The Kid Rock-MAGA connection remains strong. A week after Rock appeared in a pre-taped livestream sponsored by Christian right group Turning Point USA in an attempt to draw eyeballs from Bad Bunny’s historic Super Bowl LX halftime show, the “Bawitdaba” rocker was back at it on Tuesday (Feb. 17).

This time Rock, 55, appeared in a bizarre video alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 72, to promote the health secretary’s controversial Make America Health Again (MAHA) agenda. “I’ve teamed up with @KidRock to deliver two simple messages to the American people: GET ACTIVE + EAT REAL FOOD,” read the caption to the 90-second video titled “Secretary Kennedy and Kid Rock’s Rock Out Workout.”

The video cued to Rock’s 1999 hit “Bawitdaba,” opens with both men posing and flexing their muscles shirtless, with the jacked Kennedy wearing jeans and Rock sporting black shorts. A montage of a stuffed bear wearing a hat, a great white shark jumping out of the water, an American Flag, a fighter jet flyover and a bald eagle leads to a glimpse of Kennedy eating what appears to be a giant steak dinner before the camera flashes on the men holding up an American flag in front of a miniature Statue of Liberty near a pool.

What begins as a somewhat typical workout video — with Kennedy doing bicep curls, both men hitting a tricep workout and Kennedy holding Rock’s ankles for a set of sit-ups — quickly takes an unexpected turn when the health secretary strips off his shirt and hops on an exercise bike in a sauna as Rock does push-ups in the background, with the pair then switching places.

Rock flips the bird as he continues his shoeless workout on the bike before Kennedy heads to a cold plunge pool, which he hops into in his jeans. He then searches for Rock, who appears to be chilling out in a grotto-like pool area before the men hop onto a pickleball court for a friendly game. Kennedy, still in jeans, then jumps into the pool and the men share a glass of refreshing whole milk while chilling in the water.

At press time a spokesperson for Rock could not be reached for comment on the video.

Rock is the latest celebrity roped in to help Kennedy sell his MAHA agenda, coming on the heels of an equally eyebrow-raising Super Bowl commercial starring boxer Mike Tyson promoting “real food,” a spot the Huffington Post said felt like an attempt to “fat-shame America.”

Kennedy, who reflected on his decades of recovery from alcohol and substance abuse by boasting to podcaster Theo Von this week that he’s not afraid of germs because “I used to snort cocaine off toilet seats,” recently inverted the traditional food pyramid as part of the Trump administration’s new dietary guidelines. In the new format, nutrient-dense whole foods such as meat and dairy and healthy fats including olive oil and avocado, fruits and vegetables were at the top, while whole grains were pushed to the bottom of the roster.

Coming off his TPUSA show, Rock made a multi-chart entrance for his version of Cody Johnson’s 2022 hit “Til’ You Can’t,” which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart for the survey dated Feb. 21. The song also came in at No. 9 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, No. 14 on Hot Country Songs and No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100. Rock’s version featured updated lyrics with a Christian theme, helping the rapper-turned-rocker-turned-country-singer score his first appearance on the Hot Christian Songs chart.

Everyone’s doing it, so why not Jackson Olson? The popular infielder for the viral Savannah Bananas baseball team is beloved for his fun, silly TikTok videos and now he’s hopping on a trend that is tailor-made for his antics. In a TikTok posted over the weekend, Olson and Party Animals rival Dalton Ponce got their wiggles out by joining in on the Taylor Swift-spawned “Opalite” dance challenge.

In the 30-second clip, Olson and Ponce nail the choreo from Swift’s throwback video for the pop charmer from her The Life of a Showgirl album, perfectly re-creating the jazzy dance moves seen in the song’s official video, which Swift wrote and directed, and co-stars in with The Paper actor Domhnall Gleeson.

The ballers open by doing a side-to-side bend, with Olson smiling as he looks over his shoulder at Ponce and the two men then jumping to face each other and high five as Swift sings about “dancing through the lightning strikes.” They grab hands and push and pull their arms on the field before a smash cut takes them to a ballroom, where they skip forward while holding hands, with Olson making a big show of jumping down off a single step.

“This will be shown in history classes in 30 years,” reads the caption to the video.

The two men continue with their energetic routine as the camera cuts to some fellow Bananas and Animals teammates who don’t seem to be feeling it. As the pair point and dance around each other under a disco ball the scores come in from the judges and, just as in the Swift original, they are… not good. All zeroes, including from Bananas head coach/manager Tyler Gillum.

So far, Swift has released three versions of the video, starting with the original and then, last week, two extended cuts with previously unseen footage and behind-the-scenes Easter eggs. Since then, the fizzy dance challenge has exploded on TikTok, with tons of fans re-creating the clip’s silly dance moves in their kitchens, parking garages, living rooms, Times Square and hospital corridors.

Following the release of the star-studded “Opalite” video, Swift landed in the No. 1 spot on the U.K. Singles Chart dated Feb. 13, giving the singer her sixth U.K. career chart-topper.

The U.K.’s Mercury Prize will return to Newcastle upon Tyne for its upcoming 2026 ceremony. The annual music prize, which recognizes outstanding albums released by U.K. and Irish musicians, will take place at the English city’s Utilita Arena for a second consecutive year on Oct. 22.

Since its inception in 1992, the ceremony was held in London at a variety of venues including the Eventim Apollo and Abbey Road Studios. In 2025, the decision was taken to move the event outside of the English capital for the first time.

The 2025 prize was won by Sam Fender for his third LP, People Watching. Fender, who was born and raised in nearby North Shields and shares a strong bond with the city, was considered a frontrunner for the prize. He saw off competition from Wolf Alice, Pulp, Fontaines D.C. and more to earn the trophy for the first time in his career. Other recent winners include English Teacher (2024), Ezra Collective (2023), Little Simz (2022) and Arlo Parks (2021).

In addition to 2025’s main show, a number of fringe events were held in the city and the North East to bring events and talks to the region. The BPI reports that attendees brought a combined spend of £874,724 ($1,187,599.65 US) and added an estimated £552,868 GVA (gross value added) ($750,686.93 US) to the region.

Following suit, the 2026 BRIT Awards will also be held outside of London for the first-time in its history next Saturday (Feb. 28) at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena. For the past decade, The MOBOs (Music of Black Origin) has travelled through a number of U.K. cities including Newcastle, Leeds, Glasgow and Sheffield. Their 2026 ceremony will also take place at Manchester’s Co-op Live.

“Last year’s Mercury Prize and its brilliant performances and Fringe gave the region a £1.4m economic and cultural boost and the whole of Newcastle came together to give the event a warm, big Geordie hug. We are delighted to see the Prize return to the Toon and to the North-East for what we know will be another memorable occasion for artists and fans,” Dr. Jo Twist OBE, BPI chief executive, and YolanDa Brown OBE, artist and BPI chair said in a joint statement.

They continued, “We thank Newcastle City Council and all our valued partners for their continued collaboration and commitment, and we can’t wait for what is already shaping up to be another fantastic year of British and Irish music.”

Nominees for the prize are traditionally announced in September following the close of the eligibility window at the end of August.

Sia Furler is very much still Australia’s Queen of Spotify, new streaming data confirms.

The superstar pop singer and songwriter this week makes history, by becoming the first artist to twice top the Global Impact List of Australian recording artists. Sia’s “Beautiful People,” her collaboration with David Guetta, comes in at No. 1 on the tally, which is generated from global streams of Aussie acts, but excludes listening in Australia.

The Adelaide-born artist also claimed top spot on the list in 2023 with “Gimme Love.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Parker’s psychedelic pop project Tame Impala makes a strong impression on the latest top 50 with seven songs, all housed by from their fifth studio album, Deadbeat. Four of those songs appear in the top 15, including “Dracula” at No. 2, while and “Loser” at No. 8.

The Kid LAROI is another Australian act with serious international clout on Spotify. The Sydney-raised, Los Angeles-based singer scores seven tracks on the list, a snapshot of the local tracks resonating most strongly with global audiences. Among them, top 10 appearances with “I know love” with Tate McRae (at No. 3) and “A COLD PLAY” at No. 9.

The top tier of Aussie export artists also includes Dom Dolla, Dean Lewis, Rüfüs Du Sol, Royel Otis and Lithe.

“It’s impossible not to feel the impact of Australian music wherever you go, whether that’s in the U.S., Europe, or emerging markets where local artists are finding passionate new fans,” comments Spotify AUNZ head of artist & label partnerships, Leah Harris.

“The data behind Spotify’s Australian Music Global Impact List shows just how borderless music has become,” adds Harris, “and how artists from Australia are connecting with listeners around the world in deeper and more meaningful ways than ever before.”

In 2025, the United States was the top export market for Australian artists on Spotify, followed by the U.K. and Germany, respectively, the streaming giant reports. Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines and France figure among the top 10 export markets for Aussie music, while South Africa (+99%), the Philippines (+64%) and Colombia (+53%) have emerged as the fastest growing export markets over the past three years.

Just last week, Spotify announced it beat forecasts for subscriber and monthly active user growth in the fourth quarter. The business counted 290 million premium subscribers totaled in the final three months of 2025, up by 10% year-on-year, while Monthly Active Users (MAUs) gained 11% to 751 million.

Bad Bunny isn’t done with smashing the history books.

Fresh from his headline performance at Super Bowl LX, Bunny will headline the upcoming edition of Spotify’s Billions Club Live series, to be presented next month in Asia for the first time.

Bunny is booked for a special concert in Tokyo, Japan on March 7, held exclusively for his top listeners in the market.

“Fans in Tokyo can expect a setlist packed with the billion-stream hits that have defined his career,” reads a statement from Spotify.

The one-off date will be the Puerto Rican superstar’s first in Asia, and the streaming giant’s first Billions Club Live in the region. And it’s absolutely not a tour stop, according to the Sweden-based DSP.

The reggaeton giant’s performance is a celebration of his historic run in Spotify’s Billions Club, which has seen 28 of his tracks cross the one billion streams threshold. Spotify users love Bunny; he came in as the No. 1 Global Top Artist in 2025 for an unprecedented fourth time.

Bad Bunny busts records for fun. Following his Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 9, which pulled in 128.2 million viewers, for the fourth-biggest halftime audience in history, the rapper swept the Billboard charts. This week, he lands a record-breaking 29 simultaneous titles on the Hot Latin Songs chart, including the leader with “DtMF” (for a 47th week), while bagging top spot on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.

Also, he monopolizes the top five spots on the Global 200 and the top three on Global Excl. U.S. charts following his Super Bowl LX halftime show performance Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, CA.

Earlier in the month, on Feb. 1, Bunny ‘s DeBí TiRAR MáS FOToS entered the books when it became the first Spanish-language album, and more broadly, the first album not recorded in English, to win album of the year at the Grammy Awards. On the latest ARIA Albums Chart, Australia’s official tally, DeBí TiRAR MáS FOToS gives Bunny his first top 10 appearance, powering 20-4. That easily eclipses its previous best of No. 16 in 2025.

Bunny’s Billions Club Live performance follows shows from Ed Sheeran in Dublin, Miley Cyrus in Paris, and The Weeknd in Los Angeles.