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Fall is here, but that doesn’t mean you have to retire your beloved dresses.

Quite the opposite, actually according to Jessica Simpson. The celeb-run brand just dropped a bunch of new fall offerings including a slew of unique dresses at Walmart that are available to shop now. We scoured through the selection, picking out six that we think are must-haves for the season. We’re talking leopard-printed minis along with florals, bell sleeves and lace-trimmed accents that’ll put your summer dresses to shame.

The best part? Every dress we picked out is under $50, proving you don’t have to break the bank to look and feel good. These styles are great for work, dates or coffee with your girls. No matter which dress you choose, they’ve all got thay coveted Simpson stamp of approval. Keep reading to shop our favorite dresses from Jessica Simpson’s fall line at Walmart.

The Best Fall Jessica Simpson Dresses Under $50 Right Now At Walmart

Jessica Simpson Women’s Velvet Popover Shift Dress 

A leopard-printed dress with short sleeves.


Leopard is just one of those patterns that screams fall. Safe to say you’ll be seeing a lot of this wild design this season. To get on top of the trend, we’d recommend shopping this Jessica Simpson Women’s Velvet Popover Shift Dress for $32.50. Sizing ranges from XS to XL.

The silhouette leans more summer than fall, what with the short sleeves and equally short skirt. However, the leopard print brings us back to cool days with fallen leaves under our boots, sipping a PSL. The pattern is approachable and easier to style because the colorscheme is all neutrals. To really emphasize those fall vibes, we’d likely style this dress with fringy suede boots in black or brown with a dark wash denim jacket layered overtop for warmth and style.

The Best Fall Jessica Simpson Dresses Under $50 Right Now At Walmart

Jessica Simpson Burgundy Lace Fit + Flare Dress

A burgundy dress with lace accents.


Jessica Simpson Burgundy Lace Fit + Flare Dress for $31.92 is a more dramatic option, but one we can see our readers getting a lot of miles out of, especially for formal occasions. The dress is only offered in a single size, size eight, or a medium. The piece sits above-the-knee and comes in a deep burgundy fabric.

It consists of a high neckline that gives way to a keyhole cut-out and dramatic sheer bell sleeves. To break up the monochrome burgundy hue, black lace paneling is affixed to the bodice. Dramatic sheer paneling can be seen throughout. The style is almost gothic or witchy and would look best with a classic black leather stiletto pump. To dress it down, suede ballet flats might do the trick.

The Best Fall Jessica Simpson Dresses Under $50 Right Now At Walmart

Jessica Simpson Women’s Plus Phoebe Maxi Dress

A leopard-printed maxi dress.


Jessica Simpson Women’s Plus Phoebe Maxi Dress for $40 is another leopard number that we think screams fall. This is a plus-size option, with sizing ranging from 2X to 4X. The dress is a maxi length with quarter sleeves that gives way to tie detailing on the front and a flattering tiered skirt. This flowy option can be styled both casually and for formal occasions, a very versatile trait to have for new wardrobe additions.

Wearing this dress to grab coffee with friends or heading out to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect jack-o’-lantern? Low-top sneakers in white or burgundy would look great. Or how about wearing this to Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws? We’d suggest styling the piece with ankle-length bootie or heeled Mary Janes to impress that stubborn monster-in-law.

The Best Fall Jessica Simpson Dresses Under $50 Right Now At Walmart

Jessica Simpson Women’s Leah Ruched Mini Dress with Puff Sleeves

A floral mini dress with puffy sleeves.


Florals aren’t usually the first thing we think of when fall comes around, however this Jessica Simpson Women’s Leah Ruched Mini Dress is an exception. Retailing for $32.50, the dress comes in sizes XS to XL and features a black background with a pink floral pattern throughout. The colorway, despite the flowers, is what makes us think of fall.

The hues are deep and rich (yes even the pink), colors that are best suited for the season. while the dress’ silhouette is rather summery, it can be used as a layering piece under cozy jackets and over tights or worn on it’s own for those unseasonably warm days. Taking a page from Simpson’s style book, we’d wear this dress with knee-high boots in black, alongside a cropped leather jacket and a boho-esque wide-brimmed hat.

The Best Fall Jessica Simpson Dresses Under $50 Right Now At Walmart

Jessica Simpson Women’s Adalle Denim Tiered Short Dress

A black dress with puffed sleeves and a plunging neckline.


Simple and easy to throw on. Those are our favorite kinds of dresses, and this Jessica Simpson Women’s Adalle Denim Tiered Short Dress for $19.81, certainly fits the bill. The dress is another plus size option with sizes 1X through 5X. This piece is a tiered style in black with short but voluminous sleeves, a v-neckline and a bow tie detail fixed to the bodice. The Adalle can be styled numerous ways because it’s so simple, making it a great addition to your closet, especially if you’re experiencing decision fatigue. For a casual moment, we’d wear this dress with sneakers in black or a cream or taupe Chelsea boot.

The Best Fall Jessica Simpson Dresses Under $50 Right Now At Walmart

Jessica Simpson Womens Paisley Short Mini Dress

A paisley-printed dress with bell sleeves.


Paisley print is a classic. The design is timeless and draws the eye. This Jessica Simpson Womens Paisley Short Mini Dress for $32.42 is a great example of paisley print done right. Sizing options for this dress are medium and large. The paisley offering comes with all the makings of a top-notch dress. You’ve got billowing bell sleeves, a subtle but whimsical paisley print, and a relaxed fit that’s just as comfy as sweatpants. Ankle boots of any kind in neutral hues would look great with this dress including Chelsea styles or something with a block or platform heel (Simpson’s favorite).

A new study by MIDiA Research concludes that the link between social media virality and a rise in streams or fandom is more tenuous than some might believe. In a global survey of music discovery habits involving 10,000 participants across various platforms, MIDiA’s latest report — released Tuesday (Sept. 16) — found that “social media is just one part of a wide and diverse discovery ecosystem” and that the landscape of music discovery on social platforms is fragmented. Discovery is not all coming from TikTok.

In fact, the study found that YouTube was the leading source for finding new music, with 52% of participants across a wide range of ages choosing the platform. Streaming services followed, with 40% of participants using them as their main source of music discovery. TikTok trailed at 37%. However, when broken out by age group, MIDiA found “clear demographic divides at the extremes, with younger audiences skewing towards TikTok and older audiences towards radio.”

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MIDiA’s report notes that only 12% of all consumers fit the category of being 16–24-year-olds who say they mainly discover music on TikTok, and that the music industry’s near-singular focus on TikTok marketing is “neglect[ing the other] 88% of the population.” However, it should be noted that 16–24-year-olds are often the most engaged and sought-after age group of fans — and the ones most likely to drive cultural trends.

The report goes on to explain that getting the 16–24 age group to take action after hearing a song on social media is often more challenging than for older groups. “Simply being exposed to music on social media matters little if consumers do not stream the music they hear or, better yet, discover the artists behind it,” the report notes. “After hearing music on social media, consumers aged 16–24 are less likely than 25–34-year-olds to take almost every step.”

Here is a breakdown of what MIDiA calls “The Discovery Funnel,” moving from the top (easier next steps) to the bottom (more intensive next steps). It measures what actions consumers took after hearing music on social media in the past month, by age group:

See who the song is by:

  • 16-24: 51%
  • 25-34: 58%
  • 35-54: 52%

Save on social:

  • 16-24: 43%
  • 25-34: 42%
  • 35-54: 30%

Save on streaming:

  • 16-24: 31%
  • 25-34: 36%
  • 35-54: 28%

Stream song, but not artist

  • 16%
  • 17%
  • 14%

Stream song and more of artist:

  • 33%
  • 40%
  • 37%

Become a fan:

  • 26%
  • 28%
  • 23%

Become a superfan:

  • 9%
  • 9%
  • 7%

MIDiA further points out that “song-to-artist discovery is a weak link,” noting that “almost half of consumers (48%) did not stream music they heard on social media in the last month and fewer than a third became fans.”

Another challenge for those pushing music on TikTok in hopes of off-platform success: the report finds that only 33% of consumers have ever used its most popular features, such as “Add to music app.” Participants in the 16–24 age bracket are less likely than 25–34-year-olds to have used any of TikTok’s music features (e.g., add to music app, share, presave, TikTok Shop for merch, in-app artist experiences, fan spotlight and more). Specifically for “Add to music app,” which is the central link between TikTok song discovery and off-platform listening, only 30% of 16–24-year-olds had used it, compared to 38% of 25–34-year-olds.

“When TikTok users discover artists, they are more interested in following their content than in listening to their music on streaming platforms. TikTok is driving more TikTok consumption rather than streaming consumption,” the report notes, adding that close to three-quarters of users who follow artists on TikTok do not explore the artist’s music off platform.

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There may also be a link between frequent music exposure on social media and a listener’s disinterest in finding the song again on streaming platforms, where artists earn significantly higher royalties. MIDiA found that 28% of 16–24-year-olds (compared to 24% of all consumers) say they “hear [a given song] enough on social media,” and 22% of 16–24-year-olds (compared to 18% of overall consumers) say they “hear too much music on social media,” which keeps them from going to streaming services.

In an attention economy, where consumers have finite time to spend listening to music as well as pursuing other entertainment options, it’s also troubling that 18% of users of all ages say that they do not want to stream a song they hear on social media because they “do not want to interrupt [their] social media session.” MIDiA concludes that the funnel from “social to streaming is not only breaking but actively driving activity back to the social platforms, often in competition with streaming.”

Still, despite the challenges of converting social media users into real fans, not all discovery is happening on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Forty percent of all consumers say that streaming services themselves remain their main place to find new music — the second most common choice behind YouTube (52%). Within the streaming platform, artists not only get paid more for streams than on social media platforms, they also have a chance to sell merchandise or concert tickets for additional cash.

Laura Pausini will be recognized with the Billboard Icon Award at the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Billboard and Telemundo announced on Tuesday (Sept. 16) in a press release. The Italian superstar will also perform during the ceremony, which will be broadcast live from Miami on Thursday, Oct. 23.

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The Billboard Icon Award honors artists whose careers have not only remained relevant over the years, but also also those who have established themselves as some of the most distinguished artists in their genres, celebrated globally for achieving both musical and commercial success.

With over 75 million records sold and 6 billion digital streams throughout her more than 30-year career, Pausini is the most internationally recognized Italian voice and a global pop icon. Among other recent achievements, last November she earned her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 with a version of her 1990s hit “Se Fue” featuring Rauw Alejandro. In 2023, she was honored as the Latin Recording Academy’s Person of the Year.

Her latest release is a take of Gianluca Grignani’s classic “Mi Historia Entre Tus Dedos,” the first single of her upcoming covers album Yo Canto 2, while she recently announced a new world tour for 2026. Additionally, Pausini will participate in Billboard Latin Music Week in a highly anticipated “Icon Q&A” session.

“What excites me most is that this recognition comes in a year when, even before knowing I would receive it, I had already decided to release a tribute album to the great singer-songwriters of Spain and Latin America,” Pausini said in a press release. “For the first time, I’m singing and arranging songs that are not my own or in my style, but that I interpret with my own signature, as a tribute to that emblematic repertoire of our music. And then this news arrives, just as I think: all my voice and all my heart belong to Latin music. It feels like a spark, like love at first sight… a true gift.”

Broadcasted live from the James L. Knight Center in Miami, the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards will air on Telemundo on Thursday, Oct. 23, at 8 p.m. ET. Fans will also be able to watch the show live via the Telemundo app, Peacock, and Telemundo Internacional across Latin America and the Caribbean. Tickets to attend the event will be available soon.

This year, Bad Bunny leads the list of finalists with a record-breaking 27 entries, followed by Fuerza Regida with 15 mentions and Rauw Alejandro with 14. Leading the female artists is Karol G with 10 mentions, matching those of rising regional Mexican artist Tito Double P who also has 10, while Peso Pluma is a nine-time finalist.

Produced by Telemundo and MBS Special Events, the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards coincide with Billboard Latin Music Week, which returns to Miami Beach Oct. 20-24 with a roster of star speakers also including Kali Uchis, Daddy Yankee, Xavi, Ozuna and many more. Get your tickets today for the Billboard Latin Music Week 2025 here.

As mainstream interest in the catalog investment market grows and investors look for opportunities outside of traditional Western pop and rock, the runaway success of Netflix’s Kpop Demon Hunters — which has four songs in the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 — has helped spur interest in K-pop catalogs.

The K-pop catalog market out of South Korea functions differently than that of the United States, however. So, Billboard asked Jinwoo Jo, CEO of South Korean investment firm Beyond Music — which has built one of the largest collections of Korean and Asian popular music, including megahits from BTS and BLACKPINK — to share his perspective on the current marketplace and some of the institutional wisdom that Beyond has learned over its four-year history.

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Founded in 2021, Beyond has invested around $250 million to acquire more than 35,000 songs, making it far larger than other Asian catalog investment firms and putting its portfolio alongside U.S.-based HarbourView Equity Partners in terms of number of songs in its portfolio.

“We are like a specialized asset management company,” says Jinwoo, whose firm has reportedly raised more than $400 million from Korean private equity and institutional investors including Pax Capital and KB Securities. “We try to focus on what we are good at, which is K-pop.”

This year the Seoul-based firm acquired publishing rights from the independent K-pop songwriter and producer Bekuh Boom, including to BLACKPINK hits “Kill This Love” and “Ice Cream,” as well as a stake in BTS’ monster hit “Butter.”  Beyond also has an extensive library of older Asian classics from groups like Panic and Kim Sung Jae, and it recently expanded into the Latin market with the acquisition of Yandel. 

Here are three takeaways from Billboard’s conversation with Jinwoo.

Struggling Korean management companies are looking to sell catalogs.  

Jinwoo says Korea’s music management industry is going through a changing of the guard with much leadership and artist roster turnover, and several companies are looking for ways to shore up their finances. 

For management firms that are struggling financially, Beyond Music offers a way to liquidate part of their catalog and reinvest in their company.

“It’s pretty much like an industry-wide issue at this point,” he says. “It’s a winner-takes-all situation. If you don’t have a BTS or a BLACKPINK, what are you going to do? The long tail of those management companies has a pretty significant existential issue. We are a liquidity and solution provider to them.”

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Although Korean management companies are structured like one-stop shops with songwriters on staff, Jinwoo says acquisitions happen nearly the same way they do with Western music companies. Beyond negotiates with the songwriters to acquire publishing rights and the company to acquire masters. He says the primary difference is that, because the catalog investment market is nascent in Korea, getting a Korean songwriter to sell their rights “requires much more [and] deeper trust, handholding and a greater sensitivity to cultural nuances.”

Name, image and likeness rights, which Pophouse used to create the ABBA Voyage virtual concert in London, and that Primary Wave used to make Nirvana merchandise like heart shaped boxes and special edition Converse shoes, do not exist in South Korea.

Beyond’s catalog is comprised mostly of publishing rights and master recordings, and while it has explored name, image and likeness deals with the catalogs it holds from outside of South Korea, Korean law is still evolving around the right to one’s image as it relates to music.

Beyond generates returns in other ways, including through synch placements in Korean dramas, films and advertisements. One recent success came from the Japanese beer company Asahi Super Dry, which used BLACKPINK’s “Kill This Love” in a global ad campaign — a deal Beyond timed to coincide with the girl group’s most recent world tour.  

The company also collaborates with social media influencers.

“First thing every morning, we look at our internal data system, and it will show that [for example] 78 songs moved very dramatically over the last 48 hours,” Jinwoo says. “We try to figure out why, and maybe it is because an Indonesian TikToker used our song in a dance challenge in Jakarta for the last two weeks. So, we will contact her and say we have 25 more songs and are willing to invest $10,000 in an event to make it bigger and encourage her to do to more frequent dance challenges.”

While the recency of K-pop megahits makes forecasting potential revenue generation less predictable, Beyond says it has been more surprised by a pop in streaming revenue from Korean classics.

Jinwoo says Beyond’s strategy focuses on owning and working both new K-pop hits and older Korean and Asian evergreen songs, and the revenue generating trajectory of the latter category has been surprising.

Many of the K-pop hits in Beyond’s catalog are less than seven years old and still enjoying current popularity that is boosting their streams. Managing the decline of those songs’ popularity through synchs is a top priority, Jinwoo says.

“We believe, from our experience, actually, you can slow down the decay curve and somewhat defy gravity,” he says. “Not all the time, but most of the time.”

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What’s surprising, he adds, is that vintage songs in Beyond’s library have seen streaming jumps in recent months. Company analysts are still working out why, but Jinwoo says he thinks it’s due to many of these catalogs recently becoming available on streaming platforms. Korean management companies and artists have lagged Western markets in putting older songs on streaming platforms, he says.

“Many songs in our catalog older than 10 years old are starting to grow. It’s a big kind of a structured tailwind story for us.”

Starting a new gig is always a bit nerve-wracking. But imagine walking into the office in front of 900 people who are freaking out to see how the “new guy” is going to do his job. That was the situation drummer Ilan Rubin faced on Saturday night (Sept. 13) when he made his live debut as the new Foo Fighters timekeeper at a way-underplay, all-ages gig at the 900-capacity Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

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Rubin, who, until recently, was the live drummer for Nine Inch Nails, joined the band for their first live show of 2025, taking over for studio and live veteran Josh Freese, who kept the seat warm for two years following the death of beloved Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022; in an unusual bit of rock portal transfer action, Freese is now keeping time in NIN. While Rubin didn’t say much in advance of the show, he took to Instagram on Monday (Sept. 15) to rave about his new gig.

“Last night with @foofighters could not have been a better time,” Rubin wrote in the post that featured some pics from the sweaty, tight-quarters concert that was way more intimate than the arenas and stadiums the Foos are used to. “After keeping my head down for a couple wild months and throwing myself into the material, that first show was such an incredible release of energy.”

In addition to live shots, the carousel also featured a snap of the band’s new lineup, with Rubin pictured hanging out backstage with singer/guitarist Dave Grohl, guitarists Pat Smear and Chris Shiflett, bassist Nate Mendel and keyboard player Rami Jaffee.

“I’ve been taken aback by all the positivity and support, and I just wanted to say thanks! Excited for all the volume and sweat that lies ahead,” Rubin added.

During the show, Grohl introduced the band’s drummer to the crowd by saying, “Everybody else has said it, I finally get the opportunity to say, ladies and gentlemen, will you please welcome, the most badass motherf–ker, Ilan Rubin, is playing drums in the Foo Fighters. It’s official.” The Foos also officially invited Rubin into the fold in an Instagram carousel featuring pics from their first show together with the caption, “THAT WAS FUN!!! Welcome @ilanrubin.”

The band played another club show on Monday night at the Observatory in Santa Ana, Calif. The Foos released their 11th studio album, But Here We Are album in 2023, a year after Hawkins’ shock death, and in July they celebrated their 30th anniversary with the new single, “Today’s Song.”

The band that’s been off the road since September 2024 is set to return to the stage with upcoming shows in Indonesia (Oct. 2), Singapore (Oct. 4), Japan (Oct. 7, 8, 10) and Mexico City (Nov. 14).


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Elton John has always had a keen eye for things that sparkle. The piano pop legend is a sucker for things that go bling, but his latest pieces are not for the faint of heart. In a new documentary short called Elton John — Touched by Gold, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer describes the “timeless” nature of gold, which can be simple, ravishing, decorative, or even overwhelming.

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And, if you’re someone whose life is gilded from top-to-bottom, with gold records and countless golden awards, it’s a precious metal that can come to define your life. “It’s been there since the world began and it’s been used in all sorts of ways,” John says in the doc in which he chronicles his history with the precious metal.

Which is why it should come as no surprise when, halfway through the short film, John reveals that he’s turned one of his most painful moments into gleaming keepsake jewelry.

“When I had my kneecaps removed, the left one first and then the right, I asked my surgeon if I could keep the kneecaps, which he was rather startled about,” John tells London jewelry designer Theo Fennell. “Then I rang you and said, ‘Would you be prepared to, if I gave you the left and the right kneecap to do what you want with them?’”

Fennell totally got the assignment and shows off a piece of jewelry he created with a fragment of the kneecap bone that he turned into a necklace. “We baked them. We had to bake them to dry them out,” says Fennell. “Then they get rather like pumice stone, they’re very porous. So we had to paint them with acetate and then just polish them up.”

Fennell sys he was very happy with the results, holding up the shiny necklace to the camera as John professes to be pleased with the unusually beautiful result. “That is amazing,” he says as Fennell twirls the finished piece. “That one, that’s the right kneecap. That’s my right patella.”

John, 78, says that his surgeon told him that he had “the worst knees he’s ever operated on,” pointing to a large hole in the piece that Fennell used to loop the necklace through. “It looks like an old artifact from Egypt or something,” John says of the necklace Fennell refers to as “talismanic.”

“I love doing things that, in a thousand years, this will be, as it says here, this will be Elton John’s kneecap,” says Fennell. “How many people will believe that? I don’t know.” The necklace chain was crafted out of bones and the back of the charm features a phrase in Latin that reads “I will no longer bow to any man,” which is ironic, Fennell says, because, of course now John can’t bow to anyone with his kneecaps missing.

Fennell turned the smaller left kneecap into a brooch because there was less material to work with. “I honestly think these are timeless pieces that will last for centuries,” John says.

John chronicled his litany of health issues during a chat at the New York Film Festival last year to promote the U.S. premiere of his Elton John: Never Too Late documentary. “To be honest with you, there’s not much of me left,” he said at the time. “I don’t have tonsils, adenoids or an appendix. I don’t have a prostate. I don’t have a right hip or a left knee or a right knee. In fact, the only thing left to me is my left hip. But I’m still here.”

Watch Elton John — Touched By Gold below.


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Riley Green, fresh off receiving four CMA Award nominations last week, is already looking ahead to 2026 with his Cowboy As It Gets tour.

The 20-date outing, produced by Live Nation, will kick off April 16 at Southaven, Mississippi’s Landers Center and conclude at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Fork, North Dakota, on Aug. 22. It will include his first time headlining Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

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Before the Boot Barn-sponsored tour starts, Green expects to have new music out. “We’re going to go into the studio this fall and probably release new music between now and then and then try to have the whole album out around the time the tour starts,” he tells Billboard, calling from London where he was playing three sold-out shows at the O2 Forum Kentish Town.

Green likes releasing new music around the launch of a tour because it’s “so great to be able to play the songs on the road and see what songs raise their hands” as potential singles, he says. “That’s what happened with ‘Worst Way.’ [Fans] will let you know if it’s one they like. They’ll sing it louder than the others.”

The singer’s current Damn Country Music tour resumes Stateside on Sept. 26 and lasts until Dec. 13, stopping with two dates at Resorts World in Las Vegas.

Just as the current tour takes its name from a song, the 2026 outing gets its name from a tune off the recently released deluxe version of Don’t Mind If I Do. “I love the sentiment of that song, and it’s kind of a little bit of an anthemic theme to people that grew up similar to me,” he says. “We didn’t have a lot of real cowboying going on where I was at. It was just people that I thought were tough or worked with their hands. Those qualities kind of was what made someone a cowboy to me when I was a kid. That was before I wrote the song about my dad, so that’s a pretty good sentiment for a tour name.”

As he’s become an arena headliner, it’s meant returning to many venues he first played as a support act, but this time as the main draw. “It’s really awesome,” he says. “I think [moving to arenas] probably means more to me than a lot of steps in my career just because arenas are the perfect-size venue. I’ve been fortunate to be able to go on tour with a lot of great artists. I did stadiums with Luke Combs, and that was a really great opportunity. But there’s something about a stadium — it’s so big and there’s so many people that seem like they’re miles away from you. I love that an arena can kind of somewhat still feel like an intimate setting. There’s no bad ticket in an arena so that’s a lot of fun for me.”

The tour will have six artists rotating as opening acts, with three appearing on each date: Justin Moore, Drake White, Mackenzie Carpenter, Hannah McFarland, Adam Hood and Zach John King.

Green picks his openers for a variety of reasons, but lately he’s been saving a primary support spot for an act that influenced him in some way, such as Tracy Lawrence or Jamey Johnson, who will open for him on the last leg of the Damn Country Music tour.

Moore fits that slot on the 2026 tour. “I was a huge Justin Moore fan as a kid. I’ve still got a picture of me at meet and greet where he opened for Eric Church when I was about 23,” Green says. “And it’s just so cool to be able to go out on the road with him and hear him play all of his hits and maybe even introduce him to some of my fans.”

The artist presale for tickets for the Cowboy As It Gets tour  start today (Sept. 16), with general tickets going on sale on Friday (Sept. 19) through RileyGreenMusic.com/tour.

Cowboy As It Gets Tour Dates:

April 16 – Southaven, MS – Landers Center#~$
April 17 – Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center#~$ *ON SALE 10/3
April 18 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena#~$
May 7 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion#~•
May 8 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre#~•
June 18 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center#~•
June 19 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Broadview Stage at SPAC#~•
June 20 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater#~•
June 25 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center#$*
June 26 – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake#$*
July 16 – Green Bay, WI – Resch Center#~•
July 23 – Salt Lake City, UT – Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre#~•
Aug. 6 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater#/•
Aug. 7 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center#/•
Aug. 8 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live#/•
Aug. 13 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion#/•
Aug. 14 – Hartford, CT – The XFINITY Theatre#/•
Aug. 15 – Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheatre#/•
Aug. 21 – Sioux Falls, SD – Denny Sanford#$*
Aug. 22 – Grand Forks, ND – Ralph Engelstad Arena#$*

#Justin Moore
~Drake White
$Mackenzie Carpenter
•Hannah McFarland
*Adam Hood
/Zach John King

Judas Priest have long been opening their shows with a cover of Black Sabbath‘s iconic 1970 single “War Pigs.” The gesture of love toward one of heavy metal’s founding fathers was taking place before singer Ozzy Osbourne died on July 22 at age 76, and to hear Priest singer Rob Halford tell it, it will continue long after as well.

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“She [Ozzy’s wife/manager Sharon Osbourne] approached me with this idea, she said, ‘I love your version of War Pigs. Is there a way we can get Ozzy?’ I was [like], ‘You’re asking me? This is gonna happen!,’” Halford told the Full Metal Jackie podcast this week.

Halford said the band is currently going through the legal channels to clear the song, which he described as, “Ozzy singing a line and then I’m singing a line and Ozzy’s singing a line and I’m singing a line. It’s the first ever time in my entire life that I’ve been able to do a duet with Ozzy and I’m so eternally grateful and blessed that I was able to do that. When you hear it, it’s just colossal. You think that you’ve heard the one experience of Priest’s ‘War Pigs,’ but when you hear Priest’s ‘War Pigs’ with Ozzy singing on that track, it’s just going to a really special place.”

Though no release date has been announced yet, Halford said “the green button’s almost ready to go,” with the artwork being finalized. “But I think it’s gonna be pretty soon,” he said.

Halford has spoken about how gutted he was to miss the final Ozzy show because Priest was double-booked to perform with the Scorpions in Germany on the day of the all-star Back to the Beginning gig in Birmingham on July 5 that marked Osbourne’s final live performance; the band released a live version of Sabbath’s anti-war anthem prior to the Back to the Beginning show.

He recently described learning about Osbourne’s death and the emotional impact it had on him. “I just put the phone down in my hotel room… and I just curled up in a ball and bawled my eyes out for hours,” Halford, 74, said.

But Halford is also keen to keep a diamond in his mind about the metal god who meant so much to him, describing to Jackie who Osbourne was off-stage as well. He said that despite his Prince of Darkness public persona, Ozzy, “represented this other side of him that you didn’t see onstage, which is… He gave everything onstage. When he walked out on the stage, he was always beaming, you know? He loved his fans with such an extraordinary passion, but that existed offstage as well.” He said whenever he saw Ozzy at one of his shows the first question he would ask was “‘Did you have a good time? Did you enjoy yourself? Was it great?’”

Listen to Halford on Full Metal Jackie here (“War Pigs” talk begins at 6:13 mark).


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Bang Si-hyuk, the creative force behind BTS and chairman of K-pop powerhouse HYBE, appeared before the Financial Crimes Investigation Unit of the Korean National Police Agency on Monday (Sept. 15), marking a major development in his first-ever investigation by authorities.

Bang is suspected of deceiving investors in 2019 by claiming he had no plans to hold an IPO for HYBE, before allegedly inducing them to sell their shares in the company to a private equity fund associated with him. After HYBE went public, the fund reportedly cashed out. Under a pre-arranged shareholders’ agreement, Bang received 30% of the profits — around 190 billion KRW (approximately $13.7 million) — in what police describe as unjust gains. Bang’s representatives have flatly denied the allegations, insisting that no false information was given to early investors and that the profit-sharing terms were proposed by the investors themselves.

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The current fraudulent trading allegations began in 2024, with police receiving intelligence on the case late last year before launching an investigation. In late July, police raided HYBE’s headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, and chairman Bang returned to South Korea on Aug. 11, where he has remained since.

Speaking briefly with reporters outside the agency on Monday, Bang apologized for “causing concern” about the matter, adding, “I will fully cooperate with the investigation today.”

Before his return to the U.S., Bang sent an internal company email stating: “I am fully aware that I cannot allow my personal issues to continue burdening the company and the industry. I will continue to cooperate sincerely with the ongoing investigation and provide a thorough account once again. I hope that this process will clarify the facts, and I will humbly await the authorities’ judgment.”

On the day Chairman Bang was summoned by police, HYBE’s stock closed at 286,500 KRW (approx. $206), down 5,500 KRW from the previous day, showing little significant fluctuation. It still boasts the highest stock price among K-pop entertainment companies, surpassing SM Entertainment’s stock price (141,600 KRW) by more than twofold. HYBE reached its all-time high of 421,500 KRW (approx. $300) on November 16, 2021.

Founded as Big Hit Entertainment, the agency behind BTS, HYBE now operates under a multi-label system. Its roster includes leading groups such as SEVENTEEN, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, and ENHYPEN, as well as NewJeans, which is currently embroiled in a legal dispute over its exclusive contract.

Meanwhile, many Korean media outlets and members of the public focused on Chairman Bang’s noticeably slimmer appearance as he stood before the photo line, showing keen interest in his first police questioning.


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Jack is back, this time as the hero of his own musical.

The 40th anniversary of John Farnham’s record-smashing 1986 album Whispering Jack will be celebrated with a new musical.

Produced by Michael Cassel and Gaynor Wheatley, Whispering Jack: The John Farnham Musical will go behind the scenes of the five years that defined the Australian artist’s transformation from a broke former teen idol to the voice of his generation.  

The project will enjoy its world premiere at Sydney Theatre Company in November 2026.

At its heart, reads a statement, is the story of the people who stood beside him: Jill Farnham, his wife and “pillar of strength,” and Glenn Wheatley, his manager and friend “who risked everything to make the dream a reality”.

With Whispering Jack, Farnham became a homegrown superstar.  The Sony Music release spent 25 weeks at No. 1, en route to shifting more than one million copies, becoming the first domestic LP to do so. It remains the highest-selling album ever in Australia by a local talent.

Powering Whispering Jack is Farnham’s signature song, “You’re The Voice,” a top 10 hit in the U.K. and, four decades on, the unofficial anthem of Australia.  

The musical is written by Jack Yabsley, directed by Mitchell Butel, and will be soundtracked by Farnham’s greatest hits alongside classics of the era.

“Musicals have always held a very special place in my heart as it’s where I met Jill,” Farnham comments in a statement. “To see this part of my story brought to life on stage is an adventure that might just require you strapping on your seatbelt! For me it has always been about the songs. From ‘Sadie’ to ‘You’re the Voice,’ I am forever grateful for both these songs and the people who connect with my music.”

Those quotes, although delivered by email, will feel like some relief for Farnham’s many fans. The legendary, ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted singer faced his toughest comeback yet, when he underwent major surgery to remove a cancerous growth in August 2022. Since then, he has made only a handful of rare public appearances, and last October was heard for the first time in more than two years in an audiobook excerpt for his memoir.

The forthcoming musical follows the 2023 release of John Farnham: Finding the Voice, which became the all-time highest-grossing Australian music documentary in these parts.

Whispering Jack isn’t just an album, it’s part of the fabric of this country,” comments Gaynor Wheatley. “Glenn believed in John when others didn’t, and together with Jill, we risked everything to make it happen. To now see that story come alive on stage, with all of its heart, humor, and grit, produced with Michael Cassel and this magnificent creative team, is deeply personal and incredibly exciting. John’s legacy deserves nothing less than this kind of theatrical celebration.”

General Public single ticket on-sale details will be announced at a later date. Visit sydneytheatre.com.au for more.