Robert Kraft Responds to Macklemore’s Invite to Match $1 Million to Palestinian Support Groups

The rapper claimed that the Patriots billionaire led a pressure campaign to have him nixed from Ed Sheeran’s tour following comments supporting Palestinians onstage

Macklemore; Robert Kraft.

Hours after Macklemore challenged Robert Kraft “to match” his $1 million donation to organizations supporting Palestinians, the billionaire New England Patriots owner responded. Earlier in the week, Kraft allegedly led a pressure campaign to force the Seattle rapper off of Ed Sheeran’s The Loop Tour, igniting a firestorm of backlash from artists and fans accusing Kraft of censoring Macklemore’s free speech.“I’ve dedicated much of my life to building bridges between all people. I believe deeply that all lives are worth protecting,” Kraft said in a statement on Gillette Stadium’s social media. (Kraft owns the venue.) “Earlier today, before Macklemore challenged me to match his donation, Ed called me and asked me to commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis. Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges.”

A rep for Sheeran did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.

Kraft continued, “In addition, I’d like the people who are speaking in support of the Palestinian people to know that for decades, I have supported efforts that create opportunity for Palestinians and have brought young Palestinians and Israelis together to build businesses, create jobs, and forge relationships.” Kraft did not specify what efforts he supported in his statement.

On Monday, the company promoting Sheeran’s tour announced that Macklemore would be dropped from the trek after several venues told Sheeran they would not allow gigs to take place if he was still on the bill. The announcement arrived after pro-Israel groups criticized Macklemore’s performance at MetLife Stadium earlier this month, where he expressed solidarity with Palestinians, shouted “Free Palestine,” and shared images of the destruction from Israel’s war in Gaza.

Kraft, for his part, confirmed he would not let Macklemore perform at Gillette and stated his decision was based on the rapper’s “recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.” Kraft did not address Macklemore’s claim that he also “rallied” other stadium owners to follow suit.

Numerous artists and leaders across industries have voiced their support for Macklemore following his removal from the tour including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Kehlani, Finneas, Ms. Rachel, Rachel Chinouriri, Greta Thunberg, Pattie Gonia, and more. All artists supporting Sheeran’s tour withdrew following the news.

“Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas wrote on Instagram. “I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”

Bob Dylan in the Rolling Thunder Revue at the Hughes Stadium in Ft. Collins, Colorado, May 23, 1976

The 1976 leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue — Bob Dylan‘s all-star caravan tour where he crisscrossed the country with Joan Baez and a band that included guitarists Mick Ronson and T-Bone Burnett and violinist Scarlet Rivera — will be chronicled in the massive, 39-disc box set The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1976 Live Recordings.

The package, which arrives November 9, includes 381 tracks, and 371 of them have never been officially released. There’s also a booklet with liner notes from veteran Rolling Stone writer Mikal Gilmore. For a preview of the set, check out a live rendition of the Planet Waves deep cut “Going, Going, Gone” from a May 16, 1976, tour stop in Fort Worth, Texas.

The initial leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue took place between October 30, 1975, and December 8, 1975, primarily hitting smaller halls across the East Coast of the United States with little advance notice. Dylan brought a camera crew around for the ride, providing material for his 1978 movie Renaldo and Clara and Martin Scorsese’s 2019 pseudo-documentary Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese. (In 2019, every show in the vault from this tour was released on the box set Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings.)

The 1976 leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue hit larger venues and spread out across a wider section of America. The penultimate show in Fort Collins, Colorado, was filmed for the NBC television special Hard Rain. A companion live album with the same title hit stores at the same time, though some of the tracks were taped May 16 in Fort Worth, Texas.

The nine tracks on Hard Rain and a recording of “Seven Days” from an April 21, 1976, show in Tampa, Florida, on the first volume of the Bootleg Series were the sum total of live material officially released from the 1976 Rolling Thunder Revue prior to this new collection.

A quirk of European copyright meant these recordings would enter the public domain if they weren’t released within fifty years of their creation. This has compelled Dylan’s record label to release several copyright protection packages in the past, though some of them were under-the-radar discs available in just a handful of record stores. The shows on this new set would have entered the public domain on January 1, 2027, if this set hadn’t been created.

Sadly, the final stop on the Rolling Thunder Revue in Salt Lake City on May 25, 1976, isn’t part of this box set because Dylan’s camp sent the recording equipment home following the Fort Collins TV taping a couple days earlier. It’s become somewhat of a holy grail show for Dylan obsessives since it featured the sole live rendition of the Blood on the Tracks epic “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts” to this day, and the only “Gates of Eden” on the entire tour. (One contemporaneous newspaper account says Dylan also performed Desire‘s “Black Diamond Bay,” but this was likely an error.)

Four years ago, Dylan super-fans launched a campaign to find an audience tape of the show, but it didn’t produce any results. In all likelihood, it simply doesn’t exist.

But even without the mythical Salt Lake City tape, The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1976 Live Recordings gives the Dylan fan community quite a lot to chew on over the next few years, at least until the inevitable 1978 tour box arrives in the final weeks of 2028.

The track list for Bob Dylan’s The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1976 Live Recordings:

April 18, 1976 – Civic Center, Lakeland, FL

Disc 1Visions of JohannaIf You See Her, Say HelloVincent van GoghWeary Blues from Waitin’I’ll Be Your Baby TonightMaggie’s FarmOne Too Many Mornings – Incomplete

April 20, 1976 – Bayfront Civic Center Auditorium,

St. Petersburg, FL Disc 2/3

Disc 2Mr. Tambourine ManIt’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)Vincent van GoghI’ll Be Your Baby TonightMaggie’s FarmOne Too Many MorningsSeven Days

Disc 3Railroad BoyWild Mountain ThymeBlowin’ in the WindShelter from the Storm – IncompleteI Threw It All AwayTonight I’ll Be Staying Here with YouJust Like a WomanIt Take a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to CryMozambiqueLay, Lady, LayIdiot Wind – IncompleteGotta Travel On

April 21, 1976 – Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, FL

Disc 4Seven Days øRailroad BoyWild Mountain ThymeBlowin’ in the WindShelter from the Storm – IncompleteGoing, Going, GoneRomance in DurangoLay, Lady, LayIdiot WindKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel Onø Previously released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991

April 22, 1976 – Unaired TV Show (The Midnight Special), Starlight Ballroom, Belleview-Biltmore Hotel, Belleair, FL

Disc 5Mr. Tambourine ManThe Times They Are A-Changin’Blowin’ in the WindI Dreamed I Saw St. AugustineWhen I Paint My MasterpieceLike a Rolling StoneIsisJust Like a WomanKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorLay, Lady, Lay

April 23, 1976 – Sports Stadium, Orlando, FL

Disc 6Mr. Tambourine ManIt’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)Vincent van GoghI’ll Be Your Baby TonightMaggie’s FarmOne Too Many MorningsIsis – Incomplete

Disc 7Blowin’ in the Wind – IncompleteRailroad BoyI Pity the Poor ImmigrantRomance in DurangoI Threw It All AwaySeven DaysYou’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You GoLay, Lady, LayMozambiqueIdiot Wind – IncompleteKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel On

April 25, 1976 – University of Florida Field, Gainesville, FL

Disc 8Mr. Tambourine ManSimple Twist of FateVincent van GoghI’ll Be Your Baby TonightMaggie’s FarmOne Too Many MorningsIsis

Disc 9Blowin’ in the WindDink’s SongRailroad BoyI Pity the Poor ImmigrantShelter from the StormI Threw It All AwayJust Like Tom Thumb’s BluesOne More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)Going, Going, GoneMozambique – IncompleteLay, Lady, LayIdiot WindKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel On

April 27, 1976 – Tully Gymnasium, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

Disc 10Mr. Tambourine ManIf You See Her, Say HelloVincent van GoghI’ll Be Your Baby TonightMaggie’s FarmOne Too Many MorningsIsis

Disc 11Blowin’ in the WindWild Mountain ThymeI Pity the Poor ImmigrantShelter from the Storm – EditI Threw It All Away

MozambiqueLay, Lady, LayIdiot Wind – EditKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel On

April 28, 1976 – University of West Florida Field House, Pensacola, FL

Disc 12Mr. Tambourine ManJust Like a WomanVincent van GoghI’ll Be Your Baby TonightMaggie’s FarmOne Too Many MorningsIsis

Disc 13Blowin’ in the WindRailroad BoyI Pity the Poor Immigrant – IncompleteShelter from the StormI Threw It All AwayStuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues AgainOne More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)Going, Going, GoneLay, Lady, LayIdiot WindKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel On

April 29, 1976 (Early) – Expo Hall, Municipal Auditorium, Mobile, AL

Disc 14Mr. Tambourine ManSimple Twist of FateVincent van GoghI’ll Be Your Baby TonightMaggie’s FarmIsis

Disc 15Blowin’ in the WindI Pity the Poor ImmigrantShelter from the StormI Threw It All AwayGoing, Going, GoneLay, Lady, LayIdiot WindGotta Travel On

April 29, 1976 (Late) – Expo Hall, Municipal Auditorium, Mobile, AL

Disc 16Mr. Tambourine ManIt’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)Vincent van GoghI’ll Be Your Baby TonightMaggie’s FarmOne Too Many MorningsIsis – Edit

Disc 17Blowin’ in the WindRailroad BoyI Pity the Poor ImmigrantShelter from the StormI Threw It All AwayStuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues AgainYou’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You GoGoing, Going, GoneLay, Lady, Lay – IncompleteGotta Travel On – Incomplete

May 1, 1976 – Reid Green Coliseum, Hattiesburg, MS

Disc 18Mr. Tambourine ManSimple Twist of FateVincent van GoghI’ll Be Your Baby TonightMaggie’s FarmOne Too Many MorningsIsis

Disc 19Blowin’ in the WindRailroad BoyI Pity the Poor ImmigrantShelter from the StormI Threw It All AwayStuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues AgainYou’re a Big Girl Now – EditYou’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You GoLay, Lady, LayMozambiqueIdiot WindKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel On

May 3, 1976 (Early) – The Warehouse, New Orleans, LA

Disc 20Mr. Tambourine ManTangled Up in BlueVincent van GoghMaggie’s FarmMozambiqueIsis

May 4, 1976 – Louisiana State University Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, LA

Disc 21Mr. Tambourine ManSimple Twist of FateVincent van GoghMaggie’s FarmMozambiqueIsis

Disc 22Blowin’ in the WindRailroad BoyWild Mountain ThymeI Pity the Poor ImmigrantShelter from the StormOh, SisterStuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues AgainYou’re a Big Girl NowYou’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You GoLay, Lady, LaySeven DaysIdiot WindKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel On

May 8, 1976 – Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, TX

Disc 23Mr. Tambourine ManIt’s All Over Now, Baby BlueVincent van GoghMaggie’s FarmMozambiqueIsis – Incomplete

Disc 24Blowin’ in the WindRailroad BoyI Pity the Poor ImmigrantShelter from the StormStuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues AgainYou’re a Big Girl NowYou’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You GoLay, Lady, LayIdiot WindKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel OnWill the Circle Be Unbroken

May 10, 1976 – Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Christi, TX

Disc 25A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna FallMr. Tambourine ManVincent van GoghMaggie’s FarmMozambiqueIsis

Disc 26Blowin’ in the WindRailroad BoyWild Mountain ThymeI Pity the Poor ImmigrantShelter from the StormStuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues AgainOne of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)You’re a Big Girl NowYou’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go – IncompleteOh, Sister – IncompleteLay, Lady, LayIdiot WindKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel On

May 11, 1976 – Municipal Auditorium, San Antonio, TX

Disc 27Mr. Tambourine ManSpanish Is the Loving TongueVincent van GoghMaggie’s FarmMozambiqueIsis – Incomplete

Disc 28Blowin’ in the WindRailroad BoyDeportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)I Pity the Poor ImmigrantShelter from the StormRomance in DurangoI Want YouYou’re a Big Girl NowYou’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You GoOh, SisterLay, Lady, LayGoing, Going, GoneIdiot WindKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel On

May 12, 1976 – Municipal Auditorium, Austin, TX

Disc 29Mr. Tambourine ManIt Ain’t Me, BabeVincent van GoghMaggie’s FarmMozambiqueIsis – IncompleteBlowin’ in the WindRailroad BoyDeportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)I Pity the Poor Immigrant

Disc 30Shelter from the StormStuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues AgainI Want YouYou’re a Big Girl NowYou’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You GoOh, SisterLay, Lady, LayGoing, Going, GoneIdiot WindKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel On

May 15, 1976 – Gatesville State School for Boys, Gatesville, TX

Disc 31I Pity the Poor ImmigrantMaggie’s FarmOne Too Many MorningsStuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues AgainOh, SisterYou’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You GoTonight I’ll Be Staying Here with YouGoing, Going, Gone

May 16, 1976 – Tarrant County Convention Center Arena, Fort Worth, TX

Disc 32Mr. Tambourine ManIt Ain’t Me, BabeVincent van GoghMaggie’s FarmOne Too Many MorningsMozambiqueIsisBlowin’ in the WindRailroad BoyDeportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)I Pity the Poor Immigrant

Disc 33Shelter from the StormI Threw It All Away *Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again *Oh, Sister *You’re a Big Girl NowYou’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You GoLay, Lady, Lay *Going, Going, GoneIdiot WindKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel On

*Previously released on the 1976 Columbia Records album Hard Rain

May 18, 1976 – State Fair Arena, Oklahoma City, OK

Disc 34Mr. Tambourine ManSimple Twist of FateVincent van GoghMaggie’s FarmOne Too Many MorningsMozambiqueIsis

Disc 35Blowin’ in the Wind – IncompleteRailroad BoyDeportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)I Pity the Poor ImmigrantShelter from the StormOh, SisterLeopard-Skin Pill-Box HatYou’re a Big Girl NowYou’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You GoLay, Lady, LayI Want YouGoing, Going, GoneIdiot WindKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel On

May 19, 1976 – Henry Levitt Arena, Wichita, KS

Disc 36Mr. Tambourine ManIt Ain’t Me, BabeVincent van GoghMaggie’s FarmOne Too Many MorningsMozambiqueIsisBlowin’ in the WindRailroad BoyDeportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) – IncompleteI Pity the Poor Immigrant

Disc 37Shelter from the StormOh, SisterOne of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues AgainYou’re a Big Girl NowYou’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You GoIt Take a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to CryLay, Lady, Lay – IncompleteGoing, Going, GoneIdiot WindKnockin’ on Heaven’s DoorGotta Travel On

May 23, 1976 – Hughes Stadium, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

Disc 38Mr. Tambourine ManIt Ain’t Me, BabeVincent van GoghMaggie’s Farm *^One Too Many Mornings *^Mozambique ^IsisBlowin’ in the Wind ^Railroad Boy ^Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) ^I Pity the Poor Immigrant ^

^ Previously broadcast on the 1976 NBC-TV special Hard Rain

Disc 39Shelter from the Storm *^Oh, SisterI Want YouTangled Up in BlueYou’re a Big Girl *You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You GoLay, Lady, LayGoing, Going, GoneIdiot Wind *^Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door ^Gotta Travel OnA Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall ^

Drake is giving fans a little more insight into his mysterious new film project, FOMO, ahead of its release Tuesday night.

The Toronto rapper has described the project as a “not so short film,” positioning it as a surreal, self-funded experiment created by members of his inner circle. It arrives tonight at 9 p.m. ET on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music.

“This is self-funded surrealism,” Drake wrote on Instagram alongside a blurry image of himself. “A story about making the absolute most of it all in one summer. Credit to nobody but the members. Here’s some life advice before you watch. Nobody is coming to save you. You must use each day to decipher who you love and trust and march forward with them.”

See on Instagram

Drake urged fans to make the call, take the trip, release the song, open the business, visit their parents, spend the money or reconsider a relationship. Last week, he shared a clip, where we can see Drake ride aboard a neon-green speedboat while a woman narrates a story about two possible versions of a life. One is defined by fear, withheld affection and avoiding risk, while the other leads toward self-discovery.

2026 has been one of Drake’s busiest years in recent memory. In May, he unveiled three separate projects, Iceman, Maid of Honour and Habibti, shooting back onto the charts and into the pop culture dialogue at large, after his infamous rift with Kendrick Lamar, which might have affected his reputation, but clearly not his success.

Stella Lefty onstage at Lollapalooza in Chicago. She'll play the country festival Stagecoach next year.

In May of 2026, an unusual thing happened. A single by an artist that few had yet heard of in Nashville debuted on the Billboard Country Airplay charts. The singer was named Stella Lefty and the song was titled “Boston,” which, for a genre that doesn’t have many songs about northern cities, was already a unique occurrence. It was also by a woman, another anomaly in the heavily male-skewed world of country radio.

What wasn’t unusual, however, was that “Boston” sounded familiar: It held enough melodic similarity to Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” that the Vermont songwriter eventually had his name added to the writing credits as an approved interpolation. But on Music Row? Familiarity works. No one batted an eye.

“Country music,” as RJ Curtis, executive director of Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc., puts it, “has always borrowed from itself.”

Lefty kept rising. “Boston” flew up the charts and currently sits at Number Three on Country Airplay and Number Two on the Hot 100. By the time Nashville’s mecca of country music, CMA Fest, rolled around in June, Lefty was playing to a capacity crowd, and her tour dates started selling out one after another. Though a vocal part of the internet was lobbing allegations at Lefty of being a “nepo baby” or an “industry plant” because she is the daughter of Groupon founder and billionaire Eric Lefkofsky, the audience at her shows told a much different story. Young girls sung every word, and country fans hounded her to sign their “Lefty” hats, which she did diligently. For all the anger online, the people who went to see her sing live seemed to be having a pretty good time.

Two months later, a lot has changed. Lefty has been accused of multiple instances of plagiarism, with “Stella Thefty” memes popping up all over the internet. Beyond “Boston” and Kahan, music fans noticed a similarity between her song “Summer You Were Mine,” from Lefty’s debut LP Long Way Home, and the Chicks’ 1998 hit “There’s Your Trouble.” According to a representative for Atlantic Records, Lefty’s label, a streaming platform mistakenly left off the names of Tia Sillers and Mark Selby, the songwriters behind “There’s Your Trouble.” (Both now appear in the credits for “Summer You Were Mine.”)

Then, as Rolling Stone detailed, there was a series of other claims. Her 2025 track “Why Wouldn’t We” apparently mirrors Blake Shelton’s 2017 song “I’ll Name the Dogs,” while her song “Seven Eleven” sounds similar to Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag.” Most recently, “Misery” from Lefty’s Tragic, Really EP, is being compared to “A Million Dreams” from the 2017 musical movie The Greatest Showman. Perhaps the most outlandish comparison is one asserting that “Summer You Were Mine” sounds like the theme song to Full House, a show that aired before Lefty was born. None of the writers of those songs have been credited or addressed by Lefty’s team thus far, nor is it clear if they need to be. (A rep for Lefty did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.)

Further accusations have ranged from reasonable to the irrational, with some claiming that Lefty is part of an AI experiment launched by her father — who runs a healthcare company that leverages AI to help cure cancer, which he started after his wife, and Lefty’s mother, was diagnosed with the disease. When Lefty performed at the Grand Ole Opry last month, some seized the opportunity to complain about Lefty’s appearance at the country institution in the comments of a video of her singing for kids in active treatment at St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital. There’s also been online chatter leaning toward the antisemitic (Lefty is Jewish), and other comments painting her as a thieving mastermind knowingly ripping off songs.

In Nashville, though, many are shaking their heads. While few would argue that an artist should use another’s material without credit, some industry insiders think that the degree of vitriol being directed at Lefty is unfounded — especially since country radio, and Top 40 as well, is often dominated by songs that sound very much alike. So much alike, that a YouTube account called Sir Mashalot once put together a mashup of six country songs, from male artists like Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, and Cole Swindell, that all flowed into one another so seamlessly that it was nearly impossible to discern them.

Bro-country, the prevailing country trend of the 2010s, was defined by songs that were interchangeable, using the familiar signifiers of trucks, tailgates, and ladies in jean shorts, usually set to the same mid-tempo beat. And by 2023, rewriting old songs had become its own trend among country’s male contingent as “interpolation songs” dominated the charts. Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” re-created a portion of Jo Dee Messina’s 1996 hit “Heads Carolina, Tails California” — and won Song of the Year at the ACM Awards. Jake Owen redid Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” to “On the Boat Again.” Dustin Lynch and Jelly Roll turned Dobie Gray’s 1973’s hit “Drift Away” into “Chevrolet.” To be clear, these songs all credited the original writers, but they also lifted entire melodies and sonic patterns, with the artists transparently coopting the familiarity of the source-material songs to try and score easy airwaves success. But even without direct interpretations, country music has always borrowed, with male artists allowed to succeed under this model with little scrutiny.

“Let’s be honest, that’s been going on for years in this town,” Curtis says. “How many sounds and artists has Nashville begun mass producing once the original becomes popular?” Curtis points to the way new artists and songwriters come of age, “with access to an almost limitless musical universe,” he says. “Country. Rock. Pop. Hip-hop. R&B. Americana. Indie. EDM. Music from generations before them and music released halfway around the world yesterday. So when someone in a writing room says, ‘I want something that feels like that,’ ‘that’ could be almost anything.”

When you mature as an artist covering songs on TikTok — as Lefty has — that becomes even more prominent. The inspiration base isn’t a set of five or six CDs that an artist played while growing up, but rather an infinite scroll of melodies that come through their phone in 30-second blasts.

That applies to listeners too. Curtis points out that fans having limitless music available to stream makes them their own amateur musicologists. “We’ve probably never had more listeners capable of instantly recognizing, and pointing out, where they think they’ve heard something before,” he says. “There’s still a fine line line between influence and copying. There always has been.”

Ed Sheeran, who went to court in 2024 on claims that his hit “Thinking Out Loud” copied from Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” once explained it this way: “There’s only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music. Coincidence is bound to happen if 60,000 songs are being released every day on Spotify.” Sheeran ended up winning his case.

Nashville has come to Lefty’s defense more often than not. Kelsea Ballerini backed her up, and so has Luke Combs’ manager, Chris Kappy. Lefty played a number of shows at CMA Fest, and on Monday was announced as one of the performers at Stagecoach 2027, with her name on the same line of the poster as Shaboozey and outlaw-country songwriter Cody Jinks. She also continues to stream globally, with tens of millions weekly.

Leslie Fram, a country music executive who leads the artist-development company FemCo, finds the “intensity” of the backlash to be out of proportion. “Country and pop-country have always worked with a fairly limited palette of chords and melodies. Similar progressions, familiar hooks, and shared lyrical DNA show up across decades of hits,” Fram says. “Plenty of songs have echoed older ones without anyone rushing to file claims. Sometimes it’s pure coincidence. Other times an artist absorbs something they’ve played or covered so many times that it surfaces without them even realizing it. When a clear similarity is noticed, the professional path is straightforward: clear the interpolation and give the proper credits. That’s exactly what happened with the Chicks and Noah Kahn references.”

To her credit, Lefty did act swiftly to rectify the publishing credits when it came to “Boston” and “Summer You Were Mine,” but comments she made to Vanity Fair in which she claimed to not be thinking about Kahan while writing didn’t do her any favors. Dr. Jada Watson, a musicologist, does see some similarities in the other songs Lefty is accused of copying, but says that once a pattern is established, it’s easy to start questioning a writer’s practice.

“One accusation of this nature leads to fishing expeditions,” Watson says. “Unfortunately, the similarities are there to find. There are legitimate reasons for scrutiny in each of these cases. But misogyny can shape the intensity and character of that scrutiny: women, especially young women, are more likely to become the subject of the kind of listening expedition where finding the next similarity becomes a game.”

Watson thinks the conversation should not just be about Lefty’s practice, but also about the larger issues at play. Namely, who gets to inherit traditions in country music. “Lefty makes several forms of inheritance unusually visible at once: extraordinary financial resources, access to the institutional machinery that can protect and sustain a career, entry into a genre whose ideas of authenticity and belonging have historically been shaped by race, gender, and class, and, quite literally, access to the music that came before her,” she says. “The point isn’t that any one of those things makes her undeserving. It’s that not everyone gets to inherit — or to make use of what they inherit — on equal terms.”

Fram warns against dismissing an artist’s career because of song soundalikes. “Throwing out an entire catalog because a few tracks share DNA with older records treats familiarity as a fatal flaw. Follow that logic far enough and a huge amount of popular music disappears,” she says, chalking up much of the vitriol directed at Lefty to “class resentment.”

To be sure, having a billionaire father in an age where financial inequality is more stark than ever opens Lefty’s career up to scrutiny. And her family’s extreme wealth should make it easy for her to navigate any number of legal complications that may come, while also affording her the luxury to make music without day-to-day worries. What it doesn’t mean, though, is that Lefty is able to buy fans. Money isn’t putting people in concert seats; the songs are. (As manager and music publisher Tracy Gershon puts it, “Good is good.”) But because the fans in those seats are primarily young women, it’s often easy for the public to dismiss their taste in an artist as invalid.

“I manage artists,” Comb’s manager Kappy wrote on Instagram. “I have become very successful and have money. Success isn’t based on money, or every act I manage would be in arenas and stadiums because I would just buy it. That’s the problem with all of your arguments and stupid comments. Yes, they are stupid, you need to hear the truth. No amount of money buys success, it’s the music.”

Curtis, however, is deflated that all of this talk around Lefty’s alleged song-poaching is taking away from what he sees as a defining highlight of 2026. “Isn’t it disappointing that this Stella blowback is even a story, in the midst of an historic year for female artists in country music, and a week where females dominated the CMA nominations?” he says. “For me, that is the real story.”

Noel Gallagher with fellow Manchester City fans during a Premier League match between City and rivals Manchester United

Noel Gallagher returned to his favorite press outlet — U.K. sports radio — to drop a few tidbits about Oasis’ 2027 tour amid a much more robust chat about soccer and his beloved Manchester City.

Speaking with talkSPORT host Andy Goldstein, Gallagher revealed that he and his brother Liam knew almost immediately that their hugely anticipated (and hugely successful) 2025 reunion tour wouldn’t be a one-off. Asked when they decided to do a second tour, Gallagher said it was after their second show at Wembley Stadium in London, just a few weeks into the trek.

“Nobody really knew what was going to happen… well, you can see it in the documentary,” Gallagher said, referring to the new film about the reunion tour, Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger. “But nobody really knew how it was gonna go, so we did Cardiff and Manchester, and then by the time we got to Wembley, somebody said, ‘Well, you know…’ And it was decided that we were gonna do it. And it was all set in motion then.”

Part of the reason for the quick decision, Gallagher added, was that Oasis wanted to make sure they brought the show to their fans in Europe, which was skipped entirely during the 2025 tour. “We couldn’t not do Europe,” he said. “Our fans in Italy, and France, Germany, Spain, and Holland have been great with us down the years… so there was always a plan to do that.” (The 2027 run includes multiple shows in all of those countries.)

From there, the itinerary snowballed. Gallagher said Oasis was supposed to play Las Vegas and Boston in 2025 “but couldn’t for some reason,” so they added it to the 2027 tour. Then, they figured, why not do Knebworth Park, where the band famously played in 1996 as part of the Knebworth Festival.

“We were having such a great time that… why wouldn’t you?” Gallagher said.

Nevertheless, Gallagher was noncommittal when asked if he thought he’d want to keep going with Oasis after the 2027 tour. “I dunno,” he replied.

And when asked the obvious, eternal follow-up about a possible new Oasis album, he replied, “There won’t be any new music.” When Goldstein asked if Gallagher wanted to “talk more about it,” the musician cheerfully replied, “No,” before happily chatting at length about soccer.

Oasis will kick off their 2027 tour with five gifts at Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland next May. A lengthy run in the band’s hometown of Manchester, England, will be followed by stops in Germany, Spain, Netherlands, France, and Italy. After their Boston and Vegas shows in August, Oasis will close out with two shows in Ireland, followed by that run at Knebworth in September.

It's been a dizzying year for Angine de Poitrine, the Saguenay, QC band who shot to fame within the last few months, thanks to their over-the-top costumes, strong sense of anonymity and polka-inflected microtonal math-rock. They can count nearly every rockstar on Earth as a fan, from Canadian prog-rock veterans Rush to Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, who has a tendency to fly out to see the band perform whenever he can.

Last night, the duo reached another milestone by making their American TV debut on late-night's biggest stage, Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show. To mark the occasion, Angine de Poitrine premiered a new song, titled "Zugzegk".

Though not featured on their latest album, Vol. II, the song sounds like it would have its place on a deluxe edition, with its tortuous time signatures that relents into a boppy, surf-rock chorus before going back to their signature complicated harmonies on the double-necked guitar.

Angine de Poitrine are currently wrapping up an American tour before going back to Europe. They come back to Canada in November for shows in Toronto, Québec City and Montréal.