The Toronto band has also announced new dates for their postponed tour.

Billy Eff is the Content Director for Rolling Stone Canada. An award-winning journalist and columnist, he has previously contributed to outlets including VICE and Urbania. A passionate advocate for underground music and a musician himself, he has conducted several hundred interviews with artists and industry professionals across a wide range of styles and genres over the past 15 years. He is based in Montréal, Québec.

After postponing their scheduled fall tour earlier this mont, Toronto dance-rock duo Death From above 1979 has announced a new album titled Private Lives, out on January 29, 2027 on Last Gang/MNRK.

The band also shared the album's title track, with a video starring Danish actor Kim Bodnia. “The song ‘Private Lives’ is a declaration of privacy in an era of overexposure. We are compelled, often by one another, to share our most intimate moments and quietest thoughts. To what end? More often than not, to be part of a cheap consumer feedback loop,” the band says about the abrasive track.

The new record is the follow-up to 2021's Is 4 Lovers, and includes a collaboration with Brazilian-Canadian indie-electro outfit CSS on “Mystery.”

The Canadian run of their North American tour begins in Waterloo on February 24, followed by Toronto's HISTORY on February 25 and London on February 26. Ottawa has been added for February 27, before the band heads to Montréal's Théâtre Beanfield on March 1 and Québec City on March 2.

The western leg includes Winnipeg, Red Deer, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria between March 20 and 27.

Death From Above 1979 is also celebrating 25 years as a band. Their debut album, You're a Woman, I'm a Machine, was released in 2004 to much critical acclaim in the indie scene and gaining a devoted audience, thanks to songs like "Black History Month" and ''Romantic Rights''.

Slipknot's Corey Taylor, 2025.

Fresh off the release of their new single, “Arsenal,” Slipknot will embark on a North American run of dates they’re calling the (Sic)est Stadium Tour next summer. The title is a nod to “(sic),” the first full song on their 1999 breakthrough self-titled album.

The tour, which will feature new staging and set lists, kicks off in Washington, D.C. on July 16 and will wrap up in Phoenix on Aug. 18. Bring Me the Horizon are set to open all of the dates with various additional support coming from Lamb of God, Motionless in White, Lorna Shore, Loathe, Acid Bath, Polyphia, Kublai Khan TX, and Vended.

Tickets go on sale Friday. Presales begin at 10 a.m. local time on Tuesday. Full details are on the band’s website.

Earlier this month, the band released “Arsenal,” which found frontman Corey Taylor screaming, “I got a lot to fuckin’ say/And if you didn’t listen, you didn’t hear me anyway.” It leads to the chant, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,” which may as well be their clarion call for the tour. The song marked their first recording since the departures of turntablist Sid Wilson, who parted ways with the group in August, and keyboardist-sampler Craig Jones, who left in 2023.

The band last released a new album, The End, So Far, in 2022. They didn’t announce plans to release any new music at the time of the release of “Arsenal.” But earlier this year, the band’s Clown teased that more music may be on the way in an interview with Rolling Stone, noting that he was in the middle of a writing session with Slipknot.

Slipknot North American tour dates:

July 16 – Washington, D.C. @ Nationals Park *July 18 – New York City @ Citi Field *July 21 – Montreal @ Parc Jean-Drapeau **July 23 – Toronto @ Rogers Stadium ***July 25 – Chicago @ Soldier Field ****July 28 – Hershey, Pennsylvania @ Hershey Park Stadium *****July 31 – Boston @ Fenway Park *****Aug. 3 – Nashville @ First Bank Stadium ***Aug. 6 – Houston @ Daikin Park ******Aug. 9 – Commerce City, CO @ Dick’s Sporting Goods Park *******Aug. 13 – Los Angeles @ SoFi Stadium *******Aug. 15 – San Francisco @ Golden Gate Park ********Aug. 18 – Phoenix @ Chase Field *********

* with Bring Me he Horizon and Acid Bath** with Bring Me the Horizon, Kublai Khan TX, and Vended*** with Bring Me the Horizon and Kublai Khan TX**** with Bring Me the Horizon and Lamb of God***** with Bring Me the Horizon and Lorna Shore****** with Bring Me the Horizon and Polyphia******* with Bring Me the Horizon and Loathe******** with Bring Me the Horizon, Motionless in White, and Loathe********* with Bring Me the Horizon and Motionless in White

Ariana Grande has officially crowned Montréal the winner of her Eternal Sunshine Tour mute challenge, and it turns out Centre Bell really can keep quiet when asked.

The singer announced the result Sunday on Instagram, revealing that the audience at her first Montréal show had managed to pull off what became one of the tour’s most difficult crowd challenges.

“And the winner was ....... montreal night one ♡ !” Grande wrote on Instagram.

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The challenge took place in every city on the tour, during her performance of we can’t be friends (wait for your love), when Grande invited audiences to fall completely silent immediately after singing the line “Me and my truth, we sit in silence.” Rather than filling the pause with screams, cheers and the usual arena roar, fans were expected to maintain total silence before the song continued.

Videos of the moment have circulated widely among fans throughout the tour, with audiences in other cities often struggling to suppress their excitement long enough to complete the challenge. The two-night Centre Bell engagement was also Grande’s only Canadian stop on the Eternal Sunshine Tour.

Grande wrapped the tour in London on Sept. 1 after a run of 10 sold-out shows, closing out a major live chapter as she continues to balance her music career with her acting work.

Stevie Wonder, promoting 'Songs in the Key of Life' after its original release.

Stevie Wonder surprise-released Songs in the Key of Life 50: The EP, which contains four previously unreleased studio recordings, on Monday. He recorded “It’s Easier,” “My Life Story of Love,” “I Can See the Sun in Late December,” and “I’m Into Livin'” during the sessions for his celebrated 1976 album but held onto them for the past half century. Now that he’s planning a tour commemorating the 50th anniversary of that album, he decided to finally issue them.

“We’ve lived with Songs in the Key of Life for 50 years, but there’s still more to hear,” Wonder said. “We didn’t add these songs to the album, but they were part of what I was feeling and discovering as we made it. They bring me back to that time in my life, and now they get to become part of yours.”

The recording engineers who mixed the original album, John Fischbach and Gary O. Adante (credited as Gary Olazabal) mixed songs for the new EP. The songs further extend the legacy of the original album, which included another four-song EP, A Something’s Extra.

The tracks were timed to the 50th anniversary of the release of the diamond-certified album, which came out on Sept. 28, 1976. The EP arrived on streaming services at 4:54 a.m. PDT, the time the original Songs in the Key of Life sessions wrapped, at which time bassist Nathan Watts remarked, “Fo’FiftyFo’,” which became an in-joke Wonder and his musicians have used to mark the end of sessions ever since.

When Rolling Stone ranked the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Songs in the Key of Life placed at Number Four. “[The album] encompasses an incredible range of life experiences — from the giddy joy of a baby in the bathtub (‘Isn’t She Lovely,’ featuring the cries and giggles of Wonder’s infant daughter Aisha Morris) through tributes to his musical heroes (‘Sir Duke’) to dismay about the indifference of the wealthy (‘Village Ghetto Land’),” the magazine said. “Wonder pulled from every imaginable musical source — the ecstatic ‘Sir Duke’ references Duke Elington and Ella Fitzgerald, while ‘As’ featured Herbie Hancock on Fender Rhodes.”

The four songs on the EP expound on the double album’s themes of acknowledging all life and love have to offer. It opens with “It’s Easier,” an upbeat breakup song with the message, “It’s easier to say, ‘Love, bye-bye’/Than to go around with a heart that wants to cry.” The similarly heartbroken “It’s My Life Story of Love” finds Wonder singing, “It’s my life story of love that never comes true,” though he sounds more hopeful than plaintive as he proclaims he’ll win his love back in lyrics he co-wrote with the Supremes’ Susaye Greene. “I Can See the Sun in Late December” is a slow-shuffling ballad about nostalgia for warmer times. And “I’m into Livin'” is an easy, jazzy funk ballad on which Wonder sings, “I’m into livin’ for your sweet, sweet love, L-O-V-E, love,” his voice rising and falling with the music.

As on the original album, Wonder plays most of the instruments on the EP’s songs, including drums, GX-1-Dream Machine, Bass-GX-1-Dream Machine, Fender Rhodes, and electric bass, variously, in addition to singing. Gregory Phillinganes played the Rhodes on “My Life Story of Love,” and Watts played bass on “It’s Easier” and “I Can See the Sun in Late December.” “I’m Into Livin'” features backup vocals by Shirley Brewer, who sang on the album’s “Ordinary Love,” Thelma Houston (who latter recorded the hit “Don’t Leave Me This Way”) and longtime Wonder backup singer Deneice Williams.

Wonder will perform each of the 17 songs from the original double album on a world tour this fall. It kicks off Birmingham, England on Oct. 13 and wraps in L.A. on Dec. 19.

Chuck Varga

Chuck Varga, a founding member of the shock metal band GWAR who performed as the character “the Sexecutioner,” has died at the age of 68.

Varga’s death was announced Friday by GWAR bassist Casey “Beefcake The Mighty” Orr; in June, the band started a fundraiser in support of Varga as he battled cancer.

“Chuck Varga has left this earthly realm. He passed peacefully, his beloved wife Bambi holding his hand,” Orr wrote. “He was one of a kind. As an artist, as a performer; as a scholar and a gentleman. I’m better for having known him and the world is lesser for his leaving. He is most likely being welcomed into Valhalla right now by [singer Dave] Brockie and [guitarist Cory Smoot] and all who went before. Raise your glass and tell his tales. Legends never die. Hail Varga! Hail Sexicutioner!”

While Varga was not among the original musicians in the Richmond, Virginia-based GWAR, he was an invaluable founding member of the band’s Slave Pit Inc., which designed the group’s infamous onstage costumes as well as create their artwork and overall design.

Credited with helping to create singer Dave “Oderus Urungus” Brockie’s costume among others, Varga assumed the onstage role of “the Sexecutioner” in 1987, and held the role in concert for over a decade, performing lead vocals on the track named after the character:

Varga’s “Sexecutioner” also handled lead vocals on GWAR’s “RagNaRok,” the title track from the band’s 1995 album of the same name:

Varga remained in the GWAR orbit even after his exit as a full-time member, occasionally appearing onstage while still contributing to the visual side of the long-running metal act.

“Chuck Varga’s contributions to the GWAR and Slave Pit collective are enormous,” Bob “Bone Snapper” Gorman, another member of GWAR and the Slave Pit, said in a statement after the band announced its fundraiser in support of Varga.

“The influence of his illustrations, character designs, performances, and artistic vision can still be felt throughout GWAR today. Chuck’s over-the-top underground art aesthetic helped define an entire universe and inspired generations of artists and fans around the world. His legacy will remain with us forever, and we hope this fundraiser not only helps support Chuck and Bambi during this difficult time but also serves as a celebration of everything Chuck has given to GWAR and its community.”

Taylor Swift accepts the Video of the Year Award for "The Fate of Ophelia" at 2026 MTV Video Music Awards.

The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony has arrived. Tonight, the biggest names in music gathered at the VMAs to see who would take home the night’s top prizes.

Madonna led all nominees this year with 13, thanks largely in part to the short film she made for her celebrated new album, Confessions II. In addition to being up for the coveted Video of the Year, it’s also earned several nods in creative categories, including Best Direction, Cinematography, and Choreography. It also received a nomination for the resurrected Best Dance category, which was doled out regularly for decades beginning in 1989, but hasn’t been awarded since 2019.

Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter’s Confessions II song, “Bring Your Love,” scored nominations for Song of the Year and Best Collaboration, and Madonna is up for Artist of the Year, too.

Taylor Swift trailed closely behind, earning 11 nominations. She is also up for Artist of the Year. Swift’s video for her Life of a Showgirl hit, “The Fate of Ophelia,” is nominated for Video of the Year, Best Pop, and numerous creative prizes. The visual for Swift’s other big Showgirl hit, “Opalite,” also scored a lone nod for Best Direction. It was already a big night for Swift leading up to the VMAs, as she was named the inaugural recipient of the MTV VMA Artist Director Honors ahead of the show.

In the coveted Video of the Year category, the Confessions II short film and “The Fate of Ophelia” will compete against Ariana Grande’s “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” Bruno Mars’ “I Just Might,” Gener8ion and Yung Lean’s “Storm,” and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Tears.” Artist of the Year boasts Madonna and Swift competing against Grande, Mars, Carpenter, and Morgan Wallen.

Other highlights from this year’s VMAs are Nirvana will receive the Video Vanguard Award, and a bevy of newcomers are all up for Best New Artist, including Bella Kay, Cortis, Magnus Ferrell, Malcolm Todd, Myles Smith, Sienna Spiro, and Stella Lefty.

See the list of winners below (bolded), which will be updated throughout the night.

Video of the YearAriana Grande — “hate that i made you love me”Bruno Mars — “I Just Might”Gener8ion — “STORM starring Yung Lean”Madonna — “Confessions II — The Film”Sabrina Carpenter — “Tears”Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia” Artist of the YearAriana GrandeBruno MarsMadonnaMorgan WallenSabrina CarpenterTaylor Swift Song of the YearBTS — “Swim”Ella Langley — “Choosin’ Texas”HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI — “Golden”Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter — “Bring Your Love”Olivia Dean — “Man I Need”PinkPantheress — “Stateside + Zara Larsson”RAYE — “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!” Best New ArtistBella KayCORTISMagnus FerrellMalcolm ToddMyles SmithSienna SpiroStella Lefty Best CollaborationClipse, Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T, Malice — “Chains & Whips”French Montana x Max B — “Ever Since U Left Me”Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter — “Bring Your Love”PinkPantheress — “Stateside + Zara Larsson”Shakira & Burna Boy — “Dai Dai”Teyana Taylor & Lucky Daye — “Hard Part” Best PopAriana Grande — “hate that i made you love me”Charli XCX — “SS26”LISA — “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi”Olivia Rodrigo — “drop dead”Sabrina Carpenter — “House Tour”Tate McRae — “Nobody’s Girl”Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia” Best Hip-HopCardi B ft. Kehlani — “Safe”Don Toliver — “E85”Drake — “Janice STFU”Megan Thee Stallion — “LOVER GIRL”Travis Scott — “DUMBO”Tyler, The Creator — “SUGAR ON MY TONGUE” Best R&BBruno Mars — “I Just Might”Chris Brown — “It Depends/Obvious”Dave & Tems — “Raindance”Justin Bieber — “YUKON”Kehlani — “Folded”Mariah the Scientist & Kali Uchis — “Is It a Crime” Best AlternativeGeese — “Taxes”mgk & Fred Durst — “FIX UR FACE”Noah Kahan — “The Great Divide”Olivia Rodrigo — “the cure”SOMBR — “Homewrecker”Tame Impala — “Dracula”twenty one pilots — “Drag Path” Best DanceBebe Rexha & Faithless — “New Religion”Harry Styles — “Aperture”Lady Gaga & Doechii — “RUNAWAY”Madonna — “Confessions II — The Film”PinkPantheress — “Stateside + Zara Larsson”Slayyyter — “DANCE …”Tate McRae — “Nobody’s Girl” Best LatinAnitta with Shakira — “Choka Choka”Bad Bunny — “NUEVAYoL”Fuerza Regida — “TU SANCHO”KAROL G — “Papasito”Rosalía ft. Yahritza y Su Esencia — “La Perla”Ryan Castro, Kapo & GANGSTA — “LA VILLA”Shakira & Burna Boy — “Dai Dai” Best K-PopBLACKPINK — “JUMP”BTS — “SWIM”CORTIS — “REDRED”KATSEYE — “PINKY UP”LE SSERAFIM (feat. j-hope of BTS) — “SPAGHETTI”LISA — “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” Best Country Ella Langley — “Choosin’ Texas”Kacey Musgraves — “Dry Spell”Lainey Wilson — “Somewhere Over Laredo”Luke Combs — “Back in the Saddle”Shaboozey — “Cowgirl”Stella Lefty — “Boston” Tucker Wetmore — “Brunette” Best DirectionAriana Grande — “hate that i made you love me”Bruno Mars — “I Just Might”GENER8ION — “STORM starring Yung Lean”Madonna — “Confessions II — The Film”Sabrina Carpenter — “House Tour”Taylor Swift — “Opalite” Best Art DirectionCharli XCX — “SS26”Lady Gaga & Doechii — “RUNAWAY”Madonna — “Confessions II — The Film”PinkPantheress — “Stateside + Zara Larsson”SOMBR — “My Body Isn’t Ready”Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia” Best CinematographyA$AP Rocky — “PUNK ROCKY”Ariana Grande — “hate that i made you love me”LISA — “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi”Madonna — “Confessions II — The Film”Shaboozey — “Cowgirl”Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia” Best EditingAriana Grande — “hate that i made you love me”Bruno Mars — “I Just Might”LISA — “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi”Madonna — “Confessions II — The Film”Sabrina Carpenter — “House Tour”Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia” Best ChoreographyGENER8ION — “STORM starring Yung Lean”Harry Styles — “Dance No More”KATSEYE — “PINKY UP”Madonna — “Confessions II — The Film”Tate McRae — “Nobody’s Girl”Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia” Best Visual EffectsAriana Grande — “hate that i made you love me”JISOO X ZAYN — “Eyes Closed”Madonna — “Confessions II — The Film”PinkPantheress — “Stateside + Zara Larsson”RAYE ft. Hans Zimmer — “Click Clack Symphony.”Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia”

Social Categories:Best Group:BLACKPINKBTSCORTISFLOFuerza RegidaGeeseKATSEYETwenty One PilotsBest Long Form Video:Charli xcx – “Music, Fashion, Film” – Atlantic RecordsElla Langley – “Choosin’ Texas” – Columbia RecordsGENER8ION – “STORM” starring Yung Lean – Iconoclast MusicMadonna – “Confessions II – The Film” – Warner Records

Best Album:Drake – ICEMAN – OVO/Republic RecordsMadonna – Confessions II – Warner RecordsOlivia Dean – The Art of Loving – IslandOlivia Rodrigo – you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love – Geffen RecordsSabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend – IslandTaylor Swift – The Life of a Showgirl – Republic Records

Song of the Summer:Ariana Grande – “Hate That I Made You Love Me” – Republic RecordsBruno Mars – “Risk It All” – Atlantic RecordsCharli xcx – “Camera” – Atlantic RecordsElla Langley – “Choosin’ Texas” – Columbia RecordsKATSEYE – “Hootie Frutti” – HYBE x Geffen RecordsLatto ft. Doja Cat – “Okayyy” – Steamcut / RCA RecordsMorgan Wallen – “Been By Now – Big Loud / Mercury RecordsOlivia Dean – “So Easy (To Fall in Love)” – IslandOlivia Rodrigo – “Stupid Song” – Geffen RecordsSabrina Carpenter – “House Tour” – IslandSlayyyter – “Brand New Chanel$” – RECORDS/Columbia Recordssombr – “Homewrecker” – SMB Music / Warner RecordsStella Lefty – “Boston” – Sandlot / Atlantic OutpostTame Impala & JENNIE – “Dracula” – Columbia RecordsTaylor Swift – “I Knew It, I Knew You” – Walt Disney Records / Republic Records