Style was not a hapless victim,” Judge Aleta A. Trauger wrote. “While Spotify’s handling of composer copyrights appears to have been seriously flawed, any right to recover damages based on those flaws belongs to those innocent rights holders who were genuinely harmed, not ones who, like Eight Mile Style, had every opportunity to set things right and simply chose not to do so for no apparent reason, other than that being the victim of infringement pays better than being an ordinary licensor.” Eight Mile Style has not publicly commented on the decision, while Eminem himself was not involved in the case. (Rolling Stone)

Lady Gaga is finally set to share the first full track from her forthcoming solo project, which the 13-time Grammy winner and her Little Monsters have taken to calling LG7. The first single from Gaga’s new album will arrive sometime in October, while LG7 will be released in February of 2025. In a post on X revealing Gaga’s busy itinerary surrounding her upcoming co-starring role in Joker: Folie à Deux, a tantalizing line at the end of the document reads, “XX October: LG7 first single.”

And in a recent interview with Vogue, Gaga disclosed that her new album will be out early next year, saying her new work is a mix of sadness and joy. “There’s a lot of pain associated with this adventure. And when I start to explore that pain it can bring out another side to my artistry,” Gaga shared. “ When I’m here at this studio [Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La], I’m relaxed and I am able to face my demons and what’s remarkable is… that’s the music. I’m able to hear it back. I feel like this new album, in a lot of ways, is about that time but from a place of happiness instead of misery.” (Billboard) 

Paula Abdul has announced that her Straight Up! To Canada Tour has been canceled. The 21-city trek was set to start on September 25 in Victoria, British Columbia, with scheduled opening acts Taylor Dayne and Tiffany. Abdul also revealed her shows in Anchorage on September 21 and Fargo on October 12 are off. The two-time Grammy winner made the announcement on Instagram on Wednesday (September 4). “

It’s with an incredibly heavy heart that I need to share with you an update regarding some injuries I’ve recently sustained,” Abdul shared. “In an effort to keep going, I’ve received targeted injections that will allow me temporary relief, but the demands of an entire tour is a different story. I’ve been advised that one of my injuries requires a minor procedure followed by a 6-8 week recovery time, therefore it will prohibit me from proceeding with the Straight Up! To Canada Tour as well as the dates in Alaska and North Dakota. I want to extend my deepest apologies to all my amazing fans in Canada and the US, you mean the world to me and this truly breaks my heart.” Rescheduled dates have not been announced. (People)

Morgan Wade released her new album, Obsessed, on August 16. But the songs didn’t start out as something meant for a record. "As long as I can remember it was me writing songs for myself and that is what this was," Wade disclosed. “I didn't know what I was doing with these songs. I just know I was writing, and I was bringing songs from the past back to life.” One of those songs is a powerful collaboration with Kesha on “Walked on Water,” which Wade says is about “a killing of the ego.”

Wade had been a fan of Kesha’s since she was 15, and has tried to work with her for years. Finally, they were introduced in Los Angeles through a mutual friend, and Wade said the collaboration came naturally. "We just met and sat on the beach," she said. "Then we went to the studio that night. She sang the second verse of 'Walk on Water' and I was like, 'I cannot believe this is actually happening.' She is just such a powerhouse. The fact that she would come sing on something of mine in this new time for her, I was super honored." (People)

During a recent episode of Drink Champs, DJ Spinderella disclosed that Salt-N-Pepa were once warned that they would be arrested if they performed their Top 20 Billboard Hot 100 hit, “Push It.” The rap group’s former DJ said the threat of arrest was due to what venue executives and event organizers perceived were sexually explicit lyrics in the song.

“It was not a sexual song,” Spinderella shared. “We were literally talking about dancing on the dance floor. And people took that and took it the other way, and it actually worked for us. Being on stage and being told that, ‘If you play that song here, you can get arrested.’ So, there were times where that was almost the case. And somehow, we got to a point where we just had to convince everybody that this is not about what you think it’s about. And that is the truth.” Sandra “Pepa” Denton echoed Spinderella’s sentiments about the controversy surrounding “Push It” to Page Six back in 2021. “We were saying ‘push it,’ they thought we were saying, ‘Pu**y, real good.’ So the police were waiting for us,” Pepa told the tabloid. (Billboard)

The Weeknd has just revealed that his forthcoming studio album will be titled, Hurry Up Tomorrow. The musician, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, disclosed details of his new record in a lengthy, cinematic statement on Instagram on Wednesday (September 4). Hurry Up Tomorrow will serve as the final installment of the Weeknd’s current musical trilogy, following 2020’s After Hours and 2022’s Dawn FM.

“Yesterday was fourteen years ago… We held our breath, falling into a shimmering sea in the after hours of the night… Attempted to cleanse the wounds with melodies and lights, a bulletproof bandage to shield what lies beneath,” the Weeknd’s scrolling text on Instagram disclosed.  “More songs could help, but what do I have left to say? Woe is me in my gilded cage, right? The very thing that once made me invincible failed me on the world stage. A new trauma surfaced, opening floodgates. A new path awaits. When today ends, I’ll discover who I am.”

No specific release date for Hurry Up Tomorrow has been disclosed as of yet, but Tesfaye had previously stated that his upcoming record will mark his final release under the Weeknd moniker. (Rolling Stone)

After Halsey launched a global, five-city scavenger hunt to reveal the album artwork for her forthcoming album, The Great Impersonator, the three-time Grammy nominee shared the release date for her record as a reward for her dedicated fans. On Tuesday (September 3), Halsey posted on X, sharing details of the scavenger hunt where fans in London, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, and Sydney would discover the cover art for her record along with four variants featuring different photos of Halsey in era-specific wardrobes, hairstyle, and makeup from the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and 10s.

“My next trick is not mine at all. It’s yours,” she wrote. “Tomorrow, you will reveal the album cover for ‘The Great Impersonator’ along with four variants." And today, Halsey disclosed that her highly anticipated album will arrive at the end of next month. “My 5th studio album “The Great Impersonator” coming October 25th. I made this record in the space between life and death. And it feels like I’ve waited an eternity for you to have it. I’ll wait a bit longer. I’ve waited a decade, already.” (Billboard)

Sade‘s first new song in more than six years is set to be released this November, as her track, “Young Lion,” is set to appear on the TRAИƧA benefit album coming from the Red Hot organization. Sade will be featured alongside an impressive list of artists on the sprawling 46-track concept album, which will also include music from Sam Smith, André 3000, Julien Baker, Fleet Foxes, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Laura Jane Grace, Devendra Banhart, Bartees Strange, Faye Webster, Moses Sumney, Hunter Schafer, Arthur Baker, Teddy Geiger, and more.

The reclusive Sade has not released a full-length album since 2010’s Soldier of Love, while her most recent singles are both from 2018 soundtracks, “Flower of the Universe” from A Wrinkle in Time and “The Big Unknown” from Widows. The TRAИƧA compilation features new songs, covers, and exclusive tracks, with sales of the album going to support trans awareness and causes. According to the press release, the project started to come together in 2021, and is one of the most ambitious projects from the Red Hot non-profit, which has raised more than $15 million since 1989 to benefit HIV/AIDS relief and awareness. (Billboard) 

Justin Bieber just celebrated the birth of his first child, and now it has been revealed that the pop superstar is back in the studio. In a new interview in the New York Times, celebrated indie musician Mk.gee disclosed that he has recently been in the recording studio with Bieber, and he’s impressed with the results of their collaborations. “He’s searching,” he said. “Anything that comes out of his mouth: That’s pop music. You can really do pretty wild stuff behind that, just because it represents something.”

But Mk.gee shared that the sound he is after isn’t specifically pop music, but rather, “the promise of pop music… Experimentalism has no meaning unless it’s done on the grandest scale," he said. "I just don’t want to join somebody else’s citadel. I want to build my own thing, my own castle with my friends, because that’s what’s needed. And if people want to come, they can come.” Bieber hasn’t released a new studio album since 2021’s Justice, while he and his wife Hailey just welcomed the arrival of their first child, a baby boy named Jack Blues, last month. (Stereogum)

Back in 2023, Imagine Dragons recorded a song called “Children of the Sky” for the video game Starfield. The Las Vegas pop rock band has yet to play the song live on their current Loom World Tour because they are apparently saving it for a special occasion. “Children Of The Sky” is set to make its live debut at Imagine Dragons’ upcoming Hollywood Bowl show on October 27, with the special one-night-only performance featuring accompaniment from the Los Angeles Film Orchestra led by composer Inon Zur. Then things get truly interesting. The song will then be “transmitted back to Earth from the surface of the Moon as part of Lonestar’s Freedom Mission flying with Intuitive Machines to the South Lunar Pole in early 2025,” according to a press release. “Our goal is to inspire the next generation of kids to be excited about the future of space and technology, which is why we chose ‘Children of the Sky’ as the first song in history to be broadcast from the Moon,” said Ryan Micheletti, an investor in Lonestar. (Uproxx)

Internet hype was building around the possibility that actress Emma Roberts would portray Britney Spears in the biopic adaptation of the singer’s best-selling memoir, The Woman In Me. But on Friday (August 30), the pop star shared a message on Instagram that disclosed that she is apparently involved in an upcoming film project, but it is not her biopic. “The project I might be doing isn’t a biopic story … it’s a fictional musical where I play an extremely intelligent character 😉 !!!,” Spears wrote in the contradictory post. “It’s flattering to be in such good company like Jon Chu !!!”

Universal Pictures reportedly won a bidding war to adapt Spears’ memoir into a film, with Wicked director Jon M. Chu and Marc Platt apparently leading the development of the film. Last month, Spears revealed on X that she’s been working on a “secret project” with Platt, writing, “Excited to share with my fans that I've been working on a secret project with #MarcPlatt. He’s always made my favorite movies … stay tuned 🌹🎥” No official casting or development timeline has been announced for the biopic or Spears’ “fictional musical” at this time. (Billboard)

Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is spending its eighth nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, adding to its leading total of most weeks topping the singles charts in 2024. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” also continues to sit atop the Hot Country Songs chart for its 12th week at No. 1. The rest of the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart is dominated by Sabrina Carpenter, who also holds the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with Short n' Sweet. Carpenter’s brand new single, “Taste,” debuts at No. 2 this week, while her previous No. 1 single, “Please Please Please,” jumps up six spots to No. 3, and “Espresso”  climbs three spots to No. 4, approaching its previous chart high of No. 3. Carpenter becomes only the second act ever to have her first three Top 5 hits reach the charts simultaneously, joining only the Beatles who accomplished the feat in 1964. Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen, rounds out the Billboard 200 Top 5, dropping three spots to No. 5. (Billboard)

Sir Elton John took to Instagram on Tuesday (September 3) to reveal his prolonged vision issues after suffering a “severe eye infection” earlier this summer. John is slowly recovering from the ailment, which has left him with “only limited vision” in one of his eyes. The music superstar wrote the following about his current vision condition: “Over the summer, l’ve been dealing with a severe eye infection that has unfortunately left me with only limited vision in one eye. I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye. I am so grateful for the excellent team of doctors and nurses and my family, who have taken such good care of me over the last several weeks. I have been quietly spending the summer recuperating at home, and am feeling positive about the progress I have made in my healing and recovery thus far.”

Elton retired from performing after wrapping up his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour in July 2023, which is the third highest grossing tour of all time behind Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour and Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres Tour. (NME)

Sabrina Carpenter has scored her first ever No. 1 album of her career, as her new studio album, Short n’ Sweet, debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart this week. Short n’ Sweet recorded the third largest debut of the year, with two other big debuts featured in this week’s Top 10: the first official release of Travis Scott’s 2014 mixtape Days Before Rodeo premieres at No. 2, while country superstar Lainey Wilson notches the first top 10-charting album of her career as Whirlwind debuts at No. 8 in its first week of release. Elsewhere in the Billboard 200 Top 5, Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion falls from No. 1 to No. 3, Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess drops two spots to No. 4, and Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time moves down a spot to No. 5. Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 album, The Tortured Poets Department, drops out of the Top 5 for the first time since its April release, moving down three slots to No. 6. (Billboard)

The organizers of Desert Daze have announced that the four-day independent music festival has officially been canceled. Desert Daze was originally scheduled for Oct. 10-13 in Lake Perris, California, and as was set to feature high profile artists like Jack White, Fleet Foxes, Cigarettes After Sex, De La Soul, Danny Brown, Thundercat, Liz Phair and more. The 2023 iteration of the festival was postponed, and event organizers were hoping to make a successful return this year, but the cost of running a festival proved to be too expensive. “As an independent festival, an increasing rarity in today’s festival market, Desert Daze is run by a small team of people who love live music and this community,” a Desert Daze spokesperson wrote in a statement. “Unfortunately, due to rising production costs and the current volatile festival market, it is no longer possible to execute the weekend as planned.” All Desert Daze festival pass holders will be refunded via their original point of purchase. (Variety)

During the final night of her 10-show residency in Munich, Germany on Saturday night (August 31), Adele shared from the stage that the concert would be one of her final live performances for quite some time. The 16-time Grammy Winner still has 10 shows scheduled as part of her Weekends With Adele residency in Las Vegas, which will run from October 25-November 23, but following those performances, Adele will be taking a prolonged break from music. “I have 10 shows left after this, back in my residency [in Las Vegas] — but after that, I will not see you for an incredibly long time,” Adele said while fighting back tears during her final Munich show. “I will hold you dear in my heart for that whole length of my break, and I will fantasize about these shows and any shows that I’ve done over the last three years. It has been amazing, I just need a rest. I have spent the last seven years building a new life for myself, and I want to live it now. I want to live my new life that I’ve been building.” (Consequence of Sound)