soundtracks: Last News

“Bye Bye Bye” to us as a recording act.But the wait for the boy band’s much-anticipated reunion is finally over with Friday’s release of “Better Place,” the group’s first single since 2002’s “Girlfriend.”And Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick sound just in sync as ever on this buoyant bop from the “Trolls Band Together” soundtrack, which indeed takes you to a “Better Place.”After a whistling intro — a hook that repeats throughout the song — it opens with what could be a statement about how they’re still better together after all these years: “It’s some kind of love, it’s some kind of fire/I’m already up, but you lift me higher.”While other members of the group sing lead in the verses, it’s Timberlake who owns the chorus with his familiar falsetto. And when he sings “I’m so excited to see you excited” over the bass-bumping disco groove, it’s as if he knows exactly how giddy this track is making *NSYNC fans all around the world.Timberlake, who also voices the character of Branch in “Trolls Band Together,” co-wrote and co-produced “Better Place” with Shellback, and the track is a satisfying sequel to their previous collaboration on the 2016 “Trolls” smash “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”Like it’s predecessor, it’s the perfect summer song — except it’s arriving at the beginning of fall.But there’s no denying the sunny pop sheen of “Better Place.” And though it feels more like a Timberlake song than an *NSYNC one, it’s not all about the “SexyBack” singer — as those creamy harmonies attest.The tune previews the “Trolls Band Together” soundtrack” — with Timberlake returning as executive music producer — which will be released on Oct.

Queen Latifah gave a salute to movie music icon Quincy Jones, who died at 91 from pancreatic cancer last November.But there were even more queens involved before Latifah perfromed a rousing rendition of “Ease on Down the Road” from “The Wiz,” which Jones brought from the stage to the screen in 1978.Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey — who both got big breakthroughs in 1985’s “The Color Purple” thanks to Jones — were reunited to honor their mentor.“Quincy was love lived out loud in human form,” said Winfrey. “And he poured that love into others and into his work.”“So tonight we honor the true American legend whose music and movies continue to inspire us all,” added Goldberg.Latifah and Jones go back to when the rapper-singer and Oscar-nominated actress appeared on his 1995 album “Q’s Jook Joint.” And Latifah played the Wiz herself in “The Wiz Live!” on NBC in 2015.As well as being a legendary producer of everyone from Frank Sinatra and Lesley Gore to Michael Jackson and Donna Summer, Jones was a giant in the film world, scoring such classic movies as “The Pawnbroker” (1965), “In the Heat of the Night”(1967), “In Cold Blood” (1967), “The Italian Job” (1969) and “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” (1969).

“Deadpool & Wolverine,” the crossover blockbuster that opens in theaters on Friday.Reynolds — who stars as Deadpool opposite Hugh Jackman as Wolverine — went on a Madge mission with director Shawn Levy, making an in-person plea to the Queen of Pop for the prized permission to feature her 1989 No. 1 hit in a key scene.“It did involve a personal visit to Madonna, where we showed Madonna the sequence where ‘Like a Prayer’ would be used,” said Levy during an interview on Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM radio show.“Also, let’s preface it with the fact that they don’t license — that Madonna doesn’t just license the song, particularly that song,” added Reynolds about the seventh of the singer’s 12 No.

“When Doves Cry” to, of course, the epic title track, “Purple Rain.”And that was all a month before the release of the hit movie, which will be back in select theaters on July 3.It’s not only my favorite soundtrack of all time, but one of my top-five albums of all time. Period.And in honor of Purple Rain’s 40th anniversary, let’s throw it back to some of my other all-time favorite soundtracks:Let’s kick it off with the smash “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack, which had everybody twirling under that disco ball back in 1977.John Travolta may have been the star of the movie, but the Bees Gees were the stars of the soundtrack.Whenever “Stayin’ Alive” comes on — trust — disco is no longer dead.And it still makes you wanna bust into your best Tony Manero strut.Just like the Bee Gees were the masterminds behind the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack, Babyface was the man behind all the female feels on the 1995 “Waiting to Exhale” soundtrack …Face wrote and produced for a stellar cast of soul sisters … from Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige to Chaka Khan and Patti LaBelle to Toni Braxton and Brandy.I mean, it was a who’s who!And of course, there was Whitney Houston, who also starred in the film.

Joe Hisaishi is currently midway through his ‘Music From the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki’ tour that will send him to arenas, concert halls and symphony centers all over North America from now until January 2025.Along the way, he’ll swing into New York City’s Madison Square Garden for three huge back-to-back-to-back shows from July 11-13.At all concerts, the 73-year-old maestro will perform cuts from classic films including but not limited to “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “Ponyo,” “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Princess Mononoke” and “Spirited Away.”“Regardless of whether one knew each particular movie or not, the performance swept each viewer into a unique and fantastic world,” the Maryland Theatre Guide wrote in a rave review of the show.And if you want to see the beloved conductor bring his classic scores to life with accompanying footage of each motion picture, tickets for all 16 remaining U.S. shows on his 2024-25 tour can be secured as soon as today.Prices start at $78 before fees on Vivid Seats at the time of publication.Other shows have seats ranging anywhere from $80 to $1,293 before fees.Curious how much tickets cost for the Hisaishi concert closest to you?For more information, we’ve got everything you need to know and more about Joe Hisaishi’s 2024-25 ‘Music From the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki’ tour below.All prices listed above are subject to fluctuation.A complete calendar including all tour dates, venues and links to buy tickets can be found here.(Note: The New York Post confirmed all above prices at the publication time. All prices are in US dollars, subject to fluctuation and include additional fees at checkout.)Vivid Seats is a verified secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be

first trailer for Blake Lively’s movie “It Ends With Us” features a song by her BFF Taylor Swift. “My Tears Ricochet,” from Swift’s 2020 album “Folklore,” plays during the two-and-a-half minute-long trailer for the romance film that will be released in theaters on August 9.

prestigious Song of the Year prize at the Grammys last month.)But Ryan Gosling, 43, still won the night when he brought all of his Kenergy to the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.It was a show-stopping number unlike any that the Academy Awards had seen before.Instantly, Gosling’s Kenfest joined the ranks of these wackiest Oscar musical performances ever.The sight of the orange-jumpsuited singer cavorting across the stage with a troupe of ghosts and other assorted ghouls was truly scary. As was the fact that Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” not only beat out the No.

“I’m Just Ken” might actually win Best Original Song over “What Was I Made For?” — Billie Eilish’s far superior “Barbie” tune.After all, another Oscar win would make Eilish, 22, and her producer brother, Finneas, 26, the youngest two-time Academy Award winners in history after their victory in 2022 for the Bond theme song “No Time To Die.”Perhaps with some voters thinking “too much, too soon,” an upset seemed to be brewing.But now the siblings are in the history books — as they should be.Sometimes it’s just as simple as real recognizing real — whether it’s at the Oscars or the Grammys.And when Eilish got a standing O from Hollywood’s finest after performing “What Was I Made For?” at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday night, it was an acknowledgement of just how far ahead she was of the other Best Original Song nominees.To be honest, it wasn’t even as hauntingly heartbreaking as her performance of the tune just before it took Song of the Year at the Grammys last month.But it was still real artistry on raw display that was all the chills and feels.“What Was I Made For?” also became only the 10th song in history to win both the Grammy for Song of the Year and the Oscar for Best Original Song.That puts it in some pretty prestigious company, with the likes of “Moon River” (from 1961’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”) “The Way We Were” (from 1973’s “The Way We Were”), “Evergreen” (from 1976’s “A Star Is Born”), “You Light Up My Life” (from 1977’s “You Light Up My Life”), “A Whole New World” (from 1992’s “Aladdin”) and “My Heart Will Go On” (from 1997’s “Titanic”).Bravo, Billie and Finneas.

prestigious Song of the Year prize at the Grammys last month.And while our money is on the siblings to become the youngest two-time Oscar winners, they may still lose the night to Ryan Gosling when he brings all of his Kenergy to the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.It’s sure to be a musical number unlike any that the Academy Awards have seen before.But before all that blonde fragility is unleashed on Sunday, we look back at the wackiest Oscar musical performances ever.The sight of the orange-jumpsuited singer cavorting across the stage with a troupe of ghosts and other assorted ghouls was truly scary. As was the fact that Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” not only beat out the No.

“Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” 1966’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s World,” 1970’s “Super Bad” and 1974’s “The Payback” — James Brown’s recording career was decimated by the disco explosion in the mid-’70s.“Such an interesting time, especially in New York, there’s everything happening,” says Mick Jagger in the new four-part A&E documentary “James Brown: Say It Loud,” which the Rolling Stone legend executive-produced with Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.“You’ve got punk happening, disco happening, all getting mixed up. A lot of other people were sort of left behind in this, ’cause this is a huge change, a sea change, in the musical scene.”And Part 3 of “Say It Loud” — which premieres tonight, along with Part 4 — reveals that Brown was “annoyed” about how much disco borrowed from his blueprint.“I’m the one who started disco,” says the Godfather of Soul in the doc.

Golden Globes.Having just turned 22 a few weeks ago, Billie Eilish won her second Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song on Sunday night at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles.After she and her brother, producer and co-writer Finneas triumphed for the Bond theme “No Time to Die” in 2022, the siblings came up golden again for the “Barbie” single, “What Was I Made For?”The moody meditation, which tapped into the existential crisis that the iconic Mattel doll faces in Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster, beat out two other “Barbie” tunes: Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” and Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken.”The track — which is also up for both Record and Song of the Year at the Feb. 4 Grammys — bested Bruce Springsteen’s “Addicted to Romance,” from “She Came to Me”: Jack Black’s “Peaches,” from “The Super Mario Bros.

Kenny Loggins is leaving the “Danger Zone” and heading toward the highway to retirement.The iconic rocker will play just 18 concerts on his upcoming ‘This Is It’ farewell tour and then that’s really it.“I just had my 75th birthday, and I feel like it’s time,” Loggins told the Herald-Tribune.From March 10 through Oct. 29, the “I’m Alright” singer will hit venues all over North America including stops in Jacksonville, FL on March 12, Williamsburg, VA on June 17 and his final gig ever (for now) in Highland, CA on Oct.