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The Weeknd‘s fifth studio album, Dawn FM turned one today (January 7). A year ago, the album was released after very little promotion, as The Weeknd wanted fans to hear the album as a cohesive body of work. During the album’s life cycle, songs like “Take My Breath,” “Sacrifice,” “Out Of Time,” and “Best Friends,” garnered enough popularity for them to become singles and fan favorites. Today, to celebrate the album’s anniversary, The Weeknd shared the video for “Is There Someone Else.”

In the video, he is seen peeking a woman as she dances seductively through a window. The woman then sneaks away, leading him to continue his search for her, by way of cameras and telescopes.

“Is there someone else or not? / ‘Cause I wanna keep you close / I don’t wanna lose my spot / ‘Cause I need to know / If you’re hurting him, or you’re hurting me / If I ain’t with you, I don’t wanna be / Is there someone else or not?,” he sings on the song’s chorus.

Shortly after the release of Dawn FM, The Weeknd took to Twitter and implied that the album was part of a new trilogy.

“I wonder… did you know you’re experiencing a new trilogy?,” he said.

It appears that a new era may imminent. Earlier this week, he seemingly teased that the next chapter may arrive soon, saying, “we’re just getting started…”

In the meantime, you can check out the video for “Is There Someone Else” above.

Kicking off the first full weekend of 2023, singer and songwriter Alex G stopped by the CBS Saturday Morning stage to perform three songs from his latest album, God Save The Animals.

For his first performance, he performed “Early Morning Waiting,” an appropriate fit for the Saturday morning news show. During the performance, he was seated at his keyboard, and joined by a violinist, two guitarists, and a drummer, as he softly delivered the sweet, intimate ballad.

Next, he performed “Runner.” This time, Alex is at center stage on the mic, singing while playing acoustic guitar.

“I laugh when you say the wrong thing / Mouthing off to everybody else but me / They hit you with the rolled up magazine / My runner, my runner, my man / My runner, my runner, my man,” he sings on the song’s chorus.

For the third and final performance of the morning, Alex removed the keyboard element from his band for a performance of “Miracles.” For this particular performance, Alex’s vocals shine through, beautifully combining with the strings and percussion.

Over the years, Alex has been very open about his insecurity toward his singing voice. However, in an interview with Pitchfork last year, he revealed how he’s managed to overcome his insecurity.

“I’m less insecure about it, but I’m definitely more of a perfectionist now,” he said. In previous albums, I didn’t care as much, or I guess I felt like if the ideas were there and I was getting them across, they’ll live out there for whoever wants them. But for this album, I wanted to be on key. If I spend all this time on the lyrics and shit I might as well do it right.:

You can watch Alex G’s performances above.

Voting in a new speaker of the House is usually a boring affair. Not so with the 2023 version of the Republican Party. What should have been a mere formality dragged on for four days, to the boredom of many Democrats. It wasn’t resolved until the wee hours of Saturday morning. It took 15 votes for the chamber to elect former minority leader Kevin McCarthy, who was aggressively opposed by a small but pivotal faction of extremists within his own party. Things got so heated that a fight nearly broke out.

One of the ringleaders of the quisling cadre was Matt Gaetz, the longtime MAGA lawmaker who’s spent the last two years under investigation for ties to a sex trafficking ring. He was so against McCarthy taking the gig that he threatened to quit if he won. (We’ll soon see how serious he was about that one.) After the 14th time McCarthy lost — 15 times, as it turned out, was the charm — McCarthy himself stormed up to Gaetz, and shared a heated exchange. But it was another GOP representative, Alabama’s Mike Rogers, who took things further.

As McCarthy headed back to his seat, Rogers swooped in and got visibly testy with Gaetz. It got so bad that he had to be restrained by fellow lawmaker Richard Hudson, who went so far as to grab his face with his hand. It’s not yet been public what Rogers said, or what McCarthy and Gaetz discussed during their own confrontation. But less than an hour later, cooler heads belatedly prevailed and McCarthy just barely clinched his dream job.

Should be a fun next two years in the House!

(Via Mediaite)

It doesn’t seem like Celine Dion fans are letting their hearts go on after Rolling Stone‘s controversial list of “200 Greatest Singers Of All Time.” Yesterday, fans protested outside of the Rolling Stone office, blasting some of her biggest hits.

Why Are Celine Dion Fans Mad At Rolling Stone?

On New Year’s Day, Rolling Stone published a list of their rankings of the 200 greatest singers of all time. As fans and stans were bound to take to their Twitter and TikTok timelines to argue about where their faves ranked, many fans were upset that Dion was completely left out of the list.

Anticipating that the list would be polarizing, Rolling Stone issued a statement on social media, saying, “Before you start scrolling (and commenting), keep in mind that this is the Greatest Singers list, not the Greatest Voices List. Talent is impressive; genius is transcendent.”

A fan quickly responded, saying, “because céline dion singing in 9 languages, having sung diverse genres, and reinventing herself in every album isn’t ‘genius,’ right?”

Another fan wouldn’t even bother to look at the list, due to the omission.

“Any music list for best singers ever that doesn’t include Céline Dion is automatically invalid to me,” said the fan. “That’s the rule. ‘Falling Into You’ was the first CD I ever bought with my own money, and that album is still flawless, and her entire discography is superb.”

Even some of her peers in the industry have vocalized their chagrin toward Rolling Stone.

“One more reason these stupid ass lists don’t mean sh*t,” said songwriter Diane Warren, who co-wrote “Because You Loved Me,” one of Dion’s biggest hits. “Really??? A list of greatest singers @RollingStone and #CelineDion isn’t on it??”

Needless to say, it doesn’t look like Rolling Stone is getting out of this one anytime soon.

Steven Spielberg has accomplished a lot in his lifetime. Before he was 30 he had changed movies forever with Jaws. He’s won three Oscars. He directed the first proper episode of Columbo! And yet there’s one thing he’s never done: gotten high. His latest film, the semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans, features one of the most prominent stoners in America: Seth Rogen, who’s accomplished a lot as well. But while they work well together, Rogen never got the chance to get him high.

Variety recently caught up with Spielberg and Rogen at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala on Thursday. Spielberg was asked which of Rogen’s “stoner movies” was his favorite.

“Well, having never been stoned, I don’t see them as stoner movies,” he joked, Rogen standing next to him. “I see them as movies about a police officer giving solid, sound advice to an impressionable person.”

That’s a reference, of course, to Superbad, co-written by Rogen, in which he and Bill Hader play doofus cops more interested in getting drunk and hanging with an underage kid than policing. Is that Spielberg’s favorite Rogen movie? If so, it’s a good one, even if it depicts youthful pulchritude that, based on The Fabelmans, is nothing like his own upbringing.

Rogen, of course, is a high-functioning stoner. How many people who get blazed on the regular star in, write, and direct movies, on top of writing children’s books and learning ceramics? Still, different strokes for different folks.

(Via Variety)

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, Kevin McCarthy was finally voted in as Speaker of the House. It only took four days, and 15 votes. The former House minority leader, who had spent the last two years appeasing the extremist wing of his party, won by a narrow margin after winning over a small but powerful cadre who refused to let him in. It must have been boring for most of representatives, who had to sit there for days, awaiting cooler heads to prevail. But one member found a good way to kill the time.

On Friday, hours before McCarthy belatedly clinched the gig, California Democratic representative Katie Porter was spotted leaning back in her chair reading a book. Which book? The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck, the bestseller by Mark Manson. Manson’s book, which is both an anti-self help book that’s also a self-help book, preaches the gospel of ignoring the things you can’t control and focusing on those you can. For instance, if you’re a Democratic House representative and the Republican side is self-imploding? It’s best of your mental health to let it burn.

People observing the House mishegoss from afar seemed to relate to Porter’s stance.

Porter’s chill attitude contrasted nicely with the Republicans, who at one point almost got into a fight.

Porter, like most Democrats, seemed to spend the last week doing little but killing time as Republicans duked it out, proving that they’re more interesting in in-fighting than governing. It’s bound to be a, uh, interesting two years in Congress, although presumably the biggest drama queen is resigning, as he promised, right?

In between legs of her Yessie tour, Jessie Reyez stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night (January 6). She took to the stage, performing “Still C U,” a fan-favorite from her latest album, Yessie.

On the song, she is content with being done with an ex, however, she still finds herself thinking of them from time to time.

“I still see you in my sleep / How come I still see you when I dream? / I been running from the truth / But it don’t matter what I do / It never matters what I do / I just can’t get away from you,” she sings on the song’s chorus.

During the performance, she wore a white tank top and matching skirt, the simple colors allowing for a minimalistic aesthetic, as her vocals shine through. She delivered her signature raspy vocals throughout the song, and visibly appeared to be fighting back tears.

Reyez is known to be candid about her emotions in her songs. She also has said she is working to let go of the anger she felt while recording her earlier material.

“What I’ve understood is that sometimes you need to use that anger as a lily pad to keep it moving,” she said in an interview with CBC.

While her Yessie tour may be coming to an end, Reyez doesn’t plan to slow down anytime soon. Later this year, she plans to join Sam Smith on their Gloria tour.

In the meantime, you can watch the performance of “Still C U” above.

Rudy Gobert had a pretty good night against the Los Angeles Clippers. The veteran big man helped lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 128-115 win over their Western Conference foes, which went into the game with both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the sideline. Gobert had 25 points, 21 rebounds, three blocks, and one moment where he showed off some pretty impressive handles before coming up short on a layup.

Gobert pulled down a rebound off of an Amir Coffey miss in the fourth quarter. Instead of giving it to a guard — D’Angelo Russell was tied up with Robert Covington — Gobert saw that he had the entire court in front of him. So, the big man decided to just bring the ball up the court on his own, and by the time he got to the three-point line, only Moses Brown stood between him and the rim. Instead of picking up this dribble, Gobert was able to get by the Clippers big man, get to the rim, do a little head fake, and get him in the air.

There was, quite literally, nothing between Gobert and the rim, but something happened and caused him to miss the layup, which led to Gobert just grabbing the stanchion for a second.

Ultimately, this is a moment Gobert can laugh at, as he otherwise had a very good night.

Britney Spears can do it all. Even bring back the dead… Sort of. The pop star’s hit song, “Toxic,” got the remix treatment with an Elvis classic to create the mashup, “Toxic Las Vegas: Jamieson Shaw Remix.” While the song appears in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 film, Elvis, it had yet to see an official release.

“I Love Brit Brit and I love ‘Toxic’… but when you’re doing that kind of pop, you’re just in a bubble,” Luhrmann previously said of the mashup decision during an interview with Entertainment.ie. “And that bubble will break, as it does for Elvis.”

Spears herself even has paid homage to Elvis in the past, as she channeled his iconic white jumpsuit for promoting her 2001 Live From Las Vegas special.

Presley’s birthday would be this Sunday. So, in spirit, the remix is part of a large-scale tribute package.

In addition, Elvis will be screened for free across North America — and is available to stream on HBO Max, in case you don’t feel like leaving your house. The streaming platform is honoring the King by dropping a 30-minute behind-the-scenes special, Just A Boy From Tupelo: Bringing Elvis To The Big Screen.

Last but certainly not least, Elvis’ Graceland home is hosting four days of fun events, including “The Making Of Elvis” exhibition that lets fans see costumes and other gear from Luhrmann’s blockbuster film.

Listen to Britney Spears and Elvis join forces on the “Toxic Las Vegas: Jamieson Shaw Remix” above.

Matthew Schultz, lead singer of Cage The Elephant, was arrested last night (January 5) in New York City. Schultz was caught at the Bowery Hotel with two loaded firearms, according to a report from New York Post.
Schultz was then reportedly arrested and charged with criminal possession of a firearm.

According to New York Post, Schultz was caught by a worker who saw him pull a gun from his pocket in a common area of the hotel, which was noted by prosecutors at Schultz’s arraignment tonight. The person then called 911, and police entered Schultz’s room on a search warrant.

Two guns were later reportedly found and recovered from a bag in the room, as well as 11 Polaroid photos of the guns including some with “a hand holding, pointing of the firearm,” as noted by prosecutors.

Prosecutors also reportedly noted that Schultz appeared to be intoxicated at the time when the gun was spotted.

Cage The Elephant is known for songs like “Cigarette Daydreams” and “Trouble.” Their most recent release was their 2019 album, Social Cues.

At the time of writing, the band has not yet issued a statement regarding Schultz’s arrest. Representatives for Cage The Elephant did not immediately return our request for comment.