May 6, 2026 After reuniting to play Coachella two years earlier, No Doubt kick off an 18-night residency at the Spere in Las Vegas, making Gwen Stefani the first woman to headline there. The setlist covers 21 songs from 1992-2003, most from their 1995 landmark album Tragic Kingdom.
April 17, 2026 Nine Inch Nails and German electronic-music producer Alex Ridha (known professionally as Boys Noize) release a collaborative album titled Nine Inch Noize. The 12-track collection features various remixes, including versions of older Nine Inch Nails songs, a tune by the Trent Reznor side project How To Destroy Angels, and a cover of British synth-pop duo Soft Cell's "Memorabilia."
April 17, 2026 Madonna makes a surprise appearance during Sabrina Carpenter's headlining set at Coachella, rising from the stage to perform "Vogue" and "Like a Prayer" alongside Carpenter and debut "Bring Your Love," the lead single from her upcoming Confessions II album. Madonna's first appearance at the festival was 20 years earlier in 2006 when she prepared to launch her Confessions Tour.
March 27, 2026 Raye drops her second album, This Music May Contain Hope. The 17 tracks are divided into four "seasons" representing the emotional stages that inspired them. The lead single, "Where Is My Husband!," is a #1 hit in her native UK and helps her break through in America.
March 24, 2026 Miley Cyrus revisits Hannah Montana for a Disney+ 20th anniversary special. Former cast members, along with stars like Selena Gomez and Chappell Roan, join Cyrus in sharing memories of the show, which ran from 2006 to 2011 and starred Cyrus as a schoolgirl who was secretly a rock star. Cyrus debuts a new song on the special called "Younger You," written in the form of a letter from her younger self.
March 21, 2026 With all seven members having completed their mandatory military service, BTS play a free reunion concert in Seoul to promote their new album, ARIRANG, and launch their first tour since 2019. With about 250,000 in attendance it sets a record for the largest public concert in South Korean history. It also draws over 18 million viewers on Netflix, where it's livestreamed.
March 20, 2026 BTS release their comeback album, ARIRANG, their first since 2022, when they started their mandatory South Korean military service. They're still a very big deal, but they now have lots of competition from K-pop acts like Stray Kids, Blackpink, and the animated superheroines Huntr/x of Kpop Demon Hunters.
March 19, 2026 Airbnb reports on the rise of concert tourism (also known as "groupie getaways"), a Gen Z trend where fans plan trips around major tour stops and festivals, often sharing accommodations to save money and make new musically compatible friends.
March 18, 2026 A jury rules for Afroman in a defamation lawsuit filed by seven police officers involved in a raid on his home in 2022. The raid turned up nothing illegal, and Afroman used footage from his security system to mock the officers in videos like "Lemon Pound Cake," which shows one of them eying the dessert while searching for contraband. The verdict is a win for free speech and parody protection.
March 6, 2026 Harry Styles releases his fourth album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally., with the #1 lead single "Aperture." The album title is a mantra for Styles. "It's unhealthy to disco all the time, so loving and moving through your life with love, and then taking a break every now and again to have some fun is a really good way to approach your life," he says.
February 27, 2026 Gorillaz release their ninth album, The Mountain. Inspired by Indian music and the belief that death is a transition to the afterlife, it features some former collaborators who have made their transitions, including Dennis Hopper, whose voice is the first one heard on the album. (Hopper, who died in 2010, recorded narration for the 2005 Gorillaz song "Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head.")
February 27, 2026 Bruno Mars releases The Romantic, his first solo album since 24K Magic 10 years earlier. The first single is the banger "I Just Might," which debuted at #1; the rest of the album is filled with songs that explore what happens when you lead with your heart, going all-in on romance.
February 20, 2026 Mumford & Sons release their sixth studio album, Prizefighter. Produced by The National guitarist Aaron Dessner, the album boasts several collaborations with artists like Hozier on "Rubber Band Man" and Gracie Abrams on "Badlands."
February 8, 2026 Bad Bunny headlines the Super Bowl halftime show, bringing a set full of Spanish-language songs to that stage for the first time. His performance is a tribute to his native Puerto Rico, with a real-life wedding and subsequent celebration. Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin perform as special guests, with Gaga's "Die With A Smile" the only song sung in English.
February 8, 2026 Providing an alternative to Bad Bunny's Spanish-language Super Bowl halftime show, Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett play the "All-American Halftime Show" to a streaming audience. It's billed as a celebration of "faith, family, and freedom."
February 1, 2026 A week before his Super Bowl performance, Bad Bunny becomes the first Spanish-language artist to win the Grammy for Album Of The Year when Debí Tirar Más Fotos takes the prize. Kendrick Lamar picks up five trophies (including Record Of The Year for "Luther") to become the most-awarded rapper in Grammy history with 27.
January 16, 2026 "So Sick" superstar Ne-Yo offers details of his polyamorous lifestyle during an appearance on Sherri, where he tells the host he has three girlfriends. When Sherri says it sounds like a lot of work, Ne-Yo replies, "I've never been afraid of hard work."
January 10, 2026 Grateful Dead guitarist and founding member Bob Weir's long strange trip comes to an end as he dies following a battle with cancer. He sang lead on "Truckin'" and co-wrote many Dead classics, including "Sugar Magnolia" and "Born Cross-Eyed."
December 31, 2025 The TV series Stranger Things wraps up with a finale featuring the rarely licensed Prince songs "When Doves Cry" and "Purple Rain" as part of a plotline where Side 2 of the Purple Rain album triggers a device. Like many '80s tracks used on the show (particularly "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush), the songs find a new audience and get a huge boost in streaming.
December 29, 2025 Forbes says Beyoncé is now a billionaire, pushed over the line thanks to her Cowboy Carter tour. She's the fifth musician in the club, joining Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Jay-Z (her husband).
December 22, 2025 Barry Manilow, 82 and in the middle of his farewell tour, reveals that he's been diagnosed with lung cancer. It's treated successfully with surgery, but part of his left lung is removed, making it difficult to sing.
December 6, 2025 Katy Perry goes Instagram official with Justin Trudeau, the former prime minister of Canada, posting a series of photos of them coupling up in Japan.More
December 5, 2025 Olivia Rodrigo becomes one of the few modern pop stars to release a big live album when she issues Live From Glastonbury (A BBC Recording), which documents her headlining set at the famed English festival the previous summer. The Cure frontman Robert Smith joins the singer on two covers of his band's songs: "Friday I'm In Love" and "Just Like Heaven."
November 8, 2025 The White Stripes enter the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, with fellow Detroiter Iggy Pop inducting them. Drummer Meg White, intensely private, skips the ceremony but helps Jack with their speech. Their long thank you list includes The Misfits, Loretta Lynn, Fugazi, Jethro Tull, Dick Dale and The Troggs.
November 1, 2025 Xania Monet makes history as the first-known AI artist to appear on a Billboard airplay chart when her viral R&B ballad "How Was I Supposed To Know?" debuts at #30 on Adult R&B Airplay - a sign that radio stations are playing AI-generated music.More
October 30, 2025 Win Butler and Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire announce their separation after 22 years of marriage but push forward as bandmates, joining the ranks of Fleetwood Mac, Abba and The White Stripes as bands with divorced couples as members.
October 24, 2025 Halle Bailey, the younger half of the sisterly R&B duo Chloe x Halle, releases her solo debut album, Love?... Or Something Like It. It features her first solo single, "Angel," which was nominated for Best R&B Song at the Grammy Awards the previous year.
October 9, 2025 Diss tracks are protected speech, a judge rules in Drake's defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group, which released and promoted Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us," a song where he says very hurtful things about Drake. "The average listener is not under the impression that a diss track is the product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public fact-checked verifiable content," the judge explains.
October 6, 2025 Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson announce a Rush reunion tour, with the German drummer Anika Nilles filling in for Neil Peart, who died in 2020. "Following everything that has transpired since our last performance, Alex and I have engaged in deep reflection and concluded that we genuinely miss it," Lee explains.
October 3, 2025 Taylor Swift hypes her latest album, The Life Of A Showgirl, with an extreme marketing campaign that entices fans to unlock musical clues hidden behind orange doors in 12 cities around the world.More
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