Benson Boone and RAYE have been added to the already star-studded line-up for the 2024 Global Citizen Festival in New York’s Central Park. The pair join a previously announced roster of acts that includes Post Malone, Doja Cat, Jelly Roll and Rauw Alejandro.

“Ending extreme poverty is a responsibility we all share,” said Boone in a statement. “I’m grateful to be involved in Global Citizen’s mission by helping those who are living in extreme poverty. I hope we can all come together to take action and make a real difference in the world.” 

The festival hosted by Global Citizen Ambassador Hugh Jackman will also feature special appearances by primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall and Coldplay singer Chris Martin. As part of its portfolio of environmental sustainability efforts, this year’s even will also become one of the first major U.S. festivals to be powered entirely by hybrid energy.

According to a release, the Central Park stage will be powered by the same kind of SmartGrid battery system used to power Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres world tour, including all audio, lighting, video and stage production. Working with Showpower Global B.V. and CES Power, Global Citizen Fest will become one of the first major U.S. festivals to move away from using diesel generators in order to reduce the event’s carbon emissions.

Among the confirmed presenters scheduled to take the stage on Central Parks’ Great Lawn on Sept. 28 are: Antoni Porowski, Bill Nye, Bridget Moynahan, Charlamagne Tha God, Danai Gurira, Eric Adjepong, Gavin DeGraw, Jordan Fisher, Kal Penn, Liza Koshy, Doctor Mike Varshavski, Nomzamo Mbatha, Osi Umenyiora, Rachel Brosnahan, Rhett & Link, Sophia Bush and Vladimir Duthiers.

The group leading the international push to end extreme poverty is once again offering fans free tickets, which can be earned by taking action on the Global Citizen app or on the organization’s site here in an effort to defeat poverty, defend the planet and demand equity. 

“Global Citizen Festival has always been about using the power of music and activism to drive real, tangible change. This year, we’re taking bold steps to protect our planet, from powering our stage with clean energy to advocating for Indigenous-led projects that preserve the Amazon and calling for a global Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty,” added Global Citizen co-founder Michael Sheldrick in a statement. “These efforts are about ensuring that the transition to a sustainable future leaves no one behind – whether it’s communities in the Global South or right here in New York. We’re calling on world leaders, businesses, and citizens alike to join us in mobilizing action towards a just transition to clean energy and a safer planet for all.”

Global Citizen will also mark the start of Climate Week with a beach clean-up on Sept. 21 in partnership with the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy. Fans can also earn free tickets the the festival by removing trash and marine debris from the shores of Jamaica Bay and documenting the year’s “Dirty Dozen” most commonly found trash items; click here to register and for more information.

Official Global Citizen 2024 merch is available now, with responsibly sourced items made in collaboration with Doja Cat, Alejandro, Aviator Nation and more; click here to see the items.

Among the calls to action for this year’s event is one asking the G7 nations — Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the U.K. and the U.S. — to increase support for anti-poverty programs worldwide, as well as one calling for businesses, governments and philanthropic organizations to protect and restore the Amazon rainforest by investing $1 billion to help support indigenous communities and pledge to set timelines for phasing out coal, oil and gas to ensure a transition to green energy. The third action point is Global Citizen’s plea for world governments to commit at least $5 billion to equitable access to nutritious food, stronger health systems and quality education around the world.

Hell has frozen over, pigs have flown. And the brothers Gallagher are reuniting Oasis.

In a development that, for a decade or more that bordered on fantasy, the “Live Forever” band has confirmed a tour in 2025.

“The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised,” reads a statement on the Manchester indie rock juggernauts’ social media channels.

Announced early Tuesday, Aug. 27, Oasis will hit the road in 2025 for dates across the British Isles, including Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, for what will be their “only shows in Europe next year”.

This story is developing.

The rock community is alive with speculation that Deryck Whibley, the lead singer of Sum 41, might be stepping into one of modern rock’s most iconic roles as Linkin Park’s new lead vocalist.

The rumor has gained major traction this week following cryptic social media posts from both bands, setting fans on high alert.

Sum 41 lit the fuse on Aug. 25, teasing a “Deryck Whibley announcement” scheduled for Wednesday morning (Aug. 28) PST.

Intriguingly, Linkin Park had launched a 100-hour countdown on their website just a day earlier, set to conclude simultaneously with Sum 41’s reveal. The highly coincidental timing has, of course, fueled intense speculation about a possible connection.

Orgy’s Jay Gordon fueled the whispers earlier this year when he mentioned hearing that the band might be bringing on a female singer. However, Gordon later clarified that his comments had been taken out of context, saying, “With regards to this Linkin Park singer thing. I know nothing about any of that.”

Whibley’s connection to Linkin Park runs deep. He performed at Bennington’s tribute concert in October 2017 and later, Mike Shinoda joined Sum 41 on stage at the 2018 Reading Festival for  a cover of Linkin Park’s “Faint.”

However, when asked in 2022 about potentially filling Bennington’s shoes, Whibley was hesitant.

On The Jasta Show, he remarked, “I think that’s an impossible task… I think those are impossible shoes to fill. I don’t know if [Linkin Park is] ever gonna do anything. I have no idea what that’s gonna look like, or who that could be.”

Asked if he would join the band if the opportunity arose, he added, “That is such a non-possibility that it’s too weird to even, like, sort of joke-think about it.”

“I don’t know how someone could fill those shoes,” he added “I think it would be tough.”

Fan reactions to the possibility of Whibley joining Linkin Park have been mixed. On Reddit, one fan expressed concern: “I just worry he’ll be too similar to Chester that he’ll fall short.” Another offered a more optimistic view: “He couldn’t do the super screaming songs but could handle most of the setlist.”

However, there’s also optimism among fans, with one user noting, “Deryck honestly sounds pretty good on [Faint]… interesting.”

Whibley’s life and career are at a pivotal moment, not just due to the speculation about Linkin Park but also because of his recently announced memoir, Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell, set to be released on Oct. 8 via Gallery Books.

The memoir chronicles the rocker’s journey through the highs and lows of his life, both personally and with Sum 41.

“Ten years ago, I found myself on the brink of death in a hospital bed,” Whibley said in a statement about the book’s release.

“Surviving that moment, I made a promise to myself: I would fight harder than ever for this band and strive to become the best version of myself. Today, I’m proud to say that Sum 41 is experiencing the greatest success in our career, with our biggest hits on the radio and performing at the largest shows of our lives.”

He continued, “This book is the story of that journey—through the good, the bad, and the really fucking ugly. It’s about how I fought my way back, the battles I faced along the way, and how I turned those struggles into the fuel that powers everything I do now.”

To promote the memoir, Whibley will embark on a U.S. book tour in October, making stops in cities like Jersey City, Boston, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.

In addition to his memoir, Whibley and Sum 41 are currently on their final tour, Tour of the Setting Sum, which kicked off earlier this year. The band will perform their largest show to date in Paris this November, followed by their final hometown shows in Toronto in January 2025.

Their latest and final double album, Heaven :x: Hell, has been a commercial success, featuring singles like “Landmines,” which topped Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart, marking the band’s first No. 1 single since “Fat Lip” in 2001.

As the clock ticks down to the anticipated announcements, the rock community is on edge. Whether Whibley is about to join Linkin Park or something entirely different is in the works, fans are ready for the reveal.

See Linkin Park’s countdown post on YouTube here.

After seven years on her label, Tenille Townes and Sony Nashville have parted ways. 

Though Townes has achieved much success in her native Canada, including winning 15 Canadian Country Music Association Awards over the past five years, her Stateside career never experienced the same liftoff, even after winning the ACM Award for new female artist of the year in 2020. (That same year, she won a second ACM Award as a featured artist on Miranda Lambert’s remake of “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” which was voted music event of the year.) 

On Monday (Aug. 26), Townes took to Instagram to update her fans in a narrated video over various images, including a Polaroid photo of herself with the words “I’m free” beside a heart, as an acoustic, instrumental version of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” played. 

“My Nashville record label and I have parted ways. This is not a sob story, but a story of opportunity. We had a really good run and this is a big shift for me. We’ve been working together for over seven years, but we haven’t been seeing eye to eye on my music and my path and it’s creatively been a struggle waiting on green lights inside a corporate system that doesn’t make a lot of sense anymore,” she said. “I want the freedom to write and record a song and be able to get it to you guys, and making this decision means I can do that as I take back ownership of what I create. And that feels liberating and if I’m honest it also feels terrifying. Lots of fear but I’m doing it anyway and I’m excited to figure out  what’s next on my own terms. So this is me as a newly independent artist and a work-in-progress human telling you I’m starting a new journey learning to bet on myself again and I hope you’ll come with me.”

Though critically acclaimed, Townes biggest success in the U.S. was 2018’s “Somebody’s Daughter,” which reached No. 1 in Canada but peaked at No. 26 on the Country Airplay chart in the U.S. 

Townes released one full-length album in the U.S., 2020’s The Lemonade Stand, reached No. 41 on the Top Country Albums chart. She also put out four EPs, the most recent being Train Track Worktapes last year. 

Townes starts a Canadian tour Oct. 9.

Sony Nashville did not return a request for comment. 

Congratulations are in order for Lea Michele, who is officially a girl mom.

The actress took to Instagram on Sunday (Aug. 25) to announce that that she and husband Zandy Reich welcomed their second baby, a girl named Emery Sol. “Our hearts are so full 🤍 Emery Sol Reich 💕,” Michele captioned a photo holding the newborn bundle of joy’s foot.

The Glee actress — who is already Mom to four-year-old son Ever Leo — revealed that she was pregnant back in March with a sweet Instagram post. In the pictures, Michele posed with a silky white shawl draped over her shoulders, cradling her baby bump as it peeked through the fabric.

“Mommy, Daddy and Ever are overjoyed,” she captioned the post. Michele and Reich tied the knot in 2019. The couple became first-time parents the next year, welcoming Ever in August 2020.

The Funny Girl actress recently appeared on Katherine Schwarzenegger’s podcast BDA Baby, where she shared that the process of her second child’s conception was “completely not what [they] expected” and that she had “two back-to-back very early failed pregnancies.”