As actor Chris Hemsworth prepares to share his story of being a budding percussionist, drummer Ben Gordon has discussed Hemsworth’s latest role – astute music student.

Close to a year ago, Hemsworth made a surprise appearance at an Ed Sheeran concert in Bucharest, Romancia, playing drums alongside the British pop star despite having no prior experience.

The unexpected cameo from the God of Thunder turned out to be part of Hemsworth’s Limitless series with National Geographic, which finds him pursuing ways to strengthen his mind and body through extreme measures. 

In the lead up to the new season’s premiere on Aug. 15, Ben Gordon, the drummer of Australian metal outfit Parkway Drive, has opened up about the experience of teaching the Hollywood actor.

“It was good fun, actually,” Gordon told Australia’s Today Extra on Wednesday (Aug. 6).
“I’ve been friends with Chris for about seven, eight years now. We met from a mutual friend when he moved to Byron [Bay], and we’ve been mates ever since. 

“So when he got challenged by Ed Sheeran to learn the drums for Limitless, I guess I was the obvious choice to call because, I guess, I’m his only friend who’s a professional drummer. So he gave me a call and asked if I would help out.”

According to Gordon, he had originally expected his involvement to be restricted to a behind-the-scenes role, though the teaching process was ultimately captured and utilized in the final cut.

When asked by hosts David Campbell and Sylvia Jeffreys as to whether Hemsworth is “any good” as a percussionist, Gordon was quick to answer in the negative.

“When he first came to me, he was really bad,” Gordon explains. “I have a lot of admiration for him because the whole premise of the episode was him finding something that he wasn’t gifted at, which was quite hard because he’s very talented in many areas, and diving into something that he finds uncomfortable. 

“No one in the world is good at everything, even Chris Hemsworth, so he found something he’s not good at, which was the drums,” he added. “He was a complete novice. He had no idea about it. He had no rhythm. But that was kind of the challenge and that’s what makes the episode fun.”

Parkway Drive first formed in the coastal New South Wales town of Byron Bay in 2003, issuing their debut album two years later. They received their first top ten album in Australia with 2007’s Horizons, which also hit No. 27 on the Top Heatseekers charts. 2010’s Deep Blue launched a four-record run which saw the group consecutively charting within the top 40 of the Billboard 200, with 2015’s Ire resulting in a peak of No. 29. 

Alongside becoming their first release to top the Top Hard Rock Albums chart, Ire also was their first of three consecutive records to top the Australian charts. “Sacred” is Parkway Drive’s first release since their 2022 album Darker Still, which saw them receive their third ARIA Award for best hard rock or heavy metal album.

The Jonas Brothers are saying hello to a new era with the release of album Greetings From Your Hometown, which dropped Friday (Aug. 8).

Marking the band’s seventh studio album, Greetings features 14 tracks, including previously released singles “I Can’t Lose,” “Love Me to Heaven,” “No Time to Talk” and “Slow Motion.” It comes four months after the JoBros first announced the LP at JONASCON, and two years after the trio last dropped an album, with 2023’s The Album reaching No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

“There’s something about being home that reminds you who you are,” brothers Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas wrote of the new project on Instagram in May. “This album is filled with pieces of that, lifelong influences from our childhood and the sounds that we grew up on.”

The JoBros have now released three albums since getting back together in 2019. Before that, the siblings took about 10 years apart to pursue solo projects after feeling unable to resolve internal disagreements about the band’s future, eventually reuniting on album Happiness Begins, which spawned their first-ever No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Sucker.”

Leading up to the release of Greetings, the brothers have been reflecting in recent interviews on how they’ve grown since their temporary split. “It needed to happen,” Joe said on an episode of Mythical Kitchen’s Last Meals series. “We were having such a difficult time just being real with each other back then. Now it’s like we can communicate way better, because we don’t need to be scared to have tough conversations.”

Listen to Greetings From Your Hometown below.

You’ve heard him as a rapper, you’ve heard him as a rocker, and now, MGK is embracing rootsy folk on his new album, Lost Americana.

Released on Friday (Aug. 8), the LP marks the artist formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly’s first full-length Americana project. It follows a string of hip-hop albums released earlier in his career as well as two pop-punk records: Tickets to My Downfall and Mainstream Sellout, both of which reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Lost Americana arrives about two months after MGK announced the project with an album trailer narrated by Bob Dylan. “It’s a sonic map of forgotten places, a tribute to the spirit of reinvention and a quest to reclaim the essence of American freedom,” the folk icon described the album in the June teaser. “From the glow of neon diners to the rumble of the motorcycles, this is music that celebrates the beauty found in the in-between spaces. Where the past is reimagined, and the future is forged on your own terms.”

At the time, it wasn’t clear whether it was really Dylan whose voice was featured — but during a Tonight Show appearance a few days prior to Lost Americana‘s release, MGK confirmed that it was authentic. “To be honest, I have no idea how he even knows who I am to this day,” he said. “And I’m pretty sure that if I say the wrong thing I’ll mess it all up, so I’ll just shut up and accept whatever Bob Dylan throws my way.”

Led by singles “Cliché,” “Vampire Diaries” and “Miss Sunshine,” Lost Americana is the seventh album MGK has released over the course of his career. The Cleveland-bred artist as become known for experimenting with various genres, something he says is one reason people “hate” on him for no reason.

“I choose to not stay contained into a societal box,” he said in a recent interview with People. “I’ve realized they’re the conformists — you don’t even hate me for a reason that you can actually think of, because all I do is entertain, and entertainment can’t be that serious.”

Listen to Lost Americana below.

Just one week after announcing his debut Australian appearances, Jelly Roll has expanded his first visit Down Under with a string of headline dates.

The Tennessee native first detailed his forthcoming trek down to Australia on July 31, with the nascent Strummingbird Festival announcing they had secured both Jelly Roll and Shaboozey for the headliners of their inaugural 2025 events.

The three-date affair plans to visit the Sunshine Coast at the end of October, with a pair of dates scheduled across Newcastle and Perth at the start of November. A raft of local and international acts are also set to fill out the festival’s lineup.

Now, Jelly Roll’s upcoming visit has grown even larger, with Australian headline dates confirmed for Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. The fittingly-titled Down Under tour will wrap on Nov. 8 following a one-off appearance in Auckland, New Zealand.

Fellow Strummingbird co-headliner Shaboozey will be joining Jelly Roll at these newly-announced dates, while Illinois’ Drew Baldridge will also round out the bill.

Both of the top-billed acts have received noted fame in Australia in recent times. While Shaboozey’s ubiquitous 2024 single “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” topped the Australian ARIA Singles charts last year, Jelly Roll debuted at No. 19 on the Albums charts in 2024 with his latest album, Beautifully Broken.

Their newly-announced dates come just months after the arrival of the collaborative single “Amen,” though no confirmation has been given as to whether the pair may perform the track together when in Australia or New Zealand. 

Jelly Roll – Down Under 2025 Tour

Oct. 25 – Strummingbird Festival, Kawana Sports Precinct, Sunshine Coast, QLD
Oct. 26 – TBA, Adelaide, SA
Oct. 28 – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, VIC
Nov. 1 – Strummingbird Festival, Newcastle Foreshore, Newcastle, NSW
Nov. 2 – Strummingbird Festival, Claremont Showground, Perth, WA
Nov. 4 – Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, NSW
Nov. 8 – The Outer Fields at Western Springs, Auckland, NZ

A major new court decision disposes of SoundExchange’s $150 million case against SiriusXM based on a judge’s finding that the royalties-collecting organization does not have the right to bring federal lawsuits, point blank.

The Thursday (Aug. 7) ruling from Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald is the first to weigh in on SoundExchange’s standing to file lawsuits as a means of enforcing royalty schemes. The organization, a nonprofit designated by the Copyright Royalty Board to collect royalties for artists, has been bringing these types of federal court actions for more than a decade against radio broadcasters like SiriusXM and music streamers such as Slacker and Napster.

All of these prior cases have either been settled or referred to the Copyright Royalty Board for resolution. But SiriusXM, having been accused by SoundExchange of “gaming the system” with manipulative bundling in order to withhold more than $150 million in royalties, filed a motion arguing that the organization actually has no right to sue in the first place.

Now, Judge Buchwald says SiriusXM is right. According to the judge, the federal statute that created SoundExchange, Section 114 of the Copyright Act, authorizes the organization to collect and distribute royalties but says nothing about bringing litigation.

“There is a dearth of evidence, let alone substantial evidence, for us to infer that Congress’s omission of any legal authority for SoundExchange in Section 114 was anything but deliberate,” writes the judge. “Absent such evidence, it would be wholly improper for a court to add terms or provisions where Congress has omitted them. Thus, the text of the Copyright Act clearly lacks an express conferral of a right of action upon SoundExchange.”

SoundExchange has argued that, regardless of the text of the Copyright Act, other factors like so-called “implied rights,” public policy goals and legislative history support its ability to bring lawsuits.

But Judge Buchwald is not convinced by any of these arguments — or by SoundExchange’s claim that it should be able to litigate royalty disputes as a representative on behalf of artists.

“SoundExchange exists to facilitate efficient royalty collection and distribution, not to champion the views and interests of copyright owners beyond royalty collection,” says the judge. “SoundExchange exists as a central clearing house for royalty payments, not a legal advocacy group.”

Reacting to Judge Buchwald’s ruling on Thursday evening, SoundExchange says it’s “currently reviewing the decision and will consider all options, including appeal and potentially filing actions in state courts to ensure the company’s continuing ability to collect all digital performance royalties.”

“Respectfully, SoundExchange firmly believes Judge Buchwald’s interpretation is entirely wrong on the law,” says the organization in a statement. “Despite this unfortunate and incorrect ruling, it is an established and long-accepted fact that SoundExchange has the right to sue negligent providers to compel compliance and payment of mandated royalty fees.”

Reps for SiriusXM did not immediately return a request for comment on the decision.