Singer/actress JoJo and actor Dexter Darden announce their engagement

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Singer/actress Jojo announced her engagement to Saved by the Bell star Dexter Darden.

Jojo shared the happy news on Instagram: “Forever with YOU? Sign me UP. Celebrating Christmas a whole fiancé!!! the most thoughtful, creative, positive, handsome, strong, loving, uplifting human being asked me to marry him. so obviously I said YESSS!!! thank you for the most epic birthday surprise ever. and for flying out my mom, your mom, and both of our best friends to share in that incredible moment with us. you are one of one.”

Jojo turned 31 on Dec. 20.  Her social-media post included photos and video of 30-year-old Darden’s proposal at La Concha Resort in Puerto Rico and the couple’s subsequent celebration with their loved ones.

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Three members of K-pop supergroup BTS test positive for COVID-19

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Vocalist Jin and rapper RM of the South Korean pop supergroup BTS have tested positive for COVID-19. The news comes just one day after vocalist Suga was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Big Hit Music made the announcement on Twitter, saying that RM initially tested negative eight days ago upon returning to South Korea following a vacation in the United States. After completing a government-mandated quarantine for overseas travel, he was tested again and showed a positive result, it said.  RM is not exhibiting any symptoms as of press time.  Jin tested negative twice earlier this month, once when he returned from a U.S. trip and again when he left quarantine. After experiencing symptoms on Saturday, he was again tested and showed a positive result for COVID-19.  Big Hit said Jin is experiencing mild symptoms including a light fever and is undergoing self-treatment at home.

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Coldplay’s Chris Martin says the band will stop making new music by 2025

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Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin has confirmed that the band is set to stop making music in 2025.

Martin made the announcement during a pre-recorded BBC radio show.  A clip in which Martin confirmed the band’s retirement was trailed on the BBC during a separate Radio 2 breakfast show earlier in the day. “Will there come a time when Coldplay stop?” Martin is asked; and he replies:  “Well, I know – I can tell you. We’re going to do – I think we have 3 more – our last proper record will come out at the end of 2025. And I think after that we’ll only tour – and maybe we’ll do some sort of collaborative things or… – but the Coldplay catalogue as it were finishes then.”

Coldplay – comprised of Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion — was formed in London, U.K. in 1996 and have released nine albums since their debut, 2000’s “Parachutes.”  The band have won 7 Grammy Awards and sold over 100 million albums worldwide. The group’s latest record, “Music of the Spheres,” was released in October.

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Britney Spears shares on social media that she’s working on new music

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Britney Spears took to Instagram to share that she is working on new music, posting a video of herself singing in her bathroom.

Spears wrote in the caption: “I just realized this today guys… after what my family tried to do to me three years ago… I needed to be my own cheerleader !!!! God knows they weren’t …so I just read up on my self and this is what I found: Multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning pop icon Britney Spears is one of the most successful and celebrated entertainers in pop history with nearly 100 million records sold worldwide. In the U.S. alone, she has sold more than 70 million albums, singles and songs, according to Nielsen Music.”   She then added: “Pssss new song in the works … I’m gonna let you know what I mean !!!!!”

Spears has been celebrating her 13-year conservatorship coming to an end in November.

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The Weeknd drops the music video for “Echoes Of Silence”

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The Weeknd celebrated the 10-year anniversary of his debut trilogy of mixtapes — House Of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes Of Silence — with the new video for “Echoes Of Silence.”  Directed by Kurando Furuya, the video tells the tale of love in a dystopic future.

The video’s release arrives after the mixtape itself was finally uploaded to streaming services, similar to The Weeknd’s previous two installments of the series.

Check out the video for “Echoes of Silence” – here.

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Take a look at Lorde’s new video for “Leader of a New Regime”

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Lorde has released the music video for ‘Leader Of A New Regime.”  The video, which Lorde directed with Joel Kefali, was set once again by water – as was the case for ‘Fallen Fruit’ and ‘Solar Power’.

Lorde announced the arrival of the video in a newsletter to fans: “Solstice’s should always have offerings. So for you, here’s the ‘Leader Of A New Regime’ video. Just a couple of bites, a feeling, a perfect mid-point in the [‘Solar Power’] journey. I hope you like it.”

Watch the video for “Leader of a New Regime” – here.

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Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” becomes the first song in Billboard Hot 100 history to reach No. 1 in three holiday seasons

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Nearly three decades after its 1994 debut, Mariah Carey’s classic holiday tune “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has become the first song in Billboard Hot 100 history to reach No. 1 in “three distinct runs”.

According to Billboard, the song made its third streak at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, last topping the charts on December 21st, 2019, December 28th, 2019, and January 4th, 2020. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has extended its record for spending the most weeks at No. 1 with its sixth week atop the Billboard Hot 100. With 85 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, Carey is the first artist to have the historic rank in four distinct decades.

In honor of the holiday season, Carey recently teamed up with McDonald’s for ‘The Mariah Menu’, twelve daily menu deals in the McDonald’s app that offers free merchandise to select participants. Like other recent McDonald’s celebrity collaborations, ‘The Mariah Menu’ will be available for a limited-time, ending on Christmas Eve.

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The posthumous single ‘Poison’ from Aaliyah is released, featuring The Weeknd

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The estate of the late R&B singer Aaliyah released a new posthumous single, titled “Poison”, featuring The Weeknd.  Aaliyah (born Aaliyah Dana Haughton) died at 22-years-old in a plane crash in the Bahamas in 2001, over 20 years ago.

The Weeknd previously sampled Aaliyah’s 2001 hit “Rock the Boat” for his single, “What You Need,” which appeared on his 2012 record, Trilogy.  The streaming service Spotify revealed in August that the first of several posthumous releases by Aaliyah would drop, beginning August 20 with One In A Million, a double-platinum record initially released in 1996. The Romeo Must Die soundtrack (2000) followed on September 3, and Aaliyah’s 2001 self-titled arrived on September 10. The I Care 4 U compilation album and Ultimate Aaliyah dropped on October 8.

Aaliyah’s new album, which does not have a release date as of yet, will be released via Blackground Records 2.0 and EMPIRE.

Check out the new song “Poison” – here.

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The lineup for Miley Cyrus and Pete Davidson’s “Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party” is revealed

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A star-studded lineup of special guests and musical performances have been announced for Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party, hosted by Miley Cyrus and Pete Davidson and broadcasting live from Miami on Dec. 31st.

Joining Cyrus and Davidson to celebrate the end of 2021 are Brandi Carlile, Billie Joe Armstrong, Saweetie, Anitta, Jack Harlow, 24kGoldn, Kitty Ca$h and “more surprises to come,” according to the network.

NBCUniversal executive vice president of live events, specials and E! News Jen Neal said in a statement when the special was announced earlier this month: “In what is sure to be an exciting and fun evening, we are looking forward to partnering with Lorne Michaels and ringing in 2022 with a night of incredible entertainment, led by Miley and Pete.”

Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party broadcasts live from Miami on Dec. 31 from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. ET on both NBC and Peacock.

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Jonas Brothers recreate ‘Joe Byron’ TikTok video with President Joe Biden

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The Jonas Brothers have enlisted President Bifen for a recreation of the viral “Joe Byron” TikTok video.   The video, shot in the actual White House and posted to social media, shows Joe, Nick, and Kevin Jonas pop up in various locations at the President’s pad while lip-syncing to lines from the video. At the end, none other than the President himself is revealed to be “behind the camera.”

The “Joe Byron” clip stems from videos posted by Sidetalk NYC on YouTube, which went viral on TikTok in October. TikTok features numerous clips of people lip-syncing to lines from Sidetalk’s videos, such as “Bing Bong! Are you vaccinated? Yes, sir. Ey yo!”

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