Entertainment
Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles & More Ask U.K. Government to Increase Music Education Funding

Ed Sheeran has enlisted an all-star cast to back his written plea for the U.K. government to provide stronger support for music education in schools, with signatories including Sir Elton John, Harry Styles, Coldplay and more.
In an open letter to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer ahead of this week’s budget announcement, Sheeran says that while he acknowledges a recent package from the Labour government on arts education, “we urgently need funding going directly into the hands of schools and communities on the ground. We’re losing time.”
In an accompanying statement, Sheeran added, “This creative industry brings so much to our culture, our communities, our economy, our personal wellbeing, but music education has fallen through the gaps. That’s why I’m tasking government, collectively, to correct the mistakes of its past and to protect and grow this for generations to come.”
The letter specifically calls for a £250 million ($322.6 million) U.K. music education package “to repair decades of dismantling music” and calls upon a number of government departments (Culture, Education, Foreign Office, Health & Social Care and Business & Trade) to contribute to the fund. It also highlights five key areas for growth: music funding in schools, training for music teachers, funding for grassroots venues/spaces, music apprenticeships and a diverse music curriculum.
Other big-name co-signers to the letter include Annie Lennox, Ben Lovett & Ted Dwane (Mumford & Sons), Central Cee, Dave, Eric Clapton, James Bay, Myles Smith, Robert Plant and Stormzy.
Rachel Reeves, chancellor of the exchequer, is due to present her spring budget statement to parliament on Wednesday (March 26).
The Ed Sheeran Foundation
The letter comes amid a renewed focus on music education in the U.K. In January, Sheeran launched the Ed Sheeran Foundation to highlight the lack of music education funding and help provide opportunities. He wrote at the time, “Even when I was in school it was seen as a ‘doss subject’ and not taken seriously. There’s a misconception that it’s ’not a real job’ — when the music industry accounts for 216,000 jobs in so many different fields, and bringing as much as £7.6 billion ($9.3 billion) in a year to the UK economy.”
In the letter, Sheeran additionally calls for an extra £32 million ($41.3 million) a year towards the Music national Music Hub program, set up by the U.K.’s Department of Education (DfE) to provide high-level music education to state schools. In 2025, the program will provide schools with funding of up to £79 million ($101 million).
At the BRITs earlier this month, several high-profile acts used the ceremony to call for better music foundations for emerging artists and school pupils. Speaking from the stage after collecting the BRITs Rising Star Award, Myles Smith said, “If British music is one of the most powerful cultural exports we have, why have we treated it like an afterthought for so many years? How many more venues need to close? How many more music programs need to be cut before you realize that we can’t just celebrate success, you have to protect the foundations that make it?”
Experts have also highlighted the need to provide ample education around not only music performance but the diverse job opportunities available in the industry overall. In a previous interview with Billboard UK, Ben Selway of Access Creative College said, “The lack of access to music education for under-16s results in a generation of young people who’ve not been afforded the opportunity to spark their interest in music and realise their talent.”
Read the full letter and see the list of signatories here.
Entertainment
Watch Eminem’s Hilarious Outtakes From ‘Happy Gilmore 2’: ‘Put Some Respect on My Name, B—h’

Eminem made a memorable cameo in Happy Gilmore 2, in which he played the role of Donald Jr. Now, Netflix has released the outtakes from his hilarious scenes, which Em posted to Instagram on Friday (Aug. 1).
In the sequel, Slim Shady pays homage to his character’s father — played by late comedian Joe Flaherty in the original film — by shouting “jackass” during Happy Gilmore’s (Adam Sandler) backswing.
Instead of handling Donald Jr. himself, Happy Gilmore instructs his kids in the flick to take care of him, disposing of him in a nearby pond. Unfortunately, Donald Jr. meets his demise while attempting to wrestle with a family of gators.
“Come on, fake a— dinosaur, you ain’t got a d—k,” Em jokes while battling the alligators in the outtakes. “Put some respect on my name, b—h! F—k you, Detroit, what? I get some Advil, I’ll be back in 20 minutes.”
Fans seemed to enjoy seeing Eminem back in the acting world. “That was awesome! Detroit what,” one person wrote in the Instagram comments. “You should get out more man, do more of this kind of stuff. Us stans need MORE!”
Another added in his comment section: “You’re naturally funny! Please release the whole 1 hour video of you in Happy Gilmore!”
Happy Gilmore 2 hit Netflix on July 25. On the The Dan Patrick Show last month, Sandler revealed how he convinced Em to be part of the sequel.
“I love Eminem. I’m friends with Eminem, but I don’t want to bother the man,” he said. “And everybody kept saying, ‘Man, Eminem would be so funny in this part.’ I was like, ‘I don’t want to ruin this guy’s time. He’s hanging out. He’s in Detroit. He’s doing his life making records.'”
Eventually, Sandler caved after agreeing that Em would be a perfect fit for the role. “Let me bug Marshall and give him a call and say, ‘Dude, I know it’s a pain in the a—, but it’s pretty funny. You mind shooting out to us for a day?’” To which Eminem obliged and the rest is history.
Watch the outtakes clip below.
Entertainment
Stevie Nicks Postpones 2 Months of Shows Due to Shoulder Injury, Apologizes For ‘Inconvenience’

Stevie Nicks has had a change of plans after suffering a recent injury, with the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman announcing Friday (Aug. 1) that her next two months of shows will be postponed as she heals.
In a note shared to her social media accounts, Nicks’ team wrote, “Due to a recent injury resulting in a fractured shoulder that will require recovery time, Stevie Nicks’ scheduled concerts in August and September will be rescheduled.”
Noting that the star will proceed with her shows in October as scheduled, the message concludes, “Stevie looks forward to seeing everyone soon and apologizes to the fans for this inconvenience.”
Fans with tickets to any of the postponed performances are encouraged to hold onto their seats, as all previously purchased tickets will be honored at their corresponding rescheduled shows. More information can be found at point of purchase.
Nicks had been slated to perform in a handful of cities across the United States and Canada across August and September, including Detroit, Toronto, Boston, Cincinnati and Brooklyn, N.Y. All of the postponed shows have already been rescheduled to new dates in late October, November and the first couple of weeks in December, as listed in the rock star’s post and on her website.
The news of Nicks’ injury comes more than three months after she first announced her solo tour in April, writing at the time that she couldn’t “wait to share these nights with you.”
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer had also been supposed to tour with Billy Joel this year, but the Piano Man similarly had to cancel all of his 2025 and 2026 performances as he battles a condition called normal pressure hydrocephalus. In July, he provided an update on how he’s faring, telling Bill Maher, “I feel good … They keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I’m feeling.”
Nicks is currently working on a new album, her first in 14 years. The Grammy winner first revealed that she was getting back into the studio as she was being inducted into the Pollstar Hall of Fame.
“I call it the ghost record,” she said in her speech. “It just really kinda happened in the last couple of weeks because of, you know, the [Los Angeles] fires. I was sitting in a hotel for 92 days, and at some point during that last part of the 92 days, I said, ‘You know what? I feel like I’m on the road, but there’s no shows. I’m just sitting here by myself, because everybody else is at the house, doing all the remediations and everything, and it’s just me, sitting here.’ And I thought, ‘You need to go back to work.’ And I did.”
See Nicks’ post below.
Entertainment
7 Best Moments From Dead & Company’s Kickoff Celebrating 60 Years of the Grateful Dead in SF

Much has changed in San Francisco over the last six decades. But all these years later, the music of the Grateful Dead can still draw a significant crowd to Golden Gate Park, where the revered rock band played some of its earliest shows just blocks from the house on 710 Ashbury Street, where its members set up shop in the mid-1960s.
Only some of those founding members remain today — iconic frontman Jerry Garcia died 30 years ago, while bassist Phil Lesh passed away last October — but two surviving members, Bobby Weir and Mickey Hart, brought their decade-old outfit Dead & Company to Golden Gate Park on Friday (Aug. 1) night for the first of three shows celebrating 60 years since the Grateful Dead’s 1965 debut.
Rounded out by John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane, Dead & Company has become a live music juggernaut in its own right since its 2015 formation. In 2023, the year it staged its final tour, Dead & Company grossed $114.7 million across 28 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore; in 2024, it launched its Dead Forever residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere, grossing $131.8 million across 30 shows. (The band continued the residency in 2025 with 18 more concerts.) Along the way, Dead & Company has introduced a new generation of fans to the Dead’s music and subculture — while offering older Deadheads more opportunities to enjoy them.
This cross-generational appeal was on display in Golden Gate Park on Friday, where the jamgrass sensation Billy Strings — who was only 2 when Jerry Garcia died — opened the show for an audience that spanned from kids to old-timers who just might’ve been at the Dead’s earliest shows in the park in the mid-60s.
Here are some of the best moments from the first show of Dead & Company’s three-night run in Golden Gate Park. And when you’re done with that, here’s the complete setlist.
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