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EVANESCENCE’s AMY LEE: Why It Has Taken Nine Years To Record Follow-Up To Self-Titled Album
EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee spoke to Meltdown of Detroit’s WRIF radio station about why it has taken so long for the band to begin work on the follow-up to 2011’s self-titled album. “Lots of reasons,” she said (see video below). “I like to have an open mind about what I can be and what I can do in life. “I love the music I’ve made with this band, and there are times that I have been more excited about it and passionate about it and in love with and wanting to pour into it than others. Sometimes you have to get away from it. It’s such a full saturation. “The way that our cycles have always gone, really — it started to change now; we found a way to really break it up — that is all you can do for that however many years period of your life ...
CLUTCH Drummer Would Prefer To Wait Until Band Can Tour Before Releasing New Album
Drummer Jean-Paul Gaster of Maryland rockers CLUTCH spoke to Full In Bloom about the band’s plans to work on the follow-up to 2018’s “Book Of Bad Decisions” album. He said (hear audio below): “It’s tough now. The climate that we’re in, with the way the world is going at this point, it’s difficult to plan something like an album release. Speaking for myself, I would prefer to have a full, big collection of songs come out where we can actually go out and tour behind those songs. The idea of recording a record and not being able to play that record live is a little strange for us at the moment, just because we’re very much a live band.” Asked if there are any new CLUTCH releases in the works for the coming months, Gaster said: “...
Fracmont – Messiah
RATING: 8/10 Among the earliest European bands to blur the lines between thrash and what was then a nascent death metal sound, Messiah have long been unsung heroes of the brutal underground. It doesn’t help that they haven’t released a new studio album since 1994, but all good things come to those that wait, even in the turbulent world of heavy metal. “Fracmont” arrives swiftly after last month’s excellent “Fatal Grotesque Symbols — Darken Universe” EP and adds a veritable fuck-ton of fuel to this veteran band’s gathering firestorm. Always one of Euro thrash’s most inventively nasty bands, the Swiss crew’s collective sense of drama and ambition is displayed both in this album’s grandiose sonic hues and in the fluid complexit...
Selena Gomez Shares What She Learned From Blackpink While Doing Makeup With NikkieTutorials
Selena Gomez talked all things life and Rare Beauty with YouTube star NikkieTutorials (Nikkie de Jager) through a fun virtual makeup session uploaded to de Jager’s YouTube channel over the weekend. In a split screen from their respective homes, the duo applied the same makeup look using both Gomez’s new makeup line and de Jager’s eyeshadow palette in collaboration with Beauty Bay. And while Gomez was excited to share all her new makeup products, she was also quick to gush over Blackpink, who she recently collaborated with on the summery “Ice Cream.” When de Jar asked Gomez what advice she’d give the K-pop stars as a veteran pop singer, the “Lose You to Love Me” artist admitted, “I think I would learn a lot more from them.” “...
Nilda Rosario Makes SBS History as First Female Radio Host for ‘El Jukeo de NY’
After working as a TV anchor for over 15 years, Nilda Rosario returns to her first passion, radio, as the new on-air talent for the Spanish Broadcasting System’s “El Jukeo de Nueva York” show on Mega 97.9 FM, Billboard can exclusively reveal today (Sept. 8). Rosario will co-host with longtime TV personality Janeiro Matos. The Puerto Rican Emmy-winning journalist and presenter, who’s been living in New York for 25 years, assures that the radio show has the “winning formula.” “I’m bringing the point of view of a woman and my experience in the news with a fresh tone,” she tells Billboard. The announcement also marks the first time SBS named a female host on an evening radio show in New York. Rosario joined the team after Frederick Martínez “El Pachá” left the air. “I feel very pro...
Soul Legends Gladys Knight & Patti LaBelle Set for Next ‘Verzuz’ Battle
It’s the Godmother of Soul versus the Empress of Soul. Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight‘s pipes will take the roof off The Fillmore on Sunday, Sept. 13 for the next Verzuz battle. VerzuzTV announced the latest superstar pairing on Instagram Tuesday (Sept. 8). “The Master Class we’ve ALL been waiting for! @MsGladysKnight vs. @MsPattiLaBelle,” the caption read. “Leave ya church clothes on all Sunday and pull up to the affair of all affairs. Y’all gotta get dressed up in ya Sunday’s best for this one.” In addition to fans donning their Sunday or even Easter best, the soul sisters will show out at an official venue, The Fillmore in Philadelphia, at 8 p.m. EST for what the post described as “the ultimate Verzuz.” Maybe the two superw...
Taylor Swift Has Already Won Two Grammys for Album of the Year. Could She Win a Third? Should She?
If Swift wins album of the year for a third time, she would join a Grammy Mount Rushmore that consists of Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon. Taylor Swift is a Grammy magnet. She has won 10 awards, including two for album of the year. She has lost album of the year just once (when she was a nominee). Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories took the 2013 award, beating Red. So the Nominations Review Committee, which determines the final nominations in the Big Four categories—album, record and song of the year plus best new artist—has to know that if Swift’s current album, Folklore, is nominated for album of the year, it may very well win. Swift has demonstrated broad voter appeal—to both pop and country fans, older and younger members. Swift would make history if she won. She’d be the j...
Neil Peart Tribute Show to Feature Taylor Hawkins, Chad Smith
Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters and Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers highlight an all-star group of drummers who will pay tribute to the late, great Neil Peart of Rush. The event, which takes place this Saturday night (Sept. 12) will serve as a benefit for brain tumor research at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. A ticket to stream the event will cost $12.99 and will be aired on Fite.TV. The tribute is part of the 2020 Modern Drummer Festival. Other drummers performing include Rick Allen of Def Leppard, Charlie Benante of Anthrax, Ray Luzier of Korn and many, many more. The late Rush drummer died from a brain tumor in January of this year after an undisclosed battle with the illness. See the full list of performers below. Rick Allen (Def Leppard)Kenny Ar...
Visa Fees for Foreign Artists Touring the US to Nearly Double
It just got a lot more expensive for independent foreign artists to tour in the United States. According to the Federal Register, the daily journal of the American government, the US Department of Homeland Security has doubled the cost of visa fees for international artists starting this October. The fee increases impact visa types frequently used by musicians to enter the US: the P visa, which can be used for performers entering a competition or any family members of the performer; and the O visa, which is for individuals who possess “extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics.” The filing fees for P visas now stands at $695, while the cost of O visas is $705 — a 53% increase from it former cost of $460, notes NME. Additionally, the visa application wai...
Rush’s Geddy Lee Confirms He’s Alive After Trending on Twitter
The year 2020 has been so rough that anytime a celebrity trends on Twitter, people assume the worst. So, when Geddy Lee’s name went viral over the past 24 hours, some fans assumed something tragic had happened to the Rush legend. Thankfully, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer reports that he is alive and well. Rush’s official Twitter account had to assure fans that the beloved prog-rock icon is okay, issuing a statement from Lee that read, “Even I gulped when I saw I was trending on Twitter, but I asked my dogs and apparently I’m a bit boring but otherwise fine.” As for why Geddy Lee was trending in the first place, all signs point to a cardboard cutout of the singer-bassist placed in the stands behind home plate at Toronto Blue Jays games this season. The team has been playing home games i...
BTS and BLACKPINK Make K-Pop History on Billboard Charts
BTS and BLACKPINK have made history on the Billboard charts… again. Thanks to their newest singles, “Dynamite” and “Ice Cream” respectively, both K-pop groups have just scored their their highest chart numbers to date. Last week, BTS landed their first-ever No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “Dynamite”. It also marked the first time an all-South Korean act had nabbed that spot. Fast forward to today and “Dynamite” has yet to be dethroned, which essentially doubles the impact of those coveted accolades. Mind you, it held that title over the competitive Labor Day Weekend (!) with 17.5 million US streams (which was down 49% from last week) and 182,000 downloads sold (which dropped 31%). And then there’s BLACKPINK, who scored a career-best rank this week as well. “Ice Cream”, thei...
Sacha Baron Cohen Secretly Filmed Borat 2: Report
Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (20th Century Fox) Sacha Baron Cohen has a brand new project in the works and it already sounds very nice. Last month, the actor/comedian was seen filming in his old Borat costume, the same getup he wore in his 2006 box office hit. According to a new exclusive report from Collider, it looks like Cohen has not only finished shooting Borat 2, but he’s begun screening the sequel for “a select few industry types.” Citing industry sources, Collider reports that the sequel follows Borat in the modern day where he believes he’s a successful movie star due to the success of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Instead of reveling in the fame, ...
