Rolling Stone AU/NZ

06/01/2025

As Christmas disappears into the distance, and holiday tunes march out of the charts, Rose returns to #1 with “APT.” (via Warner), her global hit with Bruno Mars.

On the latest ARIA Chart, published Friday, January 3rd, “APT.” flies 8-1 for an eight non-consecutive week at the summit.

The BLACKPINK star’s pop juggernaut logged nine weeks at #1 on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, confirming its lofty position as one of the biggest hits of 2024.

Over on the national albums tally, Sabrina Carpenter completes an eighth non-consecutive week at No. 1 with "Short n’ Sweet" (Island/Universal).

Just one Australian album appears on the current frame.

Read the full story at Rolling Stone AU/NZ: https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rose-returns-aria-chart-apt-70758/

06/01/2025

Snap a picture: Bad Bunny‘s Debí Tirar Más Fotos is here! On Sunday, the Puerto Rican artist released his sixth studio album, which features RaiNao, Dei V, Omar Courtz, and Chuwi.

Along with the collaborations, the album includes solo tracks such as “Ketu Tecré,” “Turista,” EoO,” and album closer, “La Mudanza.” He also includes Pleneros de la Cresta on the track “Café Con Ron.”

“This project is dedicated to all the Puerto Ricans in the entire world,” reads a dedication on the album’s track list. The album artwork shows two empty plastic chairs on a muddy grass area, in front of tropical trees and green bananas.

On Friday, Bad Bunny released a precursor short film for the album, which showcased a gentrified, changed Puerto Rico, starring filmmaker Jacobo Morales. “There was something special here. I don’t know what it was, but it was an incredible magic,” he says of the new island.

05/01/2025

Three months after a Jane’s Addiction reunion tour abruptly ended following an onstage fight, the band appears to be back in the studio together without singer Perry Farrell.

Eric Avery shared video from a recent recording session where he was adding bass to Stephen Perkins’ drumming.

“Writing some more new lines to some of Stephens drumming. Look forward to getting some Mr [Dave] Navarro on them. 2025!,” Avery wrote in the caption.

Read more: https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/janes-addiction-members-music-together-without-perry-farrell-70746/

05/01/2025

Bono, Denzel Washington, and Michael J. Fox are among the 19 people who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S.’s highest civilian honour, from President Joe Biden at the White House on Saturday.

Other recipients include Hillary Clinton, Lakers legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, soccer star Lionel Messi, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, George Soros, designer Ralph Lauren, chef Jose Andres, and conservationist Jane Goodall.

See why Bono and these other individuals are being recognised as "great leaders": https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bono-denzel-washington-michael-j-fox-presidential-medal-of-freedom-1235225284/

04/01/2025

Nicki Minaj is facing a new lawsuit from an alleged former employee who claims the “Super Bass” artist smacked him in the face at a concert venue in Detroit last April.

In his 10-page complaint filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Brandon Jovan Garrett claims he was working for Minaj as a “day to day manager” when Minaj’s head of security summoned him to the singer’s dressing room at the Little Caesars Arena for a meeting.

The lawsuit claims the alleged assault took place on April 21, 2024, shortly after a performance.

Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 tour had a show at the Little Caesars Arena on April 20.

Read the details of the alleged assault here: https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/nicki-minaj-lawsuit-battery-employee-pink-friday-2-tour-70737/

04/01/2025

The Jane Doe who alleges Diplo shared sexually explicit videos of her without her consent must reveal her name to pursue her “revenge p**n” lawsuit.

In a ruling this week, U.S. District Court Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani said the woman did not meet the requirements to proceed anonymously, either in terms of privacy concerns or potential danger.

“Plaintiff has not made a sufficient factual showing as to the severity and reasonableness of threatened harm and her vulnerability to justify the need for anonymity,” the judge said in her decision.

Read more:

The Jane Doe who alleges Diplo shared sexually explicit videos of her without her consent must reveal her name to pursue her "revenge p**n" lawsuit.

04/01/2025

Facebook and Instagram parent Meta, whose platforms are already flooded with AI-generated content, recently floated an idea to make the problem even worse: letting users create bot characters in their AI Studio that would then become functional “users” of these sites themselves, appearing to have their own accounts that engage with other profiles and pages.

Reactions were decidedly negative, with some citing “Dead Internet Theory,” the idea that the direction of all digital culture is now determined by automation and algorithm rather than actual humans.

But things got worse for Meta when people turned up a few of their “test” AI characters on Friday.

See why:

Meta quickly pulled the plug on AI bot accounts it had tested on Facebook and Instagram after users attacked the idea

04/01/2025

President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for a perfect inauguration are being foiled by former President Jimmy Carter, who died last week at the age of 100.

As is standard practice in memorializing dead former presidents, American flags displayed at federal buildings, grounds, and on naval vessels will be flown at half mast for a 30-day period of national mourning.

But for the president-elect, the notion that the death of a predecessor could interfere with the aesthetics of his return to power is unconscionable.

Read what he had to say:

Donald Trump raged online over flags in the capital being flown at half-mast during his inauguration to mourn the passing of Jimmy Carter.

04/01/2025

Lil Baby just dropped his new project WHAM, which he began teasing towards the end of last year, and which features a who’s who in hip-hop joining one of its ascendant stars on a declarative new project.

While 2024 was dominated by a beef between two poles of the rap world, Lil Baby appears to have been quietly cooking up.

WHAM, which aptly stands for the phrase “Who As Hot As Me,” offers up 15 tracks and features from the likes of Young Thug, who offers up his first verse since being released from jail late last year, to Travis Scott and 21 Savage, who many think might’ve used his guest verse to throw some subliminal at Kendrick Lamar.

See the five takeaways from the album:

The long anticipated album includes star-studded features and a return to form for the Atlanta rapper

04/01/2025

One of the men accused of selling drugs to Liam Payne in Argentina before his death has been arrested.

Rolling Stone can confirm that Braian Paiz, a restaurant waiter who previously admitted to doing drugs with the One Direction singer, was detained on Friday, just days after being ordered to preventative jail time.

Last week, the judge in Payne’s case, Laura Bruniard, ordered that Paiz and Ezequiel Pereyra, the hotel worker who also allegedly sold Payne drugs, report for preventative jail time as they await trial.

Both could face four to 15 years behind bars for the alleged sale of drugs.

Paiz also must pay a $4,900 fine.

Read more:

Braian Paiz was arrested Monday for allegedly selling Liam Payne drugs, days after his lawyer called his client's drug sale charge a 'witch hunt.'

03/01/2025

Wayne Osmond, an original member and second-oldest sibling in the Osmond family of singers, has died at the age of 73.

The singer-guitarist’s death was confirmed by his brother and bandmate Merrill Osmond, who added that Wayne died Wednesday at a Salt Lake City, Utah, hospital following “a massive stroke.”

“I’ve never known a man that had more humility. A man with absolutely no guile. An individual that was quick to forgive and had the ability to show unconditional love to everyone he ever met,” Merrill wrote on Facebook.

Read more:

Wayne Osmond, an original member and second-oldest sibling in the Osmond family of singers, has died at the age of 73.

31/12/2024

Jay-Z is opening yet another new front in his all-out attack on the Jane Doe accuser who alleges he sexually assaulted her with Sean Combs when she was a minor in September 2000.

The hip-hop mogul's lawyer filed new court paperwork saying he also plans to challenge the lawsuit on the grounds that Doe’s decades-old r**e claim simply doesn’t qualify for revival under the “lookback” window linked to New York City’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act (GMVA).

In his filing, lawyer Alex Spiro said the GMVA wasn’t enacted until Dec. 19, 2000, a full three months after the alleged r**e.

“[The GMVA] cannot apply retroactively to create a cause of action unavailable to plaintiff at the time in question,” Spiro wrote in his letter to the court, which was obtained by Rolling Stone.

“A contrary conclusion would violate both state and federal due process protections.”

The letter cites a prior ruling in which a fellow federal judge in the Southern District of New York tossed a sexual assault lawsuit filed by former child model Jeanne Bellino against Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.

Read the full story at Rolling Stone AU/NZ: https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jay-z-lawyer-jane-doe-r**e-claim-too-old-70668/

31/12/2024

Liam Payne didn’t “lose his balance” before falling from a hotel balcony -- he was trying to escape the building while in a drugged state, according to the judge handling his death investigation.

Judge Laura Bruniard has shared new information on what led to the One Direction singer’s death and updated charges against five people questioned in the case.

Despite a previous claim from the prosecutor that the One Direction singer fainted on the hotel balcony and fell, the judge declared that Payne — in a severely intoxicated state — was “trying to leave his room through the balcony” before his fall.

Read the full story at Rolling Stone AU/NZ: https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/liam-payne-died-escape-hotel-balcony-says-judge-70667/

30/12/2024

Tributes are flowing for former US President and prolific humanitarian Jimmy Carter, who has died at the age of 100.

The 39th president of the United States, died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia after receiving hospice care, his son James E. “Chip” Carter III confirmed.

Read more:

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter died Sunday at the age of 100.

29/12/2024

With her schedule now clear, it appears Hayley Williams is revving up to finally set out on that solo tour, though it’s unclear if the trek will focus on 'Petals for Armor' or new material.

“35 felt like tilling soil and throwing little seeds down. Waiting, waiting, waiting to see,” Williams added in her birthday post. “36 is exciting and a little scary, already. So much to hope for. I’m still in the dirt, ready for whatever might grow. Fruit?”

Read more:

Four years after Hayley Williams’ first-ever solo tour was canceled amid the Covid pandemic, she hinted that she might embark on the trek next year.

29/12/2024

After touting himself as “one of the most powerful, prolific, and influential users of social media in history,” Trump argued that his “14.7 million followers on TikTok with whom he actively communicates,” allow him to “evaluate TikTok’s importance as a unique medium for freedom of expression, including core political speech.”

“We’ll take a look at TikTok. You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok, because I won youth by 34 points,” Trump replied at a news conference when asked about the ban. “And there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with that.”

Read more:

Donald Trump, who signed an executive order in 2020 that threatened to ban the use of TikTok, urged the Supreme Court to let him "save" the platform.

28/12/2024

Fans of The Batman will have to wait even longer before Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight returns as the sequel to the 2022 movie has been pushed a year to 2027.

The Batman – Part II was originally scheduled to arrive in October 2025 before it was postponed to October 2026 earlier this year. Variety reports that the Matt Reeves-directed blockbuster has been delayed yet again, with Part II now rescheduled for release on October 1, 2027.

The sequel’s postponement was revealed via a release schedule shuffling by Warner Bros. that saw another Pattinson-starring movie, the sci-fi film Mickey 17, shift from April 2025 to March 2025, switching places with Ryan Coogler’s Sinners.

Read more at Rolling Stone AU/NZ: https://au.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/the-batman-part-ii-delayed-october-2027-70646/

27/12/2024

OG Maco, the rapper behind the 2014 hit “U Guessed It,” has died at the age of 32.

The rapper’s family confirmed his death in a statement. No cause of death was given, though Maco’s manager confirmed the rapper was hospitalized for an undisclosed reason earlier this month.

“His life was a testament to resilience, creativity, and boundless love. Through his music, passion, and unwavering spirit, he touched so many lives and left a lasting impact,” Maco’s family wrote.

Read more at Rolling Stone AU/NZ: https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/og-maco-dead-32-obit-70644/