Lyndsey Parker

Managing Editor, Yahoo Music

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Debbie Harry at 70: The Diva Talks Rock vs. EDM and Four Decades of Blondie

Last year, Blondie’s Debbie Harry (who, incredibly, turns 70 today) made headlines when she made a surprise appearance with Arcade Fire during the first weekend of Coachella. Harry joined the band on a mash-up of Blondie’s 1978 hit “Heart of Glass” and Arcade Fire’s “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains),” from its 2010 album The Suburbs.

The collaboration was notable on a couple fronts. First, many saw it as a passing of the torch from Blondie to Arcade Fire, one of the most high-profile rock acts that’s straddling the line between rock and dance music. Secondly, it occurred at the festival where some had noted a seismic shift. There were several reports that EDM acts were generating more excitement and enthusiasm than the veteran rock and hip-hop acts performing on the festival’s main stages.

When we spoke to Harry about Blondie’s recent 40th anniversary and the band’s latest album, two-disc set Blondie 4(0) Ever, we asked her about how her collaboration with Arcade Fire came about and what she makes of the ongoing relationship between rock and dance music. By the way, Blondie continues to explore dance grooves. Ghosts of Download, the new album included with Blondie 4(0) Ever, features “Mile High,” the band’s foray into EDM with DJ Hector Fonseca.

As for joining the Arcade Fire at Coachella, Harry says the idea came from a mash-up originally posted by the Hood Internet around the time The Suburbs was released. Then, as Harry explains, the Arcade Fire’s manager caught a Blondie live performance. “He saw us at the Amnesty [International] show and he really enjoyed the performance, so it just kind of clicked in his head that they might be interested and they were,” Harry says.

While Harry enjoyed performing with Arcade Fire, she admits it was a challenge. “It’s a much different experience to be a guest artist and work with a band that size,” she says. “It was a bit of a challenge, honestly.”

With hits like “Heart of Glass,” and later “Atomic” and “Call Me,” which the band re-recorded on the Deluxe Redux: Greatest Hits portion of Blondie 4(0) Ever, the band helped bridge the gap from CBGB to Studio 54 by taking rock energy and punk attitude to the dance floor. When we note Blondie’s significance in this movement, Harry acknowledges the band’s role. “For better or for worse, we did,” she says. “I think that’s the way we sort of grew up in our scene in New York. The crossover thing was really a very creative move at the time. It seems sort of like a done deal now.”

As for the current crop of EDM artists, Harry has mixed feelings about them. “Somebody like Calvin Harris, who has written and produced so many great songs, coming up there and playing live, I feel like there’s some validity to that. It’s not like he’s just playing somebody else’s music. It’s him,” she says. “I personally like seeing a live performance. I love Outkast. It’s just more people hear those songs [that EDM artists are spinning] that are really available on radio. Everyone goes to clubs. Rock is a little more specific. There aren’t really rock clubs where people go and dance to rock music. It’s a sign of the times, but I don’t know if it’s going to stay that way. I love dancing to rock music.”

As for Coachella in general, Harry is a fan. “I love Coachella,” she says. “Coachella is amazing. There was so many great bands there. I was a little disappointed I didn’t get to see more. I think it’s one of the best festivals in the States, perhaps in the world. It’s a really great festival.”

Goldenvoice, take note. You might have yourself a veteran act for Coachella 2016 that can bridge the gap between the rock and the dance scenes.

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Neil Young, Daryl Hannah, talk new ‘Paradox’ film: ‘We’re very lucky to have found each other’

AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 15: Director Daryl Hannah and Neil Young attend the “Paradox” red carpet premiere at Paramount Theatre during SXSW 2018 on March 15, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for Netflix)

In 1993, after taking a summer off to attend film school at NYU, Daryl Hannah wrote, directed, and produced the short film The Last Supper, which won a Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival. But it took until now for her to make her full-length feature directorial debut: Paradox, a lo-fi, sci-fi western musical starring her boyfriend Neil Young, Promise of the Real, and Willie Nelson, which premiered Thursday night at Austin’s South By Southwest festival.

“I can’t even tell you how many years I told my manager that I wanted [direct],” Hannah tells Yahoo Entertainment. “I have been working on an actual, real scripts and stuff for years, and have things that I’ve developed over the years that I wanted to make as narrative features, and I never even could get a meeting. I even had production deals, but they were always kind of like vanity production deals, ultimately.”

Hannah, who has spoken before about being sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein (including one disturbing encounter when he burst into her hotel room), pauses when asked about her struggles in Hollywood. “There’s so many stories, but I actually never got a meeting on a movie after Kill Bill, not one — not an offer, not a meeting, not an anything. The next thing I got was Sense8, and that was accidental. They called me for a phone number for somebody else, and they were like, ‘Why don’t you come in?’ I have no idea why. [Kill Bill] was a big, successful movie, but I never got even a meeting, nothing. I think it was… maybe tied slightly to the Harvey thing, because that was part of it. He was telling people I was ‘difficult,’ because I kicked him out of my room!”

Interestingly, in Paradox, Hannah envisions a utopian future “when the womenfolk had rightfully just about given up” on men, in which a band of male outlaw prospectors — led by Young’s grizzled character, “The Man in the Black Hat” — work for a tribe of frontier women. “Every once in a while, I think probably almost every woman has fantasized of just living in a commune or something with their girlfriends and making art and raising babies, and growing food, and just letting the guys come visit once in a while,” Hannah chuckles. “[Paradox] was just sort of a little exploration of that fantasy, that in the future, women have just said, ‘You know what? We’re done with the mining, the plundering, the pillaging, the fighting. We’re just going to go over here. We’ll take care of the land. We’ll take care of the kids. You guys try to stay alive. We’ll come and visit you once in a while.’ The women [in the film] still have a good feeling about the men, though… it’s not like they’ve written them off completely!”

The real man in Daryl’s life, Neil Young, says he was delighted to be part of Hannah’s quirky vision. “Daryl did everything. She wrote the script, she went out to the thrift shops and bought all of the costumes herself,” he marvels. “She is a real artist, and she knows what she wants. She wrote what everybody said. She gave us good direction throughout the whole thing. … Daryl is great at what she does. She’s a true professional, and a joy to work with.”

“[Neil] has such a natural communication with the artistic process that he doesn’t question it, ever,” Hannah adds. “He just was like, ‘Oh yeah, right. We’re making a movie.’ It was very natural.”

Young says he trusted his partner’s vision so much, “I never read the script… I said, ‘Why don’t you just tell me my lines?’ She told me about the story, and so I wanted to see it develop.”

Neil Young (Photo: Netflix)

There’s one amusing line in the Paradox script, uttered in the outhouse, that stands out: “Love is like a fart. If you have to force it, it’s probably s***.” Hearing that line recited back to him, Young chuckles. “That sounds about right.” Young speaks glowingly of Hannah, and he says nothing about their romance has ever felt like a struggle at all — even when working together on a movie set. “She says I’m unruly, and I think she’s too tough, but aside from that, we’re great!” he laughs. More seriously, he continues, “We’re pretty real. As artists, we support each other and understand, because we both have an element of fame. We understand what that means.”

It seems like Young is referring to the media scrutiny that exploded once he and Hannah went public with their relationship, following his divorce from his wife of 36 years, Pegi. But he insists, “We didn’t pay any attention to that. It doesn’t matter. We don’t give a s***. We don’t care, because they don’t know what they’re talking about. And if they do know what they’re talking about, we still don’t care, but we’re happy for them. It doesn’t matter. What matters is us, not the press.”

It wasn’t just the press that had opinions on the Young/Hannah romance: Young’s onetime CSN&Y bandmate, David Crosby, also had some nasty words (for which Crosby later apologized). “When we got together, even some of my good friends were negative about it, and I could never understand it,” muses Young. “[Daryl is] a wonderful human being, and I’m very lucky to know her. That’s all I was thinking.”

Nowadays, Young seems in great spirits, with a slew of forthcoming new releases — including the Paradox soundtrack, which features six new musical interludes with Promise of the Real –and it seems Hannah has a lot to do with the 71-year-old’s zest for life.

Neil Young in ‘Paradox’ (Photo: Netflix)

“She’s helped me physically to be stronger; she’s got a really intense physical regimen she follows, and I crawl along behind her,” Young reveals, laughing. “We do Pilates twice a week, sometimes three times a week, and get in pool with weights. We have routines we do in the pool, lot of stuff together like that. There’s always something. … I’m very lucky. We’re very lucky to have found each other. I’m eternally thankful for the opportunity to share my life with her, and she feels the same.”

That sense of joy permeates Paradox, a freeform romp shot over two days in the Colorado mountains on shoestring budget. (“It was more of a no-string budget,” jokes Hannah. “It was like a Velcro budget,” quips Young.)

“It was just for fun. We wanted to make a movie, so why not?” Young says. “We had all these people, everybody’s capable of doing it, and we had some time to kill. We started talking about it about a week before we did it. …We said, ‘Do you really want to do this? Yeah? OK, let’s get the tent.’”

“There was a lot that was just sort of improvised, or you didn’t even realize we were even filming. … We just did it for a couple of days, by ourselves. We just made it. We didn’t go around asking anybody for permission or organizing. Most of these guys were wearing my clothes, or stuff I got at the thrift store. We did everything ourselves. It was just like, ‘Let’s make a movie!’”

“We had no limitations. We just didn’t have any money,” says Young.

(Photo: Netflix)

Ironically, Paradox wasn’t even supposed to be Hannah’s full-length directorial debut — she’d only written a 10-page script — but she, Young, and Promise of the Real were having so much fun, “We just kept shooting,” says Young. “We’d get up in the morning and shoot all day and never stop.” Eventually, Hannah ended up with enough footage, some of it improvised,  for a 73-minute feature, which will make its Netflix debut March 23. “It wasn’t made like a normal movie. That’s why it isn’t a normal movie. …If you go in expecting an ordinary movie, you’re going to be confused,” she laughs.

Hannah still has plans to make a more conventional film. based on an old Irish folk tale that was adapted by W.B. Yeats, though she isn’t sure when that will happen — “I’m going to need actual budget and an actual crew for that one,” she says. But with Young by her side, she says, “I will always do creative stuff. That’s just the way it goes.”

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Neil Young: ‘I don’t feel like I’ve got a lot of years, but I don’t feel old’

Watch Neil Young and Promise of the Real’s Full ‘The Monsanto Years’ Film

Lynyrd Skynyrd talk emotional new documentary: ‘I cried a few times’

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Katy Perry suffers wardrobe malfunction on otherwise perfect 'American Idol' episode

Katy Perry takes a tumble. (Photo: ABC)

Katy Perry, with her impeccable comic timing and seemingly genuine affection for the contestants, is doing an excellent job as a new American Idol judge, as evidenced by Sunday’s expectations-surpassing reboot premiere. But she probably won’t be invited to be a World of Dance or So You Think You Can Dance judge any time soon. Monday, when she attempted to bust some sexy salsa moves during one audition, she landed flat on her backside — and flashed that backside, along with her frontside, to everyone on the set. (It’s a good thing she didn’t suffer such a wardrobe malfunction at her Super Bowl performance a couple years back!)

Katy laughed off the wacky incident, as did her fellow judges, Luke Bryan (who quipped, “There are some things a man can’t unsee!”) and Lionel Richie (who awkwardly straddled Katy as he helped her get up, joking, “There are some things you have to do for the business!”). TV hilarity ensued — and the way Luke and Lionel leapt to Katy’s aid demonstrated that these three already share fantastic onscreen chemistry. Kudos also to the producers for creatively employing the oval Idol logo as a well-placed censor bar and keeping this show family-friendly.

As for the contestant at the center of this ruckus, Venezuelan dancing queen and self-described “show-woman” Michelle Sussett, she was entertaining as well, and Katy admired her “chutzpah” and “fearlessness” — though I think Luke was exaggerating when he dubbed her “the next damn Jennifer Lopez.” There were many other contestants who figuratively knocked me off my feet (and one that even got weirdly close to Katy’s feet). Below are my favorite auditions from Monday.

Mara Justine, 15: “Love on the Brain” This spitfire and Idol superfan took Rihanna’s song to church and back with a growling, vampy performance. Such sass, such spunk, such soul! She had enough confidence to make Michelle Sussett seem shy, and she earned a standing ovation and instant golden ticket. “This is a top 10 … That’s worth doing American Idol,” gushed Katy.

Griffin Tucker, 15: “Lady Madonna” A Kurt Cobain lookalike playing a groovy piano Beatles tune, with a voice deeper than Scotty “Baby Lock Them Doors” McCreery? What’s not to love? “You’re 15, but you’re like 7,000 years old,” said Katy. “Your level of talent is staggering,” raved Lionel.

Griffin Tucker sharing his music/ gift(s), inspiring the world!#AmericanIdol @gktrocks pic.twitter.com/g0F42jGDaY

— Kevin Wayne Woodward (@KevinWWoodward) March 13, 2018

William Casanova, 26: “A Song for You” This flirty, overconfident women’s shoe salesman seemed like a novelty contestant, but then he showcased a smoky crooner voice (Lionel called it “smooooove”) that lived up to his cheesy, self-appointed surname. His foot fetish (he was way too excited about Katy’s well-manicured toes when she handed him his golden ticket) was a little odd, though.

Brandon Diaz, 21: “Unaware” Meet the the Constantine Maroulis (or maybe Michael Johns) of 2018. With his pinup-worthy curls and bedroom eyes, Brandon is major heartthrob material. But he’s also the “best male singer we’ve seen so far,” according to Katy. His falsetto on the Allen Stone staple was “very clean” (said Lionel) and “badass” (said Luke), and that’ll be his real secret weapon on the show.

Trevor Holmes, 27: “In Case You Didn’t Know” Here comes another heartthrob! Trevor (who’s crushed on Katy for years) and Katy had a moment as he serenaded her, altering Brett Young’s lyrics to “Katy, I’m crazy about you!” I feared producers were about to have another Paula Abdul/Corey Clark scandal on their hands … until Trevor’s girlfriend rushed in, just as Katy was flirtatiously handing him his golden ticket. Alas, Trevor and Katy’s romance was not meant to be. But with his lovely, intimate singing style, Trevor could still go far.

Laine Hardy, 17: “Hurricane” Meet the Phillip Phillips of 2018. This shy Louisiana bayou kid had such a swampy voice (no pun intended) on the Band of Heathens song, with gravel, grizzle, and grit that was practically Tom Waits-level. I did not expect a voice like this! Laine is my favorite male singer so far. “If you ain’t careful, you might win,” proclaimed Luke.

Gabbii Jones, 20: “Dangerous Woman” A “full package and then some,” this delightful, vivacious soul/pop dynamo could be dangerous competition. There was some Beyoncé-level slayage going on here. Lionel was so impressed, he got up from the table and hugged her. “There are things we can tone down,” he said of her over-the-top personality, “but the basic core of you is exciting.”

Thaddeus Johnson, 25: “Don’t You Worry Child” Thaddeus tried out before — eight years and 162 pounds ago — and after becoming nearly suicidal following his Hollywood Week elimination, he dropped his excess weight (see before/after photos below) to improve his vocal stamina. And that he did! I loved his silky R&B rendition of Swedish House Mafia’s EDM smash. Another congratulatory hug from Papa Lionel ensued as Lionel told him, “You’re here for a reason.”

Thaddeus Johnson, before and after. (Photos: Fox/ABC)

Rissa Watson, 17: “When We Were Young” This small-town guitar girl needs to work on her playing, but she gave me Crystal Bowersox vibes with her sparkling country vibrato (“the voice of an angel,” said Luke) and effortless delivery. “I got full body chills,” said Katy.

David Francisco, 25: “Isn’t She Lovely” After being paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident just three weeks after moving to Nashville, this Casey James look-alike made a miraculous recovery and is back to pursuing his dream. His coffeehouse cover of the Stevie Wonder classic was pretty and pleasant, but what made his audition truly stand out was how he serenaded his supportive fiancée. Their pure love was so evident that an emotional Katy sobbed. (Maybe she was imagining Trevor Holmes singing to her that way?) Another Lionel hug followed, as he told David, “You’re an inspiration to us all.”

And so, an inspiring first week of auditions comes to a close. I dare say, the talent this season totally eclipses that of The Voice this year. Can Idol make a real TV comeback? Watch this space.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Why the time might be right for the return of ‘American Idol’

The 40 best ‘American Idol’ performances of all time

Adam Lambert talks new song, new sound, and those old ‘Idol’ judging rumors

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Watch 20 Oscar-winning actresses in music videos

Hale Berry and Fred Durst in “Behind Blue Eyes” (Photo: YouTube)

Sure, we all know Angelina Jolie won an Oscar for Girl, Interrupted, or that Halle Berry made history Oscar history when she became the first African American to win a Best Actress trophy (for Monster’s Ball). But did you know that Angelina and Halle respectively starred in videos by… Meat Loaf and Limp Bizkit?

In honor of this weekend’s Academy Awards, here’s a look back at 20 music video cameos by Oscar-winning actresses. For some, these videos were career stepping-stones, or mere detours; for others, they were career lows. But all of them are recommended viewing.

20. Mecano, “La Fuerza del Destino”

No one could have predicted when 15-year-old Penelope made her acting debut, in this 1989 Spanish pop video, that she’d win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar 19 years later for her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Incidentally, Mecano broke up in 1992.

19. Parachute, “The Mess I Made” (starring Jennifer Lawrence, 2009)

Silver Linings Playbook Best Actress winner J.Law was a total unknown when she starred in the 2009 video by these Virginia pop-rockers. Parachute frontman Will Anderson later told TeenMusic.com: “She was amazing… We could tell when we met her that she was going places. Here was this amazingly talented actress, and just an incredible person who also happened to be gorgeous. How could we not ask her to be in the video? Seeing her get nominated for the Oscar was amazing. No one deserves it more than her and it’s awesome to see her getting casted in such rad roles!”

18. Robbie Williams, “Something Stupid” (starring Nicole Kidman, 2001)

Robbie’s 2001 album of standards, Swing When You’re Winning, featured duets with Rupert Everett, Jane Horrocks, and Jon Lovitz, but its centerpiece was this adorable collaboration with Nicole — who’d win a Best Actress Oscar a year later for The Hours. Nicole held her own against the British pop star, which makes us wonder, when is her album coming out?

17. iRAWniQ, “ALIENPU$” (starring Tatum O’Neal, 2014)

Tatum holds the record as the youngest thespian to win a competitive Oscar (she won the Best Supporting Actress award in 1973, at age 10, for her role in Paper Moon). The former child star has had her career ups and downs, but has continued to take on challenging roles. Case in point: this dazzling 2014 clip, in which she danced alongside an “alien Rosa Parks” played by rapper iRAWniQ. Tatum even dissected the bizarre, JB Ghuman Jr.-directed video in a play-by-play article for Vice.

16. Roy Orbison, “I Drove All Night” (starring Jennifer Connelly, 1992)

This video starred not only the A Beautiful Mind Best Supporting Actress Oscar-winner, but also Beverly Hills, 90210 heartthrob Jason Priestley. It’s a true ’90s classic if there ever was one.

15. Dave Matthews Band, “Dreamgirl” (starring Julia Roberts, 2005)

The Erin Brockovich Oscar-winner and longtime DMB fan made her music video debut in this Alice in Wonderland-meets-Fringe clip; it was first acting job after giving birth to her twins. “I just need the work,” Julia joked to People magazine at the time of the video’s release. Dave Matthews added, “We thought we’d politely give her a hand up.”

14. Will Butler, “Anna” (2015)

Stone won an Oscar last year for the musical La La Land, but we think her casting may have been inspired by her star turn in this elegant Old Hollywood clip by the Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist.

13. Massive Attack feat. Hope Sandoval, “The Spoils” (starring Cate Blanchett, 2016)

The two-time Oscar-winner shapeshifted from gorgeously dewy SK-II skincare spokeswoman to freaky decomposing zombie robot in this disconcerting clip. Imagine Sinéad O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” mashed up with Lou Reed’s “No Money Down” for some idea of this video’s creepy impact. We need Blanchett to star in a horror flick!

12. Jenny Lewis, “One of the Guys” (starring Anne Hathaway and Brie Larson, 2014)

The former Rilo Kiley frontwoman convinced Les Miserables‘ Hathaway and Room‘s Larson (along with Kristen Stewart) to dress up in male drag for this colorful clip… but we’re more impressed by the Gram Parsons-inspired, red-carpet-worthy rainbow tuxedo that Jenny is wearing.

11. Limp Bizkit, “Behind Blue Eyes” (starring Halle Berry, 2003)

Halle made some major career mistakes following her Best Actress win for 2001’s Monster’s Ball. And making out onscreen with Fred Durst, in a video for a terrible Who cover from the Gothika soundtrack, may have been her most Razzie-worthy misstep — even if Durst, who directed the clip, told MTV it was “the greatest kiss you’ll ever see.” A decade later, this admittedly makes for fascinating viewing.

10. Renee Zellweger with Ewan McGregor, “Here’s to Love” (2003)

The Cold Mountain Best Supporting Actress winner showed off an entirely different side of herself in this playful ode to the great cinematic era of Doris Day and Rock Hudson, from the retro rom-com Down With Love. Here’s to Renee!

9. Meat Loaf, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Dreams Come Through” (starring Angelina Jolie, 1993)

The Girl, Interrupted Oscar-winner has also made appearances in music videos by the Rolling Stones, Lenny Kravitz, Korn, and the Lemonheads. But her most epic (and cinematic) music video appearance of all? The one in which she co-starred with Meat Loaf and played a teen runaway, of course!

8. The Rolling Stones, “Like a Rolling Stone” (starring Patricia Arquette, 1996)

Patricia won Best Supporting Actress honors for Boyhood and gave one of the most memorable acceptance speeches in years. Also memorable? Her harrowing depiction of a strung-out party girl in this Michel Gondry-directed, fisheye-lensed clip for the Stones’ fantastic Dylan cover.

7. David Bowie, “The Next Day” (starring Marion Cotillard, 2013)

Marion displayed her own musical chops portraying Edith Piaf in 2007’s La Vie en Rose, for which she won Best Actress honors. She has concurrently pursued a musical career, including an artsy collaboration with John Cameron Mitchell, Villaine, and Metronomy’s Joseph Mount titled “Snapshot of L.A.“ But her best music video cameo was in this controversial, banned-from-YouTube Bowie clip, in which she played a stigmata-stricken prostitute cavorting in a church brothel with a wayward priest played by Gary Oldman. This video definitely deserved an R rating!

6. Tom Petty, “Into the Great Wide Open” (starring Faye Dunaway, 1991)

The Network Oscar-winner joined an all-star cast that included Johnny Depp, Chynna Phillips, and, um, Richard Grieco to play an evil rock ‘n’ roll Svengali. It was clearly the role Faye was born to play. Just call this one Manager Dearest.

5. Devendra Banhart, “Carmensita” (starring Natalie Portman, 2007)

Back before she was a crazy Black Swan, Natalie was dancing in this crazy, Bollywood-inspired video by the eccentric singer-songwriter, who soon became her boyfriend. The relationship didn’t last; maybe Natalie was jealous that Devendra almost looked as pretty in sparkly Bollywood makeup as she did. A pregnant Portman starred last year in James Blake’s “My Willing Heart.”

4. Brandon Flowers, “Crossfire” (starring Charlize Theron, 2010)

This badass, action-packed video, in which the Monster actress rescued the Killers frontman from ninja kidnappers, was soooo much better than Aeon Flux.

3. Tom Petty, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” (starring Kim Basigner, 1994)

Ah, the creepy “love story” between a morgue assistant and the beautiful corpse girl of his dreams. We’re still trying to decide who was the better actor here: Kim, or Tom himself.

2. Jay-Z, “Many Faced God” (starring Lupita Nyong’o, 2017)

The 12 Years a Slave Best Supporting Actress winner and Star Wars/Black Panther action heroine gave another awards-worthy tour de force performance in this stunning clip from 4:44.

1. David Bowie, “The Stars Are Out Tonight” (starring Tilda Swinton, 2013)

In a bit of inspired casting on the part of director Floria Sigismondi, this video by the late Thin White Duke co-starred thin white duchess Tilda Swinton as his dutiful wife. For years, the uncanny resemblance between Bowie and the Oscar-winning actress had been noted by observers — so much so that an entire Tumblr site was devoted to their separated-at-birth similarity. In 2003, fashion photographer Craig McDean orchestrated a shoot with Tilda during which she dressed up as Bowie, and in 2012, Hint Fashion magazine even published a rather convincing compare-and-contrast blogpost titled “Visual Proof That David Bowie and Tilda Swinton Are the Same Person.” The fact that Bowie and Tilda appeared onscreen on the same time here refuted Hint’s theory, of course.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Mary J. Blige, Common, Sufjan Stevens, more to perform at Academy Awards

The 15 all-time biggest movie snubs in Oscar history

2018 Oscars: Our insta-predictions

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Fischerspooner's Casey Spooner talks collaborating with ex-lover Michael Stipe on Stipe's first post-R.E.M. music

Longtime friends and former lovers Michael Stipe and Casey Spooner in 2006. (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/WireImage)

Eighteen years ago, New York City art-pop duo Fischerspooner — aka classically trained musician Warren Fischer and experimental theater performer Casey Spooner — were at the forefront of the electroclash movement with their massively influential club hit, “Emerge.” But many years before that, in 1988, a young Spooner met his first gay lover, Michael Stipe of R.E.M., and Stipe helped set him on the artistic path that has led to Fischerspooner’s brand-new comeback album, SIR.

In a full-circle moment, personally and professionally, for both Spooner and Stipe, SIR was recorded in the Georgia house where the two men (who have remained friends and collaborators over the years) first consummated their romantic relationship. A boldly political record that fearlessly explores themes of middle-aged gay male sexuality, SIR was executive-produced and co-written by Stipe; incredibly, it’s his first musical endeavor since R.E.M. disbanded in 2011. It’s also Fischerspooner’s first album since 2009.

Casey Spooner in 2018. (Photo: Matthew Attard Navarro)

Yahoo Entertainment spoke to Spooner about the album’s intensely emotional recording experience, which took place while Stipe was grieving the death of his father and Spooner was recovering from a bad breakup. It’s a fascinating story of love, friendship, redemption, and rebirth. In many ways, both Spooner and Stipe have re-“Emerged.”

Yahoo Entertainment: It’s amazing that this is Michael Stipe’s first musical project after R.E.M. I know you two go way back. What is your relationship history, exactly?

Casey Spooner: I met Michael on the dance floor in Athens, Ga., in 1988. I was 18, he was 28, and he was my first gay lover. We dated, I would say, for about nine months to a year. It was very tumultuous and dramatic, because he was my first love. He was also right at this crazy pinnacle of his career, where he was releasing Green; he was taking off into superstardom. So, it was a very intense period for both of us — intense for him career-wise, and intense for me as a young gay man falling in love for the first time.

At that time, it was not well-known — to the public, at least — that Michael was queer.

Everyone knew he was gay in the neighborhood. But what I would say is that he was more bisexual; I had to deal with a lot of jealousy, because he would kind of have a girlfriend on the side. So, he was more pansexual. But his deal at the time wasn’t about being out or not being out. It was about privacy in general. And so, I had this crazy privilege at a very young age seeing what real fame was really like, from the inside — and it was really awful. It kind of sent me in the opposite direction, career-wise: I went toward the most obscure, the most difficult, the most unpopular forms of performance art, because fame looked like it was awful. But for Michael, he had no shame about his sexuality; he just wanted to maintain some privacy.

And then, 30 years later, Fischerspooner recorded SIR in the house where you and Michael used to live…

I didn’t officially live there, but I was his hot young trade that lived very close — across the street. But yes, the house where I had sex with a man for the first time is the house where I worked on this record. So to be working on a record about homosexuality, and have it be with the man that I had my first sexual experience with, and working in the same location where all of those feelings began, was totally crazy. But one thing I want to say about my relationship with Michael is that it wasn’t just sexual. When I was 18, I really wanted to be an artist, and I didn’t know quite how to do that — it’s not an easy or clear trade or career path — and I had a lot of insecurity about whether I would be able to be an artist. So not only was it very exciting and sexually liberating to connect with Michael as a lover, but as an artist also. He gave me a lot of confidence to pursue my ambitions.

Did he have that effect on you during the making of SIR?

Yeah, it’s kind of cool, because in a way on this record, there’s a similar thing happening. We’ve reconnected, and he gave me another push. He gave me the confidence to pursue another level of ambition.

So how did he even come to be involved with this album?

I started working on music with Warren in January 2013. … I had written a bunch and edited everything down to about 12 songs. I asked Michael to come in and work on one song, which was supposed to be the last song. We did one session on it, but then he started giving me notes on other songs. Warren was like, “Should we ask him to produce the record?” And Michael was like, “No, no. I don’t work in music. I’m just a friend giving a friend advice. I’m not going to get that involved.” But then he’d redo another song with me. And a couple weeks later, he said, “OK, I’ll consider being producer on the record. But I have final say on everything.” After we agreed to that, Michael threw out half the record.

Oh no!

Yeah. I was like, “Why did I agree to this?” He chucked out half the record! But Michael changed our process and yielded a different sound and different kind of performance. We had never made music together, and I was really blown away by what he was able to do in the first session of this very difficult piece of music. And then, I think it was almost against his better judgment that he kept coming in. He sort of couldn’t help himself. … It was like he was saying he “wasn’t working in music,” and yet he was working in music.

Why do you think he finally changed his mind about getting involved in an official capacity?

He was sort of falling back into music very naturally and in a very low-key way. I think he was enjoying working on music not in R.E.M. He says it was nice for him to not have to deal with his voice. I think he liked writing for someone else; I think he liked writing for me. Also, we’re really close, so we were able to have a lot of connection and intimacy in the writing. It was very natural.

So instead, you were his voice…

Yes. I was willing to take on any sort of vocal challenge Michael gave me. Which was interesting, because he’s such a talented vocalist that there were times where I was like, “I don’t know if I can perform this. I don’t know if I can do this part. I’m not that kind of a singer.” But he was like, “No, you are.” He really pushed me to expand my vocal persona, almost like a director with an actor. It was almost like Michael was playing me, like I was a persona for him to speak through. I became a mask for him, so he didn’t have to deal with his legacy and his identity and his voice. He didn’t have to deal with a lot of his history and those expectations. He was free to be somebody else. It was liberating for him; it was very educating for me. Also, it was a very intense time for both of us emotionally. He was in the thick of the writing and dealing with his father passing, so I think he needed a project and needed to be focused on something. So, he became very focused on this record.

What specifically were you going through emotionally at the time?

I basically had every f***ing possible emotional disaster happen to me, from having a very happy relationship unravel against my will, to losing my pets, to having a giant falling out with my mother, then my building getting sold and getting evicted and being homeless. And then having a rebound relationship that was toxic and exciting and awful, and recovering from that. Michael was a support for me through all these crazy challenges. I was in a lot of pain. There were all these different crazy chapters of me trying to rediscover myself sexually and emotionally and physically. I was clinging to this record, because sometimes it was all I had. Michael really encouraged me, and he taught me how to use my emotions in my work.

Michael Stipe and Casey Spooner in 2005. (Photo: Victor Spinelli/WireImage)

Any specific examples?

There were moments when we were recording the song “Try Again” that I was crying. I was just weeping in the booth, trying to work, and I couldn’t because I was crying so much. I would be like, “Michael, what am I doing? Is this getting anywhere?” And he’d be like, “Yes. Keep going.” It was a very intense process, because it wasn’t just “making something” — it was about going into all these feelings and trying to find ways to use that emotion, instead of avoiding it or intellectualizing it.

How else did Michael keep you on track as the album’s producer?

He was a taskmaster in this crazy way. He loved to work really intensely and very strange hours. Mostly we would work from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. We would have these recording sessions where we would work for two to three weeks, every day. He also put me on a physical regimen, where I would have some kind of bodywork or Pilates, or some kind of physical training, in the afternoons. I didn’t have a driver’s license, I didn’t have a car, so I was at his compound and I couldn’t really leave. It was kind of this celebrity songwriting spa / boot camp / prison. He controlled my schedule. He controlled my diet. He controlled my regimen. Sometimes I felt like I was delirious and losing my mind. And I think sometimes he did that intentionally, because it made me so super-vulnerable and super-emotional.

How are you doing these days, in terms of your emotional state?

I’m doing pretty good, actually! I feel like I lost everything and I had to go down to zero and empty the tank completely. I had to let go of who I thought I was. I had to let go of what I thought my life was going to be — and that wasn’t easy, because I’d loved my life the way it was. But I was forced to change, and I don’t regret it at all now. I feel reborn.

Do you regret that it took so long for a new Fischerspooner album to come out?

No, because I think this record is way more relevant post this a**hole president. If it had come out in the summer of 2016, when it was supposed to, it wouldn’t have meant the same thing as it coming out in 2017 or 2018. When I started writing it in 2013, I was happily in the Obama era, so to me it was not a political statement; it was just sort of an honest storytelling of my life. But in the interim, my life has become politicized.

What do you mean by that?

Well, I think we’re in a crazy, crazy time, where the government is attacking immigrants and people of color and trans people and queer people and women. Basically anyone who’s not a fat old white man is under attack. It’s really important now, more than ever, to have positive images. Yeah, I’ve grown up and survived, but there are kids out there that are very vulnerable. I think it’s an important time to reinforce this queer world, so that people feel safe and feel that they will survive, and that they can be successful, and that they aren’t bad, and that they shouldn’t be punished. And that they do deserve their civil rights.

Casey Spooner (Photo: Matthew Attard Navarro)

Do you feel more of a responsibility to your LGBTQ fans now?

My agenda has shifted. Before, I was visually a more moderate person. I didn’t feel that I needed to be political in my work. But my work, all of a sudden, became politicized, because the rest of the world became so conservative, and that pushed me to go the opposite extreme. I feel like I have to be the equal and opposite to this neo-Nazi agenda. Now I have to be the queerest superhero that ever lived. And I love it!

SIR is an overtly, bravely queer record.

Yes, I knew I wanted to make an album about contemporary, queer, narrative sexuality and digital culture, because I was having all these crazy experiences that I didn’t think I had ever really read about, because we’re living through so much change in terms of culture and technology and sexuality. The first song I wrote was called “Messy Mess.” And the first lines were “I’m no good at seduction/I’m too full of emotion/I’m like a messy mess/I’m like a messy mess/I just say what I feel.” And then there’s these other lines that insinuated that it was kind of about me almost stalking someone online. So even from that moment, from the first song on, the agenda was pretty clear.

That song isn’t on SIR, though…

Actually, it was a pretty happy [album] before Michael got involved. Ironically, the minute Michael got involved, it was like my whole world imploded! So Warren always sort of reluctantly says, “The best thing to happen to this record is that your life was a disaster.” I’m like, “You’re welcome?”

How did your personal history with Michael affect the album, in terms of its gay themes?

Well, what’s really important is that Michael and [songwriter/engineer] Andy [LeMaster] and I wrote a lot of the songs together. And we’re all gay. So it was the first time that I felt like I wasn’t having to explain myself to a straight person. We could just identify and relate and share information, and it wouldn’t be like, “What’s a bottom? What’s douching?” — and then dealing with the moralizing of a straight person. We could just freely talk about what was happening in our lives, in terms of sex and drugs and relationships and everything. So there was an ease to the writing, I think, that also allowed a certain kind of honesty. … And Michael was able to break it down and work as kind of a “straight-to-gay translator” for Warren [who is heterosexual], so Warren could understand what was going on.

Lyrically, this is a much more straightforward album, when it comes to gay topics. “TopBrazil” is a good example.

Yes, Warren and I had a lot of discussions about this, because very early on, he wanted me to change the pronouns in the record to be more universal. I have done that in the past. But I thought about it, and it just didn’t feel natural. And then, finally, I came to the realization that when you make the pronouns vague, it doesn’t make it more universal. It just makes it be assumed heterosexuality. So once I realized that vague pronouns do not equal anything other than assumed heterosexuality, I couldn’t change the pronouns [on SIR]. Once I explained that to Warren, he totally got behind that agenda; he understood the political nature of it.

And then the other thing that I kind of want to push back on is, some people are like, “Why as an artist do you want to ghettoize your work?” Which I get. It’s like, “Why do I have to be a gay artist? Why can’t I just be an artist?” You don’t ever hear anyone described like, “Oh, they’re an amazing straight artist.” There’s a lot of debate: Are we making a mistake in limiting our audience and alienating people? But somehow there’s this perception that because something’s queer, someone straight can’t relate to it, which I think is absolutely absurd. I live my life constantly enjoying work made by straight people and learning from straight people’s experiences. So why can’t someone straight learn from a queer experience? When you step outside of heteronormative patterns, there’s a lot of great ways to live. That’s why we can learn from people that we don’t understand. And the point of life is to learn. I think I have a lot to teach straight people.

So, sort of related to that point, do you think SIR will recruit any old-school R.E.M. fans? It’s extremely different from R.E.M.’s work…

Honestly, no, I don’t think so. I think they’re going to scratch their heads. I mean, I’m not opposed to that, but I think it might be just a little too far of a stretch for them.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Fischerspooner’s first NYC show in 8 years was an erotic celebration of self-worth

Fischerspooner’s Casey Spooner shares his “nude philosophy”

Q&A: Michael Stipe on life after R.E.M. and revisiting ‘Automatic for the People’

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Watch ‘90s legends Shirley Manson and Fiona Apple team up for ‘You Don’t Own Me’ duet

Saturday night at the third annual Girlschool festival at Los Angeles’s Bootleg Theater, there was a meeting of the great ‘90s minds, as Garbage’s Shirley Manson, performing a solo set backed by the Girlschool Choir and an all-women string section, invited one of her idols — a woman she described as “the greatest white voice of the past 30 years” — onstage for a surprise duet of Lesley Gore’s 1963 proto-feminist classic “You Don’t Own Me.”

Related: Girlschool’s Anna Bulbrook and Shirley Manson: ‘Women are roaring back in a massive way’

“This is almost bordering on a sexual fantasy for me,” Manson joked — completely fangirling in front of a delighted audience (whom she addressed as “you lucky motherf***ers!”) as enigmatic singer-songwriter Fiona Apple took the stage.

Shirley Manson and Fiona Apple onstage at the 2018 Girlschool in Los Angeles. (Photo: Melissa Geisler)

“I’m literally giddy like a kid. This is like the kind of thing you dream about when you’re a child. I haven’t even had the chance to tell Fiona this, because most of our hours together have been singing, but I went to Australia for the first time with my own band back in 1996,” Manson recalled fondly. “We were doing an in-store, and the record store said, ‘You can pick up any CDs you want.’ And I found [Apple’s debut album] Tidal; I knew nothing about the artist. … And then I had a CD Discman — because it was that long ago — and I listened to it every night in my bunk for the entire duration of my tour. And I fell madly in love with this extraordinary talent and this godlike, angelic voice.”

Related: Fiona Apple says ‘time’s been up for a while’ in the music industry

Apple, wearing a T-shirt scrawled in Sharpie with the words “Kneel, Portnow” (protesting last weekend’s Grammys, at which Recording Academy president Neil Portnow controversially said female artists need to “step up” if they want to win more awards), seemed equally humbled in Manson’s presence, and the two women locked eyes and grinned adorably throughout their powerful performance in the 700-capacity venue.

Shirley Manson and Fiona Apple embrace at the 2018 Girlschool in Los Angeles. (Photo: Melissa Geisler)

Related: Garbage talk about Shirley Manson’s see-through Grammy dress, spending $200,000 on booze, and how a Bowie song brought them back together

While fearless artists like Manson and Apple made major strides in the 1990s towards creating more opportunities for women in music, the fact that an organization like Girlschool is needed more than ever in 2018 proves how little progress has been made since then. Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment ahead of the Girlschool event, Manson said, “I’ve been saying this for years now: I think when Sept. 11 occurred, it not only was a horrendous tragedy, but it affected the culture and it affected American radio programming. All of a sudden, everybody in the world felt really unsafe in ways that we had never ever felt before. As a result, humanity gets conservative. When humanity feels under attack, when it feels threatened, it gets conservative, and nobody wants a woman with opinions, or an aggressive woman, or a powerful woman, at times when white men are feeling under threat. It’s oversimplifying it to put it like that, but I do essentially believe that that is what was at play. Everything was on this amazing trajectory, and then all of a sudden it was like the car turned around and headed back down the road. It’s never changed direction since. It’s really rather frightening and really disheartening because when we emerged in the ’90s, it really felt like women were piercing through the glass ceiling. In some ways we definitely were, but unfortunately, that change has not continued.”

Related: Kesha’s Grammy collaborators the Resistance Revival Chorus release cover of ‘You Don’t Own Me’

The Girlschool artistic collective was founded by Anna Bulbrook of the Airborne Toxic Event (a classically trained violinist who’s also played with Kanye West, Beyoncé, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and Vampire Weekend) to “celebrate, connect, and lift women-identified artists, leaders, and voices.” Other events of 2018’s Girlschool weekend included Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein in conversation with poet Morgan Parker, Pussy Riot-affiliated rapper Desi Mo, and the Dum Dum Girls’ Kristin Kontrol performing with a children’s choir and two other surprise guests, Best Coast and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O. The Girlschool festival concludes Sunday; see the full lineup here.

FYI just adopted all these singing with Karen O at #girlschool ♥️

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Girlschool’s Anna Bullbrook and Shirley Manson: ‘Women are roaring back in a massive way’

Shirley Manson and Anna Bullbrook at Girlschool 2017. (Photo: Facebook)

As the third annual Girlschool festival takes place in Los Angeles this weekend, its voices – which this year include Garbage’s Shirley Manson with the Girlschool Choir, Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein in conversation with poet Morgan Parker, Pussy Riot-affiliated rapper Desi Mo, and the Dum Dum Girls’ Kristin Kontrol — are needed now more than ever. Following a disappointing Grammys, at which few women won any actual awards and Recording Academy president Neil Portnow controversially placed the blame on female artists, telling women they need to “step up” — Girlschool provides a sense of community “for women that don’t get the opportunity to be heard on mainstream media outlets and platforms,” Manson tells Yahoo Entertainment. “You don’t hear these voices very much at all in our culture currently. That’s what I think’s so magical about Girlschool.”

The Girlschool artistic collective was founded by Anna Bullbrook of the Airborne Toxic Event (a classically trained violinist who’s also played with Kanye West, Beyoncé, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and Vampire Weekend) to “celebrate, connect, and lift women-identified artists, leaders, and voices.” Speaking with Yahoo about of this year’s event in a candid roundtable with Manson (who was last year’s Girlschool keynote speaker), the conversation gets heavy at times, but Bullbrook can’t suppress her giddy excitement over this year’s Girlschool lineup. “It’s going to be unmissable, and if you miss it, you will probably have FOMO for the rest of your life,” she enthuses. “Everybody deserves a chance to be heard, but also everybody’s so good, you’re going to want to hear them.”

Read on for Bullbrook and Manson’s thoughts on gender equality and inclusivity in music, the #TimesUp movement, why the progress women made in the ‘90s frustratingly stalled, their hopes for the future, and the power of “positive discrimination.”

Yahoo Entertainment: Shirley, how did you come to be a part of Girlschool?

Shirley Manson: I just really admired what Anna was doing, and I felt it was really vital what she was doing at that particular time. As time has unfolded since we connected, I couldn’t be more right. The need for the kind of advocacy that Anna’s doing is more vital than ever. I was really inspired when I met her, and I’ve stalked her on social media ever since, and been blown away by how much she actually does. We’re all guilty of talking a lot, just saying, “I’m supporting and doing this and doing that,” but Anna has been able to do things for other people, and I really respect that.

Yahoo Entertainment: Anna, why did you decide to start Girlschool? Did your own experience as a musician in a male-dominated field make you want to take action?

Anna Bullbrook: Yes. I think especially in the wake of this [USC] study [about the lack of representation of women in music] that was just released this week, we’ve all seen the statistics, which very much confirm my experience — our experiences as the female members of the bands that we’ve been in, and coming from the rock space. It’s a very lonely position to be in. … It wasn’t until probably eight years that I started to really notice and miss the company of other women. I had this perspective shifting experience with Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls L.A. I was a speaker, and it was the first time I’ve ever been in a space that was 100 percent women-identified people coming together in an intentionally positive way around making music. I’d never had that experience. After that experience, I was so hungry for more of that. I couldn’t unsee what I had seen, and I couldn’t exist without it going forward.

I’m actually really excited that we actually have hard data now that we can point to and say, “This is a problem, look. We’re not just making it up. There really is this incredible disparity.” What would music sound like if it were more inclusive? What would happen if all the incredible women producers that I know were actually given a chance to make a record, or someone would take a chance on them with a budget? What would happen if songwriters were women too? What would music sound like? It’s very exciting to have truth and have facts that we can look at, that we can actually assess where we are, then keep working towards a beautiful, brighter future — look back at the numbers and see if you’ve measurably moved the needle.

Manson: Statistics are really depressing. We all know that that’s not because women aren’t great musicians. There’s something amiss here. I guess we’re all trying to struggle to figure out why this is the case, whether it’s that women don’t have the confidence necessarily to push themselves into the spotlight, or whether they’ve not been given the chance to stand in the spotlight. I think there are multiple reasons why women are not engaged in music in the same way as their male counterparts. That has to change, and I think what Anna is doing, it’s positively trying to change how women view themselves and to give them this confidence and joy — the joy that you get from playing music.

Yahoo Entertainment: The ’90s, an era when Garbage came to prominence, is a decade I look back on fondly. At that time, it seemed like the issues we’re discussing now we’re in the process of being erased. So many bands that I like were coed, or all women bands, or female-fronted. Lilith Fair, Alanis Morissette, Riot Grrl, Courtney Love, the Breeders, Liz Phair – the list goes on. Then I feel like everything regressed, or it stopped. Do you have any thoughts as to why that progress didn’t continue?

Manson: I’ve been saying this for years now. I think when Sept. 11 occurred, it not only was a horrendous tragedy, but it affected the culture and it affected American radio programming. All of a sudden everybody in the world felt really unsafe in ways that we had never ever felt before. As a result, humanity gets conservative. When humanity feels under attack, when it feels threatened, it gets conservative, and nobody wants a woman with opinions, or an aggressive woman, or a powerful woman, at times when white men are feeling under threat. It’s oversimplifying it to put it like that, but I do essentially believe that that is what was at play. Like you say, everything was on this amazing trajectory, and then all of a sudden it was like the car turned around and headed back down the road. It’s never changed direction since. It’s really rather frightening and really disheartening because when we emerged in the ’90s, it really felt like women were piercing through the glass ceiling. In some ways we definitely were, but unfortunately, that change has not continued.

You mentioned Lilith Fair. I didn’t want to participate in Lilith Fair. By the time we were invited to go on that tour, I didn’t want to do a fully female-oriented festival. It was against everything I believed in. But now I feel like it’s necessary for me to put my weight behind women’s interests. I feel like that because the times have changed. The climate’s different, and I think it’s a matter of urgency for women to galvanize.

Yahoo Entertainment: That is an interesting point, actually, because there is a mindset that sometime doing things that are solely all about being women, whether it’s Lilith Fair or the She Rocks Awards, or even Girlschool, it’s making women be “other,” putting them off in a little side category.

Bullbrook: Actually, Shirley and I were talking about this. As two women in bands that have had some levels of success, we don’t have that many peers. I would say just from my experience being out there in the professional landscape, life got very lonely. So just the experience of seeing so many women-identified people as artists, technical people, and speakers in one place, it’s so exciting. I think that is the intention behind a lot of girls’ groups: When there’s a lot of really amazing people together who feel some kind of kinship with each other, that feeling of community feels very enriching. And I think if you do it in a way that is inclusive and includes everybody on the gender spectrum — and that includes men — then you’re creating something really beautiful, exciting, and positive. It involves the whole community. I do agree that if you completely separate yourself, it’s not as effective as it could be.

Manson: I think when I was younger, I guess I didn’t believe in “positive discrimination,” and now as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized we will never break the mold and the old patriarchy unless we do recognize that women of all colors are not as privileged as men of all colors. There has to be some way that we break that. A lot of people point at positive discrimination and say, ‘This isn’t cool.” I was guilty of that myself when I was younger. But the political climate is such and the actual statistics are such that I really feel that positive discrimination is the only way we will actually change the course.

Bullbrook: I tend to think this about feminism in general, but I think it has to be inclusive and representative across the board: color, identity, religion, ability. I feel like it’s really incredibly important to make sure that if we want to move forward we do it together, and we do it from a very intentional and considered way. I feel like any effort which just is one group of people, one type of woman, so to speak, misses the point entirely.

Yahoo Entertainment: At Girlschool last year, there was a panel discussion about sexual harassment in the music business. This was well before harassment became the topic of national discussion that is now.

Bullbrook: I think these things go in cycles in the media. I am heartened to see so many people engaging with it, and I hope that in the process of building a big cultural moment actually results in people teaching our children how to be better people, people teaching their children about equality, people teaching their children about consent and what it means to be a good person, no matter what your gender is. I really hope that we see some change from this, but I think to be a woman in the world is to engage with the constant fear of sexual harassment and the fear of sexual assault. … I would love to see a world that feels like Girlschool, where when you’re there, you actually don’t have to worry about that for a little while.

Yahoo Entertainment: Sometimes I do worry that #MeToo and #TimesUp will be seen as some “hot new trend” — meaning, in the media will get tired of reporting about it, or people will be tired of reading about it, just because there’s been such a media saturation for the last six months or so. I almost fear people will fatigue of these stories and then not take them seriously anymore.

Manson: I feel a little concerned too, that people’s ears just start to shut down and get bored and move onto another topic. But I do agree with Anna. I feel like the conversation is being had and it is a really significant cultural moment, and it’s on everybody’s lips. I think that will affect a generation of men and women — or everyone on the spectrum, let’s say. I think it’s never going to change people who have serious sexual problems. There’s always going to be predators out there, and they will prey on anyone. No amount of discussion and no amount of analysis will ever change that; some people are sick in the head, and that’s just how it goes. But I do think it will give pause to the average [man of] power and privilege that thinks he can just take what he wants, when he wants, without consequence. I do think that’s one of the greatest things that we’ll take from this moment in time.

Above all things, we must encourage people to speak out, and continue to speak out. It’s about using your voice. If you don’t use your voice, you’re eradicated by history. That’s just how it’s always been. You must be a witness to your own experience. And at this time when we’re all so busy broadcasting, we really all need to stop and listen, and actually pay attention, and see, and hear, and try, and reeducate our children. A lot of it’s about education. It’s about teaching people what is right and what is wrong, what’s appropriate and what’s not.

Yahoo Entertainment: Do either of you have any stories about how you’ve been discriminated against, or just in general treated differently, poorly, because of your gender?

Bullbrook:  Well, I think the insidious thing about bias is sometimes it’s hard to see it. I think it’s hard to even know when it’s happening to you, because we’re all biased. The sad thing is, everybody is biased against women — including other women. We might just look at two people, two different candidates for something, and think one is just worse for some reason. We don’t know why, but one happens to be the woman-identified candidate. It blew my mind when I actually started understanding the idea of bias and looked around. I started to see it everywhere — in myself, in others, in experiences I’ve had. I look backwards with a whole new pair of glasses and can see all of these colors I’ve never seen before.

I’ve had those very obvious experiences where the label executive suggested I wear a see-through skirt in New York City for a photo shoot. This was the head of the label who holds the purse-strings for the marketing budget. Some members of my band were like, “Don’t do that. You’re going to be uncomfortable.” I was like, “Really? You want me to show my butt?” Some of that stuff happens, but I feel like more often than not, because I was with really good people, the way it plays out is much more subtle and hard to notice, unless you actually open your eyes to it. I know Shirley’s had some other experiences.

Manson: I feel like it happens to women every day, in really subtle ways. As Anna said so rightly, often you can be slow yourself to detect it, to have a clarity about what has happened. You’re not always aware of that when all the male record execs are commenting on your hairstyle. It’s only a few years later that I’m thinking, “What the f***? What’s my hair got to do with you? You wouldn’t be talking about a male artist in this way!” I was an object. I was too young, and too naïve, and too vain to really detect it at the time, but now looking back, I’m like, “That was just ridiculous.” More than that, I think in business I have just been completely ignored a lot of the time by male lawyers, and managers, and business managers. Everything’s directed towards my male counterparts. They would talk to me maybe about what shoes I wanted to wear. It continues to this day.

Yahoo Entertainment: How did you handle that, especially when you were first starting out?

Manson: I’m very aware that during the very first part of my career, I played submissive dog all the time. I wouldn’t come into a work situation and say, “This hi-hat doesn’t sound good to me.” I would fudge the margins and deliberately dumb myself down, use simple language and try not to be threatening. I would never take ownership over any directive. I knew that if I didn’t act like a submissive dog, I wouldn’t get what I wanted. Men don’t have to do that; women continue to have to do that often. You’ll see it in a lot of female execs. They’re very fun, and energetic. I feel that that’s methodology to get what they want, but men can be as grumpy and unpleasant as they wish and nobody has a word to say about it. If a woman acts that way, she’s a c***, literally. She’s a “bossy c***.”

Yahoo Entertainment: It’s interesting to talk about this stuff, because recent onslaught of media headlines is definitely more focused on the crazy, shocking, violent stories. But these stories you’re telling now are also important. I think it’s important to talk about how incidents that maybe don’t seem nearly as dramatic, or traumatic, also take their toll.

Bullbrook: I’m hoping that Girlschool can create a really warm, engaging, and high-quality story around this incredible talent and create enough of a conduit so that we can start catapulting more artists who are already here. The industry is full of talented women who are working in the music space in some capacity. Let’s start pushing them into opportunities out in the mainstream, and let’s start pushing them and giving them the experience they need to go get a paying job. Let’s create jobs for them, so then they have the experience at a high level where someone finds them undeniable. If you can create this positive and action-oriented space, it’s also just really fun to be a part of. I’m hopeful about where we can go with things in the future. This is really positive for all of us who are involved in it.

Yahoo Entertainment: I love the idea of community, because you touched on something interesting: women sometimes being biased against other women. I think that is such a shame.

Bullbrook: I feel like, yes, there’s bias, but it is a myth that women don’t support each other. I think when given the opportunity, we do. It’s magic, it’s incredible. I can’t feel anything other than hopeful, because of what I see every day in my personal experience and work. I see too many good things that happen when women come together to believe that we’re not supportive of each other.

Manson: Well, I have to disagree and agree. I’ve been on the receiving end of both situations. I’ve enjoyed phenomenal support from incredible women, and I’ve also seen the panicked, fearful, defensive approach by a lot of other female artists who never, ever seem interested in supporting or speaking out on behalf of another female artist. I think ultimately it speaks of the way our culture is, which is all based on fear of lack of opportunity. For women in general who are getting less opportunity than their white male counterparts, I think they feel if one woman flourishes, automatically all the other women in the room don’t. Of course, I don’t believe that’s the case at all, and until women really support the women they see flourishing, we’ll never change the lack of opportunities. Similarly, white women have to get the backs of their black sisters and women of color. We all have to start recognizing how can we break down the system that we are currently oppressed under. These are big words and it sounds dramatic — but I think it is quite dramatic, really.

I think, again, it goes back to education. We need to educate our children differently. We’re still teaching them that girls do housework and boys get to run out and get dirty in the yard. It’s just crazy that these stereotypes still exist. We have yet to really break that down. I just feel like boys are encouraged to take up room, and girls are encouraged to make themselves small. Boys are encouraged to be loud and boisterous; girls are supposed to be ladylike and quiet. I think all these things are what lead to these weird imbalances in our culture, and it has to change. This is not good for anyone. Yes, particularly in the arts, you’ll find pockets of incredibly supportive women collectives and movements, but out in the world at large I don’t see a lot of support from women for other women. I see a lot of bitchiness, criticism, judgments, and snickering behind girls’ backs. I don’t know, that’s just my perception of the world. I’ve worked with men a lot in my career, and men are much more forgiving to themselves and to each other. Women are really unforgiving of themselves and each other. These are sweeping statements, and it’s not by any means a rule of thumb, but that’s what I’ve witnessed in my life.

Yahoo Entertainment: How do you see what’s going on musically now — especially as it pertains to women-identified artists –reflecting what’s going on politically, culturally? And where is that going?

Bullbrook: I’m just so deep in this festival coming up, and I’m just excited about what we have around us. I’m enthralled with how much different talent there is. I’m excited to see what happens when we get all those different people together under one roof, bringing different audiences together. I feel what’s happening, especially with people ages 15 to 25 these days, around gender and unboxing these gender types and creating a bit more freedom within everything. I feel so hopeful. I know that history and statistics show that maybe I shouldn’t be hopeful, because it’s really hard to make a change, but I have to believe in a better future — because if I didn’t, what would I work towards?

Manson: I also feel really optimistic, and I feel that there’s a whole new wave of really provocative, smart, informed women making music that’s much more rebellious/provocative than the last 20, 15 years. I feel like there’s a real upswell from women who have something to say, who are not interested in putting on a leotard and singing pop music. Now, that is a huge shift, because certainly 10 years ago, that’s all you saw: girls wanting to be pretty. They were all wearing long nails painted glamorously, they were all very ladylike, and they were all singing pop songs either about having a great time in a club, falling in love, having their hearts broken, or being forever young. Things have definitely shifted.

I feel like we have had 20 years of forceful women being pushed back, now the women are roaring back in a massive way. And I do feel that that will then, again, push women’s rights and women’s fortunes forward. Let’s face it, I have a better life than my mum did. My mum didn’t get to choose what she did for a living. My mum basically would keep house, and get a f***ing allowance from my father. I grew up in a very conservative household, and my granny also didn’t have freedom. And neither did her mother before her. I do believe in the concept of evolution really strongly. When I talk to young women now, they’re way smarter than I ever was. So, I just have to believe that the next generation are going to continue that. Human nature is going to continue to evolve, and everything’s going to be OK in the end.

Girlschool takes place Feb. 2-4 at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles. Click here for tickets and the full lineup.

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'The Voice,' The Day After: Dishing about the Season 13 finale

It was a dramatic — and female-dominated! — finale night on The Voice Season 13 this Tuesday, when Chloe Kohanski took the title, followed by worthy second- and third-placers Addison Agen and Brooke Simpson. We also saw standout guest-star performances from divas Sia, Kelly Clarkson, Demi Lovato, Jessie J… and, most divaliciously of all, Nedra Belle, aka the drag alter ego of Team J.Hud semifinalist Chris Weaver. Hallelu!

Today, my “The Day After” co-host Jeffery Austin and I are here to review the top four’s performances and review our highlights (and lowlights… but, mostly highlights) of Tuesday’s Season 13 finale. Let’s recap — and see you again in Season 14!

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‘The Voice’ Playoffs, pt. 2: Have a little faith in Team Adam

On Tuesday, Blake Shelton was declared the Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine, but he may soon be feeling like the Stupidest Coach Alive, when his longtime Voice rival (and People’s Sexiest Man of 2013), Adam Levine, wins this Voice season with ex-Team Blake country contestant Adam Cunningham. “As happy as that makes me for you, it makes me feel really stupid, because you were on my team,” Blake told Adam C. this Tuesday, when Cunningham kicked off the Team Adam episode of Voice Season 13 Playoffs with a heartfelt cover of John Hiatt’s “Have a Little Faith in Me.” Perhaps Blake should have had a little more faitch in Adam C.

Adam L.’s fellow coach Miley Cyrus might also be kicking herself with her fancy star-spangled boots in a few weeks’ time, because her former contestant, Addison Agen, also has a fantastic chance of making it to the finale. “Dang, Addison is probably gonna win this, and Adam’s gonna really shove it in my face,” Miley mused after she heard Addison’s gorgeous take on John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery. How interesting it is that Team Adam’s two strongest singers this season — the only two singers who received standing ovations Tuesday night — are Steals. Levine really does know how to play the game.

Here’s my recap of all six Playoffs performances from Tuesday:

Adam Cunningham

Looking all beardy and Stapleton-y and serving Grizzly Adams/Marlboro Man realness, Cunningham crooned “Have a Little Faith in Me” with a ton of Southern-rock soul and true grit. Miley summed it up nicely with her side comment, “My mom is going to be loving him!” Adam C. is indeed the kind of rugged, Wakefieldian everyman that’ll easily charm every housewife in the South and Midwest.

“You blessed my spirit with that. I felt your energy,” said Jennifer Hudson. “There’s no easier and quicker way to my heart than someone who makes Blake Shelton feel stupid,” quipped a gloating Levine. Adam the L shouldn’t get too cocky, just yet, but Blake definitely should be worried. Cunningham may not be as outgoing and wacky as Team Blake’s Hee-Haw-ready Red Marlow, but this is the country dude who has my Season 13 vote.

Whitney Fenimore

Last week, Whitney simpered some treacly Train ballad and almost had to take a train back home. Wrong. Song. Choice. But thankfully, Adam picked her as his Comeback Contestant, and he must have been reading my Knockout Rounds recap from last week (hi, Adam!), because he clearly heeded my advice and gave her a much more suitable Sheryl Crow song. While a couple of the coaches thought Whitney sounded labored during the very tricky low verses of “If It Makes You Happy” (“To have a cool rocker guitar chick would be awesome… but I feel like the complete first half of the song was a struggle,” griped Blake), I enjoyed her sleepy/sexy rasp and general guitar-slinging badassedness, and everyone agreed she sounded great when she powerfully belted the chorus.

“I think the hardest part of that song was what you were doing perfectly, which was the soaring big note there. That’s almost impossible to do. That’s really, really hard. So you showed me a lot of strength and a lot of things that I didn’t know about you vocally. I’m really, really happy,” said Adam.

Emily Luther

Emily was assigned the Adele version of the Cure’s “Lovesong,” which was a triple-challenge: Adele is one of the best singers of her generation (or any generation); the Cure are the BEST BAND OF ALL TIME (this is fact); and Candice Glover created one of the BEST AMERICAN IDOL MOMENTS EVER when she did this arrangement in 2013. (Sorry for the all-caps, but this is serious business here.) Emily created another challenge for herself when she expressed her desire to conjure a cinematic, “Bond-theme” vibe during her performance. Emily may have Bassey-level pipes, but none of her stuffy performances this season have exhibited that Shirley swagger.

Emily sounded, as Blake put it, “so professional and ready and poised.” She always does. But something was missing. Her vocals on point, of course — she’s the technically finest singer of Season 13 — and Jennifer even called this “a flawless performance,” but perfection can be boring. There was no passion here. Keep in mind, Robert Smith wrote “Lovesong” as a wedding present for his wife. But Emily just sounded like a wedding singer to me.

Adam was feeling the love, however. “This is such a huge step in the right direction for you, because it’s making people understand even more the human side, the soulful side of you,” he told Emily. “I think this is a great progression for you.”

Anthony Alexander

I know I’m going to sound like Goldilocks here, but while Emily was too perfect, teenage Anthony was too raw. (Ironically, he performed an Ed Sheeran ballad titled “Perfect.” It wasn’t.) Neither were “just right.” Anthony’s vocal lines trailed off unsatisfyingly, he seemed disconnected from the loved-up lyrics, and his stage presence was lacking. He had this vacant, vaguely terrified look throughout, like Cindy Brady on a kiddie quiz show.

“I still detect a lot of nerves. I know that you’re 18, and that’s probably what it boils down to. But I hope you know that you are super-talented,” Blake said kindly. Adam, who’s always had a soft spot for Anthony similar to Jennifer’s fondness for teen Team J.Hud hopeful Shi’Ann Jones, still seemed confident in his young charge. “It’s not a matter of if you’ll be ready, it’s a matter of when,” he asserted. “You have a tremendous voice with tremendous potential. I see a lot of improvement, and I am 100 percent proud of you, man.” I just hoped Adam wouldn’t make the same mistake with Anthony that Jennifer made Monday with Shi’Ann. This show needs for ready-for-primetime players.

Jon Mero

Jon’s “Blame It on the Boogie” Knockout Rounds performance last week was montaged and kept off YouTube, which didn’t bode well for his chances. What I could see of it, however, was pure corporate-party-band cheese with a side of extra cheese, topped with more cheese. I was not  fan. But it turns out we can indeed blame it on the boogie, because when Jon dropped his Jacksons-esque dancing-machine shtick this week and simply, sentimentally crooned Adele’s bittersweet “When We Were Young,” he was so much more believable, relatable, and likable. Without all of his distracting party tricks, I finally was able to notice Jon’s impressive vocal range. The man can saaaang. Finally, he connected.

“Your voice, it seriously is like a laser; it just cuts through everything. … You’re more than ready for this,” marveled Blake. “You’re so multi-talented. You didn’t dance today, and I loved that. You sang from your heart,” said Adam.

Addison Agen

Closing the show wearing milkmaid braids and exuding rosy-cheeked, country-girl charm, Addison may have looked her age (16), but she performed the Bonnie Raitt version of “Angel From Montgomery” with incredible maturity, somehow combining the poise and grace of Emily Luther with the youthful fragility of Anthony Alexander. This wasn’t Addison’s best vocal, but her warm tone and ethereal stage presence was still a magical enough combination for Adam to call her a “unicorn” — a label he once gave Team Adam champ Jordan Smith, mind you.

“You have so much character in your voice that would normally have to come from somebody who’s been doing this for 20 years and smoking cigarettes every day and drinking whiskey, and luckily for you, you got to skip all that horrifying stuff,” said Blake. “You’re just born with this understanding of how to convey a lyric. If you don’t move forward into the Lives, I’m gonna have somebody cut Adam’s brakes.”

Thankfully, Adam didn’t need to worry about driving home from the Voice set, as he did pick Addison to move forward to the live shows, along with Adam Cunningham and Jon Mero. Jon looked utterly shocked, but I wasn’t. Though I’d been rooting for Whitney, in the end, I agreed with all of Adam’s decisions tonight.

Come back Wednesday, when Team Miley’s contestants compete, and then we will have finally our top 12.

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Stone Temple Pilots announce ‘X Factor’ veteran Jeff Gutt is their new singer

Stone Temple Pilots with new singer Jeff Gutt (Photo: StoneTemplePilots.com)

Everyone loves a good redemption story arc — and the union of Stone Temple Pilots and their new singer, Jeff Gutt, is certainly a feelgood rock ‘n’ roll comeback story for the ages. The announcement of Gutt’s STP hiring Tuesday, during a SiriusXM-sponsored fan concert at Los Angeles’s 500-capacity Troubadour, marks a fresh start for the legendary but beleaguered ‘90s band, following the 2015 drug-related death of their on/off original frontman, Scott Weiland, and the 2017 suicide of Weiland’s temporary replacement, Chester Bennington. It’s also new chance for Gutt, a 41-year-old Detroit rock veteran and two-time X Factor USA contestant.

Back in 2012, single-dad-with-a-dream Gutt seemed to have everything going for him, as far as shows like The X Factor are concerned: handsome rocker-dude looks, a relatable backstory, an adorable toddler son, a fantastic set of pipes, and a spectacularly Muse-i-fied audition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” that went viral. It came as a shock when he was cut during the second-season Boot Camp round, and Gutt seemed as outraged as viewers. “It’s their loss; I could have won the show,” he grumbled at the time. Gutt had a point, as even Simon Cowell agreed, later telling Access Hollywood that the one regret he had about Season 2 was eliminating Gutt prematurely.

A year later, Gutt triumphantly returned for The X Factor USA’s final season and quickly became a fan favorite. Though he didn’t win the show, as he’d predicted, he did make it all the way to second place, thanks to his rock-operatic performances of Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and “Creep” (the Radiohead classic, not the STP song by the same title). Backstage at the Season 3 finale, Gutt told Yahoo Music’s Reality Rocks that he’d decided to re-audition for The X Factor because “I figured if nothing else, it would be a chance to show my son that at least I’m a fighter; at least I’m not going to give up.”

Back in Detroit, Gutt formed the rock band Rival City Heights, but failed to break out on a national level; meanwhile, Stone Temple Pilots began searching for a new frontman, after Bennington amicably left STP in 2015 to refocus on Linkin Park. As far back as November 2016, Gutt was rumored to Bennington’s replacement, but the Pilots kept an open-call audition form up on their website and insisted that they were trying out different singers, not just Gutt.

When STP’s surviving members visited Yahoo Music in summer 2017 for an interview about the 25th anniversary of their debut album Core, they declined to comment on the Gutt gossip, other than admitting that he was still in the mix. However, bassist Robert DeLeo said with a chuckle, “We put out a singer submission and got about 15,000 to 20,000 people and tried a lot of people out — and we filmed it all, so there’s some good entertainment there! Ideally, it would be great to find someone who can put some honor on the legacy and move forward as a person. That’s a lot to ask of someone to do that — to have two different tasks.”

So, is Gutt up to these tasks? Very much so, judging from his Troubadour debut. Taking the stage looking like a Velvet Revolver-era Weiland, with a whippet-thin physique, wraparound aviators, and platinum bleach job — plus a “Hello, My Name Is… Jeff” nametag to introduce him to the non-X Factor viewers in the venue — he vowed to “make the most of the moment.” And that he did, handling classics like “Down,” “Piece of Pie,” “Vasoline,” “Wicked Garden,” “Sex Type Thing,” and a stripped-down version of “Plush” that evoked the greatness of STP’s MTV Unplugged special — all with his son Talon watching from the balcony. The diehard fans and contest winners in attendance went absolutely crazy for Gutt, readily accepting him, which was a good sign — as were the broad smiles on Kretz and the DeLeos’ faces. Gutt’s new bandmates seemed thrilled to be onstage again, and they sounded tighter and more galvanized than they had in years.

Before the show in an interview with SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk, Gutt said landing the job with Stone Temple Pilots felt like “joining Led Zeppelin, because, to me, they’re my Led Zeppelin.” He also said, “I’ve studied my craft. I’ve studied Scott [Weiland] and the people Scott studied, and other singers of the era. I’ve really put in a lot of time into that.” That sentiment was echoed by fellow Detroiter Wayne Kramer, of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees the MC5, who joined Gutt and STP onstage at the Troubadour for a surprise performance of the MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams” and told the crowd: “In Detroit, we value hard work. Jeff has put in the work! Welcome him!”

Stone Temple Pilots’ full Troubadour concert with Gutt will premiere Friday at 5 p.m. ET on SiriusXM. A new rifftastic, hard-charging new STP single, “Meadow,” comes out Wednesday.

Stone Temple Pilots’ new single

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Exclusive photos: Ranking ‘The Voice’ Season 13's top 20

The Voice Season 13’s top 20 semifinalists were revealed this Tuesday, and Reality Rocks has their exclusive cast photos… and, of course, some opinions as well. Check out this definitive ranking of the contestants, so you can make an informed vote next week!

Chloe Kohanski (Team Blake)

Chloe is this year’s Jeffery Austin: a sleeper contestant absolutely no one saw coming (who was even montaged in the Battles), until she showed up at the Knockout Rounds in a snazzy suit and slayyyyed. Her gorgeous, goosebump-inducing Knockout cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landside” was the standout performance of Season 13 — and the season’s highest iTunes charter so far, peaking at No. 12. Shockingly, Chloe’s doppelganger and original coach, Miley Cyrus, gave her up, but Miley’s loss is definitely Blake Shelton’s gain. Blake could pull off a six-peat win with this exquisite young songstress. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Davon Fleming (Team J.Hud)

Jennifer Hudson will probably land an endorsement deal with Zappos before Season 13 is over — because as long as she has fellow Whitney Houston fan Davon (and his nearly Whitney-level vocals) on her side, she’s sure to be throwing designer shoes left and right. This charismatic entertainer is a force to be reckoned with, the real deal, and the total package. Jennifer, a former Voice U.K. coach, may soon be bragging about winning The Voice on both sides of the pond. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Addison Agen (Team Adam)

While there is a risk that Addison and Chloe, both indie-leaning songbirds, will cancel each other out in the Playoffs, I feel there is room for both in the Season 13 finale. With a natural “melody in her voice” (according to J.Hud, in one of the most astute comments of the season), Addison has also experienced early iTunes success, with her “Beneath Your Beautiful” hitting No. 38 and her Battle Rounds duet of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” going to No. 36. Interestingly, Addison is another Team Miley castoff; Miley apparently came in like a wrecking ball and wrecked her chances of winning this season, by getting rid of two of her star players! (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Noah Mac (Team J.Hud)

He’s got Harry Styles hair — and Harry Styles charisma. But did Harry Styles ever make Kelly Clarkson cry? Becaus that’s just what Noah did with his soulful Knockout performance of James Bay’s “Hold Back the River.” I’ll be crying a river myself if this talented kid doesn’t at least make it to the top six. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Janice Freeman (Team J.Hud)

A rock ‘n’ soul powerhouse channeling Mary J. Blige and Tina Turner, a cancer survior, and a mother, Janice is a true fighter. She pours every ounce of her pain and passion into go-for-broken, gauntlet-throwing performances like “I’m Goin’ Down” and “Radioactive,” and it’s always good TV. I would love to see Janice differentiate herself in the Playoffs with more leftfield alt-rock choices, a la her Imagine Dragons cover; if she does that, there’s no way she’s goin’ down any time soon. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Moriah Formica (Team Miley)

Moriah is, as Blake might say, BAD. ASS. And she’s as tough as her surname implies. A guitar-slinging 16-year-old raised on ’80s hair metal (she even once guested on a solo album by Stryper singer Michael Sweet!), Moriah nailed every note of Heart’s “Crazy on You” in her Blind Audition. Granted, she sounded a lot like Heart’s Ann Wilson, but in her Knockout performance, she started to find her own voice with a fierce take on a contemporary Kelly Clarkson classic. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Chris Weaver (Team J.Hud)

Chris is a worship leader by day and a drag queen (Nedra Belle, the drag daughter of RuPaul’s Drag Race veteran Sasha Belle) by night. Can I get an amen, literally? With a pedigree like that, Chris makes for good TV, but he also has vocal chops — no lip-syncing for this guy! However, with dual backgrounds in church and NYC drag clubs, Chris’s performance style is, shall we say, far from subtle. He’ll have to work on his oversinging tendencies, which could alienate viewers — otherwise he might sashay away from the competition way too soon. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Brooke Simpson (Team Miley)

During a mentoring session, Kelly Clarkson said, “Not only does Brooke have what it takes to be in the industry, I think the industry needs people like her. She’s so lovable on top of being an amazing vocalist.” High praise from one America’s sweetheart to another! Brooke might fade into the background as she goes up against some of this season’s flashier personalities, but like Kelly on American Idol Season 1, she has chops and charm. Don’t underestmate her. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Ashland Craft (Team Miley)

Miley is determined to win with a country contestant this season, which would bring her career’s Joanne-reminiscent, return-to-roots story arc to its logical conclusion. With fellow sassy rebel girl Ashland, Miley may get her wish. Ashland has enough Gretchen Wilsonesque sass to please diehard country fans, plus the rock ‘n’ roll edge (note her Skynyrd-style cover of Bon Jovi’s road-weary “Wanted Dead or Alive”) to cross over. I’m interested to see if she can pull off a ballad, however — at some point, America will yearn to connect with kinder, gentler Ashland underneath all that leather. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Keisha Renee (Team Blake)

The onetime Adam Lambert/Nicki Minaj backup singer-turned-country contender occupies a lane all her own, and she’s certainly interesting and unique. But will country fans, and Blake Shelton fans, embrace her? I’m concerned they’ll cast their votes for the more traditional, conservative country contestants… like Adam Cunningham. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Adam Pearce (Team Miley)

Adam has a fantastic, ferocious rock voice, but the Led Zep cover band frontman has some corny onstage habits he needs to kick — like his tendecy to prowl the stage in endless, nervous circles, not to mention all that excessive hairography. However, every Voice season needs a longhaired rocker dude, and Adam P. is the only longhaired rocker dude of Season 13. I think if Miley, a rock chick herself with impeccable taste, gives him some newer tunes that prove he’s more than just a Foreigner/Deep Purple karaoke type, he could stick around a while. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Hannah Mrozak (Team J.Hud)

Hannah is a classic Clarkson-style pop/soul balladeer, and though she has faded into the background for much of this season, her Knockout Rounds performance of Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain,” which resulted in the final dramatic Steal of Season 13, established her as a strong contender — and Brooke Simpson’s stiffest competition this season. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Adam Cunningham (Team Adam)

Like Miley, Adam Levine is determined to win with a country contestant (and rub it in his longtime rival Blake’s face, of course). Adam almost achieved this goal in Season 11, when his bro-country contender Josh Gallagher placed fourth and country-crossover pop singer Billy Gilman was runner-up, but maybe his dastardly dream will come true with this guy. While Adam the C’s earlier performances were generic meat-‘n’-potatoes country, his gruff Lee Ann Womack/Chris Stapleton remake in the Knockouts was a revelation. If Adam the L continues to push Adam the C down that singer-songwriter lane, that lane just might lead to the finale. (Making the victory even more sweet would be the fact that Cunningham was originally a member of Team Blake.) Song choice will be key here. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Shi’Ann Jones (Team J.Hud)

Shi’Ann, at age 15, is the youngest semifinalist in the top 20 — a fun fact that will surely be trotted out at every opportunity this season. (“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU ARE ONLY 15!!!”) Obviously Shi’Ann’s inexperience may hinder her, and the novelty of her youth will only get her so far; from this point onward, she must be graded on the same curve as everyone else, even 40-year-olds Red Marlow and Esera Tuaolo. But Jennifer Hudson sees a younger mini-me version of herself in Shi’Ann, and is therefore likely to give this girl special guidance — so Shi’Ann could be this year’s Wé McDonald or Jacqui Lee. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Emily Luther (Team Adam)

There’s no doubt that this theater-trained, Berklee-schooled jazz chanteuse is one of Season 13’s most techincally skilled vocalists. But even her own coach Adam said she’s “almost too perfect.” She lacks charisma and doesn’t pop onscreen like some of her opponents, and she seems much older than her 24 years. It’s easy to see why her former YouTube duet partner Charlie Puth’s career soared, while hers has stalled. I think Emily could have a bright future on Broadway, but sadly, I don’t know how far she can go on this show. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Red Marlow (Team Blake)

This dyed-in-the-flannel everyman could not be more obvious Team Blake material if he’d showed up wearing an “Ol’ Red”-era mullet and drinking a Starbucks cup filled with whiskey. A “country as cornbread” (or “country as a wheelbarrow full of turnip greens”) dude who rattles off one-liners like “I’m as excited as a fat kid at a candy store,” he sure has a big, made-for-TV personality, and Middle America will love the lug. Until this week, I’ve found his performances to be typical weeknight bar-band fare andand corny as cornbread, so I’d rather Middle America’s country votes go to Ashland Craft or Adam Cunningham — but Red’s “Outskirts of Heaven” Knockout performance proved that he has a softer side and doesn’t always have to be the Season 13 class clown. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Mitchell Lee (Team Blake)

Mitchell has the cougar-baiting, hunky good looks to make America’s housewives swoon, and with his excellent pitch, he’s easy on the ears as well as the eyes. He’s already shaping up to be the Barrett Baber of Season 13. However, there’s a Ken-doll slickness, forced smiley-ness, and smugness to his performances that I find offputting, and he plays it safe with his song choices. I’d love to see more grit and gravitas from Mitchell, so he can become the Brendan Fletcher of Season 13 instead. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Anthony Alexander (Team Adam)

Young Anthony has teen-heartthrob appeal and tons of potential, but even his coach Adam admits that he’s “not fully cooked yet.” With only four weeks of Playoffs, will Anthony have the time to “cook” and catch up with his more, um, seasoned opponents? I am not so sure. Anthony has talent, but he may have been better off waiting to try out for Season 14. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Jon Mero (Team Adam)

Jon’s confidence can sometimes come across as cockiness, and the professional corporate gig singer’s performances (“Blame It on the Boogie”? really??) don’t feel modern or relevant. It doesn’t bode well for his chances that his Knockout Round performance was montaged — a rarity on this series — and not even uploaded by NBC to YouTube. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Esera Tuaolo (Team Blake)

As an openly gay former NFL player, Esera has by far this season’s most fascinating (and timely) backstory. Does he have the pipes to back that up, though? I sense that he’s made it this far mainly because he makes for compelling television. It’s unlikely that there’s a Voice touchdown in his future. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

[lyndsey-parker]

Prophets of Rage honor Chris Cornell at Voodoo festival

Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk have busied themselves recently with Prophets of Rage, their timely and politically charged new project with Public Enemy’s Chuck D and DJ Lord and Cypress Hill’s B-Real. But in the early 2000s, the three RATM members formed another successful supergroup, Audioslave, with Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell. Though Audioslave officially disbanded in 2007, they reunited this past January for Prophets of Rage’s Anti-Inaugural Ball; it was Audioslave’s first live performance in 12 years. Four short months later, Cornell was found dead at age 52. And this Friday, as Prophets of Rage played the Voodoo festival in New Orleans, Morello, Tim, and Wilk paid tribute to their fallen former bandmate.

“We lost a very good friend and musical comrade in Chris Cornell. Please give him an enormous Louisiana ovation,” said Morello. “We loved him very much. We’re going to play this next song in his memory. If you know the words, sing along, and if you don’t, say a prayer for peace.”

Morello and company then performed a somber instrumental rendition of the Audioslave’s “Like a Stone,” letting the audience take over, choir-like, for Cornell’s iconic vocals during an emotional mass singalong. Clearly most of the people gathered at the Wisner stage for the Prophets’ set knew every single word of the 2002 hit power ballad.

The majority of this incendiary set, however, consisted of PE, RATM, and Cypress Hill classics, as well as equally fast and furious songs from Prophets of Rage’s self-titled debut album — like “Hail to the Thief,” dedicated to President Trump and Vice President Pence. Their raging performance climaxed with a very different singalong of sorts, as B-Real declared, “Dangerous times call for dangerous songs; let’s unite with one of the most dangerous.”

The group then tore into a Trump-namechecking update of RATM’s “Killing in the Name,” with fans of all ages, even little kids sitting atop their parents’ shoulders, unison-chanting the angry, expletive-laden chorus. (B-Real then amusingly quipped, “One last thing: Legalize it!” before he exited the stage, ending the group’s set on a still-political but much more lighthearted note.)

Prophets of Rage weren’t the only artist making a strong statement at Voodoo Friday, although some had a kinder, gentler way of going about it. Headliner Kendrick Lamar united the masses with his anthem “Alright,” and Andrew McMahon took a moment during his set to rally the crowd with a positive message of his own.

“What we get to do in these spaces, when we celebrate together, despite our differences and despite how f***ed up the world is maybe on the other side of those festival gates, I think this counts more than any of us know. So, this started as a gag, but now it feels a little bit more important,” McMahon proclaimed, unfurling a rainbow parachute as he jumped into the audience to sing “Synesthesia” before dramatically draping himself in the colorful cloth. “What better place than a festival, than a rock ‘n’ roll show, to put our troubles on the other side of those gates and dance together?”

The dancing continued in earnest at the main stage for triumphantly reunited arty electropunks and perennial festival favorites LCD Soundsystem, whose American Dream is shaping up to be one of the top 10 albums of 2017. “Remember guys, if you’re dancing and there’s no women around, you’re probably dancing wrong. You’re too aggressive. Be nice,” frontman James Murphy cautioned the crowd — an appropriate tip for this #metoo age.

LCD’s other social statements came in the form of the simple word “RESIST!” blasted across video screens during “Movement” and printed on band member Nancy Whang’s keyboard; however, “Someone Great,” one of the most poignant modern songs about loss and the grieving process, was a moment as tender and tear-jerking as Prophets of Rage’s wordless Cornell homage, and “Dance Yrself Clean” and a revelatory, reverent cover of Chic’s “I Want Your Love” kept LCD’s party from getting overtly political.

Dancing myself clean to some #lcdsoundsystem disco at #voodoofest

A post shared by Lyndsey Parker (@lyndseyparker) on Oct 27, 2017 at 10:03pm PDT

Speaking of covers, the dream of the ‘90s was alive at Voodoo earlier in the day, when Philly singer-songwriter and former Eastern Conference Champions frontman Mondo Cozmo cranked out a faithful remake of the Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony,” and L.A. garage rockers Bleached tore through Nirvana’s “Territorial Pissings” during their raw set in the Toyota Music Den.

It’s a bittersweet symphony, this life, for @mondocozmo at #voodoofest

A post shared by Lyndsey Parker (@lyndseyparker) on Oct 27, 2017 at 2:46pm PDT

The dream of the ‘90s is alive at #voodoofest as @hellobleached cover #Nirvana

A post shared by Lyndsey Parker (@lyndseyparker) on Oct 27, 2017 at 1:27pm PDT

The latter performance was possibly a nod to Dave Grohl, whose Foo Fighters will headline Voodoo on Saturday. Yahoo’s live stream of the Voodoo Music + Arts Experience at New Orleans’s City Park continues Saturday with the Foos, the Black Angels, an encore presentation of Prophets of Rage, and more.

[lyndsey-parker]

R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.! Musical Fireworks for 4th of July Fun

“1976,” Redd Kross – The theme song for the hilarious David Cassidy/Leif Garrett/Redd Kross/Devo bicentennial cult flick Spirit of ‘76 will have you boogie-ing till you’re seeing stars. “America,” Neil Diamond – In his 1980 classic, Neil welcomes the downtrodden immigrant masses to our fair shores

When we contemplate that nationalistic day of revelry known as the 4th o’ July, many all-American images spring to mind: bovine flesh roasting on the BBQ grill, human flesh roasting in the sun, all sorts of hazardous explosives roasting up what’s left of the ozone layer. But when it comes to flag-wavin’ summer fun that even an obsessively SPF 70-slathered vegetarian can appreciate, there’s really no better way to paint the town red, white, and blue than with a playlist of patriotic pop.

[lyndsey-parker]

Maren Morris and Other Famous Singers Rejected by 'American Idol'

This year, in its final season, American Idol hyped up one past contestant who went on to major success: Tori Kelly. But Tori was actually rejected by Idol, incredibly never even making it to the top 24 live episodes. And this week, another Best New Artist Grammy nominee, 2016 breakout star Maren Morris, revealed that she too was rejected by the show. Morris and Kelly are just two of many talented singers who were turned away by Idol producers but went on to bigger and better things. Here are 12. (photos: Getty Images)

Morris tried out when she was 17, but didn’t even get past the cattle-call round receive a callback. “I did the walk of shame out of the stadium and never made it any further,” Morris told Rolling Stone, adding,  “I’m actually really happy I didn’t make it onto any of the shows I tried out for… I took a much longer road, but it’s on my terms now.” Morris called it “full-circle irony” that many singing show contestants now cover her hit “My Church” on TV.

Tori Kelly

Looking back on 'Idol's' lackluster Season 9, it's hard to believe someone as talented as Tori was cut that year before the top 24 round. The rising singer-songwriter later built up a passionate following via her YouTube channel; she's now managed by Scooter Braun, signed to Capitol Records, and up for a Best New Artist Grammy nomination. Her album Unbreakable Smile also debuted at #2. Not too shabby for a "reject," huh?

Source: Yahoo Music

Hillary Scott

Lady Antebellum's famous frontwoman auditioned not once but twice for 'Idol,' and never even made it past the preliminary rounds. "I never got to see [the judges]. I literally performed for the production assistants and the interns, and I just didn't make it," she later told Entertainment Tonight. No worries. Hillary simply formed Lady Antebellum instead, and went on to win five Grammys in 2011 alone, including Record and Song of the Year. No Idol winner has ever done that.

Source: Yahoo Music

Colbie Caillat

This plucky songstress also auditioned unsuccessfully for 'Idol' twice, and on her second try she even warbled her own original ditty, "Bubbly." ("I was shy. I was nervous. I didn't look the greatest. I wasn't ready for it yet. I was glad, when I auditioned, that they said no," she explained to USA Today.) Apparently Colbie had reason to be glad. Not only did "Bubbly" eventually become a massive international hit for her, without 'Idol's' help, but it's since been covered by various other 'Idol' hopefuls, like Casey James, Katie Stevens, and Katelyn Epperly. Apparently Colbie wasn't too bitter to grant the show rights.

Source: Yahoo Music

Mary Lambert

The "She Keeps Me Warm" songstress, best known for singing the hook of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's marriage equality anthem "Same Love," tried out for 'Idol' at age 16 and, according to an interview with Ryan Seacrest, "did not go far at all!" Ironically, she is now dating a singing-show alum: 'The Voice' Season 4 runner-up Michelle Chamuel.

Source: Yahoo Music

Amber Riley

The 'Glee' diva auditioned for 'Idol' at age 17, but she too didn't even make it past the producers. But obviously, the singer also known as Mercedes Jones made it onto the Fox Network anyway. (And one of her biggest standout solo performances on 'Glee' was "And I Am Telling You," a song famously performed by Idols like Jennifer Hudson and LaKisha Jones.) "You know what? I still work on Fox and I get paid! Thank you, 'American Idol,'" Amber later gloated to Access Hollywood.

Source: Yahoo Music

Naya Rivera

Amber's fellow Gleek once auditioned for the show in San Francisco, but she was cut in the first round. In an interesting twist of fate, the same song she sang at her 'Idol' audition, "Emotion" by the Bee Gees, later landed her a role on 'Glee.'

Source: Yahoo Music

Alex & Sierra

Alex Kinsey and his girlfriend Sierra Deaton auditioned, separately, for 'American Idol' Season 12; Alex made it to Hollywood Week before getting cut, while Sierra didn't even make it past the producers. Less than a year later, they both made it all the way to the winners' circle, as a duo, on 'The X Factor USA' Season 3. They are now signed to Simon Cowell's Syco label and have toured with Andy Grammer.

Source: Yahoo Music

Mickey Guyton

Mickey Guyton is the bright new hope of Nashville, a breakout country star for 2015. But she was cut right before the live shows of 'Idol' Season 8, and she received a particularly brutal edit: The only evidence of her entire run was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it snippet of her sitting in a Green Mile chair, being told "it's a no." Clearly, Mickey is ready for her close-up now. This seaosn on 'Idol,' an auditioner even covers one of her songs.

Source: Yahoo Music

Alan Ritchson

Alan's first memorable TV appearance was a Season 3 striptease in an effort to seduce the impressionable Paula Abdul. That effort only got him to the top 87, but he went to play Aquaman on the CW's 'Smallville' and Thad Castle on Spike TV's 'Blue Mountain State,' and has also had film roles in 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' and the 2014 remake of 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.'

Source: Yahoo Music

Colton Swon

This likable, haystack-haired heartthrob auditioned for Season 7 and reached the top 48; he was cut right before the live shows. Six years later, joined by his younger sibling Zach in the Swon Brothers, he made it to 'The Voice' Season 4 finale. The Swon Brothers later signed to Arista Nashville.

Source: Yahoo Music

Robyn Troup

Robyn may be the least-known name on this list, but she made it to the Grammys only a few weeks after her Hollywood Week elimination aired, when she won Yahoo Music's own "My Grammy Moment" talent search. The grand prize: A chance to duet on the 2006 live awards telecast with none other than Justin Timberlake! (And Jennifer Hudson introduced her!) Since then, Robyn has recorded with Santana and Nas, and she is currently prepping her debut album.

Source: Yahoo Music

[lyndsey-parker]

The Best Holiday Videos Ever!

Why should we celebrate with stale-as-fruitcake holiday Muzak, when we can rock the halls with festive modern fare that’ll jumpstart our positive vibrations faster than Frosty learned to speak English? Many rock, pop, and R&B stars have recorded holiday music videos that make for even more awesome Chrismukkah viewing than A Very Brady Christmas or RuPaul's Green Screen Christmas on a constant loop. We’ve compiled our favorites here. Watch ‘em all and have a not-so-silent night.

18. Erran Baron Cohen - "Dreidel" Most of the videos on this list of Christmas-themed, but Hannukkah gets a hip-hop makeover here, courtesy of Erran Baron Cohen -- yes, Sasha Baron Cohen's little brother. It's the perfect soundtrack for your eight crazy nights!

17. The Ramones - “Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)” We know the original Ramones, all of whom have sadly left us, are having the best punk-rock Christmas party in the sky right now. (Surviving member Mark Ramone, who replaced original drummer Tommy, appears in this video.) Put on a red leather jacket and some red Converse, and get your Blitzen-krieg bop on to this classic.

16. Destiny's Child - “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” They split long ago, but DC co-exist in Christmas peace every holiday season in claymation form, thanks to this darling clip. We still feel the comfort and joy every time they snuggle up to the stop-motion Rudolph. It’s almost as cute as the original Rudolph TV special scene when Rudolph and Clarice first fall in love. Spike your egg nog with some lemonade and enjoy.

15. The Superions - “Fruitcake” Leave it to pop’s biggest nutcake, B-52’s jester Fred Schneider, to come up with the ultimate ode to Xmas inedibles, aka fruitcakes. This bizarre vid — reminiscent of Devo’s classic “That’s Good” video with its queasy closeups of pastry foodstuffs, bad green-screen, lab-coated mad scientists, and shirtless disco dancers — is so awesome, it’s the one “Fruitcake” you won’t want to give away.

14. Matisyahu - "Miracles" The Orthodox Jewish reggae star makes Hanukkah hip in this surreal, epic clip.

13. *NSYNC - “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” Before Justin Timberlake was the coolest man on the planet, marrying Jessica Biel and slaying on SNL in that famous holiday skit about an X-rated gift in a box, he was hanging out with the late, great Gary Coleman and rocking what looked like a bad Very Brady perm. This is like peeking at JT’s embarrassing holiday childhood photos.

12. The Flaming Lips - “Christmas at the Zoo” With the long-delayed cult flick Christmas on Mars, these Oklahoma eccentrics and Miley Cyrus pals made THE weirdest holiday movie EVER, featuring futuristic fetuses, gravity-control pods, and alien superbeings. It’s a Wonderful Life, it sure wasn’t. But if that seems like advanced Lips viewing, this cute and quirky clip starring a manger-ful of festive animals might be a better bet.

11. Wham! - “Last Christmas” A few years ago, George Michael released a new Christmas tune and video, “December Song,” but it cannot compare to the olden days when he used to celebrate with Andrew Ridgeley and a bunch of actresses hired to play his girlfriends. A classic!

10. Wizzard - “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day” A lost gem from the ’70s glam-rock Brits, there is probably no better incentive to break out the platform elf shoes and bell-bottomed Santa suits than this.

9. The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl - “Fairytale of New York” It’s the ultimate Scrooge tune, telling the tale of an embittered, down-on-their-luck couple who spend the season fighting in dive bars and sleeping it off in drunk tanks. So why do we feel all warm ‘n’ fuzzy every time we watch this? (R.I.P., Kirsty MacColl, by the way.)

8. Twisted Sister - “O Come All Ye Faithful” Sadly, Spinal Tap never made an official video for “Christmas With the Devil.” So this will have to do instead!

7. Run-D.M.C. - “Christmas in Hollis” We still get a hankering for collard greens and presents of fresh new Adidas sneakers under the tree every time we watch this classic bit of Christmas rapping. (R.I.P., Jam Master Jay.)

6. The Killers - “Don’t Shoot Me, Santa” The Killers release a Christmas video every year, but it’s this one that stands apart, due to its genius recasting of Santa Claus as a great unwashed, red-bearded, trailer-park-dwelling, axe-wielding psychopath. Looks like Brandon Flowers and company were hitting the egg nog pretty hard when they shot this totally twisted video.

5. Hall & Oates - “Jingle Bell Rock” The best Christmas duo since Bowie and Bing (more on them in a bit), in MTV’s early-’80s infancy Daryl Hall and John Oates made a cheesier-than-a-cheeselog holiday video that still brings a smile to our faces decades later. And what could make it even better? The fact that they shot TWO versions!

4. The Darkness - “Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)” The unitarded rockers out-glammed Wizzard and out-Tapped even Spinal Tap with this bit of brilliance in 2003. If you watch this and don’t crack a smile, clearly you have no soul and deserve a big lump of coal in your Spandex stocking.

3. Band Aid 20 - “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” In 2004, Anglophiles rejoiced when, under the guidance of Bob Geldof, members of Coldplay, Radiohead, Supergrass, the Darkness, Morcheeba, the Thrills, and Travis -- alongside Paul McCartney, Bono, Robbie Williams, Joss Stone, and Dido -- came together for a remake of Band Aid’s famous charity single (with proceeds going to help Darfur). The results was way better than 2014's "Band Aid 30" remake.

2. Band Aid - “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Band Aid 20 was great, but of course, nothing can compare to the Band Aid original from 1984. Many of its participants who were considered “all-stars” at the time are mere footnotes now. But the benefit single launched countless other charity efforts, and that’s in the true spirit of Christmas. (Check out our interview with Band Aid producer Midge Ure here.)

1. David Bowie & Bing Crosby - “Little Drummer Boy” Christmas is a time when people from all walks of life come together in peace, and in no other video is this best demonstrated than this timeless, touching duet from 1977, when cardigan-sweatered crooner Crosby teamed with glitter god Bowie. TV Guide declared this one of the 25 most memorable musical moments of 20th century television, and with good reason. With Bing and now Bowie both gone now, this one bitteesweetly evokes the ghosts of Christmases past.

Check out the rest of our Holiday content here

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[lyndsey-parker]

8 Reality Stars You Forgot Were Reality Stars

It is probably the ultimate goal of all aspiring musicians who try out for televised talent competitions that they will one day become so successful, their reality TV stints will be mere footnotes on their multi-page résumés. Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood are great examples of this sort of crossover phenomenon -- but let’s face it, even those singers will forever be associated with American Idol.

What’s actually even more impressive are the ex-contestants that have been able to establish themselves outside of their respective TV shows -- and often without those shows’ help in any way. Here are eight such rare cases. (All photos Getty Images, except Todrick Hall, Fifth Harmony, and Danny Noriega courtesy of Fox.)

Melanie Martinez

Martinez achieved what was impossible for almost all other ‘Voice’ veterans, including most ‘Voice’ winners: selling a cool half-million copies of her critically acclaimed, gold-certified debut album, ‘Crybaby.’ The 20-year-old Goth-pop chanteuse also credibly (and incredibly) crossed over to the alt-rock world, appearing on the cover of Alternative Press and playing rock festivals like Lollapalooza, Beach Goth, and Voodoo. And she did it all without ‘The Voice’s’ help, initially as a self-made YouTube sensation (her first video, for 2014’s “Dollhouse,” has racked up more than 84 million views), and then as a recording artist for an actually supportive record label, Atlantic -- notably NOT Republic, the ‘Voice’-affiliated label that failed so many other ‘Voice’ contestants. 

Pentatonix

Pentatonix may have won Season 3 of ‘The Sing-Off,’ but that’s not what turned the a cappella quintet into a household-name sensation. In fact, the ratings for that third season were so low, NBC temporarily canceled ‘The Sing-Off,’ and Pentatonix were also dropped from the deal they’d won with Epic Records. Pentatonix really built their career on YouTube, and now, five years after ‘The Sing-Off,’ they have YouTube’s 13th most subscribed music channel and 44th most subscribed channel overall, with 11.5 million subscribers and 1.8 billion views. But YouTube was just the beginning: Pentatonix have also won two Grammys, performed on the AMAs and CMAs, appeared in ‘Pitch Perfect 2’ and ‘The Muppets,’ collaborated with Dolly Parton, and set a record as the only a cappella act to land a #1 album. And on Dec. 14, they’ll return to NBC with their own holiday special, ‘A Pentatonix Christmas.’ And to think this group first formed just to try out for ‘The Sing-Off’! 

Fifth Harmony

Yes, 5H got their start on ‘The X Factor USA’ Season 2, when they were put together by mentor Simon Cowell (after the members auditioned separately as solo singers). But you’d be forgiven for forgetting all that, since they changed their name three times (from the Lylas to 1432, before finally settling on Fifth Harmony) -- plus, the ratings weren’t all that great for ‘The X Factor USA,’ anyway. Despite these setbacks, the third-place girl group went on to great success after signing a joint deal with Cowell’s Syco Music and ex-judge L.A. Reid’s Epic Records -- releasing a gold-selling top five album and racking up several platinum singles. This makes them by far the most successful act spawned by the American version of ‘The X Factor.’ Simon at least got one thing right with that show!

Miranda Lambert

The average country fan has probably forgotten about Buddy Jewell and John Arthur Martinez, who respectively placed first and second on Nashville Star Season 1. But no one ever forgot about third-placer Miranda Lambert! It’s just that after all of Lambert’s accolades and achievements -- millions in record sales and a mantelful of Grammy, ACM, CMA, and CMT trophies -- everyone just forgot that she got her big break in 2003 on a little USA Network reality show.

Todrick Hall

Hall stalled in the top 16 of ‘American Idol’ Season 9, after his flashy and flamboyant performances failed to connect with that series’ conservative viewers. But like Pentatonix and Martinez, the Texan showman found his audience on YouTube, where his clever remakes, parodies, and originals have been watched more than 260 million times. Hall has since starred in his own eponymous MTV reality show; served as a full-time judge on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars 2’; and released a critically acclaimed, ‘Lemonade’-like visual album, ‘Straight Outta Oz,’ which features cameos by Nicole Scherzinger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jordin Sparks, and Amber Riley and has been streamed 2.3 million times on YouTube. This month, Hall even fulfilled a lifelong dream of starring on Broadway, assuming the lead role of Lola in ‘Kinky Boots.’ The self-made man has so completely redefined himself, ‘Idol’ can’t even claim him as one of its success stories. 

Lindsey Stirling

In 2010, this self-described "hip-hop violinist" made it to the Season 5 ‘America’s Got Talent’ quarterfinals. Bizarrely, then-judge Piers Morgan told her that she was "not good enough," while Sharon Osbourne said that Stirling would be better off in a group. Stirling later blogged that she was "devastated" by her elimination, but like many other artists on this list, she went on to YouTube stardom -- with 8 million subscribers and more than a billion views. Now Stirling is a massive classical-crossover star. She has sold more than half a million albums worldwide, won Billboard and YouTube Awards, and even landed on Forbes’s “30 Under 30 in Music” list for 2015. Clearly, she’s “got talent.”

Alex Newell

‘The Glee Project’ was one of the greatest talent shows in TV history, but it was a niche program on cable’s Oxygen network, and Newell didn’t even win -- he made the top four, earning what supposed to be just a brief walk-on part on ‘Glee.’ But he ended up becoming a recurring ‘Glee’ cast member (as transgender student Unique) for four seasons, then signing to Atlantic Records, who released his disco-pop EP ‘Power’ featuring production from the likes of Diane Warren and Nile Rodgers. Newell has also collaborated with the Knocks and Clean Bandit and toured with Adam Lambert. He obviously has much to be gleeful about when it comes to his post-telelvsion career.

Adore Delano

Danny Noriega only made it to the top 16 of ‘American Idol’ Season 7, but as his drag alter ego Adore, he became one of the most popular ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ contestants of all time -- and the one with the most credible musical career. Adore’s debut album, ‘Till Death Do Us Party,’ debuted at #3 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic chart, #11 on the Independent Albums chart, and #59 on the Billboard 200, and the follow-up, ‘After Party,’ debuted at #1 on Dance/Electronic chart. Many of Adore’s fans aren’t even aware that she was ever on ‘Idol’ -- or at least don’t care. Party!

[lyndsey-parker]

Exclusive Photos: Ranking ‘The Voice’ Season 11's Top 20

The Voice Season 11’s top 20 semifinalists were revealed on Halloween night -- quite fittingly, because the cast is SCARY-good this time around! But Monday’s bloodbath of a Knockout Rounds horror show featuring some Halloween-worthy shockers, too -- like the eliminations of early frontrunners Maye Thomas, Michael Sanchez, Gabe Broussard, and [insert Scream scream here] even Nolan Neal.

But it’s time to move on to the Live Playoffs, so Yahoo Music’s Reality Rocks has the top 20 cast’s new exclusive photos... and, of course, some opinions, too. Check out this definitive ranking of the contestants before next week’s real-time lightning-round show, which is sure to be another bloodbath. (All photos courtesy of NBC) 

Watch The Voice and hundreds of other shows for free on Yahoo View. 

Belle Jewel (Team Miley)

PROS: The Postmodern Jukebox-esque stunner has a unique style, a knack for making songs her own, and a name (yes, it’s her real name!) that deserves to be in lights. CONS: Both her Blind Audition and Battle Round were montaged, so she’s had much less screentime than her competitors. Additionally, she was a Steal, after losing in the Knockout Rounds to Christian Cuevas.

Kylie Rothfield (Team Alicia)

PROS: Her badass cover of the Big Mama Thornton version of “Hound Dog” was a revelation, and her fiery guitar-playing even won rival coach Adam Levine’s admiration. Her Berklee degree doesn’t hurt, either. CONS: So far, she’s been a dark horse next to some of the flashier contestants with more dramatic backstories.

Wé McDonald (Team Alicia)

PROS: She’s had the most screentime so far this season, performing in the cold open of NBC’s special post-Olympics preview episode. And she deserves that screentime, because this girl is a phenomenon. She’s probably going to win. CONS: Frontrunner contestants often peak too early. For every Jordan Smith, there’s a Judith Hill.

Billy Gilman (Team Adam)

PROS: He already has a huge fanbase due to his successful career as a Nashville child star. And his music biz experience shows every time he hits the stage and is a total pro. CONS: His fanbase may not accept his new pop direction, and his polished persona could get a little boring. Moreover, this show’s audience doesn’t always respond well to professionals that seem like ringers with unfair advantages.

Austin Allsup (Team Blake)

PROS: He’s got the look, the sound, and the pedigree (his dad used to play with Buddy Holly) to be this season’s Craig Wayne Boyd. His past relationship with coach Blake Shelton might curry him a little favor, too. CONS: He might be a little too Ken-Doll and cookie-cutter for his own good. He needs to roughen things up a bit.

Sa'Rayah (Team Alicia)

PROS: Her Battle Round duet of “I’ll Take Care of You” was literally like something out of the Grammy Awards. A star was born that night, and she could ride that momentum throughout the Live Playoffs. CONS: She beat out fan favorite Michael Sanchez in the Knockouts, and viewers may hold that against her.

Ali Caldwell (Team Miley)

PROS: Her sexy Sade cover established her as one to watch, and Adam Levine described her audition as a “Jordan Smith moment.” CONS: She may not be able to live up to her early hype.

Josh Halverson (Team Alicia)

PROS: Every ‘Voice’ season needs a sexy hippie man in a hat, and this long-haired cattle-rancher certainly fits the bill. CONS: He was a Steal from Team Miley in the Knockouts, so we will see how much attention Alicia Keys gives him on her already very strong team. Alicia needs to help him with his diction issues, too.

Sophia Urista (Team Miley)

PROS: She’s fierce AF, and in an awesome lane all her own. Great hair, too! Miley Cyrus really gets her as well. CONS: She’s hardly the strongest singer of the season. Song choice will be crucial with her.

Sundance Head (Team Blake)

PROS: He has a fanbase from his ‘American Idol’ days a decade ago, but he has evolved so much since then. His acoustic interpretation of “The Climb” showed he’s a real artist. CONS: Hunkier Team Blake country contestant Austin Allsup may provide some stiff competition.

Darby Walker (Team Miley)

PROS: She’s adorable, and she’s already gotten a lot of screentime. CONS: Her actress-y affectations and gimmicky quirky-girl vocal ticks could be grating.

Courtney Harrell (Team Blake) 

PROS: She has an amazing résumé, penning songs for Fantasia, Mary J. Blige, Ariana Grande, Tamar Braxton, and others. CONS: She’s an experienced songwriter and background singer, but is she really ready for her closeup?

Aaron Gibson (Team Miley)

PROS: He occupies the WGWG singer-songwriter space his season, and his “Losing My Religion” audition displayed a very high taste level. CONS: He needs to work on his personality and stage presence; Sa’Rayah completely upstaged him in the Battles. Hopefully Miley can help with that. 

Jason Warrior (Team Blake)

PROS: He has a sympathetic backstory, tons of drive and ambition, a big personality, and an even bigger set of pipes. CONS: He’s already been through three coaches before the Playoffs have even started, so that does not bode well for his chances. 

Brendan Fletcher (Team Adam)

PROS: He’s good-looking and has a pleasantly distinctive voice. CONS: His personality is lacking, so he could easily get lost in the shuffle.

Dana Harper (Team Blake)

PROS: Her deep, sultry, androgynous vocals could make her stand out in the pack. CONS: She hasn’t gotten the screentime needed for her to truly stand out.

Simone Gundy (Team Adam)

PROS: The woman can sing. CONS: There are a lot of R&B divas in the running this season, so Simone is in a crowded category. Does she have what it takes to prevail over Wé, Ali, Sa’Rayah, Courtney, and Dana?

Christian Cuevas (Team Alicia)

PROS: The man can sing. CONS: He’s conservative and old-fashioned... and song choices like “Superstar” won’t help with that.

Riley Elmore (Team Adam)

PROS: The teen crooner occupies his own lane this season. CONS: We’ve seen this shtick before on this show (Lowell Oakley) and on other TV talent competitions (Sal Valentinetti, John Stevens), and this kid may not be ready for prime time. His controversial triumph over Jason Warrior in the Knockouts also earned him some detractors.

Josh Gallagher (Team Adam)

PROS: He’s very commercial, very in line with what’s popular in country music right now. CONS: He’s unoriginal -- and the series’ resident country expert, Blake, actually gave him up in the Knockouts!