“Cruel Country,” Wilco (dBpm Records)
Wilco goes country as only it can on “Cruel Country,” an immensely rich 21-track, roughly 80-minute deep dive into America that is a raw and engaging take on our tumultuous times.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Boss is hitting the road again, and the E Street Band band is coming with him.
The rockers announced Monday that they will begin an arena tour in February in the United States, followed by stadium shows beginning in April in Europe.
ATLANTA (AP) — Rappers Young Thug and Gunna remained jailed on racketeering charges Monday in Atlanta following a court hearing in a case in which prosecutors have accused them of being members of a violent street gang that committed multiple murders, shootings and carjackings.
Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.
MOVIES
— In the satirical comedy “Emergency,” college seniors Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins) and Sean (RJ Cyler) set out for an epic night of partying only to return home to a shocking scene: Their door is ajar and a woman is passed out on their floor.
CANNES, France (AP) — Most in the film industry thought Ethan Coen was done with making movies. Ethan did, too.
But on Sunday, Coen premiered his first documentary, “Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind," at the Cannes Film Festival, a movie that was unknown until last month's festival lineup announcement.
NEW YORK (AP) — The first thing you hear is a familiar voice over the sound of thousands of screaming fans.
“Hello, Syracuse and the world. My name is Prince and I’ve come to play with you.”
The Purple One soon arrives, rising up through the stage — wearing an animal print jumpsuit with a ruffled white frock, a guitar slug across his back — as “Let's Go Crazy” starts.
Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 29-June 4:
May 29: Actor Anthony Geary (“General Hospital”) is 75. Singer Rebbie Jackson is 72. Composer Danny Elfman (Oingo Boingo) is 69. Singer LaToya Jackson is 66.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne’s daughter Aimee was among those who escaped a Hollywood recording studio fire that killed a 26-year-old music producer, Sharon Osbourne and others who work in the space said.
LONDON (AP) — British singer-songerwriter Ed Sheeran has announced the birth of his second daughter, saying he and his wife, Cherry Seaborn were “over the moon’’ at the baby's arrival.
The Grammy award-winner posted a picture of baby socks on his Instagram site.
SCARBOROUGH, Ontario (AP) — Rapper J. Cole will play another season of pro basketball, this time in Canada.
The Canadian Elite Basketball League tweeted Thursday night that the 37-year-old rapper will join the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the coming season as a guard.
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the United States for the $40 billion aid package, which got final congressional approval on Thursday.
“This is a demonstration of strong leadership and a necessary contribution to our common defense of freedom,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rihanna and A$AP Rocky have welcomed a baby boy, according to multiple reports.
The couple, who first revealed her pregnancy with a belly-baring Harlem photo shoot in January, became parents May 13 in Los Angeles, said TMZ, the first to report the birth Thursday based on unnamed sources.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Vangelis, the Greek electronic composer who wrote the unforgettable Academy Award-winning score for the film “Chariots of Fire” and music for dozens of other movies, documentaries and TV series, has died at 79.
Harry Styles, “Harry's House” (Columbia Records)
If the 13 tracks of Harry Styles’ third LP are the walls in which he lives, “Harry’s House” is a place of self-expression, happiness and healing.
Mavis Staples & Levon Helm, “Carry Me Home” (ANTI-Records)
Some efforts to bring musical legends together feel contrived, like they were cooked up for a between-albums payoff. Occasionally, though, when the convergence isn't calculated, the moment just needs to be preserved.
NEW YORK (AP) — In the summer of 2011, two American iconic musicians met and jammed up a storm. Very few people heard what they created — until now.
The 12-track live album “Carry Me Home” is the long-awaited record of what happened when Grammy-winning soul and gospel star Mavis Staples visited her good friend Levon Helm, the Grammy-winning drummer and singer of The Band.
CANNES, France (AP) — One of the most memorable lines — and Rob Reiner's personal favorite — of “This Is Spinal Tap” goes: “There’s a fine line between stupid and clever.”
You could say the same thing about the classic 1984 mockumentary.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Country stars Faith Hill, Trisha Yearwood, Brandi Carlile, Little Big Town, Martina McBride and Ashley McBryde will join Wynonna Judd on tour this fall after the sudden death of her mother and musical partner, Naomi Judd.
Sir Elton John is preparing to say goodbye in fabulous splendor, with the help of a documentary crew and the Walt Disney Co.
Disney Original Documentary and Disney+ said Wednesday that the film, entitled “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances and the Years that Made His Legend,” will serve as the definitive and official feature on John’s life and career.
NEW YORK (AP) — Taylor Swift has Grammys galore and now she has a new title — “doctor.”
The superstar received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from New York University on Wednesday, blowing kisses as the crowd roared when she walked toward the stage at a packed Yankee Stadium.
Eric Clapton, a critic of coronavirus vaccines and pandemic restrictions, has tested positive for COVID-19 and canceled two upcoming European gigs.
Clapton’s upcoming shows in Zurich on Tuesday and Milan on Wednesday will be rescheduled, he announced on his Facebook page and official online site. The 77-year-old rocker tested positive following his concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall on May 8.
PARIS (AP) — Members of the Californian rock band Eagles of Death Metal provided emotional testimony Tuesday about the night Islamic State group extremists stormed their Bataclan theater concert, killing scores of people in France’s worst attack in generations.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jerry Lee Lewis, the late country singer Keith Whitley and music executive Joe Galante will join the Country Music Hall of Fame.
NEW YORK (AP) — Something was missing when Fox announced its plans for the fall television season: a schedule.
It was one of several signs of how the business has changed since networks resumed their annual glitzy presentations for advertisers, which had been suspended because of the pandemic.
BALTIMORE (AP) — New York Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes said he deactivated his Twitter account after screenshots surfaced Sunday of tweets from a decade ago that included racial slurs.
Cortes appeared to be quoting rap lyrics in at least some of the tweets, and he did not seem to be using the words to demean anyone directly.
Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.
MOVIES
— The gripping documentary “Hold Your Fire," directed by Stefan Forbes, chronicles a 1973 Brooklyn robbery that became a turning point in hostage negotiation tactics and de-escalation.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brandi Carlile, Allison Russell and Yola are the leading nominees for the 2022 Americana Honors and Awards, with each one up for album of the year, artist of the year and song of the year.
NEW YORK (AP) — It's often said that fans at live concerts give the band a jolt of electricity. Coldplay wants to literally harness that.
The pop superstars have added kinetic dance floors and energy-storing stationary bikes to their latest world tour, encouraging fans to help power the show as they dance or spin.
ISTANBUL (AP) — A Ukrainian singer and former Eurovision song contest winner appealed to Turkey’s president on Monday to save Ukrainian fighters from the besieged city of Mariupol amid Russia's war.
Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 22-28:
May 22: Pianist Peter Nero is 88. Actor-director Richard Benjamin is 84. Actor Frank Converse is 84. Actor Barbara Parkins (“Peyton Place,” ″Valley of the Dolls”) is 80.
Travis Scott and Morgan Wallen made controversial returns on the Billboard Music Awards stage on Sunday, while Mary J. Blige was honored for her musical excellence.
Wallen performed in his first major awards show after he was caught on camera more than a year ago using a racial slur.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Naomi Judd was celebrated with words and soaring music at a public memorial service Sunday that ended with her daughter Wynonna announcing that a tour planned for later this year would go on.
TURIN, Italy (AP) — Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra, fresh off its Eurovision victory, released a new music video Sunday of its winning hit “Stefania” that features scenes of war-ravaged Ukraine and women in combat gear, as the annual song contest took on ever more political tones given Russia's war.
TURIN, Italy (AP) — Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest, a clear show of popular support for the group's war-ravaged nation that went beyond music.
The band and its song “Stefania” beat 24 other performers early Sunday in the grand final of the competition.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian troops were withdrawing from around Ukraine’s second-largest city after bombarding it for weeks, the Ukrainian military said Saturday, as Kyiv and Moscow's forces engaged in a grinding battle for the country’s eastern industrial heartland.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Britney Spears says she has lost a baby early in her pregnancy.
Spears announced the loss on Instagram Saturday in a joint post with her partner, Sam Asghari.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A toxic cesspool. A lifeline. A finger on the world's pulse. Twitter is all these things and more to its over 229 million users around the world — politicians, journalists, activists, celebrities, weirdos and normies, cat and dog lovers and just about anyone else with an internet connection.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A toxic cesspool. A lifeline. A finger on the world's pulse. Twitter is all these things and more to its over 229 million users around the world — politicians, journalists, activists, celebrities, weirdos and normies, cat and dog lovers and just about anyone else with an internet connection.
ATLANTA (AP) — Attorneys for Young Thug, who was arrested this week under an indictment accusing him of co-founding a violent street gang, filed an emergency motion Friday seeking bond for the Atlanta rapper, calling his confinement “inhumane."
NEW YORK (AP) — Becky G finds every bit of her represented in the songs of her new album, “Esquemas.”
“I can feel the parts of me that feel empowered. I can feel the parts of me that feel sexy.
MILAN (AP) — Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra and its members' folk-hip hop anthem to their war-torn nation is the oddsmaker's favorite to win the Eurovision Song Contest, an event intended to celebrate diversity and promote friendship among nations.