'Star Trek' actor and band the *uckers played warm-up gig in Chicago Saturday ahead of official Riot Fest debut

William Shatner

William Shatner made his heavy metal debut Saturday at a Riot Fest Chicago after hours gig, covering artists like Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica with the actor’s new band the *uckers.

The 95-year-old Star Trek star previously revealed that heavy metal would be his latest musical frontier following his expeditions into genres like spoken word, the blues, country music, Christmas songs and children’s music.

“I have explored space. I have explored time. Now … I explore distortion,” Shatner previously said of his heavy metal odyssey on social media. That loud journey began Saturday at Chicago’s Park West, where Shatner and his band of heavy metal vets played a warmup gig ahead of their first official show Sunday at Riot Fest.

The six-song set featured three songs from Shatner and the *uckers’ upcoming album What the F Is Heavy Metal? as well as covers of metal classics like Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” and Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades.”

In addition to the *uckers, What the F Is Heavy Metal? features appearances by rock royalty like Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, Queen’s Brian May, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, Slayer’s Dave Lombardo, and more.

“I’m so enlivened. I’m so filled with passion. I’ve come to understand what heavy metal is,” Shatner told Billboard recently of his latest musical endeavor. “It’s an energy that permeates your body and lifts you up. Heavy metal is the rhythm of life. It’s overwhelming, especially if you’ve got earphones in. This afternoon, I’m going to have earbuds that have been made for me and the rest of the group. I’m so excited about what I’m performing. It’s a real-life fervor happening for me.”

Beck

Beck marked the release of his new album Ride Lonesome on Friday with the video for standout track “Run Away.”

After enlisting famed French actor Denis Lavant for Ride Lonesome’s “In the Night” visual, Beck recruits another arthouse favorite for “Run Away,” casting Ichi the Killer and Shogun star Tadanobu Asano to lead the lonely journey through Tokyo.

“At the end of a long hot summer we went to Japan. I looked up my friend [Kunichi Nomura] with the idea to make a video in Tokyo. Through him, we met some amazing Japanese artists who came together to make a little film for my new song ‘Run Away,'” Beck wrote on social media on Friday. “And a huge thank you to the star of our video, the great actor, Tadanobu Asano. This was all shot on location in Japan with the help of many talented new friends.”

“Run Away” was directed by Mikai Karl, who also helmed the previous Ride Lonesome visuals. Beck will embark on a tour in support of Ride Lonesome — his first studio album in seven years and third LP in a spiritual trilogy that includes Sea Change and Morning Phase — starting Sept. 22.

“Ride Lonesome is amorphous, hazy, dappled, and almost impossibly pretty,” Rolling Stone wrote in its review of the LP, which arrived today. “Listening can feel like you’re floating in amniotic fluid. But the album never gets vague or sleepy. Every song stands out on its own.”

The NFL season is finally on and the Buffalo Bills, and their fans, hope this year will be theirs.

Given the proximity of the city of Buffalo with Canada, a 20 minute drive across the Niagara, the Bills have long been deemed ''Canada's team'', as fans regularly cross the border to celebrate the blue and white. Amid a trade war and increasing tension between Canada and the United States, the team decided to lean into their fanbase and celebrate the friendship between the two countries by playing both national anthems at their opening home game against the Detroit Lions.

To perform 'O Canada', they enlisted Scarborough's own Barenaked Ladies. Their acapella rendition of the anthem, however, drew mixed reactions from the crowd and people watching at home.

Wayward, quavering voices and discordant harmonies make it an awkward listen for anyone familiar with the anthem or the band.

Almost immediately, users across the internet started to post comments and ask questions. Americans, mainly, were wondering exactly who the Barenaked Ladies are, and Canadian users were quick to explain and apologize. ''Yeah that was pretty bad. Sorry, love those guys and love they got that moment, but damn…'', said one Reddit user. ''The absolute worst rendition of the Canadian anthem I have ever heard. It was like they didn’t practice at all. One of them couldn’t decide which pitch they were going to sing in'' wrote another.

On X, the reactions were also mixed. ''shoutout to the bills for playing o canada but please god take the microphones away from the barenaked ladies'' said one person, while another added ''That was painful to listen to.''

Despite the performance of the anthem, the Bills had an overall good game, their first in their brand new stadium, taking a 41-31 win over the Lions.

Spotify has launched Fresh Finds Forward for emerging independent artists.

Spotify has launched a new program that will give about 10,000 emerging independent artists each year extra support to make the most of early momentum on their streaming service and beyond.

Named Fresh Finds Forward, the program builds on more than a decade of Fresh Finds, which a press release touts has helped more than 80,000 artists across 127 countries find new listeners. In 2021, the streaming service launched Fresh Finds to spotlight indie musicians in marketing campaigns and equip them with a variety of educational tools. The program was a spin-off of the Fresh Finds playlist.

Alumni include Laufey, Clairo, Doechii, Ice Spice, Megan Moroney, and Omar Apollo, per the release, which adds that for five consecutive years, alumni of the program have earned Best New Artist nominations.

The project will kick off with eligible artists added to Fresh Finds from Jan. 1, 2026 and onward. Spotify announced that participating artists will receive 12 months of free studio time, early access to select Spotify tools and features, exclusive programming and community, prioritized access to tour or music video partnerships with the company, premium access to digital tools like LANDR and Splice, and mental health and wellness resources.

Joe Hadley, Spotify’s Global Head of Music Content and Partnerships, said in a statement: “Fresh Finds Forward takes everything we’ve learned from a decade of discovery and builds a support system around it, so participating artists aren’t just getting a playlist placement, they’re getting the benefits, resources, and the community to make the most of that moment.”

Those interested in learning more about Fresh Finds Forward can hear directly from alumni including Role Model, Megan Moroney, sombr, Laufey, and Remi Wolf here.Spotify has launched a new program that will give about 10,000 emerging independent artists each year extra support to make the most of early momentum on their streaming service and beyond.

Named Fresh Finds Forward, the program builds on more than a decade of Fresh Finds, which a press release touts has helped more than 80,000 artists across 127 countries find new listeners. In 2021, the streaming service launched Fresh Finds to spotlight indie musicians in marketing campaigns and equip them with a variety of educational tools. The program was a spin-off of the Fresh Finds playlist.

Alumni include Laufey, Clairo, Doechii, Ice Spice, Megan Moroney, and Omar Apollo, per the release, which adds that for five consecutive years, alumni of the program have earned Best New Artist nominations.

The project will kick off with eligible artists added to Fresh Finds from Jan. 1, 2026 and onward. Spotify announced that participating artists will receive 12 months of free studio time, early access to select Spotify tools and features, exclusive programming and community, prioritized access to tour or music video partnerships with the company, premium access to digital tools like LANDR and Splice, and mental health and wellness resources.

Joe Hadley, Spotify’s Global Head of Music Content and Partnerships, said in a statement: “Fresh Finds Forward takes everything we’ve learned from a decade of discovery and builds a support system around it, so participating artists aren’t just getting a playlist placement, they’re getting the benefits, resources, and the community to make the most of that moment.”

Those interested in learning more about Fresh Finds Forward can hear directly from alumni including Role Model, Megan Moroney, sombr, Laufey, and Remi Wolf here.

Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen is searching for the perfect party in the music video for her new single “Versailles.” The song, off the singer’s new double LP Day and Night, was inspired by Sofia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette. Jepsen wrote the track with Elias Kapari, Noonie Bao, and Markus Krunegård, with production by Kapari.

The music video for “Versailles” was filmed in Los Angeles and directed by Kanya Iwana. It sees Jepsen dancing at a party as she imagines herself at the famous French chateau.

“I wanna party in Versailles/ I wanna see it in the nighttime,” she croons over the beat. “We’ll go all night just to feel something/ And then we’ll lose our heads/ For the people we’ve forgotten/ Marie Antoinette but modern.”

Day and Night, Jepsen’s first album of new music since 2023’s The Loveliest Time, dropped today. The singer previously shared several tracks, including a music video for ABBA-inspired song “Don’t Leave Me on the Dance Floor.” The album features 24 tracks, with each LP comprising 12 songs corresponding to the Day and Night theme.

Jepsen began dropping hints of a new album in June. Keeping with the Day and Night theme, her official website played snippets of two different instrumentals (for 12 hours each) on June 1; one of the tracks being “After All.” Later, she began posting postcard-like images twice a day to her social media accounts on June 11, captioned by a lyric, location, and timestamp.

On Sept. 27, Jepsen will play a special sunset set at New York City’s All Things Go Festival, marking her first live performance of the year.

Lisa, Shaboozey, and Gunna.

MTV has added several new artists to its lineup of performers for this year’s Video Music Awards. Gunna, Lisa, Raye, Shaboozey, Gener8ion, Sienna Spiro, and Yung Lean will now all perform at the ceremony, which will air on CBS and MTV at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 26. The show will also be streaming on Paramount+ (premium) and available on Paramount+ and MTV on the 27th.

Lisa will perform her new single, “SaWaDiKa,” at the event, previewing her upcoming EP, Press Play, due Oct. 23. Shaboozey, meanwhile, will perform “Cowgirl” and get an assist from Gunna for a rendition of their collaboration, “High Noon.” Similarly, Gener8ion and Yung Lean will give a world premiere performance to their song “Storm II.”

Raye’s performance has not yet been revealed, but she’s nominated for her song “Where Is My Husband!” Sienna Spiro’s song of choice is also similarly not yet public.

MTV plans on announcing more performers in the week ahead. As previously announced, Snoop Dogg will host the event, which Madonna will open with her own performance. Elsewhere in the show, Nirvana will be honored with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.

Madonna, the VMAs’ perennial queen, is the most nominated artist at the 2026 VMAs with 11 nods including Artist of the Year and Video of the Year for “Confessions II — The Film.” “I like the idea of film, because I’m a ‘film-phile,’ a cinephile, and film has inspired a good part of my life,” Madonna said at the film’s Tribeca Film Fest premiere. “Somehow [the word] video seems cheap. It was good when it was just MTV and me.” Other artists with multiple nominations this year include Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and Sabrina Carpenter.