Month: September 2022

Rihanna was officially confirmed as the headliner for the NFL’s 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show over the weekend. Following the announcement, fans were understandably excited for her to make a musical return in a massive way — her last album dropped in 2016. Still, Rihanna has countless hits spanning several records, which sparked a divisive question online: what would (or should) her setlist look like?

While it’s currently unclear if Rihanna will be playing solo for the halftime show’s entirety or be considering special guests, it seems that the NFL might be pushing her to bring some surprise stars on stage. According to TMZ, there is currently a list of over 50 performers that could join her, but nothing has been confirmed. Rihanna’s collaborations — which include Drake, Jay-Z, Britney Spears, Paul McCartney, and Kanye West — could find themselves making a potential appearance as well.

After Billboard published a piece about what they think Rihanna’s set should be, many fans were confused by some clear omissions, including “Kiss It Better” and her debut single “Pon De Replay.” On social media, other publications asked Rihanna’s Navy fan base directly on what songs they think she should perform. Continue scrolling to see some of the fan reactions, which include everything from her massive hits to some hidden gems meant for the fans.

Yesterday, Ryan Reynolds teased Hugh Jackman returning again as Wolverine, and this morning, they posted a video seemingly confirming that the duo would team up for Deadpool 3 after several years of debate and speculation. “I had a lot of questions. I’m sure you had a lot of questions, but rest assured, we are going to answer them right now. For example, how is Wolverine alive after Logan?“ Jackman asks.

He is quickly answered by Reynolds, who clears the air. “Logan takes place in 2029. Totally separate thing. Logan died in Logan. Not touching that. What actually happens in our film is, these two f*cking guys,” Reynolds continues before “Wake Me Up” by WHAM! drowns out the audio, naturally. It also seems like Shawn Levy is attached to the project.

The two have previously worked together on X-Men Origins, though that iteration of Deadpool is long gone. Now, it seems like a proper stand-off between Deadpool and Wolverine is feasible. Fans have known that this is a long time coming, after Twentieth Century Fox was recently absorbed by Marvel’s owners, Disney. This brings the potential for MCU/X-Men crossovers in the future. Isn’t that what everyone wants? More superhero content?!

Of course, we still have questions. Will John Krasinski be involved? How does this tie into The Multiverse of Madness? Will Reynolds finally have his mouth sewn shut again? Probably not, but one can hope.

Deadpool 3 is expected to hit theaters on labor day weekend of 2024.

If television critics handed out awards like sportswriters, Sadie Sink would have been named the MVP of Stranger Things season four by unanimous vote. She was front and center in the best episode of the season, and her character, Max, helped catapult a decades-old song to the top of the charts. For her extraordinary work in the Netflix series, Sink (who also colloborated with Taylor Swift) was named to the 2022 TIME100 Next list, which recognizes “stars from across industries and around the world.”

Sink’s blurb was written by co-star Winona Ryder, who remembers the first time she saw her on TV. “It was on the great show The Americans. Although brief, it was a stunning moment — and a rare one. I wrote her name down in my notebook. I knew this was someone ­extraordinary, someone to watch,” she wrote. “So when the planets aligned and she came on to Stranger Things, it felt like a little secret victory.”

(Here she is, wielding a gun, on The Americans. Good show.)

Ryder called The Whale star a “creative acrobat and she’s on this balance beam that very few have the courage to walk.” She also told a story about Sink as a person, not just an actor. “At the [season four] premiere, which was her big moment,” Ryder wrote, “when I hugged her she said, so excited, ‘My brother graduated law school today!’ All these moments that are all about her and she’s thinking about her brother. Of course!”

Ryder calling you “stunning” is a bigger accomplishment than any MVP award.

(Via Time)

Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman has been sitting in renewal limbo over at Netflix for over a month. The show gifted us with, among other things with the most beautiful hour of TV (“The Sound Of Her Wings”) of the year, and the saga’s been dancing within and near the top of Netflix’s streaming charts around the globe. Neil has made it clear that the show’s incredibly expensive, and that could prevent a Season 2 renewal (with Netflix tightening its belt these days), but fans are still holding out hope, to the point where, when Neil teased an announcement with an hourglass-themed clip, well, he obviously wasn’t talking about inadvertently irritating trolls with more Lord of the Rings.

Let’s just say that, in response, people got a little bit excited and started reiterating wishes for Netflix Season 2.

Good Omens (streaming on Amazon) also received a few shoutouts, but here’s perhaps my favorite guess: “an edgy remake of ‘Days of our Lives’?”

Neil apparently saw the soap-opera talk and pointed out that Audible did the hourglass thing, too, so there.

And that’s the root of the tease. Audible has hot-dropped Part III of its ongoing audio production of the dark fantasy saga. This is the version with James McAvoy as Morpheus/Dream and Kat Dennings being herself while playing Death. Michael Sheen portrays Lucifer, and we already heard Brian Cox getting Shakespearean while the story leaps through time and space. So it’s very good news: more more wait for Part II on Audible! From a press release, here are some fresh casting details:

Returning to the Audible Sandman universe is series star, James McAvoy in the title role as well as Kat Dennings as Death, Miriam Margolyes as Despair, Justin Vivian Bond as Desire, Jeffrey Wright as Destiny, Kristen Schaal as Delirium, Andy Serkis, Riz Ahmed, Regé-Jean Page, Kevin Smith, Bebe Neuwirth, Niamh Walsh, Arthur Darvill, Ray Porter, and a full ensemble cast. Joining the cast of Audible’s Sandman franchise for the first time are David Harewood as Destruction, Wil Wheaton as Brant Tucker, and KJ Apa as Prez.

The Sandman‘s first two parts still occupy the top two spots on the Audible all-time bestselling list. Get on over there and download this thing to your favorite streaming device, and keep crossing your fingers for more of the Netflix series.

The Los Angeles edition Taylor Hawkins tribute concert was last night (September 27), and like the London event before it earlier this month, it was a gargantuan and emotional affair. There was some emotion well before the show even started, though, as some fans waiting outside the venue saw something that moved them.

Ahead of yesterday’s concert, a Reddit user shared a video on the r/foofighters subreddit, of a hawk flying over the Kia Forum, noting the bird was spotted “just before” the doors opened. The clip shows the bird soaring in the clear blue sky over the venue and parking lot. One Reddit commenter noted the hawk “has been hanging around there at least since yesterday [September 26].”

Hawkins, given his last name, incorporated hawks into some of his branding, like on his drum kit when performing with Taylor Hawkins And The Coattail Riders (as seen in the 2010 photo at the top of this post).

People found some meaning in this avian sighting. In the Reddit comments, one user noted, “Tell me Taylor is here, without telling me Taylor isn’t here. Taylor’s spirit will live FOREVER!” Somebody else wrote, “If this isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is.” Another person said, “Taylor is just checking up on things. He’s alright.”

In a repost of the video on Twitter, one person commented, “All of us who caught it definitely felt something.” Another wrote, “I saw one. I felt almost an ‘I love you too’ vibe, but…I don’t know…almost a reassuring feeling, I can’t explain it…” A different Twitter user wrote, “You can’t tell me that wasn’t Taylor.”

Find the full 53-song setlist from the LA tribute concert here.

Being co-stars with Taylor Swift has its perks. In an interview with Capital UK, Margot Robbie discussed being in Amsterdam, director David O. Russell’s new film also starring Christian Bale and John David Washington (and pretty much everyone else you like), with the “All Too Well” singer. “I know Taylor already, so it wasn’t a fan girl moment,” she said. “It was more like a, yay, I get to work with another friend, this is so, so nice.”

Robbie called Swift a “real girls girl” and revealed the free merch she got from her:

“The album that was coming out around the time we were filming was [Folklore], and she gave me, I think it was like one of the vinyls of Folklore and like some merch and stuff like that. Honestly, when I took it home, it wasn’t my girlfriends that freaked out. It was my guy friends that were all like, ‘Can I please keep the Folklore shirt? Can I keep the Folklore hoodie?’”

Robbie ended up giving the gifts “to my guy friends because they were all so excited, and they were the way bigger T-Swift fans than my girlfriends.” Meanwhile, Swift’s Cats co-stars are still looking for anyone to take their “Me!” litter-boxes.

Amsterdam comes out on October 7.

For years now, Dave Chappelle has been gradually making Radiohead’s classic 1992 single “Creep” part of his live performance legacy. Back in 2016, he sang the song at a Portland strip club’s karaoke night. Later, he and Ed Sheeran teamed up on a rendition of the song. Then, when Foo Fighters performed at Madison Square Garden in 2021, Chappelle was there to, of course, sing “Creep.”

Chappelle was at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in London earlier this month, where he didn’t perform but shared some words about Hawkins. He was at last night’s (September 27) Los Angeles tribute show, too, and this time, he was part of the musical lineup, rejoining Foo Fighters for yet another rendition of “Creep.”

As for what Chappelle said about Hawkins at the London show, he noted in part of meeting Hawkins’ son Shane, “In that room in Madison Square Garden, even though I had met the Foo Fighters many nights, I felt like I met them for the first time. I’ve seen Taylor be a rock star many nights but it was my first time seeing him be a dad, and what a cool f*cking dad. It was the first time that Dave Grohl and I ever even mentioned the name Kurt Cobain. It was the first time we ever even talked about our love of jazz and go-go music and Taylor’s son Shane was soaking it all in. He sat there, he asked the best questions — not about fame, always about art.”

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Earlier this month, Foo Fighters and a bunch of friends put on a massive London tribute concert in honor of late drummer Taylor Hawkins. It was a gigantic show that had a 50-song setlist, but for last night’s (September 27) Los Angeles tribute show, they actually went slightly bigger: Both shows ran for about six hours, but yesterday’s performance featured 53 songs.

Performing those songs was an esteemed cast, including some who were also at the London event: Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme, Hawkins’ 16-year-old son Shane Hawkins, Violet Grohl, Kesha, and Travis Barker, among others. Also joining the show this time around were Miley Cyrus, Pink, Joan Jett, and Alanis Morisette.

Find the full setlist below (or here via Setlist.fm).

1. Violet Grohl and Alain Johannes — “Hallelujah” (Leonard Cohen cover)
2. Joan Jett, Foo Fighters, and Travis Barker — “Cherry Bomb” (The Runaways cover)
3. Joan Jett, Foo Fighters, and Travis Barker — “Bad Reputation” (Joan Jett And The Blackhearts cover)
4. Chevy Metal — “Riff Raff” (AC/DC cover)
5. Chevy Metal and Jon Davison — “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” (Yes cover)
6. Chevy Metal and Kesha — “”Heroes”” (David Bowie cover)
7. Justin Hawkins, Josh Freese, and The Coattail Riders — “Range Rover B*tch” (Taylor Hawkins cover)
8. Justin Hawkins, Josh Freese, and The Coattail Riders — “It’s Over” (Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders cover)
9. Justin Hawkins, Josh Freese, The Coattail Riders, and Mark King — “Something About You” (Level 42 cover)
10. Justin Hawkins, Josh Freese, The Coattail Riders, and Rufus Taylor — “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” (The Darkness cover)
11. James Gang — “Walk Away”
12. James Gang — “The Bomber: Closet Queen / Bolero / Cast Your Fate To The Wind”
13. James Gang and Dave Grohl — “Funk #49
14. Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt, and Dave Grohl — “Right Down The Line” (Gerry Rafferty cover)
15. Them Crooked Vultures — “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” (Elton John cover)
16. Them Crooked Vultures — “Dead End Friends”
17. Them Crooked Vultures — “Long Slow Goodbye” (Queens Of The Stone Age cover)
18. Wolfgang Van Halen, Justin Hawkins, Josh Freese, and Dave Grohl — Panama” (Van Halen cover)
19. Wolfgang Van Halen, Justin Hawkins, Josh Freese, and Dave Grohl — Hot For Teacher” (Van Halen cover)
20. Def Leppard, Foo Fighters, and Patrick Wilson — “Rock Of Ages”
21. Def Leppard, Foo Fighters, Patrick Wilson, and Miley Cyrus — “Photograph”
22. Mötley Crüe, Foo Fighters, and Derek Day — “Live Wire”
23. Mötley Crüe, Foo Fighters, and Derek Day — “Home Sweet Home”
24. Josh Homme, Elliot Easton, and Foo Fighters — “Shake It Up” (The Cars cover)
25. Josh Homme, Elliot Easton, and Foo Fighters — “Just What I Needed” (The Cars cover)
26. Pink, Nancy Wilson, Jon Theodore, and Foo Fighters — “Barracuda” (Heart cover)
27. Stewart Copeland and Foo Fighters — “Next To You” (The Police cover)
28. Stewart Copeland, Jon Davison, and Foo Fighters — “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (The Police cover)
29. Alanis Morissette, Chad Smith, and Foo Fighters — “You Oughta Know”
30. Sebastian Bach, Geezer Butler, Lars Ulrich, and Foo Fighters — “Supernaut” (Black Sabbath cover)
31. Sebastian Bach, Geezer Butler, Lars Ulrich, and Foo Fighters — “Paranoid” (Black Sabbath cover)
32. Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Dave Grohl — “2112 Part I: Overture” (Rush cover)
33. Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Chad Smith — “Working Man” (Rush cover)
34. Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Danny Carey — “YYZ” (Rush cover)
35. Taylor Momsen, Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl, and Pat Smear — The Day I Tried To Live” (Soundgarden cover)
36. Taylor Momsen, Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl, and Pat Smear — Black Hole Sun” (Soundgarden cover)
37. Queen, Foo Fighters, and Justin Hawkins — “We Will Rock You”
38. Queen and Foo Fighters — “I’m In Love With My Car”
39. Queen, Foo Fighters, and Justin Hawkins — “Under Pressure”
40. Queen, Foo Fighters, and Pink — “Somebody To Love”
41. Brian May — “Love Of My Life” (Queen cover)
42. Foo Fighters and Josh Freese — “All My Life”
43. Foo Fighters, Jon Theodore, and Pink — “The Pretender”
44. Foo Fighters and Travis Barker — “Walk”
45. Foo Fighters and Matt Cameron — “Low”
46. Foo Fighters and Brad Wilk — “This Is A Call”
47. Foo Fighters and Patrick Wilson– “The Sky Is A Neighborhood”
48. Foo Fighters, Dave Chappelle, and Patrick Wilson — “Creep” (Radiohead cover)
49. Foo Fighters and Omar Hakim — “Run”
50. Foo Fighters and Rufus Taylor — “Best Of You”
51. Foo Fighters and Oliver Shane Hawkins — “My Hero”
52. Foo Fighters and Oliver Shane Hawkins — “I’ll Stick Around”
53. Foo Fighters and Chad Smith — “Everlong”

Foo Fighters superfans know that before Taylor Hawkins joined the band in 1997, he was Alanis Morisette’s drummer. Hawkins appears throughout Alanis’ iconic debut album, Jagged Little Pill, and provided the thump for the Canadian singer’s tour. Jane’s Addiction’s Chris Chaney was her bassist, but I digress, because on Tuesday night at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute concert in Los Angeles, Alanis took the stage to honor her late friend and delivered an impactful rendition of her ubiquitous hit, “You Oughta Know.”

There was no introduction for Morisette as she walked onto the stage to the quiet hum of the drums played by Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. The song was also backed by the Foo Fighters who essentially served as the house band for the evening’s performances. This performance comes after Morisette dedicated “Ironic” to Hawkins at a concert in London this past June.

At LA’s Kia Forum, Alanis just plain rocked hard. In black pants and an unbuttoned flow-y silk shirt, she coursed back and forth on the stage, working the crowd almost as possessed as she was back in the mid 90s when Hawkins was banging away on the drums for the then-budding star. A touching photograph of Hawkins and Alanis flashed on the video board as her performance concluded. She then gave Dave Grohl a parting hug and exited stage left to a roar of applause.

The Taylor Hawkins Tribute concert at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum on Tuesday night (September 27th) was a star-studded affair. Collaborators and friends of the dearly departed Foo Fighters drummer gathered to pay tribute to Hawkins with the thing he was best at, rock and roll. One of the artists who performed at the Los Angels tribute who was not present on stage for the London show at Wembley Stadium on September 5th, was Miley Cyrus, and she left an indelible mark on the LA stage.

Playing with Def Leppard and the Foo Fighters, Cyrus assumed lead vocals for an expansive version of Def Leppard’s “Photograph.” With her blonde hair waving, Cyrus was clad in a tight-fitting black dress, gold belt, and of course, a sleek pair of sunglasses. Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott joined Cyrus at one point during the chorus, although Cyrus didn’t really need any help. She easily commanded the hard rock song, just as her friend Taylor Hawkins would have wanted her to.

Shortly after Hawkins’ death in March, Cyrus sent out a tweet dedicating her Lollapalooza Brazil performance that night in his honor, calling him, “The most bad ass dude I know who would want me to shine and sing LOUD for the love of rock n roll!” This full circle moment made her performance on Tuesday night all the more powerful.