GRAMMYs

Zac Brown 

Photo: Denise Truscello/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

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Zac Brown Band Releases 2020 Roar With The Lions Tour Dates

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The band's lion-themed tour will kick off in late May in New Hampshire
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Jan 9, 2020 - 12:18 pm

It's only January, but the Zac Brown Band's latest announcement has fans getting excited about summer. The GRAMMY-winning rock band from the South led by Zac Brown has announced a tour set to begin in May.

The Roar With The Lions tour will launch May 24 in Gilford, N.H., and then head to Syracuse, N.Y., Toronto, Camden, N.J., Bristow, Va., Noblesville, Ind., Denver, and other cities before the last stop in Vancouver on Oct. 18.

Brown picked the tour's lion theme to represent a part of his identity that means a lot to him, and overall for what the "king of the jungle" represents. 

"Our summer tour is inspired by the folklore surrounding the figure of the lion," Brown said in a statement. "I am a Leo, and all of the guys in the band are lions. They exemplify strength, courage, intelligence and loyalty, and work in tandem to defend their territory and one another. The crowd is our pride – rooted in togetherness and fiercely loyal. They always show up for each other, no matter what, just like our fans always show up for us. We can’t wait to hear you roar with us!"

Presale tickets for the tour are available Jan. 14 and general tickets will go on sale Jan. 17. For more information on tickets and tour dates, visit the Zac Brown Band website. 

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GRAMMYs

Hayley Kiyoko

Photo: Joe Maher/Getty Images for Atlantic Records

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Amazon Music Launches Pride Month Content With Hayley Kiyoko "Mr. Brightside" Cover

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Other initiatives for the month include an Alexa Pride feature sharing stories of LGBTQ leaders told by Tegan and Sara, Melissa Etheridge and more
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
May 29, 2020 - 1:13 pm

Amazon Music is rolling out month-long content celebrating LGBTQ artists past and present in honor of Pride Month launching in June, and to kick things off has partnered with pop singer Hayley Kiyoko for a special cover of The Killers' "Mr. Brightside."

The cover will live on the music platform's PROUD playlist, which also features Lady Gaga, Perfume Genius, Todrick Hall, Kim Petras, Orville Peck, and more. Perfume Genius is also reportedly set to release an exclusive song on the platform. 

"With Amazon Music’s PROUD playlist – we’ve curated a collection of songs that shine a spotlight on the next generation of LGBTQ+ artists, who proudly share their artistry and their identity with their fans," Amazon Music label relations manager John Farrey told Billboard. "We're also focused on telling the stories of the artists who came before: Sylvester, Wendy Carlos, and Gladys Bentley -- artists who have blazed a trail for future generations." 

Other initiatives for the month include a livestream of San Francisco Pride’s 2020 Online Celebration June 27–28 and an Alexa Pride feature sharing stories of  LGBTQ leaders told by Tegan and Sara, Melissa Etheridge and more. Farrey said the Pride history content is a partnership with the @lgbt_history account on Instagram. 

"Queer history and queer storytelling is an important part of our culture, and it's what makes Pride History so unique," he said. "I've followed the @lgbt_history Instagram account for ages, so I was excited to have Amazon Music work with account co-founder and historian Matthew Riemer on the content for Pride History. Together, we picked stories that inspired us - from the picketing of Sir Lady Java to the Ashes Action. Narrators Melissa Etheridge, Tegan and Sara, and Kim Petras brought these stories to life beautifully, and the music they chose for this piece makes for a fierce soundtrack. It's equal parts riot and remembrance."

The platform will continue to announce more content throughout June. 

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GRAMMYs

Guns N' Roses

Photo: Paul Rovere/Getty Images

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Guns N' Roses Reschedule North American Tour Due To Coronavirus

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The run of dates scheduled to kick-off July 4 has now been pushed back
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
May 21, 2020 - 11:41 am

Guns N' Roses are the latest big-time music act to be forced to change their summer plans, announcing they have rescheduled their North American tour. The string of dates was set to begin July 4 in Milwaukee, Wis., at Summerfest.

GN'R has also cancelled their 2020 European tour, which was set to begin May 22 in Lisbon, Portugal. 

"Thank you for your understanding during this time as we look forward to coming back together very soon,” the band wrote in a post.

The Not In This Lifetime Tour, which Guns N' Roses launched in 2016, has become the No. 3 highest-grossing tour in history according to Billboard Boxscore.

Fans can pick up a special edition t-shirt from the band's merch store with 100 percent proceeds from sales going to benefit the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund.

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GRAMMYs

Green Day 

Photo: Rick Rowell/ABC via Getty Images

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Hella Mega North American Tour With Green Day, Weezer And Fall Out Boy Postponed

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The bands said they would announce rescheduled dates for 2021 soon
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
May 19, 2020 - 4:23 pm

Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy have postponed their joint '80s and '90s arena rock-inspired tour throughout North America, citing safety as a concern as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

The Hella Mega U.S. dates were to kick-off on July 17 in Seattle's T-Mobile Park and closeout on Aug. 29 in Philadelphia. The tour was to feature ska-punk band The Interrupters as special guests. Rescheduled dates will be for summer 2021, they announced on Tuesday, May 19.

"Hopefully this doesn't come as a surprise, but as much as we were all looking forward to seeing you all this summer, everyone's safety is our highest priority so we've officially made the call to reschedule all North American dates of the Hella Mega tour until next year," the bands said in a statement. 

They asked fans to hold on to their tickets as they would announce new dates with the same venues in the near future. Dates for the European leg of the tour were postponed on April 23. 

The bands announced the massive tour in late 2019. Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong said they came up with the idea of reliving the Van Halen, Metallica and Aerosmith show era during an interview with  Zane Lowe, in which he was also joined by Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz and Weezer vocalist Rivers Cuomo.  

"We talked about how we weren't really wanting to do stadiums and [instead] do something that was like throwback to the Monsters of Rock Tour," Armstrong said.

Wentz added: "I remember in the 1990s there was this one summer, and Guns N' Roses [and] Metallica went on the stadium tour and my parents didn't let me go to it… I feel trapped in that forever and we wanted to recreate that memory."

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GRAMMYs

Renée Fleming 

Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty Images

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Renée Fleming Webinar Series To Explore Impact Of Music And Arts On Human Health And The Brain

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Music and Mind Live with Renée Fleming will feature scientists and practitioners in the "intersection music, neuroscience, and healthcare"
Jennifer Velez
MusiCares
May 19, 2020 - 2:12 pm

GRAMMY-winning soprano Renée Fleming will launch a webinar series exploring the impact of music and arts on human health and the brain.

Music and Mind Live with Renée Fleming will feature scientists and practitioners in the "intersection music, neuroscience, and healthcare" including child development, pain and anxiety and management in conversation with the singer, according to a statement. The first webinar will happen Tuesday, May 19 at 5 p.m. EST/ 2 p.m. PST with Dr. Vivek Murthy. 

Murthy will discuss music, loneliness and isolation as well as his book, Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World. The series will also include a Q&A portion.

Fleming, an arts and health advocate, said now is the time to talk about how art impacts health. 

"Research is revealing amazing things about the way arts influence human health and the brain,” Fleming said in a statement. “With our working lives halted, the covid-19 pandemic has also fostered an explosion of creativity and good will. What better time to examine our need as human beings to create and experience the arts, and the basis of this in science?"

Fleming's role as the Artistic Advisor to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in partnership with the National Institutes of Health and the National Endowment for the Arts inspired her to create the series..

The webinars can be watched live on Facebook. Those who cannot tune into the livestream can catch a replay on the Kennedy Center's website. The live episodes can also be watched on the Kennedy Center's Facebook and YouTube. 

See the full schedule of the series below:

May 19 – “Music, Loneliness, and Isolation”
Vivek H. Murthy, MD (former US Surgeon General, author)
 
May 26 – "Community of Voices, Sound and Music Perception, and a Resource for the Future"- 
Julene Johnson, PhD and Charles Limb, MD (University of California San Francisco); Sunil Iyengar (National Endowment for the Arts)
 
June 2 – “At Home with Children: Musical Tool Kit”
Miriam Lense, PhD, (Vanderbilt University Music Cognition Lab); Sara Beck, PhD (Randolph College)
 
June 9 – "Integrative Approach to COVID-19 and the Mind" 
Deepak Chopra, MD (The Chopra Foundation)
 
June 16 – "Using Music for Health and Wellbeing during COVID-19"
Wendy Magee, PhD (Temple University); Tom Sweitzer, MMT, MT-BC (A Place to Be)

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