Priscilla Block
Mercury NashvilleAn unexpected run-in with Taylor Swift made a huge impact on Priscilla Block‘s life.
The rising country singer behind “My Bar” was just about ready to leave Nashville when she had a chance meeting with Swift — while she was actually wearing a Taylor Swift T-shirt.
“I’m about a year into town and just crumbling, day by day, and I call my sister one day and I was like, ‘Hey, I have no clue what I’m doing out here.’ It was just the whole ‘If you come home, you didn’t fail. It’s OK,'” Block, whose debut album Welcome to the Block Party just arrived, recalled on an episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show last week.
She continued, “And that day, Taylor Swift was driving by. I was leaving work, and I was wearing this Taylor Swift T-shirt. She was just driving by and saw me standing there and was like, ‘Hey! I love your shirt!'”
Block shared her sweet photo with Swift from that day on Clarkson’s show.
“I’m like, ‘What is my life?’ You know? It was crazy,” said Block. “I’m like, ‘I’m quitting my job. I’m quitting school. And I’m gonna go figure this out. I don’t know how to do it, but I’m gonna figure it out.”
Watch the interview and watch Block perform “My Bar” on The Kelly Clarkson Show below.
Metallica bassist Jason Newsted says he is now “free and clear” after facing throat cancer.
The 63 year old musician, who played with the Enter Sandman legends from 1986 through 2001, has shared details of his diagnosis publicly for the first time. He explained that doctors discovered it early, and on May 8, 2025 he “underwent a procedure” to treat the condition.
Speaking on the Let There Be Talk podcast, he said: “They took a bunch of s*** outta here and then they went in with lasers this way and took a bunch of s*** out.
“So the cavern inside my head is different than it was, but we got it early. And I got my ‘free and clear’ about three weeks ago. So I beat it.”
Jason contributed to several of Metallica’s most iconic releases, including 1988’s ...And Justice For All, their self titled 1991 album, 1996’s Load, the 1997 follow up Reload, and 1998’s Garage Inc.
After going through his cancer experience, the bassist made a point to slow down and actually give himself time to recover instead of constantly pushing forward.
He explained: “I promised myself I was going to rest, and that was the first time I’ve done that in my life.
"I’m usually just on or off. And so I promised myself I was gonna take the gravity off and lay down for the right amount of hours."
The health scare also led Jason to give up smoking weed and drinking alcohol, something he admits he likely would not have done otherwise.
He added: “The great spirit got my attention and said, ‘That’s not good right now, man.’ And so it pulled me off it.
"And so now I’m more clear-headed than I’ve been in my entire adult life. And so there’s blessings within everything. The lemonade I’m making this summer, bro — mm. Sweet. Ooh.”
Jason has previously said that his unexpected departure ultimately helped Metallica continue moving forward, while James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich later admitted they struggled to process his decision at the time.
Lars told Apple Music in 2021: “Jason is the only member of Metallica who has ever left willingly. And that in itself is a statistic.
"And the resentment from James and I was just so… 'You can’t do that. You can only leave if we want you to leave'.
"And then we weren’t equipped at the time to do a deep dive into why he was leaving. So of course, now you can see 20 years later, it makes complete sense.”
