Following the launch of Iron Maiden’s Run for Your Lives World Tour, manager Rod Smallwood has shared a new plea for fans to put their phones away at the band’s shows.

The British heavy metal veterans’ recently-launched tour takes place as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations, with the group kicking things off with a pair of sold-out dates in Budapest, Hungary last week.

Prior to the tour’s launch, Smallwood took to Iron Maiden’s website to request that fans put their phones back into their pockets and witness the show as it’s supposed to be seen.

“We really want fans to enjoy the shows first hand, rather than on their small screens,” Smallwood wrote. “The amount of phone use nowadays diminishes enjoyment, particularly for the band who are on stage looking out at rows of phones, but also for other concertgoers. 

“We feel that the passion and involvement of our fans at shows really makes them special, but the phone obsession has now got so out of hand that it has become unnecessarily distracting especially to the band. I hope fans understand this and will be sensible in severely limiting the use of their phone cameras out of respect for the band and their fellow fans.”

In the wake of the band’s first few shows of their latest tour, Smallwood shared a reflective post on social media over the weekend, thanking fans for their support of new drummer Simon Dawson, and applauding those who heeded his request for limited phone usage during the gigs.

“A huge thank you to every one of you who kept your phones down, respected the band and your fellow fans, and embraced the show the way it’s meant to be experienced – in the room with us,” Smallwood said. “That was a great boost for us and the band appreciated it greatly. It is so much better when they can see you unencumbered and that drives them on without that distraction. For the selfish few that didn’t and just had to keep videoing… I wish you nothing but a very sore arm!

“But they were few, and we do hope this support from fans, especially in the floor area in front of the sound desk, continues in Prague tomorrow and beyond,” he added. “As I said before, by all means take the odd quick pic as a memento of a great night, but otherwise please keep your phone in your pocket.”

Iron Maiden’s current Run for Your Lives World Tour marks their performances since wrapping the The Future Past Tour in São Paulo, Brazil in December. That tour was the last to feature drummer Nicko McBrain, who announced his “decision to take a step back from the grind of the extensive touring lifestyle.”

Patti LuPone has issued an apology after hundreds of members of the Broadway community condemned her recent remarks disparaging fellow Broadway actresses Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald.

“For as long as I have worked in the theatre, I have spoken my mind and never apologized. That is changing today,” LuPone wrote in the opening of a statement released via Instagram on Saturday (May 31).

“I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful. I regret my flippant and emotional responses during this interview, which were inappropriate, and I am devastated that my behavior has offended others and has run counter to what we hold dear in this community. I hope to have the chance to speak to Audra and Kecia personally to offer my sincere apologies,” said LuPone.

LuPone’s response arrived the day after after an open letter directed at her — and signed by more than 500 individuals in the Broadway world — was published in outcry to comments from the actress perceived to be “degrading and misogynistic,” as well as a “blatant act of racialized disrespect.” The letter was also aimed at “a culture, a pattern” in the Broadway industry: “a persistent failure to hold people accountable for violent, disrespectful, or harmful behavior — especially when they are powerful or well-known.”

In Saturday’s statement, LuPone acknowledged the message of the letter and expressed regret over what she said about her peers.

“I wholeheartedly agree with everything that was written in the open letter shared yesterday,” she wrote. “From middle school drama clubs to professional stages, theatre has always been about lifting each other up and welcoming those who feel they don’t belong anywhere else. I made a mistake, I take full responsibility for it, and I am committed to making this right. Our entire theatre community deserves better.”

The New Yorker ran a profile on LuPone earlier this week that quoted her calling Lewis — who’s in the Alicia Keys-created Broadway musical Hell’s Kitchen, which was performed next door to the LuPone-starring The Roommate in 2024 — a “b—-” for considering herself a stage “veteran.”

The piece had LuPone recounting complaints she’d made to Shubert Organization head Robert Wankel that sound from Lewis’ Hell’s Kitchen could be heard during her stage time in The Roommate. (Lewis had responded to LuPone’s complaints on Instagram at the time, and deemed them “bullying,” “racially microaggressive” and “rooted in privilege” for calling “a Black show loud.”)

“She calls herself a veteran?” LuPone said in The New Yorker article dated May 26. “Let’s find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn’t know what the f— she’s talking about. Don’t call yourself a vet, b—-.”

LuPone also remarked that she had a “rift” with McDonald, who’d shown support for Lewis: “That’s typical of Audra. She’s not a friend,” LuPone told The New Yorker; McDonald later said she was unaware of the rift.

LuPone, a three-time Tony Award and two-time Grammy Award winner, in 2024 starred as Robyn opposite Mia Farrow’s Sharon in The Roommate for the dark comedy’s four-month engagement on Broadway at the Booth Theatre. She just wrapped a series of concert dates that ran across select U.S. cities from late January through late May, with a couple festival appearances slated for this summer.

In 2024 Lewis won her first Tony, for best featured actress in a musical, for her work as Miss Liza Jane in Hell’s Kitchen, the Broadway production whose performers were also awarded the Grammy for best musical theater album last year. Hell’s Kitchen is presently still playing on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre.

McDonald, currently leading the Broadway revival of Gypsy at the Majestic Theatre, has won six Tonys, two Grammys and an Emmy throughout her career. Nominated for her portrayal of Rose in Gypsy, she’s up for another Tony, for best actress in a musical, at this year’s ceremony. She holds a record number of total Tony nominations (11).

The 2025 Tony Awards will broadcast live to both coasts on CBS just a week from today, from 8 to 11 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 8; the show will also stream on Paramount+.

Ava Max‘s “Lovin Myself” tops this week’s new music poll.

In a poll published Friday (May 30) on Billboard, music fans chose the pop singer’s latest single as their favorite new release of the past week.

“Lovin Myself” brought in 57% of the vote, beating out new releases from artists like Tate McRae (“Just Keep Watching”), Miley Cyrus (Something Beautiful), Lorde (“Man of the Year”), Leon Thomas (MUTT Deluxe: HEEL), Yeule (Evangelic Girl Is a Gun), and others.

“Lovin Myself” doubles down on Max’s streak of self-empowerment, with the singer declaring, “I don’t need nobody, I’m lovin’ myself!” as warm synths rain down on her voice.

Max revealed in early May that her third album, Don’t Click Play, will be arriving on Aug. 22. The forthcoming set features lead single “Lost Your Faith.”

The album cover sees Max braving the heat within a triangle of fire, her hands gripping its burning edges — perhaps a visual metaphor for the fire-emoji energy she wants listeners to feel when they hit play. The triangle itself resembles the familiar symbol for a play button. In April, she directed fans to DontClickPlayOnAvaMax.com, a site disguised as an online petition that cleverly teased an unreleased track.

Don’t Click Play follows 2023’s Diamonds & Dancefloors (which reached No. 34 on the Billboard 200) and 2020’s debut Heaven & Hell (which peaked at No. 27 and featured her breakthrough single “Sweet But Psycho,” a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2018).

Placing second in the poll was Tate McRae’s “Just Keep Watching”, which received nearly 15% of the vote. The fast-moving club track is featured in the F1 film soundtrack.

Check out the full results of this week’s poll below and visit Billboard’s Friday Music Guide for more must-hear releases.

Hailee Steinfeld and Josh Allen are officially husband and wife.

The singer-actress, 28, and Buffalo Bills quarterback, 29, were photographed walking down the aisle during a stunning wedding ceremony in Southern California on Saturday (May 31), according to People.

Neither Steinfeld nor Allen had shared photos of their oceanside nuptials on social media at press time.

The couple announced their engagement in November 2024 with a breathtaking Instagram post. In the snapshot, the NFL star is seen down on one knee atop a grassy ridge overlooking the water, surrounded by candles and framed by a large, flower-covered arch.

The Sinners actress and Allen were first linked romantically in spring 2023, after being spotted dining together in New York City. Months later, Allen confirmed the relationship but asked The Associated Press not to mention Steinfeld by name in an attempt to maintain privacy.

Earlier this year, Steinfeld opened up about the engagement during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Speaking about her new life in Buffalo, N.Y., the “Starving” singer said with a smile, “I have been given a very warm welcome.” She added, “The people are incredible, it’s such a wonderful, wonderful place.”

Allen’s Buffalo Bills had an impressive season, making it to the AFC Championship before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of the Super Bowl. Steinfeld has become a vocal supporter of her new husband’s team. In a February interview with Who What Wear, she playfully shaded the Chiefs when asked to name the four AFC teams.

“You got the Buffalo Bills and the Bills’ three sons,” she replied pointedly.

Still, Steinfeld managed to find a few kind words for the Chiefs in a Hot Ones Versus episode released the day before her Fallon appearance in early April. When challenged to compliment the team or eat a spicy wing, Steinfeld gave it her best shot while facing off against her Sinners co-star Michael B. Jordan.

“Yellow and red really complement them all pretty well,” she said to avoid eating a spicy wing, struggling to think of more things to say as Jordan laughed at her. “They are very loud … it’s great you want that from a fanbase. And third, they go hard for their team.”