By Wonderwall.com Editors
6:29am PST, Mar 6, 2020
The Dixie Chicks are back after 14 years with empowering "Gaslighter" song
Rejoice, country music fans, the Dixie Chick are back! It's been 14 years since the iconic group released new studio music, but on March 4, they returned with a new single, "Gaslighter." (Gaslighting is a term that describes psychologically manipulating someone into questioning their own sanity.) The song is on an album of the same name that's due out on May 1 and was produced by Jack Antonoff, who recently worked on Taylor Swift's "Lover" album. Despite being arguably the biggest act in country music in the late 1990s and early 2000s, country radio shunned the Dixie Chicks in 2003 after Natalie criticized then-President George W. Bush.
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New evidence of alleged attempts to "influence" Grammy noms comes to light
The Recording Academy drama continues… On March 3, ousted president Deborah Dugan filed new documents in her ongoing claim against the Recording Academy in which she gives evidence supporting her claims that that the Grammy nominations process is "rigged." In the documents, Dugan shared an email sent by Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich to herself and interim CEO Harvey Mason Jr. that she believes was an attempt "to press the Academy into nominating a song by a particular superstar in order to increase his ability to convince the superstar to perform at the Grammys." Deborah's lawyers also detail how poorly they say she's been treated since filing a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Jan. 21 following her firing. In the documents, they say her firing was "a message to women and minorities of all walks of life that the Academy is more interested in protecting itself than remedying sexual harassment, discrimination and voting irregularities, and that anyone who dares to stand against the Academy's unlawful conduct will be harshly punished." While the Academy has yet to respond to the new claims, it previously called her allegations "categorically false, misleading and wrong."
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Public Enemy fires Flavor Flav after Bernie Sanders spat
Public Enemy is saying goodbye to Flava Flav. On March 2, the iconic hip-hop group confirmed they would be "moving forward without Flavor Flav" after the longtime hype man slammed Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and Public Enemy leader Chuck D, claiming that the Sanders campaign is using his group's name for an endorsement he did not agree to. The group's statement was quite succinct, saying, "Public Enemy and Public Enemy Radio will be moving forward without Flavor Flav. We thank him for his years of service and wish him well." Flav responded, "I don't want our family and our movement broken up. … I hope that Public Enemy can get back to doing the good works we have done for 30 years … not for money but for people like me who have been denied their rights to participate because of [expletive] policies." While some fans were supportive of the decision, others noted that Flav was an integral part of the group. Chuck D responded to a Public Enemy fan on Twitter explaining that he's a "political artist" and urging his followers to "make YOUR decision & NOT be a d— robot in 2020."
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Garth Brooks target of misguided backlash over "Sanders" jersey
Country music fans were wrongly upset at singer Garth Brooks during his Feb. 29 show in Detroit. The country icon wore the No. 20 jersey of former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders — a football legend — which caused some of his Instagram followers to mistakenly attack him for being a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Angry commenters posted messages like, "If this is for Bernie Sanders, I'm done with you. I thought you were a true American that loves Our Country?"
Katy Perry reveals pregnancy in new music video
Congratulations are in order for Katy Perry and fiancé Orlando Bloom. The pop superstar revealed on March 4 that she is expecting a baby. The announcement was made in her new video for "Never Worn White." In the clip, Perry rests her hands on her stomach and reveals her baby bump in profile. Katy further confirmed the news in an Instagram Live, explaining that this summer, "Not only will I be giving birth literally but also figuratively to something you guys have been waiting for. So let's call it a two-fer." Fans are speculating that she's referring to either a new album or possibly a wedding. While this is Katy's first child, Orlando is already a dad to 9-year-old son Flynn with ex-wife Miranda Kerr.
Lady Gaga announces summer tour
Paws up, Little Monsters! Lady Gaga announced on March 5 that she'll be hitting the road for a six-date summer tour dubbed "The Chromatica Ball." The concert trek kicks off on July 24 in Paris and hits London, Toronto, Boston and Chicago before ending on Aug. 19 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Tickets go on sale March 13. Every North American ticket includes a CD copy of of the "Stupid Love" singer's new album, "Chromatica," which drops on April 10.
Marie Osmond plans to leave nothing to her kids
Marie Osmond's kids will need to find their passion in life… and learn how to monetize it. On the Feb. 28 episode of "The Talk," the singer-actress-host revealed that she and her husband will not be leaving their money to their eight children. She explained, "I'm not leaving any money to my children. Congratulations, kids. My husband and I decided that you do a great disservice to your children to just hand them a fortune because you take away the one most important gift you can give your children, and that's the ability to work." She's a mother to Craig, 36, Jessica, 32, Rachael, 30, Brandon, 23, Brianna, 22, Matthew 21, Abigail, 17, and Michael, who died at 21. She continued, "You see it a lot in rich families where the kids don't know what to do so they get in trouble, so I just let them be proud of what they make and I'm going to give mine to my charity." We wonder how her kids feel about it?!
Lizzo and her mom dance in a bath towel and robe
On March 2, Lizzo went home to visit family in Detroit and put on a little show for her fans. In the video, the "Truth Hurts" singer and her mother, Shari Johnson-Jefferson, can be seen showing off their dance moves — Lizzo clad in a towel, her mom in a robe — to the song "Knock Knock" by Mac Miller. The Grammy winner captioned the video, "This makes me smile. Hope u smiling too."
