Rock Music

Pet Shop Boys will release their 14th album, Hotspot, on January 24th, 2020. The album, produced by Stuart Price, features 10 new songs written by band members Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. The band has released a radio edit of one of the new tracks, “Burning the heather” which features Bernard Butler on guitar.

Hotspot follows Pet Shop Boys’ 2016 album Super, which featured single “The Pop Kids” and appeared on Rolling Stone‘s 20 Best Pop Albums of 2016 list. The new album is available for preorder now.

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Puerto Rican-Dominican superstar Ozuna dropped his long-awaited third album, Nibiru, on Thursday night. The urbano singer then rang in his new LP on Friday with two high-concept videos for “Fantasía” and “Nibiru.”

Directed by the inventive Colin Tilley, the visual narrative of Nibiru begins on a once-bustling planet, now ravaged by a violent dust storm. After having survived the apocalypse, Ozuna seems to have found refuge in an upscale bomb shelter; but his wife suffers a mysterious ailment, which has caused her to disintegrate into space dust. Out of desperation, he finds a spaceship and takes off for the neighboring Nibiru, better known as Planet X.

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In connection to the deal, The Thread Shop is bringing on Joe Marziotto as vice president, licensing & marketing.

It's a "Happy Xmas" for The Beatles fans. Just in time for gifting season, Sony Music Entertainment's merchandise agency, The Thread Shop, has signed a new deal to produce merch for the iconic rock band in North America.

The Thread Shop's partnership with the band's Apple Corps, Ltd. -- created in 1968 to oversee their business and creative interests -- includes new merchandise, licensing, retail and ecommerce opportunities in North America. The first wave of merch, which includes clothing, toys, turntables and a pinball machine, will be available at a Beatles holiday pop-up store in New York City from Dec. 11 through 22.

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Mariah Carey got a special surprise on Monday (Dec. 23) to commemorate the 25th anniversary of "All I Want For Christmas Is You" in the form of an epic lip synch video starring everyone from Ariana Grande and Katy Perry to Brandy, Jennifer Hudson and more.

"WOW! This is one of the best Christmas gifts I could ever have gotten," Carey tweeted upon seeing the clip. "I am so thankful to all of my friends and favorite artists who participated in this video. You brought a huge smile to my face. THANK YOU!"

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Country singer Darius Rucker couldn’t quite believe it when he was surprised this week with the news that his song “Wagon Wheel” was certified eight times platinum, making it one of the top five most popular country singles ever.

On Wednesday, Rucker stopped by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to see his items in an exhibit, but his label, Universal Music Group Nashville, surprised him with a plaque featuring eight platinum-colored records.

After repeating the word “Wow!” over and over, Rucker muttered to himself, “That can’t be true,” as he inspected the plaque in his hands.

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A newly discovered deep-sea crustacean, a small worm-looking species that grows up to 6.5 millimeters, got its name from none other than Metallica.

That's right, the rock band was the inspiration behind Macrostylis metallicola, which inhabits the Clarion Clipperton Zone, a submarine region between Hawaii and Mexico. Drs. Torben Riehl and Bart De Smet discovered the species, and named it after the iconic rock band to honor the group, and also as a nod to the polymetallic nodules that make up the creatures’ habitat.

"We’ve played on all seven continents, made it into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and now… we’re a crustacean!," Metallica wrote alongside a rockin' sketch of the of the Macrostylis metallicola. "Not only did Dr. Riehn name his discovery after a band as he has been a fan since childhood, The Thing That Should Not Be has a few things in common with us," the post continued. "The worm-like creature dwells in complete darkness, has no eyes, and is colorless. Talk about Blackened! It also lives amongst metallic nodules containing cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, and rare-earth elements. So it basically lives in a rock stadium? Now that’s one metal crustacean!"

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Earlier this month, a contingent of journalists gathered inside Manhattan's Harman Store to hear tracks from Jamaican reggae superstar Chronixx's much-anticipated sophomore album, Dela Splash. Due in late spring on Chronixx's Soul Circle Music, Dela Splash follows the Grammy nominated Chronology, which debuted at No. 1 on the Reggae Albums chart in July 2017 and was followed by numerous high-profile performances for Chronixx and his band, Zincfence Redemption.

Prior to playing songs from Dela Splash on his laptop, Chronixx explained how promotion for his previous LP had a ripple effect on Splash. "In concerts, and on shows like Jimmy Fallon, you have to perform a song in one take. So, for Dela Splash, I recorded (each song) straight through, maybe 12 times, then took the best from those recordings and comped them together. There's 'nuff learning and experimenting on this album because I'm stepping out of my comfort zone."

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Burning Man organizers announced Friday night (April 10) that they will not move forward with the 2020 event, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"After much listening, discussion, and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision not to build Black Rock City in 2020," the statement, posted to the Burning Man Project website, reads in part. "Given the painful reality of COVID-19, one of the greatest global challenges of our lifetimes, we believe this is the right thing to do. Yes, we are heartbroken. We know you are too. In 2020 we need human connection and Immediacy more than ever. But public health and the well-being of our participants, staff, and neighbors in Nevada are our highest priorities."

The 2020 event was set to take place in the Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada from Aug. 30 to Sept. 7. On April 1, Burning Man postponed registration for its main ticket sale, pointing to a possible date change or cancellation. The first round of Burning Man ticket sales happened last month, with 4,000 tickets priced at $1,400 sold during the March 18 "FOMO" ticket sale; 20,000 tickets priced at $475 each were set to be up for grabs during the main sale.

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Kanye West is going back to his roots.
The rapper purchased his childhood home in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood for about $225,000, according to local news station WGN9.

Ye's late mother, Donda West, bought the home in the early 1980s and sold it in 2004.
The property reportedly went through foreclosure before it was bought by West’s former collaborator, Rhymefest, who planned to turn the home into an “arts incubator.” The rapper, Kim Kardashian West and Rhymefest soon got into a public feud over its funding.

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West has not announced what he plans on doing with his childhood home.

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The hip-hop and R&B community is mourning the loss of Uptown Records founder Andre Harrell, who has died at the age of 59.

Artists like K-Ci Hailey, Usher, Mariah Carey, John Legend, Missy Elliott and Snoop Dogg took to social media on Saturday (May 9) to pay tribute to the late music mogul.

"Whether we knew it or not, he had such a huge influence on the R&B/hip-hop my generation grew up loving," Legend tweeted. "He signed and mentored so many great artists, made so much great music happen, helped shape the culture."

News of Harrell's death was first announced by DJ D-Nice on his Instagram Live early Saturday, and sources have separately confirmed it to Billboard. Details of his death are not yet known.

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