Raghavasimhan Sankaranarayanan, a PhD student at Georgia Tech, has created Hathaani, a revolutionary AI-powered robotic violinist. Using machine learning and a Chitravina-inspired design, it not only plays Carnatic music with stunning precision but also improvises intricate gamakas, blending tradition with cutting-edge technology.
…and here Raghavasimhan explains his invention.
From Grammy and Oscar winning Stephen Schwartz, and Grammy and Oscar nominee John Powell, Wicked: The Original Motion Picture Score, will be available to stream at all digital platforms and vinyl for purchase on December 6 via Universal Studios / Republic Records / Verve Records.
Stephen Schwartz and John Powell have built a magical sonic world for the film’s original motion picture score. From their “Arrival at Shiz University” to “All Around Defying Gravity” the characters journey through Oz is captured by this new timeless film score. Full track listing below.
Wicked: The Original Motion Picture Score showcases the musical experience from Universal Pictures’ new cinematic event, Wicked. Based on one of the most beloved and enduring musicals on stage for the past two decades, the spectacular, generation-defining film adaptation of Wicked is destined to be the most talked-about film of the holiday season.
The original motion picture score is a companion to Wicked: The Soundtrack, out now. With music and lyrics by legendary Grammy and Oscar winning composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, Wicked: The Soundtrack includes songs performed by Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winning powerhouse and Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, Broadway’s The Color Purple) as Elphaba and Grammy-winning, multi-platinum recording artist and global superstar Ariana Grande as Glinda. Listen to Wicked: The Soundtrack HERE.
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights), Wicked is the first chapter of a two-part immersive, cultural celebration. Wicked Part Two is scheduled to arrive in theaters on November 21, 2025.
One of the most beloved and enduring musicals on the stage, Wicked makes its journey to the big screen as a spectacular cinematic event this holiday season.
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights), Wicked is the first chapter of a two-part immersive, cultural celebration. Wicked Part Two is scheduled to arrive in theaters on November 21, 2025.
Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, stars Emmy, Grammy and Tony winning and Oscar-nominated powerhouse Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, Broadway’s The Color Purple) as Elphaba, a young woman misunderstood because of her green skin who has yet to discover her true power, and Grammy-winning, multi-platinum recording artist and global superstar Ariana Grande as Glinda, a popular young woman gilded by privilege who has yet to discover her true heart.
The two meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfill their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
The film also stars Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh as Shiz University’s regal headmistress Madame Morrible; Olivier Award winner and Emmy nominee Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton, Fellow Travelers) as Fiyero, a roguish and carefree prince; Tony nominee Ethan Slater (Broadway’s Spongebob Squarepants, Fosse/Verdon) as Boq, an altruistic Munchkin student; Marissa Bode in her feature-film debut as Nessarose, Elphaba’s favored sister; and pop culture icon Jeff Goldblum as the legendary Wizard of Oz.
The cast of characters includes Pfannee and ShenShen, two conniving compatriots of Glinda played by Emmy nominee Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live) and Bronwyn James (Harlots); a new character created for the film, Miss Coddle, played by Tony nominee Keala Settle (The Greatest Showman) and four-time Emmy winner Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) as the voice of Dr. Dillamond.
Wicked is produced by Marc Platt p.g.a. (La La Land, The Little Mermaid), whose films, television shows and stage productions have earned a combined 46 Oscar nominations, 58 Emmy nominations and 36 Tony nominations, and by multiple Tony winner David Stone (Kimberly Akimbo, Next to Normal), with whom Platt produced the blockbuster Wicked stage musical. The executive producers are Stephen Schwartz, David Nicksay, Jared LeBoff, Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox.
Wicked is based on the generation-defining musical stage play with music and lyrics by legendary Grammy and Oscar winning composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, from the bestselling novel by Gregory Maguire. The screenplay is by Winnie Holzman and Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox. The film score is by John Powell & Stephen Schwartz, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz.
The Broadway stage musical is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, the Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.
Wicked: The Original Motion Picture Score Track Listing:
SIDE A
1 Arrival at Shiz University
2 Our Heroes Meet
3 Nessarose
4 Meet the Faculty
5 Elphaba’s Power
6 How to Loathe Your Roommate
7 History Lesson
SIDE B
1 Levitate the Coin
2 All Around Something Bad
3 Prince Fiyero of Winkie Country
4 The Book Place
5 Elphaba at Ozdust
6 Sharing Secrets
7 Look at You
8 Replacement Teacher
SIDE C
1 Cub Rescue
2 Forest Feelings
3 Ozian Invitation
4 Galinda Becomes Glinda
5 Train to Emerald City
6 Hall of Grandiosity
7 A Wizard’s Plan
SIDE D
1 The Grimmerie
2 Transformations
3 Monkey Mayhem
4 All Around Defying Gravity
After a year of monumental returns and record-breaking milestones, LINKIN PARK—Mike Shinoda, Dave “Phoenix” Farrell, Joe Hahn, Emily Armstrong, and Colin Brittain—announce FROM ZERO WORLD TOUR will continue into 2025, with the next leg launching in January of next year. The tour celebrates their new album, FROM ZERO, out tomorrow HERE via Warner Records and hits stadiums and arenas across North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. The run also includes several notable festival plays around the globe, including Sick New World, I-DAYS, Novarock, and more.
Their 2024 arena run was met with incredible demand, prompting the addition of four stadium dates in Paris, Dallas, and São Paulo. Now, fans worldwide will have even more chances to experience LINKIN PARK’s raw, high-octane performances with an expanded tour schedule in 2025. Full ticketing and tour info is available below. Special guests Queens of the Stone Age, Spiritbox, AFI, Architects, grandson, Jean Dawson, JPEGMAFIA, and PVRIS will join on select dates.
“Getting back out on the road has been incredible,” says Mike Shinoda. “The fans’ support is overwhelming, and we’re ready to take this energy even further around the world. FROM ZERO is a new chapter for us, and we’re so excited to share it with everyone on a bigger scale.”
Highlights of the upcoming run include the band’s first stadium shows in Tokyo and Mexico City since 2017, a return to Jakarta after 13 years, and performances at Wembley Stadium, Stade de France, and Dodger Stadium, where they’ll perform both new hits like “The Emptiness Machine” and “Heavy Is The Crown” alongside iconic anthems spanning their 20+ year career. Additional ticketing and venue details for South America and Jakarta will be forthcoming.
Following the release of “Heavy Is The Crown”, the official League of Legends World Championship Anthem and their first collaboration with Riot Games, LINKIN PARK has reasserted their position as one of rock’s defining voices. The song’s hard-hitting rhythm and anthemic energy embody the bold, renewed spirit of the band and have resonated with fans across the globe, paving the way for FROM ZERO.
LINKIN PARK made their triumphant return to the spotlight with “The Emptiness Machine,” which surged to #1 on both the Billboard Alternative and Mainstream Rock Airplay charts, marking their 13th and 11th chart-toppers on these lists, respectively. The song also debuted at #4 on the UK Singles Chart, achieving the band’s highest UK chart position in their 24-year career, and has held the #1 spot in Germany for an incredible 9 weeks in a row and counting
TICKETS: LP Underground fan club exclusive presales start November 18. Get all details and ticketing info HERE.
With over 54 million monthly listeners on Spotify and accolades from Billboard, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times on their recent singles, LINKIN PARK’s comeback has proven they are more influential than ever. The band’s recent late-night performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon showcased their timeless appeal, and their latest music has struck a powerful chord, propelling them to the forefront of rock music in 2024.
LINKIN PARK emerged as an innovative musical force and are one of the best-selling artists of the last twenty years. Their RIAA Diamond-certified full-length debut, Hybrid Theory, stands out as the “best selling debut of the 21st century,” while landmark sophomore album Meteora bowed at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 before going 8X-Platinum in the U.S. The band’s worldwide sales across the entire catalog eclipses 100 million, and among numerous accolades and honors, they have garnered 2 GRAMMY® Awards, 5 American Music Awards, 4 MTV VMA Awards, 10 MTV Europe Music Awards and 3 World Music Awards. Selling out stadiums worldwide, they’ve headlined the largest festivals globally and also remain the first and only Western rock band to play a five-stadium tour in China. 2017’s One More Light marked their fifth #1 debut on the Billboard 200. In 2020, the band celebrated their groundbreaking debut album, Hybrid Theory, by releasing a comprehensive 20th anniversary edition super deluxe box set which features their RIAA Diamond-certified single “In The End.” In 2023, the band released Meteora 20th Anniversary Edition, which topped the charts and featured the newly-uncovered song “Lost.” The emotionally charged single was originally recorded during sessions for their second studio album Meteora (2003), and soon after its 2023 release, “Lost” hit #1 at both Alternative and Rock radio. 2024 marked the release of their first greatest hits package Papercuts, featuring vault track “Friendly Fire” that similarly topped both the Alternative and Rock charts. On September 5, the band made a triumphant return to the top of the charts with “The Emptiness Machine,” which exploded as the #1 rock song in the country and the biggest rock song of 2024. It made a rapid climb to #1 on both the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay Chart and Alternative Airplay Chart. In total, the band have scored a staggering 13 #1 entries on the latter chart (the second-most in history) with three in the last eighteen months. LINKIN PARK will release their 8th studio album From Zero on November 15 on Warner Records. The band have always prioritized charity and goodwill in an effort to make the world a better place, helping to raise millions over the years for victims of natural disasters. Today, LINKIN PARK’s imprint on music and culture continues to expand and magnify.
FROM ZERO WORLD TOUR 2025
January 31, 2025 | Estadio GNP Seguros – Mexico City, MX =
February 3, 2025 | Estadio 3 de Marzo – Guadalajara, MX =
February 5, 2025 | Estadio Banorte – Monterrey, MX =
February 11, 2025 | Saitama Super Arena – Tokyo, JP
February 12, 2025 | Saitama Super Arena – Tokyo, JP
February 16, 2025 | Venue TBA – Jakarta, ID
April 12, 2025 | Sick New World Festival – Las Vegas, NV *
April 26, 2025 | Moody Center – Austin, TX ^
April 28, 2025 | BOK Center – Tulsa, OK ^
May 1, 2025 | Van Andel Arena – Grand Rapids, MI ^
May 3, 2025 | CFG Bank Arena – Baltimore, MD ^
May 6, 2025 | Lenovo Center – Raleigh, NC ^
May 8, 2025 | Bon Secours Wellness Arena – Greenville, SC ^
May 10, 2025 | Sonic Temple – Columbus, OH *
May 17, 2025 | Welcome to Rockville – Daytona, FL *
June 12, 2025 | Novarock Festival -Nickelsdorf, AT *
June 14, 2025 | Rock for People Festival – Hradec Kralove, CZ *
June 16, 2025 | Heinz-Von-Heiden Arena – Hannover, DE ~
June 18, 2025 | Olympiastadion – Berlin, DE ~
June 20, 2025 | Bernexpo – Bern, CH
June 24, 2025 | I-DAYS Festival – Milan, IT *
June 26, 2025 | Gelredome – Arnhem, NL $
June 28, 2025 | Wembley Stadium – London, UK $&
July 1, 2025 | Merkur Spiel Arena – Dusseldorf, DE ~&
July 3, 2025 | Rock Werchter Festival – Werchter, BE *
July 5, 2025 | Open’er Festival – Gdynia, PL *
July 8, 2025 | Deutsche Bank Park – Frankfurt, DE ~&
July 11, 2025 | Stade de France – Paris, FR
July 29, 2025 | Barclays Center – Brooklyn, NY+
August 1, 2025 | TD Garden – Boston, MA +
August 3, 2025 | Prudential Center – Newark, NJ +
August 6, 2025 | Bell Centre – Montreal, QC +
August 8, 2025 | Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, ON +
August 11, 2025 | United Center – Chicago, IL +
August 14, 2025 | Little Caesars Arena – Detroit, MI +
August 16, 2025 | Wells Fargo Center – Philadelphia, PA #
August 19, 2025 | PPG Paints Arena – Pittsburgh, PA #
August 21, 2025 | Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN #
August 23, 2025 | Enterprise Center – St. Louis, MO #
August 25, 2025 | Fiserv Forum – Milwaukee, WI #
August 27, 2025 | Target Center – Minneapolis, MN #
August 29, 2025 | CHI Health Center – Omaha, NE #
August 31, 2025 | T-Mobile Center – Kansas City, MO #
September 3, 2025 | Ball Arena – Denver, CO #
September 6, 2025 | Footprint Center – Phoenix, AZ #
September 13, 2025 | Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles, CA !&
September 15, 2025 | SAP Center – San Jose, CA &
September 17, 2025 | Golden 1 Center – Sacramento, CA &
September 19, 2025 | Moda Center – Portland, OR &
September 21, 2025 | Rogers Arena – Vancouver, BC &
September 24, 2025 | Climate Pledge Arena – Seattle, WA &
October 26, 2025 | Venue TBA – Bogota, CO
October 29, 2025 | Venue TBA – Lima, PE
November 1, 2025 | Venue TBA – Buenos Aires, AR
November 5, 2025 | Venue TBA – Santiago, CL
November 8, 2025 | Venue TBA – Rio de Janeiro, BR
November 10, 2025 | Venue TBA – São Paulo, BR
November 13, 2025 | Venue TBA – Brasilia, BR
November 15, 2025 | Venue TBA – Porto Alegre, BR
*Festival Performance
! With support from Queens of the Stone Age
$ With support from Spiritbox
= With support from AFI
~ With support from Architects
^ With support from grandson
# With support from Jean Dawson
& With support from JPEGMAFIA
+ With support from PVRIS
Billy Corgan has always been known for his deep, introspective lyrics and ability to weave compelling narratives. But recently, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman shared a real-life story that could rival any of his most intriguing songs. During an appearance on Howie Mandel Does Stuff, Corgan dropped a jaw-dropping possibility: he and comedian Bill Burr might actually be half-brothers.
Yes, you read that right.
“Most of my friends don’t even know this story,. About 10 years ago, one of my brothers was having a birthday party, and my stepmother was there, who was obviously married to my father. And my stepmother said to me, ‘Do you know who Bill Burr is?’ At that point, I had never heard of Bill Burr; I didn’t know who he was. He could have been the guy down the street.
“She said, ‘Well, he’s this comedian.’ I think I even somehow called up a picture on the phone, and I kind of noticed right away, ‘Gee, he kind of looks like my father.’ Bill Burr looks more like my father than Bill Burr looks like me or I look like Bill Burr. So I said to my mother, ‘Why are you asking me this?’
“She goes, ‘I think it might be one of your father’s illegitimate children. Bill Burr might be one of the children that your father sired in his days being a traveling musician.’ This is a true story. I’m not making this up; there is no joke in this.”
And if that wasn’t enough to leave jaws on the floor, Corgan revealed his father had once hinted at the same possibility. “He did once tell me that I had a half-brother named Bill who was basically born around the same time as me,” Corgan recalled.
While we may never get a definitive answer, one thing’s for sure: this story is as wild and unexpected as a Smashing Pumpkins guitar riff.
You’ve probably heard “You Can Call Me Al” and “The Boy in the Bubble” from Paul Simon’s Graceland, but the album goes deeper than you think. Here are five fascinating facts about this groundbreaking record:
Graceland broke musical and cultural barriers, earning Simon a Grammy and selling over 16 million copies. It’s still one of the best examples on how music can unite and transcend.
In a sketch from Season 8 of The Carol Burnett Show, Maggie Smith hilariously played Karen, a newly famous actress visiting her fawning college friends, Carol and Harvey Korman. Their over-the-top admiration—fame, lifestyle, and even “habits”—led to a dramatic exit for the ages. Proof that Maggie’s comedic chops shine as brightly as her dramatic ones.
Trumpet player Max Karreman shared mind-blowing footage of his marching band K&G Leiden playing Metallica’s Master of Puppets—on a brick road, no less—during Streetparade Vlaardingen 2024. Brass, drums, and a heavy metal classic combined to bring the house (or street) down. Metalheads, meet your new heroes.
John Kotrides, a proud Gen Xer, asked Gen Z to pronounce ’80s artist names like Depeche Mode, Sade, and INXS. Spoiler: it was a beautiful disaster.
This 42-minute sound collage transforms Marshall McLuhan’s media theories into an engaging, boundary-pushing auditory experience. Narrated by McLuhan himself, it combines lectures with experimental audio techniques, creating a unique format for his revolutionary ideas. Despite its brilliance, it remains a hidden gem.
n 1979, 2 Tone exploded into the national consciousness as records by The Specials, The Selecter, Madness, The Beat, and The Bodysnatchers burst onto the charts and a youth movement was born. 2 Tone was black and white: a multi-racial force of British and Caribbean island musicians singing about social issues, racism, class and gender struggles. It spoke of injustices in society and took fight against right wing extremism.
The music of 2 Tone was exuberant: white youth learning to dance to the infectious rhythm of ska and reggae; and crossed with a punk attitude to create an original hybrid. The idea of 2 Tone was born in Coventry, masterminded by a middle-class art student raised in the church. Jerry Dammers had a vision of an English Motown. Borrowing £700, the label’s first record featured ‘Gangsters’ by The Specials’ backed by an instrumental track by the, as yet, unformed, Selecter. Within two months the single was at number six in the national charts. Dammers signed Madness, The Beat and The Bodysnatchers as a glut of successive hits propelled 2 Tone onto Top of the Pops and into the hearts and minds of a generation. However, soon infighting amongst the bands and the pressures of running a label caused 2 Tone to bow to an inevitable weight of expectation and recrimination.
Still under the auspices of Jerry Dammers, 2 Tone entered in a new phase. Perhaps not as commercially successful as its 1979-1981 incarnation the label nevertheless continued to thrive for a further four years releasing a string of fresh signings and a stunning end-piece finale in ‘(Free) Nelson Mandela’.
Told in three parts, Too Much Too Young is the definitive story of a label that for a brief, bright burning moment, shaped British culture.
Solihull-born Daniel Rachel is a regular contributor on BBC Radio 5 Live and lives in north London with his partner and three children. He is the author of Isle of Noises (a Guardian and NME Book of the Year), Walls Come Tumbling Down (winner of the Penderyn Music Book prize), When Ziggy Played the Marquee by Terry O’Neill (editor), Don’t Look Back in Anger and co-writer of Ranking Roger’s autobiography I Just Can’t Stop It: My Life in The Beat.
