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Virtual Music Event Round Up:

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WATCH NOW:

Dave Matthews: As part of the "Pay it Forward Live" series, Dave supported small businesses with an epic, solo livestream performance.

Wyclef Jean: Rolling out a series of "Acoustic Sessions," Wyclef dedicated this one to the medical workers serving on "the front line."

Pete Wentz: The Fall Out Boy bassist is putting his free time to good use, putting together a concert made up entirely of FOB action figures.

James Bay: Learn a new skill while you're stuck at home, as James provides guitar lessons of some of his songs via Instagram Live.

Kelsea Ballerini: Giving fans a sneak peak of her new album, Kelsea performed songs in a stay-at-home album release party.

Linkin Park: They celebrated the 20th anniversary of their "Hybrid Theory" album by reacting to never-before-seen concert footage from 2001. See it here.

Neil Young: Enjoy his six-song "Fireside Session" here. Directed by Mrs. Young, Daryl Hannah, at their Telluride, Colorado home.

Nora Jones: Taking to Instagram, she offered her fans a cover version of Guns 'N Roses "Patience."

Brad Paisley: Some famous friends helped Brad take requests on his Facebook page.

Andrew Lloyd Weber: After performing a socially-isolated version of "All I Ask of You" from his Phantom of the Opera, he asked his fans to suggest a tune for him to play next.

Chris Martin:  The socially isolated performance that started it all! Chris comes to you from his living room here.

Ashley McBryde: Since she would be "playing guitar in (her) living room anyways," Ashley invited has fans to join her.

Bruce Springsteen: The Boss shared his "Live In Hyde Park" show in full for the first time. "Practice social distancing & stream ‘London Calling: Live In Hyde Park’ from the comfort of your own home."

Pink: In her first "free concert/piano lesson," she took to Instagram to perform "To Make You Feel My Love."

Luke Combs: "Pumped to play a couple of songs for y’all," Luke said, "Thankful technology allows us to connect like this and forget about everything that’s going on for a little while. Everyone stay safe."

John Legend:  John kicked off his "Together, At Home" initiative with a performance featuring an appearance by his wife and daughter via Instagram.

Charlie Puth:  Join Charlie and his piano (and weird eyebrows) livestreamed via his Instagram.

Keith Urban: Live from his Nashville warehouse (with his wife Nicole Kidman by his side) Keith steamed a 32-minute concert that you can still see here.

Yungblud: In a YouTube concert that featured appearances from Machine Gun Kelly, Bella Thorne and more, Yungblood tore the house down, and you can Click here to watch.

Country All-Stars:  Watch Travis Denning make "the best margarita ever" and perform here.    Jessie G is joined by singer/songwriter Matt Wynn on Facebook Live here. Check out Carly Pearce's live Vevo performance of "Halfway Home" here, and Chase Rice shares an acoustic version of the unreleased “Break.Up.Drunk" on Instagram.

Drake: DNA

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Need to know the story behind Aubrey Drake Graham? Lucky you. LiveXLive has relaunched our Drake: DNA station, on which you will hear his biggest and best songs, along with deep cuts, tracks from his collaborators and influences, and the stories behind all of it.  Here’s a smattering of Drake fun facts that you can use to amaze your friends:

- After hearing Drake’s song “Replacement Girl,” Lil Wayne called him up, asked him to fly to Houston and join the Carter III Tour. Boom. A star was born. A few years later, Drake tattooed Wayne on his left tricep.

-Drake holds the record for most simultaneous songs on the Billboard Hot 100 with 20.

-Among others, Drake has written songs for Alicia Keys, Jamie Foxx, and Rita Ora.

-Among his biggest influence, Drake ranks Lil Wayne, Jay Z, Usher, and Aaliyah.

-Among his biggest feuds, Drake has had beef with Meek Mill, Ghostface Killah, Pusha T, Kanye, DMX, The Weekend, Common, Ludacris, and Chris Brown.

-“Drake Day” it's celebrated on June 10th in Houston. The mayor made it a thing.

Camila: 5 Facts

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Her newest song is about her ex… but not in the way you might think! Camila just dropped a new track called “Cry For Me”, with lyrics like “When I said I hope you’re happy, I didn’t mean it/never thought you’d be so good at moving on” and she posted about it to Insta, saying I think everyone has felt this at one point or another, when your ex moves on faster than you and of course you want them to be happy but just… not so fast. But her ex wasn’t the one who was quick to move on – she was! Which means this song might have been written from his point of view. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3IBKvdHOAs/

Camila & Shawn initially didn’t want to record Señorita!The song was Shawn’s idea, but when he initially sent it to her she wasn’t feeling it, Watch here. By the time she decided she wanted to do it, he had changed HIS mind. They went back and forth for months before finally getting into the studio to record the track that ended up going all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and LiveXLive’s Weekly Pop 40! Listen here.


She’s been open about her struggles with anxiety. Camila was extremely shy as a kid – her family says they never even heard her sing! She would wait until they left the house before performing privately in her room. It took her a long time to get past her performance anxiety, something she’s still working on. She wrote two long posts about overcoming anxiety in July 2019, saying I went from never wanting to sing in front of my family to being addicted to performing, from being too anxious to hang out with new people to... still being a little anxious but having THE BEST time and making irreplaceable memories. The essence of me is the same, but i’ve changed so much as a person. You choose who you’re going to be. Force yourself to do what you’re afraid of, always- and go after what you want and who you want to be, because you’re worth that. You’re worth the fight. It’s the most worthwhile one there is. Love you ❤️

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I remember growing up hearing stories of the singers I loved, all the stories sounded the same, kids who would grow up performing for their families and putting on talent shows for their parents when they were little who grew up to be dazzling to me. I was the opposite, I never ever sang in front of my parents or friends and would get flustered when they would ask me to, I sang in my room when my parents left for Walmart and cried when one day I saw them filming me through the crack of the door, I got teary eyed when people sang happy birthday to me because people looking at me actually made me overwhelmed. I was generally incredibly nervous and socially anxious when I was little; and people always have this look of disbelief when I tell them that. I did an interview the other day where I got it again, the interviewer said something along the lines of “So... how’d you end up here?” The answer is, I feel like my whole life there’s been two Camila’s in me. There’s little Camila that is terrified of the unknown, is aware of all the ways everything can go wrong, (actually can picture them vividly lol), and thinks it’s safer to stay home than to play ball. Then there’s the other Camila. And she knows what she wants out of life, is aware of how little time I have to let little Camila run the show while time passes by, and grabs young me by the hand and forces her out the door saying “Let’s go. You’ll survive, and I’m not gonna miss out on this. Let’s go.” And that is literally how I can sum up how I’ve gotten to this point in my life. (I’m talking about as a person, not success.) remember feeling discouraged when I felt like some people were just “born” to do things. That they always had it in them. “They were always this outgoing, they always loved to entertain, they were always this bold, they were always this outspoken.” (.....continue)

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She spent the money for her Quinceañera on a trip to audition for X-Factor!She told the LatinX blog mitú: I didn’t want to have a Quinceañera, I’m not really that type. I wouldn’t have had enough friends to invite to a party. So I asked my parents that instead of spending money on a party, if they could take me to North Carolina to audition for The X Factor. It was the best decision I ever made. 


She posted dozens of covers to Youtube before she became famous, then deleted all but one. Karla Cabello (as she was known before she got famous) really did love to sing, even if she didn’t like to sing in front of anyone. She eased her way in to performing by posting covers on Youtube, at first with her face covered in the videos so that her classmates wouldn’t recognize her. She deleted all of them but one – her cover of Demi Lovato’s “Skyscraper", which you can still find online under the Youtube account karlacabello. Watch here, it is ADORABLE. 


Find out more about Camila’s musical influences, plus hear her hits and biggest collabs on Camila Cabello: DNA!

LXL In The Mix

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When good songs get into the hands of great producers and DJs, sometimes the remixes outshine the originals. Your LiveXLive curators have collected some of the coolest, most interesting, and majorly boundary-breaking tracks for the ultimate remix countdown that spans genres and eras. 

You’ll hear the remix that made a Run DMC hit an even BIGGER hit, the DJ responsible for Lana Del Rey’s highest charting release ever, and the dance track that shines a spotlight on a little-known Whitney Houston song. 

Find out if your favorites made the list, and discover some songs you never even knew existed as we count down the Top 33 Remixes of All Time.  

Fitz & The Tantrums

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LiveXLive was lucky enough to get Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs of Fitz and The Tantrums into a studio to create their very own station.  You can hear them play their favorite songs, and tell the stories behind them, here.

In addition, we played a quick Q&A game called “Lightning Round” to learn a bit more about the duo. They cracked us up, here’s why:

Drive or Passenger?

Fitz: Driver.

Noelle: Passenger…but I don’t like riding with you.

Fitz: That’s because I’m a friggin’ maniac.

Noelle: He’s a maniac. Yes.

Day or Night?

N: Night

.F: Now, see, before I had kids, I was all “night.” Now I’m all “day” because those little s***s are waking me up at six I the morning

Fall or Summer?

F: Summer

N: Fall.

F: Look at you. Such a contrarian.

Favorite movie?

N: "Legends of the Fall!"

F: What?

N: Yes. It was the hottest cast ever put on film. It was all about the eye candy.

F: "Star Wars,” please.

Best TV show?

F: "Breaking Bad."

N: "Lord of the Rings."

F: Shut up

N: (laughs)

F: We’ll just let her live with the shame of that answer. Next?

Best Drummer:

F: Keith Moon.

N: I’m gonna say Darren King from Mutemath.

F: Wow.

Best Vocalist

N: ME!

F: (pause) Oh my god.

N: (laughs)

Rick Ross Takes Over

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We love Rick Ross. There, we said it. So, of course, we invited him into the LiveXLive studios to create his very own radio station.  He chose every song, and told stories about why he made his selections. So what did we learn?

-- Rick’s taste in music is "the biggest," and if anyone disagrees, Rick suggests that you “go slap yo mama"

-- Rick gives respect to Jay Z. “If you’re a player, tell a player,” he says. “And if you’re a hater, jump off the f***ing fifty story balcony cause ain't nobody watching."

-- Rick played some Meek Mill because it was “only right” and he’s his “little brother” and you should just “seize the moment.”

-- Rick Ross loves Adele. “Hey Adele,” he sad, "look at the radio, I love you. I’m waiting on you. I need you."

Here’s how Mr. Ross describes his wonder-work: "Going from the ghettos to to Rio de Janeiro, put it on ice, because this is my mother***ing station, you dig?  Old school, new school, and my s**t. I’m not a DJ, I’m the biggest, so I hope you mother***ers enjoy it.

Clearly great, but not safe for work very much. Enjoy it right HERE.

CMA Awards

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Aside from the biggest award of the night – Entertainer of the Year – going to Garth Brooks, the biggest winners at the 53rd CMA Awards were Luke Combs and Kacey Musgraves, the only artists to win two trophies. Luke’s were for Male Vocalist and Song of the Year for “Beautiful Crazy.” Kacey’s were for Female Vocalist and Video of the Year for “Rainbow.”

Other notable wins, on a night that paid tribute to the women of country music, past and present, include Jenee Fleenor, who became the first woman to ever win the trophy for Musician of the Year, and it’s about dang time! And for the second year in a row, a woman grabbed the Album of the Year win – it was Maren Morris and her album Girl, who follows last year’s winner, Kacey Musgraves. And Ashley McBryde became the first woman to win New Artist of the Year since Maren did it in 2016. (Since 2008, only three solo women have won New Artist, the third being Kacey Musgraves in 2013 – are you seeing a pattern here? Anybody wanna predict Ashley McBryde for next year’s female vocalist and/or album winner?)

Garth’s win for Entertainer was his seventh, the first time being in 1991, just a year after he won what was then called the Horizon Award (now it’s New Artist). And it was cool that he used his time to point out great performances from other artists that night – Reba’s three-costume change performance of “Fancy,” Kelsea Ballerini’s “Homecoming Queen,” and he said Luke Combs would be holding that EOTY trophy someday.

If you want to hear more stories, highlights, winner reactions, and the songs that were performed, check out our CMAs 2019 station here.

Nirvana Unplugged at 25

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It was 25 years ago this week that Nirvana released their final album, “Unplugged.” To celebrate, LiveXLive is featuring it as our “Greatest Album Ever…This Week,” which means you can listen to it on-demand, for free, as much as you want.  As you get ready to dig in, here are some fascinating facts surrounding what many critics call Kurt Cobain’s greatest performance:
- Nirvana’s "MTV Unplugged" was recorded on November 18th, 1993 at the Sony Music Studios in New York.
- The trio of Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl were joined by guitarist (and future Foo Fighter) Pat Smear, cellist Lori Goldston and two of Kurt Cobain’s musical heroes, Chris and Curt Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets (for a portion of the performance)
- Cobain helped design the set, asking for stargazer lillies and black candles. When Unplugged producer Alex Coletti asked if he was going for a funeral look, Kurt said, “Exactly."
- Under his ratty cardigan, Kurt wore a Frightwig t-shirt. Frightwig are a feminist punk band from San Francisco.
- Nirvana performed four songs from “Nevermind,” three from “In Utero,” and one from “Bleach.” They also covered songs by the Vaselines, Lead Belly, David Bowie, and Meat Puppets. Their “hits,” for the most part, were avoided. Only “Come As You Are” had been previously released as a single.
- They closed their set with Lead Belly’s arrangement of the traditional song “Where Did You Sleep Last Night.” Producers asked Nirvana to do an encore but Cobain refused, saying he could not top that performance.
- The MTV Unplugged performance was first broadcast in December of 1993, and the album was released on November 1, 1994. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard album charts, seven months after the death of Cobain.

Totally Tim

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Treat. It’s definitely a treat to see Tim McGraw in Men’s Health showing off his TruMav gym in Nashville and what’s in his fridge. You might know Tim lost 40 pounds about a decade ago, and he did it by getting rid of alcohol and junk food and starting to walk in the morning. The walking turned into running and then he added weight lifting, and I think it’s safe to say we’re all grateful for the results. He even includes a bodyweight workout you can do yourself. Get the workout, read the interview and watch him do this thing here.