Music News Podcast Archives

Taylor Swift will made a “surprise announcement” Thursday on Good Morning America.

She’ll be releasing her re-recorded version of “Love Story” at midnight today and has re-recorded her entire Fearless album which will be coming out April 9th and will contain 26 songs including “songs from the vault” that didn’t make the original album.

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Bruce Springsteen’s Super Bowl Commercial is now ‘Dancing in the Dark.’ Jeep pulled the ad following a report that ‘The Boss’ was charged with a DWI back in November. The 71-year-old singer was in his home state of New Jersey when he was pulled over. And apparently Jeep didn’t love the idea of a drunk driver being featured in their Super Bowl car commercial. They took the two-minute ad down from YouTube. But as of last night, Springsteen still had the ad up on his Twitter page.

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Bieber Believers, The NY Post says Justin Bieber is going to perform a Valentine’s Day concert on Tik Tok. He will perform his 2013 album “Journals” at 9 p.m. Eastern.

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Stevie Nicks tells WWD.com that she will never use Botox again. “I had Botox and I hated it. For four long months, I looked like a different person. It was so bad, I would look into the mirror and burst into tears. ”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation has announced its nominees for induction this year and they are, in alphabetical order:

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Britney Spears watched the documentary Framing Britney Spears, which streams now at FX on Hulu. She’s inspired to tell her perspective in a second documentary – once she’s “freed from the vice-like grip of her father” Jamie Spears.

A court hearing in Los Angeles about the conservatorship is scheduled for tomorrow.

Britney acknowledged the support from followers and celebrities. The hashtag #FreeBritney has trended since Friday night’s debut of Framing Britney Spears. A source said, “Britney finally feels like there is light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel. She feels, for the first time in many years, that people are on her side and things will get better for her.”

Tuesday night, Britney tweeted a cryptic message to her 56 million followers, “Each person has their story and their take on other people’s stories! We all have so many different bright beautiful lives! Remember, no matter what we think we know about a person’s life it is nothing compared to the actual person living behind the lens.”

Britney tapped a woman to direct her documentary, which won’t see the light of day until after she convinces to court to fire her tyrannical father. An insider recalled, “Jamie is drunk with power over Britney’s life. This summer, he grounded her for three weeks because she dared to meet a friend for a socially-distanced walk on the beach.” (New York Post)

Blake Shelton‘s phone was ringing off the hook after his Super Bowl commercial for T-Mobile which also stars Gwen Stefani and Adam Levine.

In the spot, Gwen’s talking to Adam about the kind of man she wants to date. She tells him she’s looking for someone who is “maybe from another country,” “cultured,” and “not threatened by a strong, confident woman. Because of a bad connection, Adam hears “country,” “uncultured” and “threatened by a strong, confident woman” and sets her up with Blake.

Blake tells Entertainment Weekly, “It was funny, we had a blast. When I read the script, I thought it was a great idea. I thought it was so funny. Because people still don’t really understand why she’s with me. And fair enough, right? So I loved being able to spin that out.” (People)

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You can count Britney Spears‘s boyfriend among those who don’t like her dad.

Sam Asghari isn’t pulling any punches with Jamie Spears, who’s been Brit’s conservator for more than a decade. He said in an Instagram Story that he has “zero respect for someone trying to control our relationship.” He also called Jamie “a total D—.”

TMZ caught up with Sam, who told their cameraman, “I said what I said.” But he ducked a question about whether he’d watched the documentary Framing Britney Spears which premiered Sunday on Hulu and FX to lots of chatter on social media.

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The NY Post says The Weeknd celebrated his Super Bowl halftime performance with an after-party. It featured a cake in the shape of him leaning on a Mercedes Benz. The cake read:  “2021-Forever XO Where Dreams Come True.”

It looks like there will be a new Coldplay album this year.

The British tabloid The Sun had it confirmed by a source close to the band, who tells them that Chris Martin and company have been recording throughout the pandemic lockdown. The insider claims they’ve been “dropping hints” about it for a while, but that their ninth album is “finally getting off the ground.” It’s got a working title already, Music of the Spheres. That tidbit is supported by a visit to the website of Britain’s Intellectual Property Office, where you can find the band’s trademark application for it.

It will reportedly be used on “merchandise and everything they’d need for a tour,” according to the source, who adds, “It’s a really exciting time for everyone involved.”

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Elton John tells NBC that he still loves making music. “I love it as much now as I did. I don’t like the fame part of it, and I don’t like the technology part of it so much. But, the thrill of the music will never die for me … when you hear somebody young, like Lorde making a record like she did, I am flabbergasted. And it makes you want to write the best song in the world, because you just cannot believe that this music has come out of someone so young, and so brilliant..”

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John Mellencamp tells Time magazine that he values his alone time. “I need pretty much complete isolation just to exist. Just to be alive, to live. I prefer not to be around a lot of people. I don’t know that that has much to do with being an artist, but that’s just the way I prefer to live and that’s why I live where I live. I live on 86 acres in the middle of nowhere, and I get to a town if I need supplies.”

Taylor Swift tells The Guardian newspaper that the music business can sometimes feel like ‘The Hunger Games’. “Pop music can feel like it’s The Hunger Games, and like we’re gladiators. And you can really lose focus of the fact that that’s how it feels because that’s how a lot of Twitter and tabloids and blogs make it seem – the overanalyzing of everything makes it feel really intense.”

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TMZ says Phil Collins’ ex-wife, Orianne Cevey, made over $2 million dollars selling her clothing, jewelry and Phil’s gold records. Some of his records sold for as much as $22,000.

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Jon Bon Jovi tells The Guardian newspaper that his house is surprisingly normal. “My life is much more normal than one would imagine. There are no platinum records hanging anywhere in my house. The trappings of rock stardom were never a part of my home.”

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Mick Fleetwood tells Classic Rock magazine that he can’t remember two years of his life because he partied so hard after making the ”Rumours” album. “It got out of hand way after the making of ‘Rumours’. I remember not working for two years. I can’t even remember what I did. I was the party animal in the band, for sure. I wanted venture to say, Stevie was a close second.”

Taylor Swift just got slapped with yet another lawsuit — by an amusement park that’s not amused by the title of her latest album.

Ken Bretschneider, the CEO  of Evermore Park in Pleasant Grove, Utah, filed the suit on Tuesday, claiming the park has “invested $37 million in promoting the Evermore brand. The Utah Evermore sells a line of clothing bearing the word, and even sells theme music under the Evermore name via Apple Music and other services.

Tay’s reps dismissed the cease-and-desist request, saying that the park actually tried to capitalize on the name similarity in some social media circles. They also say that Swift’s album cover showed the title in all lowercase letters, making it different than the title-case Evermore Park.

Taylor ran into similar problems with Folklore, when a Black-owned clothing company charged her with infringement. They reached an out-of-court settlement. (KDVR)

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Lady Gaga has opened up about how the pandemic hit home for her — after a relative spent two months in the hospital due to COVID.

Gaga has been vocal in urging fans to heed warnings about the spread of the virus, and tells People that things were touch and go in her family. She says, “A very important member of my family was very, very ill recently and in the hospital for almost two months. I was in the ICU by myself many times because you can’t go in with more than one person, if you can go in at all. I have never seen the heroic acts of bravery that I witnessed, watching these doctors and nurses and people that were cleaning at the hospitals.”

Gaga’s one of the spokespeople for the WELL Health-Safety Seal, which verifies that buildings have taken the necessary steps to protect against the spread of the virus.

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Dolly Parton is celebrating those working outside business hours. In a new Super Bowl ad for Squarespace, the Queen of Nashville re-works her famous hit ‘9 to 5’ and sings about ‘5 to 9.’ It’s an ode to those working second jobs or “side hustles” from 5pm to 9am. She says she thought doing things this way was a fun way to call attention to people trying to start their own business while giving those same people a chance to actually be in the commercial.

Mariah Carey‘s estranged sister Alison has filed a lawsuit against the star, claiming she suffered “emotional distress” from the way she was portrayed in Mimi’s recent memoir.

Alison, who’s gone through periods of homelessness and drug addiction, and spent time as a sex worker, says her sister fabricated several ugly stories in The Meaning of Mariah Carey. In the book, Mariah says that her older sister tried to sell her to a pimp when she was just 12 years old. She also claims that Alison threw a pot of scalding tea on her, causing third-degree burns.

Alison, who’s representing herself, is seeking $1.25 million in damages. (OK!)

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If you want to perk up that fern hanging in your window, put on some Lewis Capaldi!

A British company called Pointless Plants surveyed over 1100 green-thumbed people and found that half regularly played music for their plants. Lewis was the top choice by a wide margin, with 62 percent of those polled using his tunes to soothe their greenery. K-Pop kings BTS were the second choice, followed by Taylor Swift, Tame Impala and Elton John.

Studies show that music actually does help plants grow more quickly, but the scientists behind them say the benefit more likely comes from the vibrations than the actual melodies. (Daily Record)

Tony Bennett‘s family has revealed that the 94-year-old singer is living with Alzheimer’s disease.

In an article published in AARP The Magazine, Bennett’s wife Susan says he was diagnosed back in 2016 after he started to show signs of decline. She says although his condition has progressed, he’s “been spared the disorientation that can prompt patients to wander from home, as well as the episodes of terror, rage or depression.”

One of the reasons that Tony Bennett‘s family went public with his Alzheimer’s diagnosis is that he and Lady Gaga have another duets album coming out this year.

Bennett’s family told AARP Magazine that they realized people would ask why Bennett wasn’t doing interviews to promote the project, so they decided to get the word out before the album.

Bennett’s wife Susan Benedetto tells CBS This Morning that the singer still remembers Gaga and says that “she’s hard to forget.”

Gaga and Bennett’s first duets album, 2014’s Cheek to Cheek, won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and sold over 750,000 copies.

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Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani might have already snagged a singer for their wedding.

In a series of tweets, Miley Cyrus made the offer to Gwen after she complimented Miley on her Tiny Desk Concert for NPR. Miley tweeted, “I’ll be your wedding singer! I promise to be on my best behavior. Or worst. whatever you want! It’s your special day!”

Gwen hasn’t officially accepted the offer.

Lady Gaga has always been open about her mental health, and she admits that the COVID pandemic has been hard on it — but she says that exercise has helped in a big way. Gaga tells USA Today that she’s felt “an epic sense of powerlessness over what’s happening in the world.” She went on to say she’s found a way to fight through that, explaining “It’s been really important to me that I continue to move my body. It’s really important for my mental health,  I mostly take walks, and I mostly hike. I wear my mask, and I go on hikes.

Hiking is a big step for the star, who suffers from the painful disease fibromyalgia. She admits she was “really nervous” about exercising, but says “I found during COVID that… you can grab the courage that’s happening in the universe and grab that bravery and put it right inside yourself and be fearless.

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The NY Post says The Weeknd’s halftime show is going to be 24 minutes long. A normal Super Bowl halftime show is 13 minutes. The added length is due to advertisers scaling back on commercial purchases this year due to the pandemic. Daft Punk is also rumored to perform during the extended show. And E! News says The Weeknd has spent $7 million of his own money on the production for the show.

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Stevie Nicks tells Vulture.com that she has gotten some weird fan mail because of how she dresses. “In 1977 I wore black — and why did I wear black? because it’s the thinnest color — I started getting some really stupid wacky mail from weirdos. I didn’t like it. I’d only been famous for two years, and it scared me. So I had some colored outfits made. I wore red and green and salmon for a year, and then I said, Well, this is not going to work for me, so I’m going back to black, and I did”

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello seem like the perfect couple — but Shawn had to work overtime to win over his gal pal.

The Canadian cutie opened up about the early days of the relationship in an interview on Sirius XM. Shawn says, “I think I was just bugging her along for a long time about how I felt about her. I was in Calgary or Edmonton, Canada, and I was at dinner with two of my friends and she texted me basically being like, ‘Okay, fine. I like you. Okay, fine. This is a thing.’ And I have the text, I have this, I screenshotted the text messages. ‘I was like, finally, she caved. It was so great.'”

They became Instagram official in July of 2019 and, despite rumors, they’ve been together ever since.

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Britney Spears still knows how to get people talking — as she proved Wednesday by posting another of her oddball dance videos.

In this one, a turtleneck-clad Brit spins around to the sounds of “Holy Grail,” a 2013 track from Jay-Z and her long-ago ex Justin Timberlake — who she actually tagged. It’s not clear when the troubled singer filmed the video, but a fully decorated Christmas tree stands lit right behind her.

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Not all fan bases are created equal — according to a new study that shows Billie Eilish and Ed Sheeran have the most dedicated of them all.

Retailer OnBuy tallied up numbers in several categories, including number of streams, number of Google searches and so-called “post engagement” — or response rates to an artist’s social media posts. Billie topped several lists, earning a score of 77 out of a possible 100. Sheeran notched a score of 72 on the basis of fewest fake accounts in his follower base and most monthly Spotify streams.

Latin superstar Bad Bunny landed in third place, followed by Super Bowl halftime headliner The Weeknd and Post Malone.

Billie Eilish says at times her lifestyle, especially during the pandemic, can get a little divorced from reality.

In the cover story of the March issue of Vanity Fair, she cites the time she recently tried to order a box of Froot Loops online. She says she felt “kind of stupid” because she didn’t know how much Froot Loops are supposed to cost. So she tried to order one box and was like, ‘Oh yeah, sure. It’s $35.’”

She didn’t realize how expensive that would’ve been, or that she was actually ordering 70 mini-Froot Loops boxes, at 50 cents apiece.

She says she “grew up with no money” and so is a little confused as to the proper prices for things.

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Ed Sheeran has been brewing his own beer during the pandemic. A source tells the website The Solar dot com, “Ed loves his beer – particularly his actual ales and craft beers. He is had just a few kits delivered and has been having enjoyable making his personal drinks.”

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Billy Joel tells Rolling Stone magazine that he frequently writes new music that he won’t record. “I still write music. I just don’t record it, and they’re not in song form. It’s another kind of music altogether. It’s purely for my own edification. I don’t feel compelled to record it. I don’t feel compelled to make myself be relevant. Like I said, I lived the rock and roll life, and I’m not writing that anymore.”

You don’t see much press about Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel’s two sons — and that’s exactly the way the couple wants it.

Justin sat down for Dax Shepard‘s Armchair Expert podcast and ended up talking a lot about parenting. He told Shepard, “I try to be conscious of making sure we can live a life where we’re not weirdly private but we’re conscious of making sure they can be kids for as long as possible and not have the weight of somebody else treating them differently because of something that their parents do. The hope is that we just keep instilling in them that we got really fun jobs, but it’s not who we are.”

Timberlake puts his parenting knowledge to work in his latest acting role — playing a foster father figure to a gender-fluid boy in the family drama Palmer.

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Shawn Mendes wants fans to get up on their feet — for a long walk along with him.

The Canadian artist serves as host and narrator for one of the first episodes of Time to Walk, a new interactive program attached to the Apple Watch. The service lets users pair their walking routine with a recorded program featuring music as well as personal stories from celebrities. Shawn says, “Taking a walk is a great way to clear your mind. I hope people get to feel the same sense of calm I do while walking and can bring that to their own experiences.”

Time to Walk episodes are automatically downloaded to Apple Watch with a Fitness+ subscription, and users can start an episode directly from the Workout app. For Apple Watch customers who use a wheelchair, Time to Walk becomes Time to Push, and automatically starts an Outdoor Wheelchair Walk Pace workout.

Adele has marked the 10th anniversary of her biggest album, 21.

It was released 10 years ago yesterday in Europe (but didn’t come out here in the U.S. until February 22nd) and Adele wrote in an Instagram post, “Happy 10 years old friend! It’s crazy how little I remember of what it was like and how I felt a decade ago. But Thank You from the bottom of my heart for letting us into your lives and letting me be a soundtrack to some of it.”

21 has been certified 14-times platinum by the RIAA and is the biggest selling album of the 2010’s. It spun off three number-one singles in the U.S. — “Rolling in the Deep,” “Someone Like You” and “Set Fire to the Rain.”

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Seems there’s now proof that stars go through the same dating struggles as regular people. Sam Smith was looking for love in all the wrong places — so friends decided to help the singer check out Tinder for a match.

A source close to Sam tells Britain’s Sun that the “celebs only” site Raya turned out to be a bust, so they got together to create a profile on Tinder instead. The insider says, “On Tinder, a lot of people haven’t believed it really is Sam because it’s not every day you see a superstar on there. But all of the matches are being vetted by friends, who are sending ­profiles to Sam in the hope that one of them could be The One. They’re hoping they can find a regular person who isn’t bothered about Sam’s star power or anything like that.”

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Justin Bieber took a moment to recognize that he’s grown up since being a bratty, out-of-control teenager.

He tweeted on Saturday, “Seven years ago today, I was arrested, not my finest hour. Not proud of where I was at in my life. I was hurting, unhappy, confused, mislead, misunderstood and angry at god.”

Back in 2014, the Miami Police Department charged Bieber with resisting arrest and driving with an expired license while under the influence. He was caught street racing in a rented yellow Lamborghini. A urine test revealed traces of Xanax and marijuana. Bieber avoided jail in a deal with prosecutors by pleading guilty to a reduced charges of careless driving and resisting an officer without violence.

Justin credited religion with turning around his life. “God has brought me a long way.” Hallelujah. (Billboard)

Mariah Carey ramped up her #MC30 anniversary celebration Friday with a bumper crop of remix EPs focusing on her Charmbracelet album.

Mimi rolled out digital collections focused on several tracks from that album, including  “Through the Rain,” “I Only Wanted, “The One,” “Boy (I Need You)” and her cover of Def Leppard‘s “Bringing on the Heartbreak.”

Big Apple rapper Cam’Ron appears on the “Boy (I Need You)” EP, which includes seven different remixes. Mimi gave “Bringing on the Heartbreak” a super-lavish treatment — with more than a dozen takes totaling more than 80 minutes of playing time. There’s even a video tucked into each EP.

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It took two whole years, but Adele and former hubby Simon Kornacki have worked out a settlement — and are officially divorced.

The couple, who separated back in April of 2019, presented papers to a Los Angeles court last Friday. Us Weekly reports that neither of them is using a lawyer, and have opted to determine rights to community property and debts through a mediator.

They previously reached an agreement about custody of their eight-year-old son Angelo, but details about that have not been released.

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The Daily Mail says Phil Collins is planning to move back into his $40 million Miami Beach mansion. His ex-wife, Orianne Cevey, and her new husband, Thomas, were court ordered to leave the home. Orianne secretly married Thomas while with Collins.

Lewis Capaldi may be ready to shake up his personal life in a big way — by changing his underwear preference from boxers to briefs.

The ‘Someone You Loved’ singer swung by the On With Mario Lopez podcast to discuss his hits, his upcoming album and, most importantly, his underthings. Lewis took his usual self-mocking stance, saying: “I like a Calvin Klein brief but I don’t need them for the support, there’s nothing going on down there.”

Even so, he’s willing to follow Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes into Calvin-land, and says. “I think this year, I’m going to be 25 in October, I’m going to graduate from being a boxer man to a brief. I want my budgie to be smuggled, get the goodies on show. I’m very much looking forward to it.”

For those who don’t speak British, a budgie is a parakeet.

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Blake Shelton tells NBC that he is nervous about becoming a step-father to Gwen Stefani’s children. “That’s a scary moment for me, because it’s one thing for me to be with the kids all the time and be their buddy. But then, you do have to consider after a while that they’re starting to listen to things that you say. And there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with that, which is new to me.”

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Jon Bon Jovi tells Forbes magazine that he failed when singing his own song on Guitar Hero. “I decided to try ‘Wanted Dead Or Alive. I failed–it buzzed me down. So I stood up off the couch and I said, ‘All right, press play.’ They did it again, I failed again, and I said, ‘Everybody’s going to bed. That’s the end of this. Turn that off!””

Camila Cabello is launching a new mental health effort with a very specific goal — helping frontline workers of all kinds overcome their issues.

The “Havana” singer donated the seed money for the Healing Justice Project, and has matched all donations dollar-for dollar — a total of $250,000 so far. The initial round of 10 organizations will receive grants to cover six months’ worth of mental health care for workers.

Camila has promised to use her massive social media presence to promote the groups she’s helping fund. (Hollywood Reporter)

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Lady Gaga was in Washington, DC Tuesday night on the eve of her historic national anthem performance at yesterday’s Presidential Inauguration, and she took some time to visit the U.S. Capitol and say a prayer.

Gaga tweeted a photo of herself praying inside the empty rotunda, which was filled with rioters two weeks ago. She wrote, “I pray tomorrow will be a day of peace for all Americans. A day for love, not hatred. A day for acceptance not fear. A day for dreaming of our future joy as a country. A dream that is non-violent, a dream that provides safety for our souls.”

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Cher may do a virtual concert. She posted: “Was thinking of doing virtual Concert.. Some Of My favorites that were Never Hits & Some that were…. only Problem … BEEN SINGING 50+ YRS… TOO MANY SONGS”

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Stevie Nicks tells NPR.org that being in a band is like being on a basketball team. “In the Fleetwood Mac world … it’s like you’re on a basketball team. You have to be a team player when you’re in a band. You’re never going to be able to be like that freewheeling, roller-skating woman that I am in my own world.”

Ed Sheeran tells NME.com that his first manager wanted him to dye his hair. “The other management actually resigned from me because they didn’t think I was going anywhere. They told me I needed to drop the looping pedal, dye my hair black and give up the rapping.”

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Phil Collins tells ConsequenceOfSound.com that he needs to practice how to write music again. “I mean, I haven’t written in such a long time that I need to get back into the groove of it, the rhythm of it. And I’ve got lots of ideas. I’ve got lots of bits that I haven’t developed that are just sitting there, and I’ve even got some lyrics that need music, so I’ve got things to start on.”

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Garth Brooks is ready to help ring in a new presidency! The country legend announced that he will be performing at Joe Biden’s inauguration as part of the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol building on Wednesday. In a ZOOM press conference with reporters, he called it an honor to play at the historic event. No word yet on which song Brooks will preform. He played “We Shall Be Free” at the Obama inauguration.

Popcorn Day: A good day for a bowl of popcorn and a movie

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Would you rather have a paid day off every month or an increase in your salary? A new poll found that 57% of employees would rather have the extra time off. And get this – this 57% would rather have that day off every month to deal with personal stuff like appointments and getting things done at home than get a 10% bump in salary. Younger people surveyed were even more inclined to choose the personal day. 69% of Gen Z and 64% of Millennials said they’d rather have a monthly “life admin” day than more money in their paychecks. Baby Boomers, on the other hand, would rather have the increase in salary. (SWNS)

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Seems the Show Me state is stressed … According to new research, Missouri is the most stressed-out state in the country, with residents there spending three hours and 18 minutes per day worried or anxious. Missouri was followed closely by Mississippi; where folks spend three hours and 12 minutes every day stressed; and West Virginia, whose residents spend three hours and six minutes worrying every day.

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This is amazing … Researchers from New York’s Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai believe that eye stem cells from cadavers can be implanted in the eyes of live patients – potentially curing blindness.

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We’re flexible … A new survey has found that 47% of respondents overall and 54% of respondents between the ages of 24 and 39 consider themselves “flexitarians” – meaning they are basically vegetarians but sometimes eat meat.

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Speaking of flexibility ... According to researchers out of the University of Rochester, the happiest couples all have one trait in common … psychological flexibility. It sounds complicated, but according to experts it’s about being easy-going, keeping a positive outlook during difficult times, and basically being able to handle change effectively. According to the research, couples who are psychologically flexible “can roll with the changes much easier and deal with the curveballs that life throws at them.”  (Fatherly)

Shawn Mendes has found a new way to bowl fans over — with a custom Chipotle bowl bearing his name.

The Canadian cutie is teaming with the chain for a charity initiative that will give “Wonder Grants” to young people working to promote sustainable lifestyles. As part of the plan, Chipotle has introduced a Shawn Mendes Bowl, which includes Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice, black beans, chicken, roasted chili-corn salsa, romaine lettuce and guacamole. One dollar from each bowl will go to fund the grants.

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Demi Lovato believes space aliens are among us. She’s inspired Kesha to summon aliens to earth.

Kesha told Entertainment Tonight, “Demi mentioned to me a couple books and an app that I immediately downloaded. I told my family, ‘All I want for Christmas is for us all to meditate and try to channel extraterrestrials.’”

She gives full credit to Demi Lovato, who’s convinced while visiting Joshua Tree, California that she interacted with aliens just “20 or 30 feet away.” Kesha launched a podcast, Kesha and the Creepies, to chat about unexplained phenomena. (Billboard)

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Ed Sheeran tells the BBC that he once got rid of his phone. “I was at a house party and 50% of the people were either Snapchatting or watching Snapchat. Someone said: “Why don’t you have a phone any more?” and I was like: “Look around you. This is exactly why I don’t have a phone.””

Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani would not be getting married had they listened to The Voice host Carson Daly.

On a Today show segment, Carson reminded Gwen of a conversation they had when she and Blake had started dating. He told Gwen, ‘You’re much, much too good for this guy. You’re smart. You’re intelligent. You’re one of my oldest friends. And then there’s Blake.”

Gwen didn’t take Carson’s advice to heart. She and Blake are expected to marry soon.

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Adele is poised to release new music. An album is rumored to arrive next month.

One of Adele’s closest friends, British comic Alan Carr, got a private listening party invite. Lucky for us, she did not force a non-disclosure agreement on Carr, who revealed on Wednesday, (quote) “I’ve heard some tracks on it. Oh my gosh, it’s so amazing. It’s so amazing. There’s only one Adele.” (E! News)

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Lady Gaga and J-Lo will perform at President-elect Joe Biden‘s inauguration next Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol.

Biden’s Presidential Inaugural Committee announced today that Gaga will perform the national anthem before Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris take the oath of office. J-Lo will also perform on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. Later in the evening, Tom Hanks will host Celebrating America — a 90-minute TV special featuring performances from Justin Timberlake, Jon Bon Jovi, Demi Lovato, and Ant Clemons.

Inaugural committee CEO Tony Allen said in a statement, “We are thrilled to announce an inspired group of dynamic participants for the 59th Inaugural Ceremonies. They represent one clear picture of the grand diversity of our great nation and will help honor and celebrate the time-honored traditions of the presidential inauguration.” (ABC News)

Taylor Swift tells Rolling Stone magazine that she’s happy with her life. “I really like my life right now. I have friends around me all the time. I’ve started painting more. I’ve been working out a lot. I’ve started to really take pride in being strong. I love the album I made. I love that I moved to New York. So in terms of being happy, I’ve never been closer to that.”

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Closer Weekly Magazine says Gwen Stefani’s children can’t wait for her to marry Blake Shelton. A source tells the magazine, “Blake treats Gwen’s kids like they’re his own. He adores them, and they love spending time with him. Blake’s relationship with the kids won’t change much once he officially becomes a stepdad.”

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Don Henley tells CBS that he doesn’t listen to the band’s songs. “After 44 years, you just really don’t want to hear ‘em when you’re off. When I’m off duty, I’d rather listen to somebody else, or just silence. Silence is good. You don’t get much of it these days anywhere. So I’m a big fan of silence.”

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Billy Joel tells The New Yorker that he still keeps himself humble. “I don’t let myself get too big of a head onstage. One minute, I’m Mussolini, up onstage in front of twenty thousand screaming people. And then, a few minutes later, I’m just another guy stuck in traffic on the highway.”

Nick Jonas will set the musical wayback machine to the 1960s for his next gig — playing Frankie Valli in a streaming version of Jersey Boys.

Deadline reports that Nick is set to take the lead in the show, which will be produced by Valli and fellow Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio, who put together the original production. They’ll be joined by the team that created the smash Freddie Mercury bio-pic Bohemian Rhapsody.

The show won’t be too much of a stretch for Nick, who actually hit the Broadway stage long before The Jonas Brothers made it big — playing Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol way back in 2000.

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Salt-N-Pepa’s here, and spilling all the tea on how their new Lifetime biopic came to fruition. It’s called “Salt-N-Pepa,” and follows the story of how Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton transitioned from community college students to the first female rap act to go platinum. Fun fact: the two actually hated their 1987 hit “Push It,” when they first heard it. “Salt-N-Pepa” premieres January 23rd on Lifetime.

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Justin Bieber endorsed a desk chair on ‘Shark Tank.’ The singer made a surprise appearance on the hit ABC show via a pre-recorded tape. The 26-year-old raves about the ALL33, which is going for $799. In the end, not even the Biebs could close the deal. All the Sharks passed on the pitch.

Dr. Anthony Fauci thinks that if everyone would smarten up and practice COVID-19 protocols, we could see theaters and other live entertainment venues reopening “sometime in the fall of 2021.”

He says, “If everything goes right…by the time we get to the early to mid-fall, you can have people feeling safe performing onstage as well as people in the audience.”

But for this to happen, vaccine distribution needs to succeed, theaters have to have good ventilation and proper air filters, and audience members will have to wear masks. Under those circumstances, Fauci says, “I think you can then start getting back to almost full capacity of seating.”

While the concert industry is hopeful for touring to resume this year, many artists have already been moving 2021 shows to 2022.

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A man who’s accused of stalking Katy Perry is in even bigger trouble right now — after he skipped a court date on Friday.

William Terry allegedly hopped a fence in an effort to get into Katy’s Beverly Hills home last September, and was formally charged with one count of trespassing last Wednesday. TMZ reports that the 38-year-old was supposed to show up for an arraignment on Friday, but failed to appear — so a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

Terry had spent months sending lewd and threatening messages to Katy and Orlando Bloom, so a court issued a restraining order keeping him from contacting either of them in any way.

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And, for those of you that are fans of the Netflix show “Ozark,” Julia Garner, aka Ruth Langmore, may play Madonna in a new movie about the pop star’s life.

Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton just had their path to the altar cleared — by a Catholic Church decision to annul her marriage to Gavin Rossdale.

Us magazine reports, “Gwen was told the decision was made by the Vatican tribunal. She will be receiving the notification in writing in the next few weeks, but it’s official. It was a huge relief for Gwen because she wanted to get married by her priest and have the marriage recognized by the Catholic church.

The Catholic Church doesn’t allow divorced people to have church weddings, but it does grant annulments — which state that the previous marriage was “not valid” for one of many reasons.

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Ed Sheeran is set to drop another new song — but you won’t see his name on it.

He’ll make his debut as a producer and re-mixer with a revamp of “Sword From the Stone,” a track by his longtime friend Passenger. Ed isn’t actually putting his name on the track, but is calling it the “Gingerbread Remix” — a reference to his hair color. Of course, Passenger is also an alias — the stage name of Michael Rosenberg.

A source close to the project tells Britain’s Sun, “They have been friends for years after meeting when they were teenagers and have covered songs together before but never done anything like this. Getting together in the studio wasn’t really an option in 2020, but Ed has produced this new remix of ‘Sword From the Stone’ and they both love it.”

The song is due for release next Friday.

Miley Cyrus tells Capital FM that she and Elton John have recorded a cover of Metallica’s ”Nothing Else Matters.” “I did a Metallica cover of ‘Nothing Else Matters’ featuring Elton John on piano, I’ve got Yo-Yo Ma, Chad Smith; so many all-stars in this band. I’m so excited about this collaboration. I mean, having Elton John and Metallica and me … I love when ingredients don’t quite fit,” she said. “Or it seems like a concoction that no one would ever put together, and you gotta have someone like [the song’s producer Andrew] Watt that will take that risk.”

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Lindsey Buckingham tells Rolling Stone magazine that he is disappointed about the way things ended between him and Fleetwood Mac. “Am I heartbroken about not doing another tour with Fleetwood Mac? No, because I can see that there are many other areas to look into. But the one thing that does bother me and breaks my heart is we spent 43 years always finding a way to rise above our personal differences and our difficulties to pursue and articulate a higher truth. That is our legacy. That is what the songs are about. This is not the way you end something like this.”

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Huey Lewis tells Classic Pop magazine that he never thought his band’s iconic “Sports” album would spawn a whopping six hit songs. “If you didn’t have a hit single, you didn’t exist, so we decided to produce ourselves in our own hometown, not in L.A. like everybody else, because we wanted to make those commercial decisions ourselves. We didn’t know we were going to have six [hits]! We just wanted one, but we also didn’t know if it was going to be a rocker or a ballad. If you listen to “Sports” now, it sounds like a record of its time – a collection of singles. That’s what the market demanded and that’s what we did. That’s probably the last ‘commercial’ decision we made, because after that record went ‘kaboom,’ we made a deal with ourselves that we’d only do things for creative reasons rather than financial ones, and haven’t done since. I’m proud of that.”

Now that we’ve closed the book on 2020, we can confirm something most folks knew already — Taylor Swift rules the musical world.

Rolling Stone‘s year-end count says Tay’s Folklore was 2020’s best-selling album, and it was a long, long way back to the closest competition. Swifties snapped up 1.2 million copies of Folklore, with second place going to The Weeknd, who sold 476,000 copies of After Hours. Taylor actually made the Top 10 a second time with Evermore, which sold 270,000 copies in the three weeks it was available.

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Dr. Dre is thanking friends and fans for their well wishes as he remains hospitalized in Los Angeles following a brain aneurysm.

He wrote on Instagram, “Thanks to my family, friends and fans for their interest and well wishes. I’m doing great and getting excellent care from my medical team.” He went on to thanks his doctors and said he will be “out of the hospital and back home soon.”

The 55-year-old rapper, producer and music exec was rushed to Cedar-Sinai Medical Center Monday after suffering an aneurysm. He is in stable condition and undergoing tests to determine the cause of the bleeding in his brain.

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Mick Fleetwood tells Rolling Stone magazine that he would love to see a musical about the band. “There’s always been talk about doing something like that. I hope it can happen at some point. A lot of people, understandably, would say, “Wow, that would make a really good musical.” It is an incredibly interesting story, especially the period around Rumours.”

The show will not go on for the Grammy Awards — which have been postponed until an unspecified date.

This year’s ceremony was scheduled for January 31st, but organizers cited the latest COVID spike as a reason for taking it off the calendar for now. The initial plan was to stage a scaled-down show with no live audience, but even that proved to be too difficult to pull off.

A source tells Rolling Stone that this year’s ceremony is likely to be held in March, but could not confirm whether Trevor Noah would remain signed on as host. The 2021 Grammy nominations were led by Beyoncé who picked up nine nominations, while Taylor Swift followed with six nods.

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Dead or alive the IRS wants its money from the estate of Prince. The Internal Revenue Service says the executors of the pop star’s estate under-valued it by about 80-million dollars. The government is looking for back taxes to be paid in the amount of 32-million bucks, with an added penalty in the millions. Prince died nearly five years ago without a will, making it one of the messiest court cases Minnesota has ever seen. His six siblings are waiting for their cut.

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The Hockey Writers say the Los Angeles Kings have removed a Taylor Swift banner from the Staples Center because their fans think it is cursed. The Kings have been covering the banner since October 2019. They have not had any playoff success since Taylor’s banner was hung on August 21, 2015.

Barry Gibb is keeping the Bee Gees alive. The last surviving Gibb brother headed to Nashville to redo Bee Gees songs with a folk twang. He teamed up with country stars like Sheryl Crow, Dolly Parton and Keith Urban to perform some of the Bee Gees’ greatest hits. He revealed to “CBS Sunday Morning” that he’d tour if his fans wanted him to. The 74-year-old’s new album, “Greenfields” is out now.

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Justin Bieber rang in 2021 with a performance that was his first in more than three years. And he spaced on the lyrics to a couple of songs.

Justin flubbed the opening line of his 2015 hit song, “Sorry.” He apologized to his followers and admitted the obvious, (quote) “I forget the words.”

Something similar happened while singing “Love Yourself.” Either Bieber needed more rehearsal time, or he’s still rusty after a three-year layoff from performing on stage.

The $25 pay-per-view concert streamed from The Beverly Hilton hotel. Bieber built a stage over the hotel pool. (Daily Mail)

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It seems actress Olivia Wilde has taken Harry Styles off the market.

The New York Post ran photos of the two walking hand-in-hand at his agent’s wedding this weekend in California. The happy couple, whose ages range by a decade, were seen obeying local regulations by wearing masks, and were also caught hanging with bride and groom Glenne Christiaansen, and Jeff Azoff.

Harry and Olivia have been working together on the new thriller Don’t Worry Darling.