John Summit will host a two-day festival, Experts Only NYC, in New York City in September. The festival will happen on Randall’s Island Sept. 20-21. The producer will headline both nights of the event, with the lineup also featuring sets […]
Kesha may now be a free and independent artist, but up until just a couple of years ago, she was contractually obligated to work with the same person she was suing on allegations of sexual assault.
And in an emotional interview on Monica Lewinsky’s Reclaiming podcast posted Tuesday (July 8), the singer opened up about what it was like to be forced to finish out her deal with Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe Records, even as she and the producer were embroiled in a bitter legal battle stemming from Kesha’s 2014 claim that he drugged and raped her at a 2005 party. Dr. Luke, who has always vehemently denied the accusations, countersued her for defamation; the two parties finally reached a settlement in June 2023, with the producer continuing to deny the allegations.
“The recordings of my voice did not legally belong to me in the universe in perpetuity,” Kesha explained to Lewinsky. “To then be delivering music to someone that you’re in litigation with … they’re in control of the promotion, of the budgets, all of it, the release, everything. For years. For 10 years. That was the only way I’d get out of the deal [with Kemosabe], was if I delivered the music.”
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“In my mind, it just felt like the biggest head-f–k of all time,” the musician continued. “It still perplexes me, because it kind of makes no sense how the legal system could just watch this be happening and be like, ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’ It felt inhumane.”
“And in the middle of it all, it was like, ‘Well, go on stage and smile and sing ‘Tik Tok,’” Kesha added, referencing her 2013 Billboard Hot 100-topping hit. “I was dying. I was truly dying inside.”
Despite her appeals to the court, Kesha would ultimately have to release three more albums under Kemosabe over the course of her legal battle with Dr. Luke: 2017’s Rainbow, 2020’s High Road and 2023’s Gag Order. All the while, she was consumed by the preparations for the pending trial, which she says forced her to relive the trauma of her alleged assault over and over.
“Every day, all day for 10 years,” she said on the podcast. “I couldn’t sleep. I would just sit and think about, like, ‘Make sure you don’t forget this, make sure you don’t forget that when you’re at trial. Write down every traumatizing thing.’ Journals on journals on journals. In the shower, I would just cry and spiral down.”
Kesha’s luck finally turned in 2023, when Gag Order failed to match the chart prowess of her previous albums — something she says turned out to be a blessing in disguise. “Because that didn’t chart well, that then led to the fact that my option didn’t get picked up [by Kemosabe],” the musician said of the LP, which peaked at No. 168 on the Billboard 200, a stark contrast to her past streak of top 10 entries.
That December, Kesha says she received a phone call with the label’s decision to drop her. “‘In three months, you’re going to be free,’” she recalled hearing on the other end of the line. “Every f–king thing changed.”
Kesha is now fresh off the release of her very first independent album, . (Period), which dropped on the Fourth of July. The star has been open about how fulfilling the process of reclaiming her voice has been, telling Billboard in a recent interview, “I really do feel like it’s been a homecoming in a lot of ways — not only legally, to the rights of my voice, but to letting go of that internalized shame, of letting all that go and coming home to my own body, my joy, myself.”
Watch Kesha’s full interview on Reclaiming above.
The Rapture, the New York dance-punk band that became indie darlings in the 2000s, has announced its first proper headlining tour in 15 years. The 26-city trek will kick off on Sept. 16 in Minneapolis, and runs through North America before heading to the U.K. and Europe for select dates in November.
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Formed in 1998 by guitarist-vocalist Luke Jenner, The Rapture earned raves with its 2003 album Echoes, and widened its audience with 2006’s Pieces of the People We Love and 2011’s In the Grace of Your Love, before going on an extended hiatus after that project.
“Years ago when I stepped away from the band I was needing time and space to piece together my life,” Jenner explained in a press statement. “I needed to fix my marriage, be there for my son and ultimately work on myself. This tour marks a new chapter for me, one shaped by everything I’ve lived through and learned along the way. I’ve achieved everything I hoped to achieve through music, and now I get to use it to help anyone else who maybe needs it like I did back then.”
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The band reunited in 2019 and Jenner released a solo project, 1, the following year. Aside from a few spot-date reunions, however, The Rapture has been inactive on the road since 2010.
“The idea to take The Rapture back on tour wasn’t some grand, strategic decision,” Jenner says in a statement to Billboard. “It kind of unfolded the way life does when you’re finally listening to it instead of forcing things. I’d done a lot of personal healing over the years and somewhere in all that space, I found clarity. There’s a sense of purpose now for me that wasn’t there before.
“The preparation for this tour hasn’t just been about rehearsing the songs — it’s been about grounding myself,” Jenner continues. “I truly feel these shows could be some of the most honest and alive ones we’ve ever played and that’s what I’m showing up for — to create something that speaks to people. I’ve done everything I ever dreamed of in music, and now it’s a way to give back — to offer something real to anyone who might need it, the way I once did.”
Pre-sale tickets for the tour begins on Wednesday (July 9). Check out the full tour itinerary for The Rapture below:
Sept. 16 – First Avenue – Minneapolis
Sept. 18 – Ogden Theatre – Denver
Sept. 19 – The Depot – Salt Lake City
Sept. 21 – Portola Festival – San Francisco
Sept. 23 – Humphrey’s – San Diego
Sept. 24 – The Van Buren – Phoenix
Sept. 26 – Emo’s – Austin
Sept. 27 – The Studio at The Factory – Dallas
Sept. 30 – Buckhead Theatre – Atlanta
Oct. 1 – Marathon Music Works – Nashville
Oct. 3 – Riviera Theatre – Chicago
Oct. 4 – Masonic Temple Theater – Detroit
Oct. 5 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto
Oct. 7 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia
Oct. 8 – Brooklyn Steel – Brooklyn
Oct. 9 – House of Blues – Boston
Oct. 10 – 9:30 Club – Washington, D.C.
Nov. 11 – St. Luke’s – Glasgow, U.K.
Nov. 12 – New Century Hall – Manchester, U.K.
Nov. 13 – HERE at Outernet – London
Nov. 15 – Fabrik – Hamburg, Germany
Nov. 17 – Huxleys – Berlin
Nov. 19 – Paradiso – Amsterdam
Nov. 20 – Salle Pleyel – Paris
Nov. 21 – Trix – Antwerp, Belgium
Nov. 23 – Razzmatazz 2 – Barcelona, Spain
Justin Bieber had a very special visitor during a recent studio visit. The singer’s 10-month-old son with wife Hailey Beiber, Jack Blues Bieber, made a cameo in a pair of pics JB posted on Monday morning (July 7) from what looks like a jam session in a recording studio. In the first snap, Jack is up on his feet leaning into the wooden table as proud pop Justin beams at him from a seat on a couch.
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The caption on the post was a series of heart emoji and at press time Bieber had not commented further on the action, which appears to include two unidentified men strumming acoustic guitars and another man listening in. In a second snap, the jam goes on as Jack slips down to one knee while grabbing at something on the table. The weekend also brought an adorable Instagram video of Bieber smiling and laughing as a jumper-wearing Jack rolls around on the floor.
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The post is the latest in a year-long series of missives from the studio from Bieber, who appears to be toiling away on the long-awaited follow-up to his most recent studio album, 2021’s Justice. While the other three men in the newest post were not identified, in an earlier Instagram Story chronicling a similar jam sesh, Bieber tagged several other musicians and friends, including singer-songwriter Jensen McRae, pastor Judah Smith, Josh Mehl, DJ Taylor James and producer Camper.
The singer has kept a relatively low public profile over the past year since revealing that he was struggling with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which caused him partial facial paralysis and resulted in him canceling all this tour dates in 2022. In addition to some emotional recent posts in which he told fans he felt like he was “drowning” in “hate” and struggling with feeling “unworthy,” Bieber recently fessed up to being “broken” and having “anger issues.”
Over the weekend, Bieber shared a series of pictures with Hailey in which he was seen smiling and hugging her at sunset with the caption, “My forever n always [heart emoji].” That update was accompanied by another series, this time close-ups of the singer’s sweaty face shrouded under a towel with the caption: “Detoxxxxxxxxxxx.” He also shared yet another studio snap over the weekend, this one featuring a black and white image of rapper Lil B and skater/stylist Burberry Erry. Based on other Instagram post recently, Bieber appears to have logged time in the studio with rappers Sexyy Red and Yung Killa.
Though he’s uploaded the series of studio shots, at press time Bieber has not yet announced his next musical project or a release date for new music.
Two more of SEVENTEEN‘s 13 members are preparing to perform their mandatory military service. PLEDIS Entertainment announced on Monday (July 7) via Weverse that group members WOOZI and HOSHI will be the next to enlist, with WOOZI set to begin his service on Sept. 15, with HOSHI following the next day.
The company also noted that the two men are set for the HOSHI X WOOZI FAN CONCERT [WARNING], a five-city event set to take July 11-13 in Seoul, South Korea; July 19-20 in Busan, South Korea; July 26-27 in Taipei, Taiwan; Aug. 6-7 in Japan; and Aug. 23-24 in Gwangju, South Korea. Also among the pair’s final official group activities before beginning their service is a SEVENTEEN Fifth Studio Album Yizhiyu video call fan signing. PLEDIS added that though WOOZI and HOSHI won’t be a part of the K-pop group’s activities while they’re enlisted, the two will be dropping pre-recorded content for CARATs
Though there are 13 members in SEVENTEEN, only nine are required to enlist for South Korea’s mandatory military service, which lasts from 18 to 21 months. WONWOO and JEONGHAN have already begun their service, but four will not have to serve: Joshua is a citizen of the United States, THE 8 and JUN are Chinese citizens, while S.COUPS is exempt due to an ACL injury.
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“This is something that has been inevitable for us all along,” HOSHI told The Hollywood Reporter in May of the upcoming enlistments. “We have been prepared. We have a lot of projects that we have discussed with [Hybe] very thoroughly up until now.”
The group has been busy celebrating its 10th anniversary recently, releasing fifth studio album HAPPY BURSTDAY on May 26. The set arrived at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 dated June 14, and debuted at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart, selling 46,000 copies, according to Luminate.
Among the promotion for the album was WOOZI and HOSHI’s appearance on the Korean cooking-variety show Chef and My Fridge, which also streams on Netflix. For the show, the two musicians combined the contents of their fridge, and using what was available, the show’s celebrity chefs cooked two meals according to the stars’ requests. Members SEUNGKWAN, THE 8, VERNON and MINGYU also appeared on BuzzFeed Celeb’s popular “Thirst Tweets” video series, during which the guys hilariously roasted each other.
While the majority of the members of SEVENTEEN perform their military duties, S.COUPS says CARATs could still expect to hear from the four who will not be enlisting. “I think this can be a great opportunity for the members who are still remaining,” he noted in the THR feature. “[We] can stick together and make something great to showcase to the fans.”
Watch the teaser for HOSHI and WOOZI’s upcoming fan concert below:
Lewis Capaldi is giving back to his fans in a big way. On Monday (July 7) the “Someone You Loved” singer announced an initiative with the online therapy company BetterHelp to provide 734,000 hours of free virtual therapy to those in need.
“Therapy is the reason why I am able to be a musician again,” the singer says in a video announcing his effort. “In partnership with BetterHealth and to reflect my experience of therapy and the importance I feel it has in my life and other people’s lives, we’re giving away 734,000 free hours of therapy.” The number represents 1,000 hours for every day since Capaldi was last on stage.
“I don’t think I’ll ever stop going to therapy… and giving access to online therapy to my fans who have supported me throughout my journey is so important to me. This is my way of giving back,” Capaldi said in a statement announcing the deal.
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“I feel like if I can be a part of sharing that with other people, why not?” he says.
The nine-minute clip touches on the June 24, 2023 set by Capaldi at the Glastonbury Festival in England that he was unable to finish due to a strained vocal cord and a series of debilitating tics he suffered on stage due to his Tourette’s syndrome diagnosis. Six days before Capaldi’s dramatic, surprise return to the same Glastonbury stage on June 27 of this year for his first show since the 2023 incident — after which Capaldi announced what turned into a two-year break from touring to focus on his health — the 28-year-old singer sat down with one of his best friends to talk about what the past few years of his life have been like.
In the video, Capaldi says that he realized about two songs into his 2023 Glasto set that he couldn’t do it. “Glastonbury’s obviously a big deal. It’s kind of the biggest deal,” he said of the beloved summer festival. “‘I can’t keep doing this to myself, and other people as well,’” Capaldi recalls thinking at the time. Realizing the experience was difficult for his fans as well, Capaldi says he thought in that moment, “‘I’m done indefinitely.’”
He says he took a break because he needed it, but also to “release the pressure valve” a bit. Though the loving audience seemed to pick up on Capaldi’s struggles and helped him finish singing his breakthrough smash hit “Someone You Loved,” the singer says he was on “complete autopilot” during the 2023 show and felt like he was “1,000 miles away… I watch it back and I actually feel sad watching it.”
When he reviews it, Capaldi doesn’t see the wonderful, beautiful example of perseverance his fans experienced, but he is thankful for them helping him make it a “much less embarrassing moment. If no one was singing along it would have been pretty bleak.” He says the reason he got so anxious was that he wasn’t living in the moment, but fretting all along about all the things that could have gone wrong.
What should have been a dream-fulfilling moment of pure joy reaching his lifelong musical goal was instead a nightmare. “I’ve got to the end of the film and it’s not how I thought it was going to be,” he says of the uplifting movie of his life he thought he was part of. “And the thing that I wanted to do the most that made me feel the worst. It was like a weird mix of emotions… I’m probably the only person who doesn’t see it as an uplifting, happy video. Because I get it… watching it… I’m struggling,” he says, noting that a much happier outcome would have been if he was part of the singing and not watching someone having “the worst moment of his life.”
Capaldi says he was doing therapy before the Glasto incident, but he was lying his way through it before finding the therapist he’s made great strides with over the past two years. An admittedly anxious person, Capaldi says he’d neglected to look after himself in the past mentally and physically and now understands the he needs to “steady the platform” and find balance.
After a series of secret gigs to warm up for Glastonbury in his native Scotland earlier this year, during which he is not ashamed to say he cried quite a bit, Capaldi says he wasn’t nervous at all in advance of his Glastonbury return. At the first show in Edinburgh, Capaldi says he felt great through the first two songs and was then hit with a rush of adrenaline that made him shake and was able to calm himself down.
“I think I didn’t realize how much I actually miss being on stage,” he says. “And then I just started to cry and I’m not someone who cries in front of people in general. So it was a weird feeling.” As a testament to the work he’s done, Capaldi says that in the lead-up to this year’s Glastonbury he had “no anxiety or fear or impending doom.”
According to BetterHelp, users can get a free month of therapy when they join — as long as they’ve never used the service before — and will not be charged if they cancel within one month; the offer is available through Dec. 31 of this year. In a testament to his return, Capaldi has announced dates for a U.K. tour in September followed by a fall fun of shows in Australia and New Zealand.
Watch Capaldi talk about his return and his therapy offer to fans below.
Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA could have gone anywhere in the world to celebrate his 56th birthday. But the musical polymath decided that the best place to be was a Phish show at Folsom Field in Boulder, CO on Saturday night […]
Sometimes it’s easy to assume that all famous people know each other. But until Saturday’s (July 5) Back to the Beginning blow-out final show honoring Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath, the Prince of Darkness had never met Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose. Despite both men being hard rock royalty, their paths had somehow never crossed.
Now they have and Ozzy has deemed Axl an “utter gentleman” and friend. Alongside a sweet backstage photo in which a seated Ozzy reached out both hands to shake Axl’s right hand, Osbourne, 76, wrote, “My first time meeting Axl Rose, at my age you don’t get to meet many legends, seriously an utter gentleman.”
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Osbourne followed up with a shot of him smiling and chilling in his dressing room with Rose and GNR guitarist Slash, captioned “Guns N’ Darkness.”
Rose seemed similarly smitten, posting a long note on X about the dark summit, saying, “Wow!! What an EVENT. Extremely overwhelming!! Really great crowd!! Was very emotional for everyone!! MET OZZY!! (Crazy we’d never met [before]. He was really great. It was great to meet Sabbath. [fire and cross emoji].”
Rose added, “Was hard as I imagine it was for anyone to watch his struggles while, at the same time, everyone was rooting for him and massively respecting the challenges he took head on and HE DID IT!!!! Was great to meet Ozzy’s family and see friends and peeps in all the bands in the business,” along with a series of trophy, star and arm flex emoji. “A HUGE THANK YOU again to Ozzy, Sharon, Black Sabbath, and all the fans for having us.”
GNR covered four Sabbath songs at what was billed as original lineup of the iconic metal band’s final-ever gig, rolling out “It’s Alright,” “Never Say Die,” “Junior’s Eyes” and “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” as well as runs through their own “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Paradise City.” They joined the massive line-up of the show at Villa Park in Sabbath’s hometown of Birmingham that also featured sets from Metallica, Slayer, Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Tool, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, and many more, led by musical director Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello.
In addition, Osbourne, who has fought a series of health issues, surgeries and a Parkinson’s diagnosis over the past few years, sat on a gilded throne to perform four Sabbath classics — “War Pigs,” “Iron Man,” “N.I.B.” and “Paraoid” — as well as solo songs “I Don’ Know,” “Mr. Crowley,” “Suicide Solution,” “Crazy Train” and the tear-stained metal ballad “Mama, I’m Coming Home.”
In addition to the 40,000-plus metalheads who crammed into the venue for the show, according to The Guardian more than five million fans livestreamed the metal marathon worldwide on a two-hour delay.
Check out the meet metal moment below.
Britpop feuds die hard. Blur’s Damon Albarn has described himself as “prophetic” after he suggested an Oasis reunion could happen two years ago – but he has shut down the idea of going to a show himself.
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Speaking to The Sun in 2023, the frontman said that he could “guarantee” the chances of Noel and Liam Gallagher burying the hatchet. “Oasis are going to reform. In fact, I’ve put money on it,” he said. “They’re brothers and it would be wonderful to see them reconcile.”
The comments were made at the start of Blur’s own comeback tour two years ago, which began in the band’s hometown of Colchester and included two nights at London’s Wembley Stadium. In a separate interview with Consequence at the time, Albarn elaborated on his Oasis speculation, saying that “the road is clear for them to [reunite] now.” He added: I think that’s great. You know what I mean? Obviously I expect an excellent new record to accompany it.”
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Earlier this week, meanwhile, Albarn told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, “The Oasis reunion? Two years ago I was prophetic when I said that they would do it and that the road was level. Well, you can’t think that two brothers can’t reconcile, sooner or later. It’s a good thing, the way I see it.” When asked if he’d be attending the tour, however, he clarified with a laugh, “No: I’m literally too busy.”
Oasis and Blur have a storied history of name-calling and fallouts throughout the 1990s, a rivalry which peaked via a chart battle when the former’s single “Roll With It” came out on the same day as the latter’s “Country House” – dubbed the 1995 ‘Battle of Britpop’. The Albarn-led group eventually nabbed the No. 1 spot on the U.K. Singles Chart.
In recent years, however, the relationship between the Gallaghers and Blur has mellowed considerably. Notably, Albarn and Noel teamed up on the 2017 Gorillaz track “We Got The Power.”
Over the coming months, Albarn will be focusing on his Africa Express project, having recently announced their first album since 2019, Africa Express Presents… Bahidora. In September, he will perform a series of one-off live Gorillaz shows in London, joined on stage with the full band and backed by visuals from collaborator illustrator Jamie Hewlett as they play their earliest albums in full.
The Oasis Live ’25 tour will move on to their hometown of Manchester, U.K. next, playing a string of shows at Heaton Park on July 11, 12, 16, 19 and 20. Dates across North America, Australia and Asia will follow in the coming months.
Jessie J has shared an uplifting update on her cancer journey, revealing her latest test results show no evidence of cancer spread.
The British pop star, who first announced her diagnosis in June, took to Instagram with a heartfelt video of her son that was recorded the night before her surgery. In the caption, she told fans: “AND. I AM OK. Results = I have NO cancer spread. Happy tears are real. Thank YOU for the prayers, the love, the well wishes, the joy and all the positive energy.”
The “Price Tag” singer also reflected on the emotional weight of her journey so far. “This video is from the night before my surgery. We called it baby boy. You are my biggest ray of light and with you in my life, the darkness will never win,” she wrote, referencing her young son.
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Jessie underwent her initial surgery on June 23, sharing updates from the hospital as she recovered. While she previously told fans her cancer was “all gone” post-operation, she later clarified that she was awaiting test results to confirm.
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“Lots of healing to go and one more surgery to make these cousins look more like sisters, but for now it’s gratitude time,” she added in her latest post. “I am changing my name to The LopJess monster.”
The Grammy nominee spoke about her diagnosis onstage last month, telling a crowd of 75,000 at Wembley Stadium: “Today, this show is my last show before I go to beat breast cancer! It’s so special to me, you have no idea. I’m so grateful for this life, for you guys, for my career, for my son, my partner, my parents, my band, my crew. We have so much to live for.”
Jessie J has been candid about her health struggles in recent years. In 2020, she revealed a diagnosis of Ménière’s disease, followed by a miscarriage in 2021, and in 2024 she publicly discussed living with OCD and ADHD.
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