Nitzer Ebb vocalist and founding member Douglas McCarthy has died. The English EBM and industrial band shared the news today via social media. No cause of death has been revealed, but he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver last year. He was 58.
Earlier today, Brian Wilson’s family delivered the news of the passing of the Beach Boys sonic mastermind, sending shock waves throughout the music world. Now his former bandmates Mike Love and Al Jardine have shared eulogies for him.
Ricky L. Hawk — who, under the stage name Silentó, had a #3 hit with the novelty dance track “Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)” a decade ago — has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for murdering his cousin. Hawk, 27, pled guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault, among other charges, for the 2021 shooting of Frederick Rooks III, Atlanta’s Fox 5 reports. A DeKalb County judge handed down the sentence today.
Imagine finding out that your father is not your biological father. It happens all the time. People grow up and learn about the dramatic twists and turns that their parents’ lives took. Sometimes, they learn that the men they believed to be their fathers aren’t actually their genetic relations. It must be a real shock to the system. And it must be an even bigger shock to learn that your actual real father is Billy Idol. That’s what a Long Island man named Brant Northridge learned a couple of years ago.
In January, singer Michael Tait left the Christian rock band Newsboys after 15 years. Then, just last week, allegations of grooming, sexual assault, and substance abuse emerged in a lengthy article on The Roys Report following a two-and-a-half-year investigation.
Billie Eilish is no stranger to a Paramore cover. In 2022 Hayley Williams joined the young pop star for “Misery Business” at Coachella, and the following year the rock band brought out Eilish for “All I Wanted” in LA. Tonight Eilish decided to emotionally devastate her audience in Paris with a rendition of Paramore’s 2009 tearjerker “The Only Exception.”
Bunnies can be creepy. Ever watch Donnie Darko? That’s what this new Pile music video reminds me of. It matches the brooding energy of the single, aptly titled “Uneasy,” which is the second preview of their forthcoming album Sunshine And Balance Beams.
Phoenix’s debut album United turned 25 years old last Sunday. That album featured “Honeymoon” — the song that apparently introduced Sofia Coppola to her future husband Thomas Mars’ music — as well as “Too Young,” which Coppola would use for a scene in her 2003 film Lost In Translation. (Less notably, it was also used in the Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black-starring rom-com Shallow Hal a couple of years prior.) To celebrate the occasion, Phoenix released a small collection of special-edition merch, and they’ve also unearthed a demo of “Too Young.”
Maryland emo flamethrowers Pinkshift moved in a more hardcore direction on April’s “Evil Eye,” and that heaviness continues on “Anita Ride,” their rad new single out today. It arrives along with news of new album Earthkeeper, dropping at the end of August. “Anita Ride” finds all three core Pinkshift members going Super Saiyan: singer Ashrita Kumar howling and growling with unchained passion, guitar Paul Vallejo doling out monster riffs, drummer Myron Houngbedji beating the shit out of his kit. They sound formidable.
It’s not the best time to be Katy Perry. Last year her album 143 was nothing short of an abomination (working with Dr. Luke and having a video shoot under investigation for environmental infringement definitely didn’t help the situation), and for some reason she thought she could redeem herself by singing in space a couple months ago (which only led to the Wendy’s Twitter account trolling her). She assured fans that she’s OK despite it all, and tonight she dealt with a stage-crasher in Sydney, Australia.