Daily Music Headlines September 21st, 2026

Brian Ibbott (0:01)

It's Monday, September 21st, 2026 I'm Brian Ibbott. Here are Music Headlines for today. New Found Glory guitarist and founding member Chad Gilbert died Sunday morning at the age of 45 The band and his wife, Lisa Cimorelli, said he passed peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by family and friends. No cause was given, but Gilbert had spoken publicly about cancer treatment dating back to 2021, and he had returned to the stage with the band in June, just months after emergency brain surgery. New Found Glory's most recent album, Listen Up, came out this past February.

Ed Sheeran opened Saturday's Philadelphia concert by addressing the past week directly, his first show since Macklemore was removed from the loop tour. He apologized for mistakes he said he had made, called the October 7th attacks horrific, and described the situation for civilians in Gaza as catastrophic and unjustifiable. Openers Aaron Rowe, Lucas Graham and Finneas, along with his band Bioga, have since left the tour and protesters gathered outside Lincoln Financial Field. Sheeran skipped his usual acoustic B-stage walk and stuck to the main stage for the full show.

Jhené Aiko has her first number one album, as Westside Whimsy debuts atop the Billboard 200 with 74,000 equivalent album units. It's the first R&B album by a woman to top the chart this year, and the first since SZA's SOS did it back in May of last year. The project is her first full studio album since 2020's Chilombo, and features Kendrick Lamar, Absol, Larry June, Oma, and Tyga. The debut comes nearly 13 years after Aiko's first entry on the chart.

The iHeart Radio Music Festival wrapped up in Las Vegas this weekend with ETS closing out Friday night and Benson Boone doing his signature backflips on Saturday. Muse, Ciara, Snoop Dogg and the Smashing Pumpkins all took the stage across the two nights, and Lainey Wilson paid tribute to Dolly Parton during her set. Wiz Khalifa made a surprise appearance as well. It's one of the biggest multi-genre lineups of the fall concert season. Papa Roach has pulled out of this weekend's Louder Than Life festival in Louisville after bassist Tobin Esperance had a medical emergency. The band said Esperance is receiving care and they're focused on his recovery. It's the second high-profile festival cancellation this month tied to a band member's health. No word yet on whether Papa Roach will reschedule any of the affected shows.

Country got two big new full-length releases Friday, Luke Bryan's new album Signs and Riley Green's That's Just Me. Both records lean into this year's shift towards more traditional country sounds, blending radio singles with more personal songwriting. It's Bryan's first album in a few years, giving fans plenty of new material heading into the fall touring season. Both are already climbing early sales charts as fans dig into full track lists rather than just singles.

Sony Music and Universal Music Group have filed a second lawsuit against AI company Suno, this time targeting its newer V6 model. The suit filed Friday in Massachusetts Federal Court covers more than 60,000 recordings and argues the new model is built on the same unlicensed training data as the one it replaced, calling it fruit of the same poison tree. It's an escalation of the label's broader legal fight against AI music generators. Suno has not yet responded publicly to the new filing. And finally, William Shatner, 95 years old, played his first ever heavy metal show this weekend, opening for a Riot Fest warm-up gig at Park West in Chicago. The Star Trek actor traded his usual spoken word style for a full metal backing band. It's the latest unexpected turn in a music career that's included covers, spoken word albums, and now, apparently, metal. Fans in the crowd said it was as strange and entertaining as it sounds.

And it's Monday, it's time for our top five, the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where Ella Langley just tied Mariah Carey's all time record for longest running number one. Number five, Hate That I Made You Love Me by Ariana Grande. Number four, Been By Now by Morgan Wallen. Number three, I Knew What I Knew You by Taylor Swift. Number two, Boston by Stella Lefty. And number one, Choosing Texas by Ella Langley. Want to be the first to hear about future live streams, discuss the latest news, talk about music, and help shape the future of the show? Join the Daily Music Headlines Discord at tiny.cc slash DMH Discord. For Anthony Lemus working behind the scenes, this is Brian Ibbott. Thanks again for listening. That's it for today. We'll catch you on the flip side.

The club hopes you have enjoyed this program.