Nicol Ostrc

Megan Thee Stallion to “take a break” after home broken into: “I’m so tired, physically and emotionally”

Megan Thee Stallion has told fans that after her appearance on this week’s Saturday Night Live, she’ll be winding down her output as a public figure. READ MORE: Megan Thee Stallion live at Reading Festival 2022: A joyful dose of ‘real hot girl shit’ It comes after the rapper had her Los Angeles home broken into earlier this week. As reported by TMZ, a pair of burglars targeted Megan’s house on Thursday night (October 13), breaking in after they smashed through a glass door. They reportedly stole somewhere up to $400,000 (£358,000) worth of goods including cash, jewellery and electronics. It’s said that Megan was not home at the time of the robbery, though footage of it was captured by her home surveillance system; at the time of writing, police have not arrested any suspects. Advertisement Megan responded to the incident on Twitter, assuring fans that “everyone is safe” and that ultimately, “material things can be replace”. In a follow-up tweet, she noted that her SNL appearance would mark her last project for a while. “I really gotta take a break,” she said. “I’m so tired, physically and emotionally.” Hotties im really sorry but after SNL I really gotta take… Read More →

14OCTNews

Listen to Madison Beer’s ’60s-inspired single ‘Showed Me (How I Fell In Love With You)’

Madison Beer has released her new single ‘Showed Me (How I Fell In Love With You)’ – watch the video for the track below. READ MORE: Madison Beer on the cover: “I have a voice and it deserves to be heard” ‘Showed Me’ premiered on BBC’s Radio 1 yesterday (October 13), with the music video being debuted on MTV today. The song is the latest to come from Beer’s upcoming project, which is the follow-up to her 2021 debut ‘Life Support’. The ’60s-inspired track samples The Turtles, with the accompanying music video showing Beer as a femme fatale that manages to best a playboy poker player, while wearing looks from Laquan Smith, Balenciaga, and Tom Ford’s Gucci. Advertisement “Writing and making the video for ‘Showed Me’ was a really unique experience,” Beer said. “This song samples The Turtles ‘You Showed Me.’ I’ve never used sampling or interpolation on a song before, but I’m always looking for new ways to experiment in the studio and pay homage to the classic sounds and melodies I loved growing up. This song is the perfect culmination of those things.” ‘Showed Me’ follows ‘Dangerous’, which was released in August and was Beer’s first new music for… Read More →

14OCTNews

Louis Tomlinson shares new track ‘Out Of My System’ and 2023 UK and European tour dates

Louis Tomlinson has shared a new track called ‘Out Of My System’ and announced a 2023 UK and European tour – listen to the track below and buy tickets for the tour here. ‘Out Of My System’ is the latest preview of the singer’s second solo album ‘Faith In The Future’, which follows his debut full-length effort, 2020’s ‘Walls’, and will be released on November 11. You can pre-order/pre-save the record here. READ MORE: Louis Tomlinson on finding his artistic identity: “It’ll be an ever-evolving process” Tomlinson’s forthcoming album was produced by Mike Crossey, who’s previously worked with the likes of Arctic Monkeys, The 1975 and Wolf Alice. The singer co-wrote the LP alongside The Music frontman Rob Harvey and the songwriting/production team Red Triangle. Advertisement Other contributors on ‘Faith In The Future’ include Dan Grech (The Killers, The Vaccines, Halsey), Nico Rebscher (Alice Merton), Joe Cross (Courteeners), and Hurts frontman Theo Hutchcraft. Listen to ‘Out Of My System’ below. Following the album’s release, Tomlinson will head out on a massive UK and European arena tour in 2023, running from August to November and including a show at London’s The O2. A pre-sale for tickets from 9am BST on Wednesday (October 19) is available for those who pre-order ‘Faith In The Future’ here, with a general… Read More →

14OCTNews

SM Entertainment to terminate contract with chief producer Lee Soo-man

SM Entertainment is set to terminate its production contract with founder and chief producer Lee Soo-man at the end of the year. According to a report by Yonhap News Agency, SM Entertainment’s board of directors have decided to terminate their production contract with Like Planning, a music production company run by Lee, by December 31 – a year earlier than initially planned. SM Entertainment has been outsourcing music production to Like Planning for over 20 years. The early termination of Lee’s contract with the agency comes off the heels of investors from Align Partners Capital Management – which owns 1.1 per cent of SM Entertainment – claiming that the ties between both companies have been “damaging shareholder value” and demanding they sever ties with Like Planning in an open shareholder letter to the company in August. Advertisement A separate report by Infostock Daily notes that Align Partners Capital Management cited the royalties that the agency paid to Like Planning have been undermining the value of shareholders. In the first half of the year alone, SM Entertainment reportedly paid the company ₩11.4 billion, which amounts to about 29.6 per cent of the ₩38.6 billion that the agency had earned in operational profits…. Read More →

13OCTNews

Tove Lo opens up about past struggles with eating disorders in video for ‘Grapefruit’

Tove Lo has shared a new video for her track ‘Grapefruit’ where she opens up about her past struggles with an eating disorder. Watch the video below. READ MORE: Five things we learned from our In Conversation video chat with Tove Lo In the new visuals, Lo dances as an uneaten rotting grapefruit sits in the fridge and she sings lyrics about struggling with her appearance, “withering away”, while reiterating “what I see is not me”. “I think I’m touching on some subjects as a woman where I feel like a lot of it has to do with my relationship with my femininity,” the singer recently told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. Advertisement She continued: “It might not be super clear in all the songs, but it just kind of feels like the overall me battling how I used to look at my feminine traits, to where I’m at with them now, and how it’s helped and hurt me throughout my life, I guess. “I feel like with songs like ‘Grapefruit,’ which I talk about my body issues as a teenager, which I’ve never really touched on before, I think I needed a good amount of years to be well from it… Read More →

13OCTNews

Tom DeLonge to departing Blink-182 guitarist Matt Skiba: “thank you for all you have done”

Tom DeLonge has shared a personal message to Blink-182’s departing guitarist, Matt Skiba, thanking him for his work with the band. Read his statement below. The Alkaline Trio vocalist joined the band in 2015 as a replacement for DeLonge who left “to change the world for my kids”. Now that DeLonge has returned to Blink-182 amid announcements of new music and a global tour, he has penned an open letter to Skiba. READ MORE: Blink-182 – ‘Nine’ review: the spiritual follow-up to the classic ‘Untitled’ “Hi Matt, Tom DeLonge here,” he wrote. “I wanted to take a minute and say thank you for all that you have done to keep the band thriving in my absence. I think you are enormously talented (I still love and listen to your band to this day).” Advertisement DeLonge continued: “You have always been so kind to me, not only in the press, but also to others. I really noticed. Emotions between the three of us in blink have always been complicated, but Mark’s cancer really put things in perspective. But to be honest, the band would not even be here today if it were not for your ability to jump in and save the day.” He ended the… Read More →

13OCTNews

Lizzo says she was bullied at school for being “different” and listening to Radiohead

Lizzo has recalled in a new interview how she was bullied at school for being “different” and listening to Radiohead. The artist has spoken about her experiences in a new profile with Vanity Fair, which explores her upbringing in both Detroit and Houston. READ MORE: Lizzo – ‘Special’ review: joyful superstar uplifts with self-assured, self-empowering bops Recalling how she always felt “different” (“although she isn’t sure if it was ‘good different’ or ‘bad different’”, the profile notes), Lizzo said that while her fellow students were getting into rap music (“which she loved, especially Houston rap”) she was also listening to the likes of Radiohead. Advertisement “It was a Black school, mostly Black and brown, Caribbean, I had Nigerian friends,” Lizzo said. “They were all listening to what was on the radio — Usher, Destiny’s Child, Ludacris — and I was into Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’. I kept it hidden, even when I was in a rock band, because I didn’t want to be made fun of by my peers — they’d yell, ‘White girl!’” Lizzo (Picture: Press) Lizzo continued: “Also, I was wearing these flared bell-bottoms with embroidery down it — and they’d say, ‘You look like a white girl, why do… Read More →

13OCTNews

Watch Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson physically remove a fan from the stage

Iron Maiden‘s Bruce Dickinson physically removed a fan from the stage during the band’s recent show in Anaheim, California. The long-running group are currently in North America as part of their ‘Legacy Of The Beast World Tour’, which will conclude on October 27 in Tampa, Florida. READ MORE: Horns up! What’s driving film and TV’s metal revival? As Blabbermouth reports, Iron Maiden were closing their set at their September 22 show at Anaheim’s Honda Center with ‘Aces High’ when they were unexpectedly joined on-stage by a fan. Advertisement Dickinson, who initially appeared to beckon the fan on-stage, then proceeded to grab the man by the back of his shirt after he began headbanging towards the crowd. Video footage shows Dickinson leading him off-camera, before the frontman then swiftly rejoins the rest of the band to finish the song. You can watch the moment in question below. Back in July, Dickinson stopped an Iron Maiden show in Greece when he spotted a fan with a flare. As the band launched into ‘The Number Of The Beast’ at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Dickinson sang the line “What did I see?” before then shouting “a cunt with a fucking flare!” after seeing… Read More →

13OCTNews

Bono makes surprise visit to his old school in Dublin

Bono made a surprise visit to his old secondary school in Clontarf, Dublin this week, where he read from his forthcoming memoir. According to the Irish Independent, the U2 frontman stopped by Mount Temple Comprehensive on Tuesday (October 11). It’s reported that sixth-year students were treated to a private audience with the singer. READ MORE: U2’s 10 best albums, ranked Bono is said to have been accompanied by a professional film crew, suggesting that a documentary project could be in the works. Advertisement He also took a tour of the school, visited its music department and met with some pupils and teachers. “It definitely gave everyone a bit of a buzz,” one student told the Irish Independent. “A few teachers came in to stand at the back and listen to him speaking so there was a good group there listening to him speaking for about an hour.” A photograph of Bono with a group of Mount Temple students was shared on U2’s official Twitter page. “Was back in the library at Mount Temple,” its caption read. “The future is bright indeed.” You can see that post below. Was back in the library at Mount Temple. The future is bright indeed. pic.twitter.com/5AU33oExY1… Read More →

12OCTNews

Public spending body to investigate £120million ‘festival of Brexit’

A public spending body are set to investigate the £120million of taxpayers’ money spent on the ‘festival of Brexit’. READ MORE: When Brexit is set to cost the UK music industry hundreds of millions, the planned “festival of Brexit” strikes a sour note The event, which was first touted under Theresa May’s government, was described as a showcase for “the UK’s unique strengths in creativity and innovation” after leaving the European Union – with comparisons being made to the 1951 Festival of Britain. While critics have consistently questioned the estimated £120m cost of the festival, planning took a step forward in 2020 when organisers called for “daring, new and popular” ideas that will unite the nation. The much-maligned event then rebranded as Unboxed and revealed details of its 2022 event. Advertisement Since opening in March of this year despite numerous objections, the festival – dubbed ‘Unboxed: Creativity in the UK’ – has reportedly welcomed just 240,000 visitors, a fraction of the 66 million originally hoped for, and MPs in a cross-party parliamentary committee have asked the National Audit Office (NAO) to look into how the money was spent. After the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee called for the investigation and called… Read More →

11OCTNews

Famous fans react to return of Blink-182

Numerous musicians and other famous fans have shared their excitement at the news that Blink-182 are reuniting for a huge world tour and new music. READ MORE: Blink-182 – ‘Nine’ review: the spiritual follow-up to the classic ‘Untitled’ The news, announced earlier today (October 11), was shared via a tongue-in-cheek video which confirmed that the band would be back with the classic line-up of DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker. Taking to his Instagram stories, The 1975‘s Matty Healy shared a screenshot of a conversation, which read: “Fuck blink 182 is original line up!! They’ve reformed!!! So we’re actually opening for Blink 182!!! Tom is back!! We made it!!!” Advertisement The 1975 are due to open for the band at Lollapalooza’s trio of South America festivals in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil in 2023. Turnstile shared via their Instagram stories: “Excited for these shows next year. Thank you @blink182 for the opportunity”. Rise Against also posted on their Instagram: “Looking forward to all the great shows ahead!” See more reactions below. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rise Against (@riseagainst) We had to come !!!! @blink182 pic.twitter.com/ftmvQI0Ija — Travis Barker (@travisbarker) October 11, 2022 TOM IS BACK IN BLINK 182 THE… Read More →

11OCTNews

Tom DeLonge teases new Blink-182 as “the best album of our career”

Tom DeLonge has shared his reaction to the news of Blink-182 reuniting for a huge world tour and new music. The news, announced earlier today (October 11), was shared via a tongue-in-cheek video which confirmed that the band would be back with the classic line-up of DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker. Taking to his Instagram, DeLonge wrote: “What if I was to tell you we just made the best album of our career,” accompanied by a photo from the band’s earlier years. Advertisement Blink-182’s new single ‘Edging’ is set to arrive on Friday (October 14), and it marks the first time in a decade that the trio have been in a studio together (pre-save/pre-add here). A new full-length studio album is also in the works, though full details are yet to be revealed. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Official Tom DeLonge (@tomdelonge) DeLonge and Hoppus started Blink-182 in 1992, eventually announcing an indefinite hiatus in 2005. In 2011, they reunited to release ‘Neighborhoods’ and continued to tour, before DeLonge departed the band in early 2015. Back in July, Matt Skiba said that he didn’t know if he was still a part of Blink-182. The Alkaline Trio vocalist joined the… Read More →

11OCTNews

Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly planned as witness in trial of Fugees’ Pras Michel

Leonardo DiCaprio is set to be among the list of witness at the upcoming trial of Fugees member Pras Michel, according to reports. Michel is set to stand trial from November 4 in Washington, DC, accused of illegally lobbying the Trump administration on behalf of the Chinese government and illegally giving contributions to the Obama administration before it. Earlier this year, speculation circled that Fugees cancelled their 25th anniversary tour celebrating second album ‘The Score’ not due to COVID concerns, as originally stated, but Michel’s ongoing legal issues. Advertisement A story published on August 29 by Puck detailed Michel’s indictment for his alleged role in the claimed criminal conspiracy surrounding Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and the significant jail time Michel may face for his connections with fugitive businessman Jho Low. As Insider report, court filings posted on Sunday (October 9) revealed the list of witnesses for the upcoming trial, including former White House chief of staff John Kelly, former national security advisor H.R. McMaster and DiCaprio. The actor, whose 2013 film The Wolf Of Wall Street received funding that was allegedly stole from the Malaysia-based sovereign wealth fund, has already testified in front of a grand jury in… Read More →

10OCTNews

Animal Collective have cancelled their UK/European tour dates

Animal Collective have cancelled their forthcoming UK/European tour citing economic difficulties. READ MORE: Brexit is “strangling the next generation of UK talent in the cradle” in returning summer of touring The band were due to kick off their jaunt in Ireland on November 2 with further dates in Brighton, Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow and London before moving on to Europe. But this evening (October 10) the band issued a lengthy statement confirming that all tour dates have been cancelled and explained their reasons for doing so. You can view the statement in full below. Advertisement “Friends, we are absolutely gutted to announce today that we are making the decision to cancel our UK/EU dates for this November. We love playing music for you and truly wish we could be there. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Animal Collective (@anmlcollective) “It has been a wild year for us trying to push through a mountain of touring obstacles related to COVID and the economy. Three of us got bad cases of Covid. We were forced to cancel shows and lost large amounts of the income that sustains us and our families. But preparing for this tour we were looking at an… Read More →

10OCTNews

Iconic Wolverhampton venue Civic Halls to reopen as The Halls in 2023

Iconic Wolverhampton venue The Civic Halls is set to to reopen in 2023 as part of a complex called The Halls. READ MORE: Government warned: “Without immediate action, energy crisis will close more venues than COVID” In June next year, The Halls – which encompasses the 3,500 capacity room The Civic and 1,300 capacity The Wulfrun – will reopen, seeing the return of a Grade II listed venue that hosted Nirvana, David Bowie and more prior to its closure in December 2015. Of the reopening, AEG Presents CEO Steve Homer said: “Having hosted artists from The Clash, Bowie and Nirvana to the Manic Street Preachers and Morrissey who debuted his first solo performance post The Smiths at ‘The Halls,’ it’s incredible to be able to bring an iconic venue back to life and as a local lad, this is all the more special. Advertisement “I saw The Clash perform here in 1978 and it was an event that forever cemented my love of music. We can’t wait to open the doors of The Halls Wolverhampton and bring the world’s best artists to the West Midlands stage.” The Halls Wolverhampton. Credit: Press. City of Wolverhampton Council’s Ian Brookfield added: ”A beloved… Read More →

10OCTNews

Salem Ilese, LE SSERAFIM’s Huh Yun-jin and Kim Chae-won perform ‘Good Parts’ live

LE SSERAFIM vocalists Huh Yun-jin and Kim Chae-won recently performed one of the act’s upcoming B-sides ‘Good Parts (when the quality is bad but I am)’ with singer-songwriter Salem Ilese. READ MORE: LE SSERAFIM on being HYBE’s first girl group: “Diamonds are made under incredible pressure” On the October 8 episodes of South Korean music show Music Universe K-909, the two LE SSERAFIM members appeared alongside American singer-songwriter Salem Ilese to perform a new track from the girl group’s second mini-album ‘ANTIFRAGILE’, due out on October 17 at 6PM KST. Titled ‘Good Parts (when the quality is bad but I am)’, the laid-back pop track is the final song on the five-track record, and features lyrics penned by Ilese, Huh and LE SSERAFIM’s Sakura, who was not present for the performance. Advertisement “I just wanna love myself / When I’m feeling good or bad / I love my weakness / I may not always be glamorous, I may seem a bit plain / But find the good parts the good parts,” they croon on the chorus. Elsewhere in the episode, Kim and Ilese also teamed up to perform the latter’s 2020 hit single ‘Mad At Disney’. “So call me a… Read More →

09OCTNews

Kanye’s Twitter and Instagram accounts locked after antisemitic posts

Kanye West, who is now known as Ye, has had both his Twitter and Instagram accounts locked following a series of antisemitic posts. READ MORE: With his “White Lives Matter” stunt, has Kanye West finally hit the point of no return? Twitter locked West’s account on Sunday (October 9) following an antisemitic tweet. The social media platform later removed the tweet before locking his account. A spokesperson from Twitter told BuzzFeed News that “the account in question has been locked due to a violation of Twitter’s policies”. His Instagram account was also locked too after the rapper posted another antisemitic comment on Friday (October 7). NBC News confirmed that the rapper was barred from the social photo-sharing platform, with a representative for Meta – the company that owns Instagram – saying he was restricted from posting and had content removed by a moderator following a violation of the rules and guidelines. Last week, West faced more controversy after he wore a shirt emblazoned with the slogan ‘White Lives Matter’ at Paris Fashion Week. Despite a huge backlash to the moment, West later doubled down on his views, writing on his Instagram Stories that the Black Lives Matter movement “was a scam”,… Read More →

09OCTNews

Watch Willow deliver a punishing two-song set on ‘SNL’

WILLOW made her solo Saturday Night Live debut last night (October 8) and delivered a punishing two-song set – watch ‘Curious/Furious’ and ‘Ur A Stranger’ below. READ MORE: Five things we learned from our In Conversation video chat with WILLOW Fresh from releasing fifth album ‘COPINGMECHANISM’, WILLOW appeared on Saturday Night Live for a guitar-heavy performance. First track ‘Curious/Furious’ blended her soulful vocals with jangly indie melodies while ‘Ur A Stranger’ was a full-blown metal assault, complete with powerful screams and a broken TV. Advertisement Check both performances out below. WILLOW previously appeared on SNL earlier this year, as a special guest during Camila Cabello’s performance where the pair aired their ‘Psychofreak’ collab. Speaking about it with Zane Lowe earlier this week, Willow said (via Rolling Stone): “I’m nervous obviously, because being with Camila— a really, really good friend of mine — there’s that feeling of comfortability there where you can look across the stage and be like, ‘Girl, we’re in this together. We’re doing this.’ I’m not baring my soul alone on the stage. But now it’s going to be me baring my soul alone on the stage, and I’m just so grateful and so excited, but also… Read More →

09OCTNews

Watch Eddie Vedder cover The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’

Eddie Vedder performed a cover of The Cure‘s ‘Just Like Heaven’ at a solo show this week – check it out below. On Friday night (October 7), the Pearl Jam frontman played a gig with his band The Earthlings at the Dolby Live at Park MGM venue in Las Vegas. During the gig, Vedder explained how he and his family would host COVID dance parties at home during lockdown, and that ‘Just Like Heaven’ was on the playlist. Advertisement “I will always have great memories of those incredible dance parties,” he told the crowd. “The kids would come in and check on us and kind of get embarrassed and have to leave, but we had a fuckin’ blast. This is one of the ones that we would play. “We’ve never played it before — we only played it about an hour ago right before we came out, but we’re gonna try it now.” Check out the cover below. Last month, Vedder joined Stevie Nicks at his Ohana Fest in California to perform ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’ together. The Pearl Jam frontman has been running his own California-based festival since 2016, and over those years has hosted a series of… Read More →

09OCTNews

Kanye West makes Twitter comeback after Meta restricts Instagram account

Kanye West has reportedly been banned from Instagram, leading him to make a comeback on Twitter after two years away. READ MORE: With his “White Lives Matter” stunt, has Kanye West finally hit the point of no return? NBC News confirmed that the rapper was barred from the social photo-sharing platform, with a representative for Meta – the company that owns Instagram – saying he was restricted from posting, and had content removed by a moderator, after violating the rules and guidelines. It was not specified exactly what posts were removed by Meta, but as NBC noted, one deleted yesterday (October 8) saw West share anti-Semitic sentiments. It came after Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs responded to West’s recent gaffe at this year’s Paris Fashion Week – where he wore a shirt emblazoned with the phrase “White Lives Matter”, a slogan tied to white supremacist movements – and West shared screenshots of a text exchange between the two rappers to Instagram. In one of those texts, West wrote to Diddy: “I’ma use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me.” Advertisement In his first Tweet since November… Read More →

08OCTNews

Cat Burns shares new songs ‘People Pleaser’ and ‘Sleep At Night’

Cat Burns has returned with two brand new songs – listen to ‘People Pleaser’ and ‘Sleep At Night’ below. READ MORE: Cat Burns: uplifting songwriter that wants to “help Black queer artists” tell their story The singer and NME 100 alumni released debut EP ‘Emotionally Unavailable’ earlier this year, and followed that up with ‘Go’, a collaboration with Sam Smith. Discussing the first of the new songs, ‘People Pleaser’, Burns said: “‘People Pleaser’ is what it says on the tin, my struggles with being a people pleaser and why I am one.” Advertisement Of ‘Sleep At Night’, she added: “’Sleep At Night’ is a really personal song for me; it’s about being deeply hurt and wronged by someone but deciding to take the high road and not say anything bad about them because you’re a good person.” Listen to both new tracks below. Earlier this week, Burns was revealed as one of a number of support acts set to join Ed Sheeran on his huge 2023 North American ‘Mathematics’ tour. The pop star will bring his ongoing world tour to the US and Canada next year, with support from Burns alongside Khalid, Dylan, Rosa Linn, Maisie Peters and Russ on differing dates. Tickets go… Read More →