CHR

Ariana Grande may be lining up new acting opportunities, but she wants fans to know she hasn’t abandoned music.

Ari wrote in a social media post Wednesday, “very silly of you all to assume that just because i have my hands full with many things that i plan to abandon singing & music … !!! it is and has always been my lifeline. there will need to be room made for all of it.”

“It may not look exactly like it did before but i much prefer how it looks in my head,” she continued. “I am having fun. i feel grateful and excited and inspired. finding a balance, between many projects and endeavors i love, and doing it my own way… so i’m working on a plan to sing for you all next year. even if it’s just for a little. i love you.”

It was announced this week that Ariana would lead the voice cast for Jon M. Chu’s animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go! She also has a starring role in the upcoming Meet the Parents 4.

In November, she reprises her Oscar-nominated role of Glinda in Wicked: For Good.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Eminem has produced a documentary chronicling the trajectory of his career through the lens of his superfans, Deadline reports.

Named after his 2000 song "Stan," about an unstable and obsessed fan, the film by investigative journalist Steven Leckart features archival footage, throwback interviews and recreations in an effort to explore the relationship between his public persona and private life, as well as his relationship with his passionate fans. 

A trailer for the documentary defines the word "stan" before sharing footage of Em, soundtracked by the voices of his fans asking him questions. "Why did you write the song 'Stan'?" they ask. "Why do you share so much about yourself in your music?”

According to Deadline, Stans will arrive in 135 U.S.-based AMC theaters on Aug. 7. 

The documentary will also be available to watch internationally in over 1,600 theaters across over 50 territories, courtesy of Trafalgar Releasing. 

An accompanying soundtrack featuring unreleased music is also planned.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

With an Emmy already under his belt for the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show, Kendrick Lamar now has a chance to win another. His halftime performance at the 2025 Super Bowl received four nominations for the 77th Emmy Awards, which were announced Tuesday morning. 

The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar earned a nod for outstanding music direction and will face Beyoncé's Beyoncé Bowl in the categories of outstanding variety special live, outstanding directing for a variety special and outstanding choreography for variety or reality programming.

Bey's Netflix documentary also received a nod for outstanding production design for a variety special; it has earned a total of four Emmys nominations.

Questlove follows behind with three nominations, including outstanding directing for a documentary/nonfiction for Ladies & Gentleman...50 Years of SNL Music. His documentary about Sly Stone, Sly Lives! (Aka The Burden of Black Genius), is up for outstanding documentary or nonfiction special, and SNL Music: The Homecoming Concert is nominated for outstanding music direction.

The 77th Emmy Awards will air live on Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. It will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A new Justin Bieber album might be closer than we think.

The singer began posting photos and video of billboards teasing the new project — seemingly titled Swag — Thursday. One of the billboards in New York City’s Times Square displayed what appears to be a track list and features a black-and-white photo of a shirtless Justin with his wife, Hailey Bieber, holding son Jack Blues in the background.

Billboards also popped up in Los Angeles and in Reykjavik, Iceland, where Justin spent time recording new music earlier this year.

Bieber reposted a post from The Kid LAROI about the new project. “if you don’t listen to this album when it drops we can’t be friends,” LAROI wrote. “Sorry i don’t make the rules.”

The album will be Justin’s first since 2021’s Justice.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Tyla has found bliss on the chart with her new single, "Bliss" — but she's also happy when she's back home in South Africa. In fact, she's got a lot of ideas for places you can visit if you ever decide to go there.

Tyla was born and raised in Johannesburg, and one of that city's areas is the first place she'd send you to. "I mean, you have to visit Soweto, that's kind of like a given," she says of the historic township that's been depicted or mentioned multiple times in movies, music and literature.

"I feel like you would love Cape Town, the way it looks, the vibe, the ocean, the wine tours," she says of the country's legislative capital and oldest city. "[And] Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was in prison. There's a lot of like tours where you can learn about apartheid and everything. So South Africa is a good tourist place."

And on the lighter side of things, Tyla recommends, "Gold Reef City, it's like a theme park," plus game drives and safaris. South Africa is one of the top countries for safaris, being home to the world-famous Kruger National Park.

Tyla will soon find herself far from South Africa, though. On Thursday she performs at a festival in Poland along with acts like Gracie Abrams, Lola Young, Camilla Cabello and Gigi Perez. On Saturday she'll play Denmark's famous Roskilde Festival. Later in the month she'll grace festival stages in Norway and Barbados.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

It's possible Rihanna will no longer be the only Smurfette in her clan once she gives birth to her third baby with A$AP Rocky.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight's Kevin Frazier on the red carpet for the Smurfs world premiere in Brussels, Rocky seemed to reveal the gender of their third baby.

“Is that the girl you've been waiting for?” Frazier asked. Rocky responded, “It is, man, it is." 

Rocky then quickly held up the stuffed Smurfette he had in his hand and said, "Right here, right here," seemingly clarifying that the toy is the girl he was referring to.

“You know what I’m asking!” Frazier replied. Rocky laughed and once again said, "Right here."

During her own conversation with Frazier, Rihanna said, "Let’s see if it’s a Smurfette! I don’t know. Could be a Papa Smurf. Who knows?”

She confirmed that the new addition will also have an R name, telling ET, "That’s the one thing me and Rocky don’t fight over."

Rihanna and Rocky have two sons, RZA Mayers and Riot Rose Mayers, with another baby on the way. When asked how many more children they plan to have, Rocky replied, “We’re gonna be like the Wayans family, you know. I mean, love is beautiful and it’s just spreading it.”

Smurfs, which stars Rihanna as Smurfette, arrives in theaters on July 18.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, you can watch CMA Fest presented by SoFi on ABC, featuring performances that took place at Nashville's annual CMA Fest. One of them is Bailey Zimmerman and Dallas rapper BigXthaPlug performing "All the Way" — a collaboration that country star Bailey might have just manifested.

"I had heard that X was gonna release a ... country project. And I thought, 'Man, how cool would that be to do that? I would love to get a song with him,'" Bailey says. "I love his music. I've been listening to him for years."

Four months later, Bailey says, he just happened to get a text from X asking, "Hey, do you like this song?"

"I'm like, OK ... that's crazy. Listen to the song, I'm like, 'Oh my gosh. This song is insane, dude!'" Bailey recalls. He did his part right away.

"I immediately pressed record. ... Cut the song real quick, sent it back to him and that was it," says Bailey. "He was like, 'Dude. There's a lot of people that tried this song, but man, you crush it. I want you on it.'"

Bailey feels the track, which is his first pop hit, is "the perfect blend" of his and X's music.

"It feels like I could have written it myself, which is usually what I'm looking for when I'm collabing with somebody," he says.

BigXthaPlug, meanwhile, says he recorded "All the Way" a few years ago with someone else doing the vocals, but it was Bailey who made the song shine. 

"I knew it was a hit then, but when we ... got Bailey's verse, it's kinda like, we just knew," he says. "Yeah, we really knew."

Other artists you'll see performing on CMA Fest include Shaboozey and Jelly Roll.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

More than 25 years after their hit 1998 duet “The Boy Is Mine,” Brandy and Monica are hitting the road together.

The two R&B superstars announced The Boy Is Mine co-headlining tour, set to hit 24 cities this fall. Dates kick off October 16 in Cincinnati, OH, and wrap December 7 in Houston, TX.

Kelly Rowland, Muni Long and season 23 American Idol winner Jamal Roberts will be joining them on tour.

“This really is a full-circle moment,” Brandy says in a statement. “Monica and I coming together again isn’t just about the music -- it’s about honoring where we came from and how far we’ve both come. ‘The Boy Is Mine’ was a defining chapter in R&B, and to share the stage all these years later is bigger than a reunion -- it’s a celebration of growth, sisterhood, and the love our fans have given us from day one.”

Monica adds, “The love that ‘The Boy Is Mine’ continues to receive means everything to me. This tour is a celebration of our history, our impact, and the fans who have grown with us."

"Brandy and I have been on our own unique journeys, and coming back together in this way is a reminder of the power of respect, strength, and real music," she notes. "We’re giving the people what they’ve been asking for, and doing it with grace, love, and purpose. God’s timing perfectly aligned us.”

Tickets go on sale Friday, June 27, at 10 a.m. local time on Ticketmaster.com.

“The Boy Is Mine” spent 13 consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Last year, Brandy and Monica made cameos in the video for Ariana Grande’s song of the same name, and later appeared on a remix of the track.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Leon Thomas is making one thing clear: Mutts Don't Heel. It's a message he hopes to share during his upcoming world tour, which he recently announced will visit cities in the U.S. and abroad.

The North American leg will launch Oct. 30 in Dallas before making stops in major cities including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Brooklyn and LA. The international trek will then follow, kicking off March 5 and coming to an end on April 3. Rising R&B star Ambré will join as the supporting act.

Tickets for the Mutts Don't Heel tour, which supports Thomas' Heel album, will be available starting with an artist presale Wednesday at 10 a.m. local time. A Spotify presale will commence Thursday at 10 a.m. local time, and the general sale will start Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

Heel is the deluxe version of Thomas' sophomore album, Mutt.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On May 30, Taylor Swift fans began celebrating the news that their queen had finally gained control of her masters by streaming, downloading and buying her music like crazy.

As Billboard reports, Taylor's entire catalog, including her first six albums on Big Machine, experienced more than a 72% increase in activity following the 11:30 a.m. ET announcement of the news. And on May 31, consumption of her music increased even more.

According to Billboard, Taylor's album downloads alone increased by more than 3,520% in those two days, while physical album sales increased by 153%.

As for streaming, Taylor's catalog streams increased by nearly 36% over those two days; even her radio airplay experienced a slight uptick.

As previously reported, Taylor announced via a letter on her website that she was able to buy back the rights to her first six albums from their most recent owner, Shamrock Capital, in what was reportedly a nine-figure deal. Shamrock purchased Taylor's masters from Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings in 2020; Braun had purchased them in 2019 as part of his acquisition of Taylor's former record label, Big Machine.

Taylor wrote that she now owns all her videos, concert films, album art, photography, unreleased songs — or, as she put it, "The memories. The magic. The madness. Every single era. My entire life's work."

Taylor's campaign to rerecord her first six albums was her way of rendering the originals less valuable, thus punishing their owners. But now that all the music is in her possession, she can financially benefit from both the originals and the rerecorded versions on a much greater scale than she could before.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.