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Avril Lavigne
Ryan McFadden*Taylor Swift really, really likes Avril Lavigne‘s new album. The singer who has a Midas touch when it comes to gifting sent Lavigne a sweet note and bouquet of flowers to celebrate Avril’s new album, Love Sux.
The gift was highlighted in Taylor’s Insta Stories according to E! News, which grabbed images of the bountiful bunch of pink, white and peach-colored flowers to accompany the note, which read: “Avril, Been dancing around my kitchen to your fabulous new album!! It’s AMAZING, like you.” The card was signed “Your forever fan, Taylor.”
Lavigne celebrated the release of her seventh album last Friday with an intimate show at Los Angeles’ The Roxy as part of SiriusXM and Pandora’s Small Stage Series. The 37-year-old punk pop princess we clearly on cloud nine during the show, which featured high-energy renditions of such fan favorites as “Sk8er Boi,” “What the Hell,” “Girlfriend” and “Complicated.”
With a bottle of champagne in hand, Lavigne toasted her return to the pop-rock realm after her more emotional, low-key 2019 LP Head Above Water and she brought along some famous friends to help, with collaborator Travis Barker on drums for four songs, as well a boyfriend Mod Sun, who joined her for their “Flames” duet, which ended with a sweet onstage hug and kiss.
“I went into this album and just said, ‘I want to make a pop-punk record, a rock-and-roll record. I don’t want to be on the piano. I don’t want ballads, really. I just really want to rock out,’” Lavigne recently told Billboard. “I think especially after my last album being so mellow and dramatic and deep and introspective — you know, it was beautiful, and it was where I was at in my life, and that’s what worked for me at the time. But I was just ready to get back out there, rock the f—k out, and again just thinking about the live shows. I mean, this is the kind of music I fell in love with, when I was old enough to buy CDs, to discover bands — like, my first year of high school, which is grade nine in Canada.”
Check out images of the gift below.
The estate of Prince has shared a previously unheard recording of “With This Tear,” a track the late icon originally wrote before passing it on to Celine Dion in the early 1990s.
The newly revealed version, released through NPG Records and Legacy Recordings, presents Prince’s own recording of the piano driven ballad, fully written, produced and performed by him. It was initially recorded at Paisley Park in November 1991 and had stayed in the vault until now.
Dion’s interpretation of “With This Tear” was included on her 1992 self titled album, highlighting one of many moments where Prince created songs for other artists while holding back his own versions. His original recording feels more minimal, putting the focus on his vocals and piano arrangement.
The newly issued version has been given an updated mix by Grammy nominated producer Chris James, who has worked on several Prince related releases before. This drop is part of the Prince Estate’s ongoing effort to open up more of his deep archive of unreleased music.
The release arrives at a meaningful moment, just ahead of the 10th anniversary of Prince’s passing. Since 2016, a consistent flow of archival material including deluxe reissues, vault recordings and rare collaborations has kept his legacy active in today’s music landscape while offering a closer look at how much he created.
“With This Tear” also highlights Prince’s long established role as a songwriter for others. Across his career, he wrote and produced tracks for a wide range of artists, often shaping songs that evolved into entirely new identities outside his own discography.
The release comes amid growing attention around Prince’s archive in recent years. In 2024, a demo of “Baby Doll,” an unreleased collaboration between Prince and Kylie Minogue, surfaced online and showed just how much material still remains unheard.
While there has been no official confirmation of a larger vault project, reports continue to suggest that more archival releases could be on the way.
