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Harry Styles Covers Kanye West at First-Ever Solo Concert

We guess Harry Styles is on Team Kanye?! The One Directioner may have thrown some major shade at his ex Taylor Swift when he played his first-ever solo concert in London at Garage Club on Saturday night. The show was a surprise gig, announced earlier in the day with only a limited amount of tickets up for grabs. During the last-minute concert, the 23-year-old performed a rather soulful cover of Kanye West's hit "Ultralight Beam," off his Life of Pablo album—and the crowd was digging it! We wonder if Tay is? For the secret show, the former boybander looked the picture-perfect rock star, donning a silken purple Gucci suit, complete with an embroidered dragon, black button-down shirt and Roker boots. Inside Harry Styles' New Relationship Styles has been making the rounds recently to promote his self-titled first album, which dropped this weekend. The album has already made headlines with a song, "Two Ghosts," which is rumored to possibly be about his short-lived romance with T-Swizz. Oh we knew you were trouble, Harry! When asked by BBC1's Nick Grimshaw if the song was about his former flame, who has a pretty known and pretty intense rivalry with the rapper whose song the Brit selected to perform tonight, the crooner said, "I think it's pretty self-explanatory." Sounds like a yes to us! Harry is about to begin his first solo tour, Harry Styles Live On Tour, which sold out in seconds earlier this month. The tour begins on Sept. 19 in San Francisco and will end in Tokyo, Japan on Dec. 8. The heartthrob has also been making a slew of promo stops in America to prep for his inaugural album drop and world tour. He was recently a musical guest on Saturday Night Live. During the sketch show, Harry, Jimmy Fallon and Nile Rodgers played a cover of David Bowie's classic "Let's Dance." The singer with the famed coif will displaying his unique vocal and fashion styles all next week, as he's slated for a week-long residency on CBS' The Late Late Show with James Corden May 15-18.

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Dan + Shay Singer Dan Smyers Weds Abby Law

Congrats to Dan Smyers and Abby Law! The singer from country music duo Dan + Shay and his girlfriend Abby Law tied the knot in a private residence near a river in Nashville, their rep confirms to E! News. Their dogs Chief, Joy and Ghost, dressed in tuxes and a coordinating dress, were part of their wedding party. "They are the most important bridesmaid and groomsmen," Smyers told People. He had proposed to Law during a vacation in Hawaii last November.  Celeb Wedding Dresses "There are few words to fully convey this feeling of complete happiness," Abby wrote at the time, alongside a photo of her smooching her fiancé. "Daniel Smyers, knowing and loving you has been the most rewarding part of my life thus far and continuing our journey together as your wife will be an honor. I love you so much my heart could explode!!! Y'all WE'RE ENGAGED!!!!!" Smyers wrote on his own Instagram page, "We're gonna save all the animals together, FOREVER. I love you, @abbydlaw!" Myers' band mate Shay Mooney and his girlfriend Hannah Billingsley also got engaged last year, in August. They announced two months later she is pregnant with their first child. They welcomed a baby boy, Asher James Mooney, this past March. Both members of Dan + Shay crashed another couple's wedding in Florida earlier this month and surprised them with a private show. The couple, Madeline Roberts and Brandon Bateman, even danced their first dance as the duo performed "From the Ground Up," A Taste of Country reported. They later performed their latest single "How Not To" as well as cover of Taylor Swift ‘s "You Belong With Me."

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Travis Scott Arrested for Inciting a Riot and Endangering the Welfare of a Minor After Arkansas Concert

Causin' trouble wherever he goes... E! News has learned that rapper Travis Scott was arrested on May 3 after his performance at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers, Arkansas. The Rogers Police Department told E! News that the music man, whose real name is Jacques Webster, encouraged people to rush the stage during his concert and bypass the security protocols ensuring concert-goer safety. According to the authorities, several people were injured during the chaos, including an employee from the security company hired to help monitor and control the crowd, and a member of the police department. After the concert, Webster was immediately transported to the Benton County Sheriff's Office, where he was charged with inciting a riot, disorderly conduct and endangering the welfare of a minor. He was released later that night without bail.  Interestingly enough, the hashtag #FreeTravisScott is trending on social media—even though the 25-year-old is very much a free man. Mug Shot Mania The injured subjects were treated at the AMP by members of the Rogers Fire Department and Mercy Medical.  This isn't the first time (or even the second time) that Scott's caused some mayhem during shows. Earlier in the month, he was filmed encouraging fans to jump from a balcony at a concert in New York City. In addition, he was arrested after allegedly calling on fans to jump the barricades at Lollapalooza 2015. At the time, a Chicago Police Department spokesperson said that Scott was issued a misdemeanor charge for reckless conduct and was released from custody after posting bail. "The performer played one song and then began telling fans to come over the barricades," Chicago's Office of Emergency Management said in a statement to E! News. "Due to the security's quick response, the situation was remedied immediately and no fans were injured. The performer fled the scene and was taken into custody a short while later. He is being charged with disorderly conduct." Guess Scott didn't learn his lesson... —Reporting by Taylor Bryant

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Camila Cabello Announces Debut Solo Album With Heartfelt Message on Her ''Journey From Darkness Into Light''

Camila Cabello is carving out her own path.  The former Fifth Harmony songstress announced her debut solo album, The Hurting The Healing The Loving, in a lengthy message shared to Instagram on Sunday. Fans can expect Camila's first track from the forthcoming project to drop May 19, which the pop artist explained is extremely personal.  Cabello, 20, described the album as "the story of my journey from darkness into light, from a time when i was lost to a time when i found myself again. The story behind the album starts with the second song that you'll hear called 'I Have Questions,' which I started writing in a hotel bathroom on tour a little over a year ago." "I was completely broken during that time, I was in the kind of pain that's uncomfortable to talk about, and it was the kind of chapter you never want to read out loud," she wrote. "I couldn't write another song for 6 months because writing meant i had to feel everything, and I wasn't ready to do that yet." Singers Who Went Solo Camila added, "So when i graduated from hotel bathrooms to studios to make my first album, i was making music about everything BUT what i was going through, it was like a secret burning on my tongue and for some reason i could not get myself to say it." The "Bad Things" singer announced her exit from the award-winning girl group in December 2016. Since then, she's already reclaimed her status as a solo artist across multiple performances. Her announcement continued in separate post, "..till one day I just could not run anymore. I pulled up the lyrics from the year before, and 'I have questions' was written. After that I wrote a sad song everyday, everything I wanted to say, every lyric on my phone, I said everything until I got tired of writing about it. until i was sick of the sad songs!!!!! as I got happier and happier, I realized the songs were getting happier and happier. and I realized I wasn't making music just to make an album anymore, I was making this music to heal. It wasn't until I had made enough songs to listen back to and realized i could hear myself coming back through these songs." A Look at Camila Cabello's Journey From Cuba to Stardom "I didn't write it with the intention of delivering a message, but i realized the message was in the hurting, the healing, and the loving," she wrote. "I might have thought the hurting was my enemy before, but she became the best listener... I might have thought I was too impatient for the healing, and it did feel like sometimes she was taking forever, but I realized it made me appreciate her so much more when she arrived. and the loving, I wouldn't have known how beautiful she was if I couldn't miss her all that time." In her last post, Camila shared, "to the hurting, thank you for teaching me that even if at night you take me into the deepest depths of the ocean, I will still wake in the morning. to the healing, thank you for the tears. When they finally came, they tasted like God. To the loving, you are even more beautiful than i remember." Are you excited for Camila's new music? Sound off in the comments!

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Katy Perry Announces Witness Album and 2017—2018 Tour Dates

Katy Perry is taking her act on the road. The singer announced Monday that her new album is titled Witness; it will drop June 9 on Capitol Records and includes the singles "Chained to the Rhythm" with Skip Marley and "Bon Appétit" with Migos. "With Witness, Katy reflects on the changes in her own life and in the world around her, delivering songs that both challenge and inspire," a press release explains. Perry also announced the dates for the North American leg of Witness: The Tour. Concert tickets will go on sale to general public May 22 at 10 a.m. A pre-sale begins May 18, at 9 a.m. through 12 p.m. local time. To get tickets, register trough's Ticketmaster Verified Fan program. "Having just launched a new national advertising campaign with Katy, we're thrilled to extend our relationship to encompass the upcoming Witness Tour," said Jennifer Breithaupt, Global Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, Citi. "Citi card members will have exclusive access to pre-sale tickets for what promises to be one of the biggest and most memorable tours of the year." Citi's Private Pass program begins May 18 at 12 p.m. and runs through May 20 at 10 p.m. Each ticket purchase also includes a pre-order for Witness: The Album. Here is the complete list of Witness tour dates: Katy Perry's Concert Costumes 9/7/17 — Columbus, OH at Schottenstein Center 9/9/17 — Montréal, QE at Bell Centre 9/12/17 — Toronto, ON at Air Canada Centre 9/18/17 — Philadelphia, PA at Wells Fargo Center 9/21/17 — Uncasville, CT at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza 9/25/17 — Washington, DC at Verizon Center 9/29/17 — Boston, MA at TD Garden 10/2/17 — New York, NY at Madison Square Garden 10/3/17 — Uniondale, NY at NYCB Live!: Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 10/8/17 — Newark, NJ at Prudential Center 10/11/17 — Brooklyn, NY at Barclays Center 10/15/17 — Nashville, TN at Bridgestone Arena 10/16/17 — Louisville, KY at KFC Yum! Center 10/19/17 — Pittsburgh, PA at PPG Paints Arena 10/22/17 — St. Louis, MO at Scottrade Center 10/24/17 — Chicago, IL at United Center 11/7/17 — Los Angeles, CA at STAPLES Center 11/14/17 — San Jose, CA at SAP Center at San Jose 11/24/17 — Salt Lake City, UT at Vivint Smart Home Arena 11/26/17 — Denver, CO at Pepsi Center 11/28/17 — Omaha, NE at CenturyLink Center 11/29/17 — Tulsa, OK at BOK Center 12/1/17 — St. Paul, MN at Xcel Energy Center 12/2/17 — Des Moines, IA at Wells Fargo Arena 12/4/17 — Milwaukee, WI at BMO Harris Bradley Center 12/6/17 — Detroit, MI at Little Caesars Arena 12/9/17 — Indianapolis, IN at Bankers Life Fieldhouse 12/10/17 — Cleveland, OH at Quicken Loans Arena 12/12/17 — Atlanta, GA at Philips Arena 12/15/17 — Tampa, FL at Amalie Arena 12/17/17 — Orlando, FL at Amway Center 12/20/17 — Miami, FL at American Airlines Arena 1/5/18 — New Orleans, LA at Smoothie King Center 1/7/18 — Houston, TX at Toyota Center 1/10/18 — San Antonio, TX at AT&T Center 1/12/18 — Little Rock, AR at Verizon Arena 1/14/18 — Dallas, TX at American Airlines Center 1/19/18 — Phoenix, AZ at Gila River Arena 1/20/18 — Las Vegas, NV at T—Mobile Arena 1/31/18 — Sacramento, CA at Golden1 Center 2/2/18 — Portland, OR at Moda Center at Rose Quarter 2/3/18 — Tacoma, WA at Tacoma Dome 2/5/18 — Vancouver, BC at Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena Perry will be the musical guest on NBC's Saturday Night Live on the May 20 season finale.

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Lorde Addresses Her Two-Year Disappearance From the Spotlight After Being Dubbed Music's Next ''It'' Girl

After 2013, everyone wanted to be Lorde But when you're Lorde and everyone wants to be you, who are you?  That's the question that music's "It" girl, who was a literal girl—16 years old—when her album Pure Heroine dropped in 2013, had to answer after her whirlwind debut in the spotlight, resulted in her winning big at the 2014 Grammys, curating a soundtrack to the Hunger Games and being the new sound that singer/songwriters everywhere were emulating. Recently the now-20-year-old opened up in a candid interview with Rolling Stone and in the revealing sit-down, the New Zealand native discussed what it was like skyrocketing to fame at the age of 16, taking an almost two-year break from new music and where she is now, four years after her wild ride began. Lorde Announces First Single Green Light in Nearly Two Years She told the mag: "Everyone's so crazy when they're 16. I think if you tell a 16-year-old that they're going to Mars—'We're gonna get on a rocket and go, and that's going to be your life'—they'd be like, 'OK, like, that's all well and good, but I'm doing this thing by myself right now, and that's what's important.' Everything kind of normalized week to week." Notoriety and fame is all well and good (actually, it's probably pretty great) for your first album, but what happens when you have to make another record and the world is waiting with bated breath? When you're Lorde, you walk away from the masses for almost two years, go back home, find your unique voice one more time and turn out your highly anticipated sophomore album, Melodrama... In the interview, the Kiwi also revealed that after the success (critical and commercial) of her first album, she had the classic artist's dilemma over her sophomore album: Where do I go now? "Her first album was all about being this kid," says Jack Antonoff, (whom you may also know from his bands Fun. and Bleachers, as well as being Lena Dunham's special gentleman friend) who produced Melodrama. "When your entire life changes, and you've built your career on being honest with your perspective, how do you continue to [find ways to relate]? It's near impossible." Near impossible, but not entirely impossible... Find out when Melodrama drops on June 16.

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Billboard Music Awards 2017: How Miley Cyrus, Zayn Malik and More Stars Are Celebrating Big Firsts

They always say there's a first for everything. Why not do it at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards? As the excitement continues to grow for the annual award show, E! News has discovered an exciting trend for this year's telecast. For so many of our favorite artists, they are going to experience a big first Sunday night in Las Vegas. Less than two weeks after debuting her new single "Malibu," Miley Cyrus will travel to the T-Mobile Arena to perform the hit song for the very first time on TV. "We are thrilled to have her debut 'Malibu' at the ‘2017 Billboard Music Awards' and look forward to a raw and honest performance that will likely surprise many," executive producer Mark Bracco said in a statement. The Billboard Music Awards' Former Couples Speaking of performances, John Legend and Florida Georgia Line will perform for the first time at the Billboard Music Awards together. Details remain tight-lip as to what this unexpected collaboration will bring. While Ludacris is returning to host for the fourth year, former High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens will have her first experience co-hosting the live telecast airing on ABC. "I'm so unbelievably excited to host the @BBMAs this year with @Ludacris!" she shared on Instagram after the news was made official. "You do not want to miss this amazing lineup of performers." Before the show even begins, red carpet viewers will get to see globally demanded Korean pop troupe BTS make their stateside red carpet debut. And while the hosts, performances and unpredictable fashion is enough to get any pop culture fan to tune in, we can't help but celebrate all of the talented nominees. Lukas Graham and Desiigner received their first BBMAs nominations in the competitive Top New Artist category. Zayn Malik also earned his first nod as a solo artist in the popular group. So who's going to win? Who's going to surprise us all? You just have to watch when the BBMAs air Sunday night at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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10 Moments in Billboard Music Awards History That Still Give Us Chills

The Billboard Music Awards has hosted some pretty major moments in music history, and it's time we remember them.  With the 2017 BBMA's now right around the corner and stars like Miley Cyrus, John Legend and Bruno Marsprepping to make their mark on the Las Vegas stage, the megastars that came before deserve another round of applause. From powerful tributes to late greats like Whitney Houstonand actor Paul Walker to rousing acceptance speeches from the likes of Taylor Swift and Madonna, we're looking back at the 10 Billboard Music Award moments that continue to give us goose bumps no matter how many times they're relived. The Billboard Music Awards' Former Couples 1. Marking the singer's first live television performance following husband René Angélil's death, Céline Dion moved the entire audience to tears with a powerful rendition of "The Show Must Go On" in 2016. As the entire T-Mobile Arena delivered a standing ovation, 16-year-old son René-Charles Angelil made a surprise appearance to present his talented mom with the Billboard Icon Award.  Cue the waterfalls.  2. It wouldn't be a Billboard Music Awards retrospective without mention of Prince's iconic performance medley in 2013. He brought down the house like only Prince could, and set the standard for what it really means to be a music legend.  3. An undeniable anthem of 2015, Wiz Khalifa, Charlie Puth and Lindsey Sterling dedicating their hit collab "See You Again" to Paul Walker after his tragic 2013 passing will forever go down as one of the show's most touching moments.  4. The King of Pop was brought back to life in 2014, thanks to a shockingly eerie hologram performance by Michael Jackson. Flanked by live dancers and a band, Jackson's hologram wowed the crowd singing "Slave to the Rhythm." Billboard Music Awards 2016 Red Carpet Arrivals 5. Jordin Sparks and John Legend paid tribute to Whitney Houston in 2012, singing their hearts out to "Greatest Love of All" and "I Will Always Love You." Their medley came only months after the pop icon passed away at 48-years-old. 6. And speaking of Houston, daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown and sister Pat Houston accepted the late singer's Millennium Award on her behalf, sharing heartbreaking words about Whitney's legacy to millions watching at home.  7. In the midst of her still-ongoing legal battle against Dr. Luke, Kesha returned to the stage with an absolutely stunning cover of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me, Babe."  Dr. Luke's label rescinded its approval allowing her to perform, but days later the approval was restored, making the whole thing that much more sweet.  Musicians Performing Live on Stage 8. If we know anything about one Taylor Swift, it's that when she steps out for an award show, she completely dominates. T. Swift swept the night by winning eight awards, including Top Artist, and her countless acceptance speeches proved just why she's pop music's ultimate golden girl.  9. Fresh off going solo from Destiny's Child, Beyoncéreminded all music lovers she's a forced to be reckoned with at the 2003 BBMAs. Singing "Me, Myself and I," the R&B powerhouse was joined by a massive group of dancing look-alikes in matching ensembles. Will the real Queen Bey please stand up? What's your favorite Billboard Music Awards moment? Sound off in the comments! 10. In 2013, Madonna was honored with the Top Touring Artist award, in her oh-so candid acceptance speech letting everyone know there's a reason she's the queen. Watch E!'s Live From The Red Carpet at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards starting at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on Sunday, May 22 and tune into ABC at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT for the Billboard Music Awards.

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Solange Recalls Incubus Singer Crush and Gives Life Advice to Her Teenage Self in Letter

Did you know Solange had a mega crush on the lead singer of Incubus? In the late '90s, while big sister Beyoncé and her group Destiny's Child were sweeping the charts with hits such as "Bug a Boo" and "Bills, Bills, Bills," Solange, now 30, was a teenager with her own fledgling music career whose musical tastes included rapper Nas and the alternative rock band, led by her crush, Brandon Boyd. The singer reflects on her past phases in a letter she wrote to her teenage self, published in Teen Vogue Wednesday. Beyoncé and Solange: Sisterly Love "You will dive head first without looking into phases that you are certain of who you are," she wrote. "Some of these stages include: the dance-is-life (aka 'This leotard is my second skin') phase. The Bible-thumping-church-camp phase (which coincided and contradicted with the Fiona Apple-fan-club-president phase). The Nas-aficionado-brown-lip-liner-and-Vaseline phase. The Rasta-vegan-thrifter-who-is-determined-to-marry-Brandon-Boyd phase. The football-player's-girlfriend-who-wears-braided-blond-highlights-and-swears-by-capri-pants phase." Solange had revealed her teen crush to Seventeen magazine in 2002, when she was 15. The outlet reported at the time that Beyoncé "had to practically drag Solange away" from Incubus' Boyd at the Billboard Music Awards. Solange's Extended Family Wedding Photos Solange's letter later takes on a somber tone. She reflects on her low moments during her teenage years. "You shut down. you go into your room, lock the door, put on music, and you do not move for 8 hours straight," she wrote. "It will feel like the heaviest and bleakest darkness you can possibly feel, and when you ask everyone to leave you alone and let you be, what you really want to say is 'I want you here' and 'I need help.'" "Sometimes it is OK to say just that," she added. "It won't make you less strong or less powerful. no one you love will criticize you or blame you; in fact, they will lift you up."  She also tells her teenage self how to deal with people labeling her. "Sometimes you push these phases to the max, and when you go out into the world feeling confident in who you are and what you reflect, young folks will call you names and grown folks will call you names," Solange continued in her letter to her teenage self. "It's OK. One day you will name yourself, and that name will belong to you. It will not be the ones they ordained: 'Crazy, ugly, attention-seeking, weirdo.'" "I really hate to tell you this, but sometimes you will still get called these things as an adult, except you will actually embrace some of them," she wrote. "You will learn that these are just words. Words that only have power if you choose to give them power. Every once in a while they will hurt, but you will choose to turn those words into a symbol of beauty."

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Chris Cornell, Soundgarden and Audioslave Singer, Dead at 52; Police Investigating "Possible Suicide"

UPDATE: Detroit police confirmed to E! News Thursday that at 12:05 a.m., Chris Cornell was found unresponsive in the bathroom of his hotel room at the MGM Grand Hotel. His wife called a family friend to check on Cornell, who forced the door open and found him unresponsive with a band around his neck. Medics arrived on the scene, where the singer was pronounced dead. The officer said she has no knowledge of a suicide note or if drugs/alcohol were found at the scene. Asked if foul play is suspected, she replied, "The cause of death is under investigation." Police are investigating Cornell's death as a possible suicide. A spokesperson for Wayne County, Mich., confirmed to E! News that the medical examiner is currently performing an autopsy. They expect a cause of death Thursday afternoon. _______________________________________________ Chris Cornell died Wednesday night in Detroit. He was 52. In a statement to E! News, Cornell's rep said that the musician's passing was "sudden and unexpected." Cornell—lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave—was on tour with his original band at the time of his death. According to his rep, Cornell's family is in a state of shock. Celebrity Deaths: 2017's Fallen Stars Soundgarden was set to headline the "Rock on the Range" festival at MAPFRE Stadium in Ohio Friday. "We are devastated to hear about the sudden passing of Chris Cornell last night. He was a true hero to music. The voice of a generation," the festival's organizers said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and the entire music community. The voice of an angel, now watching down on us as we celebrate and honor him all weekend long." As of press time, Soundgarden has not issued a statement. The Seattle-based band found fame during the '90s grunge era. Their biggest hits included the Grammy Award-winning "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman," as well as "The Day I Tried to Live," "Fell on Black Days," "Hunted Down, "My Wave," "Pretty Noose" and "Rusty Cage." Memorably, in 1991, MTV banned their "Jesus Christ Pose" music video. The band split in 1997, and Cornell released a solo album in 1999, titled Euphoria Morning. He went on to release three more studio albums: Carry On (2007), Scream (2009) and Higher Truth (2015), as well as a live album. In 2001, Cornell joined Audioslave, which included former Rage Against the Machine members Tim Commerford, Tom Morello and Brad Wilk. They issued three albums: Audioslave (2002), Out of Exile (2005) and Revelations (2006). Despite their success, Audioslave disbanded in 2007. Soundgarden—which includes drummer Matt Cameron, guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Ben Shepherd—decided to get back together after 15 years apart. They released a sixth studio album, King Animal, in 2012. To date, three of the band's studio albums have been certified platinum: Badmotorfinger (1991), Superunknown (1994) and Down on the Upside (1996). Cornell also teamed up with future Pearl Jam members to form Temple of the Dog, which produced an album in 1991 to honor Andrew Wood, former frontman for Mother Love Bone. In 2016, he toured with the group—which included Soundgarden members—for the first time. Cornell, who was married twice, leaves behind three children, ranging in age from 11 to 16. In a statement Thursday, the rocker's rep told E! News that his wife "will be working closely with the medical examiner" to determine his cause of death. The family "would like to thank his fans for their continuous love and loyalty and ask that their privacy be respected at this time." The frontman appeared to be active on social media in the hours before his death: As news of Cornell's death spread across social media, tributes poured in: Hours before his death, Cornell posted a clip from Soundgarden's "By Crooked Steps" on Facebook, and he pointed to a specific lyric: "I'm the shape of the hole inside your heart." The tributes continued to come in as the day progressed. "Chris Cornell was one of the influential originators of the 1990s Seattle grunge scene. A two-time Grammy Award winner, Chris' dynamic stage presence and impressive vocal range made him a true rock-and-roll icon. From the international success he achieved as the founder and lead vocalist of Soundgarden, to fronting the GRAMMY-nominated supergroup, Audioslave, Chris' extraordinary talent will forever live on and inspire fellow musicians and fans worldwide," Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy said in a statement. "We have lost an innovative member of our creative community, and our sincerest condolences go out to Chris' family, friends, collaborators, and all who have been impacted by his outstanding artistry." —Reporting by Holly Passalaqua (Originally published on Thursday, May 18, 2017, at 4 a.m. PDT.)

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Inside Miley Cyrus' Journey From "Lunatic Pop Princess" to Just Being Miley Again

Miley Cyrus is once again atop the pop charts, doing a hoedown dance on the beach in her new music video for "Malibu," a whimsical song showing off the softer side of a singer who for several years projected an image that was anything but soft. Gone are the nipple pasties, naked wrecking ball riding, and that infamous masturbating foam finger from the 2013 VMAs. Instead, we now see a turtleneck sweater, floating balloons and the manicured fingers of a 24-year-old pop star who has reinvented herself by going back to the mainstream roots that made her a Disney darling in the mid-to-late 2000s. In the autobiographical "Malibu," Miley sings, "I never would've believed you if three years ago you told me I'd be here writing this song, but here I am." Few would have believed the "Can't Be Tamed" singer would tame herself so quickly—and her image U-turn is working. Miley Cyrus' Wildest Concert Pics In fact, it already stands as one of the most thorough pop music reboots since Taylor Swift ditched her acoustic guitar and country twang to become a slick pop princess. Here's how Miley completed her transformation: 1. She Figured Out What—or Who—She Wanted: Following her high-profile breakup with fiancé Liam Hemsworth in 2013, Miley had a fling with Kellan Lutz,made out with Cara Delevingne and dated both Patrick Schwarzenegger and Stella Maxwell on the road to becoming an outspoken advocate for doing away with labels when it comes to sexuality. She reunited with Liam last year and they quickly shacked up in a compound in Malibu, a romantic reset that became part of her creative inspiration for the new album. "Liam one hundred percent has settled her down," a friend of the couple tells E! News. "I think Miley realized that she pushed him away and she regretted it. She doesn't want to make that same mistake again." However, Miley has said that painting her new single—and her personal turnaround—simply as a Disney-esque, saved-by-the-prince scenario is not entirely accurate.  On Tuesday she told radio host Elvis Duran: "People have to give me some credit too because sometimes when I read write-ups of this song, it's like, 'You can tell that there's the leading man in there that really brought her feet down to the ground.' And those were changes that I really made and I think as a woman, I always want to take that power back and say, 'Hey, I did that!' I made a decision to say, 'Hey this is what I want,' and anything that I want, I'm going to put my entire heart and brain into and make it happen." Miley Cyrus Reflects on 2013 Split From Liam Hemsworth: I Got Time to Grow Up 2. She Got Sober: Earlier this month, Miley, who in the past has taken no pains to hide her regular use of marijuana, told Billboard, "I like to surround myself with people that make me want to get better, more evolved, open. And I was noticing, it's not the people that are stoned. I want to be super clear and sharp, because I know exactly where I want to be." Cutting down on pot was a dramatic shift that surprised many—even those closest to her. "Miley had been smoking pot going back to her teens, and it had become part of her entire persona," a source says. 'I was shocked she quit cold turkey like that, but we all felt like she had gone too far with it and it's healthy that she has dialed it back." Miley recently admitted in an interview that her extreme behavior was her way of rebelling after spending her middle and high school years working every day alongside her father— and her grandmother as her keeper. She explained on the Zach Sang Show, "So that was a lot of time spent, dad and grandma, which is why when I turned 18, you wondered why I was twerking at the Juicy J show. I just spent 10 years every day with my dad and grandma. I had to break free." Miley Cyrus Celebrates the Release of Malibu by Watching Her Hannah Montana Audition Tape 3. She reintroduced herself to Middle America: Miley insiders tell E! News that her mom, Tish, and her management team strongly urged Miley to do a stint as a coach on season 11 of the hit NBC show The Voice. At the time, Miley portrayed the TV gig as simply something fun to do and an effort to help mentor budding artists. But behind the scenes, E! News has learned, was a broader PR strategy. By the time she joined the show last summer, Miley had been already working on her new-sound album, her new look and her more mainstream image—and being a less radical personality in America's living rooms set up her eventual retro-'00s comeback.   4. She Cleaned Up Her Social Media Profile: Bong hits. Freeing the nipple. Bizarre collages and crafting. Often times, going on Miley's Instagram was like taking an acid trip—or a trip to a strip club. Now, that's all behind her. The last time followers were graced with a pic showing her smoking was a grand total of 17 weeks ago when she threw a marijuana-themed birthday party for Liam and sister Noah Cyrus. But the new year has otherwise brought a new Miley, with her racy shots being replaced by cute snaps of her with her sister and mother, posing with radio hosts on her promo tour, enjoying sunsets and engaging in made-for-Instagram pastimes like lying in the grass with her dog. 5. Her Music Went Mainstream—Again: Close your eyes and listen to "Malibu" and the breezy tune sounds like it easily could have been on 2009's Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack. It's certainly a far cry from her 2015 album, Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz, which was, at best, a fearlessly experimental effort in psychedelic rock and, at worst, a virtually unlistenable string of tracks that alienated many fans who missed their old Miley. At the time, Rolling Stone branded Miley "the lunatic pop princess." But her fans have enjoyed the resurrection of the pre-Bangerz singer. As @yenniepenny, one of her Instagram followers, recently commented: "welcome back Miley!!" For more of the inside story on Miley's journey, tune into E! News tonight at 7 p.m. & 11 p.m.

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Nicki Minaj Will Open the 2017 Billboard Music Awards

All eyes will be on Nicki Minaj at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards. The rapper will open the ceremony with a nine-minute performance, featuring appearances by Jason Derulo, David Guetta and Lil Wayne. Minaj is nominated in the fan-voted Billboard Chart Achievement category (presented by Xfinity). A four-time winner and 23-time nominee, the rapper is going up against Luke Bryan, The Chainsmokers, Twenty One Pilots and The Weeknd. Voting will remain open until one hour into the live ceremony. ABC will broadcast the award show live on both coasts from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, beginning at 8 p.m. ET. 2017 Billboard Music Awards By the Numbers Minaj joins previously announced performers Camila Cabello, The Chainsmokers, Miley Cyrus, Céline Dion, Drake, Florida Georgia Line, Halsey, Sam Hunt, Imagine Dragons, John Legend, Lorde, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran—and 2017 Billboard Music Awards ICON Award recipient Cher. Ludacris and Vanessa Hudgens will co-host the show. The rapper, who previously co-hosted with Ciara and Chrissy Teigen, has yet to meet the "Reminding Me" singer. "It's always good to have different dynamics, just to keep the show exciting and keep people on their toes by having different women, because you have that ying and that yang," he told E! News Wednesday. "Every time it's going to be different, so it's not like you're doing the same thing every time." Hudgens is excited to meet Ludacris. "He's great," she told E! News. "I love his music." "He seems like a really cool guy," Hudgens added. "I think I might give him a little more energy than what he's used to, but we'll just have to wait and see! I think it's going to be a lot of fun."

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Miley Cyrus Crashes The Tonight Show as Hashtag the Panda Before Sitting in With Seth Meyers' Band

Miley Cyrus had quite the Wednesday.  On the heels of her new single, "Malibu," the songstress had an NBC bonanza yesterday as she hopped from set to set to visit with fans and share the news of her latest track and upcoming sixth studio album.  But, first, she had to suit up—as Jimmy Fallon's sidekick, Hashtag the Panda. After taking the Tonight Show stage in the full costume, the host noticed the dancing was a touch different. Surprise! It was Miley.  "Yeah, I've been doing this the last few months," she joked. Miley Cyrus' Best Looks The band definitely had her dancing until she dropped, but there was no time to rest because she was due for a visit to Seth Meyers' set to sit in with the 8G band.  "I've just been taking over NBC all day. Started with the cooking show, now I'm with you...I've been a dancing panda, so the day has been pretty crazy. That's a normal day for me though," she explained to the audience.  Of course, it's not every day you have Miley Cyrus conducting your band.  Inside Miley Cyrus' Journey From Lunatic Pop Princess to Just Being Miley Again "That was pretty cool," Meyers noted.  In addition to her late night visits, Cyrus was up bright and early on Today, where she joined Al Roker to get her cooking on, and Access Hollywood.  "Looooooved taking over @nbc #MBC #Malibu," she wrote on Instagram.  (E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

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Chris Cornell Ended His Final Performance With a Song About Death

Just hours before his death, Chris Cornell took the stage for the last time with an eerily foreboding final song.  The Soundgarden frontman was found unresponsive in his hotel bathroom at the MGM Grand Detroit late Wednesday night, just a few hours after giving what would be his last performance at the Fox Theater. The 52-year-old musician had been on tour with the band since late April with stops all around the country. "#Detroit finally back to Rock City!!!! @soundgarden#nomorebulls--t," Cornell tweeted around 8 p.m. Wednesday.   Celebrity Deaths: 2017's Fallen Stars The show went off without a hitch as the band performed hits like "Black Hole Sun" and "Rusty Cage" while fans hailed the performance on social media with  photos and videos. The group closed out the show with "Slaves & Bulldozers" and a refrain from Led Zeppelin's "In My Time of Dying."  As the song begins, "In my time of dying, I want nobody to mourn. All I want for you to do is take my body home." A few hours later, he was found unresponsive in his hotel room, police confirmed to E! News. His wife called a family friend to check on the star, who forced the door open and found him unresponsive with a band around his neck. Medics arrived on the scene, where the singer was pronounced dead. While no cause of death has been announced as of yet, police are investigating Cornell's passing as a possible suicide. A spokesperson for Wayne County, Mich., confirmed to E! News that the medical examiner is currently performing an autopsy and expect to know the cause of death by the afternoon. After more than a decade apart, the band reunited in 2010 and released their sixth studio album, King Animal, two years later. As of late, the group, which includes drummer Matt Cameron, guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Ben Shepherd, had been working on a new album.  As the rocker's rep told Rolling Stone, Cornell's family "would like to thank his fans for their continuous love and loyalty and ask that their privacy be respected at this time."

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Inside Chris Cornell’s Lifelong Struggle With Fame: The Soundgarden Frontman Battled Demons as He Became a Rock God

Ask anyone yesterday, and the answer would have been that Chris Cornell had seemingly survived the sort of demons that had consumed so many rock 'n' roll stars before him, including fellow founding members of the very Seattle grunge scene that birthed Soundgarden in the 1980s. So when people started to wake up this morning to news that Cornell had died at the age of 52, the grief that started pouring out from his fellow artists and legions of fans was palpable. A few hours later an autopsy confirmed that Cornell had committed suicide by hanging himself. And as the tributes to his musical prowess are written—his was considered to be one of the greatest voices in rock, a booming yet nuanced voice capable of leading a headbanging frenzy in a packed stadium and commanding silence with an unplugged ballad—the feeling of shock will be unshakable. After all, he died in the middle of a tour, hours after Soundgarden performed at Detroit's Fox Theatre. Only in hindsight does Cornell's final bit of creative license onstage, mixing in a bit of Led Zeppelin's "In My Time of Dying" with his band's "Slaves & Bulldozers," seem fraught with meaning. Celebrity Deaths: 2017's Fallen Stars Though it's unclear whether he knew about Cornell's tribute, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page tweeted upon hearing the news, "RIP Chris Cornell Incredibly Talented... Incredibly Young...Incredibly Missed." Sources told TMZ this morning that Cornell's wife of 13 years, Vicky Karayiannis, has been telling people around her that Chris had been showing no signs of depression, much less indicating he was suicidal in any way. Moreover, she reportedly said, it was unfathomable he would take his own life because he was so devoted to his three children, son Christopher and daughter Toni with Vicky and daughter Lillian Jean with his ex-wife, Susan Silver. And as far as any identifiable outward behavior went, that is often the case. Soundgarden, which had reunited in 2010 after more than a decade apart, was reportedly recording its first new album in five years. Audioslave, which Cornell formed with Tom Morello in 2001, played its first show together in 12 years just months ago for Prophets of Rage's political protest affair, the Anti-Inaugural Ball. Cornell even did a stage dive and was comfortably caught by dozens of outstretched hands.  Also a noted solo artist, the rocker had also just contributed the titular track for the film The Promise, set during the days leading up to the Armenian Genocide. (His solo pipes were quite sought after for movie soundtracks, notably including Singles, Great Expectations, Mission: Impossible 2 and Casino Royale.) Last month he shared a photo from his trip to Greece, where he visited a refugee camp  with the International Rescue Committee and brought his daughter Toni with him to the Vatican for a screening of The Promise. In 2015 when Cornell was on his solo Higher Truth tour, Toni joined him onstage at New York's Beacon Theater one night to cover Bob Marley's "Redemption Song," showing off her own impressively strong voice. (Asked what his advice would be if his kids wanted to pursue music careers, he said, "Make sure that it's inspired, that's your chief goal, 'cause I also believe that success comes from that.") Between Soundgarden, Audioslave and his five solo albums, Cornell seemed to almost never be not working throughout the course of his three-decade career. Though they had already been rocking out for a decade beforehand, Superunknown, their fourth album, put Soundgarden on the mainstream map in 1994, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and going on to sell more than 9 million copies. The haunting, doll-head-melting video for the smash-hit track "Black Hole Sun" won Best Rock Video at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards, and the band won two Grammys in 1995, Best Hard Rock Performance for "Black Hole Sun" and Best Metal Performance for "Spoonman." Musicians Performing Live on Stage But though Chris Cornell was the consummate rock frontman, from his scruffy handsomeness to his booming gravelly voice and magnetic stage presence, it was making the music that consumed him, and while he wholeheartedly appreciated his fans, he didn't love the scrutiny that accompanies fame or the expectations and pressure that goes with being known for a certain type of music. "It's about trying to step out of being patterned and closed off and reclusive, which I've always had a problem with," Cornell told Rolling Stone in 1994 nine months after Superunknown catapulted Soundgarden to the next level of success, explaining the meaning behind the song "I Day I Tried to Live." "It's about attempting to be normal and just go out and be around other people and hang out. I have a tendency to sometimes be pretty closed off and not see people for long periods of time and not call anyone." With Kurt Cobain's suicide on April 5, 1994, still fresh in everyone's mind, and fresh off the smash success of Superunknown, Cornell (who was a huge Nirvana fan but didn't consider himself a friend of Kurt's) also told the magazine that it was "hard not to be a little bitter" about the commercialization of Seattle as this whole grunge music "scene." "We lost good friends in the process," he said. "And all of a sudden you realize that it's turned into something that's considered a fashion statement. It's like mining. It's like somebody came into your city with bulldozers and water compressors and mined your own perfect mountain and excavated it and threw out what they didn't want and left the rest to rot. It's that bad." He continued, "All of a sudden you see it on TV, and people that you know and love are getting the wrong idea because of what they saw on the news. You can't help but think that somewhere, somebody's been robbed. And I don't even think it's me. I think it's everyone." "We've always been fairly reclusive and damaged," he said of himself and his band mates. Though Cornell considered Soundgarden a bit removed from the Seattle machine, he was proud of where the band came from. "But outside of the people that were involved with the Seattle scene when it was happening, the rest of the country and the world and probably a lot of the bands that play in Seattle now think that what the Seattle scene was about is Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Alice in Chains—guitar-based rock with punk influences and '70s influences. Period. End of story. And that's so far from what was going on." His perspective would evolve in the ensuing decades, but, perhaps rooted in his hard-fought beginnings to get his band off the ground, Cornell the singer-songwriter always felt somewhat at odds with Cornell the rock star.   "I was always the kid who listened to records on my own, in my bedroom, spending hours focusing, always gravitating to deep album tracks and those weirder ones. That was kind of my thing," he reflected to TheStranger.com in 2015 while talking about whether he had mixed feelings about commercial success. "And if one of those made it on the radio, it was always a little bit surprising. The same way it was surprising to me when 'Black Hole Sun' was a single when everybody seemed to unanimously choose it as one. I don't think we thought of it as a song that would make it on the radio." Ultimately, touring as a solo artist, whether he was singing stripped-down versions of his songs that were his own, Soundgarden's or Audioslave's, helped him reconcile what could be misconstrued as his competing sounds. Going acoustic or thereabouts "brought it all together under one umbrella, and I started to feel like, oh, that's who I am," he said. "It's not a mystery. It's not a puzzle to solve. I'm this guy, and that's my entire history." Soundgarden broke up in 1997 and Cornell immediately got to work on his own solo debut, 1999's Euphoria Morning (16 years later he changed the spelling to the originally intended Mourning), then headed out on tour. But while he would later say that he never wrote—effectively, anyway—while under the influence of any substance other than coffee ("always my biggest vice"), Cornell's issues were starting to catch up with him. "Alcohol's the only drug that affects your entire brain," he mused in an interview years later about why being under the influence and writing didn't mix for him, as it has for many creative types. "It would do this one thing, I suppose, that's good for someone in terms of the expressionism, which kind of relieves you of your fear, and you become less inhibited. But then for me, for whatever some reason, the doors that need to open to where it becomes almost like I'm the conduit to something else, it's not just a construct—that just doesn't open up. I think alcohol dumbs, whatever that is, down...And other drugs too. Nothing ever made me more inspired, or more able or more capable as a songwriter. "It's not like I didn't try. I wrote things drunk before. I just made sure nobody every heard them or saw the lyrics," he laughed. "I would destroy it." Celebrity Rehabbers He went to rehab in the early '00s but didn't talk much about it until years later. "I went through a serious crisis with depression where I didn't eat a whole meal every day. I was just kind of shutting down," he told Seattle PI in 2006, talking about the period after Soundgarden broke up. "I eventually found that the only way out of that was to change virtually everything in my life. That was a very frightening thing to do, but it was worthwhile... " "But I felt there was something on the horizon that was going to be very big and I didn't know what it was going to be, but I felt like it was out there somewhere." Rehab "was something I didn't want to do and I guess I was intimidated by it. I thought I was smart enough and that it wasn't really necessary. But it got to the point where I had to do something." He told the U.K.'s Mirror in 2012 that rehab was inevitable, even if Soundgarden had initially stayed together. Cornell described his battle with substance abuse as "a long slow slide and then a long, slow recovery—but there was self-discovery too...For me it was mostly alcohol—from my late teens until my late thirties." One of the reasons that so many people were unaware of what plagued him was that Cornell barely missed a beat as far as his musical output went—a fact he acknowledged to the Mirror. "I came out of rehab," he recalled, "and immediately went on tour with Audioslave, sold millions of records and was playing in front of crowds of 10,000 or 20,000. It's not what most people go through. Most of the time, coming out of rehab people have a destroyed life, struggle to just work again and get a job. "I sort of had an identity sitting there waiting to be embraced. I was very lucky I was able to see that and not take it for granted. It helped me climb out of the mire. I saw how hard it could be." Shocking Pop Star Deaths Cornell met Vicky in Paris and lived in the City of Light for a time, at one point opening a restaurant (he had held restaurant jobs and worked as a sous chef in his struggling-musician days) called Black Calavados with his wife and brother-in-law while he was also making music with Audioslave. A few years ago, the Cornell family relocated to Miami. "I wasn't sure how that would work, being creative here, living here, writing here," he told the Tampa Bay Times about his new home in 2015. "But I just started doing that, and it seems to be doing great."   Soundgarden reunited in 2010, but Cornell also continued to record and tour as a solo act. Asked in 2015 about changing the name of his 1999 album Euphoria Mourning to its originally intended, more morose spelling, he told Rolling Stone that the record company had preferred "Morning," thinking it would cause less confusion. "It was a pretty dark album lyrically and pretty depressing, and I was going through a really difficult time in my life," Cornell recalled. "My band wasn't together anymore, my marriage was falling apart and I was dealing with it by drinking way too much, and that has its own problems, particularly with depression...But mentally I wasn't together enough to really know what was right. So I went with 'Morning,' and it's bothered me ever since." His own struggles made him particularly attuned to the unsuspecting ease with which tragedy could strike those who seemingly would have more lifelines than most. Asked about the impromptu cover of "I Will Always Love You" that he sang at a fundraiser for Barack Obama in 2012 that was held a few days after Whitney Houston's death, Cornell told Vulture, "There are a lot of feelings in people who are stars who had an effect on a lot of other people. Anyone that suffers depression and addiction, as it relates to the entertainment business, often there can kind of be a cocoon [around them]. "Though you would imagine someone like that would have more resources to get better, it can often be the opposite. You're kind of enabled to continue whatever lifestyle it is. There's sadness to anyone that dies before their time, and specifically ones that seem to affect people in a positive way. It doesn't matter if it's Whitney Houston or a nameless, faceless person on the street. That's just as big of a tragedy for me." He was also very aware of the sad endings that had befallen so many fellow musicians, not least of them the ones who got their start in his hometown, such as Cobain and Alice in Chains' Layne Staley, who died of an overdose in 2002. And it seemed, including to those close to him, up until less than 24 hours ago, that Cornell was not facing down the kind of pain that can get the better of anyone, no matter how big the success or how loving the family.  "There's something about losing friends, particularly young people, where it's not something that you get over," Cornell told Vulture. "I don't believe there's a healing process. How do you, really? In what way can you stop and say, 'Well, it's god's will.' I always thought that line I've heard a million times—twice as bright but half as long—is bulls--t. It's tragedy. I just carry all of that with me all the time. "All I can do, if anything, out of respect for my friends that are no longer here, is to do my best to lead a good life and and take advantage of the fact that I'm still around, take the opportunities I have that they should've had."

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Katy Perry Releases "Swish Swish" With Nicki Minaj—Is It About Taylor Swift?

Is this what a catfight sounds like? Katy Perry's new album, Witness, is now available for pre-order ahead of its June 9 release. Fans who pre-order the digital album will instantly receive "Swish Swish" featuring Nicki Minaj, plus the "Chained to the Rhythm" (featuring Skip Marley) and "Bon Appétit" (featuring Migos). The song was released at midnight, and fans are already speculating that it's about Perry's nemesis Taylor Swift . Last week, Perry danced around the notion of responding to Swift's "Bad Blood" via song, insisting in an Entertainment Weekly interview it's "a very empowered record." Perry added, "There is no one thing that's calling out any one person." "One thing to note is: You can't mistake kindness for weakness and don't come for me. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone. And that's not to any one person and don't quote me that it is, because it's not. It's not about that," she continued. "Honestly, when women come together and they decide to unite, this world is going to be a better place. Period end of story. But, let me say this: Everything has a reaction or a consequence so don't forget about that, OK, honey." Perry, who vowed to "keep it real," assured the magazine that Witness "is not about anyone else! This record is about me being seen and heard so that I can see and hear everyone else!" Plus, she said, "It's not even about me! It's about everything that I see out there that I digest." And yet, the possible Swift references in "Swish Swish" are hard to ignore. Katy Perry's Best Looks   In September 2014, Perry referenced Mean Girls and tweeted, "Watch out for the Regina George in sheep's clothing." The tweet was written just after Swift told Rolling Stone another pop star—and former friend—had allegedly stolen one of her backup dancers. In the first verse of "Swish Swish," Perry sings, "A tiger / Don't lose no sleep / Don't need opinions / From a shellfish or a sheep / Don't you come for me / No, not today / You're calculated / I got your number / 'Cause you're a joker / And I'm a courtside killer queen / And you will kiss the ring / You best believe." Some Twitter users think that "Swish, Swish" could stand for "Swift, Swift." Perry later confirmed the tweet was written about Swift. In a February 2015 Billboard article, she explained, "​​If somebody is trying to defame my character, you're going to hear about it." Minaj, for her part, had her own public feud with Swift—which was resolved before the singer-songwriter joined the rapper onstage at the 2015 MTV VMAs to sing "The Night Is Still Young." Perry has not said the song is about Swift, and the former country artist has not commented. "Swish Swish" was produced by Duke Dumont.

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Liam Payne Drops Debut Solo Single "Strip That Down" (feat. Quavo)

Liam Payne is back in the game. After One Direction's Niall Horan and Harry Styles released solo projects, Payne dropped his debut single, "Strip That Down," overnight. The 23-year-old singer teamed up with Migos' Quavo for the song, which he co-wrote with Steve Mac and Ed Sheeran. Payne is the second One Direction member to pursue the hip-hop/R&B genre, after former bandmate Zayn Malik. Payne actually references his boy band past in the pre-chorus, singing, "You know, I used to be in 1D (now I'm out, free) / People want me for one thing (that's not me) / I'm not changing, the way that I (used to be) / I just wanna have fun (and get rowdy)." In the chorus, the British pop star trades lines with Quavo, singing, "You know I love it when the music's loud / But c'mon, strip that down for me, baby / Now there's a lot of people in the crowd / But only you can dance with me / So put your hands on my body / And swing that round for me / You know, I love it when the music's loud / But c'mon, strip that down for me (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)." Liam Payne Reveals What He Really Wanted to Name Son Bear Payne's girlfriend, Cheryl Cole, is a big fan of the song: "Getting to write with people like Ed is one of the most amazing things a person can do," he gushed on BBC Radio 2's The Chris Evans Breakfast Show Friday. "I'm humbled that Ed even took a second of his time," Payne added, "let alone spending hours with him to write the song." "I've been working hard in the studio for over a year and I'm really excited to share this new music with my amazing fans. I've come a long way since our One Direction debut and I hope everyone likes my new sound as much as I do," Payne told E! News in a statement Friday. "2017 has been a big year for me already and I'm looking forward to what the rest of it will bring."