From Vincent Price to Sting’s Accidental Giggle, These Are the Most Unforgettable Laughs in Music History
“Thriller” – Michael Jackson (feat. Vincent Price)
Vincent Price’s closing monologue and maniacal laugh is one of the most recognizable moments in pop music history. Jackson specifically sought out Price for the part, and the actor recorded it in one take. The laugh alone has become a cultural landmark.
“Crazy Train” – Ozzy Osbourne
That manic, high-pitched cackle that opens the track sets the tone for everything that follows. Recorded for Osbourne’s debut solo album ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ in 1980, the laugh was entirely in character for a man building a reputation as rock’s ultimate wild card.
“Brain Damage” – Pink Floyd
The haunting, building laughter was provided not by any band member but by Peter Watts, the band’s road manager. It remains one of the most perfectly placed sonic details on ‘The Dark Side of the Moon,’ an album that left nothing to chance.
“Rock With You” – Michael Jackson
Jackson’s infectious, high-pitched giggle appears throughout his catalog, and this track captures it at its most natural and warm. It was rarely scripted, often left in because producers knew it added a personality no production trick could manufacture.
“Super Freak” – Rick James
That cheeky, funky laugh in the intro tells you everything about the song before a single lyric lands. Rick James was known for his flamboyant personality, and this opening moment is pure him, loose, confident, and completely in control.
“Wipe Out” – The Surfaris
One of the most manic laughing intros in rock history, immediately recognizable and impossible to mistake for anything else. The laugh was reportedly performed by drummer Ron Wilson, and it became as famous as the drum break that follows it.
“Feel Good Inc.” – Gorillaz (feat. De La Soul)
The sinister, echoing laugh that opens this track somehow makes the song both more unsettling and more irresistible at the same time. It was crafted to reflect the song’s themes of distraction and manufactured happiness, and it lands exactly right.
“Roxanne” – The Police
Sting’s brief laugh at the very top of the recording was entirely accidental. He sat on a piano before the take began, the sound startled him into laughter, and producer Nigel Gray kept it in. It’s now inseparable from one of the band’s most iconic songs.
“Hungry Like the Wolf” – Duran Duran
The playful laugh woven into this track carries a looseness and energy that adds real texture. Recorded during the ‘Rio’ sessions in 1982, it reflects the band at their most confident and adventurous, chasing a sound that was entirely their own.
“Sweet Emotion” – Aerosmith
Tom Hamilton’s bass-heavy, laid-back laughter opens this track before the iconic riff even kicks in. It’s one of rock’s great understated moments, setting a mood that perfectly previews everything the song delivers.
“That’s Life” – Frank Sinatra
Sinatra closes this classic with a laugh of pure swagger and resilience that lands like a final punctuation mark on one of his most defiant vocal performances. It sounds spontaneous, but everything Sinatra did in the studio was intentional.
“Sadeness (Part I)” – Enigma
A haunting, whispering laugh is buried deep in this atmospheric track, surfacing like something from a fever dream. It adds to the song’s deeply mysterious, cinematic quality and is easy to miss on first listen.
“The Situation” – Yazz
The laughter woven into this late-80s dance track carries an infectious energy that matches the song’s euphoric, celebratory spirit. It’s one of those details that makes the recording feel genuinely alive rather than just produced.
“The Message” – Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
One of hip-hop’s most important recordings carries moments of dark, knowing laughter that cut through the song’s grim urban narrative with uncomfortable clarity. The laugh here tells you more than the words ever could.
“Mama” – Genesis
The opening of this 1983 track features one of the most unsettling laughs in rock history, a sinister, distorted cackle from Phil Collins processed through a LinnDrum machine. Collins has stated the laugh was directly inspired by the dark, knowing laughter woven through Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message,” making it one of the great cross-genre influences in pop music history. The combination of that laugh, the pulsing drum machine, and the brooding synths makes “Mama” one of Genesis’s most haunting recordings.
“Everybody Needs Love” – Bobby Womack
Womack’s laugh is deeply soulful and entirely his own, warm and lived-in in a way that only someone who has truly felt the music can produce. It’s a small moment that reveals everything about who he was as an artist.
Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan Announce the Double Down Tour
Hot off a sold-out show at UGA’s Sanford Stadium in front of 63,000 fans, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan are keeping the momentum going. The two Georgia natives have announced the Double Down Tour 2026, a co-headlining stadium run of four dates kicking off August 1 in Missoula, Montana. Live Nation promotes the tour. Artist presales open May 6, with the general on-sale launching May 8 at 10 AM local time via Ticketmaster. VIP packages are available.
The Double Down Tour features a rotating lineup of support acts across select dates including Jon Pardi, Dylan Scott, Chase Matthew, Gavin Adcock, Dasha, and Lauren Watkins, with Dee Jay Silver and DJ Rock on all four dates. Between them, Aldean and Bryan bring two of country music’s most celebrated careers to the same stage: ACM Artist of the Decade for Aldean and five-time Entertainer of the Year for Bryan.
“Luke and I have each been at this, career-wise and as friends, for over twenty years,” says Aldean. “Playing UGA was just a preview of what’s coming for the rest of these shows.” Bryan matched the energy: “If our time in Georgia was a barometric measurement of what’s ahead, these shows with Jason will make it one of the best touring years of my life.”
Aldean heads into the tour behind his 12th studio album ‘Songs About Us,’ a 20-track project that includes a title collaboration with Bryan alongside singles “How Far Does A Goodbye Go” and “Don’t Tell On Me.” Bryan, meanwhile, wraps his ninth season as a judge on American Idol in May before launching his separate Word On The Street Tour.
Double Down Tour 2026 Dates:
August 1, Missoula, MT, Washington-Grizzly Stadium
August 16, San Diego, CA, Petco Park
August 20, Washington, DC, Nationals Park
December 11, Las Vegas, NV, Allegiant Stadium
Oreo’s New Firecracker Pop Cookie Is the Most Patriotic Snack of Summer 2026 and It Hits Stores May 4
Just in time for America’s 250th birthday and the summer barbecue season, Oreo has announced its latest limited-edition release and it’s a genuinely clever one. The new Firecracker Pop Oreo takes direct inspiration from the classic red, white, and blue popsicle, sandwiching blue raspberry, lemon, and cherry-flavored crème between two golden wafers in the same iconic color order as the frozen treat. Three distinct crème flavors in one cookie. The internet, predictably, lost its mind.
The cookies hit retailer shelves nationwide beginning May 4 for a limited time while supplies last. The colorful striped filling makes them immediately recognizable the moment you open the package, and early tasters are already calling them legitimately delicious rather than just a novelty. One eager fan on social media summed up the general mood perfectly: “This actually gave me the giddiest feeling.” Another kept it even simpler: “Say less. Adding to cart immediately.”
The Firecracker Pop Oreo arrives as part of a broader wave of America250 celebrations hitting grocery store shelves this summer. Coca-Cola has state-themed collectible cans, Cheerios launched a red, white, and blue birthday cake-flavored cereal, and Mountain Dew rebranded as American Dew for the season. Oreo’s contribution to the patriotic snack roster lands as arguably the most fun of the bunch, and the triple-crème construction makes it stand out from anything the brand has done before.
Oreo has kept itself busy in 2026 beyond the Firecracker Pop launch. The brand recently released a small-batch dill pickle-flavored cookie available exclusively online at Oreo.com for $9.99 a six-pack, relaunched Oreo Cakesters with a new recipe in Original, Golden, and Double Chocolate formats, and rolled out a special 12-count fudge-covered Mother’s Day cookie box for $39.99. The Firecracker Pop, though, is the headline act of the summer.
Mark May 4 on the calendar. These are going to go fast.
How to Get Verified on Facebook and Why It Actually Matters
Getting that blue checkmark on Facebook carries real weight for anyone building a public presence. For musicians, public figures, journalists, and brands, verification signals authenticity and helps fans and followers confirm they’re engaging with the real you. Facebook has seen its share of fake profiles and copycat pages over the years, and verification cuts through that noise immediately. It delivers a credibility boost that translates to better visibility, stronger trust, and more meaningful engagement with your audience.
Facebook verification runs through Meta Verified, the platform’s subscription-based program covering both Facebook and Instagram under one subscription. The cost sits at approximately $14.99 USD per month on web or $17.99 per month on iOS and Android. That subscription also includes proactive account protection, access to a real human support representative, and increased visibility in search results. For anyone serious about their public profile, that’s a reasonable monthly investment with tangible returns.
Here’s the step-by-step. Go to your Facebook profile or page and tap the menu icon. Navigate to “Meta Verified” and select “Get Verified.” Confirm which account you want to verify, then submit a government-issued photo ID, your full legal name as it appears on that ID, and confirm your profile photo matches the submitted ID. Facebook reviews your submission within a few days and sends a notification when complete. Approval means the blue badge appears on your profile or page immediately.
A few eligibility requirements to check off before applying. Two-factor authentication needs to be enabled, a profile photo needs to be in place, and the account needs to comply with Meta’s community standards and terms of service. Your name on Facebook also needs to match your government ID exactly, so stage names or brand names require some thought. In those situations, setting up as a public figure or brand page rather than a personal profile tends to work better, as the requirements differ slightly between account types.
The blue badge opens the door, and consistent, quality content keeps people walking through it. Posting regularly, engaging with your audience, and making the profile genuinely worth following are what turn verification into something meaningful. For artists, creators, and public figures building something real in 2026, getting verified on Facebook is a smart, straightforward step toward a stronger digital presence.
The CNE Announces Its 2026 Concert Lineup With Shaggy, Lupe Fiasco, Tom Cochrane, Lights, The Trews and Silverstein
The Canadian National Exhibition has dropped its first round of 2026 concert headliners, and it’s a strong opening statement for what organizers are calling the Year of Music at the CNE. The 18-day fair runs August 21 through September 7, and all concerts are free with CNE admission, with a new Front Row VIP Experience add-on available at the Bell SOUNDSTAGE at the Bandshell. Advance ticket discounts of up to 35% are on sale now at TheEx.com/tickets.
The newly named Bell SOUNDSTAGE at the Bandshell, rebranded in partnership with Billboard Canada and Rolling Stone Canada through ArtsHouse Media Group, marks the 90th anniversary of the beloved outdoor stage with a lineup that spans hip-hop, reggae, rock, post-hardcore, and electropop. Opening Day on August 21 belongs to Grammy-winning Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco, who emerges 20 years after his landmark debut ‘Food & Liquor’ with a catalog that includes 12 Grammy nominations, three platinum singles, and one of hip-hop’s most consistently celebrated bodies of work. The following evening, platinum-selling Canadian singer-songwriter and Billboard Canada’s inaugural 2025 Visionary Award recipient Lights takes the stage, bringing her genre-blurring indie, alternative, and dance sound to a hometown crowd.
August 23 brings the only Diamond-selling dancehall artist in music history. Shaggy, born Orville Richard Burrell in Kingston, Jamaica, has sold more than 40 million album units worldwide, logged multiple Billboard Hot 100 hits including “It Wasn’t Me” and “Boombastic,” earned a Grammy for his joint album with Sting ’44/876,’ and produced “Banana” with Conkarah, which crossed two billion digital streams. His new album ‘Lottery,’ featuring Sting, Robin Thicke, Akon, and Aidonia, drops May 15. The Trews, one of Canada’s most successful rock bands with 20 Top Ten Rock Radio singles and support slots for The Rolling Stones, KISS, and Bruce Springsteen, headline August 27 behind their latest album ‘The Bloody Light.’ Silverstein, Ontario-formed post-hardcore veterans with over one billion streams and 25-plus years in the game, close out September 3, and eight-time JUNO Award winner and Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Tom Cochrane closes the announced lineup September 5 with a catalog that includes “Life Is a Highway,” “Lunatic Fringe,” and “Big League.”
More artists are still to be announced across all five CNE music stages, including the newly added NXNE Stage in partnership with NXNE Music Festival & Conference. The 2026 CNE runs August 21 through September 7. Full details at TheEx.com.
Opening Day, Friday August 21: Lupe Fiasco
Saturday, August 22: Lights
Sunday, August 23: Shaggy
Thursday, August 27: The Trews
Thursday, September 3: Silverstein
Saturday, September 5: Tom Cochrane
Elmiene and Baby Rose Unite on New Version of “Honour” as His North American Tour Kicks Off Today
Elmiene launches his North American headline tour tonight in Detroit, and he’s doing it with a brand new version of “Honour” featuring rising soul star Baby Rose, out now. The track, taken from his debut album ‘sounds for someone,’ gets a whole new dimension from Baby Rose’s grounding, self-aware verse, her vocal locking in with Elmiene’s with a seamlessness that makes the collaboration feel entirely natural. The two voices approach the song’s themes of intimacy and uncertainty from complementary emotional angles, and the result is one of the more compelling R&B releases of the spring.
‘sounds for someone’ is a 12-track debut that traces two decades of familial trials and triumphs through deeply personal songwriting and production from an exceptional lineup including Sampha, Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman, No I.D., and Raphael Saadiq, who also contributes as a featured artist. Single “Reclusive” has already crossed 13 million combined streams. NME gave the record five stars, calling it cinematic. Rolling Stone UK awarded four stars, praising his “astounding range and control.” DIY added four more, noting a vocal “that can break and fix hearts within the space of one single song.” That’s a critical reception most debut albums don’t come close to.
The British-Sudanese vocalist has been building to this moment with real intention. His COLORS session sparked instant fandom. His NPR Tiny Desk Concert has surpassed one million views and earned praise for his “vintage voice.” He sold out O2 Academy Brixton, performed at the BET Awards, supported Stevie Wonder at British Summer Time Hyde Park, and received nominations for the BRITs Rising Star Award and the Ivor Novello Rising Star Award. His This Is The Remix EP saw his own tracks reimagined by Timbaland, Blxst, and IAMNOBODI.
The North American leg runs through May 31 in Los Angeles, touching 18 cities across the U.S. and Canada. The UK and European leg follows in late November, closing December 8 at London’s Eventim Apollo. These are rooms that match exactly where Elmiene is right now, and based on everything he’s delivered so far, they’re going to feel too small before long.
Tour Dates:
April 30, Detroit, MI, St. Andrew’s Hall
May 1, Chicago, IL, Riviera Theatre
May 3, Toronto, ON, Opera House
May 6, Brooklyn, NY, Brooklyn Paramount
May 7, Silver Spring, MD, The Fillmore
May 9, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts
May 11, Charlotte, NC, The Fillmore
May 12, Nashville, TN, Brooklyn Bowl
May 14, Birmingham, AL, Saturn
May 15, Atlanta, GA, Coca Cola Roxy
May 17, Houston, TX, House of Blues
May 19, Austin, TX, Emo’s
May 20, Dallas, TX, House of Blues
May 23, Salt Lake City, UT, The Depot
May 26, Sacramento, CA, Ace of Spades
May 27, Berkeley, CA, The UC Theatre
May 29, Phoenix, AZ, Crescent Ballroom
May 31, Los Angeles, CA, The Wiltern
November 29, Amsterdam, NL, Melkweg
November 30, Berlin, DE, The Metropol
December 2, Paris, FR, Salle Pleyel
December 3, Brussels, BE, Ancienne Belgique
December 5, Bristol, UK, O2 Academy
December 6, Manchester, UK, Albert Hall
December 8, London, UK, Eventim Apollo
Def Leppard Release ‘Greatest Hits’ on Vinyl and Head Out on a UK and European Tour This June
Def Leppard are marking 2026 with a freshly mastered ‘Greatest Hits’ vinyl release, available June 12 in two formats: standard black vinyl and a special edition blood red marbled vinyl featuring exclusive 2026 tour artwork, the latter available exclusively on the road. Pre-orders are live now at defleppard.com.
The 10-track collection pulls from the core of one of rock’s most bulletproof catalogs, covering “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” “Hysteria,” “Photograph,” “Love Bites,” “Rock of Ages,” “When Love and Hate Collide,” “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak,” “Foolin’,” “Animal,” and “Armageddon It.” For a band that has sold more than 110 million albums worldwide and holds two Diamond Awards in the U.S., this is exactly the kind of distillation their catalog deserves on vinyl.
The release arrives on the heels of an already packed year. Def Leppard completed a sold-out Las Vegas residency, toured India, and released a brand new single “Rejoice,” available now with a lyric video. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, who also recently received their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, show no signs of easing up.
The UK and European tour runs through June and July 2026, with Extreme joining as special guests on most dates. Highlights include a headline show at The O2 in London and the band’s first Paris show in nearly 30 years, a milestone for European fans who’ve waited a long time for that one. Full dates and tickets at defleppard.com.
‘Greatest Hits’ Track Listing:
Side One:
Pour Some Sugar on Me
Hysteria
Photograph
Love Bites
Animal
Side Two:
Rock of Ages
When Love and Hate Collide
Bringin’ On the Heartbreak
Foolin’
Armageddon It
James Wesley Releases “One Best Friend,” a Traditional Country Ballad About a Boy and His Rescue Dog
James Wesley has released “One Best Friend” on National Pet Adoption Day, and the timing adds real meaning to an already emotionally charged piece of songwriting. The new single is a warm, vivid traditional country ballad co-written by Wesley alongside Grammy-nominated songwriter Phil O’Donnell, whose credits include George Strait, Blake Shelton, Montgomery Gentry, Craig Morgan, and Darius Rucker, and Lee Adams, a Nashville industry veteran who has helped champion more than 50 number one country hits throughout her career in radio and record promotion. It’s out now on all major streaming platforms.
The song follows a young boy who moves to a lonely new hometown and finds an unexpected companion in a wandering black lab who becomes his constant through childhood, growing pains, and adulthood. The storytelling is specific and unhurried, wrapped in warm production that suits Wesley’s emotionally grounded vocal delivery perfectly. “I feel this is one of the more touching songs that I have had a hand in writing,” Wesley says. “Some individuals only have pets, who love unconditionally, steal our hearts and become our best friends.”
Wesley is a country singer-songwriter whose career spans more than two decades of honest, blue-collar storytelling. Born and raised in Mound Valley, Kansas, he first entered the national spotlight in 1999 before reinventing himself creatively in Nashville, signing with Broken Bow Records and releasing a string of successful singles including “Real” (number 22, Billboard Hot Country Songs) and “Didn’t I” (number 24). In 2011, he opened for Taylor Swift on the Speak Now Tour, performing for arena crowds across the country.
His 2014 contribution to the Merle Haggard tribute album ‘Working Man’s Poet,’ recording “I’m a Lonesome Fugitive” and “The Fightin’ Side of Me,” underlined exactly where Wesley’s musical heart lives. His catalog, including “Thank a Farmer,” “Walking Contradiction,” and “Hooked Up,” has always reflected small-town values, hard work, and real life told without embellishment.
“One Best Friend” is the kind of song that lands hardest for anyone who’s experienced that particular, irreplaceable kind of loyalty.
Tony Wilson, Hot Chocolate Co-Founder and ‘You Sexy Thing’ Co-Writer, Dies at 89
Tony Wilson, the Trinidadian bassist, vocalist, and songwriter who co-founded the British soul band Hot Chocolate and helped craft some of the most joyful, enduring pop songs of the 1970s, died on April 24, 2026, at his home in Trinidad. He was 89. No cause of death was given. His family confirmed the news on social media with a message that was as simple and powerful as any lyric he ever wrote: “Dad left us today. He left a lot of music behind… forever and ever.”
Wilson was born in Trinidad on October 8, 1936, and came to music early, cycling through a series of local bands — The Flames, The Souvenirs, The Corduroys — before making his way to London, where the city’s churning, competitive music scene would eventually deliver him to the doorstep that changed everything. His neighbor across the hall was a young man named Errol Brown. The two began writing together almost immediately, and Hot Chocolate was born.
Their first break arrived in characteristically audacious fashion. They recorded a reggae version of John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” — without permission — and sent it directly to Lennon himself. Lennon not only approved it, he signed the band to Apple Records on the spot. It was a beginning that announced Hot Chocolate’s confidence and creativity in equal measure, and it set the template for everything that followed: bold ideas, executed with charm, landing exactly where they needed to land.
What followed was one of the most consistent commercial runs in British pop history. The band scored at least one hit every year for fifteen consecutive years from 1970 — a record at the time — and became the first predominantly Black British group to achieve major chart success in America. The songs Wilson co-wrote with Brown were deceptively sophisticated: “Love Is Life,” “Brother Louie,” “Emma,” and the track that would outlive every era and every decade it passed through, “You Sexy Thing.” Released in 1975, it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, found a second life in 1997 when it anchored the film The Full Monty, and has never really left the cultural conversation since. It is one of the most recognizable opening bars in the history of pop music.
Behind that success was a tension that would ultimately cost Wilson his place in the band he helped build. He had been Hot Chocolate’s original frontman, but producer Mickie Most gradually pushed Errol Brown forward as the lead voice, a shift that sat uneasily with Wilson even as his bandmates acknowledged he had the stronger singing voice. The breaking point came in an argument over royalties for “You Sexy Thing” — at the time just a B-side — and Wilson walked away in 1975. Brown later reflected with candor on what that departure meant financially: “That one argument must have cost him millions of pounds.”
Wilson’s solo career produced two albums, I Like Your Style (1976) and Catch One (1979), neither of which made a significant commercial impact. He released a final compilation in 1988 and then stepped back from the music industry, eventually returning to Trinidad. The songs, of course, kept going without him — through films, through television, through every generation of listeners who discovered “You Sexy Thing” as if for the first time and felt the same thing everyone always felt: pure, uncomplicated delight.
When Brown died in 2015, Wilson paid quiet tribute on social media. A bass guitar he had owned was lovingly restored on the BBC programme The Repair Shop in 2022, a small reminder that the instruments of a life in music outlast almost everything else.
His son Danny, reflecting on old diaries his mother had unearthed from 1970 and 1971, offered perhaps the most honest and moving summation of his father’s life: the staggering work, the knock-backs, the meticulous documentation of record sales, the sheer determination to make the world hear the songs he had written. “He meant so much to so many people,” Danny wrote. “Many posts make reference to how overlooked and underrated his music was — and although totally biased, I have to agree.”
Tony Wilson is survived by his children, including his son Danny and his daughter, whose words announced his passing to the world.