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Miley Cyrus Rides A Glittering Disco Ball In Feverish ‘Midnight Sky’ VMA Debut
By Lauren Rearick For one brief moment, Miley Cyrus took the audience of the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards on a trip through time. Performing her latest track, “Midnight Sky,” live for the first time, Cyrus took a cue from the single’s vintage-inspired visuals, incorporating elements of disco and dance into her VMAs return. In the feverish performance, Cyrus wore a shimming black dress with a slit up the thigh and accessorized with a huge chain holding a silver cross pendant. She stood in front of a circle of white light that flashed in time with her music. Throughout the delivery, the cherry-red circle below Cyrus grew bigger and brighter, rising in intensity with the track. Just as the song started to conclude, Cyrus climbed a set of stars, floating away on a disco wrecking ball, whic...
The Weeknd Kicked Off The VMAs With A Literal, Actual Bang
By Harron Walker The Weekend kicked off the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards with a live performance of “Blinding Lights” from a staggering stage overlooking New York City, and, well, you didn’t think he was going to give us “Blinding Lights” without literally trying to blind us with some lights, did you? Performing the chart-topping After Hours track before a live audience for the first time since taping Saturday Night Live in March, the Canadian hitmaker began his set lying on the floor, bloodied and bruised, as if waking up from a particularly debaucherous night—much like the song’s deeply chaotic Anton Tammi-directed video. After stumbling his way through flashing blue and orange light fixtures, Abel found his way to the edge of the Edge, a 100-story-high sky deck atop one of Manhatta...
DaBaby Made A Powerful Statement About Police Brutality In VMA Debut
DaBaby‘s “Rockstar,” featuring Roddy Ricch, just racked up its 11th week at the top spot on Billboard’s Songs of the Summer chart, and the Charlotte-based rapper brought his hit to the 2020 Video Music Awards. DaBaby is up for four awards this year, including Artist of the Year, but this marked his first time on the awards-show stage. “Get your popcorn because you’re dealin’ with Baby,” teased the Charlotte-based rapper on the VMAs Pre-Show when asked about his main show performance. As the show’s hostess Keke Palmer noted, DaBaby’s powerful performance spoke to the cultural moment, particularly in the wake of national uprisings in response to the deaths of unarmed Black citizens George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others. The ...
Taylor Swift Just Won A VMA For The First Video She Ever Directed
The 2020 VMAs voters proved they are Lover lovers. Before Taylor Swift was walking in the woods wearing a cardigan, the pop star was donning shockingly good drag in her music video, “The Man,” for her track off her 2019 album, Lover. The video, which doubled as Swift’s directorial debut, saw the singer dressed as a man, showing how much easier life would be without the inescapable weight of systemic misogyny. At this year’s awards show, Swift won Best Direction for her directorial debut in a category ruled by women, with three of the six nominees being female. Swift was up against Billie Eilish for “Xanny,” and Hannah Lux Davis for Doja Cat’s “Say So.” The first woman to be nominated for best direction was Mary Lambert in 1985, and it wasn’t until 2016 when Melina M...
BRET MICHAELS Discusses STEVIE NICKS Relationship While Reading From ‘Auto-Scrap-Ography’ Book (Video)
Video of POISON singer Bret Michaels reading from his recently released book, titled “Bret Michaels: Auto-Scrap-Ography”, can be seen below. In the clip, Michaels talks about what really happened between him and Stevie Nicks when they recorded “Love’s A Hard Game To Play”, a song that he had written for inclusion on her first retrospective release, 1991’s “Timespace: The Best Of Stevie Nicks”. In the liner notes for “Timespace”, Nicks wrote about “Love’s A Hard Game To Play”: “This song was just brought to me barely two weeks ago by a most extraordinary young man. One of these men who has everything — beauty, sensitivity, warmth, and a love for life that I had not seen in a long time. I recorded his song, s...
DEE SNIDER: Why So Many Americans Believe In Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories
In a new interview with Finland’s Kaaos TV, TWISTED SISTER singer Dee Snider was asked for his opinion on why so many Americans have balked at the most basic safety measures meant to tame the COVID-19 pandemic, including refusing to wear masks and continuing to gather in large groups. Many have also embraced fringe conspiracy theories claiming that the coronavirus death toll has been exaggerated and that the COVID-19 pandemic is part of a strategy conceived by global elites — such as Bill Gates — to roll out vaccinations with tracking chips that would later be activated by 5G, the technology used by cellular networks. Dee said (hear audio below): “I’ve got a couple of really good answers here, I think. My wife made this amazing observation, ’cause we travel so much....
BEHEMOTH’s NERGAL On Coronavirus-Related Music Business Shutdown: ‘This Is What It Is Now. Deal With It.’
In a new interview with Terry “Beez” Bezer of Knotfest.com‘s “Mosh Talks With Beez”, BEHEMOTH frontman Adam “Nergal” Darski spoke about how he is dealing with the coronavirus crisis and what the touring circuit might look like post-pandemic. He said (see video below): “I’m an optimist, but I’m also a big realist. I don’t think anything happens until mid-2021. I think maybe full-on we’re back in business in 2022, which I hope for. But this is what it is now. Deal with it. We’ve got new circumstances, we’ve got a new environment. So you can either just sit and whine and cry like a baby, or you can do something with the situation and just fucking bust your balls, bust your creativity and deliver something out ...
MARTY FRIEDMAN To Release ‘Tokyo Jukebox 3’ Album In October
Former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman will release his new solo album, Tokyo Jukebox 3″, in Japan on October 21. Earlier today, Marty revealed the LP cover artwork via his social media, and he included the following message: “Just like everyone, I’ve had a real tough time dealing with 2020. We all suffered from a massive lack of fun this year, so I made it my mission to make feel-good, serotonin-level-raising music of the highest order, stuff that will hopefully kick you all in the feels, and hard. “Making the album during a pandemic had its hellish challenges, but everyone is facing hardships now, so I was just thankful to have such cathartic work to do. “Guitar fans will notice, and hopefully enjoy, some pretty cool updates to my guitar sounds. I’ve...
Nicky Romero Teases Debut of a New Alias, Monocule
The electronic dance music world is abuzz with theories after Nicky Romero teased what appears to be a new alias. An Instagram profile dedicated to the alias in question, Monocule, was recently created, but it does not contain any posts at the time of this article’s publishing. Although it is devoid of content, the profile‘s bio reads, “the deeper side of [Nicky Romero],” explicitly revealing it to be the Dutch superstar’s new moniker. Romero himself took to Instagram to tease the project today, August 31st, according to a screenshot shared by a vigilant Reddit user. In addition to the social media fodder relating to Monocule, a mysterious EP has surfaced on Beatport, which is available for pre-order now. The record is a three-track EP that is s...
Martin Garrix Previews New Ytram Collaboration with Elderbrook
Martin Garrix has revealed that the next release from his tech house alias Ytram is a collaboration with Elderbrook titled “Fire.” Over the weekend, the Dutch dance music superstar took to Twitter to share a mysterious 7-second video with a few keys and the lyrics, “I can see it coming.” While the preview doesn’t reveal much, fans identified it as one of his IDs from the virtual edition of Tomorrowland. Naturally, his fans lost their minds and began speculating what was to come. Fortunately, Garrix didn’t make them wait very long. Soon after, he revealed the title of the song, his collaborator Elderbrook, and the track’s cover art and release date. “Fire” by Ytram and Elderbrook is set to release this Friday, Septemb...
Diplo Teams Up with The Smithsonian for Ambient Stargazing Concert
Last week, Diplo teamed up with the mediation app Calm to announce his new ambient album, titled MMXX. Fans with the app are able to preview the album before its official launch this week. The Grammy Award-winning producer stated that sales from the new album will be directed to Beam Collective and The Loveland Foundation‘s efforts to augment mental health awareness. This afternoon, Diplo announced that he’s partnering with The Smithsonian‘s AirSpace podcast for a series of limited capacity stargazing shows. Dubbed “Under Ancient Skies: A Night of Ambient Music and Stargazing,” fans in two cities across four nights can listen to an ambient set and learn about astronomy from the experts. Diplo and The Smithsonian’s “Under Ancient Skie...
Lady Gaga Delivers Dystopian “Chromatica” Mash-Up at 2020 MTV VMAs
Dance music fans were excited to see that Lady Gaga was one of the featured performers at the 2020 MTV VMAs. During her headline performance, she delivered a mash-up of hits from her latest album Chromatica, complete with multiple costume changes, a special guest, festival-grade production, and intricate choreographed dance routines. Starting off with “Enigma” and “Chromatica II,” the pop superstar introduced viewers to the dystopian world she created with her record-breaking sixth studio album. She would then go on to perform a routine soundtracked by her Madeon-produced tune “911.” The French electronic producer took to Twitter and shared how he enjoyed playing a role in the show. Not long after, she transitioned to the album’s lead single &...
