Pop

‘SNL’ Emulates Post Malone, Miley Cyrus, And More With Help From Ed Sheeran In Their ‘Dionne Warwick Talk Show’ Sketch

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Ed Sheeran stopped by Saturday Night Live for a pair of performances on the late-night show, to celebrate the release of his fourth album =. After he tested positive for coronavirus, many worried that would be unable to perform. Luckily, that was not the case, as he delivered performances of “Shivers” and “Overpass Graffiti.” He also appeared in a sketch for SNL’s edition of The Dionne Warwick Talk Show, with Ego Nwodim as the legendary singer.

The sketch began with Chloe Fineman, who played Miley Cyrus, sitting across from Nwodim. Kieran Culkin, who appeared as Jason Mraz and hosted the episode, and Pete Davidson, who appeared as Post Malone, also sat down on the talk show. But Nwodim’s Warwick seemed to be bored by the guests and said, “I’m sick and tired of interviewing people who aren’t icons.” She then welcomed the real Dionne Warwick onto the show.

“Let me ask you something,” Nwodim says after Warwick takes a seat. “Dionne, why are you perfect?” The 80-year-old singer replied, “My darling, I’m not perfect. I’m just very, very good.” The duo then sang a duet of Warwick’s 1966 track “What The World Needs Now Is Love.”

Warwick thanked SNL for inviting her to the show afterward.

“I had fun at @nbcsnl,” she tweeted. “Thank you to @eggy_boom (ME [laughing emoji]), @Punkiejohnson (as @BrittaniWarrick), and to the writers, cast, and crew. I had a wonderful time with you all.”

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

Adele Turned ’30’ In Months Early In Order To Prepare Vinyl Orders, Which Stalled Pressings For Smaller Artists

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Nearly six years after she released her record-breaking debut 25, Adele is just a couple of weeks away from releasing her fourth album 30. It’s a project that’s spearheaded by her “Easy On Me” single as she also confirmed the album will arrive on November 19. In addition to its release on digital platforms, vinyl orders of 30 will be available together with the album’s release later this month. According to a report from Variety, Adele had to turn in her album six months early so that her team could prepare the expected orders in time for the project’s release.

Variety notes that more than half a million vinyl pressings have already been made ahead of the release of Adele’s next album. She joins artists like Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift that were forced to turn in their albums months early in order to prepare vinyl pressings in time for their projects’ release date. Taylor Swift will have a 4LP set available when Red (Taylor’s Version) arrives on November 12 and Ed Sheeran turned in his newly-released album, = in July in order to have vinyl pressings ready for its October 29 release date. Sheeran spoke about the difficulty behind getting his album’s vinyls prepared during an interview with Australian radio hosts Kyle and Jackie O.

“Adele had basically booked out all the vinyl factories, so we had to get a slot and get our album in there,” he said according to Variety. “It was like me, Coldplay, Adele, Taylor, ABBA, Elton (John), all of us were trying to get our vinyls printed at the same time.” The publication adds that this left smaller artists and indie bands with nearly no space to insert their own vinyl requests. Many have been told that even if they gave their master recordings to a plant today, their record would not be pressed until August 2022.

This news comes after Adele revealed the tracklist for 30. The upcoming project stands at 15 songs and includes guest appearances from Erroll Garner and Chris Stapleton. She previously stated that Skepta and Tyler The Creator will make unconventional appearances on the album.

30 is out 11/19 on Columbia Records. Pre-order it here.

Rihanna Announced An Epic, Catalogue-Spanning Vinyl Collection Dubbed The ‘RIH-ISSUE’

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Rihanna fans, rejoice! She’s turned her attention back to music, at least briefly. And well, it might not be new music but at least it’s a start. The pop icon announced a career-spanning, limited-edition vinyl collection today, the ship date for all of the reissues is November 11, so it’s coming up quite soon.

The newly-minted billionaire has been notably more focused on her other business ventures of late, and Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, and Savage Fenty are all part of what has turned her into one of the richest women in the world. But fans of her music are still clamoring for more. And to be fair, it has been a whopping five years since Anti came out — so they’re not even being dramatic.

Anyway, perhaps the chance to own some exclusive Rihanna vinyl and merch will be a balm. According to a press release the collection offers “a special limited-edition packaging of the first eight albums” with “vinyl records [that] have been re-pressed in unique colorways and paired with album-specific, exclusive apparel items. Each set comes carefully enclosed in packaging curated by Rihanna and will be a must-have addition to any record collection.” Here’s the video Rihanna shared on Instagram with more details:

And check out some images of the record reissues and accompanying merch below.

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Pre-order the collection right here.

Anitta And Saweetie Aren’t Afraid To Break Hearts In Their ‘Faking Love’ Performance On ‘Corden’

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Last year, Brazilian pop star Anitta teamed up with Cardi B for the showstopping single “Me Gusta.” For her latest single “Faking Love,” Anitta set her sights on another groundbreaking rapper: Saweetie. This week, the duo came together to perform the joint track on The Late Late Show With James Corden.

The captivating rendition of “Faking Love” marked the duo’s debut TV performance of the single. Armed with backup dancers, moody red lighting, and unstoppable confidence, Anitta and Saweetie delivered cutting lyrics about feigning interest in a romantic partner.

Ahead of the set, Anitta and Saweetie chatted with Corden about the exact inspiration behind the track. Anitta admitted that her relationships usually have a three-month expiration date. While writing the song, she was seeing guy she was seeing for about three months and decided it was time to end things. But because it was his birthday week, she decided to wait and “fake love” until after the celebrations ended. “I got to three months and I said, ‘No. He’s not nice,’” she told Corden. “But I didn’t want to break up with him in that moment because it was his birthday week because I’m a nice girl. So I was faking for that week so that after his birthday was [done], I would break up and that’s what I did.”

Anitta also revealed that, with this guy, she took some inspiration out of the 2003 film How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days and did some “disgusting things” to him in order to try to get him to break up with her — but it didn’t quite work.

Watch Saweetie and Anitta deliver their joint single “Faking Love” on The Late Late Show above.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Kid Laroi And Justin Bieber’s ‘Stay’ Reportedly Hit 1 Billion Spotify Streams Faster Than Any Song Ever

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The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s “Stay” is an undeniable hit, as it spent multiple weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and helped both artists make history for their home countries. Now, it has apparently pulled off a major feat: Pop Crave reports the track has reached 1 billion streams on Spotify and is now the fastest song to ever accomplish that.

“Stay” was released on July 9, and if it did indeed reach a billion streams today, November 4, it did so in 118 days. (As of this post, the Spotify desktop and mobile apps indicate the song has 994,497,008 streams, although it’s possible that count is not current.) The reported previous record-holder, Ed Sheeran’s “Shape Of You,” was released on January 6, 2017 and reached a billion Spotify streams on June 8 that same year, which is 153 days later. So, even if “Stay” didn’t actually hit a billion streams today but does so in the next couple days — or even in the next month, which it will almost certainly do — it will handily surpass Sheeran’s mark.

“Shape Of You,” by the way, is Spotify’s most-streamed song ever and currently has over 2.9 billion streams. At the time “Shape Of You” hit a billion streams, it was just the third song to do so on the platform, following Drake’s “One Dance” and The Chainsmokers’ Halsey-featuring hit “Closer.” Times have certainly changed, as now, at least 100 songs now have 1 billion Spotify streams; As of November 3, Spotify’s 100th most-played song, The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face,” has over 1.2 billion streams.

Meanwhile, Olivia Rodrigo recently came close to breaking Sheeran’s record before Laroi and Bieber did: Spotify reported on October 26 that Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” surpassed a billion streams, 165 days after its May 14 release.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Billie Eilish, Kacey Musgraves, And Anderson .Paak Are All Guesting On ‘Sesame Street’

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Elmo and his Sesame Street cohorts have welcomed a bunch of guests onto the program over the years, and as the show gets ready to enter its 52nd season, more new friends have been announced. The music world is well-represented in the upcoming season, as a recently shared trailer shows a clip featuring Jon Batiste singing with Elmo and a character who appears to be a garbage collector. We also get a glimpse of Kacey Musgraves sharing smiles with Elmo, Big Bird, and a handful of other characters.

Furthermore, USA Today reports that the 35-episode season will also feature Billie Eilish and Anderson .Paak. Eilish will appear alongside The Count, while .Paak is set to perform a song for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day episode. The new season starts streaming on HBO Max on November 11 before coming to PBS Kids in the fall of 2022.

Musgraves has forged a strong connection with the world of Sesame Street over the past year or so. Back in May 2020, she guested on The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo to sing “Rubbie Ducky” alongside the red-furred host. Then, earlier this year, she was the face of a new line of Sesame Street clothes from Moschino.

Watch the Sesame Street trailer above.

Lizzo Announces One Of Her Last Performances Of The Year With An American Express Unstaged Livestream

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Lizzo absolutely dominated her Outside Lands Festival headlining set in San Francisco this past weekend. She proved with flying colors that she was absolutely worthy of the top billing at large-scale music festivals. While the final opportunity of 2021 to see Lizzo play live was previously only at her Las Vegas New Year’s Eve show at the Virgin Hotel, she has now announced a widely accessible performance as part of the American Express Unstaged series, streaming live from Miami on December 4th.

Unstaged has already produced performances this year with SZA, Dua Lipa, Shawn Mendes, Maroon 5, Alicia Keys, and Sam Smith. Now fans will have a chance to experience the bombastic performance from Lizzo. In a statement, the R&B/rap/pop star swooned on getting another opportunity to share her live set with people:

“Performing is one of the most realistic interactions of love that I get to experience with fans and to be able to close out this year with a special live American Express UNSTAGED performance for my fans all around the world is truly incredible. Connecting authentically with my audience matters to me and I can’t wait for them to see what we have planned for this amazing performance.”

Lizzo’s AmEx Unstaged performance takes place on December 4 at 9 p.m. ET and is available worldwide. Tickets are available now here for $9.99 general admission. There are also a range of VIP packages that include signed t-shirts, photos and mobile second-screen experiences.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Weeknd And Post Malone Are Linking Up For A New Song That’s Apparently Coming This Week

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Over the past few years, The Weeknd and Post Malone have been two of the most dominant figures in music. In fact, The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” became the song with the most weeks ever spent in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart last year, beating the previous record holder, Malone’s “Circles.” Now, the two industry titans are getting ready to team up on what is sure to be a hit.

Yesterday, they both shared a brief teaser of a new song. Dre London, Malone’s manager, also shared the clip and offered more info, revealing the track is called “One Right Now.” He wrote on Instagram, “What I couldn’t wait to tell the [world] This Friday!! I’m excited for u to finally here what I been talking about!! @postmalone & @theweeknd ‘One Right Now’ #DreVision in full effect!! #Shutdown Ting!!! Crazy Movie Video comes next week!!!”

If the song ends up being a hit, it will be Malone’s first in a while, relatively speaking. His last top-10 single was the Ozzy Osbourne- and Travis Scott-featuring “Take What You Want,” which peaked at No. 8 in 2019. Before that, it was the chart-topping “Circles.” As for The Weeknd, his latest single, “Take My Breath,” was successful, achieving a peak at No. 6.

Taylor Swift And Saweetie Are Set To Perform On ‘Saturday Night Live’ In November

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So far, it’s been a big day in Saturday Night Live musical guest news. This morning, Ed Sheeran revealed that he will be able to perform on the show as planned following his positive COVID test. Now, not only has SNL confirmed the news, but they’ve also revealed their next two musical guests after Sheeran: Taylor Swift and Saweetie.

Swift will guest on the November 13 episode hosted by Jonathan Majors, while Saweetie will perform on the Simu Liu-hosted episode on November 20.

This will be Saweetie’s first time on the program. As for Swift, she’s an SNL veteran. Her first stint as musical guest came in 2009, and her upcoming performance will be her fourth. In her second 2009 episode, Swift had the rare honor of serving most as host and musical guest.

Beyond SNL, both Swift and Saweetie have been thriving lately. Swift is fresh off her first performance at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, where she was on hand to induct Carole King. As for Saweetie, she recently had her own McDonald’s meal and her Netflix special Sex: Unzipped premiered just a few days ago.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lil Nas X Says He Regrets The First Big Purchase He Made With His Record Label Money

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Lil Nas X is definitely an example of a self-starter. The musician’s debut smash hit “Old Town Road” was first uploaded to SoundCloud and shared on TikTok before being picked up by a record label. So when Lil Nas X first inked a recording contract, he celebrated by making a big purchase — which he now regrets.

When Lil Nas X first signed a record deal with Columbia, the musician was suddenly confronted with a bunch of money. As most people would do, Lil Nas X decided to buy himself something nice to celebrate, he recalled in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal. For his first post-record contract purchase, Lil Nas X shelled out $2,000 for a a Burberry jacket but then had almost instantaneous buyer’s remorse. He told WSJ he’s never really enjoyed shopping for himself and saw the jacket as a frivolous purchase. “What was the point? To post it on Instagram once?” he said. Later down the line, Lil Nas X ended up buying himself a house with his new funds, which still to this day hasn’t been filled with many furniture items because he’d “rather take his friends or family members out on shopping sprees instead.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, the musician described the one thing that helped him really open up with the lyrics on his album: psychedelic mushrooms. “I was able to open up a lot,” he says about the trip. “I was able to write actual stories about my life and put it into my music. I actually did that for the first time.” Lil Nas X isn’t the only musician who has taken mushrooms to help kickstart the creative process. Kacey Musgraves did the same with her Star-Crossed album, and so did Harry Styles on Fine Line.

Read Lil Nas X’s full interview with The Wall Street Journal here.