If things seem grim now, locked down, shut out and cut off from all that we used to know, get a load of the video for the title track from Noah Cyrus‘ The End of Everything EP. The beautiful disaster clip released on Tuesday (May 19) contemplates the rapid devolution of our planet and eventual end of it all in a three-minute nature film to end all nature films. “The inspiration behind this song changed my life,” Cyrus says in a statement about the gentle acoustic country pop ballad from the recently released mini-album. “It’s all inspired by a time-lapse video of the universe I saw by John Boswell, who also directed my video for this song. For me, it really put into perspective how shortly lived our moments here as humans are. Situations from when I was younger started ente...
Following the announcement that Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber’s collab “Stuck With U” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Grande her third Hot 100 topper and Bieber his sixth, Grande wrote a lengthy Instagram note addressed to fans and even some skeptics about the success of the charitable single, which will benefit the First Responders Children’s Foundation. “Thank u to everybody who supported this song, this cause and made this happen. we love uuuuu so much,” Grande wrote Monday (May 18) afternoon. “There’s so much to celebrate today. However, i would like to say a few things. anyone who knows me or has followed me for a while knows that numbers aren’t the driving force in anything i do. i’m grateful to sing. grateful to have peop...
Mandy Moore and Justin Hartley will co-host NBC’s Red Nose Day special to raise money and awareness for children in need. The network’s sixth annual event, airing 9-11 p.m. EDT Thursday, will include musical performances, sketches and short films that illustrate how donations are used for children living in poverty in America and other countries. Among the actors and musical artists taking part: Julia Roberts, John Legend, Bryan Cranston, Kelly Clarkson, Paul Rudd, OneRepublic, Steve Martin, 5 Seconds of Summer, Sarah Silverman, Ray Romano, Sam Smith and James Taylor. Funds raised by this year’s Red Nose campaign will be directed to help combat the effect of COVID-19 on youngsters and the organizations that aid them. In the pandemic, “some of the most vulnerable parts of our population are...
It’s happening…Take That are getting the old band back together. The British ’90s hitmakers are reuniting with Robbie Williams for a one-off virtual gig this Saturday (May 29), to sing those records that made the pop band a powerhouse. Williams will join Howard Donald, Mark Owen and Gary Barlow from their homes for the fundraising gig, though retired former bandmate Jason Orange is absent from the lineup. Since splitting from the band in 1995 and embarking on a solo career, Robbie has (almost) never looked back. The “Angels” singer is recognized as the most successful British solo act in Official Albums Chart history, and has sold more than 70 million records worldwide. Over the years, Williams has won 18 Brit Awards (including those with Take That), more than any other ar...
The Voice finale is this week, and the remaining contestants aren’t messing around. CammWess kicked off the show with a stirring rendition of Prince‘s iconic “Purple Rain.” It’s hard to believe the delivery was done remotely, as CammWess performed on a patio that looked like a full-blown arena stage with purple lights and haze. The hopeful star topped it off with a Prince-inspired satin purple jacket. “I want to party at your house with the fog machine and purple haze, that felt nice,” his former coach Kelly Clarkson said of the scenery, as she swayed to the performance with a glass of red wine in hand.”CammWess, you know I love you, man. I’m like, it was so hard to not pick you in that one moment because you’re so, so gifted.R...
After a long and eventful season filled with dazzling highs and crushing lows, we’re finally in the home stretch of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12. On the May 15 episode, the final five queens duked it out to secure their spot in the top 4 by putting on a show-stopping Las Vegas singing and dancing spectacle in honor of RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! In one of the stiffest competitions to date, Gigi Goode, Jaida Essence Hall, and Sherry Pie advanced to the grand finale, while Crystal Methyd and Jackie Cox found themselves in the bottom and having to fight for the last remaining spot. After a close lip-sync battle to Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull’s 2011 hit “On the Floor,” fan favorite Crystal Methyd claimed her spot in the finals, while Jackie Cox sashayed away. With less than two weeks to go u...
Nothing was as it usually is on Sunday night’s (May 17) American Idol season finale. The contestants were all singing in their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, Katy Perry had to perform on a green screen set instead of a big stage in Hollywood and host Ryan Seacrest had to pull his old Idol logo out of mothballs and set up shop in his garage to host the two-hour coronation. Also, Seacrest didn’t seem to be quite himself. As the show progressed, viewers noticed that something seemed a bit off with the typically unflappable, consummate professional host. His speech sounded slurred at points and his left eye seemed strangely larger and more wide-open than his half-shut right eye. A spokesperson for Seacrest, 45, responded to the questions on Monday morning (May 18), te...
“I mean, I know I’m the girl who says ‘I Think We’re Alone Now,’ but seriously, this wasn’t what it was supposed to be,” Tiffany quipped during her Billboard Live At-Home set. Tiffany evoked the good ol’ days of touring for her Billboard Live At-Home performance Monday (May 18) to raise money for The Global FoodBanking Network. Despite being currently quarantined in Palm Springs, Calif. with her music producer/guitarist/tour manager Mark Alberici, Tiffany (real name Tiffany Darwish) remains positive with touring plans already on the horizon. “So far, it’s looking like June 18th is the first show…. It’s so crazy a little bit right now to not understand one community to the next; some people are still on l...
If you lived through the ‘80s, you’ll remember “We Are The World” was just about the biggest number of them all. Featuring a “Dream Team” of pop stars, the song dropped in 1985 to shine a light on famine in Africa. Written by Lionel Richie and the late Michael Jackson, the charity single ruled the Billboard Hot 100 for four successive weeks after its release, and an all-star Artists for Haiti remake in 2010 was also a hit. Sunday night (May 17) during the American Idol finale, Richie assembled an all-star Idol lineup for a lockdown-era rendition of the blockbuster. Joined by his fellow judges, Richie led a cast that included 2020 winner Just Sam, Alejandro Aranda aka Scarypoolparty, Fantasia, Gabby Barrett, Jordin Sparks, Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Laine Hardy, Lauren Alaina, Philli...
The American Idol finale had some massive moments, not all of them involved the contestants. Idol judge Katy Perry delivered her debut live performance of “Daises,” inside of a spectacular digitally-enhanced environment. Wearing a pink dress, no shoes and showing her baby bump, Perry looked like Alice in her animated wonderland, as walls and cartoon furniture appear around her and steep falls appear under her feet. “Daises” dropped last week, a triumph against the haters. Watch the performance below. [embedded content]
American bluesman Lucky Peterson, a master of the six string and the Hammond B3, died Sunday (May 17) at his home in Dallas. He was 55. Peterson was at home when he “became ill and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, but unfortunately did not recover,” reads a statement posted on his social pages. The cause of death is not immediately known. Born Judge Peterson in Buffalo, New York in 1964, Peterson had blues in his veins. His father James Peterson was a notable blues guitarist and owner of The Governor’s Inn, a roadhouse club where many of the genre’s greats would stop by. [embedded content] A prodigious talent, “Little” Lucky Peterson gave his first concert when most of us were still learning to use cutlery and his talents were spotted early on by blues legend Willie Dixon....
Declining TV usage and maybe the end of the novelty for at-home production have driven shows like ‘American Idol’ and ‘The Voice’ to season lows recently. American Idol and The Voice made a big deal about continuing with their final rounds in recent weeks, with the remaining contestants on each singing competition performing from their homes and hosts and judges all weighing in remotely. Yet the ratings for the remotely produced “live” episodes have fallen flat: Both ABC’s Idol and NBC’s The Voice have recorded same-day season lows in the past two weeks. A similar fate befell ABC’s second Disney Family Singalong special on Sunday, which drew little more than half the audience of the first edition of the special on April 16. Similarly, t...