Alternative Music
Barbara Walters, TV’s Most Fascinating Anchor, Dead at 93
Barbara Walters, the pioneering television anchor and journalist, has died at the age of 93. Walters “passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones,” her representative said in a statement released on Friday, December 30th. “She lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists, but for all women.” A native of Boston, Walters was a trailblazer in the television industry. After getting her start as a writer and segment producer on The Today Show in the early 1960s, Walters worked her way up the ranks to become the first woman to host an American news program as co-anchor of Today starting in 1974. Two years later, she moved to ABC News and became the first woman to host an American evening news program as anchor of ABC Evening News. Between ...
Here Are All of the Performers and Presenters at the 2023 Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards are often called Music’s Biggest Night, and in 2023 that could be true for the performers and presenters as much as the nominees. The Recording Academy’s annual showcase isn’t just about padding out the trophy case, it’s also a chance for artists to elevate their profile with show-stopping musical numbers, eye-catching outfits, and perhaps the occasional joke — good or otherwise. This year’s nominees are led by Kendrick Lamar, Adele, Harry Styles, and Beyoncé, who has tied with husband JAY-Z for the record for most Grammy nominations of all time. Notably, The Recording Academy added five new categories this year, for Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical; Best Alternative Music Performance; Best Americana Music Performance; Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and O...
George R. R. Martin Says Game of Thrones Spinoffs Shelved After “Changes at HBO Max”
Warner Bros. Discovery has been enacting a content Red Wedding over at HBO Max, and it’s now come for the author behind the actual Red Wedding. George R. R. Martin revealed in a new blog post that some Game of Thrones spinoffs have been shelved due to “changes at HBO Max.” Martin didn’t elaborate on which projects have stalled out, though more than half a dozen were known to be in the works, including three series — The Sea Snake (previously Nine Voyages), 10,000 Ships, and a story set in Flea Bottom — as well as Tales of Dunk and Egg and multiple animated projects. “None have been greenlit yet, though we are hoping… maybe soon,” Martin wrote on December 28th. “A couple have been shelved, but I would not agree that they are dead. You can take somethi...
Hayley Williams Doesn’t “Dare” Play Guitar Live Because of Sexist Comments
Hayley Williams of Paramore said that most of the time she doesn’t “dare” play guitar live because she knows it will lead to a deluge of sexist comments. The conversation came with Wet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers on Spotify’s Face to Face podcast. “I think for us one of the hardest or most irritating things about being women is probably just stupid, stupid comments on the internet,” Teasdale said. “Like, ‘Oh she’s holding that guitar but she’s not actually playing it.’ When, for example, I am just not using my guitar but then I need to play it in the chorus or something, there will always be a comment like, ‘Girls shouldn’t play guitar, women shouldn’t play guitar,’ and it’s just — it’s so dated but it’s still there! And I just hate it so much and it’s so f...
Courtney Love Says Brad Pitt Kept “Stalking” Her About Playing Kurt Cobain
Courtney Love has expanded upon recent comments that she made on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast about Brad Pitt getting her fired from Fight Club, explaining that she had “no plans” to bring it up, but Pitt “kept on stalking me” about making a film about her late husband Kurt Cobain. During her conversation with Maron, Love claimed she was originally cast as Marla Singer opposite Pitt in David Fincher’s 1999 film (via Stereogum). However, she was apparently fired from the movie after arguing with Pitt, who allegedly wanted to play Love’s late husband Kurt Cobain in a Gus Van Sant biopic (which she clarified was not the filmmaker’s eventual 2005 drama Last Days). Helena Bonham Carter ended up playing the role instead. “Brad pushed me a bridge too far. I don’t like the way he does business or wiel...
Every Neko Case Album Ranked From Worst to Best
This article was originally published in 2015 and has been updated. Welcome to Dissected, where we disassemble a band’s catalog, a director’s filmography, or some other critical pop-culture collection in the abstract. It’s exact science by way of a few beers. This time, we sort through the best and worst of the at-times New Pornographer. Of all the artists who began the new millennium straddling the alt-country world and indie-rock stardom, none have proved themselves more talented or hardworking than Neko Case. Born in Virginia, she grew up in Tacoma, Washington, where she began her musical career drumming in a handful of bands before moving to Vancouver in 1994. She furthered her musical career playing drums for Canadian twee pop group Cub and singing for the punk band Maow in the mid ‘9...
Every Album by The Replacements Ranked From Worst to Best
This feature originally ran in August 2013, but we’re dusting it off in celebration of Paul Westerberg’s birthday on December 31st. Welcome to Dissected, where we disassemble a band’s catalog, a director’s filmography, or some other critical pop-culture collection in the abstract. It’s exact science by way of a few beers. This time, we sort through the best and worst of everyone’s favorite Trouble Boys. “Whose side are you on?” That’s the age-old question Paul Westerberg asks on “Left of the Dial” off of Tim. While he wasn’t exactly talking to his fans, he just as well could have been. At the time, the Minneapolis bard was already one foot in the door of another new era for The Replacements, a polarizing chapter that would see the band wave goodbye to their blitzkrieg of boozy basement pun...
Billy Joel and Producer Phil Ramone Captured Collaborative Magic on The Stranger: The Opus
Listen via: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Amazon Podcasts | Stitcher | Radio Public | Pocket Casts | RSS The Stranger didn’t just mark Billy Joel’s critical breakthrough, but the beginning of a decade-long creative partnership with producer Phil Ramone. Together, the two would create some of the most lasting songs in music, and it all began with those first sessions in the summer of 1977. Advertisement Related Video Joel had a specific vision for what would be his fifth studio album, and that meant finding the right person to work the boards. And he was dead set on finding the right person; not even Fifth Beatle George Martin met his standards. It wasn’t until Ramone — known then for hits like “I...
Greta Thunberg’s Twitter Takedown Inadvertently Leads to Andrew Tate’s Arrest for Human Trafficking
Andrew Tate is sitting in a Romanian jail cell after being arrested for human trafficking on Thursday. Incredibly, he reportedly tipped off Romanian authorities of his whereabouts in a video responding to climate activist Greta Thunberg and her sick burn of him. In case you missed it, earlier this week Tate, a former kickboxer turned misogynistic far-right media personality, attempted to troll Thunberg by flaunting the 33 cars he apparently owns. “Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions,” Tate wrote in a tweet directed at Thunberg. The 19-year-old Nobel Prize nominee responded with an absolutely brutal takedown: “yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com,” she tweeted. In an att...
Steven Tyler Accused of Sexually Assaulting a Minor in New Lawsuit
Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler has been accused of sexual assaulting a minor in a new lawsuit filed by his former girlfriend, Julia Holcomb. Tyler, then 27, began dating Holcomb shortly after her 16th birthday in 1975. Holcomb’s mother signed over her guardianship to Tyler, and the two moved in together at Tyler’s Boston home. She soon became pregnant, but then their relationship went south. Their apartment caught on fire, and she ended up in a hospital, during which time Tyler allegedly forced her to have an abortion. “When I returned home to my mother, I was a broken spirit,” Holcomb recounted in a 2011 essay. “I could not sleep at night without nightmares of the abortion and the fire. The world seemed like a dark place.” For his part, Tyler contends that the couple jointly decided to abo...
David Lee Roth: Working with Eddie Van Halen Was “Better Than Any Love Affair”
David Lee Roth and the Van Halen camp haven’t always seen eye to eye, but the singer recently offered some touching remarks while reflecting on his longtime bandmate, the late Eddie Van Halen. Roth opened up about his working relationship with the guitar legend on his The Roth Show podcast earlier this week. DLR famously left Van Halen in 1985 to pursue a successful solo career, and multiple failed attempts to patch things up would eventually give way to Roth rejoining the band in 2007. Roth and Eddie Van Halen appeared to be on good terms when Eddie passed away in 2020. “My dear departed Ed,” Roth said on his podcast (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “Boy, I miss him. I had a ball with Ed. Walt Disney once said, ‘You know what? My love affair with Mickey Mouse was better than any love aff...
Glass Onion Isn’t Mocking Elon Musk — It’s Mocking the World That Created Him
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.] Central to Glass Onion is the character of tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton), whose invitation to a small Greek island is what kicks off Rian Johnson’s new whodunnit. When Miles’s friends — his “beautiful disruptors” — arrive at Miles’ island with an unexpected plus-one in the form of legendary detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), all they’re expecting is a long weekend of relaxation, with a promised murder-mystery game to keep things lively. But the real murder mystery to be solved isn’t the Gillian Flynn-penned romp that Miles has planned, but the unexpected death of MRA lunkhead Duke Cody (Dave Bautista). There’s also the reveal that days earlier, Miles’ former business partner Andi Brand...
