Sum 41 has canceled their entire Australian tour, including their co-headlining slot at the Good Things Festival, due to frontman Deryck Whibley’s battle with pneumonia.

The band announced the decision on Dec. 5, citing medical advice from Australian doctors who deemed Whibley too unwell to perform.

“It is with deep sadness and regret that we announce our 2024 Australian tour is unable to proceed,” the band shared in a statement on social media. “We were beyond excited to deliver this tour from December 4 – December 12, and connect with our Aussie fans once more.”

“Now that we’re here though, and under the guidance and direction of multiple Australian doctors, it’s clear that Deryck is too unwell to perform. We understand and appreciate your disappointment – we’re gutted too.”

The statement continued: “The good news is Good Things Festival is still going ahead in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane this weekend with an incredible line-up of local and international acts. We can’t be there, but get along for us and have the best time.”

The tour was set to support Sum 41’s eighth and final album, Heaven :x: Hell, released in March. The dates were highly anticipated as part of the band’s farewell run, leading up to their final-ever show at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena in January 2025.

The cancellation follows the band’s earlier decision to call off their Dec. 4 sideshow at Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley Music Hall. At the time, the band stated, “Unfortunately, we have to make the difficult decision to cancel tonight’s show in Brisbane due to Deryck being diagnosed with pneumonia. He is receiving the best possible local care.”

This marks the second time Australian fans have missed out on seeing the Canadian rockers due to Whibley’s health. In 2011, the band canceled their appearance at the Soundwave Festival after Whibley was hospitalized with pneumonia.

For their final act, Sum 41 will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the 54th Annual JUNO Awards on March 30, 2025, in Vancouver.

Despite the setback, the Good Things Festival will proceed as planned, with Korn headlining the three-city event, alongside acts like Violent Femmes, Jet, Northlane, and Billy Corgan.

“Sum 41 are gutted they can’t perform, and we fully understand and appreciate fans’ disappointment,” the festival organizers said in a statement. “Deryck’s health and wellbeing is the focus and priority though, and we hope you will join us in sending him well wishes for his recovery.”

The festival kicks off in Melbourne on Dec. 6, followed by dates in Sydney and Brisbane. Ticket holders for Sum 41’s sideshows will receive refund information shortly.

After earning its first No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart in over two decades earlier this year, Sum 41 scored another as “Dopamine” hit No. 1 on the Nov. 30-dated survey.

The song follows the two-week Alternative Airplay command for “Landmines” in March. The latter led 22 years, five months, and three weeks after Sum 41’s first No. 1, “Fat Lip,” in August 2001, rewriting the record for the longest break between rulers for an act in the chart’s 36-year history.

It shattered the previous best, held by The Killers, who waited 13 years and six months between the reigns of “When You Were Young” in 2006 and “Caution” in 2020.

Whibley’s recently released memoir, Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell, also became a No. 1 bestseller on Amazon’s punk musician biographies chart following its October debut. In the deeply personal autobiography, the frontman reflects on his rise to fame with Sum 41, navigating the highs of international success and accolades like Grammy nominations and MTV Video Music Award.

Sean Lennon has reflected on the impact that John Lennon’s passing had upon his mother, Yoko Ono.

On Sunday (Dec. 8), Sean and the rest of his family will mark the 44th anniversary of father John’s death in New York City in 1980. Viewed by many as another example of ‘the day the music died’, Lennon’s untimely passing has had an impact on countless individuals throughout the world. No more have felt that impact, Sean says, than his mother.

Speaking to BBC Radio 6 Music about the recent Grammy-nominated expanded box set of John’s 1973 Mind Games album, Sean touched on his parents’ relationship around the record’s creation. At the time of Mind Games’ writing, John was in the midst of the 18-month ‘lost weekend’ period in which he was separated from Ono.

“A lot of people said like, ‘Yoko wasn’t around for this record, why are they featuring her in the booklet’ or something,” Lennon began. “And I think there’s a lot of history, there’s a lot of assumptions made about that time period because they were sort of on their way towards that famous separation that people called The Lost Weekend.

“But the truth is, even when they were apart they were always talking, so I don’t think they ever really broke up, all his stuff was still in the apartment with my mum, it’s not like they had a real separation. And on top of it, all my dad was thinking about was her.

“You look at the album cover, it’s a collage of my mum literally the size of a mountain, and he’s this little tiny thing sort of fading into the background” he continued. “And I think it’s clear what his view of my mum was in his life. She was monumental, obviously. And the whole album is about her.”

Speaking about his mother directly, Sean claimed that she “never has moved on from that relationship” since John’s passing, but agreed that the recent Mind Games release was something of a “love letter” to his parents.

“I’ve never put it that way but I would say it’s my best effort to try to be a good son,” Sean replied.

The upcoming biopic about Bob Dylan, A Complete Unknown, is just weeks away from release, and the “Subterranean Homesick Blues” legend took to X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday (Dec. 4) to give the film, as well as starring actor Timothée Chalamet, his stamp of approval.

“There’s a movie about me opening soon called A Complete Unknown (what a title!). Timothee Chalamet is starring in the lead role,” he wrote. “Timmy’s a brilliant actor so I’m sure he’s going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me. The film’s taken from Elijah Wald’s Dylan Goes Electric – a book that came out in 2015. It’s a fantastic retelling of events from the early ‘60s that led up to the fiasco at Newport. After you’ve seen the movie read the book.”

There’s a movie about me opening soon called A Complete Unknown (what a title!). Timothee Chalamet is starring in the lead role. Timmy’s a brilliant actor so I’m sure he’s going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me. The film’s taken from Elijah…

— Bob Dylan (@bobdylan) December 4, 2024

Also starring Boyd Holbrook, Dan Fogler, Norbert Leo Butz and Scoot McNairy, the biographical drama was inspired by Elijah Wald’s 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric. Director James Mangold revealed that the “Blowin’ in the Wind” artist personally gave feedback on the script.

Earlier this year, fans first spotted Chalamet filming as Dylan in New York. Mangold previously confirmed that the actor would do his own singing for the flick, which hits theaters on Christmas Day (Dec. 25). “It’s such an amazing time in American culture,” the director noted at the time. “The story of a young, 19-year-old Bob Dylan coming to New York with, like, $2 in his pocket and becoming a worldwide sensation within three years — first being embraced into the family of folk music in New York and then, of course, kind of outrunning them at a certain point as his star rises so beyond belief.”  To prepare, the Wonka star says he sifted through 12 hours’ worth of unreleased Dylan songs, sent to him by the musician’s longtime manager and A Complete Unknown producer Jeff Rosen.

Ariana Grande’s performance as Glinda in Wicked has been generating awards buzz since even before the film’s Nov. 22 release. Now, the Palm Springs International Film Awards has selected Grande as the winner of the Rising Star Award, an honor previously presented to such actors as Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air), Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation) and Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone).

The awards ceremony will be held at the Palm Springs Convention Center on Jan. 3. The festival will take place from Jan. 2-13.

“In Wicked, Ariana Grande’s portrayal of Glinda elevates her to new heights with a powerful acting performance that beautifully combines her outstanding musical talent, brilliant characterization and impeccable comedic timing,” Festival chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi said in a statement. “Ariana is an iconic global performer, who has seamlessly transitioned to film in her first major starring role, proving herself to be a multifaceted and undeniable talent. This role is certain to be the beginning of the many accolades she will garner throughout her acting career. It is our great honor to recognize Ariana Grande with the Rising Star Award.”

Billboard’s Joe Lynch was similarly impressed with Grande’s performance. He allowed that he wasn’t sure she had the acting chops to play the role made famous on Broadway by Kristin Chenoweth. “No one with ears could question Grande’s pipes, but based on her acting credits, we simply didn’t know if she was capable of filling Chenoweth’s small but mighty heels. Well, having seen Wicked: Part 1 in theaters, I can say without exaggeration that Grande isn’t just a good witch – she’s sinceriously astonishing,” playing off Glinda’s penchant for amusing spoonerisms.

Lynch’s bottom-line: “Some pop stars turned actors acquit themselves competently on the big screen, but like Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born, this performance signals the arrival of a formidable cinematic talent with a lot more to show us.”

Fans, of course, have also rallied behind the film, which was directed by Jon M. Chu and which also stars Cynthia Erivo, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh and Jonathan Bailey. The film has grossed $275.8 million in the U.S. and Canada. Worldwide, it has grossed $372.9 million.

This year’s award winners also include Timothée Chalamet for the chairman’s award for his performance as a young Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown and Emilia Pérez actors Karla Sofia Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Edgar Ramírez and director Jacques Audiard for the vanguard award.

British alternative rock band Sports Team have had an unfortunate start to their latest U.S. tour, having been reportedly robbed at gunpoint.

Per a press release, the incident occurred around 8am on Tuesday (Dec. 3) at a Starbucks in Vallejo, CA outside of San Francisco. Having launched their west coast tour the night before with a show at San Francisco’s Kilowatt, the band’s brief stop was interrupted by an onlooker alerting them that their tour van was being ransacked and robbed.

“The band attempted to intervene but were met with a gun being brandished and took cover,” the press release explained. “The band called the police, and were shocked to hear they would not attend the scene of the crime.

“Instead, they were told by police to file a report online, which they have done. Laptops, personal items, passports and other valuables were stolen.”

The group also shared footage of the incident on social media, adding their own account of how it unfolded as well.

“Stopped for coffee. Man runs in saying some guys are smashing into a van,” they wrote. “Ran out to try to stop it and find masked guys ransacking the van. Start yelling and they pull out a gun. Police response was ‘submit an online report.’ Lost a lot of personal gear, but they didn’t get the instruments so driving on to Sacramento to play tonight.

“They can take our Nintendo Switches but they can never take our ability to play rock songs about motorways. In all seriousness pretty shocking how resigned everyone seemed to be to it. ‘It happens’. 9am at some petrol station Starbucks. Wild.”

Sports Team are continuing their current tour, performing in Sacramento later on Tuesday evening. The band are touring in the lead-up to their forthcoming album, Boys These Days, which is scheduled to arrive on Feb. 25. It’s the band’s second visit to the U.S. this year, having performed a handful of east coast dates in early November.