Carrie Underwood surprised the crowd at Iowa’s Velocity Festival on Saturday (Sept. 5) with a run of nu-metal covers spanning Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and Papa Roach, capping her headlining set at the Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville with a costume change to match.

Underwood worked through Collective Soul’s “Shine,” Papa Roach’s “Scars” and Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer” before closing the block with Limp Bizkit’s 1999 hit “Break Stuff,” for which she donned a backward red baseball cap in a nod to frontman Fred Durst.

Fan-filmed footage of the performance circulated widely online, drawing a mixed reaction: some praised the detour into late-’90s rock, while others pushed back on the song choice given its explicit lyrics, which Underwood largely sang around, letting the crowd fill in the words instead.

Underwood topped Saturday’s bill at the 2026 Velocity Festival, a three-day event that expanded this year following the success of its 2025 debut. She was joined on the day’s lineup by Default, Maggie Rose and Danny Worsnop, while Shinedown headlined Friday alongside Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Creed closed the weekend Sunday with Nate Smith and Filter.

The genre-blending, rock-heavy bill tracks with the festival’s identity since its inaugural year, when Tim McGraw and Nickelback headlined its first two-day run at the same site — the 193-acre Iowa farm made famous by the 1989 film Field of Dreams.

The covers aren’t a new direction for Underwood, who has repeatedly leaned into her rock and metal influences over the years, previously sharing stages with acts including Guns N’ Roses and Papa Roach. Earlier this year, during the May 11 finale of American Idol — where she serves as a judge — Underwood joined Mötley Crüe for performances of “Home Sweet Home” and “Kickstart My Heart,” earning a standing ovation from the studio audience.

“Home Sweet Home” carries added history for Underwood, who recorded her own version of the Mötley Crüe ballad in 2009 for use as the farewell song during American Idol Season 8.

Kid Cudi‘s reunion on stage with Kanye West in Chicago — which marked the pair’s first live performance together in years — was celebrated by many hip-hop fans, but not everyone was thrilled by the enthusiasm for Ye.

Ye brought Cudi out for three songs toward the end of his three-hour set at Soldier Field on Friday (Sept. 4), the guest-filled second night of two homecoming concerts. The two rappers, whose relationship spans two decades (Yeezy signed Cudi to G.O.O.D. Music in 2008, a few years after meeting him), delivered “Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1” and “Ghost Town,” plus “Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare),” in one of the show’s most unforgettable moments.

Following the show, Cudi reacted to several positive comments coming through on social, from fans reveling in the surprise appearance — which appeared to be a reconciliation between the once-frequent collaborators, who’d even released a joint album in 2019 (Kids See Ghosts).

He also responded to criticism of realigning with Ye.

It’d been a minute since anyone had seen the pair together in public, as Cudi had distanced himself from Ye in recent years amid the star’s erratic rants, antisemitic remarks and hate speech, for which West has since apologized. This wasn’t their first fallout.

Cudi quoted a post from New York radio personality Peter Rosenberg on X this weekend; Rosenberg expressed disappointment that “a lot of people I love are being openly lame about Kanye” on his feed during West’s weekend in Chicago. Rosenberg continued, “I am not saying no one deserves forgiveness or empathy but this man sang Heil Hitler ONE YEAR AGO.”

“I understand ur frustration Peter, I f—s w u, but I dont really care if ur disappointed in me,” Cudi wrote in response on X on Saturday (Sept. 5).

“That man is my brother,” Cudi said of Ye. “U dont have a relationship w him like I do. Damn near 2 decades of art and friendship. U not family. So I get it. Ive been around Ye, and I can honestly say talking to him now is how it use to be when I first signed to him, but even better. He was dealing w mental health struggles for years and now hes good. Everyone deserves some grace when they family. I was the hardest on him out of anybody. I held him accountable. He apologized and it was sincere. But like I said, u not family so I get it.”

Rosenberg replied, “well i wasnt disappointed in you @KiDCuDi (i meant fans) but if you saw me running out to support an artist a year after they made a song called “all hail the klan” you would prolly feel a way. I am ALL for forgiveness and empathy but this man is being hailed as a HERO … f that. go get real help and sit down for a few years then lets talk before im going to run to put money in ur pocket.”

In 2025, Kid Cudi spoke of his fractured relationship with Ye in an interview with CBS, noting that West had said some things that “there was no coming back from.” He added, “I’m done with you. And it breaks my heart because I loved Kanye. I really loved him. He was part of my life changing and at some point, he was a really good friend, but the man that he has become … I just don’t know that guy anymore.”

Ye, who suffers from bipolar disorder, apologized for his actions in early 2026, referencing his mental health struggle. In a full-page ad taken out in the Wall Street Journal in January, Ye wrote, “You don’t think you’re sick. You think everyone else is overreacting. You feel like you’re seeing the world more clearly than ever, when in reality you’re losing your grip entirely … One of the difficult aspects of having bipolar type-1 are the disconnected moments — many of which I still cannot recall — that led to poor judgment and reckless behavior that oftentimes feels like an out-of-body-experience. I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”

Over the summer, Cudi revealed they were rebuilding their friendship.

After this weekend’s reunion with Ye on stage, he wrote on X, “Tn was just another epic night on a list with many other epic nights w my big bro,” adding, “love u Chicago.”

In another note posted after performing at Soldier Field, Cudi said, “Love u big bro. Family s—tt.”

Andy Williams, the founding guitarist of metalcore band Every Time I Die and a professional wrestler, has died. He was 48.

Williams, a former All Elite Wrestling (AEW) wrestler known as “The Butcher,” died Saturday night (Sept. 5), hours after collapsing following an independent tag-team wrestling match at Mr. Small’s Theatre in Millvale, Pennsylvania, according to TMZ.

“Andy collapsed at the end of his match this evening,” Enjoy Wrestling, the event’s promoter, wrote on X Saturday. “Our doctors on staff tended to him immediately, administering CPR until the ambulance arrived.”

A specific cause of death was not immediately available at press time.

Williams and his longtime wrestling partner, Jesse “The Blade” Guilmette, faced TME at the Enjoy Wrestling event, which organizers canceled following the incident.

Before beginning his professional wrestling career, Williams was the founding rhythm guitarist of New York metalcore band Every Time I Die. He played with the group from its formation in 1998 until its breakup in 2022, appearing on all nine of the band’s studio albums.

Every Time I Die announced its breakup in early 2022, following the release of its ninth and final studio album, 2021’s Radical.

Williams began wrestling professionally in the 2010s while still performing with Every Time I Die. He joined AEW in 2019 as “The Butcher” and remained under contract with the promotion until June 2026.

“All Elite Wrestling is saddened to learn of the passing of Andy Williams, aka The Butcher,” the wrestling company wrote on Instagram. “A trailblazing musician with ETID and Atomic Rule, Williams made a successful transition into the world of professional wrestling and was incredibly respected by his peers both in and out of the ring. Our condolences go out to Williams’ family, friends and fans.”

After Every Time I Die broke up, Williams joined Atomic Rule and continued making music while pursuing his wrestling career. Shortly before his death Saturday, he appeared in a video shared on the band’s Instagram account, saying Atomic Rule was working on new music.

More than a dozen concertgoers were hospitalized following The Chainsmokers’ recent Bay Area show.

Fourteen people were transported to local hospitals during and after the electronic duo’s outdoor concert at Discovery Meadow in San Jose, California, on Friday (Sept. 4), according to police and the San Jose Fire Department (SJFD).

“At 8:22 p.m. on Friday, September 4, the San José Fire Department responded to an outdoor concert at Discovery Meadow for reports of multiple patients requiring medical attention,” the SJFD wrote on X.

The fire department continued, “SJFD immediately requested an Ambulance Task Force, two additional advanced life support fire units, and a Battalion Chief to manage the incident and provide additional medical resources. A total of 14 ambulances responded, and 14 patients were transported to local hospitals.”

At least 10 attendees were taken to the hospital during the final 30 minutes of the show, according to ABC 7. Paramedics treated other concertgoers at the venue as the medical response continued through the end of the concert.

The SJFD did not specify why concertgoers required medical attention, but police told NBC Bay Area that those hospitalized were experiencing a variety of medical concerns, including “suspected alcohol intoxication and drug-related issues.”

No arrests were reported, according to SFGate.

The Chainsmokers had not publicly addressed the situation at press time. Billboard has reached out to the group’s representatives for comment.

The Chainsmokers’ Alex Pall and Drew Taggart released the five-song EP LOVE IS KIND in May and had a busy summer, with appearances at EDC Las Vegas, Lollapalooza, Tomorrowland and Palm Tree Music Festival.

The pair took the stage at Wynn Las Vegas’ Encore Beach Club on Saturday morning (Sept. 5) as part of their long-term residency at the venue.

System of a Down has made “Johnny” available on streaming platforms for the first time, part of a wider rollout marking the 25th anniversary of Toxicity.

The track had previously surfaced only on international editions of the album and a U.K. 7-inch pressed alongside “Chop Suey!,” never receiving its own standalone release until now.

Toxicity arrived Sept. 4, 2001, produced by Rick Rubin, and became one of the defining metal albums of its era, fusing heavy riffing with Armenian folk influences and pointedly political lyrics addressing the environment, protest movements and U.S. foreign policy.

The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — a chart run that fell in the week of the Sept. 11 attacks, a coincidence that shadowed the record’s early rollout, as “Chop Suey!” was pulled from radio playlists over lyrics some deemed sensitive in the moment. Lead single “Chop Suey!” nonetheless became the band’s first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, part of a run that saw all three of the album’s singles — “Chop Suey!,” “Toxicity” and “Aerials” — reach the chart, with “Aerials” eventually topping both Billboard’s Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock tallies.

Critics and fans connected immediately with the album’s unusual fusion of heavy riffing, progressive structure and Armenian musical heritage, delivered alongside lyrics tackling the environment, protest movements and U.S. foreign policy. Toxicity has since been certified seven-times platinum in the U.S. and two-times platinum in the U.K., with an estimated 15 million units sold worldwide. “Chop Suey!” alone has surpassed 2 billion Spotify streams as of this past May, cementing its status as the band’s signature song.

The anniversary rollout centers on a new vinyl reissue pressed on red smoke-colored vinyl, bundled with a bonus one-sided 7-inch featuring “Johnny” on the A-side and a custom “25” etching on the B-side.

The reissue also corrects a longstanding tracklist error: the hidden closing track, long informally known among fans as “Arto,” is now officially credited as “Der Voghormia,” a traditional Armenian hymn. The package additionally includes a custom double-sided poster, and the reissue is available now for preorder.

Violet Grohl delivered a stripped-down cover of The Cure’s “High” for Triple J’s Like a Version series, trading the original’s layered guitar work for a barebones acoustic arrangement built around her own vocal.

“I love the childlike joy of the lyrics… it’s such a cute love song,” Grohl told Triple J of the 1992 single, the lead track from The Cure’s Wish. She said “High” has been a personal favorite for years, and traced her fandom for the band back to age 12 or 13, when hearing “Friday I’m in Love” sent her deep into their catalog.

“I think it’s a perfect example of their sound during the early ’90s,” she said, “and I love all the imagery in the lyricism.” Grohl said she aimed to capture a “teenage crush kind of feeling” in the performance, adding of Cure frontman Robert Smith: “I adore Robert Smith… I would hope that they would at least think it was okay.” She also performed her own song “595,” from her debut album, in the same acoustic setting.

The dreamy arrangement tracks with the sound of Be Sweet to Me, Grohl’s debut album, released May 29 via Auroura and Republic Records. Recorded across 2024 and 2025, the project draws on alternative rock from the late ’80s and early ’90s, with Grohl citing The Cure, Cocteau Twins, the Pixies, Soundgarden and the Breeders as touchstones. “There’s something so powerful about that period of music, from the messaging to the visuals,” she said in a statement announcing the album. “It’s authentic and raw.”

Grohl, the eldest daughter of Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl — who’s been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame both with Nirvana (2014) and Foo Fighters (2021) — has spent years building toward a solo career around the family’s musical orbit. She’s contributed backing vocals to Foo Fighters tracks including “Show Me How,” which hit No. 21 on Hot Hard Rock Songs in 2023, and performed at the band’s 2022 tribute concerts for late drummer Taylor Hawkins.

In 2021, she and her father recorded a cover of X’s “Nausea,” which they later performed together on Jimmy Kimmel Live! alongside Krist Novoselic, Dave Lombardo and Greg Kurstin — though that appearance came as a guest alongside her father, not under her own name. Her true TV debut as a billed solo artist came in June, when she performed “Bug in the Cake” with a full band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Grohl made her own Billboard chart debut earlier this year when “THUM” entered the Adult Alternative Airplay chart at No. 38 — a small but symbolic milestone given her father’s own chart record with Foo Fighters, who have logged 44 songs on the Alternative Airplay chart, tied with U2 for the most in the format’s history.

She’s set to play a run of U.S. festivals this fall, including Riot Fest, Shaky Knees, CBGB Festival, All Things Go D.C. and Corona Capital, ahead of her own headlining U.S. tour and a stint supporting Beabadoobee on her upcoming European dates.

Taylor Swift was featured answering questions during an “iHeartCountry House Party” on BOB 94.9 FM out of Harrisburg, Pa., Saturday night (Sept. 5). Why make a random appearance on Pennsylvania country radio this weekend?

Well, Swift made a return to country airplay this summer with “I Knew It, I Knew You,” the original song she penned for Toy Story 5 — and that track was the topic of conversation on Saturday. The station’s also based just about an hour west of Swift’s childhood home in Wyomissing, where she lived before bringing her family to Nashville to launch her country career.

Though Swift’s appearance was said to have a 7 p.m. ET start by the station, her voice didn’t get any airtime until about 7:45 p.m. Q&A clips with her were sparse from that point on, with just a few questions broadcast overall as it neared 10 p.m.

The 45-minute lead-up to any sign of Swift had a modern country playlist of singles like Morgan Wallen & Post Malone’s “I Ain’t Comin’ Back,” Lainey Wilson feat. John Mayer’s “Phone, Keys, Wallet,” Kip Moore’s “Somethin’ Bout a Truck” and Russell Dickerson’s “Worth Your Wild” before Swift’s latest hit, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” finally got airplay. Next up was Cole Swindell’s “Single Saturday Night,” Thomas Rhett’s “After All the Bars Are Closed” and, at last, a Swift classic, “Teardrops on My Guitar.” Soon the first question of the night for Swift came up.

She talked about her contribution to the Toy Story 5 soundtrack, zoning in on the beloved film franchise’s “legacy” musical landscape. Swift gushed that “it has a sonic world that Randy Newman has crafted so beautifully.” Fortunately, “I Knew It, I Knew You” got the “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” creator’s approval: “He told me he likes it, which is really all I need to know.”

“House Party” by Sam Hunt, “Hands Up” by Jelly Roll, “Painted You Pretty” by Hudson Westbrook, “Kid Myself” by John Morgan, “I Need Some Help” by Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen and “South of Sanity” by Zach Top all played on the station before host Wayne D tuned back in to Swift, who, now two decades into her career, offered some insight on having a successful songwriting session.

“One thing I’ve learned over the many years of studio sessions and writing sessions and working with people collaboratively is your energy and attitude you bring into the room can affect absolutely everything about the day,” said Swift, who added, “If you come in and act like you don’t want to be there, everyone else is gonna pick up on that.”

“Be enthusiastic about being able to be making art every day that you can make art,” Swift advised.

Many more country songs, by various artists, followed before Swift’s voice made a return on air, with what would be the most interesting piece of the night for Swifties, or anyone who loves to pore over a good lyric booklet.

Swift revealed she went into writing “I Knew It, I Knew You” with words that could support two interpretations.

“I love that the lyrics of this song are really being delved into by the fans. There are several lyrics that have more than one meaning to them,” Swift said of “I Knew It, I Knew You.”

“You only have so long in a song to convey and surmise and sum up this entire film [Toy Story 5] that people just watched. Sometimes you’ll try to have a double meaning in a line,” she continued.

Swift gave specific examples from the first couple lines of the song: “I knew you through the daze of the blades of the grass in summer/ Parachutes for the free fall of being younger.”

“The word daze is spelled ‘d-a-z-e’ in the lyrics, but you could also, if you wanted to, think of it as days, ‘d-a-y-s,’ you could perceive it as that. I thought of it as like a childhood daze of you look back and you see this sort of blurry, beautiful memory that’s kind of blurry at the edges,” Swift explained.

“Blades of the grass in summer, that harkens back to childhood and playing and using your imagination, but also there’s the added meaning of they’re toys,” she said. “They can only see up to the height of blades of grass.”

“Parachutes for the free fall of being younger: There’s the actual parachute army toys in Toy Story, as well as symbolically, somebody who helps you grow up, helps your landings be softer,” said Swift.

Later in the evening, another Swift moment aired. She spoke of the inspiration behind writing “I Knew It, I Knew You.” Swift was drawn to Toy Story cowgirl Jessie upon attending an early screening of Toy Story 5 — “I was seeing that she was going through a full-circle moment as a character,” Swift said, in part — plus seeing “a lot of reunions of old friends, seeing people that you haven’t seen in a while, and kind of forgiving past heartbreak, or whatever, and kind of healing that within yourself.”

Swift spoke fondly of her country roots in a recent conversation with Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. held at the Grammy Museum.

“The further along this path I get, I want to honor them more and more, and I feel more and more tied and more loyal to them — the people that shaped who I am as an artist and as a writer,” she said at the Aug. 18 event that focused on her songwriting and had her performing an acoustic mashup on piano of “I Knew It, I Knew You,” “August” and “All Too Well” that felt like a mid-late 2024 Eras Tour throwback.

Swift’s most recent original, full-length studio album was 2025’s The Life of a Showgirl. The pop collection tallied 12 weeks total at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Her next original, full-length studio album, which she has yet to speak about, will mark the 13th of her career. (This number doesn’t count her successful series of re-recorded albums, the four “Taylor’s Version” releases she put out prior to ultimately obtaining ownership of her masters last year.)