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Ya se conoce la grilla del Cosquín Rock 2027. El festival cordobés cumplirá 27 años en esta próxima edición y este jueves anunció los nombres que formarán parte de las dos jornadas, el 6 y 7 de febrero, en el Aeródromo de Santa María de Punilla.
Babasónicos, Divididos, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, WOS, Tan Bionica, Ciro y Los Persas, Él Mató a un Policía Motorizado y No Te Va Gustar aparecen entre los principales atractivos de una programación que también suma a otro uruguayo, Jorge Drexler, y al estadounidense Jack Johnson.
A ellos se agregan nombres de peso de distintas escenas, como Las Pastillas del Abuelo, Las Pelotas, Ratones Paranoicos, Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas, Catupecu Machu, La Delio Valdez, Los Cafres, Guasones, Kapanga, El Kuelgue, Peces Raros, Marilina Bertoldi y Lisandro Aristimuño. En la electrónica, uno de los grandes nombres internacionales es Richie Hawtin.
2 Minutos, A La Par, Abril Olivera, Ale Kurz, Autos Robados, Babasónicos, Bacanas, BB Asul, Blair, Blues Motel, Botafogo, Búfalos Sedientos, Cada Cual, Camionero, Capital Cities, Catupecu Machu, César Valdomir, Chapa & Castelo, Ciro y Los Persas, Cruzando el Charco, Cuatro al Hilo, Daniela Spalla, Delfina Campos, Dellacasa, Divididos, El Kuelgue, Él Mató a un Policía Motorizado, El Plan de la Mariposa, El Zar, Escalopez, Florian, Franco Cinelli, Gauchito Club, Gente Negra, Guasones, Gustavo Cordera, Héctor Couto, Ian Amores, Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas, Jack Johnson, Jay de Lys, Jorge Drexler, Juan Ingaramo, Justi Rica, Kapanga, Kat Riggins, Koino Yokan, La Chancha Muda, La Cumparsita Rock, La Delio Valdez, La Forasteria, La Grecia, La H No Murió, La Kermesse Redonda, La Mississippi, La Virgenxita, Las Pastillas del Abuelo, Las Pelotas, Lisandro Aristimuño, Locche, Los Besos, Los Cafres, Los Espíritus, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Los Gardelitos, Los Neurotipes, Los Pérez García, Lulu Matheu, Manu Desrets, Manu Martínez, Mar Monzón, Mariano Mellino, Marilina Bertoldi, Marino’s Band, Martín Huergo, Mateo Dufour, Memphis La Blusera, Mixo, Mrtna, Nacho Bolognani, Najles, Nick Curly, Nicola, No Te Va Gustar, Nonpalidece, Peces Raros, Perras on the Beach, Piti Fernández, Pizza, Q’Lokura, Ramma, Ramita Puzzo, Ratones Paranoicos, Reybruja, Richie Hawtin, Ryan Salas Vejatorias, Sandra Vazquez, Silóe, Silvestre y La Naranja, Só, Sour District, Tan Bionica, The Ginger Hearts, The Rhythm Gamblers, Tiki Sironi & Agus Prieto, Un Poco de Ruido, Usted Señalemelo, Victoria Whynot, Viejo Motor, Wayra Iglesias, Winona Riders, WOS, Zaren, Zoe Gotusso.
Las entradas están a la venta y se consiguen únicamente a través de la página oficial de Cosquín Rock.
El valor del abono general para las dos jornadas es de $500.000 más $75.000 por costo de servicio. El abono especial “fanatic”, que permite acceso privilegiado a shows y locales de comida, cuesta $1.800.000 más $100.000 por costo de servicio.
The post Cosquín Rock 2027: mirá la grilla completa appeared first on Rolling Stone en Español.
Quiero llevarlos de vuelta al año 2008, cuando el Museo del Sexo de la ciudad de Nueva York inauguró una exposición sobre la vida sexual de los animales. La exposición estuvo abierta durante una década completa, y tuve la oportunidad de visitarla aproximadamente un año antes de que cerrara en 2018. De hecho, fue en la exposición La vida sexual de los animales donde aprendí que los patos tienen penes enormes con forma de sacacorchos. Pero dejando de lado los genitales de los patos, la intención del Museo del Sexo, hace casi 20 años, era revelar la “sorprendente variedad” de comportamientos sexuales que los animales practican habitualmente, desde besarse hasta abrazarse y, bueno, todo lo demás. Y definitivamente no siempre entre machos y hembras.
Por más que elogie al Museo del Sexo por enseñarme sobre lo que ocurre a plena luz del día entre las aves y las abejas, en sentido literal, también debo reconocer que es una lastima que una exposición así probablemente no estaría permitida en un lugar donde no se vendan vibradores ni lubricantes en la tienda de regalos. Y qué decepcionante es que la verdad sobre los gatos y los perros, por así decirlo, no haya logrado una mayor aceptación.
Cuando se trata del género y la sexualidad de los animales, la verdad no solo está ahí fuera, sino que, de hecho, ha estado frente a nuestras narices todo este tiempo. El problema es que la ciencia convencional y la sociedad han tardado en alejarse de la narrativa de que todos los animales copulan únicamente con fines reproductivos, que cualquier actividad entre individuos del mismo sexo es puramente anómala (y antinatural) y que todas las especies están dominadas por los machos. Ahora, un nuevo documental titulado Second Nature: Gender & Sexuality in the Animal World busca desmentir esos mitos y, en el mejor de los casos, difundir esta información a una escala más grande.
Narrado por Elliot Page, Second Nature cumple con creces su cometido al entrevistar a un grupo de científicos expertos que han dedicado largas carreras a estudiar la diversidad de comportamientos sexuales y de género en una amplia gama de especies, desde primates y aves hasta peces y reptiles. Y sin duda hay mucho que analizar. Además de los hechos en sí, Second Nature plantea algunas preguntas importantes: ¿por qué no se enseña esta información en las clases de biología básica ni se incluye en los libros de los zoológicos? ¿Por qué los humanos insisten en proyectar su propia narrativa binaria sobre género y sexualidad —que los machos son agresores, las hembras son tímidas y el sexo es solo para la procreación— sobre nuestros vecinos animales?
La respuesta es bastante sencilla: para entender el mundo que nos rodea, lo más fácil y sencillo es aplicar nuestro marco social. Históricamente hablando, quienes investigan y estudian a los animales tienden a proyectar sus ideas ciscentristas y patriarcales en ellos, a pesar de la gran cantidad de evidencia que indica lo contrario.
De cualquier manera, después de haber visto Second Nature, puedo listar algunos datos muy interesantes: los delfines tienen —mucho— sexo homosexual, al igual que los pingüinos y los cisnes negros. Los pingüinos también suelen formar parejas del mismo sexo para criar a sus polluelos. Las hembras de bonobo suelen usar el sexo para resolver conflictos mediante el “frotamiento genital”, y los machos pueden tener relaciones sexuales entre sí mediante el “esgrima con el pene”. Los bonobos también viven en una sociedad matriarcal. Aproximadamente la mitad de las relaciones sexuales que tienen los monos capuchinos son homosexuales.
Y hablando de los patos con penes tan peculiares, escuchen esto: las hembras de pato tienen vaginas con dos o tres cavidades que pueden no conducir a ninguna parte; más allá de esas cavidades se encuentra una espiral laberíntica. Cuando los patos se aparean, es la hembra quien decide a qué macho le permitirá depositar esperma en la espiral, pero eso solo pasa si decide relajar sus músculos lo suficiente. Si un pato macho intenta forzar a una hembra —cosa que realmente sucede—, sus bolsas vaginales impiden que el esperma llegue a alguna parte.
¿Qué más? Las hembras de tití león dorado tienen harenes de machos sin parentesco, y con todos se aparea. Y creo que todos conocemos bastante bien la historia del caballito de mar, en la que los machos quedan embarazados y dan a luz.
Gran parte de esta información llegó al público por primera vez en el libro de la Dra. Joan Roughgarden de 2004, Evolution’s Rainbow, que analizaba evidencia de aves, peces y mamíferos para refutar la teoría darwiniana sobre la selección sexual, la cual proponía que la competencia entre machos, o la selección intrasexual, era un método exitoso para el apareamiento. (Básicamente, el macho más fuerte y agresivo es el que logra aparearse y transmitir sus genes). Charles Darwin también propuso que la selección intersexual implicaba que las hembras evaluaran y eligieran a los machos con quienes aparearse basadas en rasgos específicos, como el colorido plumaje de un pavo real.
Cuando Roughgarden (bióloga evolutiva de Stanford que aparece en Second Nature) se opuso a estas teorías darwinianas aceptadas desde hace tanto, se topó con una reacción terrible. Las críticas fueron “desagradables”, recuerda en el documental, y otras reseñas afirmaban que había “intenciones gay” detrás. (La Dra. Roughgarden es una mujer trans).
Solemos olvidar que en la Inglaterra victoriana, cuando Darwin propuso por primera vez la teoría de la evolución, los líderes religiosos no la aceptaron. En términos generales, los líderes religiosos del siglo XIX se resistieron al darwinismo porque consideraban que contradecía el relato de la creación del Génesis (aunque algunos se sentían cómodos con la idea del darwinismo cristiano, que propone que Dios utilizó la evolución biológica para crear toda la vida). Los líderes católicos consideraban que el darwinismo podía explicar la biología física, pero amenazaba la existencia de las almas humanas. En última instancia, los líderes cristianos consideraron que el darwinismo reducía la vida humana a algo puramente mecánico y sin alma, y por lo tanto, sin Dios.
No fue sino hasta la década de 1870 —casi dos décadas después de que Darwin publicara El origen de las especies— que la comunidad científica y otros grupos cultos aceptaron ampliamente la evolución como un hecho.
En Second Nature, los científicos plantean la teoría de que Darwin no pudo evitar imponer sus propias ideas heterosexistas sobre la reproducción animal, principalmente que los animales solo copulan con fines reproductivos, siendo los machos los agresores y las hembras revoloteando sus pestañas detrás de abanicos de encaje, o algo así.
En los últimos años, a medida que la comunidad científica se ha vuelto más diversa, surgió una nueva ola de observaciones sobre el comportamiento animal y las razones evolutivas que lo sustentan. Por ejemplo, los animales sociales como los bonobos y los chimpancés utilizan el sexo como un medio de reconciliación, lo que les permite llevar una existencia pacífica y cooperativa. (Si el sexo se lograra principalmente a través de la agresión, eso probablemente resultaría en más inestabilidad, lesiones y muerte, lo cual no suena ideal para la supervivencia de ninguna comunidad, ya sea animal, humana o de otro tipo).
“Los humanos nos proyectamos en la naturaleza todo el tiempo, y lo hemos estado haciendo desde siempre; basta con mirar cualquier mito”, dice Drew Denny, director de Second Nature, a Rolling Stone. “Nos encanta crear explicaciones coloridas para los fenómenos naturales, pero a menudo lo hacemos a costa de personas totalmente inocentes. ¿Recuerdas cuando se decía que todas las personas zurdas eran controladas por Satanás? Apuesto a que conoces a varios zurdos que, de hecho, no son satanistas”.
Denny cree que nos beneficiaría a todos adoptar una perspectiva panorámica de la historia y recordar la miríada de historias que nos hemos contado a lo largo de los años en un intento por explicar lo inexplicable. Si los seres humanos y nuestros inventos son inherentemente falibles, entonces es razonable suponer que nuestras historias también lo son. “Nuestras pequeñas proyecciones —incluso nuestros mitos más arraigados— no son nada comparadas con los miles de millones de años de evolución que nos han llevado hasta este momento”, afirma Denny.
Y, por supuesto, los animales no nos necesitan para comprender todo el espectro de sus experiencias sexuales y de género: todos están muy bien viviendo sus vidas, enfrentándose con sus penes, formando parejas del mismo sexo y cambiando de sexo para preservar su existencia. En realidad, difundir narrativas obsoletas sobre la forma en que los animales se relacionan entre sí solo perjudicará a una especie: la nuestra.
The post Hemos pensado de manera errónea la sexualidad animal appeared first on Rolling Stone en Español.
Nirvana‘s 1991 Nevermind track “Lithium” was already a roiling, emotional roller coaster about grief, depression and loss that still stands as one of late singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain’s most intense portraits of inner turmoil.
In a solo acoustic cover for BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge, Phoebe Bridgers somehow found a new, even more haunting approach to the song that Nirvana’ famously played on MTV’s Unplugged, only minus Cobain’s signature pained howl. Plucking out the tune’s melody on guitar, Bridgers unlocked a new gear, giving it a folky, ethereal quality as she breathily sung, “Sunday morning is every day, for all I care/ And I’m not scared/ Light my candles in a daze, ’cause I found God/ Yeah, yeah/ Yeah, yeah.”
In keeping with the long-running show’s tradition of artists playing a classic cover alongside their own tunes, Bridgers also performed two tracks from her just-released Lost Weekend solo album, “Lost Boys” and “Bobby.”
It’s unclear when the session — whose video was not available at press time — was taped, but it appears to have been tracked before the singer was forced to cancel a run of planned intimate U.K. performances booked for this week due to a bout of appendicitis. The shows in support of her third solo LP that were announced with just a week’s notice were slated to kick off on Wednesday (Aug. 19) in Kingston, London and include stops in Brighton tonight (Aug. 20) and Bristol on Friday (Aug. 21).
“I got appendicitis for my birthday,” she wrote in an Instagram Story that included a picture of her in a hospital bed. “Everything in the UK this week will have to move but I’ll make it up to you!!!!” Her U.K. fans needn’t be too worried, as Bridgers is due back for a run of arena shows this fall, concluding with two sold-out shows at London’s O2 Arena on Dec. 1-2.
Listen to Bridgers’ rendition of Nirvana’s “Lithium” below.
Weezer’s golden era is upon us, so the cherished rock band shared some of the glittery stuff with a late-night performance.
Rivers Cuomo and Co. stopped by NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for a spot that aired Wednesday night (Aug. 19) — on the eve of the band’s self-titled release, also known as The Gold Album (via Reprise/Warner Records).
Cuomo came to entertain, and he stuck to the brief. For a performance of Gold Album cut “We Might as Well Be Strangers,” the band leader dressed from top to bottom in gold, complete with gold trousers, jacket, bow tie, top hat, and topped off with make-up that looked like he tangled with Bond villain Goldfinger.
Watch below.
Cuomo stayed in character when he and bandmate Patrick Wilson sat for a chat with Fallon.
After celebrating their debut album’s 30th anniversary in 2024 with a major sold-out tour alongside the Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr. as support, the band reconvened in Orange County and got down to the business of writing and recording. Klas Ahlundand and Kenneth Blume (FKA Kenny Beats) came on board handling production duties, and the four-piece went to work.
“What you hear on the record is something that could only be created by humans coming together and being vulnerable and creating something together,” Cuomo tells Fallon of the new LP. “It just can’t be created by AI or a somebody on their own working on a computer or something.”
The Gold project — the seventh in Weezer’s color-coded series of self-titled albums — drops Friday, Aug. 21, marking the 16th studio album since their debut Weezer (Blue Album) in 1994.
As previously reported, the band will support the new release with Weezer: The Gathering tour, kicking off in September with stops across North America. “The gathering has something to do with summoning sorcerers from all corners of the world to come into this,” Cuomo tells Fallon. “And I think this tour is something like that. We’re summoning all the different kinds of Weezer fans from around the world to come rock out with us.”
Watch the interview below.
UPDATE (Aug. 20): The Association for Independent Music (AIM) has announced the final nominees for the 2026 Independent Music Awards, highlighting the artists, labels and businesses driving the U.K’s independent music scene. The award ceremony will be presented Sept. 22 at the Roundhouse, in North London.
Jim Legxacy now joins previously-announced nominees Fcukers as the joint-most nominated artists, with three nods apiece. FAMM and Tru Thoughts also land their first nominations for best independent label, while jungle and drum ’n’ bass pioneers Fabio and Grooverider are set to receive the innovator award for their decades-long contribution to U.K. dance music.
In a statement, the duo said: “We’re incredibly proud to be receiving the innovator award. We’ve spent our lives pushing this music forward, breaking boundaries and staying true to what we believe in, so to be recognized for that journey means a lot to us!”
Other notable nominees include Léa Esmaili, Yorgos Lanthimos, Ocurens, Noel Paul and Zak Watson for best independent music video, while five outlets from across the U.K. make up the best independent record store category: Applestump Records (Nantwich), Jacaranda Records (Liverpool), Just Dropped In Records (Coventry), Ignite Record Store (Birmingham) and Slow Century Records (Solihull). See the full list of nominees below.
PREVIOUSLY (July 16): Fcukers lead all nominees with three nods in the shortlist for the Association of Independent Music’s 2026 Independent Music Awards.
The New York-based electronic duo is nominated in the best independent album (Ö, Ninja Tune), best independent track (“L.U.C.K.Y.”) and independent breakthrough categories.
The 2026 ceremony will take place at London’s Roundhouse on Sept. 22, and will honor an array of indie musicians, labels, companies and creators across a wide variety of categories.
Six acts follow with two nominations each: Jalen Ngonda (Daptone Records), Jim Legxacy (XL Recordings), Jorja Smith (FAMM), Nova Twins (Marshall Records), Romy (XL Recordings) and Tiana Major9 (+1 Records).
Young leads all labels with five nominations across all categories, followed by XL Recordings and Ninja Tune with four apiece, and FAMM and Marshall Records each earning three nominations.
Competing for best independent album are BICEP, Blawan, Fcukers, Geese, Mitski, Nova Twins, Prostitute, Robyn Scaler and Thundercat.
More categories and nominations will be announced in the coming months, with submissions open for the publicly voted best live performer and best independent record store categories. Submissions can be entered at the Independent Music Awards website.
Gee Davy, CEO of AIM said in a statement, “We’re thrilled to share the first nominees list for the 2026 Independent Music Awards, showcasing just some of the broad spectrum of success and authenticity flowing from the U.K.’s independent music community. The array of artists and genres on display here demonstrates once again that the independent music sector is the most exciting, authentic and groundbreaking place in the industry.
“Following our 15th anniversary edition of the awards last year, we have a fresh new look and feel, reflecting the consistent evolution of the independent music sector,” Davy continued. “We look forward to sharing more new features at the ceremony at London’s Roundhouse as we celebrate the success that comes from the collective strength of our mighty community.”
At the 2025 ceremony, Fontaines D.C. won best independent album for Romance, Ezra Collective claimed best independent track for “God Gave Me Feet for Dancing” and XL Recordings took home best independent label. DJ and curator Giles Peterson was recognized with the outstanding contribution to music and Throbbing Gristle member Cosey Fanni Tutti with the innovator prize.
See the full list of nominees so far below.
DEBBY FRIDAY, “Bet On Me” (Sub Pop Records)
Fcukers, “L.U.C.K.Y” (Ninja Tune)
Genesis Owusu, “Stampede” (Ourness)
Jalen Ngonda, “Doctrine of Love” (Daptone Records)
Jim Legxacy, “3x” (XL Recordings)
Jorja Smith, “The Way I Love You” (FAMM)
Nova Twins, “Piranha” (Marshall Records)
Robyn, “Dopamine” (Young / Konichiwa)
Romy, “Love Who You Love” (Young)
Tiana Major9, “Desire” (+1 Records)
BICEP, TAKKUUK (Original Soundtrack) (Ninja Tune, EarthSonic)
Blawan, SickElixir (XL Recordings)
Fcukers, Ö (Ninja Tune)
Geese, Getting Killed (Partisan Records)
Mitski, Nothing’s About to Happen to Me (Dead Oceans)
Nova Twins, Parasites & Butterflies (Marshall Records)
Prostitute, Attempted Martyr (Mute)
Robyn, Sexistential (Young / Konichiwa)
SCALER, Endlessly (Black Acre)
Thundercat, Distracted (Brainfeeder)
Fat Dog (Domino Recording Co.)
Fcukers (Ninja Tune)
Jalen Ngonda (Daptone Records)
Tiana Major9 (+1 Records)
Ego Ella May (Believe UK)
Bricknasty, Blacks Law (FAMM)
Jim Legxacy, black british music (2025) (XL Recordings)
Naima Bock, Live in Toulon (Sub Pop Records)
Strandz, Diaspora Dance Music (Strandz Music)
TTSSFU, Blown (Partisan Records)
Overmono, “If We Ever” (High Contrast Remix) (XL Recordings)
Sherelle, Romy, “Love Who You Love”(SHERELLE’s Intelligent Dyke Music Remix) (Young)
Robyn, “Sexistential” (Arca’s Take) (Young / Konichiwa)
Jorja Smith, TS7, “The Way I Love You” (TS7 Remix) (FAMM)
House Gospel Choir and Donae’O, “You” (Donae’O Remix) (Swear Down Music)
Ashaine White (Marshall Records)
Alewya (LDN Records)
Lauren Auder (untitled (recs))
Mandy, Indiana (Sacred Bones Records)
Native James (Saviour Music)
Zak Watson (director) for Antony Szmierek, “The Heron” (Mushroom Music)
Yorgos Lanthimos (director) for Jerskin Fendrix, “Beth’s Farm” (untitled (recs))
Noel Paul (director) for Mitski, “Where’s My Phone?” (Dead Oceans)
Léa Esmaili (director) for Thundercat, “She Knows Too Much” feat. Mac Miller (Brainfeeder)
OCURENS (director) for Tinie Tempah, Skepsis, Carla Monroe, “Eat It Up” (Imhotep Records)
bees & honey
Beyond Chicago
Clementine Douglas
Jim Legxacy
Poppy Baskcomb
Amelia Coburn (Quiet Crown)
Billy Lockett (Lockett Records)
High Fade (RPN RECORDS)
Katherine Priddy (Cooking Vinyl)
The Molotovs (Marshall Records)
Because Music
Dead Oceans
FAMM
Ninja Tune
Tru Thoughts
Big Scary Monsters
Black Acre
TLD Records
Sweardown
untitled (recs)
The Alan Parsons Project, I Robot (Cooking Vinyl)
Haruomi Hosono – Tropical Dandy (Stones Throw)
Lush – Gala (2025 Remaster) (4AD)
Orbital – The Brown Album (London Records)
Chameleon – The Very Best of Toyah (Cherry Red Records)
Geese, Getting Killed (Partisan Records)
Genesis Owusu, REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE (Ourness/Believe)
Kettama, Archangel (Steel City Dance Disks)
Mitski – Nothing’s About to Happen to Me (Dead Oceans)
Wet Leg – Moisturizer (Domino Recording Co)
Applestump Records
Jacaranda Records
Just Dropped In
Ignite Record Store
Slow Century Records
Fabio & Grooverider
SYDNEY, Australia — Anna Lunoe, one of Australia’s top electronic music exports, has inked an exclusive worldwide publishing agreement with BMG.
“Super excited to be kickstarting a new era for my music with the BMG family,” comments Lunoe in a statement, issued Thursday, Aug. 20. “I love an indie-minded operation with big picture vision and music and community at the center of it all! I can’t wait to see what we are able to create together.”
The accomplished producer, songwriter, vocalist, and DJ is a glass-ceiling smasher in the male-dominated world of EDM. She has played every major global festival, including Lollapalooza, Boiler Room, and Ultra Music Festival, and in 2016 became the first woman to spin a solo set on the kineticFIELD mainstage at Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas. The following year she moved the needle once again when she played Coachella while eight months pregnant. In the past decade, she has shared stages with The Weeknd, Disclosure, Daft Punk, Dom Dolla, M.I.A., Fatboy Slim, and The Chemical Brothers.
Lunoe emerged as one of the first women to mix for Ministry of Sound Australia, with all three of her compilations certified gold, according to BMG. Her debut album Pearl (via Nina Las Vegas’ NLV Records) was lauded as one of Billboard’s best dance albums of 2024, secured triple j’s Feature Album, and enjoyed critical praise around the globe.
As a songwriter and collaborator, she has worked with the likes of Flume, Skrillex, Genesis Owusu, Chris Lake, Chris Lorenzo, Melanie C, Touch Sensitive, Wuki, and TEED, and she brings the underground into the spotlight with her own, long-running HYPERHOUSE show on Apple Music Radio.
Lunoe’s music has also been synced to Girls Trip, Heartbreak High, and NBA 2K, and more games, TV shows and ads, and a slew of blue-chip brands have partnered with her, from Formula 1 to Versace, Cartier, Armani, Jimmy Choo, Apple, and Tiffany & Co.
Top: L to R: Adam Alexander (senior creative consultant, BMG), Jodie Feld (vice president – creative, BMG), Christina Thiers (director – A&R Publishing, BMG), Jazmin Pezzano (NLV Records); Bottom: L to R: Heath Johns (president, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, BMG), Anna Lunoe.
BMG
“Anna Lunoe is an icon, an artist who continues to pave the way for Australian electronic musicians seeking to spread their creative wings internationally. Anna is a creative force and a brilliant, prolific songwriter,” comments Heath Johns, president, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, BMG. “BMG could not be happier and prouder to welcome her into our songwriting family.”
BMG’s publishing roster of Australian and New Zealand talent includes Neil Finn, Young Franco, KLP, Jet, Keli Holiday, The Cat Empire, What So Not, Ladyhawke, Bag Raiders, and recent signing Velvet Trip.
America’s Got Talent fans got a blast of K-pop during Wednesday night’s (Aug. 19) results show, as NCT 127 performed a two-song medley.
Formed a decade ago in Seoul, NCT 127 brought their signature energy and slick dance moves to the AGT stage, on a night when the first batch of semifinalists was announced.
Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun and Haechan dazzled with a performance of “Kick It,” released in 2020, followed by “Piñata,” which arrived earlier this month as the first taste from BLINGY (via SM Entertainment and Virgin Music Group), their seventh studio album.
Due out Monday, Aug. 24, BLINGY will feature nine tracks and marks the group’s first full-length album in two years, and first as a five-member group — for the time being — since Doyoung and Jungwoo are currently serving in the military.
For fans who can’t get enough of the lads, the official “NCT 127 7th Album [BLINGY] Comeback Live Party” is set for Aug. 25, where the group will perform all the songs of the album, as well as sharing behind-the-scenes stories from the recording sessions.
Meanwhile, the AGT journey continues for several more acts, who on Wednesday night secured entry to the semis.
America voted, and rapper Luke Taleno, animal act Olivia Befus and laser dancers Royal Lasers move forward in the competition. They’re joined by magic act Hundred Fingers, which, during their quarterfinal performance on Tuesday, received an historic Golden Buzzer from judge Howie Mandel, and advance to the season finale. Hundred Fingers is the first contestant in AGT history to receive two Golden Buzzers within the same season.
Next up: quarterfinal two featuring Bety, Brad & Tracy, Butter & Grit, Come Here, Geno Ploeger, LaRussell, Mackenzie Sol, Nene Royal, Nyjah Music & Zyah Rhythm, Patrox, and Veronika Goroshkova.
Season 21 of AGT continues next Tuesday, Aug. 25 on NBC, streaming the following day on Peacock.
Watch NCT 127’s AGT performance below.
Sam Smith is being vulnerable about the support they received from one of pop music’s most enduring icons.
During a new Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, Smith spoke about Madonna‘s influence on their career and revealed that the Queen of Pop personally reached out when the singer was facing controversy surrounding the 2022 hit “Unholy,” their collaboration with Kim Petras that famously hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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“Madonna is my mother,” Smith said while discussing the music they are listening to on The Zane Lowe Show. “She’s just un-f—ing-real.”
Smith went on to recall how Madonna supported them during the fallout surrounding “Unholy,” which became a lightning rod for controversy following its release and its provocative visual and live performances.
“She, the minute it happened, she made sure she got through to me,” Smith said. “And she’s so aware of queer news and what’s happening in the community, [what’s happening] to the artists within the community.”
For Smith, Madonna’s support carried particular weight because of the role the pop icon has long played in queer culture. Smith described Madonna’s music as “a lifeline to queer people,” pointing to her ability to continually reinvent herself while advocating for LGBTQ+ communities.
“You feel that in her music,” Smith said. “Her music is a lifeline to queer people and just all of the eras of her and her stamina and how she’s just always carried on and on and on. I just find it very inspiring.”
The connection between the two artists extended to the studio, as they teamed up for “Vulgar,” released in June 2023, just months after Madonna introduced Smith and Petras’ performance of “Unholy” at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
During that Grammy introduction, Madonna specifically positioned Smith and Petras as artists who had risen above criticism and controversy, making her behind-the-scenes support for Smith all the more meaningful in retrospect.
Smith’s latest comments come as they prepare to release their fifth studio album, Hazel Eyes, out this Friday. The record is a new chapter for the singer/songwriter, who has described the project as a more intimate and personal body of work centered on love, identity and artistic freedom.
While Smith is looking ahead, their admiration for Madonna remains firmly rooted in everything that came before. “I think a lot of queer people find [her music] inspiring,” Smith told Lowe. “And it’s not just a comfort in my personal life; it’s a comfort in my music.”
Watch the full interview with Smith and Lowe below.
Home in Nashville after the first North American leg of touring to promote Evanescence‘s latest album, Sanctuary, Amy Lee has been decompressing and busy getting her 12-year-old son back into school mode.
She’s also had time to reflect on the band’s 2026 so far — and can’t help but be pleased with what she says been “a really good year, and an emotional one” in the best of ways.
“This album and this moment, and all of the support that has come together at the same time just feels like something bigger than myself, and that I wasn’t expecting at this phase in my life,” Lee tells Billboard via Zoom. “It just feels like it’s that good moment. Life is full of so many ups and downs and mediums, and this is definitely an up, and it means more than anything could have in my first couple years coming out, when I still a kid and hadn’t seen so much and felt so much.
“It’s a lot to sum up, but it’s been emotional in a very beautiful, connected way. I feel grounded and lifted, spiritually, through my band, my team, the fans, the music, the tour. It’s been a really special thing so far.”
The empirical data certain bears that out. Sanctuary, Evanescence’s sixth studio effort, debuted in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Rock Albums and Independent Albums charts after its June 5 release. It contains the band’s first two No. 1 Mainstream Rock Airplay hits — “Who Will You Follow,” and “Afterlife” from last year’s Netflix animated series Devil May Dry. Lee was also part of “End of You,” a collaboration with Poppy and Courtney LaPLante of Spiritbox.
For Lee, the sole remaining member of the group that formed during 1994 in Little Rock, Ark., the success is about both the moment of Sanctuary as well as the 22 years that preceded it, which includes sales of more than 32 million albums and a pair of Grammy Awards.
“I think that it gets deeper the longer that you survive together, us and the fans,” she explains. “I think now that we’re past the 20-year mark I feel this incredible new depth that has to do with that, with the time. It’s not just about the new music and proving this next thing is great; there’s also this nostalgia power, a life we already have in the past, together. You have a connection because of the things you’ve been through together, and the fact is that this music — “Bring Me to Life,” Fallen and beyond — has existed for such a long that it has a place in people’s hearts, and whatever we do now is just adding to that, and also bringing in some new people.”
Bring Me (Back) To Life
Evanescence’s current run is also something of a culmination of work, side projects and other life-changing moments during the past decade. Lee released a solo album, Aftermath, in 2014, then brought back the band the following year, and took to start a family. That busy period enabled her “to find out who I was and what was next.”
To that point Evanescence had released three albums — the diamond-certified breakthrough Fallen in 2003, the double-platinum The Open Door in 2006 and a self-titled effort in 2011. The latter two also debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Yet the group was encountering business issues, suing Wind-up Records for unpaid royalties (which was settled out of court) while the label was selling its catalog to what became Concord Bicycle Music. “There was a lot of business clean-up that had to be done,” acknowledges Jordan Berliant of Revelation Management, who’s been with Evanescence since that time.
And there was the matter of engineering Evanescence’s return, including some lineup changes and a new deal with BMG.
“Amy was ready to get back into music but was working on a lot of different directions in her mind,” Berliant recalls. “There were a lot of things she wanted to accomplish both as an individual, and then as a member or the leader of Evanescence.”
The former came first.
Though Evanescence returned to live duty and put together The Ultimate Collection vinyl box set, the rarities compilation Lost Whispers and a demo CD Origin, Lee released a children’s album, Dream Too Much, in 2016 and a single, “Speak to Me,” for the 2017 film Voice From the Stone. The band then recorded Synthesis, a top 10 effort featuring orchestral versions of its songs, arranged by David Campbell and featuring a collaboration with Lindsey Stirling.
“It was a very, very cool way to reintroduce people to the band,” Berliant explains, “and also kind of extricate the definition of Evanescence from being in kind of nu-metal prison and showing the world, and her, it could be more than that, that the songs themselves have a life beyond that era.”
Since then Evanescence projects, including 2021’s The Bitter Truth, have alternated with Lee efforts such as a teaming with Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, Body Count, Bring Me the Horizon and Stirling, as well as a duet with Halsey for the 2025 action film Ballerina and the “End of You” collaboration. The prominent use of “Bring Me to Life” in HBO’s The Rehearsal breathed new life into the song and put some jet fuel behind Evanescence, as did tours with Korn and Muse.
“That really set the stage for elevating the touring,” Berliant says, culminating in Evanescence’s first stadium headline date before 40,000 fans on Oct. 21, 2023 in Sao Paulo, Brazin. “There’s a lot of stuff you can’t plan but it tends to happen when you put yourself out there and you’re succeeding,”
The efforts were not lost on Lee, either.
“From the management to our agents to the promoters, this has definitely felt like a moment when everyone really just gave us their best and truly wanted the best for this album and this moment for the band,” Lee says. “I couldn’t be more grateful. It’s beautifully humbling to be part of such a big thing I love so much.”
The Open Door
What Lee brought into Sanctuary was an urge for collaboration, started by working with co-writer Alex Seaver on “Afterlife.” “We were working on this minute-and-a-half piece of music for the (Devil May Cry) scene and had to hurry, hurry, hurry ’cause Netflix needed it,” she remembers. “But afterwards everybody was like, ‘This should be a full-on Evanescence song. It really sounds like it wants to be, so let’s finish it,’ and (Seaver) was like, ‘Yeah.’
“So I took the song in with the band and Nick (Raskulinecz, producer), and it felt like such beautiful fuel for (the album). It felt like a gift. And it turned out so well that we were like, ‘Why don’t we work with some cool people who say they want to work with us all the time?” (laughs)
Raskulinecz, who also produced The Bitter Truth, helmed five of Sanctuary’s 12 tracks, with the team of Jordan Fish and Zakk Cervini helming the rest, including co-writing with the band. “Who Will You Follow,” in fact, was the first song they worked on, and Lee notes that “we ended up really just catching lightning with them. It was like, ‘I love what you do, you love what I do. Let’s make some noise and see what happens.’ We had this special moment during the album creation where we had six days in L.A. with just the four of us, and it felt like the crux of the album happened in that time.
“It’s really, really inspiring and rare that you make those connections with other people, when you feel like they get you and you get them and at the same time you’re each bringing something into the equation. It’s really special to be chasing that.”
Fish and Cervini, according to Lee, also brought a fanboy element into their perspective towards Evanescence that also helped steer the album’s direction.
“They were both fully aware of and interested in and inspired by our music, the early stuff, in a way that’s different than somebody who’s a little older and liked it, but was already a professional at the time,” Lee explains. “They were influenced by us when they were starting out, so it was like a shared understanding of things I kind of forgot about a little bit, because I’m so busy having to criticize us. They helped us realize all those things that were beautiful in our music that maybe you forgot about.
“It felt like a very independent record for me, personally, in taking chances, doing things I wasn’t allowed to before but still doing my best to maintain the heart of the spirit of what it originally was.”
Lee jokes about “world domination” on the horizon, but Evanescence really is headed to the rest of the world now. The quintet begins its first-ever arena tour in the U.K. and Europe on Sept. 8 in England and has a couple more U.S. dates during October — including the Sick New World Texas 2026 festival in Fort Worth and Red Rocks Amphitheatre — before heading to Malaysia for a stadium date in November and Japan in December. Australia and New Zealand are set for next March, with other international touring, including festival appearances, on tap for 2027 as well.
“This album cycle is really special to me,” Lee says. “This production has been a really fun and fulfilling adventure, and my mind is on different things we’re gonna do with it and bring it to life — maybe documenting the show (on film), which we’re planning to do the right way, and also art with the songs, like music videos. My mind’s definitely been rolling around with imagery and themes and things like that, how and who to collaborate with on that. All those gears are definitely winding right now.”
New music is a far-flung thought, although Lee says that “I’ve hummed at least one idea to myself and recorded in my voice notes already, because I’m feeling inspired and fulfilled and all those good things.” But she anticipates it will be a minute before she’s ready to move on.
“It usually comes about a year in, when the music starts feeling kinda routine,” Lee says. “It doesn’t feel like that yet. But I do feel very inspired, and I think I’m committed to being better about striking immediately when an idea’s hitting, rather than leaving it in the background for years, so it`ll come at any time.”
Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Melissa Manchester; singer/songwriter and Sweet Relief Musicians Fund founding artist Victoria Williams; and Kiki Wong, touring guitarist with The Smashing Pumpkins are the first honorees to be announced for the 2027 She Rocks Awards.
The 15th-anniversary edition of the awards will be presented Saturday, Jan. 30, 2027, in Anaheim, California, during the NAMM show. Two-time Grammy-nominated guitarist and singer/songwriter Samantha Fish returns as co-host.
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“For 15 years, the She Rocks Awards has had the privilege of celebrating extraordinary women who have changed the music industry through their talent, leadership, innovation and determination,” Laura B. Whitmore, founder of the Women’s International Music Network and co-producer of the She Rocks Awards, said in a statement. “Reaching our 15th anniversary is an incredible milestone, and this first group of honorees reflects exactly what She Rocks is all about—women whose creativity, influence and commitment have made a lasting impact. We can’t wait to celebrate with our community in January.”
Additional honorees, performers and special guests will be announced in the coming months.
Since its launch in 2012, the She Rocks Awards has grown into one of the premier events celebrating women in music, bringing together artists, industry professionals, fans and media. The She Rocks Awards has honored more than 170 notable women across every facet of the music and audio industries, including Melissa Etheridge, Gloria Gaynor, Pat Benatar, The Bangles, Chaka Khan, Sheila E., The Go-Go’s, Linda Perry, Ronnie Spector, Lita Ford, Esperanza Spalding, Shirley Manson, Amy Lee, Lzzy Hale, Suzi Quatro, The B-52s, Colbie Caillat, Nita Strauss and Tal Wilkenfeld.
NAMM is a presenting sponsor of the event, which is open to the public. Tickets are on sale now at The She Rocks Awards site.
