Tool singer Maynard James Keenan made the political personal over the weekend when he posted a lengthy Instagram message in support of his one-time West Point Academy classmate General Randy George after the four-star general was forced to take immediate retirement by Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth for reasons so far not revealed.

The decorated Army Chief of Staff was ousted in the middle of Donald Trump’s grinding air war in Iran, shocking many military observers, including one who told Axios that such an action in the midst of a potentially historic conflict was “insane.”

Keenan posted images from his time at West Point of himself with George — who had just one year left in his term — and wrote of their time together at the distinguished military academy that has turned out Army officers for more than 224 years. “A few thoughts on my old friend, General Randy George,” wrote Keenan, who explained that as long as he could remember, he’d wanted to be some kind of artist, but after high school the “reality of tuition” set in so he had to figure out another path to his dream.

“My family were living on a teachers salary. Not much left over after bills. Grants and student loans weren’t going to cover it. So I joined the Army to take advantage of the Army College Fund. And as it turns out, I excelled in the military. Not what I was expecting,” Keenan wrote of the time in the early 1980s when he was figuring out his path. “I was awarded Distinguished Graduate from both basic and advanced training. Then after many many rounds of testing I was chosen to attend U.S.M.A.P.S. and to apply to the U.S. Military Academy, West Point. As you can imagine most of my classmate at West Point Prep were there with a singular mission. To be a West Point graduate and serve in our military. Focus, drive, a plan, and zero compromise. I, on the other hand, was one of the few with doubts and inner conflict.”

But when the time came to make a decision, he declined an appointment, which, he said, many around him at West Point at the time, saw as a “huge mistake. But a handful were very supportive. They knew me well enough to respect that decision. One of those supportive classmates was my Cross Country teammate, Randy George.”

Keenan noted that George went on to a distinguished military career, rising to the rank of four-star general and U.S. Army Chief of Staff. “He was approaching his 40th year of service. I can’t even imagine how disappointed and upset he must feel for having been ‘asked’ to retire early,” Keenan said. “So I’m just here to return that favor of support. We’re here for you, Randy. Might be time for a beer or three. See you soon.”

According to Reuters, the Pentagon confirmed George’s early retirement, but gave no reason for his ouster at a time when thousands of soldiers from the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division are making their way to the Middle East for possible ground operations in Iran. Though there were reportedly no outward signs of friction between Hegseth and George, the move was the latest in a string of more than a dozen firings of senior military officers carried out by the former Fox & Friends Weekend host over the past year.

In an outgoing email following his shock ouster, George told Pentagon officials that U.S. soldiers deserve “courageous leaders of character,” according to CBS News. “I know you’ll all continue to stay laser-focused on the mission, continue innovating, and relentlessly cut through the bureaucracy to get our warfighters what they need to win on the modern battlefield,” George wrote. “Our soldiers are truly the best in the world – they deserve tough training and courageous leaders of character. I have no doubt you will all continue to lead with courage, character, and grit.”

“Time,” the new single from pop singer-songwriter Sofia D’Angelo, tops this week’s fan-voted music poll.

Listeners voted in a poll published Friday (April 3) on Billboard, choosing the artist’s latest song — a solo release outside of her group MICHELLE — as their favorite new release of the week.

“Time” ticked ahead other new releases in a week that also saw new music streaming in from actress Anne Hathaway, Jack White (who appeared as musical guest on SNL Saturday night), Arlo Park, floweroflove and more. At the poll’s closing time on Sunday, D’Angelo clocked out with more than 69% of the vote.

A New York native and longtime performer, D’Angelo released “Time” alongside a nostalgia-driven music video this week. The visual, filmed at a Bushwick bar, is a flash forward to an aged version of the singer-songwriter — who still has the spirit of her early 20s heyday within.

“Every seven years or so, even Grandma needs a good time,” she quips in the clip, directed by Steph Rinzler. D’Angelo is credited as executive producer, with Anahita von Andrian-Werburg as producer and Natalie Williams as associate producer.

“Just gotta work with what you got,” she sings on the track. “At the end of everything/ Will I remember 23?/ If I survive I’ll know/ If time was on my side.”

Among the new releases trailing behind “Time” are Anne Hathaway’s “My Mouth Is Lonely for You” from her upcoming film Mother Mary, with 16% of the vote, and Jack White’s pre-SNL surprise “G.O.D. and the Broken Ribs,” with 4% of the vote.

See the final results of this week’s poll below.

Guns N’ Roses unearthed a deep cut during their recent South American tour stop.

While headlining Monsters of Rock Brazil at São Paulo’s Allianz Parque on Saturday (April 5), the rock icons performed the Use Your Illusion I track “Bad Apples” live for the first time in 35 years.

This marks only the second live performance of the song, which they debuted at Brazil’s Rock in Rio in 1991, according to Rolling Stone. Slash has also revisited the gritty track with his side band Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators.

Saturday’s show also featured the rarely heard “Dead Horse,” from Use Your Illusion I, as well as Appetite for Destruction’s “Rocket Queen.”

During an interview earlier this year with Las Vegas radio station KOMP 92.3, Slash promised that Guns N’ Roses would play both new and old songs on their 2026 world tour, which launched March 28 at the Tecate Pa’l Norte festival in Monterrey, Mexico. That opening show featured the live debuts of last December’s “Atlas” and “Nothin’,” the first new songs from GNR since their 2023 one-off singles “The General” and “Perhaps.”

During the interview, the famed guitarist also teased that GNR may be releasing new material in the near future: a possible collection of older tracks the band has been slowly releasing over the past few years, as well as the long-awaited follow-up to 2008’s Chinese Democracy.

“I think in this instance it’s what we’re doing, because we only re-recorded those songs — like a couple of songs here, a couple of songs there. These were the last two that are left to do, and we actually did them not even back to back,” Slash said of “Nothin’” and “Atlas.”

“And then there’s really no more of that sort of old rehash stuff to release,” the musician added of the vault-clearing. “But I think what we’re gonna do, we’re gonna take all those songs and put them on something and release that as a package. And then the next record that we’re gonna do is gonna be all new original stuff, and that’ll be an actual album.”

Guns N’ Roses’ next performance is scheduled for April 7 in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil, followed by several more Brazilian stops before heading to Florida in late April.

Jack White may shred like a pro, but he hilariously forgets his solo mid-performance in a sketch on Saturday Night Live.

During the Jack Black–hosted episode on April 4, the Detroit rocker appeared in the pre-recorded sketch “Words to Live By (Country Song),” where a group of men sing about wise advice they’ve been given —only to suddenly forget it.

The nearly five-minute clip opens with a mullet-sporting James Austin Johnson trying to recollect the words his father imparted on his deathbed, then shifts to Black, wearing a cowboy hat and wielding an acoustic guitar, attempting to recall wisdom from a sage in a Tibetan cave.

Toward the end of the sketch, Black says, “Jack White, hit ’em with a guitar solo,” as the scene cuts to White — dressed in all black with a black cowboy hat — appearing on a majestic snow-capped mountain with an eagle soaring past him, as he rips into a country-tinged solo.

“Wait, wait,” White says as he stumbles through the rest of the solo. “I forgot it. I forgot the f—king solo.”

Elsewhere in the episode, White performed new songs “Derecho Demonico” and “G.O.D. And The Broken Ribs” as the musical guest. He also joined a surprise rendition of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” during the opening monologue, alongside Black and several returning members of the show’s Five-Timers Club, including Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, Candice Bergen and Melissa McCarthy.

The episode marked Black’s fifth time hosting and White’s sixth appearance as musical guest, including his SNL debut with the White Stripes in 2002.

Check out Jack White’s cameo in SNL‘s “Words to Live By (Country Song)” below.

Pepsi is withdrawing its sponsorship of London’s Wireless Festival following criticism over the event’s decision to book Ye.

The food and beverage giant had served as the festival’s main sponsor for a decade but is now stepping away amid backlash over Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) being announced as the headliner for all three nights.

“Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival,” a Pepsi spokesperson told Billboard on Sunday (April 5).

The London festival had been branded “Pepsi MAX Presents Wireless” as part of a partnership in place since 2015.

This year’s Wireless is scheduled for July 10–12 at Finsbury Park in London. West previously headlined the event in 2014.

Pepsi’s withdrawal came hours after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned organizers for booking the embattled rap star.

“It is deeply concerning that Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism,” Starmer said, according to The Guardian.

“Antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted clearly and firmly wherever it appears. Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe and secure.”

Ye has faced repeated criticism in recent years for antisemitic statements and actions, including releasing a song titled “Heil Hitler,” selling T-shirts bearing swastikas and publicly expressing admiration for Nazi ideology. In January, he took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal apologizing for his repeated incidents of hate speech, claiming that his 2022 car crash caused brain damage that led to mental health issues.

Starmer was not the only political figure to speak out. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement to Complex, “We are clear that the past comments and actions of this artist are offensive and wrong, and are simply not reflective of London’s values. This was a decision taken by the festival organizers and not one that City Hall is involved in.”

The Jewish Leadership Council also issued a statement condemning the festival’s decision to book Ye.

“It is deeply irresponsible for Wireless festival to be headlining Kanye West,” a spokesperson for the Council told The Guardian. “The UK Jewish community is facing record levels of antisemitism, including a terrorist attack in Manchester, the attack on ambulances in Golders Green and foiled plots which would have killed many more.”

The Chicago native released his 12th studio album, Bully, on March 28, marking his first solo project since 2022’s Donda 2. Ye recently returned to the stage in the U.S. in support of the album, performing a pair of shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles after opening 2026 with a performance in Mexico City.

West is next scheduled to perform at RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia, Italy, on July 18, shortly after his planned Wireless Festival appearance.