Pulse Music

Jack Harlow says he's the "second hardest white boy" after Eminem.

The Kentucky rapper references the 8 Mile star's 2002 hit "Lose Yourself" in his latest track, "They Don't Love It."

He raps, "Ya boy's strivin' to be the most dominant ever / The hardest white boy since the one who rapped about vomit and sweaters / And hold the comments ‘cause I promise you I'm honestly better than whoever came to your head right then."

Harlow prevoiusly called Eminem and "icon" in a 2021 interview with Pitchfork.

Niall Horan dropped his latest single, "Meltdown," on Friday (April 28th).

The artist said of his songwriting process, "Whenever I'm having some kind of issue, the easiest thing is to sit at the piano and let it all out, and it's not until I listen back that I realize, ‘Jesus, that was honest.'"

The track is the latest from his forthcoming album, The Show, due out on June 9th.

Sharon Osbourne says Ozzy Osbourne misses performing live for his fans "terribly." During an interview with The Sun, Sharon says that Ozzy feels like he's "let down" his fans after having to cancel European and UK tour dates. Back in February, Ozzy announced his retirement from touring due to various health issues.

Sharon said, "The biggest love affair of Ozzy's life is his audience and performing. He misses the live audience, he misses his fans terribly. He feels he's let them down. Performing is what he is born to do. Ozzy says to me that he can't do anything as good as performing. I get heartbroken when I hear him say that and knowing he cannot go out and do what he is meant to do. But he will get there."

Sharon added, "This is the longest time Ozzy has ever been at home. He is driving me crazy, every f*cking day.

She went on, "Ozzy said to me during Covid, ‘Do you think we are spending too much time together?' I'm like, ‘Yeah, but where the f*ck do I go? I can't go to a hotel, what do you want me to do? Where do you want me to go?' And he said, ‘I didn't think of that.'"

It was 56 years ago today (May 1st, 1967) that Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu at Las Vegas' Aladdin Hotel. The short eight-minute ceremony, which took place at 9:00 a.m., was officiated by State Supreme Court Justice David Zenoff.

Following the vows, a special banquet was held below the hotel's casino for around 100 guests who dined on "ham, eggs, Southern fried chicken, Oysters Rockefeller, roast suckling pig, poached and candied salmon, lobster, Eggs Minnette, and champagne." Following the banquet, the Presley's held a press conference before flying out of Las Vegas.

Elvis and Priscilla met in 1960 while he was stationed in the Army in Germany. Her father was an Air Force officer also stationed there. In 1963 Priscilla moved to Memphis to be with Elvis, first living with his father Vernon and stepmother Dee while she finished high school, before eventually moving into Graceland with Elvis.

The couple had one child together, Lisa Marie Presley, who was born nearly nine months to the day after their wedding.

Priscilla has said that although they had been living together for several years, they did not consummate the relationship until they were married.

Elvis and Priscilla's marriage happened towards the end of Elvis' "movie years" -- a period where the "King of Rock N' Roll" was pretty much sleepwalking his way through light musical comedies in which he lip-synced lousy material to extras, kids, and dogs. Fan Pete Townshend told us that he viewed Elvis' movie years in the 1960's as a wasted opportunity: "I was watching the TV yesterday, and Blue Hawaii was on. I just thought, 'What was Elvis doing?!' Y'know, the Beatles were about to appear, Ricky Nelson was putting out 'Hello, Mary Lou,' the Everly Brothers were doing 'Cathy's Clown' -- the most unbelievably brilliant music! Dion was doing great stuff. It was the most fantastic records being made! (Elvis was) dressing up in Hawaiian shirts, playing the ukulele and getting married on a raft."

Elvis and Priscilla separated in 1972 and divorced in 1973.

The Presley's have four grandchildren through daughter Lisa Marie; Danielle Riley Keough and fraternal twin girls -- Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood and Finley Aaron Love Lockwood.

Tragically, on July 13th, 2020 Elvis and Priscilla's only grandson, Lisa Marie's child, Benjamin Keough, shot himself with a shotgun at his home in Calabasas, California. He was 27-years-old.

Lisa Marie died in Los Angeles on January 12th after suffering a cardiac arrest at age 54. Her daughter eldest daughter, actress Riley Keough, is currently in a protracted legal battle with her grandmother Priscilla over control over Lisa Marie's estate.

Madonna's Finally Enough Love: The Rainbow Edition, will be reissued on June 23rd. The new 6-LP-vinyl version of the remix collection will include 50 #1 club hits.

Across 220 minutes of remixes, the chronological set takes listeners from her 1983 breakout "Holiday" to 2019's "I Don't Search I Find."

The special box set was designed in rainbow-colored vinyl to celebrate Pride Month in June.

TL;DR:

• Madonna's Finally Enough Love: The Rainbow Edition, will be reissued on June 23rd.
• It's a collection of 50 #1 club hits.

Sammy Hagar's time working with Eddie Van Halen and fronting Van Halen is never far from his thoughts. In a new interview with USA Today, the "Red Rocker" revealed, "The peak of my musical life was Van Halen. My ego wants to say I was doing great as a solo artist. Well, yeah, I was doing fine, but Van Halen was some other thing man. It was a four-headed monster, and I miss Ed dearly."

Over two years after Eddie Van Halen's death, he remains very much on Sammy Hagar's mind and in his heart: "I cherish him more than ever. What happened with us at the end was such a shame. It's what happens when alcohol and drugs are involved, and I'm going through a divorce. It's such a shame. If Van Halen were still together today, we'd be headlining every one of these festivals all over the world."

Hagar went on to say, "I miss his unique creativity. He'd play something and I'd go what, where the hell did that come from? He was so out of left field, so original, that creativity always lifted me."

Back in 2021, Sammy Hagar spoke at length about his final texts with Eddie Van Halen. During a chat with Kyle Meredith, Hagar shed light on the tone of the chats and explained it was based on friendship -- not business: "It was so awesome. Our texts were so plain and simple -- 'Hey man, how ya doin'? And he'd start opening up to me about how sick he was, and, 'Dude -- I just had this tumor on the side of my neck -- ahhh.' So, I was always checkin' on him him seein' how he was doin' -- that was our relationship -- 'Hey, when can we get together?' Like, 'Hey Ed, tell me when you're ready, I'm gonna drive over and cook you a big ole' spaghetti dinner, y'know.' (Laughs). We were talkin' like that. Y'know, a guy's got cancer and is on his death bed -- we ain't talkin' about how much money he's got in the bank, y'know? We were trying to be friends and soulful and let each other know that we're okay and I'm there for ya."

A new, life and career-spanning documentary on Carlos Santana, titled CARLOS, has just been announced. Sony Pictures Classics have acquired worldwide rights to the feature-length documentary film about "the father of Latin American jazz fusion. The doc will be directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Rudy Valdez and executive produced by Academy Award-winning producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard for Imagine Documentaries. So far, there's been no premiere date set for CARLOS.

According to the official announcement for CARLOS:

Featuring never-before-seen or heard archival footage and music, the film offers an intimate and exhilarating look inside the mind of an elemental force of contemporary music and tell the incredible story of Santana's life -- from a fourteen-year-old street musician to a ten-time Grammy-winning and three-time Latin Grammy-winning global sensation.

For 45 years Carlos Santana has continued to broaden his fan base by evolving as a musician and a performer and feels it's a blessing to have the chance to move people through his art: "It's a real honor to be of service. Music truly is a spiritual force that brings harmony, beauty, class, grace, (and) excellence to this planet, that we need so much. It also accentuates faith."

Carlos Santana told us he feels a spiritual need to help people through his music: "To me, the purpose of music is not only to entertain or to do certain things to people, but mainly to raise people's consciousness, 'cause if you can do that, then it's worth it. If everything that's been given to you, you use it for the highest good of all people -- to raise people's consciousness -- it's worth it. Otherwise, it's a complete waste."

Rihanna is set to star as Smurfette in an upcoming Smurfs animated movie from Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.

She made the announcement at CinemaCon on Thursday, April 27^th.

The movie title was not revealed.

She joked as she made the big reveal and said, "I tried to get the Papa Smurf role, but it didn't work out."

In addition to the voice-over role, Rihanna will write, produce, and perform original music for the film.

Look for it to be released on Valentine's Day of 2025.

TL;DR:

• Rihanna is set to star as Smurfette in an upcoming Smurfs animated movie.
• To be released on Valentine's Day of 2025.

Out today (April 28th) is the long-awaited archival release, Stephen Stills Live At Berkeley 1971. The collection was captured over two nights -- August 20th and 21st, 1971 -- at Berkeley, California's Berkeley Community Theater, while supporting his second solo set, Stephen Stills 2.

The Berkeley show, which was part of Stills' historic debut trek, dubbed, "The Memphis Horns Tour," was one of the tour's more intimate stops, with the 3,500-seat venue being dwarfed by more high-profile gigs that summer, including New York's Madison Square Garden and The Forum in L.A.

In addition to the Memphis Horns, Stills was backed by Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young sidemen drummer Dallas Taylor and bassist Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels -- along with keyboardist Paul Harris, guitarist David Fromholz, and percussionist Joe Lala. Guesting on the night of this recording was David Crosby, singing on both Stills' Crosby, Stills, & Nash favorite "You Don't Have To Cry" and his own nautical classic, "The Lee Shore."

Among the highlights on the live set are newly unearthed versions of "Love The One You're With," "Word Games," "Sugar Babe," "Bluebird Revisited," and "49 Bye-Byes/For What It's Worth."

Way back in 1970 Stephen Stills explained what life was like as working musician: "I consider myself an artist. There's a certain amount of magic and there's a certain amount of technical ability. And when you find the place between the two, then -- for yourself -- you'll find your little groove, right? But I can't allow myself to become wholly dependent on that for satisfaction in this life, otherwise, y'know, I'll become totally frustrated on it. . . I'd be a maniac, y'know? I've got to have other outlets and I have them."

Jason Derulo has released his long awaited new single, "Glad U Came." Through a press release he called it one of his favorite songs that he's ever recorded. He describes it as a "beautiful love story about the power of destiny." Derulo is currently on the coaching panel on The Voice Australia.

TL;DR:

• Jason Derulo has released his long awaited new single, "Glad U Came."

Now shipping via PeterFrampton.com com is the Frampton@50 CD/SACD collection. The collection is comprised of meticulously restored reissues of the essential 1972-1975 studio releases Wind Of Change (1972), Frampton's Camel (1973), and Frampton (1975). The limited edition 180G vinyl box set begins shipping on July 28th.

The Frampton remasters were analog mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering from the best-sounding analog tape sources available.

PeterFrampton.com has a limited number of 250 Frampton@50 vinyl box sets that include an autographed version of the Frampton's Camel promo poster, with the proceeds benefitting the Peter Frampton Myositis Research Fund.

Frampton issued a statement regarding the new remasters:

I don't usually listen to my own records after hearing them a million times while recording them. But when the test pressings for this remastered box set of my early solo albums arrived, I couldn't wait to put them on my turntable.

I listened to all three albums and was whisked back in time. I noticed the hairs on my arms were all standing up and I started to get slightly blurry vision. It was such an emotional journey for me hearing these songs again, as the music and my life at that time all came flooding back.

Peter Frampton worked closely with Intervention Records' Shane Buettner and Chris Bellman throughout the process. We asked Frampton what he thought when he first heard the new remasters:"Blew me away. When I first got the test-pressings, obviously I A/B'd against the originals and, if anything, they're better. We have better technology today, so they were able to make it even more hi-fi than they were -- and they were great sounding records, I have to say. And the covers; Shane has gone to such lengths -- he's got original European British covers, American covers -- they all vary, they're all different colors! We're very happy in the area that we're in."

The video for Michael Jackson's "They Don't Care About Us" has hit a major milestone by surpassing one billion views on YouTube. The defiant protest anthem was originally released in 1996 as a single. The famous clip was filmed in Brazil and was directed by Spike Lee. This is his second to join the elite club on YouTube, it's followed by "Billie Jean.

A new book featuring Amy Winehouse's handwritten lyrics, photos and personal journals will be released this summer. The hardcover of Amy Winehouse: In Her Words, will be available on August 29. Winehouse died at the age of 27 from alcohol poisoning in 2011. She would have turned 40 this year.

The first leg of John Mayer's The Solo Tour came in with big numbers and earned $39.3 million. According to Billboard, Mayer has been one of the most consistent touring artists of the 21st century, launching 11 solo headline runs, plus co-headline jaunts with everyone from Sheryl Crow to Dave Chappelle.

U2 has added five new dates onto their band's upcoming U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere show in Las Vegas. The newly added dates are October 27th, 28th, November 1st, 3rd, and 4th.

For verified fan presale info, log on to https://u2.ticketmaster.com/.

Machine Gun Kelly joined forces with fellow Grammy-nominated emcee Cordae, for the first installment of his new freestyle series called, The Cypher. The two rap powerhouses showcase their talents in a high-energy cypher over Central Cee's single, "Doja."

Along with the release, MGK is promoting his new film that will be in theatres for one-night-only on May 13. Mainstream Sellout Live From Cleveland: The Pink Era, boasts a ton of hits and fan favorites from the tour of the same name.

TL;DR:

• Machine Gun Kelly and Cordae released the first installment of his new freestyle series called, The Cypher.

It was 55 years ago Saturday (April 29th, 1968) that the counter-culture musical Hair opened at Broadway's Biltmore Theatre. Hair, which had run off-Broadway the previous year, was unlike any other mainstream show, featuring a story line using humor, music and sexuality to celebrate and raise understanding of the problems facing the 1960s baby-boomer generation.

The show, which was created by actors James Rado and Gerome Ragni, centered around a tribe of Central Park hippies, led by a character named Claude -- played by Rado -- who is eventually is shipped off to Vietnam.

The show was directed by Tom O'Horgan with music by Galt MacDermot. Several of the songs from the play's soundtrack became hits for other artists, including Oliver's "Good Morning Starshine," which peaked at Number Three in 1969, and the Fifth Dimension's medley of "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In," which topped the charts for six weeks in the Spring of 1969.

Among the actors who got their start during Hair's Broadway run were Diane Keaton, Melba Moore, Nell Carter, and Keith Carradine.

Hair eventually closed on July 1st, 1972, after 1,742 performances. It was nominated for two Tony Awards in 1969, for Best Musical Play and Best Director Of A Musical Play, but lost in both categories.

There was an unsuccessful revival of the show in October 1977, which closed after 43 performances.

A movie version of Hair was released in 1979. It continues to run in independent theate

Even as Metallica rides high on the charts with its new 72 Seasons collection, drummer Lars Ulrich says the band has more than enough material to last them through the end.

During a chat with Revolver, Ulrich spoke about all the unrealized and unmined musical bits the band still hasn't realized: "We have enough ideas for another 20 records. We will never get all the riffs and the ideas to fruition because history dictates that that's just not gonna happen. There's never a conversation about should we make new music as in should we not make new music. New music is a vital, vital, huge, huge, significant part of who we are."

Ulrich said that he views how well an album does in a completely different light than he did when Metallica was coming up, explaining, "I would say a big thing for me about the success of this record is the joy of making it. So, in the past I think there have been times where you had to make a record. The record company (would tell you), 'Now you've gotta go make a record.' Those days are long gone. Now we make music because we want to, and we do it with joy and with a sense of appreciation. And we're not (going), 'Oh my God. There's an idea. What happens if that idea doesn't play out exactly how I want it?' -- all that craziness."

Not too long ago, Lars Ulrich told us how the band's assorted riffs and jamming gets shaped into new Metallica tunes: "We have all these riffs and it's kind of puzzle-like. We just sort of go through, y'know, that process and continue to revisit and 'Oh, wait a minute, that's really cool the way those two fit together but it doesn't really work with that other thing, so why don't we take those two and put them with that other thing, y'know, Number Seven from over here' -- or whatever. So that's very much our process and we just sort of keep going through it until it sort of eventually turns into songs."

Metallica performs on Saturday (April 29th) at Amsterdam's Johan Cruijff Arena.

Freddie Mercury's former-girlfriend and lifelong friend Mary Austin is auctioning off around 1,500 items from the late-Queen singer's London home. Mercury, who died in 1991, had left his house and its contents to Austin in his will. Blabbermouth reported the items in the auction, which will take place in September, are expected to sell for an appropriated $7.4 million. The auction items will be displayed around the world in the coming months.

Mary Austin was quoted in the press release for the auction, saying:

For many years now, I have had the joy and privilege of living surrounded by all the wonderful things that Freddie sought out and so loved. But the years have passed, and the time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life.

Freddie was an incredible and intelligent collector who showed us that there is beauty and fun and conversation to be found in everything. I hope (the upcoming events) will be an opportunity to share all the many facets of Freddie, both public and private, and for the world to understand more about, and celebrate, his unique and beautiful spirit.

Sotheby's Freddie Mercury showings will take place between June and September:

New York: June 1st to 8th
Los Angeles: June 14th to 18th
Hong Kong: June 26th to 30th
London: August 4th to September 5th

Close friend Elton John shared Freddie Mercury's penchant for high-end shopping and gift-giving. He was among the few allowed to visit Mercury during his final days and recalled how even until the end the legendary singer showed how much he cared for his friends and family: "He was sick and he was dying. I used to go around and see him -- I was one of the few people to be there and I couldn't stay there for very long; I'd stay there for about an hour at a time, because I found it was so painful and traumatizing. And he was so brave. He was still spending money and buying things at auction right up to the point that he died -- which I thought was hilarious, and the kind of thing I probably would do. But at that Christmas, the Christmas shortly after he had died, I got a present delivered to me in a sheet and I collect Henry Scott Tuke paintings and it was a painting by Henry Scott Tuke from Freddie, saying 'Dear Sharon (laughs) -- hope you love this, love Molina.' It was. . . I just completely broke down. And to think of me as he was so ill, he wanted to give that to me for Christmas and he died about a month beforehand. And it was quite a choker. That was the kind of person he was."

Jack Harlow posted online that his new album, Jackman, will be released on Friday, April 28^th. The Louisville, Ky native shared the news ahead of being honored with the Hometown Heroes banner in his home city next week.

The cover shows a rough-looking, shirtless Harlow standing with his arms crossed in an alleyway next to some garbage cans. The six-time Grammy nominee didn't' release any other details.

Outside of music, Harlow will make his acting debut in the remake of White Men Can't Jump. The release date on that is May 19.

TL;DR:

• Jack Harlow will release his new album, Jackman, on Friday, April 28^th.

U2 has added seven new dates onto their band's upcoming U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere show in Las Vegas. The newly added dates are October 11th, 13th, 14th, 18th, 20th, 21st, and 25th. For verified fan presale info, log on to https://u2.ticketmaster.com/.

The Edge spoke about U2's upcoming Las Vegas stand in a statement, which reads:

The beauty of Sphere is not only the ground-breaking technology that will make it so unique, with the world's most advanced audio system, integrated into a structure which is designed with sound quality as a priority; it's also the possibilities around immersive experience in real and imaginary landscapes.

In short, it's a canvas of an unparalleled scale and image resolution and a once-in-a-generation opportunity. We all thought about it and decided we'd be mad not to accept the invitation.

While chatting to Apple Music, Bono explained that U2's Vegas run in the logical extension from rock's earliest days: "Think of when the Beatles came to the U.S. So, they had a tiny little (sound) system, they played in Shea Stadium in New York. Nobody could hear them, it's just the sound of the crowd and they invented 'stadium rock,' we feel like. And then it took every decade, every generation, we became more able to perform, people could hear our music and see the band. This is the next evolution in that, that started with the Beatles in Shea Stadium."

Beyonce has filed a petition in U.S. Tax Court contesting nearly $2.7 million in tax and penalties. According to Forbes, the April 17, 2023, petition asks the court to reconsider additional tax and penalties assessed by the IRS in a January 18th, 2023, Notice of Deficiency.

The Notice of Deficiency alleges that $805,850.00 in additional tax, together with $161,170 in penalty, is owed for 2018, and $1,442,747.00 in additional tax, together with $288,549.40 in penalty is owed for 2019. There is also interest due on those amounts.

Beyonce has disputed the deficiency, claiming, among other things, that the IRS erred in disallowing millions of dollars' worth of deductions, including $868,766 attributable to a charitable contribution carryover reported in 2018.

After being accused of stealing Marvin Gaye's classic song, "Let's Get It On," Ed Sheeran appeared in New York federal court and testified in his defense. On Tuesday (4-25), he said, "If I'd done what you're accusing me of doing, I'd be an idiot to stand on stage in front of 20,000 people and do that."

He explained that it was his belief that most pop songs are "built on building blocks that have been freely available for hundreds of years."

The copyright infringement case compares the Marvin Gaye song to his 2014 hit, "Thinking Out Loud".

The lawsuit was brought forth by the heirs of the late songwriter Ed Townsend, who wrote the Marvin Gaye song.

TL;DR:

• After being accused of stealing Marvin Gaye's classic song, "Let's Get It On," Ed Sheeran appeared in New York federal court and testified in his defense.
• He said, "If I'd done what you're accusing me of doing, I'd be an idiot to stand on stage in front of 20,000 people and do that."
• The copyright infringement case compares the Marvin Gaye song to his 2014 hit, "Thinking Out Loud".

Halsey and boyfriend, Alev Aydin are going their separate ways but say they will co-parent their 21-month-old son. According to People, it's an "amicable split."

According to court documents, Halsey filed a petition to determine the parental relationship. She asked the court for full physical custody and requested that "reasonable visitation" be awarded to her former partner. She's also asking for joint legal custody and for fees of costs and litigation to be split between both parties.

The pair started dating in 2019 and their romance blossomed during the pandemic.

TL;DR:

• Halsey and boyfriend, Alev Aydin are going their separate ways but say they will co-parent their 21-month-old son. According to People, it's an "amicable split."
• She asked the court for full physical custody and requested that "reasonable visitation" be awarded to her former partner.

The ears of Van Halen fans have perked up after Michel Anthony revealed that the vault doors to the band's archive are slowly being opened.

Ultimate Classic Rock reported that during a chat with SiriusXM's Eddie Trunk, Anthony said, "There is movement, and we're digging back in the stuff. Obviously, there's a lot more stuff that's at Ed (Van Halen)'s 5150 Studio. A lot of that stuff, Wolfie and Alex (Van Halen) will start going through there, seeing what there is. There's a ton of stuff."

He said, "We're starting a bunch of the reissue stuff with the Sammy (Hagar) years, with all his albums, and the first one that will come out will be the Right Here, Right Now live album that we did in 1992. . . Hopefully we'll be following up, doing (David Lee) Roth stuff, too. Who knows?"

Regarding live soundboard recordings, Michael Anthony admitted: "We used to record every single show. That was just for the band so that we could critique ourselves after every show, and this went on for a few years. Like, the first few tours we would record almost every show."

Anthony added that he has tapes in his collection that are, quote, "almost album quality."

A few years ago, Wolfgang Van Halen told us that fans shouldn't bank on seeing any Eddie Van Halen tribute projects emerging from the vast tape archive he left behind. Wolfgang, who is now in charge of his late-father's unreleased work housed at his 5150 California studio, explained that the process to get everything adequately cataloged is his first priority -- not getting new product out ASAP: "That's not gonna happen for a long time -- even without the intention of release, I want to -- at the every least -- archive it properly and digitize it so everything is safe for years to come. Because it's going to be an incredibly difficult process -- and a very long process to properly. . . just get the material off the old tapes, that I wanna do it right."