Happy Bey Day, everyone! As expected, Beyoncé‘s highly-anticipated documentary, Homecoming, is now streaming on Netflix. The doc takes us all inside the preparation for her iconic 2018 Coachella performance, a tribute to the historically black colleges and universities in America. But because Beyoncé is Beyoncé, she also decided to drop a surprise album in the middle of the night, as well.
Homecoming: The Live Album contains 40 tracks and is now available on all major streaming platforms. It’s basically a live greatest hits album with bangers like “Diva,” “Run the World,” “Lose My Breath,” “Crazy in Love,” and more making up the track list. The real joy, though, is that this is yet another way to experience the magic of what became known as Beychella. It’s also the first solo album that Bey has released since 2016’s Lemonade. (She and Jay-Z released Everything Is Love together last summer during their global tour.)
And the album art is something to behold, naturally:
Obviously, the Beyhive was beyond pumped about the surprise album and the documentary. In fact, Homecoming is already topping the iTunes charts. “The concept, arrangements/remixes, dance, her voice,” one fan wrote. “Beyoncè has gotten to the point where she could put out mediocre shit and people would still eat it up but she’d never do that. She’s always gonna bang out visuals, intricate dance moves and amazing vocals.” Another tweeted, “The biggest artist in the world is a black woman & she’s killing it how can you not like #Beyoncé.” While one social media user pointed out the power of Beyoncé in dropping a surprise album of old music in the middle of the week and having it go immediately to the top of the chart.
See more reactions, below:
Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to go stream Homecoming on a loop forever.
Tomorrow (Sunday, April 14), the eighth and final season of the global phenomenon that is Game of Thrones will begin airing—and we’ll finally start to get some answers about how the heck this thing is actually going to end. In the meantime, even the more casual fans like myself have taken to analyzing the frames of whatever footage HBO sees fit to release, not to mention deep-diving the promotional interviews the cast has given for hints. Hey, you have to look for clues where you can with this show—after all, its cast and creators are famously tight-lipped about revealing spoilers.
Take Sophie Turner‘s recent interview with Entertainment Weekly: Is she perhaps leaving us clues to Sansa Stark’s fate? When asked about her character’s storyline for the upcoming season, Turner had this to say: “Sansa this season is very much enjoying becoming a leader in her own right and the leader of Winterfell, and this year there are certain challenges of people who come into her life that threaten that. She has to go behind a few backs and risks tearing apart her family.”
It already seemed pretty clear that Daenerys (and her dragons) would present at least one of those challenges. Co-star Emilia Clarke, who plays the powerful character, has also hinted at tension between the two characters.
Turner also almost seems to confirm a popular fan theory about Sansa and Jon Snow: “Her [Sansa’s] relationship with Jon [Snow] is struggling because he’s so clearly in love with Daenerys and believes in her completely. Sansa thinks she’s power-hungry and not the rightful queen. There’s a huge amount of fighting between Sansa and Jon.”
Plus, Sansa doesn’t exactly love the idea of having dragons around. “She’s not happy because she’s going to have to feed these dragons,” Turner says. “They require a lot of food, and they have limited resources.”
This all sounds pretty ominous—especially because we know that no character, big or small, is ever safe on Game of Thrones. It’s Turner’s quote about going behind a few backs that sounds like a clue that she might either go all the way to the Iron Throne or die because she betrays someone close to her. And as Cersei Lannister famously says in season one, “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.”
Ariana Grande has been dangling a new album in front of us since Thursday—including the name of it (thank u, next), what appeared to be some lyrics, and a clue that it was definitely going to address her breakup with Pete Davidson.
Of course, breakups make for some of songwriters’ best material, so it wasn’t entirely surprising she’d get to work on some powerful, relevant material. But what is a shock is just how quickly she’s managed to turn the songs around: She dropped a single from it on Saturday night—right as SNL, featuring Davidson as cast member, went on air. The devil works fast, but Grande works faster, it seems.
Finally, the drop came in the form of a tweet with a link to the song. You can listen to it on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, YouTube, and pretty much everywhere else; she was very thorough.
Listen to it below:
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In the song, she namechecks each of her exes—including Davidson—but nothing about it scathing. Rather than dragging them (something she said she wouldn’t do), she calls them out by naming what she’s thankful about from each of their relationships and how it helped her grow as a person.
Thought I’d end up with Sean But he wasn’t a match Wrote some songs about Ricky Now I listen and laugh Even almost got married And for Pete, I’m so thankful Wish I could say, “Thank you” to Malcolm ‘Cause he was an angel
One taught me love One taught me patience And one taught me pain Now, I’m so amazing I’ve loved and I’ve lost But that’s not what I see So, look what I got Look what you taught me And for that, I say
Thank you, next (Next) Thank you, next (Next) Thank you, next I’m so fuckin’ grateful for my ex Thank you, next (Next) Thank you, next (Next) Thank you, next (Next) I’m so fuckin’—
Grande’s also been coping with the unexpected death of her ex Mac Miller, which happened a few weeks before she and Davidson broke up. This song sounds like a healthy way to be working through all of that. Plus, there’s quite a bit of empowering self-love tucked into the words:
Spend more time with my friends I ain’t worried ’bout nothin’ Plus, I met someone else We havin’ better discussions I know they say I move on too fast But this one gon’ last ‘Cause her name is Ari And I’m so good with that (So good with that)
She taught me love (Love) She taught me patience (Patience) And she handles pain (Pain) That shit’s amazing (Yeah, she’s amazing) I’ve loved and I’ve lost (Yeah, yeah) But that’s not what I see (Yeah, yeah) Just look what I’ve found (Yeah, yeah) Ain’t no need for searching, and for that, I say
Queen.
She ends the song by looking at her parents’ own relationship—and saying that if she gets married, she’s only going to do it once.
One day I’ll walk down the aisle Holding hands with my mama I’ll be thanking my dad ‘Cause she grew from the drama Only wanna do it once, real bad Gon’ make that shit last God forbid something happens Least this song is a smash (Song is a smash)
I’ve got so much love (Love) Got so much patience (Patience) I’ve learned from the pain (Pain) I turned out amazing (Turned out amazing) I’ve loved and I’ve lost (Yeah, yeah) But that’s not what I see (Yeah, yeah) Just look what I’ve found (Yeah, yeah) Ain’t no need for searching And for that, I’ll say
By now, A Star Is Born has pretty much exploded across the country like the cinematic supernova it is. But if you still haven’t been able to get enough of the film, Lady Gaga has you covered. Yesterday, she tweeted out the first music video from the movie—and no, it’s not for “Shallow,” as you might expect. Instead, it’s for “I’ll Never Love Again,” the epic ballad that closes out the final scenes of the movie.
According to Variety, the team behind the movie’s soundtrack waited to release many of the songs until fans got to fully experience them in theaters. Now that “A Star Is Born” is out and devastating audiences everywhere, it’s time.
It all starts with a short clip from the movie, which sees Gaga’s character Ally asking her musician boyfriend Jackson Maine (played by the film’s director Bradley Cooper) about the lyrics that eventually become “I’ll Never Love Again.” “You hiding love songs?” she asks. Things take off from there.
And the emotional pull isn’t just that the song captures the film’s climactic ending (we’re not going to spoil it): As many outlets have reported, “I’ll Never Love Again” was an incredibly intense experience for Gaga on a personal level.
The day that she had to shoot the scene in which Ally sings I’ll Never Love Again” at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Gaga found out her close friend had passed away after a battle with stage 4 breast, brain, and lung cancer.
“My very, very, very dear friend Sonja died of cancer that day,” Gaga told Entertainment Weekly. “We were supposed to shoot in, like, 30 minutes, and I left the set because her husband called me and I could hear her in the background and I just got in the car and drove… I missed her by 15 minutes and she died. I literally laid with her, with her husband, and their dog, and his son. When I came back, Bradley was so gentle with me and we got through it. I performed the song. He was like, ‘You don’t have to do it again. It’s okay.’”
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, tennis legend Serena Williams proved she was the G.O.A.T. once more by posting a special message to Instagram—and it’s in the form of a music video she’s actually singing in.
In the video, supported by Breast Cancer Network Australia, Williams performs a cover of the Diviynls’ classic hit “I Touch Myself.”
“This Breast Cancer Awareness Month I’ve recorded a version of The Divinyls global hit ‘I Touch Myself’ to remind women to self-check regularly,” Williams wrote on Instagram. “Yes, this put me out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to do it because it’s an issue that affects all women of all colors, all around the world. Early detection is key – it saves so many lives. I just hope this helps to remind women of that.”
Watch the video for yourself, below:
According to Williams, the music video is part of the I Touch Myself Project, which was created in 2014 as a tribute to Divinyls lead singer Chrissy Amphlett, who, according to the project’s website, “gave us her hit song to remind women to put their health first.” Amphlett died of breast cancer in 2013 while concurrently battling multiple sclerosis.
Beyond dropping a music video, it’s been a whirlwind month for Williams, who recently lost the U.S. Open to Naomi Osaka. During the match there was controversy with the presiding umpire, who made calls many saw as unfair and sexist against Williams.
“I’m gonna continue to fight for women,” Williams said after the game. “The fact that I have to go through this is just an example for the next person that has emotions and wants to express themselves, and they want to be a strong woman. And they’re gonna be allowed to do that because of today. Maybe it didn’t work out for me, but it’s gonna work out for the next person.”
Since giving birth to daughter Kulture Kiari, Cardi B has been living her best life. Unfortunately for the rest of us, though, those hoping to see the new mom perform “Bodak Yellow” live while on tour with Bruno Mars this fall will have to put a pin in that dream for now. In a statement she posted on Instagram Thursday night, Cardi announced that she’s decided to pull out of the 24K Magic World Tour, which is set to kick off in Denver in early September.
“As of today, I’ve decided I won’t be joining Bruno on tour this Fall. I thought that after giving birth to my daughter that 6 weeks would be enough time for me to recover mentally and physically. I also thought that I’d be able to bring her with me on tour, but I think I underestimated this whole mommy thing. Not only am I just not ready physically, I’m not ready to leave my baby behind since the doctors explained it’s not healthy for her to be on the road,” the rapper wrote in her announcement, which comes just about two weeks after she and husband Offset welcomed Kulture on July 10. “I hope you guys understand that this decision has been the hardest to make but I have to do what’s best for myself and my baby! Thank you Bruno for being so supportive and understanding.”
Bruno posted his own message for Cardi on Instagram on Thursday, confirming that he is, indeed, being very supportive and understanding about her decision. “Most important thing is you and your family’s health. I know the fans will understand. You are absolutely doing the right thing. I also know we’ll share the stage when the time is right,” he wrote. “We love you Cardi and we will play Bodak Yellow every night in your honor. Please give your baby girl a hug from me and a hug on behalf of everyone on The 24k Magic Tour. Love, Bruno.”
Cardi B has previously spoken about her desire to maintain her career while also expanding her family with Offset. In an April interview on radio show The Breakfast Club, shortly after revealing her pregnancy during a performance on Saturday Night Live, she defended moms who choose to continue working. “It just really bothers me and it disgusts me because I see a lot of women online like, ‘Oh, I feel sorry for you. Oh, your career is over,'” she said. “As a woman, why can’t I have both? Why do I gotta choose a career or a baby? Like, why can’t I have both? I want both.”
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