Kacey Musgraves isn’t letting her critics get the last word.

On Monday (Oct. 12), the country star fired back at Kristi Noem, the former Homeland Security secretary and current U.S. special envoy, after Noem took a swipe at Musgraves for welcoming Texas Senate candidate James Talarico to one of her concerts over the weekend.

“I don’t think you have a dog in this fight but if you did you would have shot it,” Musgraves wrote on X, delivering a pointed jab at Noem’s controversial account of killing her family dog.

The exchange happened after Talarico attended Musgraves’ Middle of Nowhere Tour stop in Dallas on Saturday. The Democratic candidate shared a photo with the singer on social media, writing, “Thank you for having me last night, Kacey Musgraves!”

Noem subsequently shared a screenshot of Talarico’s post, using the moment to voice her preference for both another country star and Talarico’s Republican opponent in the Senate race.

“I’ll take [Ella Langley] over Kacey Musgraves any day,” Noem wrote. “And if I’m choosin’ Texas, I’ll take Ken Paxton over James Talarico.”

The reference to “Choosin’ Texas” was a nod to Langley’s country hit, which spent 24 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 before Taylor Swift‘s “Patient Zero” ended its historic run this month. The song’s unprecedented chart success has helped make Langley one of country music’s biggest breakout stars of the entire year.

Musgraves’ response turned the former government official’s criticism into a reference to one of the most controversial stories from Noem’s political career. In her 2024 memoir No Going Back, Noem recounted shooting and killing her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, whom she described as having an aggressive temperament. The revelation drew widespread backlash following the book’s publication.

The incident therefore provided Musgraves the punchline to her response to Noem’s unsolicited comparison of the two country singers.

Neither Langley nor Paxton was directly involved in the social media exchange between Musgraves and Noem.

Both country singers have made their mark on the Billboard charts. Musgraves released her sixth studio album, Middle of Nowhere, on May 1, while Langley’s sophomore album, Dandelion, arrived in April. Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” made history with its record-breaking Hot 100 run, while Musgraves continued her chart presence with new music from her latest album, with the project landing at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

Musgraves has previously used her platform to speak out on political and social issues. Earlier this year, she invited The Mariachi Brothers to open several of her performances in Texas. The group had previously been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before being released in March, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Read the response from Musgraves below.

I don’t think you have a dog in this fight but if you did you would have shot it. https://t.co/bI50bahJZu

— K A C E Y (@KaceyMusgraves) October 12, 2026

The Jonas Brothers‘ latest performance was totally bananas. At the inaugural Banana Bowl in Washington, D.C., Kevin, Joe and Nick delivered a high-energy medley of their hits on the field, at certain points struggling to compete volume-wise with the intense cheers from fans watching the show.

During the ninth-inning performance on Saturday (Oct. 10) — which the Savannah Bananas baseball team posted in full on YouTube — the JoBros opened with some of their classics. Leading with “Burnin’ Up” followed by Camp Rock banger “Play My Music,” the trio segued into later hits such as “Waffle House” and Billboard Hot 100 topper “Sucker” while strutting from one end of the field to the next.

At different points in the performance, the band was joined by the six different teams in the Banana Ball Championship League, the players for which clearly had lots of fun making up dance moves to display while accompanying the JoBros. During other moments — most notably when a crowd of fans was welcomed onto the field to receive autographs from the guys — it was difficult to hear the music over the audience’s excited, banana-splitting screams. (If anything, it added to the fun of the performance.)

The first-ever Banana Bowl closed out with the Texas Tailgaters winning 2-1 against the Savannah Bananas. It was a day full of fanfare and celebrity appearances, with John Cena, Kane Brown and Pentatonix also joining the fun.

The Jonas Brothers last dropped an album in August 2025, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard 200 with Greetings From Your Hometown. Last month, they performed at the NFL game in Melbourne, Australia.

Watch the Jo Bros’ full performance at The Banana Bowl above.

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The end of the NFL week five, the league heads to L.A. for Monday Night Football. For the game, two NFL powerhouses going head-to-head to see which team is going to dominate the league for the 2026-2027 season. Plus, there might be one or two celebrity sightings too.

How to Watch ‘Monday Night Football’ Live Online, at a Glance:

When Does ‘Monday Night Football’ Start?

For week five, Monday Night Football takes place on Monday (Oct. 12) with the Buffalo Bills (3-1) taking on the Los Angeles Rams (2-2) at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. ET/5:15 p.m. PT.

What TV Network Features ‘Monday Night Football’?

In 2026, Monday Night Football broadcasts across two networks, ABC and ESPN. Meanwhile, the NFL game is available to livestream on ESPN Unlimited.

Which Celebrities Are Making Appearances ‘Monday Night Football’?

The NFL is known for celebrity sightings, so it’s likely there may be a number of famous actors, actresses and recording artists in attendance. Artists who have been known to appear at games in the past, include L.A. Rams fans Terry Crews, YG, Kendrick Lamar and others. And maybe Hailee Steinfeld, Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s wife, would also make an appearance.

Meanwhile, pop singer-songwriter Morgan St. Jean is scheduled to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner,” ahead of kickoff.

Where to Watch ‘Monday Night Football’ Online for Free

For cord-cutters, there are a few ways to watch Monday Night Football, if you don’t have cable, especially if you want to watch for free. DirecTV has a five-day free trial, while other streaming services, such as Fubo and Hulu + Live TV, offer free trials, so you can watch the game for free.

A subscription to DirecTV gets you access to live TV, local and cable channels, including ABC and ESPN, at $59.99 per month for the first month of service ($89.99 per month afterward). The service even offers a five-day free trial to watch for free, if you sign up now. It comes with access to ESPN Unlimited too for even more ESPN networks.

Sling TV offers the Orange & Blue plan, which comes with ABC and ESPN. With more than 50 channels, the streaming plan goes for $69.99 per month. All plans come with a free cloud DVR and an extra 600 or so free channels too. Please note: Pricing and channel availability vary from market-to-market.

Fubo starts at $63.99 for the first month ($88.99 per month afterward) with more than 230 channels, including local and cable, like ABC and ESPN, that are streamable on smart TVs, smartphones, tablets and on web browsers. And with a five-day free trial, you can watch for free, if you act fast and sign up now.

Broadcast and cable networks ABC and ESPN are available to watch with Hulu + Live TV. Prices for the cable alternative start at $49.99 per month for the first month of service ($99.99 per month afterward) for more than 100 live channels, while each plan comes with Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN Unlimited at no additional cost. Hulu + Live TV might be best for those who want all of these streaming services together in one package.

ESPN Unlimited is the official streaming platform for ESPN. A subscription includes instant access for $31.99 per month. However, you can save almost 17% off by purchasing an annual subscription for $319.99 per year. It features every ESPN network, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPN on ABC, ESPN+, SEC Network+ and ACC Network Extra — all in one streaming service. It even comes with CW Sports for more livestream games.

In addition to live sports, ESPN Unlimited has original programming to stream on demand. Although the service doesn’t offer a free trial, you can still watch ESPN Unlimited with a clever workaround to watch online for free. Learn more about how to get a free trial to access ESPN Unlimited here.

On Monday (Oct. 12), Monday Night Football broadcast across on ABC and ESPN. One of the best ways to watch the Bills-Rams game live is with DirecTV.

Check out a complete 2026-2027 Monday Night Football schedule below:

Warner Music Group (WMG) claims in a new lawsuit that Ray-Ban’s parent company has used hundreds of its works in social media advertisements without paying for the rights.

The legal complaint, filed on Friday (Oct. 9) and obtained by Billboard, accuses Italian eyewear conglomerate EssilorLuxottica of infringing 427 copyrights owned by WMG. The music company is seeking the maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per work, adding up to a total of $64 million.

WMG alleges that EssilorLuxottica, which owns brands like Ray-Ban, Oakley and Sunglasses Hut, regularly uses unlicensed music in ads blasted to more than 36 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. These videos have featured recordings put out by WMG’s labels, including Charli xcx’s “Apple” and Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now”, as well as compositions published by Warner Chappell, like Drake’s “0 to 100/The Catch Up”, Rihanna’s “Where Have You Been”, Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me” and Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode”.

According to the lawsuit, EssilorLuxottica’s ads have been “wildly successful” in selling eyewear and earning the company billions of dollars in revenue. But WMG says it’s been cut out of the windfall.

“Defendants used the Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works to build their brand profiles and drive sales without paying any compensation to Plaintiffs,” reads the lawsuit. “Defendants not only failed to pay for the use of Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works, but by including these works in the Luxottica videos without Plaintiffs’ consent, Defendants deprived Plaintiffs and their artists and songwriters of the ability to control how and where their art is used.”

EssilorLuxottica did not immediately return a request for comment on the lawsuit on Monday (Oct. 12).

Over the last several years, the major music rightsholders have launched a large-scale legal crackdown on the use of unlicensed tracks by corporate social media accounts. While platforms like Instagram and TikTok have blanket licenses in place that allow individual users to freely soundtrack their videos from vast libraries of pre-cleared songs, music companies require commercial accounts to purchase synch licenses to use their material, just like for a conventional TV ad placement.

Labels and publishers have sued brands like Chili’s, Marriott, Crumbl and Designer Shoe Warehouse over this issue in the past few years. The vast majority of such cases end in settlements.

GENER8ION and Yung Lean’s “Storm II” debuts at No. 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Oct. 17), powered by streaming gains following their viral performance at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 27.

Released in April via Iconoclast Music, the song drew 3.1 million chart-eligible U.S. streams in the Oct. 2-8 tracking week, according to Luminate, up 30% from the previous week. That follows an even bigger jump after the VMAs: It surged 369% from 508,000 Sept. 18-24 to 2.4 million Sept. 25-Oct. 1.

Weekly U.S. Streams for “Storm II”
Aug. 28-Sept. 3: 173,000
Sept. 4-10: 215,000
Sept. 11-17: 373,000
Sept. 18-24: 508,000
Sept. 25-Oct. 1: 2.4 million
Oct. 2-8: 3.1 million

The performance, which closed out the awards show, recreated the track’s seven-minute music video. Set at a British boarding school in 2034, the clip casts Yung Lean as a bully alongside dozens of classmates whose synchronized movements, choreographed by Damien Jalet, form a mesmerizing human tidal wave.

The video went viral following its April release and garnered four VMA nominations: video of the year, best choreography, best direction and best long-form video.

“Storm II” marks the first career Hot 100 entry for French producer GENER8ION, who also records as Surkin. He previously released official remixes of Hot 100 hits including Usher’s “Scream” in 2012 and Charli XCX’s “Boom Clap” in 2014. He has also released remixes of tracks by M.I.A., Justice and Klaxons. “Storm II” became GENER8ION’s first Billboard chart entry overall in May. It also rises to a new No. 2 high on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart in its fourth total week.

For Yung Lean, the song marks his second Hot 100 title and first in a lead role. The rapper previously charted as a featured artist — with Dave Chappelle — on Travis Scott’s “Parasail,” which reached No. 53 in 2023. Yung Lean broke through on Billboard’s charts in 2022 with his viral hit “Ginseng Strip 2002,” which made the top 50 of the Billboard Global 200.

Olivia Rodrigo seems to have a new collaboration up her sleeve, and fans think Chappell Roan might be involved.

The “Drop Dead” singer took to her Instagram Story on Monday (Oct. 12) to share a video of what appears to be a song session open on her computer screen, with a voice that sounds like Roan’s in the background saying, “Ooh, Olivia does remixes now.” The clip gave fans no further details about the potential release, but the tease was enough to rally pop music fans.

While Rodrigo has yet to officially announce the project or confirm Roan’s involvement, the potential pairing would bring together two of pop music’s biggest names. Fans have already begun speculating about which song the duo might be reworking, with “Expectations,” a track from Rodrigo’s You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love, emerging as a leading possibility.

The theory stems from the song’s chanted “I’ve got big expectations” lyric, which is repeated in a fashion that some listeners likened to Roan. The resemblance fueled fan speculation about a potential collaboration or remix version of the song. Neither artist has confirmed a connection, however. Billboard has reached out to Rodrigo’s reps for comment.

The song is one of 13 tracks on the album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The album also gave Rodrigo her third consecutive No. 1 on the chart, following 2021’s SOUR and 2023’s GUTS.

“Expectations” also made its own appearance on the charts. The song reached a peak position of No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, contributing to the album’s impressive chart showing: All 13 songs from You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love landed in the chart’s top 30 in June, with “Drop Dead” topping the Hot 100 the previous month.

A collaboration with Roan wouldn’t be entirely out of left field. Roan was among the artists who joined Rodrigo at her inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival in August, which brought together an all-women lineup of musicians. The two singers also have a history of supporting each other with Roan previously opening for Rodrigo on the GUTS World Tour in 2024.

View the Instagram Story below, via Pop Crave.

Olivia Rodrigo teases an upcoming remix with an audio of Chappell Roan’s voice:

“Ooh Olivia does remixes now” pic.twitter.com/p2nueolgyR

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) October 12, 2026

All Grammys count the same toward someone’s career Grammy total, but we all know they’re not really on an equal footing. Every media outlet on Earth will report the winners of album of the year and record of the year next Feb. 7, but good luck trying to find out who won best regional roots music album (we’ll have it, of course).

Some categories are far more competitive than others. There are more than 20 times as many entries in this year’s most populated category, song of the year (923), as in this year’s least populated category, best opera recording (43).

Since final-round voting for the 69th Grammy Awards opened on Monday (Oct. 12), Grammy voters have been conscientiously poring over the entry lists for 95 of the 100 Grammy categories (or so Recording Academy leaders fervently hope). The nominees in the other five categories are determined by committees.

The number of entries in four of the six categories in the General Field dropped compared to last year. There are 779 entries for record of the year (down from 894 last year); 683 for album of the year (down from 686 last year); 923 for song of the year (down from 1,015); and 331 for best new artist (down from 337).

The number of entries in the other two General Field categories increased compared to last year. There were 216 entries for producer of the year, non-classical (up from 195) and 74 for songwriter of the year, non-classical (up from 63).

The Grammys introduced four new categories this year. Best Latin song has a whopping 519 entries in its inaugural year, more than any other songwriting category except song of the year. Best traditional pop performance has 211 entries in its first year. Best R&B collaboration or duo/group performance has 168 entries. Best Asian pop performance, which had a surprisingly bumpy rollout, has 116.

In addition, the Recording Academy divided best folk album into two categories – best contemporary folk album (173 entries) and best traditional folk album (87 entries). (By way of comparison, best folk album had 146 entries last year.)

Both country album categories dropped in number of entries this year. Best contemporary country album has 60 entries (down from 68). Best traditional country album has 46 (down from 62).

The Recording Academy keeps an eye on the number of entries in each category. Here’s the relevant rule, from the 69th Grammy Awards Rules & Guidelines booklet: “Each category shall have at least 40 distinct artist entries. If a category receives between 25 and 39 entries, only three recordings will receive nominations in that year. Should there be fewer than 25 entries in a category, that category will immediately go on hiatus for the current year – no award given – and entries will be screened into the next-most-appropriate category. If a category receives fewer than 25 entries for three consecutive years, the category will be discontinued, and submissions will be entered in the next-most-appropriate category.”

No category fell below the academy’s 40-entry minimum to sustain five nominees in the category, though with just 43 entries this year, best opera recording is a little too close for comfort.

My main takeaway from this annual exercise – these categories are highly competitive. As noted, 923 songs are vying for just eight slots in song of the year. When somebody says “It’s an honor just to be nominated,” they’re not just being polite. Okay, maybe they are, but it really is an honor. 915 eligible and entered songs this year will not be nominated for song of the year.

If you’re curious, the five categories where the nominations are determined by committees, rather than by voters at large, are best album cover, best recording package, best album notes, best historical album and best immersive audio album.

First-round voting for the 69th annual Grammy Awards opened on Monday (Oct. 12). Voters have until Oct. 22 to make their choices. Nominations will be announced on Nov. 16. Final-round voting runs from Dec. 10 through Jan. 7. The winners will be revealed on Feb. 7 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Here are the 15 categories with most entries this year, and the 15 categories with the fewest.

Categories with the most entries

(in descending order)

Song of the year, 923

Record of the year, 779

Album of the year, 683

Best music video, 645

Best engineered album, non-classical, 531

Best global music performance, 526

Best Latin song, 519

Best arrangement, instruments and vocals, 471

Best jazz performance, 449

Best American roots song, 411

Best instrumental composition, 405

Best rock performance, 385

Best Americana performance, 340

Best American roots performance, 339

Best new artist, 331

Categories with the fewest entries

(in descending order)

Best score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media, 67

Best musical theater album, 66

Best contemporary blues album, 64

Best large jazz ensemble album, 64

Best choral performance, 60

Best contemporary country album, 60

Best classical solo vocal album, 58

Best traditional blues album, 58

Best bluegrass album, 55

Best regional roots music album, 52

Best compilation soundtrack for visual media, 50

Best roots gospel album, 47

Best traditional country album, 46

Best gospel album, 44

Best opera recording, 43