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Whether you’re craving a thriller, a spy documentary or an exploration of an American musical icon, each of these limited series can be enjoyed in one big gulp.One full year into the pandemic, the end is finally in sight. President Biden has promised to make every American adult eligible for vaccination by May, with the goal of a return to some version of normal life by the summer. Until then, though, we still need to find ways to hunker down and pass the time. And if you’ve already exhausted your Netflix queue and made your way through this year’s Oscar contenders, consider making your next binge an audio one.Whether you’re craving a twisty thriller, a quirky spy documentary or an award-winning exploration of an American musical icon, each of these seven limited series can be enjoyed in a single daylong gulp.‘Wind of Change’There’s no shortage of conspiracy theories about the Central Intelligence Agency — including a claim that it actually invented the term “conspiracy theory” — but none quite like the one at the heart of this eight-part nonfiction series. Here’s the premise: The C.I.A. orchestrated the writing of “Wind of Change,” an anthemic power ballad by the German heavy metal band Scorpions. Why? As part of a covert campaign to undermine the Soviet Union during the Cold War, of course. Hosted by Patrick Radden Keefe, a writer for The New Yorker, this podcast from Crooked Media take the listener on a labyrinth of a story, one that encompasses interviews with ex-spies and aging rockers alike, and may change the way you see pop culture forever.Starter episode: “My Friend Michael”‘Dirty John’Wondery, now a podcasting powerhouse that was recently purchased by Amazon, enjoyed its breakout moment in the fall of 2017, when the network (in tandem with The Los Angeles Times) released the first few episodes of its gripping saga about an abusive con artist and the women he almost destroyed. That show, “Dirty John,” takes place in the idyllic oceanfront setting of Orange County, Calif., where Debra Newell is about to go on a first date with a dreamy doctor named John Meehan. Suffice it to say, Meehan is not what he seems. A TV version was released on Bravo in 2018, but nothing matches the raw force of the audio original — particularly the breathtaking finale, in which Meehan’s disturbing behavior reaches its awful zenith.Starter episode: “The Real Thing”‘The Mystery Show’Picture this: you rent a video from a video store, back when those were a thing. The following day, you go to return the video only to discover that the store is gone. You’re not lost or confused — the store has genuinely vanished. This “Twilight Zone”-esque experience is just one of the real life mysteries that Starlee Kine investigates in “The Mystery Show,” an early hit from Gimlet Media. After the murder mystery “Serial” changed podcasting forever in 2014, there was an onslaught of copycat shows trying to cash in on the same formula by re-examining cold cases. Kine, though, focuses on low-stakes puzzles that involve no true crimes, but are nonetheless utterly captivating.Starter episode: “Case #1: Video Store”‘Passenger List’Blending the old-school pleasures of a radio play with a distinctly modern premise, ‘Passenger List’ is one of the best fictional podcasts of recent years. After a flight from London to New York disappears without a trace somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, the twin sister of one of the doomed passengers (played by Kelly Marie Tran) sets out to uncover the truth about what really happened. Playing on timely anxieties surrounding events like the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines 370, the show from PRX’s “Radiotopia” is both an addictive popcorn thriller for your ears, and now an unexpectedly nostalgic treat for those missing air travel.Starter episode: “Traffic”‘Dolly Parton’s America’You don’t have to be into country music in general, or Dolly Parton in particular, to be pulled in by this Peabody-winning exploration of how the multifaceted star became such an enduring icon. Although much of the show from WNYC Studios is taken up with conversations about just how beloved Parton is by everybody who knows her, “Dolly Parton’s America” avoids hagiography by taking its title seriously, exploring the Dollyverse against a broader national backdrop. The host, Jad Abumrad (“Radiolab”), begins the series by explaining his own connection to the star — he hails from Tennessee just like Parton — and the moment in 2016 that made him see her as a unifying force in an otherwise divided nation. Featuring interviews with musicians, historians, fans and with Parton herself, this is the kind of nuanced and intimate profile that audio does best.Starter episode: “Sad Ass Songs”‘Escaping Nxivm’Last year saw the release of two buzzy rival documentaries about the sex trafficking cult Nxivm, whose leader, Keith Raniere, was recently sentenced to 120 years in prison. But long before either show, CBC Radio was the first to delve into the horrifying and deeply peculiar world of Nxivm, whose members famously included the “Smallville” actress Allison Mack and the liquor heiress Clare Bronfman. In “Escaping Nxivm,”, the first season of CBC’s ongoing “Uncover” podcast series, the journalist Josh Bloch interviews Sarah Edmondson, a former key member of Nxivm who has now become its most famous whistle-blower. An actress by trade, Edmonson makes for a compelling central figure, her voice vividly emotional as she recalls the nightmarish ways Raniere and his chosen leaders gradually chipped away at her sense of self. A tough listen that showcases the unique intimacy of podcasting.Starter episode: “The Branding”‘Bag Man’Many podcasts have found success by re-examining well-known political scandals through a fresh lens (most notably Slate’s “Slow Burn”), but this gem from MSNBC pulls off the same trick with a scandal that almost nobody remembers. That’s because Watergate was dominating headlines at the time, but in “Bag Man,” Rachel Maddow pulls back the curtain on an adjacent 1973 investigation that saw vice president Spiro Agnew accused of brazen political corruption. Maddow does not hesitate to point out what she sees as parallels to President Trump — Agnew angrily dismissed the investigation as a “witch hunt” in one example — and for anyone missing the juicy palace intrigue stories that came out of the Trump White House, this is a must-listen.Starter episode: “An Unsettling Secret” More

The singer, who was previously featured on the New Orleans-based rapper’s latest single ‘Ain’t Got Time’, reveals that she got his verse after showing him the song in person.

Mar 30, 2021

AceShowbiz –
Lil Wayne and Foushee have treated fans to a new collaboration. The New Orleans-based rapper and the “Deep End Freestyle” songstress, who previously worked together for his latest single “Ain’t Got Time”, collaborated once again for her new song called “Gold Fronts”.

The 38-year-old MC announced the release of its music video via Instagram on Monday, March 29. Sharing a part of the clip in which he rapped his verse, he exclaimed, “Video OUT NOW!!! @fousheelive ‘GOLD FRONTS’ ft Me!!!!”

Also celebrating the new song release was Foushee. Posting the footage on her own Instagram account, she declared, “GOLDFRONTS ft @liltunechi out now. this one special… thank you team!” She followed it up with another point of the clip by writing, “@liltunechi they can’t take our gold fronts!!!!”

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“Gold Fronts”, which is created as if it talks about grills, narrates the experience of Black people in the United States. It also tells about how 2020 has affected many people’s mental health like depression as Foushee rhymes about self-medication. Wayne then joins in and harmonizes with the singer during her chorus.

When opening up about her collaboration with Wayne, Foushee revealed that she got his verse after showing him the song in person. “It started with Wayne DMed me, just showing love,” she told Zane Lowe on his Apple Music’s show. “I threw out the idea to work and he was with it. And I was so shocked. This is someone that I listen to him. I was just like… This is what a lot of those moments where I’m just like… There’s nothing like…. I got my sound effects too. That was planned. Yeah. So he agreed to work.”

“I went to Miami, I got there. It was just like, ‘What we working on?’ And I was so shocked because I’m like, ‘What? What? No, wait, wait. I’m just a bit like, can I just play some music first off?’ Played him a whole bunch of music,” the alternative artist continued. “He played me some music. And I was like, ‘Wow. Can I do something to one of your songs?’ So I ended up recording to his songs and it took me so long to write. Because I was just like sweating.”

“I had this birthday party. And it’s just such a beautiful night. We were linking up for the first time in a long time, just very intimate birthday party. And then he just texted me. He just texted, words, right here. Whoo. I was like, ‘Wait. No, no, no.’ I was playing music. I’m like, ‘Everybody, I’m going to play this song right now.’ And we all started running and screaming,” she went on recalling. “He didn’t even start the real s**t. We’re just like, ‘Oh. Yeah.’ ”

Foushee admitted that she was thrilled upon hearing Wayne rhyming the lyrics. “I thought it was the most beautiful verse I heard from him from a long time. I thought he really put his heart and soul into that. And it was a different side of him that we haven’t seen in a while,” she pointed out.

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That aside, the two powerhouse RnB singers are set to reunite for a collaborative project between Peloton and ‘Verzuz’ as they launch their new Peloton Verzuz Artist Series.

Mar 30, 2021

AceShowbiz –
Even years after Monica and Brandy released their hit “The Boy Is Mine”, people are still talking about the iconic track. Apparently, one fan thought that the singers were fighting over a man for real with the song and that prompted Monice to clear up the misunderstanding.

” ‘The Boy is Mine’ gives me such secondhand embarrassment,” the fan wrote in a tweet over the weekend. “@4everBrandy and @MonicaDenise fighting over a MAN when they’re both goddesses? makes me sick.”

Monica caught wind of the post and didn’t hesitate to clap back at the fan. “I think she and I both are more concerned that 20 + plus years later you’ve still not come to grips with it not being real [laughing and crying emojis] GTFOS Sincerely from the 90s,” she told the fan.

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Monica clapped back at fan.

Fans were amused by the interaction as one replied, “That girl was born in the 2000s. She don’t know no better.” Someone else tweeted, “Lmfaooo got her a** together.” One person added, “This is what happens when you’re too woke, your a$$ get the wrong one. Get some sleep, this woke stuff aint fuh everybody.”

“Oop!!!! The secondhand embarrassment i have for her right now….,” another fan said. “Did she think y’all was beefing over and man and then decided to hop on a diss track together?!?” one user wrote. However, someone thought the first user was just joking. “I could be wrong, but I don’t think she was being serious,” the person noted.

That aside, Monica and Brandy are set to reunite for a collaborative project between Peloton and “Verzuz”. Announcing the project, Monica wrote to her Twitter followers, “Peloton just launched their new Peloton Verzuz Artist Series. It’s me vs. Brandy. Join me on the Peloton Bike, Tread or App and get ready for all my hits. This is fitness like you’ve never seen it before. Download the Peloton App and check it out today!”

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While he appeared to be defiant in his previous responses to the criticism over the music video of his latest single, the ‘Old Town Road’ hitmaker claims his ‘anxiety is higher than ever’ now.

Mar 30, 2021

AceShowbiz –
Lil Nas X does have concerns after his “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” music video sparked backlash. Despite his seemingly defiant responses to the criticism, the rapper has now admitted that the whole controversy surrounding the clip and his “MONTERO”-inspired shoes has taken a toll on him emotionally.

“i’ll be honest all this backlash is putting an emotional toll on me,” so he tweeted on Monday, March 29. “i try to cover it with humor but it’s getting hard,” he confessed, before revealing, “my anxiety is higher than ever.”

Still, he included a promotion for his latest single as he concluded his tweet with, “and stream call me by your name on all platforms now!”

Lil Nas X admitted ‘MONTERO’ backlash has taken emotional toll on him.
Lil Nas’ tweet was met with supportive messages from his fans and famous pals, including YouTube stars James Charles and Nikita Dragun.

James Charles responded to Lil Nas’ tweet.

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Nikita Dragun also sent supportive message to the rapper.

Lil Nas came under fire following the release of the “MONTERO” music video on Friday, March 26. While many praised the clip’s prominent LGBT themes, others took issue with the overt sexuality and invocation of religious imagery.

Speaking with Genius, the Grammy-winning artist explained what it is he wanted to say with the provocative new song. “I was like, ‘It’s about time I say something out of pocket in a song,’ ” he said of the openly sexual lyrics in the song. “Let’s normalize having these f**king lines in songs, the same way somebody might talk about f**king a girl or f**king a guy.”

He added that the song’s title was inspired by 2017’s film “Call Me by Your Name” starring Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet. “That was one of the first gay films that I had watched, and I thought the theme was so dope of calling somebody by your own name,” he said. “The way everything is shot, the way the dialogue goes on, the way the background sounds are used, everything about it is so artsy.”

Lil Nas previously seemed to poke fun at the controversy over his “MONTERO” music video by posting a “bathroom of hell” edit version. The video’s title describes the scene that features bathroom stall as “MONTERO but ur in the bathroom of hell while lil nas is giving satan a lap dance in the other room.”

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The rock band co-founder makes the confession about revisiting every incarnation of his group line-up weeks after revealing he has reconciled with former bandmate Lindsey Buckingham.

Mar 30, 2021

AceShowbiz –
Veteran rocker Mick Fleetwood dreams of one day bringing together every member of Fleetwood Mac, past and present, for a big reunion tour.

The “Landslide” hitmakers have undergone a series of line-up changes over the years, and the music icon would love to revisit every incarnation of the group for a special concert series.

Asked who will be joining him on the road for the next Fleetwood Mac tour, he told the Los Angeles Times, “I hope the whole f**king lot of them! I’m not done. And if I can get John McVie off his boat, he’s not done either!”

“My English pipe dream, sitting on top of a mushroom, would be that everyone who’s ever played in Fleetwood Mac would be welcome,” Mick shared. “That’s what would drive me, because this is all about a collective.”

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Mick’s comments emerge weeks after revealing he has reconciled with his friend and former bandmate Lindsey Buckingham, who was dumped by the band in 2018.

“I’ve really enjoyed being re-connected with Lindsey, which has been gracious and open,” he shared. “And both of us have been beautifully honest about who we are and how we got to where we were.”

And when asked if he thinks Lindsey could rejoin the group, Mick added, “Strange things can happen. I look at Fleetwood Mac as a huge family. Everyone plays an important role in our history, even someone like [early ’70s] guitarist Bob Welch, who was huge and sometimes gets forgotten.”

“Lindsey’s position in Fleetwood Mac will, for obvious reasons, never been forgotten, as it should never be forgotten [sic].”

“My vision of things happening in the future is really far-reaching. Would I love to think that [a reunion] could happen? Yeah. I’d love to think that all of us could be healed, and also respect the people who are in the band, Neil Finn and Michael Campbell.”

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Calling the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ actor one of his best buddies, the Hollywood Vampires member looks forward to reunite in concert with him and fellow bandmate Joe Perry.

Mar 30, 2021

AceShowbiz –
Johnny Depp is continuing to use his Hollywood Vampires songwriting as therapy amid his bitter legal battles linked to his split from ex-wife Amber Heard, according to his bandmate Alice Cooper.

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star was most recently denied an appeal in his U.K. libel trial after objecting to editors at The Sun calling him a “wife beater”, following prior allegations of domestic abuse made by Heard.

Depp has vehemently denied the claims, and is also suing the “Aquaman” actress in a separate legal case in the U.S., accusing her of defamation for referring to herself as a victim of domestic abuse in a Washington Post article.

Cooper previously revealed Depp had channeled his “anger” over the messy situation into his work with the Hollywood Vampires, with songs from the rock supergroup’s 2019 album, “Rise”, filled with his “venom”, and their next release appears to be heading in a similar creative direction.

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Cooper told The Daily Beast, “I know Johnny was writing all last year, when that whole thing [libel trial] was going on with him. But you know, that’s not going to stop him from going home and writing. In fact, it probably helped. I’m expecting some pretty interesting songs.”

And despite his personal woes, Depp is eager to get back out on the road when it’s safe enough to do so. “There’s no drama [with his work in the band],” Cooper insisted. “[Depp] said, ‘Hey, that’s another world. That has nothing to do with what I’m doing in the band.’ He’s like, ‘I can’t wait to get back onstage.’ He’s one of my best buddies.”

Cooper also cannot wait to reunite in concert with Depp and bandmate Joe Perry, after recently having to cancel their summer European tour due to COVID-19 concerns. “It’ll be great when we all get together,” he smiled.

“You know, the crazy thing about that band is you’ve got eight guys in the band, and you’ve got three alpha males leading it, but there’s never been one argument. Nobody’s ever even raised their voice to anybody in that band. It’s really cool.”

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Aside from explaining why she wants to earn as much as she can in the next 10 years, the ‘I Try’ hitmaker spills on why she thinks it is important for her to find love.

Mar 30, 2021

AceShowbiz –
Singer Macy Gray is aiming to bulk up her bank balance with as many live shows as possible over the next few years because she doesn’t want to be touring in her 60s. The “I Try” star admits her main career goal at present is to earn as much as she can through her concerts so she can comfortably retire from the road within the next decade.

“What’s driving me at this point is money,” she candidly confessed to the Observer magazine. “I want to have a lot of money so when I get older I’m not running around touring and trying to make another ‘I Try’. In 10 years from now I don’t want to have to hustle. I don’t want to be on the road. That scares the s**t out of me.”

Macy isn’t just focused on her professional life – the 53-year-old also wants to find lasting love so she has someone by her side in her twilight years. She shared, “I want to find love. I’ve not been in love for a while and I don’t want to grow old by myself. That’s important. I mean, you need that in life. You need a partner.”

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However, Macy, who shares three adult kids with her ex-husband Tracy Hinds, admits socializing isn’t her strong point. “I’m not a people person. It’s not my gift,” she said. “People disappoint you, and I’m over being disappointed by people. The only thing I’ve ever really been afraid of is people.”

And while Macy doesn’t want to grow old alone, she has really embraced ageing. “I like being in my 40s and 50s,” she mused. “You develop this natural cockiness – you’re a little bit better than everybody now, because you’re a little bit older, you’ve lived.”

“People can’t tell you s**t any more. You’re like, ‘F**k you, I did that already!’ You know, it’s kind of cool.”

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An organizer said this Barcelona event, one of several planned in Europe, was “a small but important step toward normality.” The listeners there basked in being part of an audience again.BARCELONA, Spain — Mireia Serret, a 21-year old student at the University of Barcelona, said that she was not a big fan of the band that played here on Saturday, nor does she normally like large crowds.Nevertheless, Serret had snapped up one of the 5,000 tickets to Europe’s biggest indoor rock concert since the start of the pandemic because “it had just been too long since I was last able to dance and have fun at a concert.”Organized by a group of Spanish music promoters as part of an initiative called “Festivals for Safe Culture,” the concert in the Palau de Sant Jordi was presented as Europe’s boldest effort to get thousands into an indoor venue, without seating or mandatory social distancing. The sole act was Love of Lesbian, a Spanish indie rock band, which formed before Serret was born. “For me, this isn’t about whether I really like their music, but about being able to feel and live their music, right next to so many other people,” Serret said.The sole act was Love of Lesbian, a Spanish indie rock band.Albert Gea/ReutersTrial concert or festival events have been held in several European countries, including in Germany and the Netherlands, as part of efforts to allow crowds to form again to see live music. The British government will also run a series of test events next month, including one at a nightclub in Liverpool, also without requiring social distancing.Europe’s famed summer music festivals, which draw tens of thousands of fans to open outdoor spaces, are in doubt this year despite the tests. Several major festivals have already canceled their June lineups, including Rock am Ring at the Nürburgring racetrack in Germany and Sonar festival in Barcelona. Sonar’s management pushed their flagship festival to 2022 and is planning two smaller events in October. Still, Roskilde, Denmark’s biggest, hopes to go on in June with acts including the rapper Kendrick Lamar. The Danish government said last week that it aims to restart pop concerts from May 6 onward with the help of a “corona passport” that will allow people to show their status of vaccination, proof of recent negative tests for the virus or documentation they have recovered from Covid-19.At a time when countries like France and Italy have recently put their residents back under lockdown to help stop another wave of infection, the people behind the Barcelona event said their goal was to look ahead.Albert Gea/ReutersLluis Gene/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesOne of the organizers, Ventura Barba, the executive director of the Sonar festival, said in an interview that Saturday’s concert was “a small but important step toward normality.” Barba forecast that the Barcelona concert would break even, but he stressed that it was “not a commercial project,” nor could it be replicated for festivals that operate over several days and with other financial constraints. Ticket sales accounted for 36 percent of the Barcelona concert’s budget of about €250,000, with 30 percent covered by public authorities, 24 percent from private sponsors and 10 percent from the promoters themselves.A hospital team helped test the concertgoers for Covid-19 before the event, using as their model a smaller concert last December in another Barcelona venue, the Sala Apolo. At the Apolo, the audience of 500 people was tested before the show, as well as another 500 people who acted as a control group, and everybody got tested again eight days later. The Apolo’s concertgoers all tested negative, while two people in the control group tested positive, according to Josep Maria Llibre, a specialist in infectious diseases from the Germans Trias i Pujol hospital northeast of Barcelona who is also monitoring the Palau concert.Ahead of Saturday’s concert, six people tested positive, according to the organizers. However, the medical team is using neither a control group nor postconcert testing, relying instead on public medical records to track whether any concertgoers will later get Covid-19.Dr. Llibre said the decision was made both for financial and practical reasons. He acknowledged in an interview that the tracking method used Saturday would be less accurate than that used at the Apolo, but he argued it could still help show that a safely-organized concert “is not a super-spreading event,” contrary to what some might presume. “In the case of concerts, there has been very little or no data, but it has been empirically assumed that it is a very high risk to have people dancing together,” he said.The Palau can welcome 17,000 people, but the 5,000 ticketholders were not allowed into its stands and instead were kept divided within three areas of the dance floor, while having to wear FFP2 face masks (the European standard) provided by the organizers.Healthcare workers prepare to collect swab samples from concertgoers before the show.Albert Gea/ReutersOn Saturday, some concertgoers said they felt fully reassured by the safety protocols, but a few others said they had briefly hesitated before going.“If I had not been vaccinated already, I really would have thought twice about coming here,” said Cristina Delgado, a doctor. But Ana, her sister, who was also vaccinated because she works in health care, felt differently. “I was going to come whatever, because I want to save culture and return us to normal life,” she said.Inés Villasuso, a 24-year old nurse, also said that “it would have been better to get everybody tested again later, to have scientific evidence that can really convince the authorities that such a big event can be held safely.” But she and her twin sister, Eva, agreed that the concert outstripped their expectations. “It felt like living a total dream,” Eva said.In an interview before the concert, Julián Saldarriaga, a member of Love of Lesbian, said that the band’s decision to perform had received very broad support, but also generated “some criticism, from people who have called us irresponsible or who say that we only care about money.” But for his band, he said, “we really saw this as an opportunity to take part in the recovery of culture.”Rather than featuring a supporting act, the concert was preceded by a series of videos about Covid-19, shown on the big stage screen and interspersed with hits from the distant past — like “Come Together” and “Here Comes the Sun,” by The Beatles — whose themes warmed up the crowd.To comply with the safety protocols, on Saturday, concertgoers visited one of three smaller Barcelona music venues to get a rapid antigen test for Covid-19. The cost was included in the €23 ticket price.Christiana Guldager, a photographer, said that she cried before her test at the Razzmatazz nightclub. “I’ve been dancing so often in that place that it made me feel very emotional to find it instead converted into a mini-hospital,” she said.Santi Balmes, the lead singer, invited the crowd to deliver the chorus of a song. Lluis Gene/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesLater that night in the Palau, emotions also ran high. The dance floor was lit up by cellphones as well as white face masks. When Santi Balmes, the lead singer, invited the crowd to deliver the chorus of a song, he got a powerful response. “Woohoo, you still remember how to sing!” Balmes shouted back. As he brought the concert to a close, Balmes told the crowd, “the band is not important: What is important is the experience and the experience is incredible.”Pablo García, 27, an illustrator, agreed. “Of course I never stopped listening to music, but you really need to be at a concert to feel the bass right inside your heart.”Alex Marshall contributed reporting from London. More