MIAMI GARDENS, Florida — From the 43-song set list to the emotional, never-before-seen home movies, there’s so much to absorb during Beyoncé and Jay Z’s On The Run Tour. The last thing you need to be worrying about is your outfit, which, to be fair, will never even come close to rivaling any of Bey’s tour looks — like the Dolly Parton wedding pantsuit complete with veil, HELLO — so you should probably just go ahead and take a seat.

Just in case you’re still nervous about assembling a flawless lewk, check out these 19 fans I photographed at the On The Run Tour kickoff on June 25 for inspiration. Still stressing? Based on what I saw at Sun Life Stadium, the merch stand will have you covered, provided you momentarily accept the fact that $40 is a totally reasonable amount to pay for a ski mask.

There were lots of tees, each for $40.

John Walker/MTV

Got $35 and a cold head? There was also this floral-brimmed Beyoncé cap or this black and white Hova snapback.

John Walker/MTV

I recognized a lot of the merch from Bey’s online store, like the emoji lyric tees and the “CAKES BY THE POUND” heather-grey sweatshirt.

Beyoncé's official online store

A lot of the Jay-centric apparel sold on tour is available on his site, too.

Jay Z's official online ...

In case there was any confusion, Justin Bieber does, in fact, lift. That noise you hear? That’s the sound of r/Fitness mourning the loss of their go-to slam on the Biebs.

On Thursday (June 26), the “Confident” singer took a break from Tumblr to Instagram a five-photo collage of him up in the gym just working on his fitness — shirtless, of course.

Instagram

It’s not like Justin can slack off. He’s got all those tattoos to consider. You know what they say: “If you want to have a good tattoo, you’ve gotta start with the canvas.” Wait, no one says that… YET.

Is that weight really only 40 pounds? Because that looks HUGE to me. To be fair, I usually avoid the monstrously intimidating weight-lifting zone in my gym. Whatever, as long as I’ve got a StairMaster and Danity Kane’s “Lemonade,” I’m fine.

That’s just a long way of saying that I don’t lift. And I’m not your bro.

John Walker

There’s a new public service announcement titled “Playthings” that’s been up on YouTube since Wednesday, and it just might be the greatest entry into the PSA canon since that one where Rachel Leigh Cook takes a frying pan to a kitchen because HEROIN.

It all starts out innocently enough, with one woman dropping by another’s house to pick up her son, who’s seen playing with the other boy inside. But when the kids scamper outside, the two moms’ jaws drop because oh my god the boys are playing with bright pink and purple dildos, presumably belonging to the ladies of the house.

Believe it or not, the PSA is aimed at promoting gun safety. “If they find it,” a narrator concludes, “they will play with it. So always lock up your guns.”

The spot comes to us from Evolve Together Inc., a group that favors responsible gun ownership and a sort of “we’re all in this together” mentality in approaching the issue of gun violence over the outright, unilateral banning of firearms. Adweek notes that the spot’s release is probably meant to tie into National Safety Month.

“Gun safety and the reduction of gun violence begin with every America,” Evolve’s website states. “We can all have more awareness, and then help promote, responsible choices that reduce gun accidents and violence. This conversation should be as common as discussing responsible drinking, or whether you baby-proof your house.”

While you could argue that the PSA unnecessarily draws on sex-negativity to ...

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida — The notion that we never truly get to know what Jay Z and Beyoncé are like behind closed doors seems to fascinate us endlessly. Have you ever noticed how nearly every media scandal they’re involved in — from the elevator fight video to that allegedly lip-synched national anthem performance — somehow revolves around the idea that this power couple might be less than perfect?

That’s why the decision to frame their joint On The Run Tour, which kicked off at Miami Gardens’ Sun Life Stadium on Wednesday night (June 25), as a kind of super-public couple’s therapy session was so brilliant. Even though the concert was tightly choreographed, filled with costume changes, and packed with pyrotechnics, it still felt like you were watching something hugely intimate unfold before your eyes.

One particularly personal highlight came near the end of the set list. Beyoncé and Jay Z made their way to the smaller stage in the center of the stadium, where the 32-year-old singer broke out into “Halo.” Back on the main stage, the screen lit up with a series of home movies that documented their two-year-old daughter Blue Ivy’s journey from the womb all the way to the present.

The visuals added a new dimension to the song, one that I’d always thought of as strictly a love ballad, and quite honestly it was kind of surreal. Beaming up on that center stage, baby ...

Gather ’round, pop fans and ponytail enthusiasts alike, for today is Ariana Grande’s 21st birthday! You know what that means, right? Yep, it looks like she’ll have one less problem getting into the club to celebrate tonight. (And absolutely no problem getting into Disney World.)

But just because the “Break Free” singer is now one year closer to being a Real Adult™ — pretty sure that doesn’t officially happen until you’ve had, like, your seventh in-store IKEA meltdown or something — that doesn’t mean that she’s not still the adorable Ariana we know and love. She’s been perfectly, preciously guh-dorably cute since day one, so why would she stop now?

1.) I mean, LOOK AT THIS LITERAL BABY FACE.

Instagram

2.) Even as a toddler, Ariana — seen here with brother Frankie — was waving at at least a fifth-grade level.

Instagram

3.) Wait, could this possibly be Ariana’s first gravity-defying ponytail?

Instagram

4.) The real star of this mommy-and-me moment is the pony on her cheek. (Sorry, Joan.)

Instagram

5.) O say can you handle this video of Ariana singing the national anthem at age 8? Doubt it.

6.) In 2008, Ariana got cast in the Broadway musical “13.” Why? ‘Cause the people wanted to see those adorable dimples on THE GREAT WHITE WAY!

Getty Images

7.) Then in 2010, she made quite the “Victorious” transition onto Nickelodeon.

Additional reporting by Rebecca Thomas and Rob Markman.

Oh my god. It’s real. It’s happening. Beyoncé and Jay Z – the celebrity power couple to end all celebrity power couples, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till conscious uncoupling do them part — kick off their much-hyped On The Run Tour on Wednesday (June 25) at Miami, Florida’s Sun Life Stadium, and I for one could not be more thrilled for Jayoncé’s joint stadium tour.

Do you hear that? That’s the sound of my heart beating to the rhythm of the horn section in “Upgrade U” — that’s how excited I am. Or maybe it’s just a murmur. I’ll let you know what the doctor says.

Since I can’t fast-forward to tomorrow night because time travel is, last I checked, still impossible, here’s a rundown of everything I would like to, nay, DEMAND to see at the On The Run Tour kickoff, from dream setlists to surprise celebrity cameos.

Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments below. And please, use your ***inside voice.

1.) The ultimate Jayoncé setlist

Getty Images

It goes without saying that the centerpiece of the On The Run Tour setlist are going to be the performances where Jay and Bey share the stage. Obvious contenders for these slots on the setlist include “Drunk In Love,” tour namesake “Part II (On The Run),” “03 Bonnie & Clyde,” and ...

Tumblr, don’t fail me now. Earlier today (June 24), a photo got posted to The Vamps’ official Instagram account that shows guitarist James McVey and bassist Connor Ball casually chatting about “hairspray and bearded dragons” with 5 Seconds Of Summer’s Mikey Clifford and Ash Irwin, and — oh my god — did some practitioner of “The Secret” manifest this fan fiction into real life?!?!

At least Ash seems to understand just how monumental this meeting of the man-crushes is. Look at him, staring off into the void as a vision of His Almighty the Dread Cthulhu tears a rift in the space-time continuum. Let the others act all nonchalant — you know what this boy-band alignment truly signifies.

Instagram

Based on the outfits, the photo must have been taken backstage at British radio station Capital FM’s Summertime Ball on June 21, where 5SOS played tracks like “Don’t Stop,” “She Looks So Perfect,” and a cover of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” — though sadly no “Amnesia.”

For their part, The Vamps’ setlist included “Can We Dance,” “Wild Heart,” and their new Demi Lovato-featuring single, “Somebody To You.”

Look for The Vamps’ Somebody To You EP, which drops August 4 in the U.S., plus 5SOS’ self-titled debut album when it drops stateside on July 22. Until then, you can hit up HairsprayAndBeardedDragons.tumblr.com, where ...

There’s a whole lot of mystery packed into this teaser for Demi Lovato’s “Really Don’t Care” video featuring Cher Lloyd. What I can reveal to you for certain, though, is that the clip was filmed during Ms. Demetria Devonne’s performance during Los Angeles’ Gay Pride Parade on June 8 — she served as Grand Marshal, FYI — and that the video will drop in full on Thursday.

Beyond those two indisputable truths, Lovatics? You can go ahead and set those imaginations to “running wild.” Try not to hurt yourselves!

John Walker

You might think that Ed Sheeran would take it easy now that his second studio album, x (pronounced “multiply”), has been released. You know, kick back, stare at a couple of Drake-inspired needlepoints hand-stitched by BFF Taylor Swift — the yooj. But you’d be wrong.

In lieu of relaxation, the “Sing” crooner is celebrating his LP release by landing the cover of VIBE‘s Summer 2014 issue alongside his fellow “Soul Brothers” Mack Wilds and August Alsina. Ed Instagrammed the cover, captioning: “Happy to be [the] first British dude on the cover of Vibe magazine. Issue out next week.” I think I speak for everyone when I say: Pip pip.

VIBE via Instagram

VIBE‘s Music Editor, John Kennedy, even goes so far as to say that Ed and his fellow cover dudes “represent for the future of R&B.” As if the Brit didn’t have enough to celebrate today!

Now, let’s get this party started. Bring out the Muppets and strippers! It’s about to get weird up in here.

John Walker

It looks like Lana Del Rey isn’t the only person displeased with how her recent interview with The Guardian turned out. Frances Bean Cobain, the daughter of Courtney Love and late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, has taken issue with the “Shades Of Cool” singer’s much-publicized “I wish I were dead” comments.

In a series of tweets posted late Sunday night, the 21-year-old expressed her disappointment with Del Rey for romanticizing “the death of young musicians,” invoking her father’s suicide in 1994 to get her point across. Perhaps to keep the more easily agitated Twitter users at bay, Cobain concluded that she was not attacking the singer, who she finds “too talented to waste it away.”

Although Lana has yet to respond to Frances Bean’s tweets, the singer — who celebrated her 28th birthday over the weekend — has since distanced herself from the Guardian article, claiming that interviewer Tim Jonze’s “leading questions about death and persona were calculated” in a series of since-deleted tweets.

In response, Jonze posted a two-minute recording of the section of the Del Rey interview in question, adding that: “Ultimately, the problem with Lana’s complaint is that she doesn’t seem to know what she’s actually complaining about … She’s not alleging that I made up her quotes, nor is she claiming that they’ve been ‘twisted’ or that we’ve printed them out of context.”

John ...

Read More →