Month: August 2021

NBC has announced who will be joining judges Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Ariana Grande, and Blake Shelton as Battle Advisors on the 21st season of ‘The Voice.’

Battle Advisors for the upcoming season include Camila Cabello, who will advise Legend; while Kristin Chenoweth will team up with Grande. Country stars Jason Aldean and Dierks Bentley will serve as advisors to Clarkson and Shelton, respectively.

Grande took to Instagram to gush over working with Chenowith: “I cannot tell you how thankful I am to have shared this with her and to have been able to “teach” with someone I have learned the absolute most from. My heart is in shambles. We had the most fun. I love my team. I love my Cheno.”

Season 21 of ‘The Voice’ returns Monday, September 2 on NBC.

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Lorde has released the video for her song “Mood Ring,” the latest single from her upcoming third studio album Solar Power. The new video arrives with the singer sporting blonde hair, and is co-directed by Joel Kefali and Lorde herself. You can take a look at the video for Mood Ring – here.

Solar Power is Lorde’s first album in four years since she released Melodrama in 2017.  Her new single “Mood Ring” is the follow-up to previously released singles “Stoned at the Nail Salon” and “Solar Power.”

Pre-order Lorde’s album Solar Power, due out Friday, August 20th – here.

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Elton John and Dua Lipa are teaming up for the track “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix),” which features John singing lyrics from his 1989 single “Sacrifice” and Lipa singing lines from the classic John hit, 1972’s “Rocket Man.”

Both artists shared on social media news of the song. John tweeted: “This track is the culmination of a beautiful friendship with you Dua and I’m so happy we can now share it – I hope you all love it!”

Dua Lipa tweeted: “Elton you are my friend and my hero and I never thought i’d be able to ever say that in a sentence. Thank you for all your love and support. Grateful to make music with you in this life.”

Take a listen to the Cold Heart (Pnau Remix) – here.

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Billie Eilish is spending her second week at No. 1 on the “Billboard” 200 albums chart with “Happier Than Ever.” The album is now the second 2021 record to spend more than one week at number; the other being Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” which spent 10 weeks on top after debuting at number one in January.

Olivia Rodrigo’s “SOUR” comes in at No. 2 this week, followed by Nas’ “King’s Disease II” at No, 3, The Kid LAROI’s “F*ck Love” at No. 4 and Doja Cat’s “Planet Her” at No. 5. Rounding out the Top 10 are: Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album”, George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass”, Lil Baby and Lil Durk’s “ The Voice of the Heroes”, Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” and Polo G’s “Hall of Fame.”

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As Delta variant cases surge across the country, concert promoter Live Nation is tightening its COVID restrictions. According to Rolling Stone, Live Nation will be requiring proof of vaccination or negative test results at live events beginning this fall. Live Nation previously announced it would allow artists to determine their own coronavirus protocols, but decided to update its policy after last month’s Lollapalooza, which required all attendees to provide a vaccine card or proof of a negative test result.

Live Nation president/CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement to Rolling Stone: “Vaccines are going to be your ticket back to shows …We will be following the model we developed for Lollapalooza and requiring this for artists, fans, and employees at Live Nation venues and festivals everywhere possible in the US.” The requirement will go into effect on Oct. 4, which is also the deadline for all Live Nation employees to be fully vaccinated if they wish to attend events or go into the company’s offices. Live Nation will incentivize its workers with paid days off for each vaccine appointment.

AEG announced a stricter mandate earlier this week, saying all concert-goers and staff members must provide proof of full vaccination by Oct. 1. Negative test results will not be accepted.

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Nicki Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty have been named defendants in a lawsuit brought against them by Jennifer Hough, the woman whom Petty assaulted in 1994 when they were both 16 years old. The lawsuit alleges a pattern of harassment by Minaj and Petty, including reaching out to Hough directly, offering her large sums of money via proxies, and sending people to her house announced, which eventually led her to move out of her home in August 2020. Hough is also alleging sexual assault and battery by Petty related to the 1994 incident. She is also suing Minaj and Petty for emotional distress, harassment, and witness intimidation.

In 1995, Petty was convicted on one count of attempted rape in the first degree, assault in the second degree, unlawful imprisonment in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon, all stemming from the assault of Hough. In 2006, Petty pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge in an unrelated case. After serving seven years of a 10-year sentence, he was let out of prison on supervised release in 2013. In March 2020, Petty was charged with failing to register as a sex offender in California after moving from New York to the West Coast in 2019. Earlier this month, it was reported that he took a plea deal, pleading guilty to one count of failing to register as a sex offender.

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