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Watch the trailer for The Darkness’ first documentary, ‘Welcome To The Darkness’

The Darkness have shared the trailer for their upcoming feature-length documentary, Welcome to the Darkness. Check it out below. READ MORE: In praise of The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins’ genius YouTube channel Directed by Simon Emmett, the documentary will tell the story of the band’s formation in the early 2000s, their fast rise to fame as well as their crashing disbandment in 2006, finally covering their reunion in 2011. The film is set to be released in cinemas for one night only on November 9 and it will be available on digital download and Blu-ray from December 4. Visit here for tickets to the showing. Advertisement As described in a press release, “20 years on from their platinum-selling debut, Justin Hawkins, his brother Dan Hawkins, bassist Frankie Poullain, and new drummer Rufus Taylor tell their story, in their own words of The Darkness’ comeback tale.” [embedded content] It continued :”With unprecedented access, unseen archive footage, and intimate interviews filmed over eight years, Welcome to The Darkness is a tongue-in-cheek reflection on fame, failure, friendship and forgiveness. At its heart, this is a unique account of a band of brothers who are still haunted by the demons that ripped them apart. A band… Read More →

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James Gandolfini would say “I fucking suck” out loud on ‘The Sopranos’ set

James Gandolfini would often publicly doubt himself and proclaim “I fucking suck” on the set of The Sopranos, one of his co-stars has claimed. READ MORE: ‘The Sopranos’ greatest moments – as chosen by ‘The Many Saints of Newark’ cast Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who played Meadow, the daughter of Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano on the HBO show, said that she felt he was saying it primarily as a way to help his fellow actors. Advertisement “It had nothing to do with his confidence,” Sigler told the Inside of You podcast. “He would question himself. There would be moments where he’d be like, ‘I fucking suck,’ but I appreciated that because I’ve had those thoughts but I didn’t say them out loud because I don’t want anybody to know that I think I suck. He was confident enough to say it out loud.” Jamie-Lynn Sigler played Meadow Soprano on ‘The Sopranos’ (Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images) “Jim was the type of scene partner where it felt like he was there and his only intention was to make me as good as I could be,” she continued. “Every time I worked with him, I felt like his sole purpose was, ‘I’m going to help… Read More →

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P-rallel on UK rave culture: “Everyone in London is playing fucking karaoke music – it’s boring, man”

NME 100 alumni P-rallel has spoken to NME ahead of the release of his debut full-length project, ‘Movement’ – which is out tomorrow (Friday October 27). The West London-born DJ-producer has become one of the most-talked-about rising stars in the UK dance scene, now DJing at prestigious festivals such as Boomtown and Glastonbury. Last year, he gained popularity after dropping the eclectic ‘Forward’ EP, featuring fellow London staples Venna, Rachel Chinouriri, Sam Wise and more. Last month, he launched his upcoming mixtape along with the release of his latest single, ‘It’s A LUNDUN Thing’, which flipped Scott Garcia’s seminal 1997 UK garage song ‘A London Thing’. Advertisement [embedded content] “I was heavily exposed to Scott Garcia’s original that dropped 26 years ago from my dad playing it when I was a kid and then hearing it, then playing it myself later when I got into spinning garage,” he told NME. “I felt like it was time to bring it back with a 2023 spin, it’s been smashing festivals all summer!” Fans can expect more rambunctious dance music on his upcoming ‘Movement’ mixtape – which the 24-year-old said was full of simply “garage, funky house.”. He told NME that, while making… Read More →

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Dolly Parton to debut new tracks from ‘Rockstar’ album at “first listen” event in cinemas

Dolly Parton is set to premiere new tracks from her upcoming album ‘Rockstar’ in cinemas worldwide next month. Yesterday (October 25), Parton took to social media to announce that she will be screening a “first-listen fan event” in cinemas across the globe on November 15, with select encore screenings the follow day. “You will hear full songs from the new album for the first time ever and see footage you’ve never seen before,” Dolly Parton revealed. Advertisement The screening will also include an exclusive interview with the icon, behind-the-scenes footage, special performances recorded for the screenings and more. According to Rolling Stone, the screening will include a previously unseen performance of ‘Circle of Love’ and a rare performance of Parton’s ‘9 to 5’. Tickets to special screenings of Dolly Parton’s ‘Rockstar’ first-listen event can be purchased here. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will go towards the Music Will organisation and their global partners. The event will take place just two days ahead of the release of ‘Rockstar’ on November 17. The LP will feature nine original songs and 21 covers of rock classics such as Heart‘s ‘Magic Man’, Prince‘s ‘Purple Rain’, The Rolling Stones‘ ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ and many more…. Read More →

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‘The Glory”s Lim Ji-yeon says she wasn’t recognised while shopping in public

The Glory actress Lim Ji-yeon has revealed how she wasn’t recognised while shopping in public recently. Lim Ji-yeon recently skyrocketed to international fame thanks to her breakout role as Park Yeon-jin, the main antagonist in the popular Netflix K-drama series, The Glory. She has also since starred in two other shows this year: Lies Hidden in My Garden and The Killing Vote. Despite her newfound success, the actress’ popularity seems to have not affected her daily life, as she revealed in a new video interview with Vogue Korea. Advertisement During the clip, where the actress talked through the items in her bag, Lim Ji-yeon recalled the story of her new Airpods case, and how she found it after recently losing her previous pair on a plane not too long ago. “Sometimes, I take the subway, and when I went to the underground shopping area of Gangnam Station, I saw this really nice case! So I really bought it,” she said, as translated by Koreaboo. “Maybe because I cover myself up when I’m out and about, but they didn’t recognise me,” Lim Ji-yeon added. “Even when I stood in the store and bought this, no one recognised me.” [embedded content] Meanwhile, The Glory co-star… Read More →

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Nicki Minaj delays new album until her birthday

Nicki Minaj‘s eagerly awaited new album ‘Pink Friday 2’ has been delayed for a second time. READ MORE: Nicki Minaj: every album ranked and rated Earlier this week (October 25), the rapper took to Instagram to announce to her fans that the album is being pushed back by a couple of weeks, from its intended launch date of November 17 until December 8, to coincide with her 41st birthday. However, the album’s slight delay isn’t just to fit into her birthday window, as the rapper explained on Instagram that Lil Wayne – her friend and a mentor figure in her career – and 2 Chainz will be releasing their joint album on November 17, and that she wanted to avoid a clash as “Weezy (Lil Wayne) would never do that if it was my album date”. Advertisement See her post below. Elsewhere in the video, Nicki Minaj said that ‘Pink Friday 2’ is shaping up to be her “greatest gift to humanity” so far, and that it’s her most favourite project she’s ever worked on. ‘Pink Friday 2’ was originally set for release on October 20, but was later delayed to November 17. No reason was shared for the initial postponement…. Read More →

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Meghan Trainor says she’s “obsessed” with (G)I-DLE after working with them

Meghan Trainor has opened up about her new obsession with K-pop girl group (G)I-DLE. On a new episode of the podcast Workin’ On It, which is hosted by Meghan Trainor and her brother Ryan, the pop star spoke about how she’s starting to get into K-pop after working with girl group (G)I-DLE. (G)I-DLE recently released their first English-language EP, titled ‘Heat’, which features the song ‘Eyes Roll’, written by both Meghan Trainor and her brother Ryan. Advertisement During the podcast, Meghan revealed that she and Ryan had written that song “years ago”. She said: “And they added like two amazing verses to it, and that was the coolest things ever.” “K-pop is sick,” Ryan added. “I became more aware of it really through my Twitch. People were like, ‘Check out this song, this is K-pop’, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is dope’.” Meghan then spoke about how she had been “studying (G)I-DLE now”, ever since the girl group recorded ‘Eyes Roll’. “I was like, ‘Who is this group?’, and I’m obsessed with them,” she said. “They’re so pretty and so cool and so talented. It’s an honour that they’re singing something we wrote, it blows my mind,” Megan continued, before… Read More →

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Listen to Ghetts’ new single ‘Laps’ featuring Moonchild Sanelly

Ghetts has shared his first single in two years, ‘Laps’ – featuring South African singer Moonchild Sanelly. Earlier this month, the east Londoner announced his fourth studio album, ‘On Purpose With Purpose’, the follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2021 album ‘Conflict Of Interest’. Now, he has shared the opening track to his upcoming LP. ‘Laps’ was produced by TenBillion Dreams and has the same ominous sound as much of the MOBO winner’s previous work. The 39-year-old also shows off his lyrical intelligence in his verses while Moonchild Sanelly’s echo-y harmonies take over the chorus. Advertisement [embedded content] Ghetts teased ‘On Purpose With Purpose’ by posting an Instagram video with the caption: “ON PURPOSE WITH PURPOSE. X/1/24”, revealing that the LP is due in January next year. He also unveiled the album’s artwork (which is also the artwork for ‘Laps’) that was made by Slawn – the designer of the 2023 BRIT Award. On the cover, the letters GIIG are spray-painted in gold, referring to the east Londoner’s own label and brand Glory Is In God. A press release stated that the album will “continue the ongoing artistic evolution and unstoppable rise of one of the UK’s greatest rappers,” with Ghetts… Read More →

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Busta Rhymes announces surprise release of new album ‘Blockbusta’

Busta Rhymes has said his next album ‘Blockbusta’ – executively produced by Swizz Beatz, Pharrell and Timbaland – will be out next month. Yesterday (October 24), the New York rapper shared a video of him and the other executive producers introducing the album. Rhymes asked his “brothers” if they’re “here for this blockbuster 10th album?” – however, the record will be his 11th, following on from his 2020 LP ‘Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath Of God’. “This project right here is executive produced by the fucking committee,” Swizzy said in the clip, “Pharrell the Pharaoh, Timbo the King, Swizz Beatz the student.” Advertisement Timbaland followed, saying, “I’m so grateful that you chose me to be a part of your legacy.” Pharrell then told Busta that on this album: “You really feel illuminated. This illumination is good because I think people gon’ be able to get and feel that,” while Timbo added that it was “timeless.” Rhymes has already dropped numerous collaborations this year, such as the Bia-assisted Beach Ball’, ‘Murda’ featuring Bilal and Coi Leray featured on ‘Luxury Life’ – the latter Busta co-produced with Swizz Beatz. Although the tracklist for the record has not yet been released, ‘Beach… Read More →

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Spotify announce profit and millions more subscribers, but also royalty cuts to less popular tracks

Spotify have announced that less popular tracks won’t earn any royalties whatsoever, despite the company reporting better-than-expected third-quarter profits and subscriber gains. The Swedish streaming service gained an extra 6million paying subscribers from June to September, bringing its total to 226million. This exceeds its forecast that their paid subscriber levels would pass the 224million mark. Despite these gains, however, Billboard reports that Spotify is restructuring its royalty system and plans to de-monetize tracks that had previously received 0.5% of Spotify’s royalty pool.” The plans will reportedly be implemented early next year. Advertisement The changes in the royalty system are set to benefit more established artists and labels, while the biggest difference from the old system is that a track will need to reach a minimum number of annual streams before it starts generating royalties. Spotify is reportedly also planning to crack down on “fraud” and will issue financial penalties against distributors and labels it deems guilty of this. Non-music tracks such as white noise or ambient sounds will also have to reach “a minimum play-time length” to generate royalties. Spotify – CREDIT: Getty Billboard claims the major labels, which recently entered talks with Spotify, will likely sign off on these changes… Read More →

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Rihanna reportedly planning to release new music and tour in 2024

Rihanna has reportedly been planning her musical comeback, looking to release new music and go on a world tour next year. The ‘Don’t Stop’ singer has been teasing her ninth studio album, dubbed ‘R9’ since 2018, first promising to release it in 2019. That year, she captioned a video of a dog dancing to House Of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’ with the message “Update: me listening to R9 by myself and refusing to release it.” Now, Entertainment Tonight has reported that the Bajan-born pop star is planning her musical return and has recently signed a deal with Live Nation. The publication also revealed that Rihanna is looking to release new music as well as go on a world tour from 2024-2025. Advertisement Rihanna. Credit: MEGA/GC Images The Fenty fashion label owner’s original goal was reportedly to go on tour this year, before finding found out she and partner A$AP Rocky were expecting their second child, Riot Rose. Reports emerged that she was set to headline Glastonbury 2023 before being with child forced her to pull out. She is rumoured to be one of the two female headliners booked to top the bill at the festival in 2024. In February, she told British… Read More →

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‘Shaft’ star Richard Roundtree dies at 81

Richard Roundtree, the actor who rose to fame as the iconic detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft and its sequels, has died at the age of 81. Roundtree passed away on Tuesday (October 24) in Los Angeles after a battle with pancreatic cancer, his longtime manager Patrick McMinn confirmed. “Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men in film,” McMinn said in a statement to CNN. “The impact he had on the industry cannot be overstated.” Roundtree was born in New Rochelle, New York in 1942. He started his career as a model before joining the Negro Ensemble Company in 1967 to pursue acting. He made his film debut in 1970’s What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?. His breakthrough role came a year later when he played John Shaft, a private eye who fights crime in Harlem, in Gordon Parks’ Shaft. The film was a box-office hit and spawned two sequels, Shaft’s Big Score! (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973), as well as a short-lived TV series. Roundtree reprised his role as Shaft in the 2000 remake, starring Samuel L. Jackson as his nephew, and again in the 2019 sequel,… Read More →

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A Rolling Stones hologram concert is “bound to happen”, says Keith Richards

Keith Richards has not ruled out an AI-powered hologram concert of The Rolling Stones, saying that the spectacle is “bound to happen”. READ MORE: The Rolling Stones – ‘Hackney Diamonds’ review: they’ve still got it In a new interview with Matt Wilkinson on Apple Music 1, Richards addressed the topic of an AI-created hologram concert featuring himself and his bandmates, saying: “Well, I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. I’m pretty sure that it is bound to happen”. “Do I want it? Now, that’s another thing,” the guitarist added. “But I don’t know if I want to hang around that long enough, man. But at the same time, it won’t be up to me, will it?” Advertisement Richards’ bandmate Mick Jagger previously addressed the topic in September in an interview with The Wall Street Journal while discussing the success of ABBA’s Voyage show. “You can have a posthumous business now, can’t you? You can have a posthumous tour,” Jagger said at the time. “The technology has really moved on since the ABBA thing, which I was supposed to go to, but I missed it.” The Rolling Stones released their 24th studio album ‘Hackney Diamonds’ on October 20. The record features contributions from… Read More →

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Taylor Swift isn’t a “spoiled musician”, says Travis Kelce’s dad

Taylor Swift may be one of the biggest pop stars in the world, but she doesn’t act like one, according to Ed Kelce, the father of her boyfriend Travis Kelce. The elder Kelce, who made history as the first parent to have two sons play against each other in the Super Bowl, opened up about his impression of Swift in a recent interview with People Magazine. Recounting how Swift had begun clearing up discarded bottles, cans and plates in the suite at their first meeting, he said, “And I’m just thinking, I don’t think she got the diva memo”. Advertisement “She didn’t get the spoiled musician. She doesn’t know how to pull that off. And that really to me said a whole lot,” he added. “She’s very smart. I mean, very. That comes through right away,” he concluded. In other Taylor Swift news, she recently topped the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Cruel Summer’, four years after it was released on her 2019 album ‘Lover’. The feat has put her in an elite club of artists with 10 or more Number Ones on the Hot 100. Swift is tied with Elvis Presley for the fourth-most chart-toppers among all acts, behind only… Read More →

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‘Old Dads’ on Netflix is getting criticised – but anti-woke people love it

Old Dads, a new film on Netflix, has sharply divided viewers upon its release this week. With a 17 per cent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has already received a wholly negative response from journalists, whereas viewers on social media are much more divided. The audience voted score on Rotten Tomatoes currently stands at 89 per cent. Old Dads is about a trio of late-middle-age fathers Bill Burr, Bobby Cannavale and Bokeem Woodbine, who “find themselves battling preschool principals, millennial CEOs and anything created after 1987,” according to the official synopsis. Burr co-wrote the film (with Ben Tishler) and it also marks the actor’s directorial debut. Advertisement On the positive side, one fan on X, formerly Twitter, wrote: “This old dads movie on Netflix 10/10,” while another added, “Just watched Old Dads on Netflix… best movie I’ve seen in 15 years.” A third fan wrote: “Old Dads is great. I miss movies like this.” Others however, were far less impressed. One Twitter user described it as “completely terrible”, while another added: “Bad acting, and the jokes were just so so bad.” Check out some of the responses below: Just watched Old Dads on Netflix… best movie I’ve seen… Read More →

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Kurt Cobain’s daughter Frances Bean reportedly marries Tony Hawk’s son Riley with Michael Stipe officiating

Frances Bean Cobain has reportedly married Riley Hawk earlier this month. Cobain – the daughter of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Hole frontwoman Courtney Love – and Hawk – the son of skateboarding legend Tony Hawk – reportedly applied for a marriage license last month in San Diego county. Though very little is known about the ceremony, marriage documents obtained by TMZ, revealed that the ceremony reportedly took place on October 7 and was officiated by R.E.M frontman and Cobain’s godfather, Michael Stipe. Advertisement This marks the second time Cobain has been married. Back in 2014, she married Isaiah Silva of The Eeries. The two divorced in 2016, just shy of two years after tying the knot. Cobain cited irreconcilable differences and stated that Silva should not be entitled to any money from her father’s estate, which was valued at $450 million (£370 million). Silva and Cobain also ended up fighting over ownership of her father’s iconic acoustic guitar that was used during Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged special. Sliva ended up winning ownership of the famous guitar. Meanwhile, Hawk and Cobain have been in a relationship since 2021. Cobain confirmed her relationship with Hawk in January 2022 with an Instagram post… Read More →

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The Smashing Pumpkins announce departure of guitarist Jeff Schroeder

The Smashing Pumpkins have announced the departure of their longtime guitarist, Jeff Schroeder. In a statement posted to the band’s social media, Schroeder wrote: “It’s easy to say now that when I joined The Smashing Pumpkins in 2007 I had no idea what I was getting into. The opportunity seemed to have come out of nowhere. I was at UCLA working on my doctorate in comparative literature when a close friend messaged me and said The Smashing Pumpkins were looking for a guitar player. “Being a huge fan of the band, the audition was something I threw myself into,” Schroeder continued. “It was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. The amount of incredible memories created over the last 16 years with the band are almost too numerous to quantify. Advertisement “Although it was a very difficult decision to make, I’ve decided to leave the band to make some space to explore a slightly different path. I want to thank Billy, Jimmy, James, and Jack for being both wonderful bandmates and even better friends. I will absolutely miss sharing the stage with you. I wish the band all the success in the future. I will be watching… Read More →

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Foals’ Yannis Philippakis on the “brutal” music he’s written for new play ‘The Confessions’

Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis has spoken to NME about making his theatrical debut by penning the music for new play The Confessions, as well as his long-mooted project with the late Tony Allen. Having opened at London’s National Theatre last week before a press showing last night (October 23), The Confessions is an emotional, gut-wrenching and powerful play written and directed Alexander Zeldin – telling the story of his mother’s life across eight “tumultuous” decades across two continents and a series of complex relationships. Philippakis and Zeldin have known each other since their days at school, when they would sneak away to smoke together on a nearby riverbank. Speaking with NME, the artist explained how the director had “a reputation that preceded him a bit” as someone “ferociously intelligent, but with a naughty streak”. Advertisement “We’ve just been in each other’s lives for a long time, but with differing orbits and different worlds,” Philippakis told NME. “Both of us have been circling towards working together over the years, and then the orbit got closer and we’ve finally been able to make something together.” Their creative partnership came into fruition during the pandemic, when the two would go for long walks together around… Read More →

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The Libertines “tried to sit down and write some screenplays” for a biopic

The Libertines have opened up about the possibility of a biopic, and shared that they have already “tried to sit down and write some screenplays”. While speaking to NME about their upcoming album ‘All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade’ the band’s frontmen – Carl Barât and Pete Doherty – discussed if the band would ever create a biopic of their career. “We’ve talked about it, but then we always have a row about who’s playing who,” Barât said. Doherty added: “We even tried to sit down and write some screenplays for it, but it always turns into some farcical comedy. There was a musical made in Korea called The Likely Lads. They said it was going to run and run, but it closed after two nights.” Advertisement After being asked who would be playing each band member in the potential biopic, Doherty responded: “Now with all this AI, you can just play yourself. We’d be playing with ourselves, as usual.” [embedded content] Elsewhere in the interview, Doherty opened up about the upcoming documentary based on his life, titled Stranger In My Own Skin. Speaking about the documentary – which was made by his wife and collaborator Katia de Vidas –… Read More →

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Iron Maiden’s Nicko McBrain has almost fully recovered from January stroke

Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain has revealed that he is almost fully recovered after suffering a minor stroke in January that left him partially paralyzed on his right side. READ MORE: Iron Maiden – ‘Senjutsu’ review: an imaginative instant classic During an appearance on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation Power Trip Special, as transcribed by Blabbermouth, the 70-year-old musician said he is “85 to 90 percent back to strength”, but still has some difficulty with the speed and dexterity of his fingers. McBrain also discussed the band’s ongoing ‘Future Past’ World Tour, which marks their first live shows since the release of their 2021 album Senjutsu. “It’s going great,” McBrain said. Advertisement “It started off a little shaky for me, but as the time [went on] and the more shows we performed, I started to get a little bit more strength and they’d been really rocking out well. And the last couple of months have been fantastic.” McBrain admitted that he had to adapt his drumming techniques to accommodate his physical limitations, even changing some well-known fills in certain songs. “Some fills that everybody knows me for on certain songs, I’ve had to improvise those at rehearsals to be able to actually play… Read More →

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P!nk opens up about drug overdose at age 16

P!nk has shared the story behind the drug overdose she suffered at age 16 just weeks before signing her first record deal. READ MORE: P!nk: All I Know So Far review: shallow but watchable pop star tour diary In a recent appearance on 60 Minutes, the singer opened up about her troubled home life, sharing: “I was a punk. I had a mouth. I had a chip on my shoulder.” “Basically, I grew up in a house where every day, my parents were screaming at each other, throwing things, hated each other. And then I got into drugs, I was selling drugs – and then I was kicked out of the house, I dropped out of high school. I was off the rails.” Advertisement The pivotal incident occurred in November 1995, Pink recalled. “Thanksgiving of 1995, I was at a rave, and I overdosed. I was on, oh boy – ecstasy, angel dust, crystal, all kinds of things,” she shared. “Then I was out. Done. Too much.” Host Cecilia Vega asked the singer if she almost died from the overdose, to which Pink responded, “Yeah.” [embedded content] Shortly after the overdose, she was offered a performance slot at a hip-hop night in… Read More →