R. Kelly’s legal team is ramping up efforts to lobby President Donald Trump for clemency as the singer serves a decades-long prison sentence for sex crimes.

Case filings before the Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney show that the disgraced R&B star (Robert Sylvester Kelly) has a pending petition for commutation of his 31-year prison sentence for racketeering, sex trafficking, child pornography and enticing minors for sex. A presidential commutation would wipe Kelly’s sentence but leave his conviction intact, as opposed to a full pardon.

The actual text of the clemency petition, first reported by the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday (July 14), was not available. It’s not clear exactly when the application was submitted, only that it was at some point in 2026. Kelly’s lawyer did not return a request for details on Wednesday (July 15).

Historically, the Pardon Attorney’s office has conducted a structured, multi-level review of clemency applications before deciding whether to send a recommendation along to the White House for a final decision. Trump, however, has been known to break with this tradition and grant pardons and commutations unilaterally based largely on lobbying within his inner circle. As Mark Osler, a leading clemency attorney and law professor at the University of St. Thomas told Billboard last year, “The mechanism is falling apart.”

Kelly’s legal team seems to understand this; even before filing an official clemency petition, his lawyer, Beau Brindley, has been publicly appealing to Trump directly for relief. Last June, for example, Brindley said in a statement to Billboard that Trump “is the only one with both the power and the courage” to set Kelly free.

The attorney has also not given up on securing Kelly’s release through the court system. While the former singer’s appeals have all been rejected by higher courts, Brindley is still pursuing a new trial in Chicago. He argued in a series of court filings last year that jailhouse officials were trying to kill Kelly, though a judge quickly rejected his calls for immediate release.

BandLab Technologies has acquired AI-powered digital audio workstation Aiode, adding to its suite of products which includes BandLab, Cakewalk, ReverbNation and Airbit.

Aiode is a digital music-making product that allows music creators to write and produce songs by using audio-to-audio models, meaning a user can upload a half-finished track they’ve made, for example, and Aiode’s AI-powered virtual musicians can help finish out the song idea stem-by-stem. It also allows musicians to regenerate specific portions of songs to help take their ideas in a new direction, to quickly find new samples and to work alongside models based on real musicians, who have collaborated with Aiode, to create with their artistic flair.

Developed alongside session musicians and producers, the product has only been trained on licensed pre-existing music as well as audio created by professional musicians in-house. The models within Aiode’s platform are also proprietary and all of its licensed training data is traceable to its source.

Aiode adds to BandLab Technologies’ suite of options for a growing class of do-it-yourself music creators, including BandLab, which is a social music creation platform, and Cakewalk, its suite of desktop music tools. Based in Singapore, BandLab Technologies is a division of Caldecott Music Group, which also owns NME Networks and Vista Musical Instruments.

This deal is part of a growing trend in AI music acquisitions in the last year. In 2025, AI music company Suno acquired WavTool, a browser-based digital audio workstation, and Epidemic Sound purchased Song Sleuth, an AI recognition startup. In January, Beatstars acquired AI music tool Lemonaide, and Splice bought Kits AI. Then, in February, Google acquired AI music startup ProducerAI, which is now available as part of Google Labs’ offerings, which also includes its music model Lyria 3.

“Aiode shares BandLab Technologies’ ethos of innovation and giving music makers every opportunity to find success,” says Idan Dobrecki, CEO and co-founder of Aiode. “Since Aiode was founded in 2022, we’ve worked side by side with professional musicians to create technology that respects their artistry and keeps them involved in how their musical identity is represented. BandLab Technologies gives us the opportunity to bring that approach to more creators,”

“For Aiode, joining a group that understands both accessible creation and professional production is a rare fit,” says Blue Dobrecky, COO and co-founder of Aiode. “BandLab Technologies’ breadth of experience gives us a much broader foundation for where Aiode can go as the ways people make music continue to evolve.”

SYDNEY, Australia — A nervous music community was put at ease Wednesday, July 15 when prime minister Anthony Albanese removed any doubt that creatives would maintain control, and the value, for their work in the age of artificial intelligence.

During an address on AI at the University of Sydney, the nation’s leader gave the strongest of assurances that tech companies would not have the right to copyright-protected content, including music, to train AI “without the artist’s control.”

“Australian writers, musicians, artists and journalists must retain ownership and control of their work,” he remarked. “Our laws will spell that out plain as day. An artist’s creative endeavor is their work and their property.”

No company “should use Australian books, music, art or news to build or train AI without the artist’s control, and that includes the artist’s control of the price and value of their work,” he said.

Australia, Albanese suggests, has the opportunity to take the lead on this hot button topic.

“Nowhere do artists or rights holders have sufficient control of their work when it comes to AI training,” he added. “And that is why the best way to secure the strongest copyright protections for Australian artists is for Australia to be active and involved.”

Also during his speech, titled “AI in Australia’s interests,” the PM unveiled a new Office of AI which, with effect from today, would design the new Australian standards — essentially a functioning licensing framework built on consent and payment.

With those words, the domestic music industry, which has lobbied tirelessly on the protection of copyrights, breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“The prime minister could not have been clearer: Australian writers and musicians keep ownership and control of their work. Artists control what that work is worth, not the government and not a technology company,” remarks ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd.

“Control of price, value and terms of use are what underpin a commercial licensing market,” Herd adds. “The artist decides what their work is worth and who may use it. That is how licensing works everywhere else in the world and it is how it should work here. In the prime minister’s words: anything less is theft.”

The message to AI businesses “is clear,” she continued. “Now is the time to get on with licensing. Right now deals are being signed across music, journalism and publishing around the world. Australia’s creative industries are ready do business.”

Rights organization APRA AMCOS echoed those comments, and applauded Albanese for his “clear and unequivocal support for Australia’s artists, creators and copyright holders.” 

“The prime minister has made it clear,” says APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston. “The future of AI development in Australia must respect creator rights, that permission and payment must be sought, and crucially, the creative economy must benefit from AI innovation and development in Australia.”

APRA AMCOS has put a price on what a copyright carve-out would mean to the music space. The PRO’s landmark AI and Music Report found that, without a mandatory licensing framework, Australian and New Zealand songwriters and composers face a 23 per cent hit to their revenues. The bottom line: Australian and New Zealand creators would miss out on more than A$500 million ($350 million) over just four years. 

Albanese’s comments on AI and copyright follow the Attorney General’s confirmation late last year that there would no copyright exception for AI training. Then, in December, the publication of the Productivity Commission’s final report on Harnessing data and digital technology, which concluded that it would be “premature to make changes to Australia’s copyright laws.”

Now, more than half a year on, the prime minister has given his word on the matter.

Damian Rinaldi, CEO of AMPAL, the music publishers’ association, welcomes the PM’s “unequivocal recognition that ‘an artist’s creative endeavor is their work and property’, and that Australian creators and rightsholders must retain ownership and control of their work, including its price and value.” And his declaration that “anything less is theft” sends a “powerful and unambiguous message,” Rinaldi continues. “Permission must come first.”

Maggie Collins, executive director of the Association of Artist Managers (AAM) was among the many industry leaders who made a submission to the National Cultural Policy, and was anxiously awaiting the outcome of today’s presentation.

“Australia knows its worth, and today’s speech by prime minister Albanese on the future of AI in this country made that crystal clear, when he articulated without a shadow of a doubt, that in embracing this new age,” she writes in a message to AAM’s members. “Australian writers, musicians, artists and journalists must retain ownership and control of their work.”

Read Albanese’s speech in full here.

Travis Scott is facing a lawsuit claiming he attacked and threatened the crew of a chartered yacht in Miami two years ago.  

Scott was arrested for disorderly intoxication and trespassing at Miami Beach Marina in June 2024, but no criminal charges were pressed. But now, boat captain Adrian Frometa and charter managers John Steve Holguin and Mirnesa Hasanovic are pursuing civil assault claims against the rapper (born Jacques Webster).

The lawsuit, filed on Saturday (July 11) and obtained by Billboard, says Scott rented a 105-foot yacht called Carpe Diem to cruise around Miami’s coast with three female guests on June 19, 2024. Frometa, at first the sole crew member on board, claims Scott became intoxicated and aggressive as the evening wore on. The captain decided to end the charter early due to this behavior, but Scott allegedly refused to disembark when they returned to the marina.

“Without any warning, Scott pushed Frometa from behind and then struck him with a closed fist to his neck and upper chest,” reads the lawsuit. “Scott then began screaming at Frometa. Scott repeatedly threatened Frometa, including by stating that Frometa was ‘dead’ and that Scott was ‘going to kill’ him.”

Frometa allegedly called in his bosses, Hasanovic and Holguin, for backup, and they arrived 10 minutes later. A further scuffle ensued, during which Holguin says he was knocked to the ground. According to the suit, Hasanovic and Holguin then barricaded themselves inside the boat’s interior while Scott “screamed they were ‘dead’ and attempted to force open the glass door while Holguin and Hasanovic physically held it shut from inside the vessel.”

The situation de-escalated when law enforcement arrived on the scene and ultimately arrested Scott. The rapper later posted his mug shot on social media and sold merch with the photo — a move that, according to Frometa, Hasanovic and Holguin, “made light of the incident and the harm caused.”

The group alleges they suffered both physical and emotional injuries from the incident. They’re seeking unspecified financial damages from Scott for claims of assault, battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

A rep for Scott declined to comment on the lawsuit on Tuesday (July 14).

Lil Durk is still set to go before a Los Angeles jury next month in a federal murder-for-hire case, despite prosecutors’ attempt to delay the trial with new charges and evidence about alleged gang activity in Chicago.

Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald ruled on Tuesday (July 14) that the rapper (Durk Banks) will go to trial as scheduled on Aug. 20. During a hearing earlier in the day, where Billboard was present, the judge sharply admonished prosecutors for tacking on additional charges last month and then requesting to push back Durk’s already-delayed trial.   

In an original indictment from 2024, Durk is charged with putting a bounty on rival rapper Quando Rondo in retaliation for the 2020 killing of his close friend and collaborator King Von. Rondo was shot at a Los Angeles gas station in 2022 and survived, but another man was killed in the crossfire.

In June, prosecutors added new counts under the federal Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity (VICAR) statute, which broadly criminalizes violent gang activity. The updated indictment claimed that in addition to the Los Angeles murder, Durk ordered additional killings and other crimes through his Chicago-based Only the Family (OTF) label crew.

Lead prosecutor Ian Yanniello argued in court on Tuesday that the new VICAR counts are inextricably tied to the existing charges, since the Los Angeles murder was allegedly “done on behalf of a gang.” But Judge Fitzgerald said he views the new charges as a strategy, albeit a “no doubt clever” one, to bolster the case with separate incidents that look bad for Durk.

“You think you will have a better chance to win if the Chicago count is tried with the Los Angeles murder. That’s obvious,” the judge told Yanniello during the hearing. “You treat that as a feature. I treat that as a bug.”

Judge Fitzgerald said it would be “much simpler” to have one trial focused only on the Los Angeles murder, and then potentially hold a second trial later on the VICAR gang counts. He told Yaniello that if the government felt so strongly about including the Chicago gang-related evidence in the initial trial, they should have pushed for it earlier.

“You chose not to do that,” Judge Fitzgerald said to the prosecutor. “You had over a year… so I don’t want to hear more argument that the third superseding indictment is necessary to prove the Los Angeles murder.”

Durk vehemently maintains he’s innocent of all charges against him. His defense team has argued that the latest indictment is “lipstick on a pig” and “an acknowledgment of weakness.” One of Durk’s lawyers, Drew Findling, told the press after Tuesday’s hearing that Judge Fitzgerald got it right in his comments from the bench.

“It’s one of those days that makes it so rewarding to be a trial attorney,” said Findling. “We so appreciate the thoroughness that took place in that courtroom today.”

Swedish Entertainment Company Pophouse Entertainment said on Tuesday (July 14) it acquired 50% stake in British heavy metal icons Iron Maiden‘s publishing and master music rights, and a stake in their name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights

Formed 1975 by founder and bassist Steve Harris in London, Iron Maiden remains one of the most enduring and influential bands in music history with 100 million records sold, 17 studio albums, major honors including Grammy, Brit and Ivor Novello awards. Terms of the deal, which Pophouse says was structured and developed over the last year with the band’s co-manager Andy Taylor, were not disclosed. BMG retains its relation with the band as their publisher.

“We are 50-50 partners with the band, and the plan is that we’re going to work together turbo charging Maiden’s plans for the future,” Jessica Koravos, CEO of Pophouse, which owns music rights of KISS, Cyndi Lauper and Tina Turner, tells Billboard. “With Pophouse, we’re always thinking around the visual identity and … there’s lots of world building that’s possible both in [Maiden’s] artwork, but also in the storytelling within the songs. The heavy metal genre, especially with the addition of Eddie, lends itself to a treatment potentially in the world of horror.”

Established by ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus and Conni Jonsson, founder of global private equity behemoth EQT AB, Pophouse is best known for its affiliation with ABBA Voyage, the London show where avatars of the ABBA members in their prime perform the band’s greatest hits. Koravos said Pophouse is collaborating with Iron Maiden on a film of its Run For Your Lives World Tour and other plans around interactive fan experiences and a digital universe centered around Eddie, Maiden’s longtime ghoulish mascot and a central part of the band’s imagery. The acquisition includes a stake in the rights relating to Eddie, alongside trademarks, personas and other associated IP covered by the NIL rights.

“I am very excited about our relationship with Pophouse and the ability we now have to pursue, facilitate, and finance our many plans and dreams quicker than we ever hoped,” Iron Maiden’s manager, Rod Smallwood, said in a statement. “The interest in the band has never been bigger and [with] this strategic partnership … the fans can be assured there is a great deal more to come for Maiden, and Eddie will rule, OK!!”

A mainstay heavy metal act for more than 50 years, Maiden has had four albums reach the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart: Senjutsu, which in 2021 became Maiden’s highest-charting album debuting at No. 3, The Book of Souls in 2015, The Final Frontier in 2010, and A Matter of Life And Death in 2006. Maiden’s 1986 album Somewhere In Time notched the No. 11 spot on the Billboard 200.

From Madonna to the Rolling Stones, the catalogs of legacy acts typically generate less revenue from streaming and more from physical sales, airplay spins, concerts, merchandise sales and licensing their music for other media, like concert films, video games and comic books, all of which Maiden has done. It’s latest film, the documentary Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition, came out earlier this year alongside news that the group will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November.

According to Luminate, the Iron Maiden catalog averaged about 191,000 album equivalent units over the past four years in the United States, of which album sales totaled about 136,000 units while streaming averaged almost 172 million on-demand streams annually. However, outside the U.S. where Iron Maiden has a large and growing audience, the group averaged 1.055 billion on-demand streams annually.

The band’s live presence is legendary, and Koravos says they have no intention of cribbing the band’s ability to tour.

“One of the attractions of this catalog is the incredible fandom that surrounds them, and they’ve done the most incredible job over the years of giving those fans amazing shows every single time,” said Koravos, whose husband, Stuart Galbraith, CEO of KMJ Entertainment Group, was the promoter of Maiden’s recent Eddfest shows in Knebworth, United Kingdom. “I have a deep understanding of the Maiden fan, and I think the band would say they’ve brought us on board to turbo charge them, [not] to help them hang up their boots.”

Iron Maiden has played more than 2,500 shows in 64 countries worldwide, according to Pophouse, touring the world in a personalized Boeing 747 piloted by frontman Bruce Dickinson. (Dickinson is a licensed commercial airline pilot who used to fly with the British charter line Astraeus and once flew a group of Royal Air Force pilots home from Afghanistan in a flight chartered by the British Ministry of Defence.)

Touring that much is lucrative. For the 745 shows for which industry sources reported figures to Billboard Boxscore charts, the band has sold 10.5 million tickets and grossed $681.1 million since 1984. Those numbers are incomplete, as boxscore data is subject to data submitted by official industry sources, and it does not include merchandise sales.

The group draws massive audiences in Latin America, particularly in Brazil where Maiden played their first Rock in Rio festival in 1985. In late November, 2024, Maiden sold 119,000 tickets to their double-header at Santiago, Chile’s Estadio Nacional, making that stop the group’s best-selling concert stop, according to Billboard Boxscore.

The group also draws large crowds across Europe, particularly in their hometown of London where they played their highest-grossing show on June 28, 2025, at London Stadium grossed $8.9 million from 75,000 tickets. That show, part of the group’s 50th-anniversary Run For Your Lives World Tour, helped make Iron Maiden the 14th highest-grossing touring act in 2025, with 59 shows and more than 1.5 million tickets sold grossing nearly $151 million, according to Boxscore.

Catalog investors consider acts that are currently touring more appealing than artists who aren’t because those live shows activate the band’s fanbase, with ticket and merch sales providing current data to measure consumer demand and drive new fans to stream their music.

Insomniac Events has reached a settlement that will keep the global dance music company involved in two Miami venues following a protracted legal battle with a group of the city’s club operators.

In a joint statement to Billboard on Friday (July 10), reps for Insomniac and business partners David Sinopoli, Davide Danese and Jose Gabriel Coloma Cano say they “have amicably resolved their dispute.” Insomniac, partially owned by Live Nation, previously worked with the trio of men to run Miami’s Club Space and Factory Town venues until a legal fight broke out two years ago.

“Insomniac will continue to operate Club Space alongside David Sinopoli and maintain its commitment to Factory Town,” the reps say of the settlement. “Davide Danese and Coloma Cano will continue to operate Jolene, along with David Sinopoli.  Davide Danese and Coloma Cano will also undertake new projects.“

In 2019, Insomniac acquired an ownership stake in Club Space, at that point co-owned by Sinopoli, Danese and Cano, as its first Miami venue. The business relationship was a success at first, leading the group to embark on another joint project for the upstart Miami venue Factory Town in 2022.

That’s when the trouble arose. Insomniac alleges that in 2024, Sinopoli, Danese and Cano began to make “outrageous demands” for more money and control of Factory Town. The three men, meanwhile, claim Insomniac “methodically and unilaterally” stripped away their ownership rights over the venue, leaving them with “all the work, all the risk and a drastically reduced upside.”

The two sides went into mediation in June 2025 and emerged with an initial settlement, under which Insomniac would buy Sinopoli, Danese and Cano out of Factory Town for $3 million. But that August, Insomniac sued the trio for allegedly violating that deal, claiming they continued to operate as if they controlled the venue, including by telling Ibiza promoters that they’d “won their lawsuit” and interfering with event planning.

Sinopoli, Danese and Cano countersued Insomniac a month later, claiming the settlement actually required them to collaborate on Factory Town’s annual Hocus Pocus Halloween party and programming for Art Basel Miami. The trio said Insomniac breached the deal by unilaterally making talent booking decisions, such as an offer to party brand CircoLoco at a 44% markup from the prior year’s deal.

The countersuit also included some inflammatory allegations against Insomniac’s CEO, Pasquale Rotella. The legal papers accused Rotella of “predatory tactics and greed” and called him “insufferable to work with,” adding that Sinopoli, Danese and Cano “had the misfortune of witnessing and experiencing first-hand Rotella’s cruelty, self-centeredness and volatility.” Insomniac characterized these claims as an irrelevant “smear campaign.”

The two sides entered renewed settlement discussions in the fall. Their lawyers notified the judge overseeing their case last month that they’d reached a deal, and the case has now been closed.

The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico has ruled that Bad Bunny’s ex-girlfriend can continue suing the star for allegedly featuring her voice saying the phrase “Bad Bunny baby” on the chart-topping album Un Verano Sin Ti without permission.

In a Wednesday (July 8) ruling, obtained by Billboard and translated from Spanish by the service DeepL, a majority of justices on the island’s highest court upheld a series of previous rulings that sustained Carliz De La Cruz Hernández’s claims over the use of her voice on the 2022 song “Dos Mil 16”. However, the court said De La Cruz Hernández waited too long to sue over the same vocal sample on Bad Bunny’s 2015 track “Pa Ti,” and these claims are barred by the statute of limitations. The lawsuit will now move forward as to “Dos Mil 16” only.

De La Cruz Hernández dated Bad Bunny (Benito Martinez Ocasio) on and off for several years beginning in 2011, and in 2015 she recorded a voice memo saying the tagline “Bad Bunny baby” at his request. She sued the singer and his label, Rimas Entertainment, in 2023, alleging she had not given permission or gotten proper financial compensation for the use of this recording on his songs.

The lawsuit’s key claims are brought under Puerto Rico’s right of publicity law. Just like in many other U.S. jurisdictions, this statute protects an individual’s voice from being used without their consent in a commercial setting. Traditionally, this has meant that people can only sue over the use of their voices in advertisements, and sound recordings are exempt.

In this specific case, however, a Puerto Rico judge ruled in 2024 that De La Cruz Hernández’s voice on “Dos Mil 16” was actually a form of advertising. That’s because, according to the judge, the sample’s circulation on social media fueled fan speculation about whether Un Verano Sin Ti would explore De La Cruz Hernández and Bad Bunny’s romantic relationship, thus driving album sales.

This finding was upheld in an initial appeal last year. On Wednesday (July 8), Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court agreed as well that the various lower courts got it right when they declined to dismiss De La Cruz Hernández’s right of publicity claims: “They did not err in determining that the facts presented regarding the commercial or business exploitation of Ms. De la Cruz Hernández’s voice were sufficient to draw attention to the product in question or to inform the public about it through the media,” wrote Justice Mildred G. Pabón Charneco for the majority.

In addition to these claims over the use of her voice, De La Cruz Hernández will also be allowed to keep pursuing copyright claims against Bad Bunny for allegedly infringing her rights to the “Bad Bunny baby” voice memo. This part of the lawsuit was dismissed in 2024, but the Supreme Court majority revived it on Wednesday after finding that the recording was potentially copyrightable.

“To the extent that such a performance using her voice is fixed in a tangible medium, we recognize that copyright may arise in the recording,” wrote Justice Pabón Charneco. “Ms. De la Cruz Hernández alleged in her complaint that the recording of her personal, distinctive and incomparable rendition of the phrase was misused and that it was used without proper attribution. Therefore, we conclude that the plaintiff has presented sufficient facts to eventually offer evidence justifying this claim.”

Not all the justices on Puerto Rico’s top court agreed with these findings. Justice Angel Colón Pérez filed a dissent saying he and other justices would have dismissed both the copyright and right of publicity claims against Bad Bunny: “It seems clear to us that, in the context of the present litigation, none of the causes of action invoked by Ms. De La Cruz Hernández is legally valid under any [law] available in our jurisdiction,” wrote Justice Colón Pérez.

Reps for both De La Cruz Hernández and Bad Bunny did not immediately return requests for comment on the decision on Friday (July 10).

Grammy Award-winning band Cage the Elephant has inked a label deal with Big Loud Rock, Billboard can reveal.

The group has also released the new single “Beaches in Tennessee,” marking the band’s first new music in two years. Cage the Elephant includes Matt Shultz on vocals, Brad Shultz on rhythm guitar, Nick Bockrath on lead guitar, Matthan Minster on keyboards/guitar/backing vocals, Daniel Tichenor on bass and Jared Champion on drums.

Big Loud Rock, the rock/alternative imprint of Big Loud Records, has a roster that also includes Dexter and the Moonrocks, Blame My Youth and Common People.

“What Cage The Elephant has accomplished over the last twenty years speaks for itself, and what excites me most is that they’re nowhere near finished,” Big Loud co-founder and Big Loud Rock president Joey Moi said in a statement. “They’re still taking risks, pushing themselves creatively, and finding new ways to connect with fans. Seeing that renewed energy and perspective carry into this next chapter is incredibly exciting. Welcoming a band of this caliber to Big Loud Rock, alongside the incredible team at Q Prime, is a huge moment for us. We couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead.”

“It’s definitely a new chapter,” Cage the Elephant’s Matt Shultz added. “We always try to write from life experience. Whatever we’re going through will undoubtedly make its way into the music. Even when going through difficult seasons, life can still prove to have no shortage of light memories. I’ve learned we don’t realize the things that we’re capable of making it through until we actually face them. Having fond memories during difficult times, is a blessing to say the least — which some of these songs do for certain. Navigating troubled waters many times reminds us how extraordinary life truly is. Life’s beautiful. It takes peaks and valleys to illustrate that beauty.”

The Kentucky-formed band is known for a steady string of hits including “Metaverse,” “Neon Pill,” “Come A Little Closer” and “Shake Me Down.” The group’s Grammy wins include two trophies for best rock album, for 2015’s Tell Me I’m Pretty and 2019’s Social Cues. They’ve earned 13 No. 1 hits on Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay chart.

Following the band’s run as special guests on Oasis Live ’25, it headed directly back into the studio. The group created its new song, “Beaches in Tennessee,” with producers Justin Raisen and SADPONY (Jeremiah Raisen).

“I liked several different albums Justin had worked on, including Kim Gordon and Yves Tumor,” says the group’s Brad Shultz. “For producers, he was at the top of my list. I flew out to L.A. and hung out with him in the studio one night. The energy was crazy. It was like two wool socks in a dryer. He brought in Jeremiah. There’s a common thread between them, but they make two different types of art. They have their own unique views and ways of doing things, so it’s been pretty cool to just jump between those two worlds. It’s made a pretty unique mix in what we’re doing. I knew they were the guys.”

“Beaches in Tennessee” creatively addresses a time when Cage The Elephant’s Matt Shultz weathered mental health struggles a few years ago. He said in a statement, “It’s no secret that I went through a mental health crisis a few years back; this song for me symbolizes me finally being able to move past it. I was hospitalized for nearly three months, the song addresses it by creating a fictionalized account of it. It was my attempt at reclaiming the ability to write about something serious that happened in my life, from a place of genuine experience.

“There’s a saying, ‘There’s nothing better than a poor Christmas,’” he continued. “It’s because you learn to make the most of what you have and appreciate it. Having gone through what I did, I’m grateful to have the perspective that I have now. The experience gave me a greater appreciation for my life when I came out on the other side. I’m thankful for where I’m at now in this new chapter. As a band, we were able to reclaim the ability to write a song rooted in a difficult and turbulent real-life event, but do it in a lighthearted way. I hope it helps someone else the way it helped me.”

“Musically, we always want to reinvent Cage The Elephant,” Brad Shultz said. “We’ve discovered a whole new side to our band, how we look at things, and how we make art. You’re growing constantly as an artist, and I think we’ve tapped into that growth. I do feel like we’re making the best music we’ve ever made. If anything, it’s definitely the most inspired.”