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Bruce Springsteen’s “Tracks 2” is coming on June 27th.
The boxed set will be pretty heavy. It contains 7 unreleased albums that include 83 songs. It takes up 9 discs.
Holy moly.
And not on it: “Electric Nebraska,” which we won’t get until the “Deliver Us from Nowhere” movie is released, and “Only the Strong Survive 2.” And who knows what else?
“Tracks 2” will take a month to absorb for even the best Springsteen fans. That’s a lot of music!
Here’s the first single, “Rain in the River,” from the album, “Perfect World”
Overnight, Kanye West posted a few times to Twitter.
He offered a tracklist for a new album that might be called “Bully,” which may or may not exist.
The new tracklist is adorned with swastikas. The songs are called “WW3,” “Cosby,” “Free Diddy,” “Dirty Magazines,” “BIanca,” “Virgil Let Me Down,” “Heil Hitler,” “Hitler Ye and Jesus,” “Jared,” “Money and Fame,” and “Nitrous..
“Bianca” would be about his wife, Bianca Censori, who he said in another post left him. There’s a rumor she’s trying to get a divorce after being paraded around naked for about a year.
“Jared” refers to Donald Trump’s nephew, who made billions during the first administration and is now missing from the White House.
The Virgil in “Virgil” would be Virgil Abloh, the designer who died in 2021 at the age of 41 from a rare cancer. Recently, West has been ranting on social media that before his death Abloh abandoned him over the rapper’s spewing of antisemitic comments.
The latter is part of West’s continued paranoia. He’s got feuds going on his head that no one cares about. Explaining them is pointless.
If there is a new album, West would have to release it on his own. If it does sing the praises of Hitler and contain Nazi images, I would hope streaming platforms would refuse to carry it.
Broadway openings are starting to look like Hollywood galas.
Tonight (Thursday) comes George Clooney opening in “Good Night and Good Luck.” You can only imagine who we’ll see there. Maybe his ER pal Anthony Edwards, who just hit the carpet for “Glengarry Glen Ross.” (He’s like the nicest guy in the world.)
At “Glengarry,” there were dozens of names see link here. I should have added Jesse Eisenberg, who is doing an Oscar victory lap, and NY actor Frederick Weller, who starred in a “Glengarry” revival years ago.
All of them were perfectly nice, hugged each other, and showed a real camaraderie. Everyone stopped and got their picture taken. Except one.
While we were waiting, a lovely young woman appeared from the 47th St side and indicated to the theater publicist that she had a star ready to walk in.
“Only he’s not taking photos,” said the woman, who then went out into 47th St. to find the black SUV which bore her mysterious client. A few heads craned as the assistant walked to and fro in the street, in light rain, peering in blackened windows.
So who bigger than Lorne Michaels, Tony Goldwyn, Sarah Snook, and so on that they didn’t want to be seen? Why, it was…drum roll…
Chris Pine! The “Star Trek” and “Wonder Woman” star managed to slip out of the limo, up the escalator to the newly renovated Palace Theater and into his seats without being spotted. Alas, during intermission he was “made,” so to speak. He did not come to party later at Tao downtown.
Wait: back to Sarah Snook who used her day off from “The Picture of Dorian Gray” to come support her “Succession” brother Kieran Culkin in his second Broadway outing ever. These two “Succession” grads are very likely to get Tony Awards this June in their respective shows, which is really amazing — and deserved.
Snook is on stage at her show, 8 perfs a week (two on Weds, Sat) playing TWENTY SIX parts in countless costumes and make up. She talks for two hours straight, often rapidly, and runs around like it’s a marathon.
“Why aren’t you asleep right now?” I asked her. “How are you even moving?”
She looked very subtly glamorous in black and white, by the way, fresh as a daisy. Her husband said, “I asked her that, too!” Sarah replied: “You just do the job.” Those Brits and their work ethic!
PS Here’s our Regina Weinreich’s portrait of the “Succession” siblings.
For some reason, Will Smith thought everyone wanted a new rap album from him.
It turns out, they did not.
Smith’s “Based on a True Story,” is dead on arrival, DOA.
Currently, number 11 on iTunes, “Based on a True Story” is number 2 of all rap albums. There’s no single on the charts and nothing on the radio. There’s no vinyl available.
Hitsdailydouble.com predicts “Based on a True Story” won’t make the top 20 albums of the week when the counting happens on Friday.
The album has terrible reviews, too. Critics have complained that all the fun of Smith’s “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and his songs like “Summertime,” and “Get Jiggy Wit It” has been replaced by anger. In the opening number, Smith defends his famous Oscar slap of 2022 (see: Oscars, Chris Rock) which landed him a 10 year suspension from the Motion Picture Academy.
Apparently, “Parents Don’t Understand,” after all, and kids don’t care what a many times-over millionaire famous for public violence and being a cuck has to say about anything. Maybe if he’d taken the high road it would have helped.
There’s also a lot of foul language, which is okay for younger or at least full time rappers. But from the opening track, the “f” and “n” words are heard throughout the lyrics. Will Smith is 56 years old. His fans would have been looking for clever nostalgia, not being hit in the face.
“Based on a True Story” is also a vanity project, paid for by Smith and then distributed by small, indie label Slang Records. Luckily, he has enough money to underwrite the project, including videos. None of them for this album — the average number of views per video on YouTube for each one is about 50,000.
No show I can think of recently has had such a ratings rollercoaster as “The White Lotus.”
The HBO dramedy goes up and down like the ponies on the carousel (sorry Joni Mitchell).
Two weeks ago the big incest episode actually fell from the previous week.
This past Sunday, viewers probably thought the incest would be addressed. It wasn’t, but the numbers rose 28% nonetheless. Episode 7, in which not a lot happened, jumped to 956,000– the highest so far.
This coming Sunday will wrap up Season 3 with a 90 minute finale — the equivalent of one and a half episodes. We assume we’ll discover who is floating in the water, who did the deed, and how everything else is resolved.
My guess: somehow Timothy’s lawyer gets him off and the Ratliffs go home happy, wealthy, and white. Piper stays behind in Thailand. There’s some speculation that Timothy remains in Thailand, like Russell Simmons, but that wouldn’t protect Victoria from the law — or humiliation — at home.
Will the end be satisfying? Probably not, but good news — there will be no tariffs!
There’s been a lot of talk in the last 24 hours about the Michael Jackson biopic, “Michael.”
Both Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro and TheInsneider’s Jeff Sneider have been on the track of this movie since Lionsgate made no mention of the potential blockbuster at CinemaCon this week.
Now I can confirm exclusively that “Michael” will be split into 2 two hour films, and they will be released in 2026. There will not be a release in 2025.
My sources in the Michael Jackson world are very excited about these developments because the King of Pop, they say, deserves more attention than any other music star.
Given that the Beatles will get four movies in 2028, a Michael two-parter makes sense. I’m hearing this will be a la “Wicked,” although the two parts will occur in the same calendar year. That will make it easier in awards season.
This gives Sony Music enough time to organize soundtracks and tie-ins, and to get everyone ready for Michael’s nephew, Jafaar, who plays his uncle in the movie, up to speed in the public eye. Sources who’ve seen footage of Jafaar can’t stop raving about his performance.
Who’s not talking? The Michael Jackson Estate. They’re playing everything close to the vest considering they’re managing the “MJ” Broadway musical, a smash all over the world (and separate from the movie). After the live show and the movie, what can they do next? How about an opera? It would make sense!
PS Michael Jackson sales and airplay are already booming in the first quarter of 2025.
Oscar winner Mikey Madison and country star Morgan Wallen were not a successful combo for “SNL” ratings this past weekend.
Total viewers came in at 4.27 million, just a whisper down from Shane Gillis and Tate McRae’s outing two weeks earlier.
It wasn’t the lowest episode this season. That distinction still belongs to Paul Mescal and Shaboozey back in December, which was 3.87 million.
I’m not surprised about Madison. “Anora” won Best Picture but made no money at the box office. Madison wasn’t “hot” despite her win. It was old news already.
Wallen put on two lackluster performances, then skipped out the end causing a scandal. Country music is not for the “SNL” audience anyway.
This week should be BIG. Jack Black is the host, he’s incredibly funny and popular.
Elton John and Brandi Carlile are the musical guests. They have an album releasing on Friday. Who’s bigger than Sir Elton? I wish he’d sing a solo song from the new album, called “When This Old World is Done with Me.” The song is so amazing and emotional he’d get a standing ovation.
Anyway, no more country music, Lorne. “SNL” has an urban, sophisticated audience. I doubt anyone in the studio owns a Morgan Wallen album. And now he’s back “in God’s country,” where he belongs.
The massive box set called “The Lost Albums” seems to be pulling into the station on Thursday night. An announcement is set for earlier in the day. There’s already a web page set up for it at www.lostalbums.net.
“Tracks 2” will cover all unreleased material between 1983 and 2018 including an album called “Electric Nebraska,” an electric version of the great “Nebraska.” This would make sense since a movie is being filmed now starring Jeremy Allen White called “Deliver Me from Nowhere” about the making of “Nebraska.” There’s also a gospel album, as some have indicated.
If “Tracks 2” stops in 2018 then it won’t include the second volume of R&B covers called “Only the Strong Survive 2.” The first volume, in 2023, was a big hit and yielded a Grammy nomination.
“Tracks,” dropped in 1998, has been a staple of Springsteen’s catalog for almost 3 decades. It included one of my personal favorites, “Thundercrack.”
Tomorrow will be a busy night as Elton John is dropping his new album with Brandi Carlile, called “Who Believes In Angels.” I’m listening to it now, and it’s a killer.
Turn up the speakers, kids! It’s going to be a rock and roll weekend!
Val Kilmer has died at age 65 from pneumonia after his long, valiant battle with cancer. The beloved star was 65 years old.
Kilmer had a long, successful career before his fight with throat cancer sidelined him. He should have had an Oscar nomination for playing Jim Morrison in “The Doors,” played Batman in “Batman Forever,” and was a break out in “Top Gun.” Three years ago, he returned for one last appearance “Top Gun: Maverick.”doc
His other roles included a star turn in “Tombstone,” in 1993 as Doc Holliday, Michael Mann’s classic “Heat,” and Ron Howard’s “Willow.”
In 2016, I ran into him at a fancy Hollywood party where he told me all about his throat cancer, losing his voice box, and how Cher — a former girlfriend– had taken such good care of him. It was heartbreaking. But he had reinvented himself as an artist, and a poet, and eventually was the subject of a documentary about how his life. (The poet part was lovely, as his second cousin, twice removed, was the famed poet Alfred Joyce Kilmer, author of “Trees.”)
The fact that he soldiered on for more than a decade living in this condition was remarkable.
Condolences to his family and friends. Val Kilmer was handed a rotten deal and turned lemons into lemonade.
Justin Bieber’s latest public outing has turned up in paparazzi photos online.
What’s indicated from the pictures is that Bieber needs an urgent visit to a urologist, and maybe a tailor, too.
Bieber is shown in every picture grasping his baggy shorts in the area of his penis. This would suggest an urgency to urinate not common in males of his age (30).
He could also be suffering from wearing clothes so big that they’re falling down without a belt. He cure this himself by either buying a piece of leather or rope to hold the shorts up. Or he could see a tailor who could take in the shorts so they fit his hips.
If the former choice is sensible, a urologist might recommend Flomax, so that those frequent urges would subside.
Bieber’s wife, Hailey, could go with him to the doctor.
Bieber had a big hit a couple of years ago called “Peaches.” Maybe he’s eating too many, which could also cause stomach trouble.
