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Music News: Here's who's singing on floats in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

2017 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
2017 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
  Play Now [10:51]

by Jay Gabler

November 01, 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.


The music lineup for this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been released. Viewers watching the balloons go by in Manhattan and on a live broadcast will see Diana Ross, John Legend, Ella Mai, Barenaked Ladies, Pentatonix, Martina McBride, Rita Ora, Sugarland, Leona Lewis, reggaeton singer Bad Bunny, country singer Kane Brown, Ally Brooke of Fifth Harmony, and stage star Anika Noni Rose. Ross will be joined on a float by family members, including Tracee Ellis Ross: her daughter who stars in Black-ish. (Billboard)

Aretha Franklin's house goes up for sale

Aretha Franklin's Detroit house is on the market. The 4,148 square foot Colonial, in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Township, is priced at $800,000. Among the amenities: five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, lots of decks, and "access to the gated community's pool and tennis courts," notes Billboard. At the time of her death, the Queen of Soul was living in a downtown Detroit apartment.

Stars pay tribute to Mac Miller at benefit concert

Wednesday night in Los Angeles, a tribute to Mac Miller featured stars including Chance the Rapper, SZA, Vince Staples, Thundercat, and Travis Scott. The entire concert was a fundraiser for a newly-launched fund in Miller's name, supporting youth arts and other programs in Pittsburgh. The entire show was livestreamed; it ended with footage of Miller performing a previously unreleased song. (Pitchfork)

https://twitter.com/abbycooper29/status/1057865672699641856

Neil Young and Daryl Hannah call for gun control, confirm marriage

Neil Young and Daryl Hannah have released a new video for a live solo performance of "Ohio," with imagery calling for gun control. In a statement on his website, Young wrote, "Today's students are brave, demanding change in violent times. We stand with them. They are us. We are them. This has been going on for too long. My wife Daryl and I put this video together for you to reflect on."

Yes, that also represent the first official confirmation that Young and Hannah are now married. (Rolling Stone)

RHCP surprise schoolkids with Halloween performance

Red Hot Chili Peppers played a surprise song on Halloween at a school in Calabasas, California. Drummer Chad Smith's children attend Viewpoint School, where the Peppers played at the annual Great Pumpkin Day Assembly. With all four members in Halloween costume, the band played their song "Can't Stop." (Rolling Stone)

Carly Rae Jepsen drops new track, celebrates self-care

Carly Rae Jepsen has released a new single, "Party for One." It will appear on a new album, due out next year. In a video for the song, Jepsen is among a hotel full of people who are taking care of themselves in their own rooms — until a power outage brings them all together. (Rolling Stone)


Songs sampled in podcast
Jahzzar: "Comedie" (CC BY 4.0)
BoxCat Games: "Against the Wall" (CC BY 3.0)
Aretha Franklin: "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man"
Mac Miller: tribute concert audio
Neil Young: "Ohio"
Red Hot Chili Peppers: "Can't Stop"
Diana Ross: "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)"
Carly Rae Jepsen: "Party of One"