Golf’s schedule was already in chaos due to the coronavirus pandemic, and now we officially know one major will not happen this year due to COVID-19. The PGA announced on Monday that the British Open, originally set for July at St. Andrews, will be canceled as the golf calendar has been altered by the spread of the disease.

Reports surfaced early Monday morning that the event would not take place, and soon after it was officially announced that the Open would not be held while other events saw their dates moved around as well. It was later announced that the tour would start in mid-May with no fans in attendance, while at least one major would be skipped this year.

The new schedule is a considerable shift in the traditional golf calendar, especially with the Masters taking place in fall. In fact, the only major golf event this year that still has its original date is the Ryder Cup, which is still scheduled for September 25-27.

Reports that the British Open would be canceled surfaced last week, but the official word did not come until the rest of the calendar was altered by the PGA. The Masters had already been postponed, as it was scheduled for April 9-12. That event will now take place at Augusta on November 12-15, while the U.S. Open runs September 17-20 and the PGA Championship is currently scheduled for August 6-9. But with the uncertainty still surrounding just how long COVID-19 will impact our ability to interact with others and assemble in crowds, there just wasn’t enough dates left on the calendar to get all four majors in this year.

While many musicians have decided to postpone their record releases due to the coronavirus pandemic, Laura Marling has opted for the opposite. Originally slated for a summer release, Marling announced her seventh studio album, Song For Our Daughter, will instead arrive next week. Along with making the album’s early release reveal, Marling shared the record’s lead single “Held Down.”

In a statement, Marling detailed the theme surrounding her upcoming record:

“It’s strange to watch the facade of our daily lives dissolve away, leaving only the essentials; those we love and our worry for them. An album, stripped of everything that modernity and ownership does to it, is essentially a piece of me, and I’d like for you to have it. I’d like for you, perhaps, to hear a strange story about the fragmentary, nonsensical experience of trauma and enduring quest to understand what it is to be a woman in this society. When I listen back to it now, it makes more sense to me than when I wrote it. My writing, as ever, was months, years, in front of my conscious mind. It was there all along, guiding me gently through the chaos of living. And that, in itself, describes the sentiment of the album — how would I guide my daughter, arm her and prepare her for life and all of its nuance? I’m older now, old enough to have a daughter of my own, and I feel acutely the responsibility to defeat The Girl. The Girl that might be lost, torn from innocence prematurely or unwittingly fragmented by forces that dominate society. I want to stand behind her and whisper in her ear all the confidences and affirmations I had found so difficult to provide myself. This album is that strange whisper; a little distorted, a little out of sequence, such is life.”

Listen to “Held Down” above. Below, find Marling’s Song For Our Daughter tracklist.

1. “Alexandra”
2. “Held Down”
3. “Strange Girl”
4. “Only The Strong”
5. “Blow By Blow”
6. “Song For Our Daughter”
7. “Fortune”
8. “The End Of The Affair”
9. “Hope We Meet Again”
10. “For You”

Song For Our Daughter is out 4/10 via Partisan/Chrysalis. Pre-order it here.

It’s funny to think that Birds of Prey, once considered an under-performer at the box office, is currently the fourth highest-grossing movie of 2020. Not that it should have been labeled a “disappointment” in the first place. Birds of Prey has made nearly 2.5 times its budget, and as director Cathy Yan pointed out to the Hollywood Reporter, “There were also undue expectations on a female-led movie, and what I was most disappointed in was this idea that perhaps it proved that we weren’t ready for this yet.” It may not have made $780 million, like another fourth-wall-breaking comic book character, but by any other measure, Birds of Prey is a financial (and critical) success.

Speaking of that R-rated, fourth-wall-breaker: in the same chat with the Hollywood Reporter, Yan was asked about the comparisons between Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), and whether she was bothered by them.

“It didn’t disgust me that people were comparing us to Deadpool. I love Deadpool; I think it’s a great movie, but we were very much trying to do our own thing,” Yan answered. “I can’t underline enough how it was a risk. I do have to thank the studio for supporting a movie that was never going to be four-quadrant. It was R-rated the entire time, and we never talked about changing the rating to get more people into the theater.”

Yan continued:

“I’m very proud of how the movie performed and the way that it could speak to the people who really responded to it. It was always going to be this weird, quirky movie — by design — just like Harley Quinn.”

Birds of Prey is available on VOD; Harley Quinn season two is out, as well.

(Via Hollywood Reporter)

(Spoilers from the current The Walking Dead season will be found below.)

In this week’s pseudo-finale of The Walking Dead (the actual season 10 finale has been delayed), Beta has made his way toward the Alexandrians’ hiding spot (strangely, a hospital that was set in Atlanta in season 5), while Aaron and Alden are being held at gunpoint by a mysterious, bad-ass person in a mask.

Those two storylines, however, were mostly table-setting, prepping the series for the big showdown in the season finale, whenever it eventually airs. However, there were three other storylines in this week’s episode, “Tower,” that provided some emotional closure — or something akin to it — for several characters. Foremost among them are Lydia and Negan, who had begun to bond in the earlier half in the season before Carol released Negan from jail in order to kill Lydia’s mother, Alpha. Recall, however, that it was Negan who saved Lydia’s life after she was attacked by Margo, Gage, and Alfred (note: Two of the three of those characters are now dead, because karma is real).

Lydia and Negan’s relationship, however, was clearly going to suffer after Negan kidnapped Lydia and locked her in a shack while he cut off her mother’s head. That’s just common sense: If you decapitate someone’s mother, her daughter is going to be upset with you. Nevertheless, there are layers at play here. Alpha was an abusive mother, and Lydia hated her. However, she was the only mother Lydia had ever known. Negan — who has been the abuser in other relationships — understands the dynamic, and in one of the most powerful scenes of the last several seasons, Negan invites Lydia to hit him, to take out her anger and sadness on him.

She acquiesces, but the punches and the “I hate yous” eventually turn into an embrace, as Negan comforts a crying Lydia while crying himself. Yes, Negan: The swaggering villain who beat Glen and Abraham to death with a baseball bat is now the comforting, father-figure that The Walking Dead needs now that Rick and Hershel and Morgan are gone. After bonding with Daryl last week and coming to an uneasy truce with Carol, Negan appears to have wormed his way inside of the Alexandrians’ inner cycle, especially since he is already well-liked by Judith Grimes. The redemption arc is complete. Negan is fully transformed.

Speaking of Judith, she also had a big heartfelt scene with Daryl this week. The two embarked on a scouting mission in the hopes of isolating a Whisperer and gaining some information. The mission largely failed — Daryl ending up killing a Whisperer — but it brought Daryl and Judith closer together. With Michonne now out in search of Rick, and with Rick gone, Judith is feeling sad about being orphaned by her parents. She understands it, but she feels alone. Daryl, however, provides her with some comfort, delivering more lines in one speech than he has basically all season long. While Daryl could not promise Judith that he wouldn’t die and leave her, he could promise her that “there are a whole bunch of people back there who would do anything for her … you got a whole lot of family.”

Twelve-year-old Cailey Fleming gives an excellent, tearful performance, the kind that warrants her high per episode fee.

Meanwhile, Carol gets forgiveness for Connie’s situation and a pep talk from an unlikely source: Connie’s sister, Kelly. First off, Kelly believes that Connie — who is missing, but who will probably return in the season finale — is still alive and out there, though she is apparently the only one who believes that. “She’s not dead,” Kelly says. “She’s not. She can survive anything.”

In either respect, Kelly tells Carol that she understands why she behaved the way she did in trying to take out Alpha. Kelly then gives Carol a pep talk. “I heard the stories about you from the old days. We all have. You just go off. You do the thing that only you can do. That’s your superpower. You can’t give up everything about yourself because bad things happen. I gotta believe that.” Carol, it seems, will be able to move past this, as well, especially if Connie returns in the finale.

In addition to the three big emotional scenes between Negan/Lydia, Daryl/Judith, and Kelly/Carol, we also learned a lot more about Princess, who — it has to be said — is a much better character on the television series than in the comics. On the series, she’s just as obnoxious and over-the-top as in the comics, but here she also shows some vulnerability and heart, so much so that (despite all of her massive screw-ups in the episode) she gains the affection of Yumiko, who invites Princess to travel along with them to meet Stephanie in Charleston. Princess (who hasn’t seen anyone in over a year) is a little off-kilter because of the isolation, but she is good people and will make a great addition to The Walking Dead cast. I love her.

Unexpectedly, after the episode, we did see a promo for the season finale, which still doesn’t have a release date. That promo, however, ended up giving a few key points away. For instance, we see that Alden and Aaron escape from The Whisperers with the apparent help of the masked person. We also see that Maggie does indeed return, in what looks like is probably a brief scene in which she receives a letter from Alexandria updating her on how they’re doing and asking for help. (Related: Negan may have fully transformed, but he’s going to have to convince Maggie of that next season). For some reason, Virgil also returns. Gabriel also tantalizingly teases “the others.” This promo, in fact, looks less like a teaser for the finale, and more like the promised cliffhanger for the end of the finale, which will tease other communities we may meet in season 11.

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best music released in the last week.

This week saw a TikTok hit for Drake and even more new material from The Weeknd. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

Drake — “Toosie Slide”

Drake’s “Toosie Slide” debuted on TikTok before its official release, and it’s clear the song was crafted to take over the platform. There are literal dance instructions in the lyrics: “Right foot up, left foot slide / left foot up, right foot slide.” It also sounds like it could be yet another hit for Drake (but not for Lil Baby).

Thundercat — It Is What It Is

Thundercat is rightfully one of the most esteemed jazz musicians of the past decade, but he’s also much more than that. His music touches on a variety of genres, and that’s as true as ever on It Is What It Is. The record also features guest sports from Childish Gambino, Ty Dolla Sign, Kamasi Washington, BadBadNotGood, and others, as well as production from Flying Lotus.

Frank Ocean — “Dear April” and “Cayendo”

New music from Frank Ocean is always an event, and he had a couple of them recently. He premiered new songs during his PReP+ dance party last year, and now a pair of them have been officially released, albeit in acoustic form. The songs aren’t acoustic in the folk sense, in that they aren’t necessarily stripped down, as they’re still sonically enveloping.

The Weeknd — “Nothing Compares,” “Missed You,” and “Final Lullaby”

After Hours has been the album that won’t stop growing since its release. First The Weeknd added some appealing new remixes via a deluxe edition, and now, he has further updated the expanded record with a trio of new songs, which are a welcomed expansion of the world The Weeknd has built.

The 1975 — “Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America”

Phoebe Bridgers noted previously that she worked with The 1975 on their upcoming album, and now the fruits of their collaboration have emerged. The 1975 shared the unconventionally titled “Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America,” and a band that has been full of left turns made another one here: The song is more aligned with the gentle folk styling of Bridgers’ wheelhouse, and it turns out Matty Healy operates expertly in that context.

Empress Of — I’m Your Empress Of

Empress Of told Uproxx of her new album, “There is so much confidence on this record because I’m singing about things that are embarrassing and kind of vulnerable — like about begging someone to take you back, the text to your ex at two AM, or the rebound hookup.”

Read our interview with Empress Of here.

Troye Sivan — “Take Yourself Home”

People around the world are getting restless these days, and Troye Sivan’s new song “Take Yourself Home” has an ultra-relatable theme for the times: a yearning for escape. Sivan sings on the track, “I’m tired of the city / Scream if you’re with me / If I’m gonna die / Let’s die somewhere pretty.”

Young Thug and Gunna — “Quarantine Clean”

Meanwhile, Young Thug and Gunna express similar frustrations on their new track, “Quarantine Clean.” While the song has some complaints (“Why would a disease come around when you get rich?”), the song ultimately touches on how well Thug and Gunna are faring in spite of it all: “Yeah, I’m quarantine-clean, so relaxed / Got my pillows in my Benz Maybach.”

Ellis — Born Again

Ellis explained to Uproxx why she titled her album Born Again, saying in a recent interview, “I found a journal entry that I’d written a few years ago that said ‘we are born again and again and again and again.’ I think I was thinking about the cycle — like obviously, there are huge religious connotations to that term — but I think it can be used in a different way, or I’m reclaiming it to represent other transformative experiences I’ve been through.”

Read our interview with Ellis here.

Yves Tumor — Heaven To A Tortured Mind

Yves Tumor has spent the past decade as an experimental artist with a desire to make catchy hits, and he comes as close as ever to realizing that on Heaven For A Tortured Mind. There are definite pop moments here, and yet Tumor doesn’t make any sacrifices when it comes to pushing boundaries.

Read our review of Heaven To A Tortured Mind here.

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

The soundtrack for Trolls World Tour has yielded some great songs, and the last one to be released before the full album dropped was a Justin Timberlake and Anderson .Paak collaboration called “Don’t Slack.” Now the fun and upbeat track has gotten a similarly spirited video, featuring Trolls star Anna Kendrick.

The clip begins with Kendrick in her pajamas as she starts her morning routine. As she grabs a length of dental floss, .Paak throws back the shower curtains and starts singing the song at Kendrick. As an understandably freaked out Kendrick moves around her house, Timberlake and .Paak keep popping up in silly ways until the three end up jamming out to the song in the living room.

The good news is that there could be more from Timberlake and .Paak to come. Timberlake recently spoke about a potential collaborative project, saying, “It was great, we ended up with like three or four ideas in like three hours. […] I hope he doesn’t mind that I’m gonna say this right now, but we talked about a possible joint project. We talked about it, but yeah, he’s a busy man, too. I was like, ‘You need to enjoy your moment, bro.’ He played me new stuff the other day: It’s unbelievable. That dude is so gifted. He’s so good.”

Watch the “Don’t Slack” video above.

Marvel Cinematic Universe fans weathered years of back-and-forth before Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers passed Captain America’s shield to Sam Wilson in Avengers: Endgame. By the time it happened, the departure felt like it had been timed just right, especially with an incredible payoff after the seed with Thor’s hammer had been planted way back in Age of Ultron. The decade-long experience for Evans, however, almost didn’t happen. He did, in fact, turn down the role when Marvel Studios first approached him for 2011’s The First Avenger. Then he reconsidered after some advice from Mom Evans.

That tidbit arrives near the end of a lengthy Esquire interview (to promote Evans role in Apple TV+’s upcoming Defending Jacob). Writer Brady Langmann met with Lisa Evans after a few hours with Chris, much of which was spent with the actor unable to comment upon reports of his involvement as the singing dentist in a Little Shop Of Horrors remake. Lots of “jazz hands” and uncomfortable expressions apparently went down, but the feature did produce this wonderful revelation from Lisa, who convinced him to seize an opportunity for which most actors can only dream:

“His biggest fear was losing his anonymity He said, ‘I have a career now where I can do work I really like. I can walk my dog. Nobody bothers me. Nobody wants to talk to me. I can go wherever I want. And the idea of losing that is terrifying to me.’ … I said to him, ‘Look, you want to do acting work for the rest of your life? If you do this part, you will have the opportunity. You’ll never have to worry about paying the rent. If you take the part, you just have to decide, It’s not going to affect my life negatively — it will enable it.’”

And the rest was history. Just think, we would have never received that killer ending line from Evans if not for his persuasive mother, and mom is always right. Now, Evans can not only let his Smug Flag fly for Rian Johnson, but he’s also taken on a challenging dramatic role (with Defending Jacob), in which he plays an Assistant District Attorney and father of a young murder suspect. Talk about a rough position.

In the meantime, Evans did make it clear to Esquire that he can’t really talk about the possible Little Shop Of Horrors yet. Up until this point, he’s only addressed those reports with a surprised (?) tooth emoji on Twitter.

(Via Esquire)

---

View Entire Post ›

The coronavirus pandemic is keeping people inside, and musicians are finding new ways to pass the time, whether they’re working on new music or performing livestream concerts. Ariana Grande previously expressed that she “can’t wait to get back to work,” so she decided to sort of get in on the new livestream concert phenomenon. Grande didn’t go live, but she did share a video of herself performing “My Everything.”

Grande was joined (virtually, of course) by producer Tommy Brown on piano, and she captioned her post, “tommy n i sending u some virtual love. hope you’re all staying safe, sane, healthy and as creative as possible.”

Grande’s mother Joan Grande was a fan of the performance, as she tweeted, “I’m going to say it… and I don’t care… Ariana, you have the greatest voice in the world, this one and all the other ones, parallel and other universes.. there is nothing else to say!!”

Grande recently offered an update on how she has been doing during the pandemic, writing,”i’m fine. i’d be an asshole if i complained. just watching things, calling friends, cooking and looking for ways to help ppl who don’t have it as easily as i do rn. if any of y’all need anything, any help at all pls tell me to check DMs.”

Grande also recently made donations to multiple organizations to help people who have been adversely affected, and has even given money directly to some fans.

Watch the performance above.

The upcoming Lovers And Friends Festival may have been disappointingly postponed and reduced back to only one day by the coronavirus epidemic, but the ongoing quarantine did give us a nice consolation prize: A sequel to the song from which the festival received its title. As part of the latest “Verzuz” series of battles organized by Swizz Beats and Timbaland, Lil Jon and T-Pain traded hits on Instagram Live Sunday night then, at the conclusion of their battle, the two stars both previewed new songs.

While T-Pain’s song was a smooth, quiet storm-esque bedroom jam, Lil Jon’s turned out to be quite exciting for the 150K fans who stayed on the stream after the battle, as Jon previewed a portion of his latest collaboration with Ludacris and Usher from Usher’s upcoming Confessions III. He repeatedly played the dramatic piano intro and a few bars of Ludacris’ verse before cutting the clip short out of respect for Usher’s wishes to keep the song under wraps until his album’s release.

Of course, that will likely only make fans more hungry for the new song, as both of the trio’s prior songs, “Yeah!” and “Lovers And Friends,” were both massive hits in the early to mid-2000s, peaking at No. 1 and No. 3 on the Hot 100 respectively. Jon played both hits during his battle with T-Pain, matching up with the “rappa-ternt-sanga’s” own chart-stompers like “Buy U A Drank,” “Bartender,” and “Can’t Believe It.” While the battle turned out to be entertaining, the highlight for many was undoubtedly the news that Lil Jon, Ludacris, and Usher have made good on their promise to “do it again.”

Watch Lil Jon’s preview of his latest collaboration with Ludacris and Usher above.