Taylor Swift's new video for "Fortnight," which she wrote and directed, is a black-and-white fantasia of paper, rain and a dash of Poor Things.
The clip starts with Taylor, in heavy makeup and a fancy gown, handcuffed to a hospital bedframe that's affixed halfway up a wall in what looks like a mental hospital cell. She frees herself and stares in the mirror; as she wipes her face, her duet partner Post Malone's tattoos magically appear on it.
Next, Taylor's in an office, wearing a black, old-fashioned gown like the one her friend Emma Stone wore in the movie Poor Things. She and Post Malone sit at different typewriters, typing at each other as colored clouds emanate from their machines.
Cut to Taylor and Post lying together on a huge silhouette of Taylor's face made up of white pages. They embrace tenderly as the pages swirl around them, and we see that all of Post's facial tattoos have disappeared.
Next, we're in a lab where Taylor is strapped to a table, being studied by two scientists played by Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles, who starred in The Dead Poets Society. Cut to Post in a phone booth on top of a mountain in a rainstorm; Taylor's kneeling on top.
Then we see Taylor back in the office, surrounded by swirling, burning pages. Back in the cell, she smashes a two-way mirror. Back at the phone booth, Posty and Taylor clasp hands. The end.
On Instagram, Taylor wrote, "When I was writing the Fortnight music video, I wanted to show you the worlds I saw in my head that served as the backdrop for making this music. Pretty much everything in it is a metaphor or a reference to one corner of the album or another."
"@postmalone blew me away on set as our tortured tragic hero and I’m so grateful to him for everything he put into this collaboration," she added. "I’m still laughing from getting to work with the coolest guys on earth, @ethanhawke and @mrjoshcharles (tortured poets, meet your colleagues from down the hall, the dead poets)."
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read moreWatch a de-tattooed Post Malone, Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles star in Taylor Swift's "Fortnight" video
Selena Gomez has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Food Network's Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays, a holiday-themed series of episodes that were spun off from her cooking show Selena + Chef. She's nominated in the category of Culinary Series. Kelly Clarkson has been nominated for Daytime Talk Series Host for her daily chat show, and the show itself is up for Daytime Talk Series, as well as for a bunch of technical awards. The 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards will air June 7 on CBS.
During his sold-out, three-show stand at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Noah Kahan was presented with a "Notes To Noah" wall, filled with handwritten notes from his fans who attended the shows. "I'll read every single one," he promised.
Of course you want to know what Taylor Swift's #1 fan thinks about her new album, right? Public Enemy's Flava Flav, who's been nicknamed King Swiftie by the singer's fandom, wrote in a social media post, "The best art is created from struggle and sadness,,, da anthology is sad and real and Taylor,,, It makes me wanna punch anyone that hurt that woman’s feelings,,, but no one can punch them worse than Taylor and her piano and pen."
Speaking of Taylor, Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff, who co-wrote and co-produced her new album, wrote in separate posts that they are "incredibly grateful and honored" and "overwhelmed" by the experience.
And one last Taylor note: She's got a new collection of The Tortured Poets Department merch, including a line of jewelry — a ring, earrings, bracelet and necklace — all decorated with the initials "TTPD."
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read moreMusic notes: Selena Gomez, Noah Kahan and more
Record Store Day 2024 takes place Saturday, April 20, and along with tons of releases from classic and alternative rock acts, there will be vinyls that appeal to younger fans, like 7-inch singles of Noah Kahan/Olivia Rodrigo singing each others' songs and Sabrina Carpenter's "Feather." But if you want to find out more about some of Olivia's favorite artists, Record Store Day is also a great learning experience, says the event's co-founder.
Noting that Olivia invited the '90s band The Breeders to open for her in New York and LA, and that one of her idols is rocker Jack White, Record Store Day co-founder Carrie Colliton tells ABC Audio, "That is not something anyone would have predicted, but it means that she's looking to all these other forms of music, and her fans are, too."
"And the best place to do that, literally, it's no hyperbole, the best place to do that is where there are other humans doing the same thing," she adds. "And that's a record store, not some sort of algorithm."
So if you've been wanting to know more about some of the other older artists Olivia has shouted out or performed with — like No Doubt, Patti Smith, Sheryl Crow and Jewel — Record Store Day is your chance to check out their music.
In fact, another co-founder, Michael Kurtz, tells ABC Audio that young women's interest in vinyl in general is a direct result of the fact that Record Store Day partnered with Crosley to release a line of inexpensive turntables a few years ago. "The girls, really younger girls, adopted it way faster than the boys," he notes. "I think the boys were still playing video games."
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read moreRecord Store Day co-founders: Be like Olivia Rodrigo
Pink and Pharrell Williams are at legal odds over the use of a name.
According to legal documents obtained by ABC News, Pink's lawyers have filed suit against the "Happy" artist because he's attempting to trademark "P.Inc." Pink's camp argues that would "likely cause confusion, mistake and/or deception” among consumers who see it.
Pharrell's request shows that he intends to use the trademark for a wide range of music-related ventures. Pink's suit argues that her trademark has priority because she's owned it longer; that Pharrell's term is "similar" to her trademark in "sight, sound, meaning and commercial impression"; and that her and Pharrell's "goods and services are identical and/or closely related."
The suit contends Pink "will be damaged" if Pharrell is allowed to trademark his term.
Billboard reported that Pharrell has also been sued by Victoria Secret's PINK brand for the same reason.
At press time, Pharrell's reps had not responded to ABC Audio's request for comment.
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read morePink files suit against Pharrell Williams over plans to trademark "P.Inc"
Believe it or not, there's new music out today other than Taylor Swift. Here's a roundup:
Sia has released "Fame Won't Love You," a collaboration with Paris Hilton. It's one of the tracks on Sia's new album Reasonable Woman, due out May 3. Sia is executive-producing Paris' upcoming album. Sia has also released other collaborative tracks from the album, including "Incredible" featuring Labrinth and "Dance Alone" featuring Kylie Minogue.
Kelly Clarkson has released her collab with British singer James Arthur, "From the Jump." It's a duet version of a track from James' current album, Bitter Sweet Love. In a statement, James says, "When I heard Kelly’s vocals on this, my mind was blown. What a great honor to have someone of her caliber feature on one of my favorite songs from this body of work."
Kelly adds, "James has such an incredible voice, so I was stoked when he sent me this song to jump on with him ... 'From The Jump' is such a cool song. It has this singer/songwriter vibe but with these pop elements of catchiness that I really dig. The melody is beautiful, and the writing is so great that I was very excited to sing on it with him!”
Knox, whose current hit is "Not The 1975," has a new single called "Change Your Mind." He's currently on his debut headlining tour and will perform at Hangout Fest on May 18 and Lollapalooza on August 4.
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read moreNew Music Friday: Sia, Kelly Clarkson and more
When you win an award and you don't attend the ceremony, they mail you your trophy. Well, Ed Sheeran just received a special delivery.
At the Creative Arts Emmys in January, Ed won his first Emmy for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for "A Beautiful Game," the song he co-wrote for the show Ted Lasso. On his Instagram Story on April 19, Ed shows off his gleaming, golden Emmy statuette. "It arrived. Woof," he captioned the photo.
Also on his Instagram Stories, Ed announced a new hobby: a record club. He posted a photo of him holding Britney Spears' debut album and wrote, "'Ello folks, going to start sharing some of my favourite records -- sign up to be a part of Teddy's Vinyl Breakfast. Happy Record Store Day for Saturday." The post includes a link to sign up.
Record Store Day 2024 is on April 20.
In the past, Ed has said that listening to vinyl is a daily ritual for him. "Every morning I get up with my daughter and give her breakfast with milk. Every morning we put on a vinyl of some sort," he said. "I have this wall of vinyl, and she'll go along with a finger and flick along it and go, 'This one.'"
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read moreEd Sheeran shows off his Emmy, announces "Teddy's Vinyl Breakfast" record club
The album was a surprise, but the Spotify record isn't. Taylor Swift's double album, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, has broken the streaming platform's record for the most-streamed album in a single day, ABC Audio has confirmed.
The 31-track album has taken the title from the previous most-streamed album of 2024, Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter.
Meanwhile, fans have pored over the lyrics of Taylor's new songs, determining which tracks are about who, but some things appear to be obvious. "The Alchemy" and "So High School" are said to be about her current boyfriend, Travis Kelce, for example, while "So Long London" is likely about her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
Fans feel the song "thanK you aIMee" is about Kim Kardashian, not just because the letters "KIM" are the only ones capitalized in the title, but also because of the lyrics, which are about how Taylor emerged triumphant despite and because of the bullying of a particular woman. Taylor sings, "I can't forgive the way you made me feel ... / I can't forget the way you made me heal."
Fans also believe the song "Cassandra" is about Kim K., especially because of the line, "they filled my cell with snakes."
There are also a surprising number of songs that appear to be about The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, who Taylor dated for about a month in 2023 after her breakup with Joe. These include the title track, "Guilty as Sin?," "The Black Dog," "Fresh Out the Slammer," "I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)," "loml," "Down Bad," "Peter" and "But Daddy I Love Him," just for starters.
Taylor's also been lurking: She "liked" a post that ranks her ex-boyfriends with Travis' name on top and another one that described Joe as a Hunger Games "tribute" who died.
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read moreTaylor Swift's new album breaks Spotify streaming record as fans ponder who each song is about
Many artists have written songs about being jealous of their partner's ex-lovers, but on Dua Lipa's new album, Radical Optimism, she's thanking the woman her boyfriend dated before her.
Speaking to Zach Sang for the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, Dua explains that the song "Maria" is about expressing gratitude for whoever had your significant other before you did.
"I think this way: When you go through a breakup, that person's gonna go and be so much better for someone else now," she explains. "Because I feel like, whatever happened here, they've learnt, and they're gonna put it into action in the next relationship."
"I think everyone has done that for someone, or someone has done that for them," she continues. "With every relationship, you grow and you become, hopefully, a better version of yourself from the experiences that you've had."
She concludes, "So 'Maria' is really about being grateful to the ex, and being like, 'Thank you for doing that,' because we all grow. We all learn. And now I have this person who's just, like, meant for me in that way."
Dua also agrees with Sang that the theme of the album is about "losing one person but then finding the person who's right." She doesn't indicate who "Mr. Right" is, though lately, she's been seen getting cozy with actor Callum Turner.
In the same interview, Dua describes Radical Optimism, which comes out May 3, as "psychedelic," "very vulnerable and honest," "organic," "dancy and personal" and "experimental."
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read moreDua Lipa's new album includes a song thanking her boyfriend's ex
Singer Mandisa, who reached the top 10 on American Idol season 5 and later became a Grammy-winning Christian artist, has died, ABC Audio has confirmed. She was 47.
“We can confirm that yesterday [April 18] Mandisa was found in her home deceased," her rep said in a statement to ABC Audio. "At this time we do not know the cause of death or any further details. We ask for your prayers for her family and close knit circle of friends during this incredibly difficult time.”
Mandisa finished ninth on the American Idol season that was won by Taylor Hicks and also gave us Katharine McPhee, Chris Daughtry and Kellie Pickler. During her time on the show, Simon Cowell made cruel comments to her about her weight. She told him she forgave him, adding, "If Jesus could die so that all of my wrongs could be forgiven, I can certainly extend that same grace to you." Cowell then apologized to her.
After her time on Idol, Mandisa released her debut album, True Beauty, in 2007. It debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart and received a Grammy nomination — one of five nods she'd eventually receive. In 2014, her album Overcomer won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album. Her most recent album, Out of the Dark, came out in 2017.
In 2022, she released a memoir, also called Out of the Dark, in which she detailed her past trauma and mental health struggles.
In a statement, David Pierce, the chief media officer of K-Love, a Christian radio network, wrote on social media, "Mandisa struggled, and she was vulnerable enough to share that with us, which helped us talk about our own struggles. Mandisa’s struggles are over, she is with the God she sang about now."
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read moreGrammy-winning 'American Idol' season 5 star Mandisa dead at 47