Pop Music News
Sia and David Guetta Reteam for New Single “Let’s Love”: Stream
David Guetta and Sia are no strangers to a powerhouse electronic pop collaboration. After a string of chart-topping hits like “Flames”, “She Wolf (Falling to Pieces”, and the ubiquitous “Titanium”, the pair are back together for a 2020 anthem called “Let’s Love”. With a slapping ’80s beat that’s a few electronic note removed from Sing Street, the uplifting track is meant as a counterweight to the negativity that’s overwhelmed this year. “This too shall pass/ We’ll get through it all together,” Sia reassures on the hook. “I love producing club tracks but at the same time, especially now, I feel like creating ‘feel-good’ music,” Guetta said in a press statement. “‘Let’s Love’ is a message of love, hope and bringing people together and once again, Sia has out done herself on the vocals.” Orig...
Alicia Keys Teams with NFL to Launch $1 Billion Endowment for Black Businesses and Communities
As America continues to wrestle with the systemic racism that to this day impacts millions of its citizens, the NFL is undergoing a reckoning of its own. After blackballing Colin Kaepernick for beginning the “take a knee” protests during the National Anthem, the league has been clawing its way back from a hole of racial insensitivity. The latest move comes in collaboration with Alicia Keys, who has agreed to perform at the NFL Kickoff event and is teaming with the league to create a $1 billion endowment fund for Black business and communities. In a statement to Billboard, Keys said she saw the collaboration as an opportunity to “use my platform to further racial equity.” She also penned a letter explaining her decision to take part in the Kickoff show, which airs tonight, September 10th, a...
Fender Announces New Billie Eilish Signature Ukulele
Every big star started out small, and that’s more true of Billie Eilish than most. As a budding musician, the first instrument she learned to play was not a guitar, but its diminutive cousin the ukulele. Now the “Bad Guy” singer has partnered with Fender to release the Billie Eilish Signature Ukulele, available as of today. Like Eilish’s wardrobe, the design is both playful and lux. The colors are matte black and gold, with Eilish’s famous “blohsh” person slouching across the front. The top and bottom are both made of sapele, while chords are held against a walnut fingerboard with white dot inlays. The technically-inclined will be interested to note Nichole hardware and a Fishman Kula preamp that allows the ukulele to be plugged in. It retails for $299.99, and can be purchased through the ...
Beyoncé Pledges Another $1 Million to Black-Owned Businesses
Beyoncé has been one of the more charitable celebrities helping ease the burden of 2020 through her BeyGOOD foundation. In April, she sent $6 million to essential workers impacted by the coronavirus, then in May supplied 1,000 testing kits and PPE to her native Houston. June saw the beginning of her Black Parade initiative (and companion single) to promote Black-owned businesses, which she backed up by launching the Black-Owned Small Business Impact Fund in July with the NAACP Empowerment Programs. Now, the superstar has announced a second round of grants for the fund, bringing another $1 million to Black-owned businesses. According to the fund’s website, the money will go to “assist our small business communities that have been directly impacted by recent events across the country.” Black...
Britney Spears Endorses the #FreeBritney Movement
Last month, Britney Spears asked the courts to prohibit her father from regaining conservatorship of her estate. While a judge has since determined that the current structure will remain in place until at least early 2021, the legal battles continue. According to TMZ, her lawyer’s latest filings included an article about the #FreeBritney movement, along with the note that Spears “welcomes and appreciates the informed support of her many fans.” The pop star’s father, James “Jamie” Spears, has overseen nearly every aspect of her life since 2008, when she was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment. That continued without interruption until late 2019, when her dad temporarily stepped aside to deal with his own health issues. Having seemingly recovered, Jamie is now back to doing what...
The Struts Announce New Album Strange Days, Drop Single with Robbie Williams: Stream
British glam rockers The Struts have announced their third studio album. It’s called Strange Days and it’s due out October 16th via Interscope. While there’s only a few weeks to go until that release date, The Struts have decided to share the record’s title track featuring Robbie Williams now so that fans can bask in the unique timeliness of the tender anthem. Remarkably, Strange Days was created during the coronavirus quarantine. As such, several of the full-length’s 10 songs touch upon what it’s like riding the emotional rollercoaster that is this year. And while “Strange Days” is a bittersweet epic about finding solace in gratitude, the other tracks tread on different themes with different collaborators, including Albert Hammond Jr., Tom Morello, and Joe Elliott and Phil Collen of Def L...
FINNEAS Shares New Song “What They’ll Say About Us”: Stream
FINNEAS has returned with a new song and his first major solo release of the year, “What They”ll Say About Us”. Even after wining five Grammys, the 23-year-old ghostwriter is still best known as the brother of Billie Eilish. But although he continues to be a producer in demand, recently FINNEAS has put more work into his solo career. Just last month, his 2019 Blood Harmony EP got a second life with a digital reissue that included a new version of “Let’s Fall in Love for the Night (1964)”. “What They’ll Say About Us” is his first all-new single of 2020, as well as a heartfelt reaction to a world in chaos. The track is a searching piano ballad, written in reaction to Black Lives Matter protests and the saga of Broadway actor Nick Cordero, who died in July of complications caused by...
Miley Cyrus Covers Billie Eilish’s “my future” for BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge Month: Watch
Miley Cyrus for BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge Month (photo by Vijat Mohindra) and Billie Eilish (Amy Price) Days after taking the virtual stage for the 2020 MTV VMAs, Miley Cyrus is back with another pandemic performance. Today, she helped launch the latest edition of BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge Month with a four-song set that included covers of Billie Eilish and Eagles. Cyrus and Eilish really couldn’t be more different as pop stars, with one known for delivering literal Bangerz and the other for her hushed, alternative pop structures. Perhaps it’s unsurprising, then, that Cyrus’ rendition of “my future” is far more full-throated than the original. Yes, it’s still a delicate piano ballad with a grooving break, but Cyrus ups the defiance in the vocals considerably. Speaking to Live Lounge ...
Dua Lipa Unveils Club Future Nostalgia Remix Album: Stream
Dua Lipa already gave us one of our favorite albums of the year in Future Nostalgia. But the pop star isn’t quite done dancing to that record: today, she’s revealed its corresponding remix album, a star-studded affair called Club Future Nostalgia. Stream the entire effort below via Spotify. Helmed with the help of house/techno producer The Blessed Madonna, the Club boasts an impressive and eclectic guest list highlighted by BLACKPINK, Madonna, Missy Elliott, Mark Ronson, and Gwen Stefani, whom Lipa just interviewed while guest-hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live. Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard, Yaeji, Jayda G, Jacques Lu Cont, and Horse Meat Disco were also invited to party. Editors’ Picks Additionally, a number of the included reworks feature fun samples of Stevie Nicks (“Stand Ba...
The Weeknd Performs “Blinding Lights” High Above NYC to Kick Off 2020 MTV VMAs: Watch
The Weeknd has kept up a relentless schedule since dropping one of the year’s best albums so far in After Hours. Following a virtual concert on TikTok and collaborations with both Juice WRLD (“Smile”) and Calvin Harris (“Over Now”), the R&B singer also known as Abel Tesfaye took his magnetic energy to the 2020 MTV VMAs on Sunday night. The Canadian crooner kicked off the awards show with a high-flying performance of “Blinding Lights” from atop New York City’s Hudson Yards. He was even accompanied by a wave of fireworks. Watch him sing one of the best songs of 2020 below. Hosted by Keke Palmer, this year’s VMAs were originally supposed to take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. However, due to the ongoing pandemic, the evening’s performances were filmed with “limited or no audien...
Miley Cyrus Performs New Single “Midnight Sky” at 2020 MTV VMAs: Watch
Ever since 2013, Miley Cyrus has been known to stage memorable, jaw-dropping awards show performances. That was certainly the case on Sunday night at the 2020 MTV VMAs, where the pop star rolled out the live debut of her new single “Midnight Sky”. Channeling the track’s self-directed music video, Cyrus flaunted a glitzy biker chic aesthetic as she sang “Midnight Sky” from a brightly lit soundstage. In a call-back to her famous “Wrecking Ball” video, Cyrus concluded the performance by ascending a flight of stairs and straddling a large swinging disco ball. Watch the video replay below. The 27-year-old recently revealed that her long-teased She Is Miley Cyrus project — a compilation of three six-song EPs — has been put on hold. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, Cy...
Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande Perform “Rain on Me” at 2020 MTV VMAs: Watch
Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande poured it on at the 2020 MTV VMAs with a stirring rendition of their smash hit “Rain on Me”. When it comes to pop collaborations, some big-name blockbusters are all thunder and no lighting. Not so with “Rain on Me”; this Chromatica standout lights up the dance floor with electrifying hook after electrifying hook. The pair’s moves Sunday night were nothing to mess with either; Gaga, while in a bondage-like outfit, strutted across a stage made to look like an otherworldly planet. Grande, meanwhile, twirled effortlessly in enormous white heels. In addition to “Rain on Me”, the MTV VMAs Artist of the Year also performed “911” and “Stupid Love”. For the latter single, Gaga kicked things off by playing a piano shaped like a brain (really!), before stepping into a gree...
