Is Olivia Rodrigo‘s “Vampire” about … Taylor Swift? Rodrigo commented on fan speculation that the lead ballad from Guts, on which she scathingly sings about an unnamed “bloodsucker, famef—er,” is somehow about one of her childhood idols.
“How do I answer this?” Rodrigo reportedly whispered to Guardian journalist Laura Snapes, when the question about “Vampire” arose during an interview ahead of the Sept. 8 release of Guts.
“I mean, I never want to say who any of my songs are about,” said Rodrigo. “I’ve never done that before in my career and probably won’t. I think it’s better to not pigeonhole a song to being about this one thing.”
“I was very surprised when people thought that,” she added in the article that was published on Saturday (Sept. 2).
Swift championed Rodrigo, who was a self-proclaimed Swiftie, very early on. “I say that’s my baby and I’m really proud,” she sweetly shared on social media when Rodrigo’s breakout smash “Drivers License” first started appearing on charts next to Swift’s music. Swift gifted her a ring like the one she wore when working on her Red album — “She is absolutely the kindest individual in the whole world,” Rodrigo gushed at the time — and the pair met in person and posed together for a cute photo at the 2021 Brit Awards.
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After Rodrigo’s debut album, Sour, dropped, interpolations found in her work proved costly. Rodrigo ended up retroactively sharing songwriting credits for “deja vu” with Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) for its reminiscence of Swift’s “Cruel Summer.” She also gave writing credits to Swift and Antonoff on “1 step forward, 3 steps back” before Sour‘s release for including an interpolation of Swift’s “New Year’s Day” on the song.
Rodrigo and Swift seemingly haven’t associated with each other since, at least publicly. In a recent New York Times profile, Rodrigo said she hasn’t seen a show on Swift’s Eras Tour.
Back to the song meaning of “Vampire”: To her point, Rodrigo’s lyrics could have been inspired by a number of personal experiences the singer-songwriter might have encountered since “Drivers License” made its mark in 2021 — so her answer to the question doesn’t really answer much at all.
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“Hate to give the satisfaction, asking how you’re doing now/ How’s the castle built off people you pretend to care about?” she sings in the opening of the song.
Later in the profile about Rodrigo and her sophomore album, Guardian writer Snapes, in her own words, notes that “‘Vampire’ is primarily about a romantic relationship with an older guy.” Many of its lyrical barbs do point toward this interpretation: there’s a line directed at a “cool guy,” and one pointing out that “every girl I ever talked to told me you were bad, bad news.” In the track’s second verse, Rodrigo says, “Went for me, and not her/ ‘Cause girls your age know better.”
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2023-09-03 03:06:422023-09-03 03:06:42Olivia Rodrigo Reacts to Theories That ‘Vampire’ Is About Taylor Swift
Before Jimmy Buffett appeared on Billboard’s charts, he was writing about other artists who did.
Buffett, who died Friday (Sept. 1) at age 76, worked as a Nashville reporter for Billboard from 1969 to 1970. He quit when his first album, Debut to Earth, was released because he was told that continuing would be a conflict of interest.
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Among the concerts he reviewed was Isaac Hayes at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, writing, “The Hot Buttered Soul Man combined his songs and his keyboard work on both organ and piano with a full and powerful voice range that created a style [that] was truly his own.”
In 2021, Buffett revisited his time as a reporter, telling Billboard during an interview that as a burgeoning artist, he couldn’t bring himself to write anything negative about a fellow performer.
“I can never give anybody a bad review because I knew how hard it was to get up there,” he said. “Now, there has to be something toxic that [a review] says, but I can never do it because I knew how hard it was. I know performers who are scared to death to get up there and still do it. And I go, “Why are you that scared to get up there?” I mean, you should be doing something else if you get scared to go up there. It’s one of the greatest joys you could ever have on planet earth to me.”
The best part of the job was the free music. Although unbylined, Buffett believed he reviewed Elton John’s 1970 album, Tumbleweed Connection, glowingly writing, “Although this is but his second LP, Elton John’s track record already speaks for itself and the album is sure to be one of the biggest of the new year.”
Talking to Billboard again in 2022, Buffett recalled the thrill of getting John’s album in the mail while writing for the magazine. “People were sending me free albums because I was the reporter for Billboard, and that album came in a stack of records from I think it was MCA,” he said. “When I got [to Billboard], my editor told me, ‘Just let them know you’re a Billboard reporter and give them your address and they’ll give you records so hopefully you review them or you’ll say something about them.’ So I went ‘free albums? No sh—!’”
He also wrote of his time at Billboard in his 1998 autobiography, A Pirate Looks at Fifty, calling it “the only real job I would have in my adult life.”
From the first day, he was wined and dined as he traveled with his boss, Bill Williams. “In twenty-four hours, I had gone from just another nobody songwriter who couldn’t get his foot into a music publisher’s door to the assistant Southern Editor of Billboard,” he wrote. “Hell, people took me to lunch. I had business cards. I flew to New York for editorial meetings. I had an expense account. I had a WATTS line at work on which I called all my friends after working hours, and I got free albums from the record companies. Not bad for a real job.”
Buffett even managed to break some news, including bluegrass titans’ Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ split.
After switching from covering country music to pop, Buffett interviewed Otis Redding and James Brown, reviewed Led Zeppelin at the Palladium, and learned a little about the importance of taking care of business. “What I mainly saw were a lot of wonderfully talented artists and writers who let somebody else worry about ‘all that stuff,’ and I saw the trouble it got them into,” he wrote in the book.
Billboard threw Buffett a going away party when his album came out, gifting him a guitar case. Even though that chapter of his life was over, it’s clear his time at Billboard remained a treasured memory and set him on his way: “One of the true joys of my later success was going back and sharing it with Bill,” he wrote in the autobiography. “He was as proud as a parent when I finally broke out.”
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“A poet of paradise, Jimmy Buffett was an American music icon who inspired generations to step back and find the joy in life and in one another,” says the note published on Saturday (Sept. 2). “His witty, wistful songs celebrate a uniquely American cast of characters and seaside folkways, weaving together an unforgettable musical mix of country, folk, rock, pop, and calypso into something uniquely his own.”
The “Margaritaville” singer-songwriter died at age 76 on Sept. 1. The news of Buffett’s death was confirmed on his website and social media accounts. He was “surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs.” No cause of death was given.
Biden, who was among many public figures to remember Buffett on Saturday, recalled, “We had the honor to meet and get to know Jimmy over the years, and he was in life as he was performing on stage – full of goodwill and joy, using his gift to bring people together.”
The tribute continued: “Over more than 50 studio and live albums and thousands of performances to devoted Parrot Heads around the world, Jimmy reminded us how much the simple things in life matter – the people we love, the places we’re from, the hopes we have on the horizon. A two-time Grammy nominee and winner of multiple country music awards, he was also a best-selling writer, businessman, pilot, and conservationist who championed the waters and Gulf Coast that he so loved.”
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Buffett had 13 Billboard Hot 100 charting singles, including seven top 40 hits and one top 10, as well as 40 entries on the Billboard 200 albums chart throughout his career.
“Jill and I send our love to his wife of 46 years, Jane; to their children, Savannah, Sarah, and Cameron; to their grandchildren; and to the millions of fans who will continue to love him even as his ship now sails for new shores,” said Biden.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2023-09-03 03:06:412023-09-03 03:06:41President Joe Biden Pays Tribute to Jimmy Buffett, an ‘American Music Icon’ and ‘Poet of Paradise’
Jimmy Buffett, the musical troubadour known for his island-tinged, rum-soaked hits including “Margaritaville,” “A Pirate Looks at Forty” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” as well as his empire of businesses including his chain of Margaritaville cafes, died on Friday (Sept. 1) at age 76.
“Jimmy passed away on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” an early Saturday morning (Sept. 2) post on his official website read. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”
The Mississippi-born, Alabama-raised Buffett was a globally-known star, thanks to his carefree hits and colorful stage shows, but much of his musical roots ran through Nashville. In 2021, Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band played a private show at Exit/In — five decades after he made some of his first performances at the tiny club on Elliston Place in Music City. The club would serve as a launching pad for Buffett’s musical career, while Buffett and artists including Steve Martin would help Exit/In become one Nashville’s most venerable music clubs, thus helping to launch what would be known as the city’s historic “Rock Block,” alongside businesses including The End and The Gold Rush.
Buffett moved to Nashville in the late 1960s with ambitions of a career in country music. He became a Nashville reporter for Billboard from 1969-1970, where he is credited with breaking the news of the breakup of bluegrass duo Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs in 1969. His tenure at Billboard was brief, due to the release of his 1970 debut album, Down to Earth.
His follow-up, 1973’s A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (the title is a twist on a Marty Robbins hit) was recorded at Tompall Glaser’s Nashville studio, which would later be dubbed “Hillbilly Central.” Though the album owed more to Nashville than the islands, listeners can hear beginnings of the Key West vibes Buffett would become known for. The album also testifies to Buffett’s impact as a songwriter; it includes the Buffett/Jerry Jeff Walker-written “Railroad Lady,” which was also recorded by artists including Lefty Frizzell, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. Waylon Jennings covered another of the album’s songs, “He Went to Paris,” on his 1980 album, Music Man, while Doug Supernaw recorded the track in 1994. Buffett would also co-write “Happiness Alone” with Clint Black, a song that appeared on Black’s album No Time to Kill.
The 1970s and 1980s saw several of Buffett’s songs rank on Billboard‘s country charts, including “The Great Filling Station Holdup” (1973), “Come Monday” (1974) and his star-making 1977 songs including “Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude” and “Margaritaville,” which would reach the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as No. 13 on the Hot Country Songs chart. He also earned a top 20 country hit in 1985 with “If The Phone Doesn’t Ring, It’s Me.”
During his five-plus decades in music, Buffett earned two No. 1 hits on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, as well as three top 10 hits, in part thanks to his willingness to maintain ties within the country music community, collaborating with a range of artists.
Buffett’s 2003 collaboration with Alan Jackson — “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” about an overworked, underpaid blue collar worker who dreams of escaping to the islands — became an eight-week No. 1 Country Airplay hit. The song also reached the top 20 on the Hot 100. That same year, Kenny Chesney earned a major hit with the island-themed “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems,” further proving Buffett’s brand of island escapism was a key influence on the genre.
But even as far back as his 1998 hit “How Forever Feels,” Chesney paid homage to Buffett with the lyric, “Now I know how Jimmy Buffett Feels,” while the video’s tropical vibe helped cement cowboy hat-meets-puka shell necklace, “Island Kenny” persona Chesney would become known for in later songs and videos such as “When the Sun Goes Down.” Also in 1998, Garth Brooks also earned a hit with the tropical-themed “Two Pina Coladas,” a song written by Benita Hill, Shawn Camp and Sandy Mason; the writers had originally thought of pitching the song to Buffett, before it was ultimately pitched to Brooks. With songs like 2009’s “Toes,” “Jump Right In,” and their 2011 No. 1 hit collaboration with Buffett, “Knee Deep,” Zac Brown Band forged their own island jam band vibe.
“When contemporary country took it to the beach, obviously we were a big part of that,” Buffett toldBillboard during a 2021 interview.
Notably, Buffett earned the sole Billboard 200-topping album of his career in 2004, with License to Chill, a collection of mostly country collaborations with artists including Chesney, George Strait, Clint Black, Martina McBride, Jackson and Toby Keith.
Chesney, who was a surprise guest during Buffett’s 2021 Exit/In show, paid tribute to Buffett on social media, stating, “So goodbye Jimmy. Thanks for your friendship and the songs I will carry in my heart forever. Sail On Sailor.” The two hitmakers previously collaborated on “Trying to Reason With Hurricane Season.”
“To me that song is true poetry, and a true reflection of Jimmy’s ability to tell a story and to capture a moment and to paint a picture of that moment,” Chesney later said in a video about the song. He added, “I’m not sure that Jimmy gets the credit that he deserves as being a poet, like a true songwriter, storyteller poet, a lot like [Ernest] Hemingway was in his time.”
Below, we look at some of Buffett’s top country collaborations:
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Detectives arrested a Broward sheriff’s deputy Thursday on fraud charges after they say she falsely claimed to be a county school district employee on at least two lease applications. Deputy … Click to Continue »
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A 25-year-old Miami woman is facing several charges after taking off in an unoccupied ambulance Wednesday in Port St. Lucie, on Florida’s Treasure Coast. According to a Facebook post from … Click to Continue »
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Publix opened a new supermarket this week in Hialeah. Minutes before the Hialeah Heights Publix Super Market opened its doors Thursday for the first time, in the Shoppes of Highland, … Click to Continue »
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Nelly Furtado talks to Billboard’s Executive Music Director, Jason Lipshutz about her anticipated return to music, reminisces on her career re-defining album ‘Loose,’ teases her new music, what it’s like to work with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland again and more!
Jason Lipshutz Oh, oh sh*t, okay. This is the most fun I’ve ever had during a video.
Nelly Furtado Hi, I’m Nelly Furtado This is Billboard News
Jason Lipshutz Here with the one and only Nelly Furtado.
Jason Lipshutz Nelly, I’m so happy you’re here. I’m such a huge fan.
Nelly Furtado Oh, for real?
Jason Lipshutz The hugest fan seriously. I want
Nelly Furtado I had a feeling that you might be a fan but I wasn’t sure.
Jason Lipshutz I listened to on my walk here. I listen to all of the ‘Spirit Indestructible’
Nelly Furtado Yeah, right.
Jason Lipshutz I swear to God.
Nelly Furtado No way.
Jason Lipshutz “Parking Lot” just blasting in my ears.
Nelly Furtado Oh my god.
Jason Lipshutz And meanwhile, like you’ve been kind of slowly, as you said, playing shows put out the single top dollar like, what is it been like kind of dipping your toe back into the music world a bit more.
Nelly Furtado It’s been so fun. I’m just like, more grateful than ever. I’m, I’m super grateful. I feel like the place I’m at right now is kind of like the same place I was at when I was like, I would say 20. And I first signed a record deal. And like, I spent all my time obsessing over music, listening to music, and making music and collaborating with friends who make music and family actually. And so I’m there again, like I’m in it for the craft I’m in it for for the right reasons. And I just, it’s so pure for me right now. It’s just pure inspiration. Like, all day.
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Labor Day weekend is finally here. If your holiday weekend will consist of shopping for great savings, then you’ve come to the right place. Below, find a roundup of the 20 best sales to shop this Labor Day weekend. The alphabetized list includes clothing, beauty, electronics, appliances, shoes and other great deals from Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, Lowe’s, Tory Burch, Bloomingdale’s, Carter’s, Nike and other retailers.
The 25 Best Sales to Shop for Labor Day:
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Bloomingdale’s– Take an extra 30% off clearance items for a savings of up to 65% off during Bloomingdale’s Labor Day Sale. Offer ends 9/4.
Carter’s– The clothing retailer is offering 50% off in stores and online for Labor Day.
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Z Gallerie– Up to 50% off everything, online and in stores. Up to 70% off clearance items and an extra 20% off with code: EXTRA20.
An eight-piece towel set for $20? This set is on sale at Amazon and available in seven colors including hot pink, blue, black, charcoal, orange, green and burgundy. Click here for more expensive towels.
Save $90 on this Apple Watch Series 8 GPS watch. Measure your blood oxygen level, take an ECG anytime, sync your favorite music, podcasts and audiobooks, access mindfulness and sleep tracking apps and more, from your wrist.
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Grilling season is still here. The Royal Gourmet Charcoal Grill is 38% off for Labor Day. The grill has 433 square inches of cooking surface, chrome-plaited stainless steel burners, adjustable fire grates and a temperature monitor.
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Samsung
Samsung Bespoke Ultra Capacity Front Load Capacity Washer and Dryer
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Thursday’s announcement that AMC Theatres is partnering with Taylor Swift to present Taylor Swift / The Eras Tour Concert Film in thousands of North American cinemas starting Oct. 13 was a blockbuster — both in terms of cultural impact and ticket sales, which broke AMC’s record for single-day advance revenue with $26 million in the first 24 hours.
And according to a new report at Puck, the unorthodox deal that bypasses traditional studios and instead release the film directly in cinemas with AMC Theatres acting as distributor came about only after discussions with traditional distributors, including Universal Pictures, broke down.
The story claims that talks with AMC Theatres began more than three months ago — while Swift was already in the midst of her smash Eras Tour in the United States and before the concert film was shot at some of the Los Angeles shows in August — after AMC CEO Adam Aron received “a call from a friend who also happened to know [Swift’s father] Scott Swift” that Team Swift was interested in talking.
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Citing sources, the report states that Aron personally negotiated the deal directly with Swift’s parents, Scott and Andrea Swift, over several weeks. Among the agreed-upon terms is that 43% of the gross will remain with theaters, while the remaining 57% will be shared (in an undetermined split) by the Swifts and AMC. (Variance Films, a small sub-distributor, was reportedly hired to book the film in Regal, Cinemark and other theaters on a fee-for-service basis.) Notably, standard tickets for the film will be priced at $19.89 (plus tax) for adults and $13.13 for children and seniors (plus tax).
All theaters playing the Sam Wrench-directed film will reportedly also take all concession revenue, including any commemorative Eras Tour items. The story claims that AMC and Cinemark have also ordered four million posters to give away to fans for free, while a “small offering” of paid merchandise is planned.
Other details in the report include that theaters playing the film (which reportedly came in at a budget of between $10 and $20 million) must agree to carry it for a minimum of four weeks and can play it for as many as 26 weeks without worrying that the terms of the deal will change. Additionally, after 13 weeks, the Swifts are free to put the film on streaming services (the streaming rights are still up for grabs).
At least one traditional film studio that had discussed distributing the film with the Swifts was reportedly under the impression that the film would be a 2025 release — after the completion of the tour’s global run — but according to the story, the Swifts decided to strike while fan demand for all things Taylor was at an all-time high.
Speculation that the unusual deal could lead to similar plays by AMC and other exhibitors to act as distributors for other major concert films has been rampant, and indeed, the Puck report notes that “AMC is already talking about what other major artists might want a Taylorstyle deal” — suggesting there may be more of these to come.
Representatives for Taylor Swift and AMC Theatres did not immediately return Billboard‘s requests for comment on this story.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2023-09-02 04:07:452023-09-02 04:07:45How Taylor Swift Ditched Dealing With Hollywood Studios to Release the ‘Eras Tour’ Film With AMC
