music blog
Nine Years Later, Foxes Reflects On Pressure Following Grammy Win For “Clarity”
For a budding musician, what could be more serendipitous than a Grammy Award right at the start of their career? That is the position singer-songwriter Foxes found herself in back in 2014, when her work on Zedd‘s “Clarity” nabbed the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. Nearly 10 years after its 2012 release, the generational anthem still manages to make crowds go gaga. “I was like, ‘Oh, wait a minute. I’ve just been writing in a bedroom, and I’m suddenly in LA holding a Grammy! I don’t really know how to deal with this!’” reflected the Brit in a recent interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “I don’t really think I was a pop act,” she remembered. “The major label I was with put me in a box…I was trying to ...
Bonnaroo Unveils Dazzling 2022 Lineup With Flume, Porter Robinson, ILLENIUM, More
After two turbulent years of canceled music festivals, the organizers of Bonnaroo have announced an eye-popping lineup for its return in 2022. The festival’s talent buyers clearly have a knack for electronic music, calling on some of the genre’s most beloved artists to perform across more than 10 stages this summer. Set to perform at the 2022 edition in Manchester, Tennessee are Porter Robinson, REZZ, Flume, ILLENIUM, CloZee, Said The Sky, Nora En Pure, Disclosure, Chris Lake, Moore Kismet and many, many more. Porter Robinson. Carlo Cavaluzzi Considering Bonnaroo’s blue-ribbon reputation for alchemizing musical generations into one event, the lineup also features an eclectic ensemble of big names, like hip-hop luminary Ludacris, jazz icon Herbie Hancock, ma...
“The Most REZZ Thing You’ve Ever Seen”: Space Mom Shares Preview of Trippy “Spiral” Tour Production
In seven simple words, REZZ perfectly encapsulated the stunning stage design for her upcoming “Spiral” tour: “the most REZZ thing you’ve ever seen.” In a short video shared to Twitter this week, REZZ addressed her fans and stated that her next tour production is “the perfect definition of her brand so far.” She then follows with a short showcase of her jaw-dropping stage, set to the sounds of her latest single, the Spiral bonus track “MENACE.” During her upcoming tour, attendees will enjoy her hits on a stage highlighted by a spiraling array of lights that surround her in the center of the stage. Hand-in-hand with a large LED display featuring her signature imagery, REZZ’s audiovisual arsenal looks to be her most impress...
Suffocation Announce 2022 North American Tour with Atheist
Suffocation will return to the road on their 2022 North American “Forces of Hostility” tour with direct support from fellow death metal pioneers Atheist. The extensive itinerary kicks off May 26th in Brooklyn, New York, and runs through a June 25th date in Clifton, New Jersey. Soreption and Contrarian will open most shows. Tickets go on sale Friday (January 14th) at noon ET for most dates and can be purchased via Ticketmaster. “We are beyond stoked to return to the road with the ‘Forces of Hostility North American Tour 2022’! exclaimed Suffocation guitarist Terrance Hobbs in a press release. “We’ll be joined by our good friends and brothers in metal Atheist as well as the technical metal powerhouse Soreption and death metallers Contrarian! This will be our first tour back in almost three y...
The What Podcast Reacts to the Bonnaroo 2022 Lineup
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | Radio Public | RSS It’s finally here! After two years of cancellations, Bonnaroo is ready to try again in 2022 with its newly revealed lineup. If there’s anything that gets festival fans excited, it’s lineup day, and The What podcast gang are definitely festival fans. Related Video As soon as the lineup dropped, Barry, Brad, and Lord Taco were on Zoom dishing their reactions to the 2022 Bonnaroo bill. What day are they most excited for? What do they think of Stevie Nicks becoming the first female performer to headline the festival? How do they feel about Machine Gun Kelly’s booking? Advertisement Find out what they think by listening to The What podcasters react to the Bonnaroo ...
Pig Director Michael Sarnoski to Helm Third A Quiet Place Movie
Pig director and writer Michael Sarnoski is going from the touching, delicate drama of his breakout film to the sci-fi horror of the A Quiet Place franchise. As first reported by Deadline, Sarnoski is in negotiations to take over the film, which is being described as more of a spinoff than a sequel. Jeff Nichols (Mud, Midnight Special) was previously attached to write and direct the currently untitled project, but left in October to focus on a different sci-fi movie. John Krasinksi wrote, directed, and starred in the first two Quiet Place installments, but neither he nor Emily Blunt is expected to reprise their acting roles. Prior to the Nicolas Cage-starring Pig, one of the best films of 2021, Sarnoski directed episodes of TV series like Olympia and Fight Night Legacy. He could ...
Paramore Are In Studio Writing First New Album in Five Years
“Paramore,” lead singer Hayley Williams said in a new interview with Rolling Stone, “feels like home.” Many of the band’s fans would agree, and they’ll be delighted to learn that the emo icons are back in the studio and well into recording their first new album in almost five years. The Tennessee trio’s last studio set was 2017’s After Laughter, and since then Williams has dropped two solo records, 2020’s Petals for Armor and 2021’s Flowers for Vases / Descansos. Meanwhile, the group has focused on being what Williams called “regular friends, without getting the outside world involved.” But there was never any doubt in the minds of Williams, Zac Farro, or Taylor York that Paramore would be back. They may have expected some rust, but on their very first day rec...
Queer Country Pioneers Lavender Country Saddle Up for First Album In Nearly 50 Years
When Lavender Country arrived in 1973, mainstream culture – not to mention Nashville – was not ready for Patrick Haggerty, an openly gay country singer who sang candidly about hookups, heartbreak and homophobia. The band’s self-titled album didn’t make much of an impact beyond the widely marginalized LGBTQ communities of the ’70s, and eventually Haggerty drifted away from music. But as the decades wore on, the boldly pioneering band’s reputation grew. After some reissues, reappraisals and reunion shows, Haggerty – a self-proclaimed “screaming Marxist bitch singer” – found himself enjoying a degree of the attention that eluded him decades earlier, sharing the stage with Orville Peck in 2019 and recording a duet with Drag Race winner Trixie Mattel in 2020. On Feb. 18, a proper release of the...
Lin-Manuel Miranda Hits No. 1 on Hot 100 Songwriters Chart for First Time, Thanks to ‘Encanto’
Lin-Manuel Miranda crowns Billboard‘s Hot 100 Songwriters chart (dated Jan. 15), reigning as the top songwriter in the U.S. for the first time thanks to his work on six songs on the latest Billboard Hot 100, all from the new smash Disney animated film Encanto. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Leading his haul is “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” which soars from No. 50 to No. 5 on the Hot 100, becoming just the fifth song from a Disney animated film to reach the top five. It follows Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle’s “A Whole New World” from Aladdin (No. 1, one week, 1993); Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King (No. 4, 1994); Vanessa Williams’ “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas (No. 4, 1994); and Idina Menzel’s “Let It Go” from Frozen (No. 5, 2014). The song a...
Bad Bunny Continues Billboard Chart Winning Streak With ‘Anniversary Trilogy’
A month after closing 2021 as Billboard’s Top Latin Artist for a third consecutive year, Bad Bunny hits his stride again as Anniversary Trilogy, a six-LP vinyl-only box set, debuts at No. 1 on Top Latin Albums, Vinyl Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums (Jan. 15-dated charts). Anniversary Trilogy launches with 14,000 equivalent album units earned — all from album sales — in the week ending Jan. 6, according to MRC Data. The vinyl box set was initially only sold through Bad Bunny’s official website. The box comprises double-disc vinyl pressings of three other Bad Bunny No. 1 projects: El Ultimo Tour del Mundo (27 weeks at No. 1 on Top Latin Albums), YHLQMDLG (54 weeks at No. 1) and X 100PRE (46 weeks atop), the latter being the only album previously available on vinyl. Ba...
Capitol U.K. Co-President Nick Raphael Exits Company
Nick Raphael, the co-president of Capitol Records U.K., has exited the company, sources confirmed to Billboard. No reason was given for the exec’s departure, which was said to be amicable, in news that was first reported by Record of the Day. Raphael was named president of Capitol’s British outpost upon its launch in April 2013, when he moved from London Records to take over the newly-standalone frontline, shortly after Steve Barnett took the reins at Capitol Music Group. His exit comes weeks after Michelle Jubelirer was named the new chairman/CEO of CMG globally. Co-president Jo Charrington will continue to lead the label as its sole president moving forward, sources tell Billboard. Charrington has a long history alongside Raphael, having moved from London Records to Capitol U.K. in 2013 ...
Bonnaroo 2022 Lineup Announced: J. Cole, the War on Drugs, Japanese Breakfast, Tool, and More
After a weather-related cancellation last year, the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival is returning to Manchester, Tennessee from June 16-19. Today (January 11), the festival has announced its full lineup, which includes headlining spots from J. Cole, Tool, and Stevie Nicks, as well as sets by the War on Drugs, Japanese Breakfast, Chvrches, the Chicks, 100 gecs, Herbie Hancock, Tierra Whack, Stevie Nicks, the Weather Station, Denzel Curry, slowthai, Sons of Kemet, Indigo De Souza, Tinashe, and many more. Check out the complete roster on the poster below. Bonnaroo, like many music festivals, has faced a number of setbacks in recent years. Its 2020 edition was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The festival was then pushed to September of last year. A number of artists then withdrew from...
