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André 3000 has long been known as an unconventional artist who makes some pretty unconventional moves. For instance, his first-ever solo album New Blue Sun features no beats and no rhymes, but is instead filled with improvised woodwind tunes and super-long song titles.

Now, he’s on tour for the new album, but as it turns out, there is one way he’s been very conventional: In his tour merch offerings. Per a social media post from someone who apparently attended one of the shows, the options are a fairly basic collection of tees, hoodies, and beanies. The T-shirts and hoodies all feature the tour stops on the back, while one (my favorite) reads “Listen To Sade” on the front. The tees are $80, the hoodies are $120 and the beanies — which look just like the ones André himself has been wearing lately, on some Jacques Cousteau tip — are $45. Check out a photo below.

André 3000’s New Blue Sun Live tour dates

01/29 — Brooklyn, NY @ Crown Hill Theatre
01/31 — New York, NY @ Blue Note Jazz Club (8 p.m. show)
01/31 — New York, NY @ Blue Note Jazz Club (10:30 p.m. show)
02/01 — New York, NY @ Blue Note Jazz Club (8 p.m. show)
02/01 — New York, NY @ Blue Note Jazz Club (10:30 p.m. show)
02/02 — New York, NY @ Blue Note Jazz Club (8 p.m. show)
02/02 — New York, NY @ Blue Note Jazz Club (10:30 p.m. show)
02/05 — Brooklyn, NY @ St. Ann & The Holy Trinity Church
02/06 — Brooklyn, NY @ St. Ann & The Holy Trinity Church
02/08 — Detroit, MI @ Cliff Bell’s
02/09 —Detroit, MI @ The Chapel at Masonic Temple (7 p.m. show)
02/09 — Detroit, MI @ The Chapel at Masonic Temple (10 p.m. show)
02/12 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
02/13 — Chicago, IL @ 1357 N Elston
02/15 — Chicago, IL @ Garfield Park Conservatory (7 p.m. show)
02/15 — Chicago, IL @ Garfield Park Conservatory (9 p.m. show)
02/20 — San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 365 Club
02/22 — San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 365 Club
02/24 — San Francisco, CA @ The Independent (7 p.m. show)
02/24 — San Francisco, CA @ The Independent (9 p.m. show)
02/27 — Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
02/28 — Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
02/29 — Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
03/02 — Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage Theater
03/05 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever
03/06 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever
03/07 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever
03/08 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever
03/09 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever

Basketball fans are in for a treat, as Machine Gun Kelly and Shaquille O’Neal (also known for his musical side as DJ Diesel) will be helping to kick off the NBA All-Star Weekend 2024 with some performances. They will take the stage on Thursday, February 15 at The Indiana Convention Center as part of the celebrations. As someone who got to see Shaq do a DJ set a few years ago, the crowd is really in for a wild time.

Those who are interested in getting tickets and have an American Express will be able to participate in the presale, which is currently open and will close tomorrow, February 8 at 12:59 p.m. ET. Only a maximum of four free tickets can be reserved, but Ticketmaster appears to be limiting the quantity and access — so it’s unclear if they’ve sold out of the presale at the moment.

If you did manage to secure tickets to the NBA on TNT American Express Road Show event, AmEx cardholders will receive access to a priority lane for faster entry into the venue. As part of the Road Show experience, there will also be photo opportunities and fan competitions with Shaq, Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith, according to a press release.

For those at home, it will start playing at 7 p.m. on TNT.

Meanwhile, the NBA also announced the rosters for the All-Star Celebrity Game today, and it includes 50 Cent and Lil Wayne as coaches, as well as Anuel AA, Walker Hayes, SiR, Jennifer Hudson, and AJ McLean playing.

More information about the NBA on TNT American Express Road Show featuring MGK and O’Neal can be found here.

Following her recent appearance on Hot Ones, Madame Web star Sydney Sweeney answered a question about her time as a Universal Studios tour guide while she and her family were struggling to make ends meet in the early days of her acting career. Sweeney had previously revealed her Universal stint during a cover interview for Women’s Health in November 2023, but for some reason, her Hot Ones appearance brought out the knives on TikTok.

TikTok creator Tyler Hancock, who reportedly has an extensive background working as a Universal tour guide, accused Sweeney of lying about her employment. Specifically, Hancock accused Sweeney of being especially cagey during her Hot Ones appearance, which he claimed is further proof that she never worked as a tour guide.

“No hate to her, I don’t know why she’s choosing to fib about this. But seeing Sydney Sweeney dance around this and never give a straight answer is kinda crazy considering she’s the one that volunteered that information, that verifiably false information,” Hancock said. He also claimed that becoming a tour guide is “notoriously difficult” and “not just a summer job that any teenager can get.”

Surprise! It was a summer job that a teenage Sydney Sweeney got.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sweeney was hired as a Universal Studios tour guide, but her tenure was short-lived thanks to her acting career taking off:

Sweeney was hired by Universal Studios Hollywood on June 12, 2016, after which she attended an orientation shift followed by a training shift. However, she exited the job on July 18, 2016, when she booked an acting job. Her resume backs it up as Sweeney has 11 credits on her resume from 2016-2017, including Cassidy Way, Angels in Stardust, The Horde, Manic, Pretty Little Liars, and In the Vault, among others.

What’s the lesson here? Don’t believe everything you see on TikTok.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

End Of The Road festival is making a return this summer. Taking place over three days (August 29 – September 1) at Larmer Tree Gardens in England, End Of The Road’s 2024 line-up boasts an incredible array of indie and international acts.

Headlining the festival are Idles, Slowdive, and Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Also on the line-up are Fever Ray, Yo La Tengo, Sleater-Kinney, Baxter Dury, and more.

Tickets are available for purchase here, however, fans may want to grab them quickly. At the time of writing, early bird, tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 tickets are already sold out.

End Of The Road 2024 will also mark Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s only festival appearance this year. The festival’s co-founder Simon Taffe has been writing letters to Billy since the festival’s inception in 2006. Nearly two decades later, Taffe has made this a reality.

“This year’s line up is very special to me,” said Taffe in a statement. It includes a lot of artists who released personal favorite albums of 2023: Lankum, Nation of Language, Slowdive, Casisdead, Yo la Tengo, The Lemon Twigs, Joanna Sternberg, Mark Lewis Hamilton, Fever Ray, and many more. I’m also super excited that Bonnie “Prince Billy” is performing a very rare festival appearance – Will Oldham is one of the all-time greats. We have been inviting him to End of the Road since 2006, so we can’t wait!”

You can see the full End Of The Road 2024 line-up below.

Martin Scorsese has only recently started embracing the internet, and you can’t blame the man for being so behind, he’s been busy. For a long time, Scorsese was frequently attacked online for his controversial comments about superhero movies, but it seems like we’ve all finally moved past that (after all, he was sort of right). Now, he just embraces his newfound TikTok stardom with the help of his daughter.

Scorsese’s latest project is directing a new ad for Squarespace that highlights just how awful and distracting the internet can be. The ad shows various hardworking individuals who are too invested in their phones to see the ongoing alien invasion. In order to get attention from the boring earth inhabitants, the extraterrestrials start their own website. The ad closes with a Scorsese cameo where he is watching a movie on an iPad. The way movies are supposed to be seen!

Not only is Scorsese embracing commercial directing, he’s also acquired a dedicated TikTok following, thanks to daughter Francesca. She told PEOPLE that his fans are excited to see a different side of the renowned director on TikTok and social media. “People love seeing him doing these things and the more normal side of him. People see this big, big star, incredibly talented person, which he is, but also then kind of like the dad,” Francesca explained.

The budding filmmaker has frequently been accompanied by her dad in a series of viral TikToks, and Francesca claims that her father loves making silly little videos now, like the one of him directing the family dog.“I’m a total daddy’s girl. We’re best friends. And I saw people doing this with their dads, and I was like, ‘I want to do it.’ So I did it, and I realized that people not only loved him, but they loved our relationship, which I love, because I love our relationship, and we’re very goofy with each other. He always says that I make him silly. He’s like a big kid. I say he’s like a 15-year-old in an 81-year-old man’s body.”

Francesca also worked as creative director for the Squarespace ad, and while she hasn’t made a TikTok about it yet, we can settle for some behind-the-scenes footage:

(Via People)

Ariana Grande launched the Eternal Sunshine era in a big way with “Yes, And?,” which was yet another No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 for the artist. She’s been gradually unveiling info about the new album, too, including the tracklist, which she has been sharing in pieces. She revealed a few tracks in January, and now she’s back with more.

What Is Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine Tracklist?

This is the revealed tracklist so far, as of February 7:

1. “Intro (End Of The World)”
2. “Bye”
3.
4.
5. “Eternal Sunshine”
6. “Supernatural”
7.
8.
9. “Yes, And?”
10. “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)”
11.
12.
13.

The partial tracklist was shared in an Instagram post that also revealed a new alternate cover for the album, one of seven. Grande explained, “we wanted to give you a few different options that capture the emotional ups and downs of this album, each thoughtfully created by the talented [Katia Temkin].”

Towards the end of 2023, Grande reflected on the year, which she called “one of the most transformative, most challenging, and yet happiest and most special years” of her life so far. She also added, “i cannot wait for next year.”

Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine album cover art

Eternal Sunshine is out 3/8 via Republic Records. Find more information here.

Yes, the Grammys just happened this past weekend, but it’s never too early to be thinking ahead. On Sunday (Feb. 4) night, Victoria Monét took home the gold for Best New Artist, keeping the trend of solo female artists wins in this category going for a seventh year straight (following Samara Joy, Olivia Rodrigo, Megan Thee Stallion, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Alessia Cara respectively). But who could be in line for next year’s award?

The criteria for Best New Artist eligibility is a bit vague: while two of the requirements are pretty cut and dry (artists must have released a minimum of five tracks and they can only be entered into this category a maximum of three times), the third condition leaves some gray area: the artist “must have achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and impacted the musical landscape during the eligibility period.”

This guardrail was implemented after Meghan Trainor took home the award in 2016 despite seeing her debut single “All About The Bass” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 two years prior, but it makes things murky for artists like Reneé Rapp, Teddy Swims, and Tyla, who had all enjoyed a bit of acclaim prior to the beginning of the eligibility window (Sept. 16, 2023).

We’d place our money on some (if not all) of the aforementioned artists getting in if they are eligible, but we’ve set our sights on ten other promising acts we think could be among next year’s nominees. From a London-born country chanteuse to K-pop’s hottest new boy band, take a look into our crystal ball as we make early bets on the 2025 Grammys Best New Artist nominees.

Chappell Roan

For fans of: Katy Perry, MARINA

Every few months, there seems to be a new pop star wannabe being billed as the “next big thing,” but they almost always fall flat due to the lack of a crucial ingredient: originality. While we navigate a sea of carbon copies all trying to out-vibe each other, Chappell Roan has approached the industry with a secret weapon: a refusal to take herself too seriously. It’s that fearless originality that truly sets her apart and given the fact that female artists have dominated this category, she’s a solid contender for the trophy.

Listen to: “Red Wine Supernova,” “Casual”

Infinity Song

For fans of: The Mamas and the Papas, Lana Del Rey

The story behind Infinity Song’s big break is as wholesome as their music: director Jeymes Samuel (The Book Of Clarence) saw a clip of the family band busking in Central Park and sent it to his mogul buddy Jay Z. The rapper brought them in for an audition and signed them to RocNation, and for good reason: between their breezy arrangements and lush harmonies, they make records that sound right at home between cuts from The Byrds, Joni Mitchell, Buffalo Springfield and other Laurel Canyon legends.

Listen to: “Metamorphosis,” “Slow Burn”

Xavi

For fans of: Peso Pluma, Fuerza Regida

Regional Mexican music is an undeniable force in the industry: the Billboard 2023 Year-End Top Artists Duo/Groups chart’s top two slots were occupied by Fuerza Regida and Grupo Frontera, outperforming other top ten acts like Fleetwood Mac, Imagine Dragons, and NewJeans. If the Grammys have their finger on the pulse, they’ll take note of Phoenix-born 19-year-old singer-songwriter Xavi, who rang in the new year by crowning Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart with his track “La Diabla.”

Listen to: “La Diabla,” “La Víctima”

RIIZE

For fans of: Boynextdoor, BTS

It’s perplexing that despite K-pop’s chokehold on pop culture, the genre hasn’t seen a single act nominated in the Best New Artist category. In fact, K-pop groups were completely shut out of every category for the 2024 Grammys. Surely the Academy will soon catch up with the rest of the world, and our eyes are on RIIZE as the ones to watch. Not only did the band send a strong message that they’re staking a claim for the U.S. market by releasing an English version of their debut track, but they’ve got SM Entertainment (the geniuses who broke acts like NCT, Red Velvet, and aespa) at the helm. Expect big things.

Listen to: “Get a Guitar,” “Love 119”

Flyana Boss

For fans of: Missy Elliott, Doja Cat

It’s been a long time coming, but female emcees are finally dominating pop culture. While new acts seem to pop up daily, the Los Angeles-based duo Flyana Boss (a play on Diana Ross’ name) set themselves apart with their comedic lyricism and high-energy TikToks. The pair of weirdos may be considered too irreverent for the notoriously stuffy Grammys voters, but that’s part of their charm. Shouldn’t music be fun?!

Listen to: “You Wish,” “UFHO”

Lola Kirke

For fans of: Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves

Despite being in London and raised in New York City, Lola Kirke was always drawn to the gritty glamor of country music. Still, it seems Nashville has caught on: her forthcoming EP Country Curious (out Feb. 16) features folk duo First Aid Kid and Rosanne Cash, and is produced by Elle King.

Listen to: “My House,” “He Says Y’all”

Sudan Archives

For fans of: Janelle Monáe, Kelela

Today’s elite pop stars could take note from the genre-bending, violin-wielding Sudan Archives. Not only did she record her latest album, the critically-acclaimed Natural Brown Prom Queen, in her basement, but she commands the stage with hypnotic, cat-like swagger reminiscent of Gwen Stefani during the early No Doubt days. She’s been teasing new music on social media, and if MTV were smart, they’d book her for a showstopping VMAs performance. (Yes, we’re mixing awards shows, but the point stands!)

Listen to: “Selfish Soul,” “NBPQ (Topless)”

Jhariah

For fans of: Panic! At the Disco, Poppy

Brooklyn-based artist Jhariah can’t be boxed into one genre: while there’s a heavy theatrical lean from emo bands of the early ’00s, influences from artists like System of a Down to Animé to 100 gecs can be heard while skipping through their catalog. The 23-year-old’s upcoming album has been five years in the making, and if the teaser tracks are any indication, it’s going to be massive.

Listen to: “Pin-Eye,” “Risk! Risk! Risk!”

Stephen Sanchez

For fans of: Frankie Avalon, FINNEAS

Let’s be real: no one is more likely for a Best New Artist nomination than Stephen Sanchez. The Nashville-based singer-songwriter made waves last year with his modest hit “Until I Found You,” which he performed alongside Sir Elton John during the icon’s farewell set at Glastonbury. Not only that, but his late-’50s nostalgia vibe is grade-A Grammys catnip.

Listen to: “Until I Found You,” “High”

Emmy Meli

For fans of: Lizzo, Amy Winehouse

The singer-songwriter had a viral moment on TikTok with 2022’s feminist anthem “I Am Woman,” but instead of haphazardly releasing follow-ups to capitalize on her moment, Meli spent the past year developing her craft — a lesson many quick-to-fame sensations should take note of. The result: her forthcoming debut EP (out this spring) is a cohesive jazz-tinged oeuvre, showcasing her intricate, smoky vocals over a horn-forward production that sounds straight out of the ’60s.

Listen to: “I Am Woman,” “Matrix”

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

For three seasons, Henry Cavill played Geralt of Rivia, the titular character on Netflix’s The Witcher. During that time, Cavill partook in no shortage of lusty scenes, and well, that may have been your last saucy glimpse of the actor.

While promoting his latest role in Argylle, Cavill recently revealed that he’s fed up with sex scenes and he doesn’t really see the point of them if he’s being honest.

“I don’t understand them – I’m not a fan,” Cavill told the Happy Sad Confused podcast before calling sex scenes “overused.”

“It’s when you have a sense where you’re going, ‘Is this really necessary or is it just people with less clothing on?’” Cavill elaborated. “And that’s when you start to get more uncomfortable and you’re thinking, ‘There’s not a performance here. There’s not a piece which is going to carry through to the rest of the movie.’”

According to Cavill, it’s better to leave things to the imagination instead of awkwardly slapping actors together on screen. The man really does not like sex scenes, folks.

Via Variety:

Cavill explained that while there are times where “sex scenes can be great in a movie” and “can really help with the storytelling … Most of the time the human imagination is going to trump it. So, it can be a little bit of a cop-out if a TV show or a movie is just filled with gyrating bodies and you’re going, ‘Okay, but what is this doing for us apart from the idea of, oh naked person, great.’”

And just to make it clear where he stands, Cavill reiterated his point from the top of his rant: “I’m not a fan of doing them.”

Argylle is now playing in theaters.

(Via Variety)

Judging just anecdotally from people I know personally, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve seen The Greatest Night in Pop, Bao Nguyen’s new documentary about the making of “We are the World” that is streaming on Netflix as you read this. (If you haven’t seen it, well, you should.) There are so many arcs and twists and turns, it’s the kind of film that can create weeks of conversation. There’s Stevie Wonder deciding the song should be sung in Swahili, causing Waylon Jennings to leave and not come back. There’s Stevie Wonder being told Ethiopians don’t speak Swahili. There’s Stevie Wonder having to teach Bob Dylan how to sing his part. There’s Sheila E. being used in an effort to try and get Prince to show up. There’s Huey Lewis being asked at the last minute to sing Prince’s part. And why was Dan Aykroyd there? Honestly, I could keep going, but there’s just too much.

“We are the World,” was a response to Band Aid’s “Do They Know it’s Christmas” in an effort to raise money to fight the extreme famine in Ethiopia that was going on at the time. It was recorded in early 1985, overnight right after the American Music Awards (AMAs). So the team in charge — led by Quincy Jones, Lionel Ritchie, and Michael Jackson — had exactly one night to teach everyone their parts and get this recorded. In retrospect, it’s kind of remarkable this was pulled off. But, again, there are so many stories along the way. Director Bao Nguyen compares this story to a heist movie and, actually, yes, that makes a lot of sense. Ahead, we dig into all these stories with Nguyen.

Almost everyone I personally know has seen this. That doesn’t happen often.

I mean, to be honest, I had no idea it would get as big as it is. I also want to give props to Allison and Nicole and the whole Netflix team because I think it was a concerted effort on everyone’s part. I was two years old when this song came out. It was a song that was playing in my household because my parents were refugees from Vietnam. They spoke little English, but they had Lionel Richie’s records, they had Kenny Rogers’s records and they had the “We Are the World” record. And so I remember hearing the song when I was younger, but as a two-year-old, I couldn’t comprehend how big the song was at that moment. And I think after just this past week, of all these really heartfelt messages and everyone sort of… It’s been crazy, as you said.

And so now I really know the resonance of the song. And I knew a little bit and increasingly more as I was making the film, but to know that it’s such a moment in the 1980s that now still resonates, it makes me speechless in many ways. We knew that we wanted to make a film that would uplift people, that would bring smiles to people’s faces, that would make people laugh…

Oh, I laughed a lot.

The last time we talked was the pandemic, and that’s when we kind of conceived of the idea, actually, right around that time, fall of 2020.

I speak from experience trying to write pieces about popular culture: finding events that have not been covered to death, that people are willing to speak about it still, and audiences remember the song or the show or the movie or whatever, those are getting really hard to find. And I think this is just the perfect storm of all those things.

Yeah. I read your piece that you wrote, too, by the way. I do read your pieces. I know you said you’re surprised that when I read them…

Yes, I am.

I mean, you do write really long and thoughtful pieces, so I appreciate that. And even with the SNL thing, when we first talked about it, and you mentioned it in the new article. We’re making things that are different things to different people. So I’m always curious what people take away from it and I hope that people understand my perspective. And just as you were saying, this song, it means so much to people. And I’m surprised and not surprised that reading some of the messages I get that people love the song, but they didn’t know how hard it was to pull off. And I think that was one of the reasons I decided to do this project is because if it was just a really easy song to make, then there’s no real story there, right? Obviously, there’s great footage. But, for me, I was like, how do I make this into a compelling film? And when I read the story, I was like, oh, this is a heist film. This is like a countdown cliffhanger story.

I was very familiar with the video and I just always assumed everyone knew their parts and they showed up one day and did the video. I had no idea it was overnight after the American Music Awards.

Stevie Wonder thought they should sing the song at least partially in Swahili. And then you cut to everyone looking like, “Oh boy.”

Yeah, I love Springsteen’s half smile as we tilt it onto Stevie’s face. It’s one of my favorite shots.

Quincy Jones had called Stevie Wonder and Cyndi Lauper “troublemakers.”

I mean, the troublemaker line, we also cut to Al Jarreau’s photograph and Stevie’s photograph. So again, with the elements of a heist film, you really want to, in the planning stages, set up everything that can possibly go wrong and then, during the execution, have it go wrong. And so it’s all very intentional.

I laughed so hard when it cuts to current day Lionel Richie saying during the Swahili incident Waylon Jennings left and did not come back. I think because I assumed they’d smooth it over. Nope, that was that.

And I think Waylon should be given some props because to know, to have the foresight to be like, “I should not be singing Swahili,” and walking out of that room, I think some viewers take it in different ways. But I always took it as like, “Okay, I have no real reason to be singing Swahili, so I’m going to get out of this room.”

I took it as more, he doesn’t have a solo, his buddy Willie Nelson does have a solo and there’s an ego check, and this is taking a long time and he had had enough.

Yeah, I mean, I can’t speak for Waylon, but I think you’re getting a group of people to sing a song not written for you in the middle of the night after an awards show. I can imagine people would just want to kind of go to sleep.

The part I think I’ve thought about every day since I first watched this movie is Bob Dylan just looking a little bit lost. He has no idea how to sing his part and then just asks Stevie Wonder to do it for him. And then Stevie singing in his voice, showing him how to do it.

And I think both Bob and Stevie have a great arc in their storyline. When you enter, when we first introduce Bob Dylan, it’s a bit of discomfort, a bit of humor. Not laughing at him, but just the whole situation in general, and then he comes up. And I’ve seen the film with many audiences in just the past couple of weeks, and everyone claps at that part where he finishes his line, right? He says, “That wasn’t any good,” and then they all start clapping. And so I really love Bob’s role in the film, along with Stevie, too. Again, it kind of just shows the vulnerability. I mean, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan? These are icons of icons. And for them to be nervous and then help each other is a really, I think, beautiful message of the film.

When you’re making a film that does have humor in it, when the first joke comes on, you really hope it lands. The one joke that, I mean, I knew that was going to kill, but my producer, who’s British, was like – I mean, I’m going to call her out a bit here – she was like, “Who’s John Denver?” So that John Denver line obviously is one of the hugest laugh lines in the film. And if I’m ever in a theater with my producer, I always kind of glance at her. It’s like, good thing we kept that line in! But it’s really interesting, the different parts where people laugh. Obviously, the snake story is hilarious and Lionel’s reaction to that. And the John Denver line, depending on the audience. Sundance people laugh. A Utah crowd really loves their John Denver jokes.

The question I’ve gotten the most is, “Why was Dan Aykroyd there?” My guess is, “Who wouldn’t want Dan Aykroyd around?” And also, not everyone in that room had had a number one album. Dan Aykroyd had had a number one album with the Blues Brothers.

I mean, to be honest, we had a cut where we kind of got into the Dan Aykroyd of it all a bit longer. And it kind of messed up the flow of the film. And you just have to decide what, at the end of the day, what is going to propel your story forward. Just spending a couple minutes explaining why Dan Aykroyd was there, I wanted to kind of leave that open because people, they’re trying to figure out why. And you answered it perfectly. I mean, Blues Brothers had come out. He was huge on SNL. And if you’re going to have a song with the greatest stars of that time, why not have the star of Blues Brothers?

You have so many arcs in this movie, so Sheila E., it’s interesting and it’s heartbreaking. But it also makes a lot of sense — it’s a bunch of famous people trying to negotiate people coming. Of course, they would have her there to try to get Prince there. But you can tell how much it still hurts her feelings.

When we were making the film, we wanted to make something very joyous, but at the same time, honest. And when I interviewed Sheila E., we had spoken before the interview, she hadn’t told me the story yet. And when she told me when we were rolling, everyone on the crew, the room was just completely silent because it was just such a vulnerable thing for her to say and something that was deeply heartbreaking to hear, for sure. And she even says that this is the first time she’s ever said it on camera. And I knew we had to have that in the film just because, as a documentary filmmaker, it’s hard to make something that’s following a certain fact or truth all the time. So I’m always about creating something that feels honest to the story or that is honest to the story. And definitely, Sheila E.’s impression of the night and impression of how they treated her was apparent from this story.

I was, frankly, fearful that there were a lot of parties involved that looked bad because of this and maybe they would have a say. But at the end of the day, especially Lionel, who was a producer on the film, he had total trust in us as filmmakers and he had no comments on this scene. And that was something that, when we showed him a cut, him not having any… I mean, he really didn’t have any notes in the film at all. So he really trusted us. And I think that made this story so much more important to include because if he wasn’t going to deny it, it’s obviously true.

For you to get current Springsteen to participate, that’s quite a get. I’ve never heard him talk about this song before.

I know. And I think the way that he describes it is so matter of fact and so much of how The Boss would talk about this song. He gave very straightforward answers when he heard this song and the chorus, “Yeah, it’s a broad song.”

Yeah, you can tell what he thinks of the song. He called it “a tool.”

He’s generous and careful with his words.

Yes, but you know what he thinks.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I was like, okay, there’s someone who’s not totally over the moon about the aesthetics of the song. And he says it in the film at the end too, like, “You can judge the song aesthetically, but at the end of the day, it was a tool, and as a tool, it did its job.” And so I love having his perspective on it. And it was a bit of life imitating art because at first, trying to get Springsteen to talk about “We Are the World” was difficult…

Oh, I bet.

I mean, once Lionel called Bruce up, that helped it out. And again, I think he loved more being part of the experience. I can’t speak for him, but I’m just saying from what I gathered from talking, that he definitely… that night was really memorable for him. And so that’s what we kind of focused on when we talked to him. And you could kind of see his opinion of the song through his words.

And then you have the Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper part of the song. Huey being asked to replace Prince at the last second, and Cyndi’s boyfriend saying she shouldn’t do the song because he didn’t like it. Current day Huey Lewis still looks like he’s in awe he was there.

I mean, Huey’s the nicest person in the world. And again, when he walked into the studio, he hadn’t been in that studio for almost 40 years. And the memories just sort of rushed back to him. And he wanted to tell me all the stories before we started rolling. And I was just like, “Huey, we have to get this on camera, so don’t be too effusive yet.” I think his arc is amazing as well, because he sort of is the wild card that gets thrown into the deck and he still really kills his line. And there’s a meme going around of Michael Jackson giving the trio of Cyndi, Kim Carnes and Huey a side-eye – because Michael Jackson is obviously amazing on his part. But for most audiences who go and spread the meme, they don’t know that Huey had to fill in for Prince and it was a last-minute thing. And then he has to sing a three-part harmony with Kim Carnes and Cyndi Lauper in front of all these great singers. And so I hope people, after watching the film, who were sharing the meme have a bit more empathy for Huey.

The film has a part where there’s a debate between inviting Madonna or Cyndi Lauper? Could they not invite both? Or did they just have one spot for the current lady pop star of the time?

You hit the nail on the head. There was a fight about whether to get Cyndi or Madonna. And as you can tell with the song itself, everyone sort of represents a generation or a certain style. And then I think having someone like Cyndi and Madonna kind of adjacent to each other on the song might not have worked as well.

Obviously, Madonna became Madonna. I believe Like a Virgin just came out a couple of months before. But Cyndi Lauper, that’s the line everyone remembers. She has one of most famous singing voices in that song.

I mean, I sing that song in karaoke and I’m always wondering who’s going to sing the Cyndi part because it is a hard part, but it is one of my favorite parts of the song.

What was the hardest decision to cut something out?

I think it was more like tightening things up a bit, just so we can have their propulsion of the film. I mean, now that I get asked the Dan Aykroyd question so much, it’s like we should have just kept that long explanation of Dan Aykroyd and why he was there in the film. But I think films shouldn’t be definitive records of anything. They’re just kind of exist in their 90 or two-hour time capsule. Or, maybe, the mystery of Dan Aykroyd should live on for another generation. That’s my cop-out answer.

I would argue this is the definitive record of “We Are the World.”

All right, well, appreciate you saying that.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Drake has been making headlines this week — in more ways than one. The rapper is currently on the It’s All A Blur — Big As The What Tour with J. Cole, and some of his onstage outfits have already garnered much buzz. During one of the nights, Drake has worn a skeleton costume, with a large visible spine.

Of course, Drake has gotten clowned for the costume. However, he explained to a crowd at one of the shows why he chose to wear that costume. And his reasoning is pretty solid.

“I wore the spine because most of these guys that I look in the eyes are spineless as f*ck,” he said.

He continued, saying, “We made that sh*t out of the skeletons you got in your closet so be careful who you talking to.”

It’s not clear who “these guys” are, but this particular message was met with cheers from the audience.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Lil Durk would be joining Drake and J. Cole on the It’s All A Blur — Big As The What Tour for select dates. Durk has previously collaborated with Cole on “All My Life” and Drake on “Laugh Now, Cry Later.”

You can see a clip from the show above.