Music

“No thanks will come your way when you’re living in the center of a circle made to break,” Yola sings early on in “Be My Friend,” a compelling track from her newest album, Stand for Myself. In addition to warning powerfully against complacency, the lyric asks for meaningful connection across social, political and cultural division, a sentiment that echoes throughout both “Be My Friend” and the rest of the album.“I’m often looking at it from the other side, which is yearning to be together,” explains Yola of these divisions and the...

This piece is part of Rolling Stone’s second annual Grammy Preview special issue, released ahead of the start of first-round voting. We spoke to some of the year’s biggest artists about the albums and singles that could earn them a nomination — or even a statue come January — and delved into the challenges facing the Recording Academy, providing a 360-degree view of what to watch for in the lead-up to the 2022 awards. Artist: Giveon Eligible for: When It’s All Said and Done … Take Time, “Peaches” Giveon’s “Like I Want...

Scotty McCreery fans were treated to a live performance of his new song "Damn Strait" when he performed it on The Kelly Clarkson Show earlier this week.The Tuesday television performance marked his first appearance on Kelly Clarkson's talk show. The pair have a common bond as former American Idol winners, but it sounds like the host just genuinely likes the song. This performance came during her "What I'm Liking" segment, normally reserved for lighter stories and social media videos."Damn Strait" is McCreery's second single from his just-released Same Truck album, following...

Alpha, CL’s first full-length album as a solo artist, has been a long time coming. CL, née Lee Chaelin, was the leader of 2NE1, a four-member girl group that is undeniably one of the most influential acts to come out of what’s often been described as the second generation of K-pop. 2NE1 consistently topped the Korean charts during their run, from 2009 to 2017. But they did more than just churn out hits, widening K-pop’s scope by incorporating more sounds into the genre — from hip-hop to contemporary R&B to...

Chris Stapleton has pushed two scheduled shows at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena back to December, per doctor's orders. This Thursday's (Oct. 21) concert in Cincinnati is also being postponed.The news comes four days after the singer and CMA Entertainer of the Year nominee rescheduled a show for Sioux Falls, S.D. Stapleton has laryngitis and isn't recovering quick enough to perform."On doctor's orders, I will need to continue my vocal rest through the weekend in order to fully heal," a note on social media reads. "I am sorry that so many of...

K-pop phenoms Tomorrow x Together members Yeonjun and Taehyun have released a cover of the Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s hit song “Stay.” In an accompanying video for their rendition, Yeonjun and Taehyun perform the song from a bedroom covered in posters as they take turns on lead vocals as well as harmonize on the upbeat cover. The quintet, who made their debut in 2019, recently spoke with Rolling Stone about their rise as a rookie group to “It boys” status — being leaders of the fourth generation of K-pop...

The narrator of Jason Scott & the High Heat's "Suffering Eyes" is perpetually unlucky in love — but he's certainly not blameless in the situation.Scott wrote the newly released song, which is premiering exclusively on The Boot, after a conversation with a patron at a bar he was playing. The man "was wasted and lamenting about recently losing the 'love of his life,'" the artist recalls; however, Scott adds, "It didn’t take long to figure out he’d been here before, and would be again. It was all her fault, and he couldn’t...

Leslie Bricusse, the Oscar and Grammy-winning songwriter who wrote lyrics for Bond theme songs and memorable tunes for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, died on Tuesday in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, Variety reports. He was 90. His son, Adam Bricusse, announced the news on Facebook. “My Dearest Father, passed away peacefully this morning,” he wrote. “Please raise a glass for him.” He also quoted the line “Sleep in peace when the day is done” from “Feeling Good,” a song his father penned with Anthony Newley for the 1965 musical The Roar...

Jordan Davis and Luke Bryan share a few words of wisdom during an acoustic performance of "Buy Dirt." The song from Davis' Buy Dirt EP is currently a Top 20 radio hit, but this new video illustrates how the lyrics hit on a smaller scale.Fans see and hear Bryan, Davis and a guitar player whose percussive tapping on the metal strings keeps time. It's an even softer approach to a song that carries life lessons passed down through generations.The chorus begins with: "Buy dirt / Find the one you can't live without...

Garth Brooks had to cancel his headlining Stadium Tour appearance at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium this summer due to severe weather, but the country superstar has already booked his return, albeit on a much smaller scale. On Tuesday, Brooks announced plans to play a pair of back-to-back shows at the Ryman Auditorium, capacity around 2,300. Set for November 19th and 20th, the shows — dubbed “Just Garth, the Ryman and You” — will inevitably be a more intimate, scaled-down production for Brooks, who’s been headlining arenas and stadiums for the better...

Garth Brooks is coming back to Nashville in two intimate shows that are set for November. The country megastar is set to perform at the historic Ryman Auditorium on Nov. 19 and 20 in two shows that he is billing as Garth, the Ryman & You.The upcoming shows will feature Brooks telling the stories behind his songs as he performs for fans in an up-close-and-personal setting that is a far cry from the vast concert arenas he normally plays. The concert is not being sold to capacity to allow for...

Jay-Z’s legal team hired a retired cop to sniff around the neighborhood of a former perfume company president involved in the rap star’s cologne breach-of-contract trial starting this week in New York. Donald Loftus, the ex-CEO of Parlux, cited health problems and fear of Covid-19 in his bid to avoid testifying in person at the trial. But the former NYPD sergeant Jay-Z hired snapped Loftus walking in Manhattan without a mask, boarding multiple MTA buses, shopping inside an Upper East Side grocery store, and standing in a crowd at the...

Travis Tritt has canceled four concerts because the venues require proof of either a COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. The singer says he's "putting my money where my mouth is."Those shows were to take place at the Emens Auditorium on Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., on Oct. 23; the Pearl River Resort in Philadelphia, Miss., on Nov. 6; the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Ill., on Nov. 11; and Louisville Palace in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 13.Several concert promoters, like Live Nation and AEG Live, have blanket COVID-19...

Given Jason Isbell’s frightening talent for writing songs that make grown people weep, it is sometimes overlooked that he and his longtime band the 400 Unit are also wickedly skilled musicians whose live shows range from hushed intimacy to epic rock grandeur. Those chops are foregrounded on Georgia Blue, an all-covers collection that Isbell teased as possibility on Election Day 2020 if the Peach State flipped in favor of Democrats. So it did, and so he has, with proceeds from the album going to a handful of voting rights initiatives....