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illiam Shatner Assembles an All-Star Metal Army for a Fearless New Album

Eric Alper
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illiam Shatner Assembles an All-Star Metal Army for a Fearless New Album

William Shatner is making a metal album, and he’s doing it with an army. The legendary actor, author, and cultural icon has announced a full-scale heavy metal project via Cleopatra Records, built around massive guitars, cinematic arrangements, and a personally hand-picked roster of elite metal talent.

The catalyst was Shatner’s involvement with Nuclear Messiah’s upcoming album ‘Black Flame’, where he voiced an intro piece created with ex-Megadeth founding guitarist and widely revered metal innovator Chris Poland. That collaboration opened a door Shatner walked straight through.

“When Nuclear Messiah came to life, something clicked,” Shatner says. “It wasn’t just a track, it was a doorway. It made me want to go all the way in, bring in the best metal players I could find, and create something fearless.”

His history with heavy music runs deep. Zakk Wylde, Ritchie Blackmore, Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream, Wayne Kramer of MC5, and Henry Rollins of Black Flag and The Rollins Band have all recorded with him previously. This new project raises the stakes considerably, more artists, more distortion, more drama, with Wylde personally gifting Shatner a guitar as the project took shape.

Shatner framed his vision plainly: “I am covering Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden as well as a number of new songs written by my team. Metal has always been a place where imagination gets loud. I chose these artists because they have something to say, and because metal demands honesty.”

Full album details including title, tracklist, release date, lead single, and the complete roster of featured artists are still to be announced via Cleopatra Records.

Rock Legends Queen Deliver a Lavish 5-CD Collector’s Edition of Their Landmark 1974 Album ‘Queen II’

Eric Alper
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Rock Legends Queen Deliver a Lavish 5-CD Collector’s Edition of Their Landmark 1974 Album ‘Queen II’

More than 50 years after it set Queen on the path to superstardom, ‘Queen II’ has been remixed, remastered, and expanded into one of the most comprehensive archival releases the band has ever put together. The 5 CD/2 LP Queen II Collector’s Edition box set is out now via UMe, with Brian May and Roger Taylor serving as executive producers.

The 2026 mix was handled by the trusted team of Justin Shirley-Smith, Joshua J Macrae, and Kris Fredriksson, the same team behind the Queen I reissue and several other past releases. The results are stunning, bringing new dimension to an album that May has called the band’s single biggest leap forward.

May was direct about what ‘Queen II’ represented: “That’s when we really started making music the way we wanted to, rather than the way we were being pushed into recording it.” Taylor echoed that: “I think we felt we were evolving our own sound. We were pioneering this sort of multitracking thing. It gave you a tremendous palette, massive choral effects with just 3 of us singing.”

The box set goes deep. CD 2 presents a completely different, 100 percent previously unreleased version of every song on the album, drawn from original Trident sessions outtakes, complete with false starts, guide vocals, and studio banter between all 4 band members. Highlights include a solo Brian May demo of “White Queen (As It Began)” dating from 1969 and 2 solo Roger Taylor demos of “The Loser In The End” that track the song’s evolution. The never-completed session track “Not For Sale (Polar Bear)” also surfaces here for the first time.

CD 3 strips the songs to their backing tracks, spotlighting the band’s musical performances without lead vocals. CD 4 brings together BBC Radio 1 sessions for John Peel and Bob Harris from late 1973 and early 1974, plus a full live set from Golders Green Hippodrome on September 13, 1973, 6 months before ‘Queen II’ was even released. CD 5 closes the set with live performances from the Rainbow Theatre in March 1974 and Hammersmith Odeon in December of that year.

The Collector’s Edition also includes a 112-page book packed with previously unseen photographs, handwritten lyrics and musical notation from Freddie Mercury, Brian May, and Roger Taylor, journal entries, letters, vintage adverts, gig posters, and outtakes from Mick Rock’s legendary photo session for the album cover.

Tracklist:

CD 1: Queen II — 2026 Mix

  1. Procession
  2. Father To Son
  3. White Queen (As It Began)
  4. Some Day One Day
  5. The Loser in the End
  6. Ogre Battle
  7. The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke
  8. Nevermore
  9. The March of the Black Queen
  10. Funny How Love Is
  11. Seven Seas Of Rhye

CD 2: Queen II — Sessions

  1. Procession (Stage Intro Tape — April 1973)
  2. Father To Son (Takes 4 & 9 — with Guide Vocal)
  3. As It Began (Brian’s Studio Demo — October 1969)
  4. Some Day One Day (Take 1 — with Guide Vocals)
  5. The Loser In The End (Roger’s First Demo)
  6. The Loser In The End (Roger’s Second Demo)
  7. Ogre Battle (Takes 2 & 6 — with Guide Vocal)
  8. The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke (Takes 4 & 9)
  9. Nevermore (Take 6)
  10. The March Of The Black Queen (First Section Takes 3 & 5)
  11. The March Of The Black Queen (Second Section Take 1)
  12. Funny How Love Is (Take 4)
  13. Seven Seas Of Rhye (Takes 4, 5 & 6)
  14. I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside (Take 4)
  15. See What A Fool I’ve Been (B-side Version 2026 Mix)
  16. Not For Sale (Polar Bear)

CD 3: Queen II — Backing Tracks

  1. Procession
  2. Father To Son
  3. White Queen (As It Began)
  4. Some Day One Day
  5. The Loser in the End
  6. Ogre Battle
  7. The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke
  8. Nevermore
  9. The March of the Black Queen
  10. Funny How Love Is
  11. Seven Seas Of Rhye

CD 4: Queen II — At The BBC

  1. See What a Fool I’ve Been (BBC Session 2, July 1973 — 2011 Mix)
  2. Ogre Battle (BBC Session 3, December 1973)
  3. Nevermore (BBC Session 4, April 1974)
  4. White Queen (As It Began) (BBC Session 4, April 1974)
  5. Procession — Intro Tape (Live at Golders Green Hippodrome, September 13, 1973)
  6. Father To Son (Live at Golders Green Hippodrome, September 13, 1973)
  7. Son And Daughter (Live at Golders Green Hippodrome, September 13, 1973)
  8. Guitar Solo (Live at Golders Green Hippodrome, September 13, 1973)
  9. Son And Daughter — Reprise (Live at Golders Green Hippodrome, September 13, 1973)
  10. Ogre Battle (Live at Golders Green Hippodrome, September 13, 1973)
  11. Liar (Live at Golders Green Hippodrome, September 13, 1973)
  12. Jailhouse Rock (Live at Golders Green Hippodrome, September 13, 1973)

CD 5: Queen II — Live

  1. Procession — Intro Tape (Live at the Rainbow, March 1974)
  2. Father To Son (Live at the Rainbow, March 1974)
  3. Ogre Battle (Live at the Rainbow, March 1974)
  4. White Queen (As It Began) (Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, December 1975)
  5. The March Of The Black Queen (Live at the Rainbow, March 1974)
  6. The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke (Live at the Rainbow, March 1974)
  7. Seven Seas Of Rhye (Live at the Rainbow, March 1974)
  8. See What A Fool I’ve Been (Live at the Rainbow, March 1974)

Country Star Kane Brown Teams With The Elia Group to Open a 4-Story Entertainment Complex on Nashville’s Lower Broadway

Eric Alper
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Country Star Kane Brown Teams With The Elia Group to Open a 4-Story Entertainment Complex on Nashville’s Lower Broadway

Kane Brown’s name is going on a building on Lower Broadway, and the story behind it is a genuine full-circle moment. Brown’s On Broadway, a 4-story bar, restaurant, and live music venue spanning 11,400 square feet, opens this summer at 312 Broadway in the historic space that previously housed The Valentine.

Brown used to spend his early career nights at The Valentine, drawn to its live music and energy. Now his name is on the building. He and The Elia Group have built something that reflects both the artist and the street it sits on, from a main floor anchored by a full-scale live music stage set against exposed brick and steel-and-glass accents, to a mezzanine with dedicated bar service, a 3rd-floor lounge wrapped in walnut paneling and platinum records, and a rooftop delivering Broadway’s ultimate day-to-night experience against the Nashville skyline.

Brown laid out his vision directly: “We wanted to make it a place that stands apart from everything else on Lower Broadway. I wanted to build a place that I want to hang out at, my friends want to hang out at and will be an unforgettable experience for anyone who visits. Nights in Nashville are about to hit a little bit different.”

Elia Group Founder and CEO Zaid Elia called the partnership a defining moment for both the company and the city, describing Brown as “a visionary artist who has continually redefined boundaries while remaining deeply rooted in authenticity,” a philosophy that mirrors the group’s own approach to hospitality.

For Elia Group, Kane Brown’s On Broadway is the next step in a multi-venue Nashville expansion that also includes Zuzu Nashville, an upscale Asian-inspired dining experience on 1st Avenue South, and a 3rd concept on 3rd Avenue with an artist partnership still to be revealed.

2025 was already a landmark year for Brown. He released his acclaimed album ‘The High Road’, launched an arena tour of the same name, earned his 2nd RIAA diamond certification with “What Ifs” featuring Lauren Alaina, guest-starred on 9-1-1: Nashville, and executive-produced a Lifetime film alongside his wife Katelyn Brown.

Linda Perry Documentary ‘Let It Die Here’ Is Now in Theaters Worldwide

Eric Alper
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Linda Perry Documentary ‘Let It Die Here’ Is Now in Theaters Worldwide

Linda Perry: Let It Die Here is in theaters now, and it arrives with serious momentum behind it. Following its critically acclaimed debut at the Tribeca Film Festival, the feature-length documentary from award-winning filmmaker Don Hardy opened in New York and Los Angeles earlier this month and is now expanding through all global markets.

The film chronicles the life and career of the Grammy and Golden Globe-nominated songwriter, producer, and 4 Non Blondes frontwoman, iconic in the nineties for the era-defining “What’s Up” and quietly one of pop music’s most prolific behind-the-scenes forces ever since. Her credits span Dolly Parton, Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Adele, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Alicia Keys, Gwen Stefani, The Chicks, Ariana Grande, Weezer, and more.

Beyond the career retrospective, Let It Die Here is an exploration of identity, vulnerability, and creativity, filmed over several years as Perry confronted personal change and a crossroads in her professional life. Candid interviews with Dolly Parton, Christina Aguilera, Brandi Carlile, Sara Gilbert, and Kate Hudson add depth to an already unfiltered portrait.

Perry was candid about the experience: “I had no intention of making a documentary. Maybe that’s why it’s so raw and emotional. If I knew I was making one I probably would have tried to control the narrative. Don Hardy captured an extremely intimate time in my life and I am so grateful he did.”

The release also coincides with a fresh wave of attention around “What’s Up.” The song went viral on TikTok via the “What’s Up/Beez In The Trap” mashup, hit No. 1 on the platform’s trending charts, generated more than 3 million user-created videos, and landed 4 Non Blondes a performance on 2026 Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. Linda Perry: Let It Die Here is in theaters now.

Ben Folds Adds Three Australian Encore Dates This October

Eric Alper
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Ben Folds Adds Three Australian Encore Dates This October

The sold-out Australian run wasn’t enough. Ben Folds has added 3 regional encore dates to his Ben Folds & A Piano Tour, heading back to Australia in October for shows in Newcastle, Geelong, and Hobart.

The Emmy-nominated singer-songwriter and New York Times bestselling author will play Newcastle Civic Theatre on October 1, Costa Hall in Geelong on October 3, and Odeon Theatre in Hobart on October 4. Multi-faceted actress, singer, and composer Lindsey Kraft joins as special guest across all 3 dates.

The tour features Folds performing past and current hits alongside stories spanning more than 3 decades as a platinum-selling artist and former frontman of Ben Folds Five. Tickets are on sale now.

2026 Australian Encore Dates:

October 1 — Newcastle Civic Theatre, Newcastle

October 3 — Costa Hall, Geelong

October 4 — Odeon Theatre, Hobart

Joe Nichols Gets Personal With “Fighting the Good Fight”, His First Self-Penned Track in Nearly 20 Years

Eric Alper
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Joe Nichols Gets Personal With “Fighting the Good Fight”, His First Self-Penned Track in Nearly 20 Years

Joe Nichols has spent his career delivering other people’s best songs with uncommon grace. “Fighting the Good Fight” is different. Co-written by Nichols alongside Jason Sellers and Paul Jenkins, the 2 writers behind his platinum-certified No. 1 “Sunny and 75,” it marks his first self-penned release in nearly 20 years, and it’s as personal as anything he’s ever recorded.

The production is organic and unhurried, built to carry a lyric that moves from his father’s tough love to his own struggles with drinking, and ultimately to the faith and family that now define him. Nichols frames it plainly: “This song is my life story in 3 minutes. It’s about my struggles along the way, some of my own doing, and some because of the way the world is today. I fight the world for my girls, and it’s a good fight.”

The vocal is characteristically steady, finding the universal in what is unambiguously autobiographical. That balance is what makes it work. Anyone who has navigated their own version of darkness and light will find something to hold onto here.

“Fighting the Good Fight” is the second teaser track from Nichols’ upcoming studio project, due later this year. The first, “Goodbyes Are Hard to Listen To,” arrived last fall. His profile is also rising on multiple fronts: Lainey Wilson has referenced his classic No. 1 “Brokenheartsville” in a new song of her own, Post Malone has invited him onstage for a duet, and the RIAA recently recognized him for 4 platinum-certified singles plus 1 double-platinum single, his signature “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off,” which hits its 21st anniversary in 2026.

Florida Gulf Coast Rising Star Madden Metcalf Delivers Raw Post-Breakup Anthem “I Don’t Wanna Cry Anymore”

Eric Alper
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Florida Gulf Coast Rising Star Madden Metcalf Delivers Raw Post-Breakup Anthem “I Don’t Wanna Cry Anymore”

Panacea, Florida has fewer than a thousand residents, and it just produced one of country music’s most compelling new voices. Madden Metcalf, 20 years old and signed to Wexler Records/MCA, has released “I Don’t Wanna Cry Anymore,” a thrillingly candid post-breakup anthem that lands with the kind of emotional specificity that takes most artists years to develop.

The track is out now and appears on his debut EP ‘Saltwater Southern’, out now via Wexler Records/MCA. Written by Metcalf alongside Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer Freddy Wexler and Elliah Heifetz, and produced by Wexler and Paul Sikes, it opens with sunlit strumming and driving rhythms before building into an impassioned, hand-percussion-fueled chorus that earns every bit of its intensity.

Metcalf wrote it from a real place: “‘I Don’t Wanna Cry Anymore’ captures the vulnerability we all feel when things don’t go our way. I wrote it when I was at my lowest, fed up with feeling completely stuck on a situation I couldn’t change. Writing helped me move through it and I hope this song can give someone else the same comfort it brings me. And it’s a banger!”

He’s not wrong. The bridge delivers genuine catharsis, a burst of momentum that cuts through the fog of heartbreak and frustration with real musical force. It’s only his 3rd release, but the nuance and warmth in his vocal delivery suggest an artist already operating well beyond his years.

Metcalf grew up splitting his days between early mornings on a crab boat and afternoon shifts at a family friend’s restaurant, raised on Johnny Cash, Jimmy Buffett, and Kenny Chesney playing constantly in his father’s pole barn, the same place where he first picked up a guitar. ‘Saltwater Southern’ hovers between Florida and Nashville, shaped by Gulf Coast skies and deep Southern pride, and it’s out now.

R&B Superstar Ty Dolla $ign and Leon Thomas Connect on “Miss U 2” From New EP ‘Girl Music Vol. 1’

Eric Alper
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R&B Superstar Ty Dolla $ign and Leon Thomas Connect on “Miss U 2” From New EP ‘Girl Music Vol. 1’

‘Girl Music Vol. 1’ started as a conversation at a dinner table in New York City, and that organic energy runs through every second of it. Ty Dolla $ign’s 6-song EP is out now via Atlantic Records, and lead single “Miss U 2” with triple Grammy Award-winning R&B sensation Leon Thomas sets the tone immediately.

Produced by Keyz, “Miss U 2” is soulful, melodic, and built for the moments the project was designed around, getting ready, being at the club, or sitting at home thinking about someone. It’s a direct line back to the R&B roots that defined Ty’s early catalog, and it sounds completely natural because it is.

Ty was clear about where the project came from: “The DJ at the restaurant was playing all the right music and it got us thinking about the music that girls really want to hear. Everything about this project has been organic and natural. This is really some of my favorite music I’ve made in a long time. And this is only volume one.”

The EP follows Ty’s acclaimed 2025 album ‘Tycoon’, which featured “Don’t Kill the Party” with Quavo and Juicy J alongside appearances from A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott, Lil Wayne, Chloe Bailey, and more. ‘Girl Music Vol. 1’ strips things back, live band included, with Ty’s father Tyrone Griffin Sr. on trumpet among the players.

The release also follows January’s Ty Dolla $ign & Friends, The EZMNY JammJam, a one-night-only livestreamed event presented by Amazon Music and Jammcard that brought together Ne-Yo, T.I., JoJo, Wale, Rapsody, Lalah Hathaway, the Black Eyed Peas, and a roster of rising EZMNY talent for an unprecedented late-night jam session. ‘Girl Music Vol. 1’ is out now.

Multi-Platinum Singer-Songwriter Calum Scott and Rap Sensation Aitch Reimagine “Unsteady”

Eric Alper
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Multi-Platinum Singer-Songwriter Calum Scott and Rap Sensation Aitch Reimagine “Unsteady”

“Unsteady” just got a second life. Multi-platinum UK singer-songwriter Calum Scott has teamed with English rap sensation Aitch on a reimagined version of the track, originally featured on Scott’s 2025 album ‘Avenoir’, and the collaboration landed exactly as naturally as it sounds.

The backstory is genuinely warm. Scott spotted a post of Aitch’s sister Gracie singing “You Are the Reason,” sent a thank-you video, and a conversation started. “Aitch and I started chatting and we said we should collab so we got in a studio,” Scott explains. “I showed him ‘Unsteady’ before it was released and he was like ‘give me an hour.’ Aitch is a great guy with an amazing talent who has brought a completely new dynamic to the song whilst keeping the message sincere.”

Aitch’s contribution is exactly that, a heartfelt verse that doubles down on the song’s core idea without pulling it off course. The track’s message, finding steadiness in 2 imperfect people, lands with added resonance across both artists’ deliveries. The video, directed by Ben Morgan, intercuts the 2 artists with intimate footage of couples from all walks of life, keeping the emotional core front and center.

Scott’s headlining Avenoir Tour is currently running through North America, hitting venues including The Wiltern in Los Angeles, Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater, and Terminal 5 in New York City, before heading back to the UK for a pair of arena shows and on into Europe.

Sun Records Brings 18 Rare Johnny Cash Recordings to Digital Streaming With ‘Pure Johnny Cash’

Eric Alper
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Sun Records Brings 18 Rare Johnny Cash Recordings to Digital Streaming With ‘Pure Johnny Cash’

Before Johnny Cash became a legend, he was a young man in a Memphis studio recording takes that would quietly change American music forever. ‘Pure Johnny Cash’, now streaming on all major platforms, collects 18 rare and seldom-heard recordings from those formative Sun Records sessions, meticulously remastered from the original analog tapes with no overdubs, no studio polish, just Cash in the room, in the moment.

The collection features alternative takes and standout versions of classics including “Train of Love,” “Ballad of a Teenage Queen,” and “I Walk the Line.” Originally released as a premium vinyl collection in partnership with McIntosh, the album now reaches a global digital audience through Qobuz’s high-resolution platform, with full wide release on all major streaming services now available.

Sun Records Senior Director A&R + Sync Chase Gregory put it plainly: “Sam Phillips had a way of capturing lightning in a bottle, and these early recordings of Johnny Cash perfectly exemplify that. Everything you hear was performed in one take with no overdubs. It’s a direct line to the room, the moment, and the voice that changed American music.”

A new lyric video for the ‘Pure Johnny Cash’ version of “Ballad of a Teenage Queen” is also out now, bringing fresh visual storytelling to one of Cash’s most beloved early recordings.

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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