Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and wife Lauren Sánchez’s elaborate June 27 Venice wedding drew hordes of paparazzi, lookie loos and an A++ guest list that included Oprah, Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Usher, a clutch of Kardashians, Orlando Bloom, Sydney Sweeney, Jerry Seinfeld and many more.

But you know who wasn’t there? Mariah Carey.

So, when MC was asked about the lavish, reportedly $50 million dollar affair recently by a photographer, she gave the most Mariah answer possible. “What did you think about Jeff Bezos’ wedding?,” the pap asked Carey as she strutted down the street in an all-black ensemble topped by designer black sunglasses.

“I wasn’t there,” she responded casually.

“Were you not invited, or what?” he shot back.

“Oh, don’t turn this into that,” Carey said with a sly smile.

It wasn’t the first time Carey, 56, said a major event, or person, was not on her radar. In one of her most iconic not knowing moments back in 2003, the singer was asked about Jennifer Lopez, she quipped, “I don’t know her.” While it seemed like a diss at the time, in 2016, she explained to Andy Cohen that the offhand comment was “so long ago” she couldn’t believe people were still talking about it, explaining that she, simply, is “forgetful” and did not remember them casually being introduced at some point in time.

One reason Carey may not have jetted over to the Bezos wedding is that she recently confirmed that she’s finished her upcoming 16th studio album. Speaking to Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden at the new Apple Music Studios in Culver City, CA earlier this month, Carey — who earned her 50th Billboard Hot 100 hit in June with new single “Type Dangerous” —  said there will be 11, or 12, songs on the LP and that it definitely has some classic “Mariah ballads,” and that a second, “summery,” single is coming soon.

Bring Me The Horizon are putting a new spin on their discography. The Sheffield rockers announced that Lo-files, an album of lo-fi reimaginings of their biggest hits, will be released Friday (July 11).

The project, which features 23 retooled tracks, sees the band teaming up with producers from the lo-fi scene to create atmospheric versions of their songs designed for “chilling, focus, sleeping, zoning out… whatever u like,” the band shared on social media.

They added that they had “collaborated with producers we love from the lofi scene to launch a new project where we’ve reworked BMTH songs and created lofi versions”.

The surprise release was first teased on X (formerly Twitter) on July 8, with the band confirming details the following day via Instagram, posting ambient snippets alongside behind-the-scenes photos from gigs and rehearsal spaces. Fans can pre-save the album now.

The collection arrives just over a year after BMTH’s acclaimed seventh studio album, Post Human: Nex Gen (2024). The album debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. Albums Chart and earned the group nominations at the 2025 BRIT Awards, including British Group and Best Rock/Alternative Act.

In 2024, the band scored a record-breaking fifth No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart when “Kool-Aid” debuted atop the Jan. 20-dated survey. The track arrived with 2.4 million official U.S. streams and 2,000 downloads sold between Jan. 5-11, according to Luminate, marking the band’s first release following the departure of longtime keyboardist Jordan Fish.

With five chart-toppers, the Sheffield rockers pulled ahead of Falling in Reverse for the most No. 1s in the chart’s history, which began in 2020. “Kool-Aid” also earned the group its eighth leader on Hard Rock Digital Song Sales and charted across Hot Alternative Songs, Hot Rock Songs, and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, further cementing their dominance in the genre.

The announcement comes amid a packed schedule for the band. BMTH are set to headline Reading & Leeds 2025 next month and recently announced a North American arena tour for autumn.

Bring Me The Horizon’s Lo-files drops globally on July 11. Pre-save the album here.

Record producer and songwriter Benny Blanco opened up about his personal life, career, and mental health in a candid new interview on Jake Shane’s hit podcast Therapuss.

The episode, released this week across YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts, sees Blanco reflecting on his relationship with fiancée Selena Gomez, sharing heartfelt stories about his struggles with OCD, and reminiscing about working with a teenage Billie Eilish at the start of her career.

Blanco, who proposed to Gomez in late 2024, admitted that wedding planning hasn’t officially begun yet. “Honestly, I really want to take a little break. I’ve been working so much,” he told Shane.

“I just want to lay in bed and forget what day it is because we’ve been in bed just watching stuff. Not usually, but with Selena, I can do it all day. She makes me want to hang out and cuddle, just watch things, eat food, and have the best time ever.”

He added that the couple hopes to sit down this summer and start mapping out their big day. “That wedding is going to be lit,” Shane teased, with Blanco laughing: “It’ll be chill.”

The conversation also delved into Blanco’s lifelong experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The multi-platinum hitmaker spoke openly about the rituals he used to perform as a child to stave off intrusive thoughts. “When I was a kid, I used to have this thing where I had to go ‘mmph.’ If I didn’t do it, I thought my parents were going to die,” he revealed. “Now I have little things where I touch parts of my face or make a fake cough sound—literally hundreds of times a day. It’s involuntary.”

Despite the challenges, Blanco has learned to manage the compulsions that were disruptive to others. “I got rid of all the things that are really annoying to another person. I still do little things like making sure everything in my shower is facing forward. But that’s insane regardless of OCD,” he joked.

Fans were particularly intrigued when Blanco connected Wizards of Waverly Place—the Disney Channel series that made Gomez a household name—to Billie Eilish’s breakthrough hit “Bad Guy.”

“I know the theme song [of Wizards] because it inspired ‘Bad Guy,’” Blanco said. “I worked with Billie when she was legit like 14 years old.” He explained how he and FINNEAS were introduced through a mutual lawyer before Eilish had even played a live show. “They didn’t need my help at all. They always do everything just the two of them, and it’s f—–g incredible.”

Blanco’s appearance on Therapuss joins an impressive roster of guests, including Tate McRae, Renee Rapp, Charli XCX, Joe Jonas, and Lorde.

@octopusslover8

THERAPUSS SESSION 5 WITH RENEÉ RAPP IS OUT NOW 🐙

♬ original sound – Jake Shane

Universal Music Group’s chief digital officer, Michael Nash, took the stage at the United Nations’ AI for Good summit in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday (July 8) to discuss how the music industry — and UMG more specifically — is approaching generative AI.

“Universal’s strategy on AI is based on a simple philosophy: Center the conversation on artists, defend their rights and interests, and from that foundation, forge new commercial and creative opportunities,” Nash said.

Also during his talk, Nash stressed the position that “copyright is not the enemy of innovation” and that “market-based solutions are the answer” to the challenges AI poses to intellectual property-based industries like music. “If you don’t claim a seat at the dinner table, you might wind up on the menu,” he warned.

Nash’s comments at the summit come just weeks after it was reported that UMG — along with fellow major music companies Warner Music Group and Sony Music — were in talks with top AI music firms Suno and Udio to create an AI music licensing structure. Should that happen, it’s expected that it would settle the majors’ current blockbuster lawsuit against the AI companies. In that lawsuit, filed in June 2024, the majors alleged that Suno and Udio were engaged in the copyright infringement of their sound recordings on “an almost unimaginable scale.”

Read a transcript of Nash’s keynote speech below:

Good evening. Thanks for that kind intro, Don. I’m Michael Nash, the Chief Digital Officer of Universal Music, where I’ve led digital strategy for the past decade.

It’s an honor to have this opportunity to highlight why music matters greatly to this dialog about “AI for Good.”

To better understand music’s importance to this conversation… Let’s start with the importance of music.

You will not be surprised to hear an executive from Universal Music say, as a starting point, “Music is Universal.”

Music engages a massive global audience.

It’s the soundtrack of life on this planet.

About half the world’s population is actively engaged.

In fact, music is the most popular form of entertainment in dozens of developed countries, where up to 90% of adults listen to music on a monthly basis…

…With internet-enabled fans spending over 20 hours a week on average listening to music.

Even more important than these engagement stats…

Music drives culture worldwide. As it has for centuries.

Comprehensive scientific research definitively concludes that music is integral to every society ever studied and pervades social life the world over…

Proving out the immortal words of Longfellow:

“Music is the universal language of humankind.”

But music is not just a universal language…

It is a universal force for good…bringing connection, expression, communion and enrichment to lives in every corner of the world.

Beyond music’s fundamental role in culture…We are gaining a better understanding of how music promotes health and wellbeing.

Neuroscientific revelations have established how music significantly influences cognitive, emotional and physical functions of the brain. Backed by this growing body of research, music is now being deployed in advanced therapeutic and breakthrough medical applications.

This builds on what we’ve always known: that music is a powerful force for good in the minds, hearts and lives of people everywhere.

With this understanding of music’s greater purpose, let’s move into the conversation about technological disruption.

For well over a century, since the advent of sound reproduction and radio, music has been situated on the cutting edge of tech transformation…

Just one of many examples—this one quite relevant to the implications of AI—Peter Gabriel’s pioneering incorporation of digital synthesizers in the 1980s… (Play)

As the next major milestone in this journey of technological disruption and transformation, we believe AI can be instrumental to the future of music.

However, it’s critical to emphasize that AI will realize its potential to transform the future of music through the voices and visions of artists…

Yes, the scope of technological disruption may be unprecedented with AI, but that doesn’t change a fundamental truth:

It’s artists who’ve always shaped global culture. (Mosaic Transition Plays)

And that’s why Universal’s strategy on AI is based on a simple philosophy: Center the conversation on artists…

…defend their rights and interests….

…and from that foundation, forge new commercial and creative opportunities.

To maximize creative collaboration with technology, you must start from a foundation built on copyright and associated rights.

Of course it’s essential that we energetically defend our artists’ interests. You can’t forge new business models with “non-rights.” If you don’t claim a seat at the dinner table, you might wind up on the menu.

Working from our philosophy, we believe that market-based solutions are the answer.

We have enabled numerous entrepreneurs…and are working with a wide range of major tech platforms…in announced partnerships and with significant licensing deals in the works.

The anti-copyright premise of some AI industry commentators is deeply flawed.

Copyright is not the enemy of innovation.

Quite the opposite: Media/Tech convergence predicated on respect for copyright has produced a multi-trillion-euro economy….

…And that started with Apple: marrying iPod with iTunes in 2003 as a critical early step, embracing licensed music, to create the first trillion-dollar company.

Jobs wrote the blueprint. Now Google, Amazon, Meta and others are following in various ways with their own music and content strategies. Tech collaboration with the creative community, respecting the value of artists’ work and harnessing their innovation, has produced enormous cultural and economic benefit.

Lessons learned in the first quarter of this century are why we believe the future of AI Music will be realized by unlocking new creative collaborations.

The future of AI music will not be the regurgitation of derivative knock offs of artists’ music to cannibalize their current marketplace. Who wants that? It will be activated by putting new tools in the hands of artists so they can expand the market and create new experiences for their fans in partnership with technologists. This is how AI will promote innovation and advance culture.

Let’s look at some examples of these collaborations and how they’re being fostered.

An important foundation in successful collaboration is being promoted by creative community alliances…and Universal has taken a very active role.

Just one of many examples: We helped launch the Human Artistry Campaign and articulate its principles. This global initiative was formed in 2023 to protect creators’ rights in the age of AI and now has more than 170 supporting organizations from over 40 countries.

We’re backing many such industry and creative community initiatives you see referenced here.

On the business development front, Universal is forging the future of AI Music with leading innovators.

To highlight just a few of our active partnerships…

• Soundlabs, Hooky and Supertone are each employing “voice clone” AI technology enabling artists to perform in multiple languages so their audiences can hear them singing in the fans’ native tongues for the first time.

• KLAY Vision is developing exciting new models leveraging Generative AI for hyper personalization and deeper fan engagement.

• ProRata is making important output attribution advancements to enable new Gen AI business models.

Let’s look at some exemplary artist projects.

We were thrilled to release “Now And Then,” the last song from The Beatles – written and sung by John Lennon almost 50 years ago. Using next generation AI source separation technology, Lennon’s voice was excavated from a cassette recording that had been completely unusable for decades, waiting for this moment in the evolution of AI to arrive.

In February of this year, “Now and Then” won the Grammy for “Best Rock Performance,” the first time any recording utilizing AI technology has been so honored in a major category.

We recently joined forces with Apple to introduce a new category called “Sound Therapy” powered by a team of scientists, engineers and producers at Sollos, Universal’s music health division.

This audio wellness innovation employs our own ethically developed, patented Gen AI system. It seamlessly integrates scientifically calibrated audio supplements into the recordings of some of our biggest artists including Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry and Kacey Musgraves.

The result? Immersive artist-approved remixes that deliver a range of wellness benefits to subscribers.

For the first time in my career, I think I can honestly say: I hope my presentation has put you to sleep…

Finally, I’m pleased to highlight a new music video project from global superstar Keith Urban…the very latest example of how our artists are harnessing their world-class creativity to engage with cutting-edge technology and map the future of AI Music.

This mesmerizing treatment of Keith’s hit “Straight Lines” is being created with Moon Valley Gen AI and other ethically trained tools. This short explanatory video details the production process.

Now, a sneak preview clip from the nearly completed forthcoming Keith Urban music video, “Straight Lines.”

So, in summary…

We believe that music is universal…that AI can be instrumental to our future…and that it’s the artists who will continue to shape global culture, channeling disruption into transformation as they have always done.

In our artist-centric vision, AI innovation can drive music culture, and in so doing, generate even greater benefits to the quality of life on this planet.

Thank you.

Jadakiss has some news for Drake.

During a recent episode of his Joe and Jada podcast with Fat Joe, the two legends talked about the Toronto rapper’s latest single “What Did I Miss?,” in which he speaks on the relationships that have changed since he got into a historic battle with Kendrick Lamar.

“He got a taste of the rap industry, man,” said Kiss. “They flip on you emphatically. … They flip. … Rappers, the game, executives, everybody you could think of, store owners. Yeah, they f—ing flip. That’s part of this. That’s the game we in.”

Joe added, “I didn’t understand that sh–.”

Prior to Jada’s commentary, Joe said he enjoyed the track and mentioned Drake being tied with Michael Jackson for fourth place on the most Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s list with 13 apiece.

“I felt like the new track was really dope,” said Joe. “I listened to it a couple of times and you know he’s one No. 1 away from Michael Jackson’s record [Editor’s note: They’re tied], and I think the soul of Michael Jackson is fighting that sh– ’cause every time he put out one you think it’s going to take that joint, just it back down.”

Crack and Kiss know a little something about rap beef. The two have had notable run-ins with the likes of Jay-Z and 50 Cent over the years, and have since reconciled with both of them, so there still might be hope for Drizzy and Dot to squash things eventually, if you know anything about the history of Joe and Jada’s respective battles with Hov and Fif.

There’s no official release date for Drake’s new album, but we know that its called Iceman and that it’s coming soon.

You can watch the full episode below.