Music News

JMEnternational/JMEnternational for BRIT Awards/Getty Images The 2021 National Music Publishers’ Association honored Taylor Swift with the Songwriter Icon Award on Wednesday, and she took the moment to thank those who helped her along the way. "I want to take a moment to thank the people who were my professors, my teachers, of the craft of songwriting," said Swift, 31, who appeared virtually, according to Billboard. "First of all, anyone who wrote with me in Nashville when I was in like eighth or ninth grade, that is insane that you did that. I am so lucky that I got to learn from some of the best writers on Music Row." The "cardigan" singer went on to name several of her collaborators, like Liz Rose, who assisted with her self-titled debut album, and Max Martin and Shellback, who helped with her make the transition to pop. Swift continued, "I think any songwriter will tell you when you get an idea, you're not quite sure where it floated down from, but if you can grab onto t..

Rich Fury/Getty Images for OBB Media Demi Lovato said the need to appear a certain way during the start of their career hindered their ability to create and express themself freely. On the latest 4D With Demi Lovato podcast episode, the "Dancing with the Devil" singer recalled the pressure they felt to look more feminine and sexually appealing -- saying they labored to fit into that mold out of fear that appearing otherwise would damage their upcoming singing and acting career. "I was so afraid at times of what my career would look like if I wasn't that super sexy, hyper-feminine pop star," Lovato, 28, recounted. The singer said it took years to feel comfortable enough to experiment with their own style, which included cutting their hair, wearing gender-neutral clothing and embracing their masculine side. "My career doesn't matter as much to me now as it does living my truth," said the Grammy nominee, who has since come out as nonbinary and pansexual. Lovato remarked on ..

Magnum ice cream/Vijat Mohinda Miley in Layers, a free virtual concert being presented in "8-D" by Magnum ice cream, streams on Miley Cyrus' YouTube channel today at 2:30 p.m. ET. Magnum's latest slogan is "Pleasure Has More Than One Layer," and Miley says experiencing the pandemic for the past year and a half has made her rediscover pleasures she never thought about before. "I forgot what an honor it is to sit with my family and have dinner with them, and when my dad wants to say grace for us," Miley explains. "That's something that before, I would have rolled my eyes and been like, 'Do we have to do this? Can't we just sit down and eat?' And now it's like, 'I didn't get to have this for a year and I missed it so much.'" Miley also reveals some of her secret pleasures: Playing football or basketball with her brothers and her dad, and spending time on her farm, doing things like washing her horses. "It seems like something that&#03..

Ethan Miller/Getty Images Several months ago, the Backstreet Boys confirmed that, at long last, they planned to record their very first Christmas album. Now, AJ McLean tells Variety that the project is coming along even better than he'd hoped. The sessions for the album were the first time the group had been able to get together since their DNA World Tour was called off in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "It was a really happy, jolly experience,” AJ tells Variety of being in the studio with Howie, Kevin, Brian and Nick. “There was a Christmas tree and our names on stockings hanging on a fake fireplace." "This is our first ever Christmas album in [our] 28 year [career] -- it’s nuts," he adds. "It’s turning out to be a fricking gem, so I cannot wait for our fans to hear it.” AJ spoke to Variety while performing at a benefit show alongside *NSYNC's Chris Kirkpatrick and Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees. While Chris admits he used not be able to stand AJ, they're..

Kid LAROI: MediaPunch/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images; Justin Bieber: Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images for Triller The Kid LAROI is riding high right now with his hit single "Without You" and a new management deal with Scooter Braun, the same guy who looks after Justin Bieber's career. Justin and LAROI collaborated on Justin's latest album, JUSTICE, and now the two are pals -- which means LAROI is now the beneficiary of Justin's many years of pop-star wisdom. Speaking to ET Canada, LAROI says, "With Justin, I just literally feel I can call that dude and ask him anything. And there's a great piece of advice he gave me. One day, I was on the way to a photo shoot, and we were on FaceTime, and I was like, 'I'm tired, I don't really wanna do this s***.'" LAROI says Justin told him, "Take it all in for a minute and just realize how lucky you are to be doing that." He notes that Justin added, "This was our dream! Like, you're literally living your dream. So j..

Big Hit Entertainment With their song “Butter” still dominating the charts, BTS may be prepping to release more new music next month. South Korean media outlet SPOTV News is reporting that the K-pop group is set to drop a new album on July 9. BTS’ label Big Hit Music has yet to confirm the report, however, telling the outlet Newsen in a statement that it will “reveal our artists’ plans after they are finalized.” If true, the July 9 release date would be make sense, as it coincides with the anniversary of "ARMY Day" -- the day BTS' passionate fanbase "ARMY" was officially established back in 2013. BTS' next album will follow 2020’s Be, which featured the group’s hit single, “Life Goes On.” This weekend, the group will be taking the stage for their two-day livestream event, called BTS 2021 MUSTER SOWOOZOO. Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty Images Ariana Grande has a perfume empire, but now she may be expanding into an entire beauty line. According to the Instagram account Trendmood, Ari has filed a trademark for a beauty line called "God Is a Woman," after her 2018 hit of the same name. The account says the filing covers skincare, body mousse, mists, shower gels, bath gels and more. ELLE UK notes that calling the alleged line "God Is a Woman" is an apt choice: When the elaborate video came out, it showed Ari bathing in a purple-swirled pool, which inspired the bath-and-body company Lush to create a "God Is a Woman" bath bomb that recreated the effect. Meanwhile, Halsey, who has her own makeup line, aboutFACE, has teamed with beauty products subscription service IPSY to create Glam Bag x Halsey, a limited edition collection of products that she's personally curated. The Glam Bag features eight full-size products worth $500 for just $55. There will be two items from her own brand, plus..

Michael Tran/FilmMagic Lance Bass is among the eclectic lineup of celebrity guest hosts tapped to replace Chris Harrison for the new season of Bachelor in Paradise. ABC confirms the former NSYNC member, plus rapper Lil Jon, comedian David Spade and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt actor Tituss Burgess, will serve as rotating hosts for the reality show, set to debut this summer. Bachelor in Paradise is currently in production in Mexico. Harrison announced Tuesday that he's leaving the Bachelor franchise after 19 years. His departure follows the controversy over his defense of Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconnell after photos surfaced of her attending an "Old South" antebellum plantation-themed party in 2018. He has since apologized. Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

ABC Lewis Capaldi has joked about the pressure he feels to make his second album as good as his record-breaking debut. Now, he's made a documentary about it. MusicWeek reports that Lewis and the making of his sophomore release are the subjects of the feature-length doc, which will be sold to buyers at the Cannes Virtual Film Makert later this month. In a statement quoted by MusicWeek, the always sarcastic Lewis says, "If the immense pressure of writing and recording a second album that has to live up to the expectations of so many people I’ve never met while also attempting to eclipse the commercial success of my previous album wasn’t enough, I decided to film the process in its entirety for your viewing pleasure.” He adds, "I’m very excited to potentially capture the making of the best album of all time, or more likely, to permanently document the scorching of my dreams as years of my life’s work is received like a pile of flaming s***. Either way it’s going to be lots of fu..

Getty Images for dcp Move over Ed Sheeran: Dua Lipa has levitated right into your spot. Dua's been named the U.K.'s most-played artist of 2020. It's the first time since 2017 that Ed didn't take that title, which is given out by the music licensing company PPL. It tracks plays of songs on TV and radio, and in bars and clubs. Two of Dua's singles, "Don't Start Now" and "Physical," were also among the top-10 most-played tracks of the year, though The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" took the number-one spot there. "Thank you so much to everyone that listened to and loved my music during 2020. I’m incredibly proud that I was the most played artist on radio, TV and all across the U.K.," Dua says in a statement. "I so wanted Future Nostalgia to bring some happiness during such a difficult time," she adds. "Thanks to everyone who supported it and also to PPL, who do important work in making sure artists and musicians are paid when their music is played.” ..