Author: James Evenden

Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl is off to a record-breaking start, selling 2.7 million copies on its first day in the US. Already, Swift has secured the second-biggest sales week of the modern era — since Luminate began electronically tracking data in 1991 — trailing only Adele’s 25, which moved 3.378 million copies in its first week back in 2015 (per Billboard). Of that total, 1.2 million came from vinyl sales alone, setting a new record and surpassing the benchmark Swift herself established with The Tortured Poets Department, which sold 859,000 vinyl copies in its 2024 debut week.…

The current Riyadh Comedy Festival taking place in Saudi Arabia has received major backlash, including harsh criticism from comedians who are not participating in the two-week event. Now, comedian Jessica Kirson has apologized for performing at the festival, while the embattled Louis C.K. has defended his appearance. The festival features a who’s who of prominent comedians who earned major paychecks for their appearances, including Dave Chappelle, Sebastian Maniscalco, Kevin Hart, Chris Tucker, Bill Burr, Pete Davidson, Whitney Cummings, and more. In recent days, fellow comedians like Marc Maron, Shane Gillis, and David Cross (who wrote a lengthy takedown of his…

Image Image Credit Scott Legato / Contributor via Getty Images and Samir Hussein / Contributor via Getty Images Image Alt Chris Brown performs during the Chris Brown: Breezy Bowl XX Tour at Ford Field and Usher performs at The O2 Arena on May 06, 2025 in London, England Image Size landscape-medium Key Takeaways: Surprise guests Usher, Bow Wow, and GloRilla joined Chris Brown during his “Breezy Bowl XX Stadium World Tour” stop in Atlanta. Usher performed “Superstar” and received high praise from Brown, who called him “the greatest.” The performance highlighted a rare onstage reunion between two R&B icons, drawing…

Image Image Credit Prince Williams / Contributor via Getty Images Image Alt Rapper Young Thug performs During Young Thug Live From Fulton Courthouse on September 28, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. Image Size landscape-medium Key Takeaways: Deege’s animation reimagines Young Thug’s “Perspektives With Bank” interview in cartoon form. The animation captures viral quotes, including Thug discussing Gunna and why he hadn’t released any music. Thug also discusses leaked jail calls, YSL plea deals, and his mindset after release. Since his release after the YSL RICO case, there’s been no shortage of questions surrounding Young Thug, especially following his leaked jail calls…

Drummer Alex Bent has announced his departure from Trivium after nine years in the veteran metal act. The news comes less than a month before the band kicks off a headlining North American tour. Get Trivium Tickets Here As of now, no replacement has been named for Bent, who joined Trivium in 2016. In a statement shared on the band’s official Facebook page, the drummer wrote the following: “I am beyond grateful for the incredible past 9 years with Trivium — filled with unforgettable moments, music, and friendships that I’ll always carry with me. I’m so proud of every record…

Prior to his passing on July 22nd, Ozzy Osbourne completed writing the final entries in his new memoir, Last Rites, which is set to be released this Tuesday, October 7th (pre-order here). In a newly shared excerpt, the metal icon reflected on his performance at the “Back to the Beginning” concert, saying, “It didn’t feel like a funeral. It felt like a celebration.” Ozzy performed his final concert as both as solo artist and as frontman of Black Sabbath on July 5th at Villa Park in his hometown of Birmingham, England, as part of a daylong event that also featured…

Spencer Elden, who was photographed as the naked baby on the cover of Nirvana’s 1991 Nevermind album, is not backing down from pursuing legal action against the band. Following a judge’s second dismissal of Elden’s child pornography lawsuit earlier this week, his lawyers have once again filed an appeal. To recap, Elden, who is now in his 30s, sued Nirvana and other parties for child exploitation back in 2021, claiming the image of him amounted to child pornography, and that his legal guardians never granted consent for the band to use the photo as its album cover. Judge Fernando M.…

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Monster: The Ed Gein Story.] “Who is this for?” can be an essential question as a critic. Every piece of media has its audience and art, in this case film and television, is hard. When we come up short on the answer to that question, it typically means that we’ve failed to explore the piece in a meaningful enough way. But, in the case of Monster: The Ed Gein Story, I’m comfortable placing the burden of fault squarely on the shoulders of Ryan Murphy and his partner Ian Brennan. Some might think that…

The most surprising thing about spending a Friday afternoon at Taylor Swift’s The Official Release Party of a Showgirl was how little people looked at their phones. It wasn’t a completely phone-free zone — a few people filmed the screen occasionally or checked their socials — but for the most part those in the sold-out theater were entirely focused on the action. It’s impressive that this was the case, given that the bulk of this Life of a Showgirl celebration consisted of lyric videos, with kaleidoscopic moving images of Swift serving as the backdrop for 11 of the 12 new…

Guns N’ Roses have announced an expanded vinyl reissue of their 1999 release Live Era ’87-’93, set to arrive in various editions on November 21st. The 4-LP set contains the remastered version of the original double album, and includes the previous Japan-only bonus track “Coma,” for a total of 23 songs — including classics like “November Rain,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine, “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Don’t Cry,” and “Paradise City.” The box set is available for pre-order in black vinyl, colored vinyl, and super-limited picture vinyl housed in gatefold jackets, with deluxe packages adding a T-shirt and magnet. A digital…