Alternative: Celebs Rumors

The Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer have shared details of a joint tour in the UK and Ireland next summer.Both bands played headline sets at California’s BeachLife festival last year and will come together again for a short tour that kicks off in Birmingham on June 7, 2024.The US acts will then take in shows at London’s The O2, Dublin’s 3Arena, Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, Manchester’s Co-op Live and Cardiff Castle across the rest of the month.Tickets for the UK and Ireland 2024 tour go on general sale this Friday (October 20) at 10am BST here. There is also a pre-sale at the same link opening this Thursday (October 19) at 10am BST.The Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer’s 2024 UK and Ireland tour:JUNEFriday 7 – Birmingham Utilita ArenaSaturday 8 – London The O2Monday 10 – Dublin 3ArenaWednesday 12 – Glasgow OVO HydroThursday 13 – Manchester Co-op LiveFriday 14 – Cardiff CastleIn other news, last month The Smashing Pumpkins re-staged the release show that they held for their ‘Siamese Dream’ album 30 years ago and performed numerous rarities at the event.Taking place on September 17, the band had the tea house made to look like the original Tower Records set.

Lana Del Rey has responded to a Christian influencer who accused the singer of witchcraft after an energy wave knocked fans down during a gig this year.This summer, video clips emerged from a Del Rey concert in Mexico which showed the crowd being knocked over by a surge of energy.It wasn’t clear what exactly caused the domino effect, but one expert said it could have been “progressive crowd collapse” when “the momentum of one person knocking into another increases significantly”.Five weeks ago, a Christian influencer called Traci Coston posted a video to Instagram in which she insisted that the event was “not normal” and accused the singer of practising “witchcraft”.Captioning the clip “Demonic Energy Knocks Over Lana Del Rey Crowd”, Coston said demons were being “invited into the crowd and into you when you attend”.“These demons will destroy your life. How do I know? Because people come to me for deliverance to get rid of the demons that they get through stuff like this.”She concluded by asking viewers to “please give your life to Jesus” because he “frees” and “protects” people.A post shared by Traci Coston (@traci.coston)Del Rey, who has attended church gatherings this year and has previously said in interviews that she believes in God, appeared to find the video recently and commented her response.“B!tch I know the Bible verse for verse better than you do,” Del Rey wrote (via Stereogum).

Thirty Seconds To Mars have responded to a recent viral drum video, which saw Chad Smith nail a performance of one of their songs.The moment came last month, when the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer went viral after expertly playing along to the band’s 2005 song ‘The Kill’ as he listened to it for the first time.The challenge was presented by Drumeo as part of its For The First Time series, and Smith soon turned heads by seeming to know instinctively where the song was going next even though he didn’t know it, nor the artist who first played it.“What the fuck was that? Is that like My Chemical Romance or something?” he asked after wrapping up the cover. He also confirmed that he had never heard the song before, but guessed that it was “some kind of emo thing”.Now, following the clip amassing nearly five million views in just two weeks, the band behind the track have shared a response to the online hit video, and described Smith’s efforts as “incredible”.Sharing a video to their official TikTok account, brothers Jared and Shannon Leto offered a silent but enthusiastic reaction to the original video.Frontman Jared mouthed along the lyrics to the track and gave numerous ‘thumbs ups’ to the clip, while drummer Shannon air-drummed along to Smith’s take.

Peace have announced official details of their fourth studio album, ‘Utopia’. Check out the album artwork and pre-order the release below.The UK alt band first shared the album with fans earlier this year, when they launched a password-protected website, which allowed fans to access the album ahead of its official release date.Now, the members have confirmed the new album ‘Utopia’, and revealed that it will be arriving later this year (November 3) with a limited run of vinyl copies.It also arrives following the two-year hiatus that the band took over 2021 and 2022 – from which they re-emerged as a two-piece, composed of brothers Harry and Sam Koisser – and marks their first new music since 2019.Musically, the album is described by the band as being an evolution of their signature sound, and will see the siblings introduce elements of folk and ambient electronica to take their discography to the next step.The artwork for the album was designed by acclaimed artist and photographer Martin Parr CBE and depicts Glastonbury Tor in Somerset.

Mac DeMarco has shared his new collaborative song with Ryan Paris called ‘Simply Paradise’ – check it out below.DeMarco has long expressed his admiration for the ‘Dolce Vita’ singer, including in a 2014 Pitchfork documentary called Pepperoni Playboy, in which he cites the Italian artist as an inspiration and dances down the street to his song.Paris saw the video and later invited DeMarco to “do a remix of ‘Dolce Vita’ together”. “Very interested in working with you,” DeMarco responded.

Thundercat has announced the details of his upcoming 2024 UK and Ireland tour.The two-time Grammy Award-winning artist will kick off the tour at the O2 Academy in Glasgow on March 25. From there, he will make stops in Dublin, Manchester, Newcastle, Bristol and Wolverhampton.

Johnny Marr has announced a new compilation album ‘Spirit Power: The Best Of Johnny Marr’ and shared new single ‘Somewhere’.The former Smiths guitarist will release the new collection on November 3 via BMG, which will spotlight “the breadth of musicality across the first ten years” of Marr’s solo career, according to a press release – you can pre-order/pre-save the album here.The record will also include two brand new tracks produced by Marr along with co-producer James Doviak – ‘The Answer’ and ‘Somewhere’. Listen to the latter below.The musician wrote ‘Somewhere’ while on tour with The Killers and Blondie in 2022.

OMD have announced a 2024 UK and European tour and have shared their latest single ‘Slow Train’ from their upcoming album ‘Bauhaus Staircase‘.Kicking off early next year, the duo – consisting of Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys – will hit the road and make their way through Europe and the UK. Starting off on January 22, 2024, OMD will play the Rockefeller in Oslo, Norway and then make their way to major cities such as Stockholm, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Warsaw, Prague, Belfast, Paris, Dublin and more.Starting in March, the duo will then take over the UK with their first show in Manchester’s O2 Apollo.

Sufjan Stevens has shared a new single called ‘Will Anybody Ever Love Me?’ – listen to it below.The song will appear on the Detroit singer-songwriter’s 10th studio album ‘Javelin’, which is due for release on October 6 via Asthmatic Kitty Records (pre-order/pre-save here).“Will anybody ever love me?/ For good reasons/ Without grievance, not for sport/ Will anybody ever love me?/ In every season/ Pledge allegiance to my heart/ Pledge allegiance to my burning heart,” Stevens ponders in the chorus.After additional instrumentation is brought in, the musician pleads for forgiveness and gently sings of the “heartache and misery” he’s caused in the past. “Take my suffering as I take my vow/ Wash me now, anoint me/ With that golden blade,” he adds.Stevens – who self-produced ‘Will Anybody Ever Love Me?’, and played every instrument on the single – is accompanied by guest backing vocalists Adrienne Maree Brown, Hannah Cohen and Megan Lui.“The first time I sang the song I started crying, I was so moved by the honesty of the questions,” Brown said in a statement.Cohen added: “Sufjan is an impossibly brave and gifted writer.

Thundercat has used mouthwash sounds on a new song released in conjunction with Listerine. The track forms part of Listerine’s The Whoa Collection campaign, which seeks to close the diversity gap in dentistry by supporting the non-profit initiative, Increasing Diversity in Dentistry (IDID) program.

Mac DeMarco has explained his hate for guitar pedals, calling them “cheap pieces of shit”.During a recent Music Tech cover story, the Canadian singer-songwriter/producer spoke about his dislike of running instruments and sounds through effects.The article notes that DeMarco travelled with a collection of gear worth over $20,000 (£16,050) while he was making his latest instrumental album, ‘Five Easy Hot Dogs’. He told the outlet that a Minimoog synthesiser served as “the lead singer of the record”, adding: “I’m so glad I took him along.”However, DeMarco said that he is moving away from using effects pedals on his music. “I have a lot of nice shit; nice tape machines and synthesizers, nice guitars, you know,” he explained.

Vince Clarke – songwriter for bands including Erasure, Yazoo and Depeche Mode – has announced details of his first solo album, ‘Songs Of Silence’. Check out the lead single below.Set for release on November 17 via Mute, the upcoming instrumental album sees the Ivor Novello-winning songwriter explore the limitless possibilities of Eurorack – a modular synthesiser format famed for its addictive and limitless configurations.It also allows Clarke to explore the premise of musical genres, and create a more experimental record than with his countless chart-topping releases, and develop “a 10-track lyric-less album of uncategorisable ambient beauty”, according to a press release.Check out the lead single ‘The Lamentations Of Jeremiah’ below, which comes with a visual accompaniment directed by Turkish-born NY-based portrait photographer Ebru Yildiz.“I could have gone on forever, I could have not stopped,” Clarke said, explaining his use of Eurorack when creating new material for the album.“I was enjoying the process so much and wasn’t thinking about anyone else hearing it.

Florence Welch has returned to the stage for the first time since undergoing emergency surgery last month, and performed two duets with Ethel Cain.Taking place at the MEO Kalorama festival in Lisbon, Portugal, the performance marked the first headlining set by Florence + The Machine since the band were forced to cancel several live shows in August.At the time, Welch declared that although she doesn’t “really feel strong enough” to share details on her ordeal with fans just yet, the emergency surgery last month “saved her life”.“I’m so sorry that I had to cancel the last couple of shows,” she wrote, explaining that it was unrelated to a broken foot that caused the postponement of a UK tour at the start of the year.A post shared by Florence Welch (@florence)Now, it seems that the singer is on the road to recovery, as she not only made her return to the stage for her headline slot but also surprised fans by joining Ethel Cain on stage.Before the headline set with her band, Welch made a surprise appearance during Cain’s afternoon set, joining her for a duet of ‘Thoroughfare’ from the latter’s debut album ‘Preacher’s Daughter’, which arrived last year.Cain then went on to return the favour during the headline set later that day, and joined Welch and co. for a powerful joint performance of ‘Morning Elvis’ – the closing track from Florence + The Machine’s 2022 record ‘Dance Fever’.‘Morning Elvis’ was first performed by the two last year, when they both joined forces in Denver.

Smash Mouth‘s Steve Harwell has entered hospice care and reportedly has only days to live.According to his manager, the musician has reached the final stages of liver failure and is expected to only have “a week or so”, as reported by TMZ today (September 3).As per the publication’s report, the singer has struggled with alcohol abuse throughout his life, adding that his family and friends have gathered to say their goodbyes over the past three days.News of the former Smash Mouth singer’s declining health was revealed back in 2021, when it was announced that the frontman would be retiring due to health issues that he had been battling for several years.The news came after footage from a gig showed him slurring his words and making threatening comments toward the crowd.Announcing his retirement in 2021, a representative for the band told Los Angeles Times that Harwell had left the band to focus on what they described as “longstanding medical issues”.“Despite Steve’s best efforts to work through these ailments, he is heartbroken to share that it has become impossible for him to continue doing what he loves most, performing in front of the band’s millions of fans around the world,” they said.TMZ had previously reported that the singer was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy eight years ago, which led to other medical issues like heart failure and Wernicke’s encephalopathy, which “has greatly impacted his motor functions including speech and impaired memory,” a spokesperson said.“Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of being a Rockstar performing in front of sold-out arenas and have been so fortunate to live out that dream,” Harwell said in a statement at the time.

Tim’s Twitter Listening Party will be coming to an end after three years.Created by The Charlatans frontman in March 2020, the listening parties featured invited artists who would go on to Tweet along track-by-track to provide insight on new and classic albums. This was in response to the first national lockdown and since then, there have been hundreds of instalments and two books about the popular online events.Due to the series’ success, Burgess was able to take the Listening Parties to Absolute Radio for six weeks, which began in March of this year. Speaking of the opportunity, Absolute Radio’s Content Director, Paul Sylvester said: “Tim’s Listening Party has become a phenomenon.

Christine And The Queens have dropped a surprise remix of the track ‘To Be Honest’, featuring SG Lewis.The surprise announcement arrived earlier today (August 31), When Chris simply dropped an image of one of their promotional shots on X (formerly Twitter), bearing handwriting across the image reading: “To Be honest SG Lewis remix out now”.The caption of the image also read the same, but also featured a link to the surprise release, allowing fans to stream the reimagined track immediately.‘To Be Honest’ was first released by Christine And The Queens earlier this year, as the lead single to their latest LP: ‘PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE’.The album was the follow-up to last year’s album ‘Redcar les adorables étoiles’, and was released on 9 June via Because Music.

HAIM have teased that they might have been working with Jai Paul on new music.The Los Angeles-trio – made up of sister Alana, Danielle and Este Haim – performed their massive London headline show at All Points East on Monday (August 28) and spoke to Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 6 about new music during their stop in the UK.Along with discussing the 10th anniversary of their debut album ‘Days Are Gone‘, they were also asked about plans for the future.The sisters shared that they “been working with some cool people”. “We played Jai Paul earlier; we might’ve been in the studio with him,” they teased.

Finneas performed his debut UK headline show at Electric Ballroom in London last night (August 30) and performed a brand new track. Check out the full setlist, videos and pictures below.The artist’s ‘one night only’ gig at the 1500-capacity Camden venue came just one day after he performed alongside sister Billie Eilish at her own intimate gig, who surprised fans with guest appearances from Labrinth and Boygenius.Finneas also performed with his pop sensation sibling a few days prior for her massive headline performances at Reading and Leeds Festivals 2023.Minutes before Finneas’ turn yesterday, Billie emerged on the upstairs balcony overlooking the stage and was met by screams as she waved to fans.

Talking Heads has said that the re-release of their film Stop Making Sense acted as somewhat of a “healing experience” for the band.The musician reflected on the 1983, Jonathan Demme-directed concert film in a new interview on the Kyle Meredith With… podcast, and explained how re-releasing the film has helped the members grow closer.The band are reissuing the film to celebrate 40 years since it was first released, and the moment also will see members Harrison, David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, and Chris Frantz come together for their first public reunion in over two decades.According to Harrison, although the band underwent a tumultuous break-up, revisiting the film – which has been restored to 4K and distributed by A24 – has helped the members settle their differences, and played a significant role in bringing them back together.“We own the film together, [so we had] to work together to make a decision,” he told the host. “‘Is A24 the right distributor for us, the right partner for us?’ We had to have conversations about that, and this is something we did together.

Slowdive have released new single ‘alife’ and announced a UK and European tour for 2024 – find all the details below and purchase tickets for the UK shows here.The hazy new song is the final preview of the shoegaze band’s new album ‘Everything Is Alive’, which is out Friday (September 1) via Dead Oceans.Alongside the single announcement, Slowdive have announced a new string of UK and European dates for January 2024, which will see them kick off the run at Paradiso in Amsterdam on January 16, 2024.From there, they’ll perform shows in Paris, Oslo, Berlin, Munich and more, before starting their UK run at Dome, Brighton on February 14. Following stops in cities including Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow and more – along with a show at London’s Eventim Apollo on February 17 – they’ll wrap up at Manchester’s Academy on February 27.We are also very pleased to announce our UK and European tour in 2024.

King Krule has shared a new live film, comprised of footage from his recent run of intimate live shows.

Billie Eilish played an intimate live show in London and paused the set multiple times to help fans who were struggling in the crowd.The last-minute surprise gig was held at the Electric Ballroom venue in Camden last night (August 29) and saw the pop star play to a packed audience, tease rarities and bring out special guests.Eilish announced details of the show on Saturday (August 26) — the day after she headlined the opening night of Leeds Festival, and just before she closed Reading 2023. Unsurprisingly, tickets sold out almost instantly, and some fans even camped outside the venue the night before.However, those lucky enough to snatch tickets soon clamoured to get as close to the artist as possible, resulting in the set being brought to a halt multiple times.The first instance came during the third track of her 20-song setlist, ‘Therefore I Am’, when Eilish paused twice mid-performance, to check on members of the crowd and urge members of security to pass out water.“Can we get some water for these folks?” she asked, looking around for members of staff to help the eager audience.

Billie Eilish has played an intimate London gig, with guest appearances from Labrinth and Boygenius. Check out footage and the full setlist below.The show took place tonight (August 29) in the Electric Ballroom venue in Camden, and saw the singer and Finneas perform fan favourites including ‘Bad Guy’ and ‘Therefore I Am’, as well as bring out some special guests.Eilish announced the surprise show on Saturday (August 26) — the day after she headlined the opening night of Leeds Festival.

Easy Life‘s Murray Matravers has reflected on the band’s rapid rise so far and their definitions of success.Speaking to NME at Reading Festival 2023 this weekend, the frontman looked back on what the band have achieved in recent years – including performances on much bigger stages and a rapidly growing fan base – and said they’ve been asking themselves what success looks like.“If you had of asked me two or three years ago, I would have said, ‘Huge gigs and international critical acclaim and being famous’. But I think, now, it’s definitely not that, and I don’t want that.”He added that “if you’re happy in what you do, then you’ve smashed it”, and that “if you’re enjoying it, and you’re healthy, and you’re healthy in your mind as well, that for me is success.

Phoebe Bridgers made another onstage appearance with Christian Lee Hutson at Connect Festival today (August 27), after the pair performed together at an Øya festival spin-off show earlier this month.Performing at the Edinburgh festival at Royal Highland Showground today, where Boygenius – Bridgers’ band with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus – are due to headline, she came out to sing ‘Lose This Number’, ‘Chesapeake’ and ‘Rubberneckers‘ with the US singer-songwriter.Their performance follows Bridgers’ surprise appearance at Oslo’s Vulkan Arena concert hall earlier this month – where Hutson headlined the venue as part of his ongoing tour.Check out footage of this weekend’s performance below.“Phoebe and I were in this band called Better Oblivion Community Center,” Hutson said before they performed ‘Chesapeake’. “And we’re gonna do this song from that,” he said, joking that they “might abort it” part way through.She previously teamed up with Hutson on stage at last year’s The Ally Coalition benefit gig and during a television appearance on CBS Mornings.

Ashnikko has shared what it was like working with Ethel Cain on their track ‘Dying Star’, calling it “quite magical”.The two singers teamed up on the final track featured on Ashnikko’s debut album ‘WEEDKILLER‘. The song wraps up the entire LP which was based on a short story Ashnikko wrote about about a race of AI robots who destroy a fae forest.Speaking to NME as the latest star of The Cover, they shared the process of creating ‘Dying Star’ saying :“I wrote the first verse of the song in a session, and I didn’t know what to do with it and was sitting on it for a while.”They continued:“Then I played it to Ethel, and ‘Dying Star’ came out.

Björk has won the award for Best Live Performer at the 2023 Association of Independent Music Awards (AIM). Check out the final nominations below.Announced today (August 24), the Icelandic singer was announced the winner of the publicly-voted award for her ongoing ‘Cornucopia’ tour.She also fought off close competition from Beabadoobee and MUNA, as well as Japanese kawaii-metal girl group Babymetal.The award also comes in light of her 10th and latest studio album, ‘Fossora’, which arrived last September.

OMD have announced their return with news of a new album ‘Bauhaus Staircase’ – their first new LP in six years. Check out the title track below.The upcoming album marks the band’s first announcement since they celebrated their 40th anniversary last year, and the first new music since their critically acclaimed 13th studio album ‘The Punishment of Luxury’, which arrived in 2017.Predominantly written, recorded, and mixed by both members – McCluskey and Paul Humphreys – the forthcoming LP is expected to be Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s most explicitly political record to date.

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis have announced details of a new live album, created from their three performances at the Sydney Opera House last year.Titled ‘Australian Carnage’, the collection features audio taken from the pair’s performances in the Australian city, held as part of their 16-stop tour in the country at the end of 2022. The tour celebrated the release of the 2021 lockdown album, ‘Carnage’, which saw Cave and longtime Bad Seeds member Ellis come together for a new introspective side project.The live album will be released in two different formats: an 18-track digital version, which will be released this Friday (August 25), and an eight-track vinyl edition, which will arrive on December 1 via Goliath – pre-order here.To celebrate the announcement, Cave and Ellis have also shared the live version of ‘Balcony Man’, taken from the forthcoming album.

Jai Paul has announced a string of extra headline tour dates for 2023 – find all the details below.The British musician will perform two nights at the The Mayan Theater in LA on September 26 and 27, followed by San Francisco’s The Regency Ballroom on September 29 and the city’s Portola Music Festival on September 30.The artist will then head to Paris to perform at the Élysée Montmartre on November 27 and Berlin’s Huxley’s the next day (28). The final extra dates will see Paul perform two dates at Melbourne’s 170 Russell on December 4 and 5.Tickets will be available exclusively via ballot on Paul’s website.

DEVO have confirmed that their current world tour will be the band’s last.The Ohio new wave group – who announced a farewell tour for 2023 earlier this year – confirmed in a new interview that the current run of shows will indeed be their last after 50 years together.Speaking to The Guardian, the band’s lead singer, Mark Mothersbaugh, explained why the band had decided to wrap up the live portion of their career.“Are you married?” he asked. “Imagine you had four wives and you worked together.

The Killers have teased a big announcement with an ambiguous new video.Taking to social media this evening (August 21), the Las Vegas band posted a five-second black and white video of a dancer dressed in carnival-style attire in the desert.It’s accompanied by a dramatic piece of percussive music, but no caption or further detailed were shared alongside it.Check it out below.pic.twitter.com/8L6Cs62ROr— The Killers (@thekillers) August 21, 2023Fans have quickly started speculating about what the cryptic video could mean, with ideas ranging from a Super Bowl halftime show announcement – with the band having recently been named as the bookies’ favourite – to a new single.If it is teasing the imminent arrival of a song, that would mark the first new material from The Killers since their one-off 2022 single ‘Boy’.Speaking to NME about the new track at Mad Cool festival in Madrid last year, frontman Brandon Flowers said it was “the song that took me back home” and was “sort of the impetus for writing [2021 album] ‘Pressure Machine’.”He went on: “What’s interesting is that it just didn’t make it onto the record – but its absence is not a reflection of the quality of the song. It was an aesthetic decision to keep it off the record.”Drummer Ronnie Vannucci added that it was “a different complexion”, while Flowers said there was “an optimism to it”.

David Bowie for a Saturday Night Live sketch.The actor and comedian reflected on a skit he wrote for an episode in November 1991, which was hosted by Macaulay Culkin and featured Bowie and Tin Machine as the musical guest.Speaking on a recent episode of the Fly on the Wall podcast, which Spade co-hosts with Dana Carvey, he remembered casting himself in a sketch as the receptionist that “stops you because he thinks they’re better than you”, with Bowie cast to play himself.As Bowie wasn’t in the pitch meeting, Spade received a request to call the music icon at his hotel.“I called him and he answers and it’s fucking Bowie,” he said. “And he’s like, ‘This [sketch] is so fucking funny.

Hozier has shared that he would consider striking over the threat that artificial intelligence (AI) poses to the music industry.In a preview of tonight’s episode of Newsnight (August 17), Hozier – real name Andrew Hozier-Byrne – explained to presenter Victoria Derbyshire: “Whether [AI is] art or not, I think, is nearly a philosophical debate.“It can’t create something based on a human experience. So I don’t know if it meets the definition of art.”He continued: “Actors at the moment… there’s huge strikes on at the moment.

The Cult’s Billy Duffy has joined Johnny Marr on stage to play tracks by The Smiths and Depeche Mode. Check out footage of the moment below.The gig took place at the Cheese and Grain venue in Frome last night (August 16) as part of Johnny Marr’s latest run of solo gigs, and featured a number of tracks from across his discography, including solo tracks and classics by The Smiths.Fans at last night’s show, however, were left surprised after the singer-songwriter and guitarist brought out The Cult’s Billy Duffy as a surprise guest for the evening.The on-stage appearance is the latest of the multiple times the two musicians have joined forces, as they both have a long history of playing music together – stemming back to their adolescent years.Meeting in Manchester during their childhood, Duffy was in an early incarnation of The Smiths with Morrissey and had also played guitar with Marr when the latter was just 12 years old.

Death Cab For Cutie have released new single ‘An Arrow In The Wall’ along with a B-side remix from Chvrches.The new track, produced by John Congleton, is available to listen to now or order on a two-side, 12-inch single vinyl from here.“‘An Arrow In the Wall’ is about the warning signs all around us in the 21st century that society-at-large is in decay,” said vocalist and guitarist Ben Gibbard in a press statement. “The arrow lodged in the wall might have missed this time, but it would be naive to assume the next one won’t also.”He added of the synthy remix from the Scottish trio: “We have been good friends with Chvrches since touring together in 2019.