Music News Podcast Archives

Crocs, those hideous rubber clogs I you used to wear with cargo shorts, have become hip again. And now it appears Justin Beiber is jumping into the game to create his own model of the shoes after several other rappers recently released their own.

On Thursday he hopped on Instagram to promote his Drew House fashion line and posted a photo with the teasing caption, “soon.” The photo shows a pair of yellow Crocs floating in a swimming pool.

Crocs would seem to go well with the other gear sold by Justin’s Drew House, which includes slippers, baggy T-shrts and sweats, socks, stickers and plush toys. (Billboard)

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Harry Styles tells the BBC that he’s enjoying quarantining with his friends. “I’m lucky I’m with friends in our little safe self-isolation pod. It’s a very strange time but we’re just being careful, listening to music, playing games, doing some face masks — you know, the classic quarantine stuff.”

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Rihanna tells Entertainment Tonight that she is keeping herself occupied during the pandemic. ”It could be cooking, it could be walking, it could be biking. It’s all of these little tiny things that you just do for fun that in the moment they just make you feel great. I don’t have a license, so I can’t really drive, but driving is also one of those things that is therapeutic.”

Shawn Mendes is ready to deck your halls with something very special — a new album set to drop just before Christmas.

The Canadian superstar has set a December 4th release for Wonder, which he wrote and recorded during the pandemic lockdown. He wrote a note to fans saying, “It really feels like a piece of me has been written down on paper and recorded into song. I tried to be as real and as honest as I’ve ever been. It’s a world and a journey and a dream and an album I’ve been wanting to make for a really long time. Thank you for being by my side for so many years. I love you all so much.”Shawn shared a trailer teasing the album along with that note, and will drop the title track as a single on Friday.

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Demi Lovato has turned the negative of her broken engagement into a positive for fans — by quickly writing and releasing a raw new song about the split.

Demi dropped the emotional ballad “Still Have Me” via social media on Wednesday, and the lyrics make it clear that she’s ready to move on. She sings, “It hurts to breathe / I don’t have much but at least I still have me / And that’s all I need.”

Estranged fiance Max Ehrlich has been using his social media to beg Demi to take him back, but hasn’t had much luck so far.

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Christina Aguilera knows she’s beautiful… No matter what “they” say — and she’s opening up to her fans about her journey to self-love.

In a new interview, she says that she’s learned to overcome the anxiety she used to feel when people criticized her looks. X-Tina told Italy magazine L’Officiel [pr: Loh Fish-EE-ell], “I have often clashed with my anxieties and with being hyper-critical towards myself. [I’m] not always pretty, far from perfect, but pure. I’m not going on a diet, so get over it.”

And she offers some advice for those who might be having trouble accepting themselves in that same way, saying, “Swim in your lane. If you waste time looking over your shoulder to see what others are doing, you lose sight of it, is the best advice I’ve ever been given.”

Kelly Clarkson‘s impending divorce just took another ugly turn — because her father-in-law says she owes him over a million bucks in unpaid management fees.

Narvel Blackstock, whose son Brandon married Kel back in 2013, has managed her career for over a decade. In the suit, filed this week, his firm says she’s fallen behind on payments for her work on her talk show and The Voice. The suit states that Clarkson has paid the firm $1.9 million this year, but owes another $1.4 million.

According to Variety, the two sides never had a written deal in place, just a verbal agreement for Kelly to pay 15 percent of her earnings, which she’d done since 2003.

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Mariah Carey remains bitter about how she was treated by her producer and first husband Tommy Mottola.

While calling the music mogul “controlling and jealous” in the just-published The Meaning of Mariah Carey, Mimi dubs the suburban New York home they shared as “Sing Sing” (after the nearby penitentiary). She says the place was “fully staffed with armed guards,” whose job wasn’t to protect but monitor her.

In particular, she recalls a 1996 incident where, after a recording session in her home studio with producer rapper DaBrat, they drove off to a nearby Burger King. Mimi claims that Mottola went “berserk” and called out an armed search party.

Carey and Mottola separated a year later. In his 2013 memoir, he admitted being “obsessive” but alleges she described their marriage in “harsh” and “untrue” terms. She does acknowledge that he made her a star. (BBC)

James Bond is returning to the big screen just in time for Thanksgiving — and fans of the series will be giving thanks for a November compilation that collects every theme song in its history.

The Best of Bond…James Bond is set to drop on November 20th, five days before No Time to Die hits theaters. The two-CD set includes Billie Eilish‘s theme to the new flick as well as Adele’s Oscar-winning Skyfall theme and Sam Smith‘s Spectre tune “Writing’s on the Wall,” which also earned an Academy Award.

The collection will also be available as a limited-edition set of three gold vinyl albums. (Music Universe)

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Someone Lewis Capaldi loved is officially out of his life.

The sad song specialist has reportedly split from girlfriend Catherine Halliday after seven months — which insiders blame on the U.K.’s strict COVID lockdown, which kept them apart for most of that time.

One of his pals tells Britain’s Sun, “Lewis has no hard feelings towards Catherine and they’re still amicable, but they decided it was best to call it a day. He’s at the beginning of his career, with a lot of opportunity at his ­fingertips, so it’s not the right time to settle down. He wishes Catherine all the best and has fond memories of their dates together.”

Lewis isn’t taking the split all that hard, it seems. Britain’s Sun magazine says he’s already swiping left and right on the high-end dating app Raya.

The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the R & B diva’s memoir, is coming out on Tuesday, and in a tweet promoting it on Sunday Carey divulged a little known chapter in her career.

She tweeted: “Fun fact. I did an alternative album while I was making Daydream. Just for laughs, but it got me through some dark days.” She included a photo of two of the book’s pages in which she talks about the album, which was credited to a group called Chick.

A rep for Carey tells Pitchfork that Mariah wrote, produced, or provided background vocals for the songs, directed one of their music videos and acted as art director for the package. While Daydream became the best-selling album of her long and hugely successful career, Chick’s Someone’s Ugly Daughter is the opposite. In fact, the album is now so rare that copies of it go for $900 on Amazon.

In the book excerpt, she describes how at night after recording Daydream she would bring her “little alt-rock” songs to the band and “hum a silly guitar riff” which the band would turn into songs that were “irreverent, raw and urgent.”

She goes on to explain that she fully committed to her character and was “playing with the style of the breezy-grunge, punk-light white singers who were popular at the time. You know, the ones who seemed to be so carefree with their feelings and their image.” She wanted, she says, “to break free, let loose and express my misery — but…also…to laugh.” She also gives a shout out to her friend Clarissa [Dane], who performs the lead vocals with her “as a hidden layer.”

The Mariah Carey autobiography will be this fall’s must-read book.

The Meaning of Mariah Carey arrives next week and includes several stories you have never heard before. For example, Mariah writes how she came this-close to being sex trafficked at age 12 by her sister.

During a conversation with Oprah Winfrey, she expressed shock at the sister’s cruelty. Oprah read aloud the passage from Mariah’s memoirs. (quote) “When I was 12 years old, my sister drugged me with Valium, offered me a pinky nail full of cocaine, inflicted me with third degree burns and tried to sell me out to a pimp.” (Entertainment Tonight)

Mariah said she felt like an outsider from her own family. She hardly knows her siblings. She speculated that her sister “had already been damaged” by the time she was born. In fact, last month, Allison Carey accused their mother of enabling “strangers to abuse [Allison] when she was just 10 and made her watch [children being compromised] and sacrifices during satanic rituals.” (New York Post)

Mariah became an international superstar despite the childhood trauma. Her sister turned tricks to pay for a drug addiction even after she became infected with HIV.

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NBC says Demi Lovato and Max Ehrich have ended their engagement after only two months. The two began dating earlier this year.

Halsey, Selena Gomez and Megan Thee Stallion are among the most important people in the music biz, and now Time magazine says they rank with the most important people in the world — period.

The ladies have all been named to Time‘s “100 Most Influential People” list, alongside folks like Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Anthony Fauci, Megan even gets the spotlight on one of a half-dozen different covers that appear on different versions of the mag.

Actress America Ferrera writes about Selena, saying she “courageously uses her global platform in service of her full identity” and ” rejects the notion that she belong in any one lane as an artist, activist or citizen of the world.”

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Recent Kelly Clarkson interviews make it sound like she’s feeling bad about her divorce from hubby Brandon Blackstock, but her latest Kelly-Oke cover shows another side. Kel took to the mic to tear through a sizzling version of Lizzo‘s smash hit “Good as Hell,” which proves you can’t keep a good woman down.

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Ed Sheeran turned the negative of Britain’s coronavirus lockdown into a positive for his pocketbook — by snapping up loads of properties on the cheap.

According to the Sun, the financially savvy star, who already owned dozens of homes and apartments around the U.K., shelled out about six million dollars to add several new places to his portfolio. As always, Ed paid cash for his purchases, so he won’t have any mortgage payments hanging over his head.

Public records show that Ed, who bought up several homes near his rural British estate, now owns more than 30 rental properties in London Alone. The total value? Nearly 100 million bucks.

Harry Styles‘s now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame… Well at least his over-the-top fashion is.

He isn’t an official inductee, but the Cleveland museum has picked up one of his over-the-top suits for display. The Rock Hall nabbed the Gucci suit that Harry wore when inducting his pal Stevie Nicks last year. The outfit’s on display in the museum’s “Right Here, Right Now” exhibit, which occupies a prime spot on the main floor.

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Rapper Post Malone‘s music was absolutely everywhere this past year, which explains him getting the most nominations at the upcoming Billboard Music Awards.

He snagged 16 nods in all, edging out competition like Lil’ Nas X, the creator of the viral hit “Old Town Road”, who notched 13, as well as Billie Eilish, who collected 12. They will go head-to-head in most of the biggest categories, including Top Artist, Top 100 Artist, Top Song Sales Artist and Top Streaming Songs Artist.

Kelly Clarkson will host the 2020 Billboard Music Awards, which NBC will broadcast live from Los Angeles on October 14th.

Gwen Stefani tells NBC that she has learned how to bake during the pandemic. “It’s been pretty magical for Blake and I and the kids because we don’t ever have that much solid time together. We did do a lot of fun stuff. We did a lot of cooking. I learned how to make sourdough bread like everybody else. It took me like a month to get my starter right. We did so much stuff. We built a garden, we planed zinnias. We planted thousands of zinnia flowers. It was just like a lot of stuff you kind of dream about doing but you never have time to do.”

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Harry Styles tells Rolling Stone magazine that One Direction played a wedding on the cheap when they were still teenagers. “One hundred sixty quid, between all four of us! Forty quid each. We said we’d do it, and then we found out it was the weekend coming up, and we hadn’t done anything for it. So we asked the bride what kind of stuff she wanted, and she said she didn’t mind, but she wanted some Bob Marley songs. Literally in three days, not even three, probably two days, we learned like 25 songs. We might have known like three of them before. I was 16, maybe 15, singing these Bob Marley songs. There was a girl a couple of years below us, and it was her mom. She said she wanted us to play.”

Billie Eilish is calling out people of her age for partying during pandemic.

In a now-deleted Instagram story — where she used a filter to distort her face — she said, “Funny how I haven’t hugged my best friends in six months and y’all are out here partying.” She then switched off the filter and in a deadpan and sarcastic tone of voice said, “Funny.”

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Harry Styles could be in line for an arresting new role — as a gay cop who has to hide his sexuality from his colleagues back in the 1950s.

According to Deadline, Harry is the top choice to play the lead in My Policeman, an Amazon adaptation of a popular British novel by Bethan Roberts. The story, which is told in flashbacks, is about a cop who falls in love with another man, but is forced to repress that and marry a woman — since homosexuality was actually a felony in Great Britain back then. The book is largely set in the ’90s, when Harry’s character and his wife become caretakers for that now-disabled first love.

Styles is already confirmed for a major role in the thriller Don’t Worry Darling.

The NY Post says an Austin, Texas man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for stalking and sending threatening letters to Taylor Swift and her former record label. Eric Swarbrick sent 40 letters to the CEO of the Big Machine Label Group asking him to make an introduction. Eric drove to Nashville to personally deliver some of the letters.

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Pentatonix, the band known for their Christmas music and cover songs on YouTube, went a little darker than usual for their latest cover — a take on the Tears for Fears classic, “Mad World.”

The a capella masters stripped the tune down and gave the video a serious treatment, performing separately against a stark black background. It’s quite a change of pace!

Madonna will do something unique among rock and pop artists — she plans to direct a biographical movie about herself!

After teasing the project across social media, the best-selling female recording star of all-time will collaborate with screenwriter Diablo Cody on her journey from a struggling New York performer to global superstardom.

While we’ve seen Elton John and the surviving members of Queen have considerable input on movies telling their stories, this is the first time a recording legend has led the creative team and will have the last word on the film.

Variety reports that the movie will be distributed by Universal with longtime studio executive Amy Pascal producing, along with Madonna’s business partner Guy Oseary.

Calling the project “an absolute labor of love for me,” Pascal says, “I have known Madonna since we made A League of Their Own together, and I can’t imagine anything more thrilling than collaborating with her and Diablo on bringing her true-life story to the big screen.”

It’s too early for information regarding casting, a release date or even what the movie will be called.

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Britney Spears and her dad Jamie have a new battle in her conservatorship — this one over bringing back the person that used to help manage her estate.

TMZ reports that Britney filed new documents with the court saying that Andrew Wallet, who served as co-conservator of Britney’s estate from 2008 to 2019 with Jamie, is “uniquely unsuited” to manage her estate now. In the filing Britney says she’s done performing for a while and needs to make “difficult budgetary choices going forward.” And bringing Wallet back on board, who was paid nearly a half-million dollars a year for the last five years he worked for her, is just too expensive.

Jamie says that Britney’s objections are full of factual misstatements and he’s asked the court to hold a hearing to go over all the facts.

Katy Perry and her new daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom, love a present sent to them by Taylor Swift.

Perry posted a photo of the baby blanket sent by Swift before Daisy was born last month and captioned it, “Miss Daisy Dove adores her hand embroidered blankie from miss Taylor Swift.” The blanket has “Baby Bloom” and a rose embroidered in the bottom right corner, with 2020 in the opposite corner and some yellow stars.

Perry added, “Hope it’s one she drags around for years till it becomes an unrecognizable shred that she keeps in her pocket as a teenager.”

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The producers of the next *X-Men* movie are rumored to have their eye on Lady Gaga to play Emma Frost, a.k.a. The White Queen.

We Got This Covered reports that Marvel’s trying to “tempt her back in front of the camera” for the role, which was last played on screen by January Jones in X-Men: First Class. Gaga hasn’t acted in a film since her Oscar-nominated performance in A Star Is Born. And apparently the producers are looking to cast more than just one music superstar… Marvel wants to cast Nick Jonas in a future superhero movie. The website says the X-Men reboot may also star Harry Styles as Pyro. No word on what role Nick may have.

Kelly Clarkson hasn’t talked a lot about her divorce from Brandon Blackstock — because she’s been saving up all the best stuff for her next album.

Kel dropped by the Today show on Friday for a chat, and implied that she’ll be spilling some tea on her new songs. She said, “This will probably be the most personal one that I’ve ever released. The whole record is basically every emotion you experience from the beginning of a relationship to the end of what it is now, and it’s been very therapeutic for me.”

As far as the sound? Kelly says, “It’s a little bit of all chapters of my career. If Meaning of Life, Stronger and Breakaway had a baby…”

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Hollywood insiders thought Harry Styles was set to ditch music for acting after all the raves he got for Dunkirk, but he stayed away from the film biz…until now.

Harry just signed on for the male lead in Don’t Worry Darling, which will be directed by Olivia Wilde. He’ll replace Shia LaBeouf in the drama about a housewife who uncovers a disturbing truth about her seemingly perfect life. (Hollywood Reporter)

Lady Gaga has talked a lot about how important family is in her life,  and she’s opened up about just how pivotal her grandmother was — especially in the wake of her sexual assault when she was younger.

Gaga tells Oprah Winfrey‘s O Magazine that her maternal grandmother really helped her through the trauma she suffered as a 19-year-old aspiring singer. She says, “After I was raped, I cried on her couch for days. Eventually she turned on MTV and told me to look up. A female artist was performing. My grandmother said, ‘I’ll let you cry the rest of the day, but then tomorrow you’re going to go back out and make a real change in this world. No more tears tomorrow.'”

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Harry Styles tells the Daily Times that some good will come out of the pandemic. “I think a lot of powerful music is going to come from it. Ultimately you have people who have a need to express themselves through music and writing and film and so many different ways, who are now having a lot of extra time with no distractions. … It gives you an ability to have almost like a bird’s-eye view of the world and your life.”

Demi Lovato‘s speaking up for those like her who may need help dealing with mental health issues — she’s now a spokesperson for a new online therapy service, Talkspace.

As an outspoken celebrity who’s struggled with drug addiction and depression, she shared the news on Good Morning America today (Wednesday). Talkspace is a platform that connects users with licensed therapists from the comfort of their homes. Demi tells fans, “You are absolutely not alone right now.” (People)

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Fans who’ve been bummed out on a lack of live Shawn Mendes performances will get a little treat next week when he takes the stage at the 2020 Toronto Film Festival Tribute Awards.

He’ll perform at the gala event, and will officially endow the new Shawn Mendes Foundation Changemaker Award, a $10,000 prize given to a film that tackles issues of social change.

The show will air September 15th at 8 pm ET on Canada’s CTV — it’ll also stream internationally on Variety‘s website.

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Justin Timberlake‘s suiting up for a crack at Major League Baseball — by investing big bucks in an effort to bring a team to his hometown of Nashville.

He’s joined a group with country stars Luke Combs and Eric Church that’s pushing to launch an expansion team that would be called the Nashville Stars. He says “I believe in Music City Baseball’s vision of linking baseball and music in a unique way to unite and entertain people and I am excited to help generate awareness throughout the community as we share our vision for bringing MLB to Music City.”

The plan faces a number of hurdles, including Major League Baseball’s dwindling attendance, and financial issues in the city of Nashville, which would have to partly finance a new stadium. However, there’s much hope in the future for the Stars seeing as J.T. has experience in sports management — he already owns part of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies. (Tennessean)

The Daily Star says Adele may post a bikini picture to show off her weight loss. A source tells the newspaper, “Adele’s proud of her new physique, she obviously doesn’t want to become known as someone who is just posting sexy selfies all the time. However, she’s been desperate to show herself off to give her a confidence boost. She wants to wait for the dust to settle before she posts any more pics. But she’s keen to go somewhere she can wear a bikini. She’s worked so hard to look this good and isn’t afraid to show it off.”

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Ace Showbiz says Ed Sheeran’s first demo album has been auctioned off for $65,000. He recorded “Spinning Man” when he was 13. Ed owns 19 of the 20 copies that were made.

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The Sun claims One Direction’s wax figures have been removed from Madame Tussauds Museum in London. The figures were retired after being on display for seven years. There are currently no plans to honor Harry Styles or Niall Horan’s solo careers with updated figures.

Billie Eilish was the big winner at the 2020 iHeartRadio Music Awards, which were announced on Monday.

The 18-year-old singer took home four awards, Female Artist of the Year, Alternative Rock Artist of the Year, Alternative Rock Song of the Year for “Bad Guy” and Alternative Rock Album of the Year for When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? In addition, her brother, keyboardist and producer Finneas was named Producer of the Year.

Taylor Swift, Ellie Goulding, and Katy Perry were among the artists who took home one award.

Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour was named Tour of the Year.

The 2020 iHeartRadio Music Awards was initially scheduled for March 12th at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, but was canceled due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The performances became part of iHeart’s March 29th Living Room Concert for America hosted by Elton John, which also included charitable appeals.

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People magazine says Rihanna is recovering from a scooter accident. Her representative tells the magazine, “Rihanna is completely fine now but flipped over on an electric scooter last week and bruised her forehead and face. Luckily there were no major injuries and she is healing quickly.”

Taylor Swift may need to defend herself in court, again.

A federal judge dismissed her attempt to dismiss a copyright lawsuit. A pair of songwriters claim that Taylor swiped their lyrics for her number-one song, “Shake It Off.” Her chorus has similar lyrics to their song released in 2001.

Sean Hall and Nathan Butler wrote the 3LW song “Playas Gon’ Play” that hit the charts when Taylor was in middle school. She could have been influenced by the opening verse, which includes the lyrics “The playas gon’ play. Them haters gonna hate.”

The federal judge determined the lyrics are close enough for the copyright case to continue. The songwriters have asked for a share of the profits. Taylor’s lawyers rejected their demands as a “money grab.” (Deadline)

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The #FreeBritney movement just took a big hit — after Britney Spears told a court that her conservatorship was all her idea.

Brit’s lawyers filed a request for a new guardian to control her finances as well as her medical health decisions and musical career. Attorney Samuel Ingham the Third wrote, “This is a voluntary conservatorship. Conservatee wishes to exercise her right to nominate a conservator of the estate.”

The papers also shoot down a couple of long-running rumors, stating that the star does not have a developmental disability, and is not a patient in or on leave of absence from a state institution. Britney has pledged to make an in-person appearance at the next hearing, scheduled for November 10th. (New York Post)

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Summer is over for Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani. The couple relocated from Oklahoma before the school year started and settled into their Los Angeles mansion.

They bought the place last year but chose to quarantine on Blake’s remote ranch. A source told Us Weekly about Blake and Gwen’s return to her hometown (quote) “They are very happy to be settled at last in their family home. It’s the new beginning Gwen needed.”

Gwen has three children. Her oldest will start high school and the youngest will be in elementary school. Los Angeles delayed the school year. Lessons will be blended between in-class and at home. (Us Weekly)

Beyoncé has something brewing. She rented a TV studio in the Hamptons and banished everybody for the week.

A source told the New York Post, (quote) “It’s a big studio with two separate buildings. The whole thing was closed for Beyoncé. So nobody could go in.”

Typically, the studio rents for public access programming. Those hosts were alerted via email to a new schedule because four days were blacked out exclusively for Beyoncé. (New York Post)

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Camila Cabello thinks we need to borrow from Frozen to overcome our pandemic worries — and just “Let It Go.”

She posted a video as part of her fan outreach, and she acknowledged that she’s been having issues of her own lately. But she says, “Anxiety is really focusing on things that are out of our control. We can’t control this pandemic. We can’t control the actions of other people. We can’t control what happens outside of us. What we can control is how we respond.”

Camila’s advice is old-fashioned, but worth hearing. In a caption for the video, she writes, “We can BE the change we want to see. We want a world with more love, unity, compassion, kindness, empathy. We can choose to BE love, BE kindness, BE compassion, BE empathy in our homes, BE progress towards a better world.”

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Miley Cyrus tells the BBC that she wants to start a supergroup with Lana Del Rey and Billie Eilish.  “Lana Del Ray was the first cover I ever did and now I’m doing Billie Eilish. Somebody said me, Billie and Lana should start a band called Billie Rey Cyrus. That’s a good idea.”

Taylor Swift has been continuous on her streak of doing good deeds every day — by sending a lovely handwritten note congratulating a young fan on his bravery in coming out… And his success on a demanding college track.

Andrew Mooney shared Tay’s message, along with a photo of the Folklore cardigan she included in his care package. She wrote, “Someone told me you’re about to finish your Ph.D.! I wanted to congratulate you on this incredible accomplishment and to applaud you for all the hard work you’ve put into your studies. I saw how supportive you’ve been of my music over the years and was so touched.  I’m also so proud of you for the bravery you’ve shown in your personal life, choosing to live and love honestly even when it isn’t easy.”

Tay has been a longtime advocate for the LGBTQ community, pressing Congress to pass the Equality Act guaranteeing civil rights last year, and drove home the point in the video for her smash “You Need to Calm Down.”

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Music – news.com says Ariana Grande has become the first woman to have 200 million Instagram followers.

Lady Gaga posted, “Congratulations to my friend @arianagrande for 200 million followers! You’re a queen! Wear that crown!”

Kylie Jenner has 193 million followers while Selena Gomez has 190 million

Congratulations to Ed Sheeran and Cherry Seaborn, who delivered their first child, a daughter.

Early Tuesday morning, Ed posted to Instagram their exciting news. He wrote (quote) “I have some personal news that I wanted to share. Last week, with the help of an amazing delivery team, Cherry gave birth to our beautiful and healthy daughter – Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran. We are completely in love with her.”

Sheeran added how excited they feel about becoming parents. Also, they wish for some privacy … and a few hours of decent sleep each night. (E! News)

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Mariah Carey will own Christmas even harder this season. She’s committed to a holiday special on AppleTV. Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special will naturally feature her chart-topping holiday tune “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” There’s also dancing and animation. (Billboard)

IN OTHER NEWS: Mariah jumped into the Ellen DeGeneres controversy. She recalled an “uncomfortable” interview dating back to 2008. At the time, rumors swirled that Mariah was pregnant. Ellen poured champagne to challenge Mariah (quote) “Toast to not being pregnant.”

Mariah acted as if she sipped the bubbly rather than reveal the pregnancy before she was prepared. Shortly afterward, she miscarried. Mariah recalled, (quote) “I was extremely uncomfortable. There is an empathy that can be applied to those moments that I would have liked to have been implemented.” (Vulture)

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Selena Gomez is launching her own line of beauty products this week.

The pop star took to Instagram Monday to announce that Rare Beauty will be coming to Sephora stores on Thursday at noon ET. Lip color, eyeliner and foundation in diverse shades are some of the products she’ll be unveiling.

She joins a long list of celebrities who have already made a splash in cosmetics, including Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba and Lady Gaga.

Gomez writes that she’s “been working on Rare Beauty for two years now.” She says she’s really proud of the line and that she can’t believe she’s finally getting to share it with the public.

The MTV VMAs made the most of their New York City backdrop Sunday night, with performances from iconic locations all over the Big Apple. Other remote performances made the most of green screen and graphics to make it look as if they were in N.Y.C., with many pre-taped.

Other than that, Lady Gaga’s dominance was the story of the night, as she came out five different times to receive award after award, rocking a unique outfit complete with mask each time, and she also performed with Ariana Grande.

The evening kicked off with host Keke Palmer denouncing police brutality and dedicating the show to Chadwick Boseman.

The MTV Video Music Awards air on Sunday at 8:00 pm ET, and they’re shaping up to be one of the most memorable TV events of the pandemic.

The show was originally going to take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but the performances have all been moved outside due to COVID-19 concerns. The acts set to perform include The Weeknd, Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande, and Miley Cyrus, among others.

Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande are the leading nominees with nine nods apiece. The Weeknd and Billie Eilish snagged six nominations each, followed by Taylor Swift with five.

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It’s been rumored for days and now it’s finally official. Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean will compete on Season 29 of Dancing With the Stars.

On Thursday, the 42-year-old singer-dancer confirmed that he’ll be on the show. Also joining the cast will be Kaitlyn Bristowe of The Bachelorette, but who their professional partners will be has yet to be revealed.

AJ made the reveal on Good Morning America and said his two daughters, ages three and seven, are particularly excited to see him put on his dancing shoes on TV. (quote) “They are stoked – especially my oldest.” (Fox News)

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New mother Katy Perry not only has a new album out today, she’s got a video game, too.

Perry plays “Katy’s Quest,” a circus-themed video game, in the video for Smile‘s title track. The game is now live at Alienware.com/Smile. It has you helping circus characters Strong Man, Frog Prince and Wolf Boy’s find their smiles again.

Britney Spears would like control of her life again at some point — and her dad Jamie to get out of her life.

People reports a source close to Britney saying the star “still wants the conservatorship to end at some point. But more urgently right now she doesn’t want her dad to regain the sole conservator role.”

The conservatorship was recently extended through February of next year. Jamie asked the court to become the sole person in charge again after he took on help in September 2019 because of health issues. Britney “strongly prefers” that Jodi Montgomery, the licensed conservator who came on board, to “continue in that role as [she] has done for nearly a year.”

The source says, “Britney wants someone who is respectful and considerate to be in charge of her conservatorship. Someone from the outside who is not her family. Someone who will treat her like an adult and listen to her. She will never have this relationship with Jamie… She dreams about the conservatorship ending, but this doesn’t seem realistic. She needs to be surrounded by people who look out for her.”

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Aaliyah’s music could be coming soon to a streaming service near you.

Fans of the late R&B star have lamented for years that the only way you can access her music in the modern era is on Youtube. That means most music fans who’ve moved on from physical media to streaming are missing out — as-is an entire generation of music fans who’ve never been able to play her music on their favorite apps.

Yesterday (Tuesday), on the 19th anniversary of her tragic death, Aaliyah’s estate updated fans on the status of her catalog on streaming services. The official Twitter for Aaliyah posted, “To our loyal fans, We are excited to announce that communication has commenced between the estate and various record labels about the status of Aaliyah’s music catalog, as well as its availability on streaming platforms in the near future. Thank you for your continued love and support. More updates to come!”

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Hollywoodlife.com says Lady Gaga is preparing for Sunday’s MTV VMAs by soaking in an ice tub.

BuzzFeed News says Billie Eilish’s puppy recently went to the bathroom in her room and ruined her Louis Vuitton, limited-edition Nikes, Burberry and Chanel sneakers. Damage is estimated in the thousands

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Justin Timberlake tells Apple Radio that he and Timbaland created “Sexyback” while listening to David Bowie. ”I was listening to David Bowie’s Rebel Rebel, which essentially is about a cross-dresser, and so I was picturing guys, girls, all iterations of that in a club, singing this to each other.  And I said, this has to be so simple and a vibe and just like an attitude. And I was like, what’s the most audacious thing you could possibly say. And that was the first line of the song. We got to bring dance music back’: And the funny thing is Tim’s playing the beat, right? This is exactly how it happened. I’ll never forget this moment. So he’s like, “All right man. I think we got to bring dance music back. So he’s [beatboxing]…He’s like, “What are you going to say?” I just go like this, “I’m bringing sexy back.” And he goes, “Yeah!”‘

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Harry Styles tells Billboard magazine that he might consider doing a “Zoom reunion” with One Direction. “I don’t know if that’s the reunion that we’ve had in mind. I don’t know if that’s how … if that would be the way to do it, but, yeah, I’ll have a quick whip round.”

Miley Cyrus took to her Instagram over the weekend to reveal that her grandmother “Mammie” died.

Loretta Finley was 85-years old and known to Cyrus’s fans through her appearances with the singer over the years, including being on The Voice in 2016. Cyrus wrote, “Even though you are gone… NOTHING has or ever will change. You will FOREVER be my inspiration and fashion icon. Even more than that, the ultimate model of being a true LIGHT in a dark world.”

In another post Cyrus wrote about an appearance with Snoop Dogg, with a caption that said “Mammie baking brownies with Snoop Dogg — she never knew we snuck weed in them.”

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OK! magazine says Justin Bieber’s wife, Hailey, has allegedly warned him to stay away from Kanye West. A source tells the magazine, “Justin comes back from these meetings with Kanye super arrogant and talking in riddles. Plus, Hailey’s worried his relationship with the Kardashians would lead to him reconnecting with (former fling) Kourtney Kardashian. Justin’s always trying to push the idea that they should spend more time with Kanye — but it makes Hailey uneasy, even if she is close with other members of his family, like Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner.”

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Harry Styles tells Another Man magazine that he lived in a “bubble” when he was a member of One Direction. “It’s this bubble where things happen around you and it’s not real life. It’s amazing, but it’s not realistic. So when you come out of that, it’s nice to catch up with everything … I loved it and it was what I wanted, but I’m enjoying writing at the moment; trying new things. I’ve been asking myself, ‘What do I want to say?’”

The folklore album by Taylor Swift tops the Billboard chart for a fourth consecutive week.

She joins The Weeknd whose After Hours ruled the Billboard 200 for four weeks in April. No other albums this year have been as popular.

Taylor is the first woman to spend four weeks at number-one since Adele’s 25 album topped the charts for seven straight weeks. That happened five years ago.

Taylor’s Reputation and Lover albums did not have the sustained selling power like folklore has shown. (Billboard)

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After failing to make the ballot in Wisconsin this week, Kanye West hasn’t given up hope in his run for President — and he’s given us an update on where he stands.

Kanye will appear as an independent on ballots in one-fifth of the country. Friday, he tweeted he would be present on ballots in “…Oklahoma, Arkansas, Vermont, West Virginia, Colorado, Iowa, Utah, Minnesota, Tennessee and Virginia.”

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Since most of us can’t go out to shows right now, OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder wants to bring shows to us — in a new concert docu-series he’s planning.

Ryan detailed the concept in an Instagram live chat, saying, “It’s the most famous venues in the world, which are now sitting dormant for the next 12 or 15 months. Basically I miss Unplugged, I miss MTV Behind the Music. I miss the concert experience, but it’s a different way with the stories behind the hits and songs that change your life.”

He added that there’s an upside for both artists and fans. “I’ve kind of Frankenstein’ed my version of that called One Night Only and the biggest artists in the world performing at whatever venue they choose, doing all their hits and being able to launch a new single, launch a new album off the back of each episode.”

There’s nothing set in stone yet, but Tedder says he’s been talking to a lot of executives about the idea.

It may not quite have the resonance of Oprah’s Book Club, but Adele has heaped praise on a self-help book she says “will shake your brain and make your soul scream.”

The newly slimmed-down singer gushed on Instagram about Untamed: Stop Pleasing Start Living by Glennon Doyle. She writes, ” I am so ready for myself after reading this book! It’s as if I just flew into my body for the very first time. Whew!… Anyone who has any kind of capacity to truly let go and give into yourself with any kind of desire to hold on for dear life – Do it. Read it. Live it. Practice it. We are a lot! But we are meant to be a lot!”

Adele suggests that you not only read it, but “have a highlighter on hand to make notes because you’ll want to refer back to it.” She says the book taught her that she’s solely responsible for her own freedom and that “our own liberation liberates those around us.”

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Britney Spears struck out yet again on Wednesday, when a California judge dismissed her latest attempt to have her dad removed from her conservatorship.

The court ruled that Jamie Spears would retain control of Brit’s finances, while “temporary” conservator Jodi Montgomery would be in charge of everything else. For what it’s worth, Britney is fine with Montgomery’s work — she just wanted to boot her dad.

Brit got some surprise support from her mostly forgotten first husband Jason Alexander, who she was married to for three days back in 1994. He showed up to tell the paparazzi, “I wanna see Britney get what she rightly deserves. From pretty regular conversations, she doesn’t want to be under the conservatorship. It’s negatively affecting her life. It’s time for it to be over.” (TMZ)

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People magazine says Taylor Swift recently donated $30,000 to help an 18 year-old Londoner attend college. Vitoria Mario had a fundraising page that detailed her attempts to earn money for tuition. Taylor saw her page and gave her $30,000.

She posted, “Vitoria, I came across your story online and am so inspired by your drive and dedication to turning your dreams into reality. I want to gift you the rest of your goal amount. Good luck with everything you do! Love, Taylor”