Evan Dando is squeezing a lot of work out of himself and his band the Lemonheads these days.

On Friday (Oct. 24), the group releases Love Chant, its first album of new material in 19 years. It follows the publication earlier this month of Dando’s Rumors of My Demise: A Memoir, and he reports he’s already at work on two more albums, a collection of Townes Van Zandt songs as well as the next Lemonheads set.

“I want to just keep working as much as possible ’cause we had such an extended stay away from doing anything — so why not do lots of things now?” Dando tells Billboard via Zoom from Nashville, where he’s recording the Van Zandt album. “I go through phases and stages — circles and cycles, as Willie Nelson would say. It’s a great feeling,” he continues, touching up a small painting during the discussion. “I have the urge to create like never before.”

Though they’re out during the same month, Dando resists tying the memoir and the album too closely together. Love Chant’s personal (and at times autobiographical) lyrics, he says, “are what I always do,” so he feels the two projects “put the whole story in perspective a bit, but more in a general way.” Nevertheless, Dando continues, “I always dreamt of a time when I’d be putting out, like, two or three things all at once. I remember when Johnny Cash did that, three things at once or something, I thought, ‘yeah, that’s a way to go,’ especially when you’re a little bit older. Why not do a bunch of things at once. That’s really smart.”

Dando, who now resides in Brazil, says Love Chant — produced by Apollo Nove (Bebel Gilberto, Rita Lee, Seu Jorge) at A9 Audio in Sao Paulo — was drawn from a cache of more than 30 songs written during the years since the Lemonheads’ self-titled 2006 album. The Lou Reed-esque “The Key of Victory,” for instance, came from a groove on a tape Dando found of himself playing it for nearly 45 minutes. The buoyant “Cell Phone Blues,” meanwhile, has also been around for a number of years and is described by Dando as “one of those songs that was like a dare — ‘I dare you to put that one out!,’ and it wound up through various things we did in the studio, good enough to make it.” “Roky,” meanwhile, is a homage to the late psychedelic rock hero Roky Erickson that came from a sound check jam after Dando and the Lemonheads learned about Erickson’s death on May 31, 2019.

“I am especially proud of this record. We’ve never had so much fun making a record,” he says.

Ultimately, Dando hopes, “we’ll get a trio (of albums) out of this. I like to work in two- or three-record phases, like the (Rolling) Stones did when they went from Let It Bleed to Beggars Banquet to Sticky Fingers. (Love Chant)’s kind of like my Some Girls; that was their redemption, ’cause that record was so good, and this is the same way ’cause I think we got a bunch of records out of the one session, just like they did.”

As Love Chant comes out, Dando is still promoting Rumors of My Demise, a frank and illuminating account of his eventful life co-written with Jim Ruland. Dando pulled few punches. He addresses his upbringing, the impact of his parents’ divorce, his fascination with Charles Manson, sleepwalking issues, his struggles with pop stardom (and being a particularly good-looking pop star) after the Lemonheads hit it big during the early ‘90s, his battles with the music business and his well-documented drug use and the trainwrecks that caused in his life and career.

The book also delves into his creative process as well as Dando’s Forrest Gump-like relationships with assorted celebrities (Johnny Depp, Kate Moss, Milla Jovovich, Elizabeth Moses and others) and a non-relationship with Courtney Love, despite, Dando writes, her attempts otherwise. Dando was particularly dismayed that onetime Nirvana member Pat Smear, a friend, told him that Kurt Cobain believed Dando and Love had an affair; “‘Oh God,’ I thought, ‘Kurt Cobain went to his death thinking I’d slept with Courtney.’ I wanted to be honest and talk about whatever,” Dando says. “I have a difficult time shutting my mouth, anyway, so the book — why any different? I guess I was always, in the back of my mind, ‘No, don’t hold back. Just say it and worry about the consequences later, and we’ll see what happens.’”

Dando — who married video director Antonia Teixeira last year — has given up hard drugs such as heroin and crack but still imbibes in the occasional marijuana, LSD and mushrooms. “I don’t know if being completely sober is something I ever want to be,” he confesses in Rumors of My Demise — the title a reference to the many rumors about Dando’s death that have surfaced over the years. Despite all the sordid experiences, however, he came away from the book feeling like “the story’s not over yet, which is nice.” And even in his worst years, he adds, he was confident that would be the case.

“In the back of my mind I was always, like, ‘I’m gonna get through this somehow,’” Dando says. “I had a feeling about it, and it did happen. I’ve been lucky that I generally get a lot of good will from people, people doing nice things for me. But I was literally underneath this tsunami of death, fate or whatever, and skipped out of the way just in time. But I knew in my heart, ‘I’m gonna get out of this situation,’ and I did.”

Among his conclusions, Dando claims he’s “not famous anymore” and writes about coming to terms with what he calls the “elder-statesman era” of the Lemonheads.” While he feels he’s “turned into the grunge relic I was always afraid I’d become,” he is unconditional about his gratitude for being able to make music his life’s work — then, and now. “We’ve been around so long that it’s almost like a grudging respect — like the ugly building or the old hooker that just won’t go away, so people have to deal with it,” Dando says. “I love that. It’s a very human quality, this dogged refusal to give up.”

Dando is now jonesing to write more. “I’d like to write a ‘real’ book about something besides myself,” he says — if not fiction than a proposed “field guide to soft drinks” or other music topics. “I called up (the publisher) once, last minute, and was like, ‘Could we change the whole thing? Can I just write about other bands?’ and they were like, ‘Uh…no,’” he recalls with a laugh. “But I wanted to be a writer since I was a teenager, so I hope there’s more.”

Diamonds are still dancing on Drake. The 6 God celebrates his 39th birthday in style on Friday (Oct. 24) with 16 new RIAA certifications, including six diamond plaques.

Among the diamond certifications are Take Care and hits like “Nice for What,” “The Motto” featuring Lil Wayne, “Headlines,” “Passionfruit” and “Nonstop.” The OVO rapper has extended his record with 15 diamond-certified songs.

Other certifications include Drizzy albums such as Views (9x), If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (5x) and For all the Dogs (3x).

Tracks moving up the certification ladder are “Chicago Freestyle” (5x), “Rich Baby Daddy” (3x), “Slime You Out” (2x), “Virginia Beach” (2x), “Hours in Silence” (2x) and “Rich Flex” with 21 Savage (5x).

Earlier this year, Nothing Was the Same‘s “Hold On We’re Going Home” and So Far Gone‘s “Best I Ever Had” entered the diamond club. With 16 plaques on the way, and more to come, it’s safe to say Drake will need more real estate in his trophy room.

Drake’s father, Dennis Graham, posted to Instagram on Friday with a photo presumably from the OVO birthday trip to the Bahamas. “Happy Birthday to my baby boy, what a time to celebrate with the ones you love,” he wrote.

After wrapping up the birthday festivities, all eyes will turn to Drake’s Iceman album’s arrival. Earlier this week, former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel recapped his week on social media while hanging with Drake.

In his caption, the OVO affiliate teased Iceman. “Caught a flight to the Bahamas cause it’s Iceman time and the baccarat tables were calling my name,” he wrote.

Muni Long’s former managers are suing the singer for refusing to pay more than $600,000 worth of promised fees, though the Grammy-winning R&B star’s team calls the claims “unfounded.”

Long (Priscilla Renea Hamilton) is facing breach of contract claims from Ebony Son Entertainment, the Atlanta-based management company run by Chaka Zulu and Jeff Dixon. The duo is best known for managing Ludacris, with whom they started the record label Disturbing Tha Peace in 1998.

Ebony Son claims in a Thursday (Oct. 23) federal court complaint that Zulu and Dixon’s hard work was instrumental to Long’s success, including her win for Best R&B Performance at the Grammy Awards this year. But Long fired her managers in January and now owes hefty commissions from live shows and recording and writing gigs, according to the complaint.

“Defendant Priscilla Renea Hamilton is publicly known as the musical artist ‘Muni Long’ but her less well-known performances are as a serial grifter,” reads the lawsuit. “After taking the benefit of plaintiff’s elite and highly sought-after management services for more than a year, Muni Long shamelessly reneged on her promises to pay plaintiff the agreed-upon, customary percentage of revenue she earned, and only earned because plaintiff assisted in obtaining those engagements.”

Long’s team denies the claims as “unfounded” in a statement to Billboard on Friday (Oct. 24). The team says it’s “deeply unfortunate that the matter could not be resolved privately and professionally,” claiming Long made “good faith” settlement offers even though “no formal contract ever existed” with Ebony Son.

“The situation has been particularly distressing, as it involves the same team that took possession of the artist’s phone and sought to have her involuntarily committed to a mental health facility, despite medical confirmation that she was suffering from a Lupus flare-up,” says Long’s team in the statement. “All appropriate avenues are being pursued to ensure that the truth is fully and fairly defended. The artist hopes this underscores the importance to all those in creative fields to safeguard their personal and professional boundaries and be discerning about those they trust to represent them.”

Zulu and Dixon have been battling with Long in court since July, when the managers first leveled allegations over the unpaid commissions in a California state court complaint. That state court case was withdrawn just days before Ebony Son took the claims to federal court.

Long broke onto the R&B scene in 2022 with her hit single “Hrs and Hrs,” which spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at No. 16 on the chart. She signed with Def Jam Recordings that year, and “Hrs and Hrs” won the Grammy for Best R&B Performance at the 2023 ceremony.

According to Thursday’s lawsuit, Long had her first meeting with Zulu and Dixon at New Orleans’ ESSENCE Festival of Culture in July 2023. During this meeting, the managers say, Long allegedly agreed to pay the duo 20% of all her gross revenue and reimburse all management-related expenses.

Zulu and Dixon say they began putting in work for Long “within days of being hired,” ensuring that her 2024 album Revenge was released before the Grammys cutoff date. This made it possible for Long to win another Best R&B Performance Grammy that year for her song “Made for Me,” the lawsuit claims.

The managers allege Long paid her required commissions and reimbursements for over a year, but that she “purportedly became unhappy” with the amount of the fees and ultimately stopped all payments in October 2024. In January, they say she officially cut ties with Ebony Son.

“Plaintiff, who worked tirelessly to advance Muni Long’s career, [has] secured over $5 million in revenue for defendants to date,” says the complaint. “But as to a significant percentage of this revenue, defendants have failed to pay plaintiff the corresponding commission payments as required by the agreement.”

Zulu and Dixon claim Long owes more than $600,000 worth of commissions and expenses from the money she made via live shows, a $1 million ASCAP publishing deal, songwriting agreements with Shenseea and Tiwa Savage, and features on tracks by Teddy Swims and Toosi.

The lawsuit says Long also owes fees on other sources of revenue that Zulu and Dixon have not yet been able to fully audit, including the money she made opening for Chris Brown on the 11:11 Tour in 2024.

Unrelatedly, Zulu was criminally charged with murder in 2022 for shooting a man during an altercation in Atlanta. The charges were later dropped after prosecutors determined that Zulu was acting in self-defense.