Future, Dungeon Family Reunion honoring Rico Wade, The Roots with Mary J. Blige, Ludacris & Friends and Doechii are the performers and celebrations headlining 2025’s cross-generational lineup for ONE Musicfest (OMF). Now in its 16^th year, the Black-owned, multi-stage event — presented by P&G and co-produced by Live Nation Urban — will return to Atlanta’s Piedmont Park on Oct. 25-26.

Both Blige and Doechii will be making their OMF debuts, while The Roots will mark the group’s return after a decade. Wade, who died in 2024, was a founding member of production group Organized Noize and — alongside Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown — fostered the careers of OutKast, Goodie Mob and Future. Fellow Atlantan Ludacris, accompanied by special guests and surprise performances, will be celebrating the 25^th anniversary of his debut album for Def Jam, Back for the First Time.

In addition to the aforementioned artists, OMF’s 2025 roster of performers includes Clipse, Jazmine Sullivan, Kehlani, Leon Thomas, Ari Lennox, Busta Rhymes, Wale, Chief Keef, Jagged Edge and FLO. The festival’s full lineup as well as ticketing information can be found here.

In a release announcing this year’s event, ONE Musicfest founder Jason “J” Carter said, “Atlanta is our home, and this year we’re celebrating it in the biggest way possible — with Future, Ludacris and a historic Dungeon Family Reunion honoring the life and legacy of Rico Wade, a true giant in hip-hop. ONE Musicfest has always been about uniting legends, elevating new voices and creating unforgettable cultural moments. While we’re paying tribute to Atlanta’s legacy, this year’s lineup reflects the richness and diversity of Black music and culture from across the globe.”

When Mary McCoy, at age 87, delivered her nine-minute acceptance speech at the Country Radio Hall of Fame induction on July 21, she made it to the stage through a level of resilience and determination that she never shared with the audience.

She’s been on the radio for 74 years — that’s a feat in itself — but McCoy continues in that role despite breaking her neck in 2013. For the last dozen years, she’s moved through life with metal holding her spine together awkwardly, restricting her mobility and her comfort. It has not restricted her commitment.

Even when the accident and the surgery were fresh, McCoy refused to take any substantial time off from her air shift, where she’s been teamed with Larry Galla for more than three decades.

“I was in a halo for three months,” she recalled in a one-hour interview the day before her induction. “But that didn’t stop me. I was in a hospital bed in my home but I called Larry. I said, ‘Larry, I’m going on the air with you.’ He said, ‘Mary, you can’t do it.’ I said, ‘Yes, I can.’ I looked like Frankenstein. I took my telephone, I worked it down between those bars [on the halo], and every morning I was on the air.”

The hall of fame evening was a night to recognize longevity. It marked the 50th anniversary of the hall, and the class included iHeartRadio national country format coordinator Gregg Swedberg, who’s been with KEEY Minneapolis for 34 years; The Original Country Gold host Rowdy Yates, currently marking 40 years in broadcasting; and WOKQ Dover-Portsmouth, N.H., brand manager/personality Ginny Rogers Brophey, whose history includes over two decades in the same office as her husband, 2014 Hall of Fame inductee Mike Brophey, in Boston.

“People wonder, ‘How did you guys work together at the same station for 25 years?’ ” Ginny noted during her acceptance speech. “I honestly don’t know. I always say he was the boss at work but I was the boss at home, and that’s how we balanced it.”

Also inducted were Big D & Bubba hosts Derek Haskins and Sean Powell and former iHeartMedia executive vp of programming Clay Hunnicutt, bringing the total number of inductees to 207. Frontline Recordings/BMG Americas president Jon Loba also received the President’s Award.

Enhancing the evening’s longevity theme, WSM-AM Nashville personality and Grand Ole Opry announcer Bill Cody served as host, even as the Opry celebrates 100 years on the air.

Like the Opry, McCoy represents a connection to a bygone era in radio. When she made her first appearance, at age 12 on KCMO Conroe, Texas, it wasn’t as a DJ. She sang live, and she was so disheartened by her own performance that she cried when it aired. But a local business, the Brown Sinclair Service Station, came on board as a sponsor and she ended up with a 15-minute regular time slot.

McCoy sensed that radio was her life’s calling, and her life definitely changed because of it. The family had lived for four years in a tent, and she felt the sting of social disapproval from her peers.

“I was in the fifth grade and a lot of them looked down on me because they knew where we lived,” she told Billboard.

Alongside her radio career, she pursued a recording track, working with producer Huey Meaux (Freddy Fender, B.J. Thomas) and sharing stages with George Jones and Elvis Presley. Meaux’s production of “Deep Elem Blues,” featuring her as the lead singer for The Cyclones, became a regional hit.

“That record got more play,” she says. “We’d be driving along and switching from KILT. I’d hear the beginning of it, move to another station and hear the ending of it on that station. They had to tie me down in the back seat of the car that day because I was so excited.”

While the artist gig proceeded, the radio career stuck, in part because she had such an appreciation for the audience. Her routine started with a recitation of the local birthdays, and she gave away a birthday cake on a daily basis.

“People still come and tell me, ‘Mary, you gave me a birthday cake,’ ” she says.

Even today, she often signs off from her two-hour, classic-country shift by thanking the audience for listening: “Without you, there’s no us.”

McCoy was so devoted to that audience, and to the station itself, that she declined several opportunities to leave Conroe for bigger markets. She even turned down an offer from a crosstown station because she was so loyal to KMCO. So that rival owner, former classmate Rigby Owen, bought KMCO and changed the call letters to KIKR.

She joined KVST in 1992, working both on-air and in a sales capacity, which further bonded her to the local community. In the process, she became a Conroe legend — musical trends, TV shows and fashion styles might come and go, but Mary McCoy was always there.

“She’s the strongest person I know,” Galla said via video in her Hall of Fame induction. “She’s beautiful inside and out.”

As the years started piling up on her résumé, McCoy began to get recognized for her steadfast presence. She joined the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2010 and the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2024. In December, the town of Conroe installed a bronze bust of McCoy at Founders Plaza, a city park that’s a short walk from the place where her career in radio started. Guinness World Records certified her as the longest-running female host in radio history. She’s contemplating how, and when, her run might end, though radio has been such a foundational part of her existence that she can’t fully grasp her world without it.

“It’s been a journey, and I know that the time has come that [I may] have to [stop],” she says. “But it’s going to be hard to walk away, because that’s been my life.” 

Some musical admirers who can’t get enough of Bad Company are living out a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy as part of a new tribute album.

Can’t Get Enough: A Tribute to Bad Company comes out Oct. 24 on Primary Wave Music, just two weeks before the group’s Nov. 8 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles. The first taste is the Struts’ version of Bad Company’s top 20 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy,” for which the group has also uploaded a video of its studio recording session. HARDY, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, Charley Crockett and Dirty Honey also take a whack at some of the group’s biggest hits, while the Pretty Reckless contribute a version of Bad Company predecessor Free’s “All Right Now.”

The 10-track set also features several collaborations with Bad Company’s surviving members: frontman Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke join Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Phil Collen on a rendition of “Seagull” from 1974’s self-titled debut album; Rodgers teams with Halestorm on 1975’s “Shooting Star”; and Rodgers, with Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor, are part of Blackberry Smoke’s take on the title track to 1976’s Run With the Pack.

“It has been very interesting listening to other musicians interpret our songs,” says Rodgers, who co-founded Bad Company with Free partner Kirke, late Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell during 1973 in London. “I spent time listening and found myself smiling a lot. I am quietly impressed that these artists wanted to pay tribute to Bad Company. We are thankful that everyone played from every inch of their hearts on this release. You can hear it.”

“It’s an honor to have these artists perform our songs,” Kirke adds. “It means that the music has endured and has transcended multiple generations. It’s a salute to the songwriting.”

Can’t Get Enough was the brainchild of Primary Wave, which aligned with Bad Company in 2022, and was executive produced by the company’s Robert Dippold and Adam Lowenberg, along with colleague and Bad Company fan Gary Spivack. The team worked for more than 10 months recruiting and assembling the tracks from the individual acts. Dippold, partner and president of digital strategy, says the tribute album idea surfaced during Primary Wave’s earliest days with the band.

“Putting together this tribute album to Bad Company has truly been a labor of love,” Dippold explains. “We came up with the idea for a proper tribute album a couple of years ago after partnering with Paul Rodgers, when we realized that there had never been a covers or tribute album dedicated to his incredible band and song catalog. 

“Bad Company and Free have influenced countless musicians and bands over the decades, both as bands and through the individual impact of their members. We hope this release introduces Bad Company to a new generation of music lovers while honoring their loyal fanbase. This is just one of many projects we’re working on with Paul and his team as we continue to develop creative marketing initiatives around his catalog and brand, finding new ways to bring greater awareness to his songs and further showcase the depth of this incredible body of work.”

Rodgers says that he was particularly impressed by Primary Wave’s approach, “which was not to go to our rock ‘n’ roll comrades to record the songs, but rather draw from an eclectic group of musicians from varied brands of music. Mick and I wondered how the songs would sound, and what application would be given to them.” Rodgers says Ralphs heard the Struts track before he passed away on June 23 and pronounced it “‘fabulous.’ We both felt that it is great when musicians feel passionate enough about a song to lend their creative spirit to it and record it.” He also credits his wife, Cynthia, with the idea of having him and Kirke being part of some of the songs.

“I really wasn’t sure what her vision was until we were in the studio. The tracks were so complete within themselves. I did not want to put myself in the mix too much and interfere with the groove already created, so I kept my participation to a limit and added just a bit, which was her plan. It was a good creative exercise for me.”

Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale says Bad Company is a longtime influence and calls Rodgers in particular “the ultimate rock voice. It was specifically his insertion of soul into the rock sound that was highly influential to me…. It’s the honor of a lifetime that Paul joined us on (‘Shooting Star’). I grew up listening to this song; it’s tattooed on my heart and soul, so when we found out it was an option, we jumped on it…. We did it separately but just to have our voices intertwined on this epic song is a dream come true.”

Kirke says that in joining Elliott and Collen, “it was cool to perform on ‘Seagull.’ I never saw it as a song near drums before, but once I got over that, it was a breeze.” Elliott seconds the notion, explaining that, “I’ve loved Bad Company since the very beginning, a phenomenal combination of two of my favorite bands, Free and Mott the Hoople…what a privilege it is for myself and Phil to cover one of my favorite Bad Company songs, with Paul and Simon.”

Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr says many key Bad Company songs were already selected when his band signed on, but when he heard “Run With the Pack” was available, “I said, ‘That’s It!’ It’s just such a perfectly written song; it’s economical, and it’s got that swagger. They start laying down that runka-runka groove, that’s where my heart lives. That’s the groove Blackberry Smoke lives in. We went into the studio and cut it in an afternoon. Then I got a question about three days after we sent the mix, ‘Is it OK with you if Paul sings on it?’ I said, ‘I think you know the answer to that question — always yes.’”

HARDY, who opens the album with “Ready For Love,” says that Bad Company comes from “a short list of bands my dad played for me as a young boy that shaped my love for rock ‘n’ roll. It’s a very cool and surreal moment to be part of this project.”

Kirke calls Free’s “All Right Now” a “relevant and welcome inclusion. (It) kind of started the whole ball rolling, didn’t it?” Rodgers, who’s also working on a memoir, adds that the song “marked the beginning of this musical life for Simon and I. I started to add it into our Bad Company set about the last five years that Bad Company toured, and it became an integral part of our set and our story. That song never disappoints…it still has a way of engaging people and lifting you up.”

Primary Wave is looking forward to more Bad Company-related initiatives riding the momentum of their Rock Hall induction. “(Can’t Get Enough) is just one of many projects we’re working on with Paul and his team as we continue to develop creative marketing initiatives around his catalog and brand,” Dippold says, “finding new ways to bring greater awareness to his songs and further showcase the depth of his incredible work.”

Can’t Get Enough will be available in a variety of formats, including limited edition silver vinyl, CD and digital download. Information on the various packages and updates can be found via BadCompany.com.

The track list for Can’t Get Enough:

“Ready For Love,” HARDY
“Shooting Star,” Halestorm featuring Paul Rodgers
“Feel Like Makin’ Love,” Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators
“Run with the Pack,” Blackberry Smoke featuring Paul Rodgers and Brann Dailor
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy,” The Struts
“Bad Company,” Charley Crockett
“Rock Steady,” Dirty Honey
“Burnin’ Sky,” Black Stone Cherry
“Seagull,” Joe Elliott and Phil Collen featuring Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke
“All Right Now,” The Pretty Reckless

In the midst of a growing calls from his own base to release more information about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, President Trump sought to change the subject over the weekend by once again making claims about Beyoncé‘s appearance at a rally for former Vice President Kamala Harris.

In a lengthy post on his social network, Trump falsely claimed that Beyoncé broke campaign finance laws by allegedly taking home an $11 million check for her endorsement of his democratic presidential rival Harris at her Oct. 2024 rally in Houston. But, as reported by CNN, there is “simply no basis” for the claim that Queen Bey received a multi-million payment from the Harris campaign.

In fact, CNN reported that the only official payment from Harris to the singer was a $165,000 check from the campaign to Beyoncé’s production company, which the campaign listed as a “campaign event production” expense, with a Harris campaign spokesperson telling Deadline last year that due to campaign finance laws, they didn’t pay any celebrity endorsers, but were legally required to cover the costs of their appearances.

The claims that Beyoncé was paid millions of dollars to back Harris began to spread on social media among Trump supporters last year, according to CNN, with a number of fact-checking sites finding no evidence to back it up. When asked for comment, a Harris spokesperson referred to a November Instagram post from Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, in which she wrote, “The lie is that Beyonce was paid 10 million dollars to speak at a rally in Houston for Vice President Kamala Harris. When In Fact : Beyonce did not receive a penny for speaking at a Presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harrris’s Rally in Houston. In fact she actually paid for her own flights for her and her team, and total Glam . They are not only lying and disrespecting Beyonce’s name but they are trying to further discredit the power of our vice president! When does the lies and rumors stop?”

In addition to the appearance, Beyoncé gave Harris clearance to use her 2016 song “Freedom” as the democratic nominee’s official campaign song.

“I’m looking at the large amount of money owed by the Democrats after the presidential election and the fact that they admit to paying, probably illegally, $11 million dollars to singer Beyoncé for an ENDORSEMENT (she never sang, not one note…),” Trump claimed in the most recent Truth Social post, in which he also made unsupported allegations that Oprah Winfrey and civil rights activist Al Sharpton were paid to appear with Harris.

The weekend salvo of claims came two months after Trump’s previous warning that he intended to launch a “major investigation” into his claims that Beyoncé, U2 singer Bono, Bruce Springsteen and Winfrey made what he deemed “major and illegal campaign contribution[s]” to Harris. To date Trump has not provided any evidence of such payments and reps for Springsteen, Bono and Beyoncé have not commented on the allegations. In addition, so far, no news of an such official investigation has surfaced.

A November New York Times investigation found that the celebrity-related expenses at Harris’ rallies went to pay for support staff and production costs, not to the stars themselves. In addition, CNN reported that the White House did not respond to its request for any evidence of a Democratic admission of the claimed $11 million payment. The network also noted that Trump falsely claimed that it is “TOTALLY ILLEGAL” to pay for political endorsements, when, in fact, there is no federal law prohibiting endorsement payments.

The missive came just days after Trump claimed that former President Barack Obama committed “criminal acts,” baselessly accusing the two-term Democrat of “treason” in investigating Russia’s election interference in 2016. The barrage of unsubstantiated claims have coincided with the White House’s weekslong scramble to contain the fall-out from their flip-flop on the release of files related to convicted sex trafficker Epstein after news broke last week that Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump in May that his name appeared in the Epstein files.

Ed Sheeran is bringing his Loop Tour to Australia and New Zealand in early 2026 — and due to overwhelming demand, he’s now added additional shows in Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Auckland.

The stadium tour kicks off Jan. 16 at Auckland’s Go Media Stadium and will continue through New Zealand before heading to Australia for shows in every major capital city. The newly announced concerts include a second date at Perth’s Optus Stadium, plus third shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, bringing the total number of dates to 15 across both countries.

Tickets for all dates go on sale Tuesday, July 29 at staggered times, while Frontier Touring members can access a 24-hour pre-sale beginning Monday, July 28.

The Loop Tour will support Sheeran’s next studio album, Play, set to be released Sept. 12 via Warner Music. Described as “an explorative, technicolour pop album that captures the fun, chaos, and heart of an artist reinvigorated by life and travel,” the project includes singles “Azizam,” “Sapphire,” and “Old Phone.” The album marks Sheeran’s first major release since Autumn Variations in 2023.

Already one of the most successful touring acts in Australian history, Sheeran has sold more than 2.5 million tickets across Australia and New Zealand to date. His 2023 +–=÷× (Mathematics) Tour broke records across multiple cities, including the highest single-day ticket sales in Sydney history.

The new dates once again see Sheeran performing in massive stadium venues, including Sydney’s Accor Stadium, Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, and Adelaide Oval. All shows are licensed all ages, though children aged 14 and under must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

The tour is presented by Frontier Touring and MG Live, with full ticketing information and VIP options available at frontiertouring.com/edsheeran.

Ed Sheeran 2026 Australia & New Zealand Tour Dates

Jan. 16 – Go Media Stadium, Auckland, NZ

Jan. 17 – Go Media Stadium, Auckland, NZ

Jan. 21 – Sky Stadium, Wellington, NZ

Jan. 24 – Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch, NZ

Jan. 31 – Optus Stadium, Perth, WA

Feb. 1 – Optus Stadium, Perth, WA (New show)

Feb. 13 – Accor Stadium, Sydney, NSW

Feb. 14 – Accor Stadium, Sydney, NSW

Feb. 15 – Accor Stadium, Sydney, NSW (New show)

Feb. 20 – Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD

Feb. 21 – Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD

Feb. 22 – Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD (New show)

Feb. 26 – Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, VIC

Feb. 27 – Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, VIC

Feb. 28 – Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, VIC (New show)

Mar. 5 – Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, SA