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Music News: Which music star has this year's best Halloween costume?

October 30, 2018

Above, listen to an episode of The Current's daily Music News podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. You can also sign up for a daily Music News e-mail.


With Halloween coming up on Wednesday, a lot of people dressed up for parties this past weekend...and music stars were no exception. Here are a few of the best costumes they trotted out.

Joey Fatone (above) and his girlfriend Isabel Araujo channeled the spirit of The Shining by stepping out as the creepy twins from Stanley Kubrick's horror classic.

Rita Ora decided to go as one of this year's most instantly recognizable pop stars: Post Malone.

Halsey suited up (or, rather, down) as Poison Ivy — as played by Uma Thurman in the famously bad 1997 movie Batman & Robin...and she said she even learned the dance from that movie where the villain emerges from a gorilla costume to wow a crowd.

Rapper G-Eazy also took the Batman villain route, with an elaborate Two-Face getup.

Diplo, failing to read the room, emulated the Hulkster.

Runner-up in our music star costume contest: Lizzo, twerking away as a "black ass Sailor Moon."

Grand prize goes to Steven Tyler, who tweeted an acknowledgement of what everyone already know about his everyday look. "THIS #HALLOWEEN 🎃 IM YOUR AUNT WHO LOVES A DOLLAR GENERAL DEAL AND MISSES A GOOD FILENE'S RUN EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK...SHOW ME YOUR COSTUMES!!! AUNTY HAS SPOKEN!!! BOO!"

Street renamed to honor Walter Becker

A section of the Queens street where the late Walter Becker grew up has been renamed in honor of the Steely Dan co-founder. Part of 72nd Drive is now co-named Walter Becker Way, and over the weekend a ceremony was held to install appropriate signage. Becker died just over a year ago, at age 67. (Spin)

Foot injuries sideline tours

Childish Gambino has postponed another series of tour dates as Donald Glover continues to recover from a recent foot injury. "I'm not ready to put on 100% shows," said Glover in a statement. "Apologies to the fans. I will be back soon." (Pitchfork)

Even if it's not at 100%, Glover's foot is in better shape than that of High on Fire guitarist Matt Pike. The heavy metal band have pulled out of a scheduled tour with Municipal Waste because "Matt has a medical emergency culminating in the partial amputation of one of his toes." In that kind of situation, you definitely don't want to be around any Municipal Waste. (Pitchfork)

Remembering Todd Youth

Guitarist Todd Youth has died at age 47. A cause of death has not been revealed. Youth played in a series of seminal hardcore bands in the '80s, including Agnostic Front, Warzone, and Murphy's Law. Over the course of his career, he also played with artists including Danzig, Motörhead, Ace Frehley, and even Glen Campbell. (Pitchfork)

Here he is playing with Murphy's Law in 1989.

Kiss, Diarrhea Planet say goodbye

Garage punk band Diarrhea Planet have played their swan song. The Nashville group said goodbye with a set opening for Jason Isbell at Ryman Auditorium, and guests including Isbell and Sturgill Simpson came onstage to help send them off. As Pitchfork notes, "There were a lot of guitars on that stage, and at least one got smashed."

Kiss have announced North American dates on what they say will be their "final tour ever." Yes, they've said that before, but really this time, they swear. "The tour may go three years, but once we play your city, it is done," says frontman Paul Stanley. "That is our big thank you."

The tour is going to be a big production, says guitarist Gene Simmons. "We can't move without having tractor trailers up the wazoo." The End of the Road World Tour hits North America with a Jan. 1 show in Vancouver, running through April 13 in Birmingham. (Billboard)

50 Cent buys 200 seats just so they'll be empty at Ja Rule concert

Today's music beef pits two early '00s rappers against each other. When a Ja Rule concert scheduled for Nov. 9 in Arlington, Texas hit Groupon, 50 Cent declared that he'd bought "200 seats in the front so they can be empty. LOL."

"The two Queens natives have been beefing for years," notes Complex, and 50 Cent has recently been trolling Ja Rule over his tour's low ticket sales.

Ja Rule, who could use the money since he's implicated in various civil suits regarding his disastrous Fyre Festival, responded with some Photoshopped images of 50 Cent, spurring charges of transphobia.


Songs sampled in podcast
Jahzzar: "Comedie" (CC BY 4.0)
BoxCat Games: "Against the Wall" (CC BY 3.0)
Steely Dan: "Peg"
Murphy's Law: "America Rules"
KISS: "Rock and Roll All Night"
Diarrhea Planet, et al: untitled
Box Cat Games: "Mt Fox Shop" (CC BY 3.0)
Meshell Ndegeocello: "Poison Ivy"
Diplo: "Get It Right" (feat. MØ)
Lizzo: "Good As Hell"
Aerosmith: "Sweet Emotion"