Anti-Drag Bills in Tennessee Prompt All-Star Arena Benefit With Hayley Williams, Maren Morris, Jason Isbell, Yola, Hozier and Others

Enough is enough! Country stars are calling out politicians after Nashville’s school shooting! Like most of us, they’ve had it with lenient gun laws — which are particularly weak in Tennessee. As we’re sure you’ve heard by now, ano

Madonna has added a date in Nashville, Tennessee to her upcoming world tour, a performance meant to protest the state's anti-trans legislation taking effect on April 1. The bill, passed in March, restricts drag performances in public places and in front of children, with first-time violators facing a misdemeanor charge.

multiple reports.Following the news, many country music stars, some of whom live in the area, took to social media to pay tribute to the lives lost and call on politicians for gun law reform in the wake of yet another tragedy.Maren Morris shared a tweet reporting on the incident to her Instagram Story, writing simply, «Oh my god.»«No words… The Covenant School. Our children deserve better. Praying for all affected.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic While most contemporary music documentaries fall into the realm of self-produced hagiography, no one will be making that charge about “Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed,” a clear-eyes/hearts-full documentary coming from HBO Max documentary that had its world premiere at the Grammy Museum. At a Q&A with Isbell and director Sam Jones following the screening of the film, which begins streaming April 7, moderator Colin Hanks, a big Isbell fan, asked the doc’s star: “What was it about this that made you go, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna do a doc,’ and really make yourself a little bit more raw than maybe you had even in your songs?”

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Madonna is adding eight extra dates to the second leg of her U.S. tour this coming winter. The additional shows were revealed in an announcement that put a special emphasis on a show she’s added for Nashville on Dec. 22, where she plans to put the spotlight on the state of Tennessee’s recent wave of LGBTQ+-targeted bills. The additional dates announced for this coming December and January represent a mixture of Madonna returning to cities where she already is playing concerts earlier in 2023, like New York City and Los Angeles, along with a few cities that are completely fresh additions to the “Celebration Tour” routing, like Nashville, Philadelphia, Palm Springs and Sacramento.

Maren Morris isn’t backing down.

While he started out as a member of the alt-country group Drive-By Truckers for six years, American singer-songwriter Jason Isbell has now won four Grammy Awards and become a beloved star in his own right. Isbell is famous for a lot of things, but maybe in the movie world, you may know him for writing the soulful, melancholy ballad “Maybe It’s Time” from the “A Star Is Born,” movie and soundtrack where it was performed by actor Bradley Cooper‘s character, Jackson Maine.

drag queens. “I brought my son here earlier today for soundcheck, and he’s turning three this week, and we got to go in the room where all the queens were getting ready and doing their makeup. And he freaked out when he went in there because it’s just magic what drag queens do,” Morris explained, according to Variety.“There’s wigs everywhere, and the smell of hairspray and wig glue; there’s glitter; everyone’s in a good mood,” Morris added. “It’s just like a room of love.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic A cast of mostly Nashville-based stars, including Maren Morris, Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Yola, Sheryl Crow and Jason Isbell — plus one key out-of-towner, the Irishman Hozier — joined up with a host of Tennessee drag artists Monday night in Nashville to protest recent state legislation aimed at cross-dressing performers, trans youth and same-sex marriage. The four-hour “Love Rising” benefit, which filled Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena with fans and LGBTQ+ community members and their allies, was also livestreamed to an international audience via the Veeps platform. No one received more of a hero’s welcome than Morris, who recently went out on a limb by standing up for trans youth and their families in a headline-making online debate with fellow country star Jason Aldean’s wife, Brittany Aldean, while most mainstream stars held their tongues. It was quickly evident that Morris has not turned into any shrinking violet as a result of the backlash she experienced from country fans on the right in the dust-up with the Aldeans, appearing on stage with a touch of androgyny in a look that combined legginess with formal black-tie. Morris performed her crossover hit “The Middle” while drag queen Alexia Noelle Paris accompanied her in an interpretive dance.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic “Love Rising” is looking to combat the deeply risible. Nashville-based musicians are coming together in a big way — a Bridgestone Arena-sized way — tonight for the show of that name, a benefit concert to raise awareness and funds for the LGBTQ community and its allies in the face of Tennessee legislation that is seen as targeting the rights of gay and trans people generally and drag performers specifically. The generously star-packed show is also being livestreamed internationally via the Veeps platform, with $14.99 tickets available here for a show that begins at 7:30 Nashville time, aka 8:30 ET/5:30 PT. The wide-ranging bill of rock, country, pop, indie and Americana performers includes Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Sheryl Crow, Maren Morris, Brothers Osborne, Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, Yola, Brittany Howard, Hozier, Adeem the Artist, Julien Baker, Joy Oladokun, Jake Wesley Rogers and Mya Byrne, along with co-organizer Allison Russell. Late additions to the show since it was first announced include a greater contingent of non-binary and, yes, drag artists from Tennessee on top of the nationally known names.

Hayley Williams has recalled contacting Taylor Swift for the first time, after Swift was criticised at the 2009 VMAs by Kanye West for beating Beyoncé to an award.The Paramore singer spoke to the crowd on the opening night of Swift’s US tour at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Paramore supported Swift last night (March 17) and will also perform tonight (March 18) at the same venue.She recounted the pair’s early interactions, explaining that it was Swift’s mother, Andrea, who wished the teenaged stars could form a supportive relationship due to the both being so young in the music industry.“I remember feeling like, ‘We’re so little, we’re so young,'” Williams recalled on stage of the period in the late ’00s.

Marcus Mumford and Maren Morris have covered ‘Look at Us Now (Honeycomb)’, a song from new TV show Daisy Jones & The Six.The song is sung by stars Riley Keough and Sam Claflin in the Amazon Prime Video show, but it was co-written by Mumford and Grammy-winning producer Blake Mills.Mumford and Morris have now covered the song for Amazon Music, with Mumford explaining: “Blake and I wrote ‘Look at Us Now (Honeycomb)’ together – with a bit of help – about a year and a half ago for Daisy Jones & The Six.“This time around, we stripped the song right back down to acoustic guitar and a vocal – which is how it was written – and then kind of built it back up from there until we landed on an arrangement that we liked.“I’ve been a fan of Maren for a long time – both her solo music and her work with The Highwomen – and this duet needed a voice like hers. We’re just honestly so thankful she agreed to do it.”Morris added: “Shows depicting the reality of what it takes to become a band or what it’s really like touring can so often get it wrong.

In the Georgia Senate, one anti-LGBTQ bill was passed while another stalled.

Ellise Shafer For Marcus Mumford, getting involved with the original music for “Daisy Jones & the Six” was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. The Mumford & Sons frontman was working at L.A.’s Sound City Studios on his solo record with multi-instrumentalist and producer Blake Mills — who co-wrote and executive produced all 25 songs heard in the Prime Video series, which chronicles the rise and fall of a ’70s rock band — when Mills asked if he wanted to help write a tune for the show. “It was a slower day for my record and Blake was like, ‘Look, do you wanna try this thing for Daisy?'” Mumford tells Variety. “And I often think that… writing begets more writing. If you’re able to flex a similar muscle in a different way, then it can often help the writing you have in front of you as well.”

During the second set of their performance Monday night at The Basement East in Nashville, Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan and James McNew donned drag outfits, The Tennessean reports. Though they didn’t openly mention the meaning behind their wardrobe change, it came amid nationwide public outcry over a new law signed into action by Tennessee governor Bill Lee earlier this month.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Transgender “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Gottmik is speaking out against the spread of legislation being pushed throughout the U.S. that bans drag queen performances as well as health care for trans people. “I actually can’t believe that we are turning back time like this,” she told me at Versace’s pre-Oscars fashion show on Thursday in West Hollywood. “But the queer community isn’t going anywhere. So no matter what you’re gonna try, we are here. And we’re going to be loud and proud. I think this is just a wake up call for all of us to be louder and prouder than we ever have been before.” Gottmik says she’s hopeful the queer community will prevail but that doesn’t mean she’s not worried. “The last round of bills has scared me a little bit and affected my mental health a little bit, to be honest,” she said. “But I just had to pick myself up and realize that we aren’t going anywhere. I’m so proud. Even in the car on the way to the Versace show today I was thinking about how cool it is that I’m a trans man able to dress in drag and go to the Versace show in Los Angeles. It’s just unbelievable.”

Actors’ Equity Association has condemned Tennessee’s new legislation restricting drag performance, urging theaters in the state to “join us in rejecting it entirely and lobbying for its elimination.”

Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Sheryl Crow, Jason Isbell and Brittany Howard are set to perform at an LGBTQ+ benefit concert in Tennessee.The show entitled Love Rising, which has been organised by Isbell and Alison Russell, will take place at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on March 20.Other acts on the bill include Hozier, Brothers Osborne, Amanda Shires, Julien Baker, Joy Oladokun, Yola, Jake Wesley Rogers, and Mya Byrne.Tickets for the show are on sale now and can be purchased here. You can view the full line-up below.The concert was set up in the wake of Tennessee passing Senate Bill 3 and House Bill 9, two pieces of legislation that ban drag performances from taking place on public property, as well as in any location where minors can be present.“As a queer, intersectional artist and mother, raising my child in Nashville, it’s important to me to support these wonderful Tennessee LGBTQIA+ advocacy organisations, working so hard to build bridges, reduce harm and promote equality for all Tennesseans,” Russell said in a statement via Consequence.“LGBTQIA+ contributions and creativity are foundational to every genre of modern song and arts performance.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor RuPaul, the face of the “Drag Race” franchise, has responded to the recent wave of anti-drag and anti-trans legislation introduced by Republican lawmakers in the U.S. In an Instagram video on Wednesday, the Emmy winner called the bills “a classic distraction technique” and urged Americans to register to vote. “Hey, look over there! A classic distraction technique, distracting us away from the real issues that they were voted into office to focus on: jobs, healthcare, keeping our children safe from harm at their own school,” RuPaul said. “But we know that bullies are incompetent at solving real issues. They look for easy targets so they can give the impression of being effective. They think our love, our light, our laughter and our joy are signs of weakness. But they’re wrong because that is our strength.”