New Found Glory will pay tribute to late guitarist Chad Gilbert with a series of shows at his favorite place on Earth. In an Instagram post on Wednesday (Sept. 23), the group announced that following Gilbert’s death at 45 on Sunday (Sept. 20) after a long battle with cancer they will honor him by returning to the stage at EPCOT at the Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. during the upcoming Eat to the Beat Concert series.

“First off, we want to thank everyone for the overwhelming amount of love and tribute posts for Chad these past few days,” they wrote in the post. “Seeing how deeply he touched so many lives means everything to us, and we know he would be so proud to see it.”

As they process the loss of their longtime friend and bandmate, the group said they were canceling their planned appearance at the Aftershock Festival (Oct.1-4) in Sacramento in order to pay proper tribute to Disney superfan Gilbert at his happiest place on Earth.

“We rarely cancel shows but this felt needed,” they wrote. “Anyone who knew Chad knew that he was a massive Disney fan. Our shows at Epcot were dates he was so excited for and he was actively planning to be on stage with us there. He had already worked on the setlists with us and was practicing as much as possible to be ready. Because of how much he wanted to play these shows, taking the stage at Epcot feels like the right way to honor him, and what he would want us to do.”

Before Gilbert’s death, their plan was to announce the setlist for the Epcot shows ahead of time, which is why they posted it in their Insta announcement. “Every note we play and every word you sing at Epcot is for Chad,” they said. “Thank you all for wrapping us in so much love, understanding, and support as we come together to honor his legacy.”

NFG will play six different sets during their two-day run at EPCOT on Monday (Sept. 28) and Tuesday (Sept. 29) and perform such fan favorites as “Something I Call Personality,” “All About Her,” “A Love Song,” “Failure’s Not Flattering,” “Dressed to Kill,” “My Friends Over You,” “Hit or Miss,” “All Downhill From Here,” “Better Off Dead” and “All Downhill From Here,” among others. Bands play three sets a night during the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival, which will also feature upcoming sets from Element and Smash Mouth, after earlier appearances from The War and Treaty, Yellowcard, Couch, Fitz and the Tantrums, MercyMe and Grupo Manía.

Gilbert’s wife, Lisa Cimorelli, announced the guitarist’s death over the weekend, six months after the pop-punk stalwart who co-founded the group in 1997 when he was just 17, revealed that he was fighting brain cancer, which followed a liver cancer diagnosis in 2021.

Also on Thursday, Gilbert’s ex-wife, Paramore’s Hayley Williams, paid tribute in a loving, handwritten note in which she said she did not know “what to say or if it’s appropriate. But I feel sure now that I want to bc life is made of the paths we cross and the reasons we cross them are infinite,” she continued. “Chad is indeed a legend in the scene and my time connected to him taught me a lot. He introduced me to people that continue to shape my life in beautiful ways, and to music and culture that has made life a lot richer.”

She lauded Gilbert for “what he contributed to the musical world a lot of us grew up in,” noting that his “influence and attitude guided the genre forward.” Williams and Gilbert began dating in 2008 and married in 2016; they separated a year later.

The Parton family feud is a total beat-up. There’s no fight, no drama, just love.

That’s the word according to Dolly Parton’s younger sister Freida, who has chimed in on the legal battle that’s brewing over the country legend’s estate.

Parton’s estate is said to be suing the late singer’s nephew Bryan Seaver, who served as the artist’s head of security and announced her death this August in an Instagram video.

A lawsuit obtained by Billboard alleges that Seaver has been using threats of violence to try to extort money from Parton’s estate since she died.

Freida Parton reckons it’s not at all what it seems.

“I’ll say this and this only: there is no feud within our family,” the 69-year-old writes on Instagram. “No one among the Parton/Owens family is fighting over Dolly’s estate. We all love Bryan just as we all love each other. I love you all!!”

As previously reported, the Sept. 22 lawsuit is being leveled by She’s Alive LLC, a company set up by Parton before her death to handle her posthumous finances and business affairs. It’s run by Parton’s longtime manager, Danny Nozell.

The estate alleges that Seaver, who has a military background, became “emboldened” by Parton’s death and sought to extract money from his aunt’s coffers. Seaver allegedly began making increasingly violent threats in writing, screenshots of which are attached to the court papers.

“I’m a killer,” Seaver allegedly wrote to one of Parton’s attorneys. In a text message to Nozell, he allegedly wrote, “I’m going to spend the next times I have on earth ratf—king anyone that has ever betrayed my family.”

Parton’s estate is seeking a restraining order that would prohibit Seaver from interfering with its business operations and require him to stay at least 1,000 feet away from all personnel. The lawsuit does not seek to cut Seaver out of his inheritance, and the court papers make clear that he’s still a beneficiary of the Parton trust.

Parton died in Nashville on Aug. 25 at the age of 80, leaving a legacy that will be cherished for as long as people listen to music. Named Billboard’s top country artist of all time in 2024, Dolly was a cultural and commercial force. She landed 49 albums in the top 10 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, the most of any woman, and she landed more No. 1s on the Hot Country Songs chart for a woman artist, with 25. In 1999, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and in 2022, elevated into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.

The Strokes will embark on a three-city east coast tour of Australia early next year in support of Reality Awaits, the U.S. rock band’s latest studio album.

Julian Casablancas and Co. will play four dates in the land down under, starting Saturday, Feb. 13 at Brisbane Entertainment Centre. The jaunt then heads south for a pair of concerts at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena (Feb. 16 and 17), and wraps up Saturday, Feb. 20 for the inaugural Sydney Summertime at Centennial Park.

Those dates will mark the Strokes’ first Australian headline shows since their sold-out run in 2022, although the band did headline Harvest Rock 2025 festival in Adelaide.

Also announced Thursday, Sept. 24, Courtney Barnett and Promiseland, the project of Johann Rashid, signed to Casablancas’ Cult Records, are confirmed as special guests for the Brisbane and Melbourne shows. Beck, Courtney Barnett and Promiseland will join the Strokes on the lineup for Sydney Summertime.

The Strokes Reality Awaits Australia 2027 is produced by Secret Sounds and Live Nation.

The Strokes have just completed the North America and Japan legs of their Reality Awaits tour, with a batch of shows across the United Kingdom, Europe and South America yet to come.

Reality Awaits (Cult Records/RCA Records) debuted at No. 10 on the ARIA Albums Chart in July of this year. Of their seven studio albums, six have cracked the top 10, including a No. 1 with 2011’s Angles.

Recorded in Costa Rica with producer Rick Rubin and finished around the globe, Reality Awaits features the singles “Going Shopping” and “Falling Out of Love,” and peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 200.

Tickets for all Australian shows go on sale Tuesday Sept. 29 at 1pm. For more, visit secretsounds.com and livenation.com.au.

The Strokes’ Reality Awaits Australia 2027:

Saturday, Feb. 13 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane —

Tuesday, Feb. 16 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

Wednesday, Feb. 17 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

Saturday, Feb. 20 — Sydney Summertime, Centennial Park, Sydney

Presented by Secret Sounds and Live Nation

Supported by Double J

The grand final for Australia’s National Rugby League won’t have an entertainment spot after talks with Tones And I fell through due to scheduling conflicts.

Tones (real name: Toni Watson) had been tipped as the headline music act for the NRL’s showpiece event, set for Sunday, Oct. 4 at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.

That won’t happen, her reps say. And the league won’t pursue another artist to fill the void.

According to a statement from Tones’ team at Lemon Tree Management, the singer was “recently approached to perform the preshow at the NRL Grand Final.” An offer was presented to Tones via management on Sept. 5, reads the message, seen by Billboard. 

“Tones had a prior commitment with Macklemore in America and explored all avenues to make it work.” However, “nothing was signed or confirmed in writing.” 

“Due to the last minute nature,” the statement continues, “and prior commitments by Tones, we were unable to accept the offer. We wish the NRL nothing but the very best for their event.”

The league has said it will, instead, funnel that budget towards sports programs for underprivileged children.

Speaking with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys said the cost associated with the grand final entertainment was roughly A$1 million.

“I’d prefer to see 20,000 underprivileged kids who can’t afford to play rugby league play rugby league, rather than spend a million dollars on 11 minutes of a musical performance,” he remarked.

V’landys had no hard feelings with Tones. “I’m a fan of Tones And I,” he said. “She is a great performer, no doubt about that, and she’s got some great songs, but as I said, we both decided to go to a different direction.”

That different direction means a move away from artists sharing the spotlight of the grand final, one of the great annual crossover moments for a country obsessed with music and sport.  

V’landys insisted the sport didn’t need high-profile singers to sell tickets. “Our game sells itself,” he told the ABC. “People come to watch rugby league. They don’t come to watch a pop concert.”

Performers have included Tina Turner, Billy Idol, The Kid LAROI, and in 2025, Teddy Swims. Swims could be the last of that breed.

“We consider a lot of artists over a period of time,” V’landys added, “but as I said, I’ve been toying with this idea for a couple of years now, about giving the money to kids to play rugby league rather than a musical act.”

The Sydney Morning Herald, quoting unnamed sources, reported the issue was connected with the NRL’s demand that Tones And I perform her 2019 smash “Dance Monkey,” but that the singer and songwriter had declined. Tones has previously discussed her mixed feelings about the song. In a 2022 interview for Australian commercial radio, Tones remarked that “a lot of time, I don’t want to sing it.”

She does sing it, sometimes, including her showcase for the New Year’s celebration at Time’s Square, heading into 2026, and at Sydney’s NYE event in 2022.

“Dance Monkey” was a massive streaming hit which dominated charts for months, including Australia where it held top spot for an all-time record 24 weeks. The single also led the U.K. survey for 11 weeks, a record for a solo female artist; it cracked the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100; and reigned over charts in some 30 territories.

Tones’ debut full-length album Welcome to the Madhouse hit No. 1 in Australia after its release in July 2021, and featured her followup hit “Fly Away,” which peaked at No. 11 in the U.K. Her sophomore album, 2024’s Beautifully Ordinary, also went to No. 1 on the ARIA Chart.

Tones has, in the past, described Macklemore as her “favorite artist.” And with the release of “Chant” in 2022, she counts the Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist as a collaborator.

Macklemore finds himself with some unexpected time on his hands, after a widely publicized early exit from Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour of the United States, following his “Free Palestine” remarks onstage.

Dreams do come true. That’s certainly the case for Nene Royal, the precocious talent who was tonight crowned winner of America’s Got Talent.

The 16-year-old Thai singer and guitarist has electrified audiences — and AGT’s judges — throughout this 21st season.

When it mattered most, the teen sensation captured the heart of the nation. She won America’s vote and captured the title, announced during the two-hour results show which aired Wednesday night (Sept. 23) on NBC.

As the champion, Royal earns more than bragging rights. She scores the $1 million grand prize and a headlining spot in a live show in Las Vegas.

Special guests and performers during the live results show included Josh Groban, Lele Pons, REI AMI, Steve Aoki, and Linkin Park who, following America’s Vote, collaborated with Royal for a performance of “The Emptiness Machine.”

Hailing from Phuket, Thailand, Royal picked up the guitar at age seven and has always dreamed of being a “superstar on tour,” she explained during the auditions phase of AGT. She delivered the goods in a massive way, by belting-out a reinterpreted cover of The Cranberries mid-‘90s protest anthem “Zombie.”

With her spot in the quarterfinals, Royal proved she was no one-hit wonder. Her cover of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” was such a blast, it earned Mel B’s Golden Buzzer. With that, the youngster advanced to the finals.

For her performance in the season 21 finale, Nene reimagined the White Stripes’ classic 2000s number “Seven Nation Army,” grinding Jack White’s iconic riff into a heavy weapon and introducing a fresh guitar solo. The youngster wore a traditional dress, emblazoned with the words “Nene Thailand.”

“Well, I’m glad I pressed my Golden Buzzer,” Mel B remarked after the amps were turned off. “Because not only do you have such mysterious, mystical stage presence, you’re from the best place in the world, Phuket, Thailand…and what you’re bringing to this competition is so unique and you’re only 16 years old. If you don’t win this, I am going to sell Howie’s new house.”

Sofía Vergara said she was confident that the “world is going crazy because there is nothing like you right now, you are unique.”

Howie Mandel spoke last. Nene, he enthused, is “the biggest, most talented, most viral talent to be on that stage…you should win. Give her the million, America.”

The veteran actor spoke truth. It was a winning performance. For the record, magician Geno Ploeger came in second, and magician group Hundred Fingers completed the podium in third place.

Watch Royal’s crowning joy below.

Ciara says she’s no match for her 9-year-old daughter with a sixth sense.

Before the singer and Russell Wilson officially broke the news to their kids that they’re expecting baby No. 5, daughter Sienna had already started putting the pieces together.

In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight published Tuesday, Ciara shared that Sienna somehow sensed that her family was about to grow pretty soon — even before there was a visible baby bump.

“Sienna told me that I was pregnant before I told [the kids],” Ciara said.

According to the singer, Sienna has a history of picking up on her pregnancies before her siblings, and this time was definitely no different. “She told me early on, but my stomach was not big. I wasn’t showing then. She’s got this sixth sense. She’s done this with all her siblings,” Ciara explained.

Sienna apparently wasn’t keeping her suspicions to herself, either. At one point, she directly confronted her mom in the kitchen, telling her, “There’s a baby in your tummy.”

Ciara rightfully panicked a little bit, telling her daughter, “No, there’s not. What the heck?”

She immediately realized that her daughter might accidentally ruin the surprise she had planned for the rest of the family.

“And we were in the kitchen, so I’m like, ‘You’re really going to blow my cover,’” Ciara said.

But Sienna wasn’t the only one who had burning questions and suspicions. While Ciara was filming a TikTok dance with her son Future Zahir, who is 12, he apparently noticed that fans had something to say about his mom’s appearance. After scrolling through the comments, he came to Ciara with a question of his own: Why did everyone keep saying she was pregnant?

Ciara brushed off the speculation like a champion, telling him that people were just being people. But with the family’s big reveal still under wraps, it seemed like her kids were getting dangerously close to figuring out the secret.

Eventually, Ciara and Wilson decided it was time to stop keeping everyone in the dark. The couple gathered their children for what they presented as a family photo before Ciara revealed her growing bump and announced that they were expecting another baby.

The reaction was pretty predictable due to the previous detective work done by her children. After hearing the news, Future joked that the speculation that was swarming in the TikTok comments were in fact true. Despite somewhat figuring it out before the big reveal, everyone was overjoyed that a new member of the family was expected to arrive.

Baby No. 5 will be Ciara and Wilson’s fourth child together. The couple already share Sienna, Win, 6, and Amora Princess, 2, while Ciara shares 12-year-old Future with her ex-fiancé, rapper Future.

Watch the full interview below.