So when the official Star Wars Instagram account posted a (too short!) surprise teaser on Thursday (via the app's sweet new landscape option), no one saw it coming.
The short clip features a hodge-podge of never-before-seen shots, including Finn (played John Boyega) about to engage in a snowy battle against Kylo Ren (who is played by Adam Driver). We also get looks at the vast stormtrooper army and Rey (Daisy Ridley) with a droid. See the post here.
In a new interview with the NY Times, Cyrus reveals that the award show will not simply be a rehash of awards show in the past, but will "psychedelic" and "raw," saying that MTV gave her the freedom to really put her stamp on the show.
The interview takes a hard detour, though, when the subject of Nicki Minaj's criticism of the nominees is brought up. "What I read sounded very Nicki Minaj, which, if you know Nicki Minaj is not too kind," Cyrus said. "It's not very polite. I think there's a way you speak to people with openness and love. You don't have to start this pop star against pop star war.
"It became Nicki Minaj and Taylor in a fight, so now the story isn't even on what you wanted it to be about. Now you've just given E! News "Catfight! Taylor and Nicki Go at It." Read more here.
Black recorded the 14-track album at his studio in Nashville. He had the following say in the announcement, "Musically, On Purpose is right where I want to be. I pushed myself hard for this album, doing more of the guitar work, even playing slide guitar for the first time."
He also explains why he selected "On Purpose" as the album title, "On Purpose comes from a line in the song 'Better and Worse.' It represents my attitude towards life, in that it's never easy to 'go your own way', but the rewards are greater when you follow your heart. I know that's what my fans expect from me, and I hope that they hear that in the songs on this album."
The singer recently tweeted a picture of him and "Nashville" star Hayden Panettiere, writing "Hayden and I getting a little 'crazy' on set at Nashville. You won't want to miss this. #PatsyCline"
Tyler has been in Nashville since January working with songwriters on material for his debut solo album on Big Machine Records' affiliated label Dot Records.
The singer issued the project's lead single, "Love Is Your Name", to radio in May before delivering the debut live performance of the tune on the season 14 finale of American Idol on May 13. Read more and watch the preview here.
U2 debuted a new Matt Mahurin-directed clip on Facebook on Thursday which features a performance from Bono filmed earlier this year in Malibu. Mahurin previously directed the band's "Love Is Blindness" and "With Or Without You" videos.
"Collaboration is a great part of the creative process," said the director, "and it has been a true joy to once again jump aboard the band's mission of music, mercy and mayhem." Watch the video here.
Council member Jos� Huizar conducting the ceremony in the council chambers at city hall which was attended by the band and many of its fans and video of the event has been posted online.
Due August 28, "Bad Magic" was recorded at NRG Studios in Los Angeles with long-time producer Cameron Webb. The set includes a cover of the Rolling Stones classic, "Sympathy For The Devil", as well as a guest appearance by Queen guitarist Brian May on a tune entitled "The Devil."
The group's Stones cover follows the lead single, "Thunder & Lightning", and "Electricity" as the third track issued in advance of the album's release. Watch video of the ceremony here.
It's the third brand new track we've heard from the group, after "She's Kinda Hot" and the uptempo "Fly Away." Unlike these, "Jet Black Heart" stays true to its title with solemn break-up theme.
"'Cause I've got a jet black heart / And there's a hurricane underneath it, trying to keep us apart," sing the boys on the anthemic chorus, lyrics straight out of the early '00s emo playbook.
They drive the point home in the next stanza, which promises a chance to get back together again: "I write with a poison pen / But these chemicals moving between us are the reasons to start again." Read more and listen to the clip here.
The ladies of Fifth Harmony appear in the video at a hotel, with their bags packed and ready to check in. As interesting as the spooky set designs are the costumes the women sport, mixing in classic 1950's styles and prints with bedroom wear once they make their way into their haunted hotel rooms.
Of course clips from the upcoming film fill out the videos runtime, but Fifth Harmony remain the stars of the clip, as the song is destined for upcoming Halloween parties and mixes. Watch the video here.
The Seattle natives released the first official track from their sophomore album earlier this morning. "Downtown" features hip hop legends Grandmaster Caz, Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, and singer Eric Nally.
The Best Rap Album GRAMMY Award winners will perform "Downtown" live for the very first time at Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards. 97.1 Amp Radio morning show host Carson Daly chatted with the duo to get the scoop on their latest single, forthcoming album, and their upcoming VMA performance.
Carson Daly: Tell me a little bit about the single "Downtown."
Macklemore: It is a record that kind of pays homage to the late 70's, early 80's and what was going on in hip-hop, and what was going simultaneously in rock music, and melding the two worlds together in one record. We have Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz, and Eric Nally on it and we're really excited about it. We've been working on the record for about a year and a half, so this is the day. This is the world premiere.
Carson Daly: Obviously so much, Macklemore, in your life has changed. How did that influence the new sound of the record?
Macklemore: Man, a lot has changed! I would say that I'm someone who's always trying to pick from life experiences that are happening and putting that into the music and this was one of those times. After The Heist, there was so much, kind of a whirlwind going on for a year and a half, two years. It was a time I didn't really know what to write about. You know, it was just a hotel room after a hotel room and a flight after a flight and shows, so we had to take a little bit of a break and kind of figure out what we wanted to say, what I wanted to say, what kind of textures Ryan wanted to use, and where we wanted to take it creatively because when you're kind of in the thick of it and just going on autopilot every day, it's tough to really be in a state of creativity.
And then obviously, I had a child. I had a child three months ago, which has changed my life completely. It just kind of puts everything in perspective and that's where I'm at right now. We still have a little bit to finish up on the album, but we're pretty much there. Read the rest of the interview here.
Minaj will kick off the show joining a long list of performers including Justin Bieber, Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis, Pharrell Williams, Tori Kelly and a recently confirmed collaboration between A$AP Rocky and Twenty One Pilots. Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas will perform during the pre-show.
It's safe to assume that Minaj is over getting "snubbed" for Video of the Year for her song "Anaconda." The MC went ballistic on MTV following the nominations feeling the video should have been nominated for in the coveted category, even though the clip did receive two nods for Best Hip-Hop Video and Best Female Video. She is also nominated for Best Collaboration for "Bang Bang," which also features Jessie J and Ariana Grande. See the photo Nicki posted and read more here.
On Wednesday (Aug. 26) he displayed the cover art for the album and posted an accompanying video that highlighted some of his performance. In it, he issued an apology to fans who he may offend at any given time.
"Last year I didn't have an address," he said from the stage. "This year I got five addresses�If it wasn't for ya'll Fetty Wap wouldn't be her�.I do want to say some days I'm human, when I wake up and have bad moments. I have two kids myself, bad as hell. So when I'm having a bad moment don't ever think I'm being mean. I'm a father and I be away from my kids for a long time. I just wanted to say that because of a couple of people I took pictures with today and I'm sorry if y'all here. I just want to say sorry in advance."
Watch his apology here.
Photographed by Michael Avedon, the series of snaps captures a wide range of looks for Gaga and her countesss character, and she has shared a number of the photos on Twitter in the last couple days.
For the cover, we get Gaga with blood smeared on her neck, wearing a glove that could double as a claw. Gaga tweeted "It was a pleasure being photographed by the brilliant Michael Avedon for @EW in my Hotel" Read more and see the tweets and photos here.
Moss says: "I gathered together the various personalities of the people whose callous, disrespectful, backstabbing actions caused me countless wasted years of depression.
"For years I thought the problem was with me. I was always open and tried my best - but I was used and betrayed many times. This led me to believe I was worthless and must have deserved it."
But he thinks differently now. "I realize the problem was with the psychologically soulless people who treated me that way due to their nature, not mine," he asserts. Stream the song here.
Guitarist-vocalist Glidje tells Prog: "FaithFaker is written in the now absence of anti-depressants. It has some obvious black metal guitar harmonies, with full-on harmonic choruses. It's one of the more straightforward songs on the album, inspired by bands like Yes and early Type O Negative."
He adds: "I guess unique, manic, obscure and sexy are words that some would use to describe the songs. It really has got more to it than the average metal or rock album.
"It's a bold and original mix of obscure metal, 70s prog and rock. It's neither art by accident nor the emperor's new clothes in a musical context." Stream the new song here.
The trio were formed after Chris Braide and Ash Soan, who'd been members of The Producers with Trevor Horn, wanted to work together again and brought in Lee Pomeroy.
Braide has described the band's material as "glossy pop with good production," adding: "There are references to things like Yes' 90125, these big shiny pop records. We were all influenced by that and wanted to make our own." Watch the video here.
From October of 2014 through February of 2015, my family and I went through a very difficult time. We lost my Grandpa and a few very close friends all within about a week of each other. In late October, my Grandpa and Grandma drove out from Wyoming (where I was born and raised) to Nashville to visit me for the week. We had an amazing time together and I was able to show them my new home (in Nashville). Unfortunately my Grandpa didn't make it all the way back to Wyoming. He passed away on the drive back. I was very close to my grandparents growing up, as they just lived five minutes away. Losing him was the worst thing I have ever experienced, especially after just spending such a great week with him. However, I am so thankful we were able to have spent that time together. As I previously mentioned, around that same week that we lost my grandpa, we lost two other really close family friends... it was a tidal wave of unfortunate life circumstances that we were all dealing with. It was really hard watching everyone go through so much pain. I just felt helpless.
Originally when I went into the writing session with my friend/cowriter Ryan Sorestad, I had wanted to write a song for my grandpa called "This One's For You." When we were in that tiny writers room at NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International), we started talking about loss and all the struggles we were both facing. We discussed how awful it is that no matter what is going on in your life, you still have to wake up, go to work, be a mom or dad, a wife or a husband, a friend, and put on a happy face, while on the inside you are completely broken. "Everyone's got their own story, holding on to the hard times, just living day by day trying to keep it together on the outside." Time doesn't stand still and life doesn't stop just because you are going through a hard time. You have to keep going. We decided that this is what our song should be about. Through deep and heavy verses, to an upbeat chorus, we are letting the world know, that no matter how bad it gets, you aren't alone in your sorrow. We have all experienced some form of tragedy and we are here for you. Don't be afraid to ask for help. "All you want is a little peace but you're fighting your own war, just keep on knocking and you'll find an open door." We won't let you fall. "This one's for you, when your back's up against the wall, this one's for you, when you feel like you're going to fall, don't be afraid, just look around, we won't let you hit the ground, this one's for you." This one's for you.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!
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