Ne-Yo releases “Ms. Tundra” today, the latest single from his forthcoming country-inspired album ‘Highway 79’, arriving July 10 via Compound Ent. Produced by Chuck Harmony, the high-tempo, line dance-ready track fuses Ne-Yo’s signature smooth vocals with upbeat country instrumentation, built for communal movement and crowd energy. The album was recorded entirely in Nashville and takes its title from Ne-Yo’s birth year and Highway 79 in Arkansas, the state where he was born.
‘Highway 79’ continues a country exploration that gained serious traction through 2025, including a historic Grand Ole Opry debut where he premiered “Simple Things” and performed a medley of hits including “So Sick.” Previously released tracks “Simple Things” and “Up Out & Gone” are expected to appear on the full record alongside “Ms. Tundra.”
Ne-Yo is currently on the road for the 57-city Nights Like This global tour alongside Akon, which kicked off April 24 at the 3Arena in Dublin and runs through August 21 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, hitting London, Paris, Atlanta, Houston, and Toronto along the way.
The release also lands during the 20th anniversary of his debut album ‘In My Own Words’, home to the breakout hit “So Sick,” marking a milestone moment as he opens an entirely new creative chapter.
Brad Tursi releases “Hard To Get High” today, the fifth single from his forthcoming sophomore solo album ‘Colorado’, arriving June 12 via Universal Music Corp/Turs and Chorus. A tongue-in-cheek look back at excess and the search for escape, the track rides a head-bopping, rhythm-driven groove with a grittier edge than his work with Old Dominion while keeping the hook-driven writing that’s made him one of Nashville’s most trusted songwriters.
“The stuff that feels good in life is, unfortunately, sometimes also bad for you,” Tursi says. “Unless it’s good love, of course. You can never get enough of good love.” That balance of wit and warmth runs through the whole single and points toward what ‘Colorado’ is building toward.
Earlier this month, Tursi shared “Time With You,” a ragtime-leaning barroom collaboration with Lukas Nelson that showed the album’s range from a completely different angle. Together the singles make a compelling case for what’s coming June 12.
‘Colorado’ is entirely self-produced and self-written across 11 tracks tracing the arc of falling in love and building a life, with contributions from Josh Osborne and Trevor Rosen among others. With multiple number 1 hits and CMA Triple Play Awards already on his resume, this record turns that hitmaking instinct inward, and the result sounds like the most fully realized version of Brad Tursi yet.
Paris Jackson releases “Teenage Drama” today via Republic Records, the second single from her forthcoming project and another co-write with producer Linda Perry. Opening on a thick bassline and loose guitar before dropping into a distortion-heavy hook, the track balances gritty alternative rock with sharp cultural commentary, taking aim at performative culture, conformity, and the generational anxiety of growing up in a fractured modern world. “Here comes all the teenage drama, breaking bones to reach Nirvana,” she sings, and the song’s energy matches the line’s tension completely. It follows “Zombies in Love,” which explored how modern technology quietly numbs human connection, and together the 2 singles signal a bold, alternative-rock-leaning direction from an artist finding her footing with real confidence. Jackson performs at BottleRock Napa Valley tomorrow, May 23.
Joe Bonamassa releases “Bad Penny (Live)” and “Back On My Stompin’ Ground (Live)” today, the latest previews of ‘The Spirit Of Rory Live From Cork’, his full tribute album and concert film arriving June 19 via J&R Adventures. Both tracks were recorded during Bonamassa’s sold-out three-night stand in Cork, Ireland, a tribute performed with the blessing of Gallagher’s family that grew from a planned one-off concert into something far larger as fans travelled from around the world to celebrate Gallagher’s music in the city most closely tied to his legacy.
“Bad Penny,” originally from Gallagher’s 1979 album ‘Top Priority’, was a live staple built on punchy groove and defiant blues-rock energy. Bonamassa’s Cork version leans into the tension and drive of the original rather than smoothing it out, with the crowd audibly locked in throughout. “Back On My Stompin’ Ground,” from Gallagher’s 1973 album ‘Blueprint’, offered one of the set’s most personal moments, a song about return and belonging performed in Gallagher’s hometown, with the arrangement given room to breathe and the audience carrying much of the emotional weight.
The full album spans 14 songs across the many dimensions of Gallagher’s catalog, from the explosive “Walk On Hot Coals” and “Bullfrog Blues” to more reflective moments like “Tattoo’d Lady” and “I Fall Apart.” DVD and Blu-ray editions include bonus features, among them ‘The Inspiration of Rory’, featuring conversations with Brian May and Slash, plus behind-the-scenes footage from Cork.
‘The Spirit Of Rory Live From Cork’ arrives June 19 digitally, on CD/DVD, CD/Blu-ray, and double 180-gram red marble vinyl.
Ingrid Andress releases “All The Best” today via Warner Records Nashville, and the title is doing a lot of ironic work. A post-breakup song built around a biting, sarcastic chorus, the track finds Andress departing a deeply dysfunctional relationship and wishing her ex well, in the most pointed way possible. “I’m at a point in my life where I don’t get overly angry at someone if the relationship doesn’t work out, just annoyed,” she says. “Consider this a playful breakup song.” The release arrives as she wraps the Low-Key Sessions Tour, a six-city fan-curated run of stripped-down shows featuring unreleased material, closing out in Minneapolis. More new music is coming throughout the year as Andress finishes her third studio album, the follow-up to her celebrated sophomore record ‘Good Person’ and her Grammy-nominated debut ‘Lady Like’.
Universal Music Group and TikTok have announced a new multi-year strategic licensing agreement, building on their 2024 partnership and expanding what both companies can offer artists, songwriters, creators, and fans. TikTok will continue carrying UMG’s full recorded music and publishing catalogs, while the new deal adds enhanced marketing and advertising campaigns, e-commerce tools, and deeper artist development initiatives designed to help emerging artists build global audiences.
The AI protections built into the previous deal get a significant extension here. Both companies commit to removing unauthorized AI-generated music from the platform and to improving artist and songwriter attribution, a direct reinforcement of human artistry at a moment when the industry is navigating that terrain carefully. “This new agreement will help create even more opportunities for artists and songwriters to engage audiences, grow their communities and achieve career success on a global scale,” says Tracy Gardner, Global Head of Music Business Development at TikTok.
UMG’s Michael Nash called the deal a step toward “innovative new fan experiences” while improving social media monetization. The practical result for artists is a platform that combines music discovery, cultural conversation, and commercial tools in one place, with more resources behind the relationship than before.
Good Charlotte have announced their Motel Du Cap European and UK Tour, kicking off November 8 in Stockholm and running through a closing stretch of London at The O2 and Manchester at Co-op Live, with Yellowcard joining as support across the run. The announcement follows a sold-out arena run across Australia and New Zealand and comes the same weekend the band headlines Slam Dunk Festival, their first UK shows since 2019 and a fitting return for a band that helped shape the pop-punk scene the festival was built around.
The 2026 edition of Slam Dunk marks the festival’s 20th anniversary, and Good Charlotte headlining the main stage carries real weight given their role in defining the genre’s early 2000s peak. The European tour that follows hits Stockholm, Munich, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Amsterdam, and Paris before the UK dates close it out.
Alongside the tour announcement, Good Charlotte unveiled a limited capsule collaboration with cult British jewellery house The Great Frog and Painted Flowers, the Los Angeles and Tokyo-based creative collective founded by the Madden Brothers in collaboration with Tadaaki Wakamatsu. The capsule includes a handcrafted silver ring and a long-sleeve T-shirt, bringing together music, design, and subcultural craft in a way that reflects the band’s broader creative world.
Presales open May 27, with general on-sale following May 29 at 10am local time.
Good Charlotte 2026 European/UK Motel Du Cap Tour Dates:
Vince Gill brought 50 years of songwriting to the Tiny Desk, and the five-song set moves through his catalog with the quiet authority of an artist who has nothing left to prove and everything left to feel. The set opens with the rollicking “One More Last Chance” before settling into “Whenever You Come Around,” written about the first time Gill saw Amy Grant’s smile, then moves through the unreleased “Heroes,” destined for his ambitious 50 Years from Home monthly EP project, and “When a Soldier Dies,” inspired by a visit to Arlington Cemetery, before closing with “Go Rest High on That Mountain,” written after losing his brother 33 years ago and just added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry. Backed by John Meador, John Jarvis, Jimmie Lee Sloas, and Billy Thomas, Gill’s voice remains extraordinary, and the blend of harmonies throughout the set is something that doesn’t happen without decades of trust between musicians. One of the best Tiny Desks in recent memory.
Dennis Locorriere died on May 16, 2026, at his home in West Sussex, England, after a long battle with kidney disease. He was 76. The lead singer, guitarist, bassist, and harmonica player who had been the voice of Dr. Hook since its formation in 1969 was the last surviving founding member of the band, and the statement from his management closed with a Looney Tunes-esque “That’s all folks,” which felt exactly right for a musician who never took himself too seriously and always took his music seriously enough.
Born on June 13, 1949, in Union City, New Jersey, Locorriere came up playing bars late into the night with musicians a decade older than him, drawn by the music and the company rather than any particular career plan. When George Cummings, Ray Sawyer, and Billy Francis started a new band in New Jersey in 1968 and brought him in on bass, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show was born. Locorriere quickly became the group’s primary voice, and the pairing of his boyish, soulful tenor with Sawyer’s grittier country tones gave the band a vocal identity that was genuinely singular.
Their early years were shaped in large part by their association with Shel Silverstein, who wrote every song on their 1972 self-titled debut and their entire second album ‘Sloppy Seconds’. The results were some of the most distinctive singles of the era, “Sylvia’s Mother” hit the top five in 1972, “The Cover of Rolling Stone” followed in 1973, and the band appeared on that magazine’s cover in caricature form, which was exactly the kind of absurdist outcome the song seemed to invite. The band filed for bankruptcy in 1974, kept touring, and came back stronger.
The second half of the 1970s belonged to Locorriere in full. “When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman” topped the UK charts in 1979 after a 17-week run and hit the US Top 10. “Sharing the Night Together,” “Sexy Eyes,” “A Little Bit More,” and “Better Love Next Time” built one of the decade’s most durable pop catalogs, played across Top 40, easy listening, and country radio alike. After Ray Sawyer left in 1983 and the band wound down in 1985, Locorriere retained the Dr. Hook name, continuing to tour and record under various configurations for four more decades.
As a songwriter, his reach extended far beyond the band. Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Olivia Newton-John, and Helen Reddy all recorded his material. He also collaborated with Silverstein for years after the band years ended, including performing in Silverstein’s play The Devil and Billy Markham and narrating ‘Runny Babbit’ in 2005. He released three solo albums between 2000 and 2010, and in November 2025 announced his retirement from touring, saying he was healthy but weary and ready to rest.
With his passing, every founding member of Dr. Hook is gone.
Ryan Porter died on May 16, 2026, at the age of 46, from complications following a severe car accident on April 28. The Los Angeles-born jazz trombonist and founding member of the West Coast Get Down collective was surrounded by loved ones when he passed. His bandmate and lifelong friend Tony Austin confirmed the news, writing that Porter’s condition had continued to deteriorate despite the best medical care after the accident left him with life-altering injuries.
Porter was born in Los Angeles on July 31, 1979, and came to the trombone after seeing the cover of J.J. Johnson’s album ‘Proof Positive’. His path into the West Coast Get Down began in high school, playing in the Multi-School Jazz Band in Watts under director Reggie Andrews alongside Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, Thundercat, and Ronald Bruner Jr. He later attended the Manhattan School of Music from 1997 to 2001, studying under Steve Turre and David Taylor, before returning to Los Angeles and helping build what would become one of the most celebrated jazz collectives in the country.
The West Coast Get Down’s recording sessions in the late 2000s, held in Kamasi Washington’s parents’ garage in conditions described as cramped and overheated, produced material that would eventually surface as Porter’s album ‘The Optimist’ in 2018. A decade-defining set of recordings from 2011 at Kingsize Soundlabs, in which the collective spent 30 straight days cutting music for seven different albums, yielded Washington’s landmark ‘The Epic’ and Porter’s debut ‘Spangle-Lang Lane’, a collection of reimagined children’s songs rendered in soulful jazz and hip-hop. Porter and his West Coast Get Down bandmates also contributed compositions to Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’, one of the defining albums of that decade.
Kamasi Washington’s tribute captured the depth of a friendship that stretched back to age 11. “You have been my friend for most of my life,” Washington wrote. “You would always tell me that you wanted more than anything else to be a Force for Good and you did it, you are the complete embodiment of that. Your life made this world better.” Porter’s 2019 album was titled ‘Force for Good’. He released his final album, ‘Resilience’, in 2022, and a documentary of the same name in 2024 highlighting free music programs for young artists across Los Angeles.
