Month: April 2023

The Weeknd shared his newest single “Double Fantasy” featuring Future, the first original song off The Weeknd’s upcoming HBO Original series The Idol. 

The Idol is co-created by Sam Levinson (HBO’s Euphoria), Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and Reza Fahim, and stars The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp.  Th show will premiere at this year’s annual Festival De Cannes in France as an Official Selection Out of Competition and is set to debut on Sunday, June 4th at 9 pm ET/PT. The series will also air on HBO and be available to stream on Max.

Take a look at the video for ‘Double Fantasy’ – here.

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Ed Sheeran has shared the music video for his new single, ‘Boat,’taken from Sheeran’s upcoming LP,
‘-‘ (‘SUBTRACT’), due out May 5.  Directed by Mia Barnes, the video finds Sheeran engulfed by waves, reflecting the song’s lyrics.  Sheeran said in a statement about the song: “’Boat’ is the first song I wrote and finished for Subtract. It’s where it all began, and a good way to kick off the album.”

‘-‘ (‘SUBTRACT’) is Sheeran’s final LP of a series of albums named after mathematical symbols. Sheeran said of the album in a statement, “As an artist I didn’t feel like I could credibly put a body of work into the world that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life. This album is purely that. It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. For the first time I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life.”

Pre-order ‘-‘ (‘SUBTRACT’) – here.
Take look at the video for “Boat” – here.

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The Jonas Brothers are surprising fans across the country with a set of three upcoming secret shows, sharing on social media: “Heads up Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth and Baltimore… We’re coming to town for three secret shows on April 25th, 26th and 28th!”  

The brothers announced on social media they will perform secret shows in Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth and Baltimore later this month, but didn’t reveal any additional details about what fans could expect, such as the venues and times or what songs concertgoers could expect to hear.  For more information, head to www.jonasbrothers.com.

The secret shows announcement come shortly after the Jonas Brothers shared that they are fulfilling a lifelong dream and performing at Yankee Stadium in August; due to high demand, a second date at Yankee Stadium was recently added.

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After a divisive and poorly received performance last Sunday, Frank Ocean will not be headlining the second weekend of the Coachella Festival in Indio, California. Variety reports that Ocean has pulled out of his scheduled Sunday performance; the spot will instead go to Blink-182.

A rep for the singer released a statement, saying: “Frank Ocean will not be performing at weekend 2 of Coachella. After suffering an injury to his leg on festival grounds in the week leading up to weekend 1, Frank Ocean was unable to perform the intended show but was still intent on performing, and in 72 hours, the show was reworked out of necessity. On doctor’s advice, [Ocean] is not able to perform weekend 2 due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg.”

The statement concluded with a statement from Ocean: “‘It was chaotic. There is some beauty in chaos. It isn’t what I intended to show but I did enjoy being out there and I’ll see you soon.’ — Frank Ocean.”

Ocean was originally schedule to headline the music festival in 2020, before the pandemic shut down the festival. Ocean’s performance last weekend  was the singer’s first in six years. Fans became irate when it came time for Ocean to perform, when not only was it announced that his set would not be included in YouTube’s livestream from the festival — but signs placed around the venue declared that no Frank Ocean merchandise would be available for purchase at the festival. The performance itself didn’t begin for nearly one hour after Ocean was set to start, and was cut abruptly short due to the local curfew enforcement.

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BTS’ J-Hope will be the second member of the K-pop band to start his mandatory military service in South Korea. J-Hope shared a photo of his newly buzzed hair as well as a handwritten farewell message to his dedicated fans.  When translated into English, the note read: “I will return healthy and well!!  I’ll have a good trip!!” 

According to a South Korean news agency called Yonhap, J-Hope is enlisting in the South Korean military and starting five weeks of basic training at an Army boot camp in Gangwon Province. BTS’ agency, BigHit Music, has not shared the official date and location of his enlistment. BigHit took to Weverse last month to inform fans that J-Hope had started the process of enlisting, sharing: “We would like to inform our fans that j-hope has initiated the military enlistment process by applying for the termination of his enlistment postponement. We will inform you of further updates in due course. We ask you for your continued love and support for j-hope until he completes his military service and safely returns. Our company will spare no effort in providing support for our artist.”

BTS is currently on hiatus as the individual members start their mandatory South Korean military service. The eldest member of the group, Jin, documented his newly buzzed head just before leaving for a boot camp to begin his service back in December. Other members are still performing and making appearances before starting their own service. BTS plans to reunite as a full group in 2025.

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HBO has shared a new teaser for the drama series ‘The Idol’, and announced it’s premiere date – June 4th.

The Idol, from Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, Reza Fahim and ‘Euphoria’ creator Sam Levinson, follows Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), an aspiring pop star who meets and falls for Tedros (The Weeknd), a self-help guru and the leader of a modern-day cult. An official series synopsis reads: “After a nervous breakdown derailed Jocelyn’s (Depp) last tour, she’s determined to claim her rightful status as the greatest and sexiest pop star in America. Her passions are reignited by Tedros (The Weeknd), a nightclub impresario with a sordid past. Will her romantic awakening take her to glorious new heights or the deepest and darkest depths of her soul?”

The Idol also stars Troye Sivan, Dan Levy, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Eli Roth, Hari Nef, Jane Adams, and Jennie from BLACKPINK. The show will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Take a look at the teaser trailer for The Idol – here.

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