Category: Pop Daypop

After Marvel Studios seemingly confirmed that new music from Rihanna would appear in the upcoming film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the artist herself tweeted Wednesday that she will release the single “Lift Me Up” from the soundtrack on Friday, Oct. 28.   Rihanna’s tweet came with a corresponding video that shows the letter ‘R’ designed like the Black Panther uniform on a black background. A short snippet of humming plays in the background, with Rihanna’s name appearing on the left side and the name of the song on the right  (Marvel’s initial tweet had showed a clip of the movie’s title that also zeroed in on a ‘R’ and the same release date).

According to Variety, “Lift Me Up” was “written as a tribute to the life and legacy of Chadwick Boseman” by Tems, Oscar winner Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna and Ryan Coogler.  Boseman, who famously played T’Challa, died of colon cancer in 2020. The sequel film is set for release on November 11th.

The first Black Panther film was released in 2018 with Kendrick Lamar serving as the executive producer of that film’s soundtrack. The first film also featured music from Schoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, The Weeknd, and Travis Scott.

“Lift Me Up” will mark Rihanna’s first solo material in nearly seven years, aside from a guest spot on PartyNextDoor’s 2020 single ‘Believe It’.  The singer last released the album ‘Anti’ in 2006, and she’ll return to the stage to headline the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show in February 2023.

Rihanna confirms new single ‘Lift Me Up’ arriving this week

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Dick Clark Productions and ABC announced on Monday that Wayne Brady is set to host the 2022 American Music Awards. Brady said in a press release: “I’m ecstatic and honored to host this year’s AMAs. As a musician and music lover, it’s amazing to be part of a night where music fans make their voices heard! It’s a big show, so I’m bringing it all… The funny, the music and the moves!”

The AMA ceremony’s executive producer and showrunner Jesse Collins said: “Wayne Brady is undoubtedly one of the most talented people on earth and we are thrilled to have him host this year’s AMAs. Viewers should expect an incredible night of music, comedy and fun!”

Bad Bunny leads the nominations for the 2022 American Music Awards with eight nods, including his first for artist of the year. Beyoncé, Drake and Taylor Swift are close behind with six nods each. That makes Bey and Swift the year’s top female nominees.

Fan voting is now open via VoteAMAs.com and Twitter in all award categories, except favorite K-pop artist, which will open on Nov. 1.  The AMAs will air from the Microsoft Theater at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.

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Taylor Swift has released another new video from her latest album “Midnights, for the song “Bejeweled”. Midnights is Swift’s first album since Evermore, released in December 2020. Swift also released Red (Taylor’s Version), a rerecorded version of her 2012 album Red, last November.

The video for Bejewled features actress Laura Dern, sisters and rock band HAIM, burlesque performer Dita Von Teese and music producer Jack Antonoff, and is a reimagining of the Cinderella fairytale, with Swift as “House Wench Taylor,” Dern as “Stepmommy,” the HAIM sisters as “Lady Este, Alana and Danielle,” Von Teese as “Fairy Goddess” and Antonoff as Prince Jack.

Swift shared details of the “Bejeweled” video on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon ahead of the video’s release, and also teased a new tour, which would be her first in four years. Said Swift:  “I think I should do it. When it’s time, we’ll do it … I miss it. I really miss it. I miss, you know, when you write songs and you’re proud of the songs, and you have the fans reacting, the most potent way that you can see them react is when you’re looking into their faces … I really miss that connection.”

Check out the video for Bejeweled – here.

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Elton John and Britney Spears have released the official music video for the ‘Joel Corry Remix’ of their smash hit, “Hold Me Closer.”  The video — shot in London and staring renowned English DJ and producer Joel Corry — features a group of dancers paying homage to John and Spears legendary careers. The Joel Corry Remix clip follows the release of the audio of the first official remix earlier this month, which Corry surprised fans with at his final Ushuaia and Ibiza Rocks show last week. Elton and Britney also dropped the second official remix of “Hold Me Closer” with world-renowned German producer and DJ Purple Disco Machine.  The animated video for the Hold Me Closer (Purple Disco Machine Remix) can be viewed – here.

As previously announced, three collectible, limited edition CD single formats of “Hold Me Closer” are set for release in November. Each of the three unique discs will feature different artwork, one with the original single sleeve and the remaining two with fan-voted art as the cover. Additionally, each CD will carry a different track list, all with the original “Hold Me Closer” song, with the second track varying between an extended version, the Joel Corry Remix, or the Purple Disco Machine Remix on the remaining two.

Check out the Joel Corry ‘Hold Me Closer’ remix video – here.

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5 Seconds of Summer shared their music video for “Older,” directed by Frank and Ivanna Borin. The love ballad features vocals from lead singer Luke Hemmings’ fiancée, Sierra Deaton.

5 Seconds of Summer said of the video:  “The video for ‘Older’ poses this question and portrays humans of all walks of life on their last day on earth. The song is about not wanting to get older because that means you’re one day closer to either your own eventual demise or that of your loved ones. Usually, in life, the end comes without warning, but we wanted the video to capture what could happen if we knew exactly when the end was coming. We made the video with our long-time friends and collaborators, the brilliant Frank and Ivanna Borin… we hope you enjoy it.”

Older is taken from the band’s fifth studio album, 5SOS5. Check out the video for Older on YouTube.

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Taylor Swift’s 10th full-length studio album, Midnights, has broken Spotify, Amazon and Apple Music streaming records in less than 24 hours. Midnights was the biggest album debut for Spotify history, becoming the “Most Streamed Album in a Single Day” with over 185 million streams. Swift also broke the record as the “Most Streamed Artist in a Single Day” in Spotify history, and Midnights broke the all-time record for “most single day streams for an artist in Spotify history,” surpassing the record set by Bad Bunny earlier this year. Spotify tweeted: “And before the clock could even strike midnight on October 22nd, Taylor Swift broke the record for most-streamed album in a single day in Spotify history. Congratulations, @taylorswift13 .”

Midnights also broke the record for the biggest pop album of all time on Apple Music by first-day streams, and the song “Lavender Haze” debuted No. 1 on Apple Music Top 100: Global. On Amazon Music, Swift also received the most first day album streams globally of any artist in addition to the most Alexa requests ever. In addition, “Anti-Hero” is the No. 1 trending video on YouTube in the US.

Swift how holds the top five biggest streaming debuts in chart history. All 13 tracks from the original version of Swift’s Midnights debuted in the top 13.

Swift reacted to the news that she broke the single-day streaming record, tweeting: “How did I get this lucky, having you guys out here doing something this mind blowing. Like what even just happened??!?!”

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Machine Gun Kelly has shared a new video for ‘9 Lives’, which takes viewers behind the scenes of his recent 2022 Mainstream Sellout world tour.

MGK just rapped up the UK and European leg of his world tour in Amsterdam on October 12, and the new video for 9 Lives mixes performance clips with shots of Kelly and his band backstage, on the road between gigs and other behind-the-scenes footage.

Get a glimpse of the ‘Mainstream Sellout’ tour in MGK’s 9 Lives video – here.

Machine Gun Kelly Hits The Road In Vibrant ‘9 Lives’ Video

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Lewis Capaldi shared on social media details of his long-awaited sophomore album titled ‘Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent,’ the follow-up to his 2019 debut, ‘Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent.’ Capaldi also announced a headlining world tour in support of the album, with his North American leg launching next spring.  General ticket sales will begin Friday, October 21st at noon local time via Ticketmaster.

‘Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent’ is set release on May 19, 2023; Capaldi says of the project:  “I felt like I was sounding better because I was just chilled out in my own gaff. Also, a lot of this record was made with most of the same people who I worked with on the first one: TMS, Phil Plested, Nick Atkinson, and Edd Holloway. At least one of them is on almost every song.  I don’t want to create a new sound for myself, or reinvent myself. The songs I want to write are emotional songs, about love or loss.”

The official video for Capaldi’s latest hit song, “Forget Me” is directed by Louis Bhose and is a shot-for-shot remake of Wham’s 1983 hit “Club Tropicana.” Capaldi has also unveiled an acoustic version of the track, which you can listen to here.

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Billie Eilish took to social media to announce Happier Than Ever, The Hometown Encore, which will see her play two more shows at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum on December 15 and 16 (just days after her 21st birthday!).

Billie shared in an Instagram post:  “I’M COMING BACKKKKKKKK!! ‘Happier Than Ever, the hometown encore!!!!!!!  LA i am so excited to see you one last time for the year!!! playing two extra final shows for you at the forum!!! register for verified fan now to get early ticket access on oct. 25th before tickets go on sale to the public on oct. 26th!!”

Fans can register here for the Verified Fan presale on October 25.
Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10am on October 26.

Billie Eilish announces two encore Los Angeles shows

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Sam Smith has just announced their fourth studio album, titled ‘Gloria’, will arrive on Jan. 27, 2023.

“Gloria” was made with longtime collaborators Jimmy Napes, Stargate, and Max Martin stablemate ILYA, and was recorded in Jamaica, Los Angeles, and London. The album will explore Smith’s personal journey through “sex, lies, passion, self-expression and imperfection.” Smith said about the album: “It feels like emotional, sexual and spiritual liberation. It was beautiful, with this album, to sing freely again. Oddly, it feels like my first-ever record. And it feels like a coming of age.”

Smith’s worldwide smash hit “Unholy’ featuring Kim Petras is the lead single from ‘Gloria’, and has already amassed over 300 million combined global streams. Fans who pre-order the digital edition of ‘Gloria’ will receive one of its unreleased tracks, “Love Me More.”  To pre-order Gloria, head here.

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