Legendary soul singer-songwriter Bill Withers died from heart complications this week, leaving behind a catalogue of music with the enduring power to connect people. Never has that been more apparent than just these past few weeks, as people across the world have been singing his 1972 classic “Lean on Me” to spread positivity during the […]
In this week’s edition of We Regret to Inform You During a Pandemic, the world recently learned that rapper M.I.A. is an anti-vaxxer. The outspoken dance music icon tweeted on March 25, “If I have to choose the vaccine or chip I’m gonna choose death,” in a seemingly unprompted reference to coronavirus. When Twitter user […]
Talk to a person of a certain age about the state of R&B for long enough, and you’re likely to hear them say the genre’s changed. It isn’t what it used to be. The singers are getting more and more reckless and raunchy. They’re right and wrong. The era that’s spawned songs like Jhené Aiko’s […]
View this post on Instagram In our Superlative Session with @vanessacarltonactual, she advised everyone to "stay the eff home" and "don't walk anywhere." Especially not a thousand miles 😉 Watch her perform "I Know You Don't Mean It," "Miner's Canary," "Die, Dinosaur," "A Thousand Miles," and one of her favorite @carole_king songs, "It's Too Late." […]
TikTok gave Drake another viral moment by reviving “Nonstop,” and now he really doesn’t wanna stop. This time, the rapper’s latest song, “Toosie Slide,” already had a popular dance challenge three days before it even dropped (at midnight on April 3). Always onto the next thing, the rapper actually enlisted dancer and producer Toosie — […]
Soul singer-songwriter Bill Withers died March 30 at 81, his family told the Associated Press in a statement on Friday. He died in Los Angeles due to heart complications. Withers wrote and performed multiple soul hits in the 1970s, including his Grammy-winning debut “Ain’t No Sunshine,” his sole No. 1 “Lean on Me,” and the […]
Sara Bareilles told her Instagram followers that during the past few weeks of social distancing, she had COVID-19 and is “fully recovered, just so you know.” Filming an Instagram story on a walk, the singer and Waitress creator continued, “I am just thinking about all the people who are walking through this really tricky time […]
Many of the notable hip-hop, soul, jazz, and funk records of the last decade and a half share a common fingerprint. The nexus joining the intricate grooves of Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. and To Pimp a Butterfly, Kamasi Washington’s Heaven and Earth and The Epic, Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah diptych, Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer, and records […]
Dear April, thank you for showering us with new acoustic Frank Ocean tracks to multiple streaming platforms. At midnight on April 3rd, the ever elusive Frank Ocean released “Dear April” and “Cayendo” to the general public. The tracks, first heard during a broadcast of his Beats 1 radio show “blonded RADIO” and at his misbegotten […]
Tekashi 6ix9ine has been released from federal lockup early, and will serve the remaining four months of his sentence on home confinement because of coronavirus concerns, Manhattan Federal Court filings revealed on Thursday — the latest unexpected turn in the controversial Brooklyn rapper’s legal saga. Judge Paul Engelmayer decided to release him after his attorneys […]
In yet another plot twist, Tekashi 6ix9ine will get released from federal lockup early because of coronavirus concerns, and serve the rest of his sentence on home confinement, a new court filing has revealed. “The Court grants the defendant’s motion for compassionate release…” Judge Paul Engelmayer said in a two-page ruling released Thursday. The road […]
As with so many cultural events, the coronavirus cut the West End run of the stage version of The Prince of Egypt, but fate has found a way to (shout with me!) deliver us a cast recording of the production all the same, just in time for Passover, or Easter, or the yearly secular holiday […]
On Wednesday night, Chance The Rapper dropped something we’ve (apparently) all been waiting for… a mix tape a list of his favorite character actors. Yes, The Big Day rapper and host of Punk’d on Quibi took to Twitter to provide some insight into how he’s been spending his quarantine – watching a ton of movies […]
Adam Schlesinger, a Grammy- and Emmy-winning songwriter for the band Fountains of Wayne and the show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, died today from complications related to the coronavirus, according to Variety. Schlesinger had been hospitalized for more than a week prior to his death, with his lawyer confirming on March 31 that he had been sedated and […]
Just when it seems like everyone’s holding back on their new music, Troye Sivan provides. The pop star has dropped “Take Yourself Home,” his first solo follow-up to his 2018 breakout, Bloom, after posting on March 19 that he wanted to move up the release. “WE’RE GOING ROGUE,” Sivan wrote on Instagram, tagging his labels […]
I haven’t been able to read a book in three weeks. Watching a two-hour movie is an exercise in extreme willpower: Can I watch three scenes in a row before checking my phone for news? Maybe two and a half? During conversations, I find myself trailing off mid-thought, imagining, in great detail, the circumstances of […]
At this point, just about every concert has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic — and if it’s not, you really shouldn’t be going anyway. As artists scramble to figure out what to do next, many have started livestreaming concerts on social media from their homes, empty venues, or wherever they can while they […]
Even during a pandemic, it looks like April Fools’ Day — and the fools who take it a bit too far — carries on. As much as we didn’t want to admit to ourselves, someone was bound to make a joke about the coronavirus, and Jaejoong of K-pop group JYG was the one who took […]
Look, look, look: There’s a camera. And there’s a camera. And there’s a camera right there. You’re on a prank show! If you don’t remember signing up, it’s because you didn’t. Chuck D and Flavor Flav took it upon themselves to pull a little hoax on the public by pretending to split up in order […]
We are living in dark and uncertain times — some, perhaps, might consider this a “ghost story” — so let us offer a balm: the musician Moses Sumney, and his sublime music video for “Cut Me.” Released Tuesday, it serves as the perfect entry into the drug that is his voice: It whines and soars […]
The entertainment industry is on pause as the world battles the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Globally, there are over 790,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, identified as COVID-19. In the United States, that number has risen to over 160,000 in a matter of weeks. In an effort to prevent spreading the virus, many concerts, festivals, film and […]
If you have been oh, I dunno, fully asleep for the past several weeks, well, let’s just say you have some news to catch up on. But the main thing you’ve been missing is JoJo’s continuously superb presence on Instagram Live. First, she turned her 2004 hit “Leave (Get Out)” into the first social-distancing anthem. […]
When comedian Jon Daly started hyping up an upcoming shot-for-shot remake of the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” music video titled “Cheer Me Up” on Twitter yesterday, I wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not. But Daly is no stranger to creating impressive musical parodies: Take, for instance, Papa John’s Misty, Lil Xan’s […]
Lindsay Lohan didn’t want to speak too soon. Sure, she teased her long-rumored comeback single “Xanax” on Virgin Radio Dubai last August, and later posted a music video on Instagram in September, but the song quickly disappeared and never made it to Spotify. Now, in a Twitter video teasing new music, she’s officially saying “I’m […]
We bet your Zoom calls haven’t been as cool as this. For her appearance on James Corden’s “Homefest” Late Late Show special, Dua Lipa videoconferenced with bandmates and dancers to perform her social-distancing hit “Don’t Start Now,” off her just-released album Future Nostalgia. They did not show up, nor come out — because, after all, […]
March has been illuminating. We’re learning what we’re made of and what we can and can’t do without. A pandemic is the rare situation that requires governments and citizens to act in concert in order to ensure each other’s well-being. But we live in a bifurcated nation. One half supposes it can live without the […]
No matter where we are, no matter how long the coronavirus outbreak lasts, no matter whether we’re a member of K-Pop supergroup BTS or not, we can all keep our sanity intact by doing the same thing: methodically rehearsing BTS dance routines while in quarantine. Your boys stopped by The Late Late Show With James […]
Okay, fine, we can’t even be mad at Rihanna right now. The singer has provided yet another non-update on R9 while talking to British Vogue, adding to a long list of swerves. But last week alone, Rihanna donated $700,000 worth of ventilators to Barbados and $5 million to various organizations fighting the coronavirus pandemic, so […]
The coronavirus TV specials began in full force last night as Elton John hosted the “Living Room Concert for America” on Fox. Taking the place of the canceled iHeartRadio Music Awards (and co-sponsored by the network), the hour-long musical event came to you live from many celebrity homes as a tribute to medical workers. The […]
Say what you will about Frank Ocean, but the man knows great timing when he sees it. Frank previewed two new singles, “Dear April” and “Cayendo,” back in October, during a broadcast of his Beats 1 radio show “blonded RADIO.” Now, in our time of need, Frank is back with the full versions of the […]