Category: News

Last week, Sharon Van Etten announced a tenth anniversary reissue of her album Epic, which will feature each of the album’s songs covered by a different artist. She shared Big Red Machine’s rendition of “A Crime” at the time alongside a promise that a new cover would be shared every Thursday leading up to the album’s release. Well, today is Thursday, so now we have Idles’ version of “Peace Signs.”

Ahead of its release, the band wrote of their cover, “@sharonvanhalen is one of the greatest songwriters on earth, to be allowed anywhere near her songs is a great and unexpected privilege. We learned a lot about true songwriting by trying to cover ‘Peace Signs.’ We hope it does some justice to the original.” Van Etten reciprocated the admiration in the Instagram comments, responding, “You all were so kind to me when I was missing my family the most on tour. You know the grind. Your spirits lifted me and help me keep going and I will never forget that. Your performances were so inspiring and it means the world you wanted to cover my song. I wish I could do what you do. So much love. X”

Van Etten also previously said of the covers album, “Epic represents a crossroads for me as an artist — going from intern to artist at Ba Da Bing, from solo folk singer to playing with a band for the first time and beginning to play shows on tour where people showed up. I am in awe of the artists who wanted to participate in celebrating my anniversary and reissue, from young inspiring musicians, to artists who took me under their wing, who I met on tour, and to artists I’ve looked up to since I was a teenager. Each one of these artists continue to influence my writing and provide a sense of camaraderie during this new era of sharing music.”

Listen to Idles’ cover of “Peace Signs” above.

Matthew McConaughey is reportedly weighing a run for governor in Texas. The actor has flirted with the idea of political office in the past, but this time he seems to be heavily considering a run as the next chapter in his life. While talking to Houston’s “The Balanced Voice” on Wednesday, McConaughey was asked about his gubernatorial aspirations, and he said, “It’s a true consideration.” The discussion came about while promoting his new memoir Greenlights, which has put the Magic Mike star in a contemplative mood over how he can help the next generation. Via The Hill:

“I’m looking into now again, what is my leadership role?” said McConaughey, 51. “Because I do think I have some things to teach and share, and what is my role? What’s my category in my next chapter of life that I’m going into?” he added.

While McConaughey hasn’t specified when he’s looking to run, his potential run arrives on the heels of turmoil in Texas. The state was recently blanketed by a massive winter storm that left millions of citizens stranded without electricity and water for days as the state power grid literally froze up. As the power restored, Texans found themselves saddled with $17,000 electric bills, which only further highlighted the problems with Texas deregulated power infrastructure. Following the storm, Governor Greg Abbott put an even larger target on his back by ending all mask mandates and re-opening Texas “100-percent” while the pandemic is still ongoing.

Abbott is up for re-election in 2022, but again, it’s unclear if McConaughey is aiming to challenge him that earlier. However, the actor has been laying the groundwork for a serious run. He’s deeply involved in high school and college sports, which are practically a religion in Texas, and he’s been hosting virtual Bingo games for seniors during the quarantine. You know who rely shows up to vote every election? Seniors. McConaughey has also dipped his toes into distancing himself from Hollywood liberals by calling out “cancel culture,” which could further endear him to Texas’ predominantly conservative voters.

(Via The Hill)

Fox News has spent the past week covering the only two issues that matter: Meghan and Harry’s interview with Oprah and the Muppets / Potato Head / Dr. Seuss / Looney Tunes being “canceled.” The $1.9 trillion stimulus plan? Never heard of it.

“Personally, I can’t believe Fox News is defending someone who’s French,” host Seth Meyers joked during Wednesday’s episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers. “If this was 2003, they’d be referring to him as a freedom skunk,” a reference to when Republicans, ahem, canceled french fries in 2003 and renamed them freedom fries.

After making a solid reference to the Acme Corporation, Meyers asked his viewers to “imagine being an actual adult and spending any amount of time at all complaining about a decades-old cartoon character being left out of a movie… Point is, guys, there’s a pandemic raging, millions suffering or out of work, and you’re spending your time defending the Looney Tunes. The whole thing is just, well, I want to say ‘looney tunes,’ but that seems redundant.” He went with the next-best option: “The whole thing’s Mickey Mouse.” The GOP has “turned entirely to nonsense culture war B.S. because they have nothing else to talk about,” Meyers added. “They don’t have a convincing criticism of the Democrats’ massive COVID relief bill because it’s overwhelmingly popular even with their own voters.” So, instead, conservatives get angry about a horny cartoon skunk.

You can watch the clip above.

Clueless star Stacey Dash enjoyed a sporadic run (from about 2014-2017) as a Fox News contributor. She cut loose from the conservative cable news network after many bad takes, including saying that Caitlyn Jenner and other trans people should go to the bathroom in “the bushes.” She went on to give more controversial takes, including a MAGA-based argument about Charlottesville (supporting Donald Trump’s notorious blaming of “both sides”), which was part of her short lived political career, including a abbreviated run for Congress.

Fast forward a few years, and Stacey Dash wants nothing to do with politics. While speaking to Daily Mail TV, Dash expressed regret for things that she said and the way that she said them while pursuing a political pundit career. She insists that this wasn’t the real her but simply symptomatic of a period in her life.

“I’ve lived my life being angry, which is what I was on Fox News,” Dash somberly explained. “I was the angry, conservative, Black woman. And at that time in my life it was who I was. I realized in 2016 that anger is unsustainable and it will destroy you. I made a lot of mistakes because of that anger.” Watch part of the interview below.

“There are things that I am sorry for,” the actress continued. “Things that I did say, that I should not have said them the way I said them. They were very arrogant and prideful and angry. And that’s who Stacey was, but that’s not who Stacey is now. Stacey’s someone who has compassion, empathy. God has forgiven me, how dare I not forgive someone else. I don’t want to be judged, so how dare I judge anyone else. So if anyone has ever felt that way about me, like I’ve judged, that I apologize for because that’s not who I am.”

Dash’s turbulent period didn’t quite end with her short-lived Senate run. In 2019, she was arrested and charged with domestic battery in Florida after she allegedly slapped and pushed her husband during an argument, although the case was dropped days later.

(Via Daily Mail)

Northwest Los Angeles restaurant Los Toros has been open since 1967, but after all these decades, they just experienced something they probably haven’t seen before: A man named Hunter Ray Barker sat in front of the restaurant for 24 hours, soaking in an inflatable pool filled with bean dip all the while. The stunt caught the attention of news outlets and even Lana Del Rey, who shared a photo of herself posing next to a soaking Barker and wrote, “Don’t ask why.”

If the name Hunter Ray Barker sounds familiar, it’s because he’s a filmmaker and director. Music fans might recognize one of his recent works, as he co-directed Perfume Genius’ bizarre “Some Dream” video that was released in November. As Patch notes, Del Rey and Barker are friends.

Barker spoke about the stunt with Reuters mid-soak, saying, “I’m spending 24 hours in this tub of bean dip for Los Toros. I just think we have a golden opportunity to grab the bull by the horn and support local businesses in a big, explosive way, because why not? […] I personally believe that small businesses are the backbone of the nation. I believe that it is our duty to support them, and I just think if we can do that in a fun way and in a way that encourages other people to bring some excitement to the small businesses as well, I think it’s really, really helpful. I think now is the best time to do it.”

After getting out of the pool, Barker said, “It was kind of nice. I love [bean dip] even more. The bean addiction still stays strong.”

Last week, a Twitter prompt went viral with 28,000 retweets and 233,000 likes when a user asked, “When did you quit The Walking Dead?” While there are still millions of us who do watch, the answer to that question was mostly unanimous. It was after Negan lined up several characters from The Walking Dead and beat Glenn and Abraham to death with his baseball bat. It’s no secret that ratings for The Walking Dead reached their peak ahead of that Season 7 moment and have been in decline ever since, even as Negan himself has more or less redeemed himself on the series.

Although the scene is an iconic one for the series, it is also a reminder of a hugely unpopular moment. It’s curious then that Fear the Walking Dead would so clearly evoke that same moment in the series’ latest teaser.

Fear the Walking Dead itself has been on a major creative upswing this season, and this scene is coming in Fear’s run around the same time it arrived in the run of the parent series. Hopefully, however, the “Negan line-up” presented in the teaser will be subverted in some way because if any of the four are killed off here in a grisly fashion, there may be more fan backlash.

The teaser does, at least, portend an interesting and complicated back half of Season six, one in which Victor Strand still seems to be working for Virginia and the Rangers. He’s burned all his bridges with his allies, and from the looks of this teaser, it may have been Victor who orchestrated this “Negan line-up.” It would be fun to see someone break bad, although it’s still the fervent hope of most Fear fans that it will ultimately be Madison who does so. Fans might get their wish. Strand, meanwhile, has always been a little sketchy, but invariably he always comes out on the side of good. I wouldn’t ultimately expect any different this time around.

Fear the Walking Dead returns on April 11th with the back half of Season six.

A new Vogue cover story about Selena Gomez features a disheartening quote from Gomez, in which she suggests that she’s thinking about retiring from music due to a lack of respect. Gomez said, “It’s hard to keep doing music when people don’t necessarily take you seriously. […] I think there are a lot of people who enjoy my music, and for that I’m so thankful, for that I keep going, but I think the next time I do an album it’ll be different. I want to give it one last try before I maybe retire music.”

Given that Gomez has been one of the most successful pop stars of the past decade, there are plenty of people who’d rather she stay in the music game. One of those folks is Cardi B, with whom Gomez collaborated on DJ Snake’s “Taki Taki.” Instead of retiring, Cardi thinks that Gomez should try entering “a bad b*tch era.”

Last night, Cardi tweeted, “I don’t think Selena should retire .She makes good music & her fans love her .I think she needs one more Era. A edgy one that no one ever seen her as .I would love to give her some ideas.” She continued, “I like Selena tho .I defend her cause she is such a sweetheart in person.Us celebs get picked apart all the time but she is just to sweet to go thru that.If she wants to leave ,leave cause you want too not cause of these f*ckers.” Cardi then concluded, “A bad b*tch era is needed tho ‘A b*tch I’m nice sweet girl but I’m a rich bad b*tch too.’”

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

In 2009, MTV aired Steve-O: Demise and Rise, a documentary about Jackass star Steve-O’s “decent into madness” while he was addicted to drugs. “When I saw the footage of myself doing drugs, I felt like I could see them, I could taste them. It made me crave them and as embarrassing as that footage is, that just seemed like another reason to get high. I couldn’t watch it; I haven’t watched it since then,” he recalled about the special years later. “The producers put it all together and finished it up without any input for me, it’s better that way.” Steve-O has since kicked his addiction, and on Wednesday, he celebrated 13 years of sobriety with a “grateful” tweet.

“So grateful to be celebrating thirteen years of sobriety today— thanks to everyone who helped me get here!” he tweeted. On the left, in a photo from 2006, he’s surrounded by pills and booze and blood (?), and looks strung out. On the right, from 2021, the pills and cigarette have been replaced by vegetables and he looks happy and healthy.

Steve-O, who’s been sober since March 10, 2008, told us about the difficulty of doing what he does — getting launched into the air in a disgusting portable toilet, a.k.a. the “Poo Cocktail Supreme” — without taking painkillers. “When I got my ankle screwed together. There’s little more invasive surgery than, what do you call it, compound fracture… open reduction. Open reduction, where they screw your whole ankle together, and I went through that and took zero painkillers other than Tylenol and Advil,” he said. “Of course, when I was in the hospital, they had me under, and they gave me, I’m sure, some kind of IV pain medication on the spot, but I’ve never even filled out a prescription. Tylenol and Advil for the win. And when it’s really unbearable, Tylenol with Advil.”

Jackass 4 is scheduled to come out on September 3.

Fat Joe’s time in hip-hop goes back to the early 1990s, and over the decades the Bronx native has worked with a number of notable names, including Diddy, Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne, and many more. Alas, he narrowly missed being on an album by Notorious B.I.G. During a conversation with Verzuz founders Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, Fat Joe revealed that he and the late rapper had begun recording an album before his tragic death.

“We cut about five songs together,’ he said. “He was like, ‘You the Latino don, I’m the Black don.’ And we was in that studio going crazy. It’s verified by Puff Daddy and everybody. I’ma keep it real – at the time, we were dissing Tupac a lot and all that and so that should have never seen the light of day. Which is respectfully so, because you know they both passed on. But yeah, I worked with the B.I.G. for real.”

The discussion came a little over a week after Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell, a documentary that reflected on the late rapper’s life, was released on Netflix. Prior to that, Swizz and Timbaland shared plans to do a Biggie vs. Tupac Verzuz battle.

You can listen to a clip from the interview above.

The 2021 Grammys are just a few days away, and as with every year, conversations about the show are alive on social media. In a now-deleted tweet, one person looked back at the 2019 ceremony, calling out the Recording Academy for inviting Mac Miller’s family to the award show, where his Swimming album was nominated in the Best Rap Album category, only to give the trophy to Cardi B’s Invasion Of Privacy. Cardi caught wind of the comment and questioned their inconsistent defense of the rapper, particularly after his DUI car crash.

“His family didn’t have no mean energy so why you?” she replied. “I hate when ya make hate tweets like this go viral but where was the love when ya bullied him for months on this app & he was crying out for help? Making fun of him when he crash his car?” She posted the tweet with a screenshot of a US Magazine article about the late rapper’s family “rooting for Cardi B” ahead of the 2019 show and added, “Ya don’t care till somebody is gone.”

In another tweet, Cardi wrote, “This is why I express myself whether is on live, twitter or curse people out cause some artist got soo much hurt inside from bullyin on these apps & they afraid to speak & turn to other thing to numb the pain.” She added, “Ya forgot real quick how when he drop the album ya was like ‘flop”NBC.’”

She also discussed how cyberbullying gives artists mental health issues, such as depression. Cardi then shared a video of her honoring Mac after her Best Rap Album, where she said, “I’m sharing this Grammy with you motherf*cker. Rest in peace.”

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