Pop Shots – Night Moves

Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Kanye West’s plans for this Saturday night, to where you’ll be able to find Billy Idol on select nights in 2019, to Runaway June having a night of drinking solo, and since this is Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* Season 44 of Saturday Night Live will premiere this week, and feature musical guest Kanye West. Select reporters can’t wait to be flown to Wyoming to watch the show together.

* Drake’s been churning out the hits this year, so much so, in fact, that his musical output has combined to spend a total of 29 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, passing Usher for the most time atop the chart in a single year (and we’re only in September!). I have a sneaky suspicion that in retrospect this will be looked at the same way we now look at 2009, when Black Eyed Peas held the top spot for 26 weeks.


* Nas and Santigold have been dropped as supporting acts from Lauryn Hill’s Miseducation anniversary tour, which will now continue with Lauryn Hill’s usual opening acts – extreme boredom and people muttering, “How f*cking late is she?”

* According to TMZ, Maple Leif Garrett, aka Justin Bieber, has applied for dual citizenship. I think we all know how this ends – in a tear filled sing-along of “O Canada” at the one place he’ll always call home …


* R. Kelly’s scheduled show at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden was canceled due to Hurricane Florence. My guess is when R. Kelly heard Florence was a category 4, he balked, saying he'd prefer her to be 14.

* Billy Idol has announced a residency at the Las Vegas Palms Casino Resort that will begin on January 18th, 2019 and have dates throughout January, and October. His groupies reportedly can’t wait to rock the Craftmatic Adjustable Bed of love.


* In a multi-part interview, Eminem said that he regretted using a homophobic slur on “Fall,” a track off his latest album, Kamikaze. There’s no word on how he feels about the 8 trillion other times he’s used homophobic slurs.

* In more Eminem news, or at least Eminem-adjacent news, G-Eazy inserted himself into the ongoing feud between Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly, posting a throwback pic of himself and Em raising middle fingers to the camera. In a related story, there’s officially no room left on Eminem’s, or MGK’s, coattails, as G-Eazy has rented out all the space for himself.


* Three Days Grace have broken the record for the most #1s in the 37 year history of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart. The band’s “Infa-Red” was the song to do it, becoming their 14th #1, and breaking the tie they had been in with Van Halen. Suddenly I feel like I’ve been in a coma since 2003, because I had no idea Three Days Grace did anything after “I Hate Everything About You.” Admit it, you didn’t know either.

* Last, but certainly not least, country trio Runaway June have released their self-titled debut EP. You may remember them from my “10 Things You Should Know About …” feature from last April, but even if you don’t, I know you’ll consider them memorable after checking out their breakup / independent woman anthem “Buy My Own Drinks.” Give it a spin!


And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.