U.S. DJ and producer John Summit, British emcee Skepta and Dutch dancefloor maestro KI/KI are among the big names confirmed for Lost Paradise, the beloved Australian electronic music festival that rings in the New Year.
Also set to pump out the tunes at the 2026 edition are Overmono, Armand Van Helden, Nia Archives, Ewan McVicar, Sam Alfred, Rossi., Partiboi69 and many others.
Presented across the five days from Dec. 28 to Jan. 1 in Glenworth Valley, New South Wales, roughly an hour’s drive from Sydney, Lost Paradise is coming off four consecutive sell-outs.
The festival, reads a statement from organizers Finely Tuned, “exists on a simple set of principles: eco-conscious, music-centred, community-built and wellness-first.”
Lost Paradise launched in 2014, and today stands out as one of the state’s last-remaining camping festivals.
While Australia’s festivals scene is in a spin cycle, with popular brands including Bluesfest, Splendour in the Grass, and many others either collapsing or taking a hiatus, dance music events play to a different beat.
Creative Australia’s Soundcheck report from 2024 mapped the nation’s festivals circuit. Of the 500 plus festivals in the market, dance music was found to be most popular genre, accounting for almost one in every four fests in these parts.
General admission camping access is included with all tickets purchased, while optional “glamping” accommodation options will be announced in due course.
Three-day GA is priced at A$569.99 (A$27.57 fee) and four-day tickets cost A$639.99 (plus A$28.50 fee). Presales begin Tuesday, Aug. 4 from 10am AEST, and the general admission onsale starts at the same time the following day, Wednesday, Aug. 5.
Lineup John Summit, Skepta, KI/KI, Overmono, Armand Van Helden, Nia Archives, Ewan McVicar, Sam Alfred, Rossi., Partiboi69
A-Z: Benwal, Caleb Jackson, Chaos In The Cbd, Dameeeela, Dart, Dean Turnley, DJ Seinfeld (Live), Drifting Clouds, Flava D, Hamdi, Harry Hayes, Helena Lauwaert, Hot Dub Time Machine, Jamback, James Pepper B2B Baron Von Trax, Jayda G, Job Jobse, The Jungle Giants, Kirollus, Kyle Starkey, Loods, Luuk Van Dijk, Memphis Lk, Mella Dee, Ned Bennett, Not Without Friends (Ext. Set), Osmosis Jones, Pretty Girl (Live), Riordan, Saint Ludo, Salute, Soul Mass Transit System, Stacie Fields, Supergloss, Tommy Holohan, Twofaced, Willo
Arianna Sunshine, Bella Backe, Callyy, Casual P, Couch Mechanic, Cricket, Delulu, DJ Macaroni, Disco Dora, Elijah Something, Gmoz, Jacqui Cunningham, Jose Hot Plate, Kai Kawai, Kira Sunday, Lily FM, Lost Soundsystem, Madame Rêve, Mash B2B Harley Ferris, Mimi J, Miphi, Only Child, Partigirl, Penelope, Sasha Milani, Sim Select, Tia Lacoste, Troy Beman, Zacattacq
Megan Moroney cut short her concert Tuesday night (July 28) at Denver’s Ball Arena, due to an unspecified illness.
The country star stopped by the Mile High City for The Cloud 9 Tour, in support of her Billboard 200 chart-topping third studio album.
However, according to various published reports, Moroney performed just three songs before exiting the stage. She later returned to inform fans that she was overcome and wouldn’t complete the set.
“Denver. That was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make & I’m so sorry to cancel the show tonight,” she later wrote on Instagram Stories. “I never ever will give you guys a show that is not 100% and by song 3 I knew that I was not capable of giving that to you guys tonight.”
Before calling time, Moroney completed the songs “Stupid,” “Medicine,” and “Bless Your Heart,” according to Setlist.fm.
“I’m typing this as I’m quite literally bawling my eyes out in my dressing room & it hurts me so much to disappoint you all.”
A new date has been locked in for Aug. 27, with all tickets valid from Tuesday night’s show.
The venue was the first to confirm the cancelation. “Megan is unable to continue her performance this evening due to illness, and we must end the show at this time.” Further updates would be provided “as soon as possible” at ballarena.com, the message continues. “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding and cooperation.”
Moroney’s arena tour, her biggest yet, got underway May 29 in Columbus, Ohio, and is booked for more than 40 shows stretching through October, including U.S. dates at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, New York City’s Barclays Center and Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.
Later, she’ll cross the Atlantic for concerts in Paris, London, Oslo and Stockholm, before wrapping the European/U.K. leg Oct. 1 at SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
In March of this year, Moroney experienced cloud 9 firsthand when her album of that name went to the summit of the all-genres Billboard 200 chart, her first leader. “Cloud 9 is a state of mind,” she remarked when the album was first announced, “and I have no doubt this will be the best chapter yet.”
She wasn’t wrong. The 147,000 equivalent album units shifted in its opening cycle marked the biggest week for a country album by a woman in nearly two years, Luminate reports.
The next scheduled date on her Cloud 9 tour is at Moda Center this Saturday, Aug. 1 in Portland, OR.
As legend would have it, Niccolò Paganini completed one of his legendary violin performances on a single string when the others snapped one by one. Whether it was the art of showmanship, or just a display of ridiculous talent, is a matter still open for discussion hundreds of years later.
Vetle Nærø had his own moment that would’ve made Paganini proud.
Earlier this month, the Norwegian neo-classic composer dazzled with a performance on the piano, a special guest of the 2026 Bergtatt Festival. That haunting mid-morning set at Luster’s Dale Church, built during the first half of the 13th century, was unexpectedly unplugged — through no fault of his own.
“The concert was going to be a more electronic set with my synthesizers, some gear. But they were lost at the airport,” he tells Billboard. “So I had to basically rearrange my concert and return to solo piano.”
The show must, and did, go on. The performance, and his words to the 200 guests, had some in floods of happy tears. To create “calm and connection,” he says, “is the reason why I do this.”
Thanfully, the musical equipment has since been returned to its owner.
Vetle Nærø at Norway’s Bergtatt Festival.
Lasse Amundsen
Born in Oslo in 2000, and raised in the quiet coastal town of Ålesund, Nærø studied classical piano at a young age, learning his craft from the playbooks of Chopin and Rachmaninoff. By age nine, he had discovered the godfathers of minimalism, including Philip Glass and Arvo Part. Later, he would form a jazz trio and the electronic scene came calling.
His first album, 2018’s By Heart, was a spontaneous project recorded in a single day. Its followup, Introspection, came in 2021. A third, From Moments, dropped in 2023, and his most recent album release, All Moments Must Pass, was issued in May 2025 on Piano & Coffee Records.
He’s currently mapping out his fifth studio album, to be released in 2027.
“It’s forming up to be a very big release, at a bigger scale than I’m the previous one,” he hints. “I get to work with some amazing people that really believe in what I’ve made.”
Dolly Parton’s older brother, Coy “Denver” Parton, has died. He was 82.
Parton died Thursday (July 23), according to an obituary shared by Atchley Funeral Home in Sevierville, Tenn. A cause of death was not disclosed.
Known as Denver, Parton lived largely outside the public spotlight. According to the obituary, he worked for years as a crane operator building bridges. He was also a homestead farmer and an avid hunter.
Denver was one of 12 children born to Lee Parton and Avie Lee Owens Parton in Sevier County, Tenn. Dolly Parton has often spoken about her large family and rural upbringing in the Smoky Mountains, experiences that have shaped much of her music, storytelling and public identity across her decades-long career.
Denver is survived by his daughters, Chris Parton and Jennifer Parton; grandson Ian Parton and his fiancée, Taylor York; brother Bobby Parton; and sisters Willadeene Buzzeo, Dolly Parton, Stella Parton, Cassie Griffith, Freida Parton, Rachel George and Laura Price. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Kay Parton, as well as nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, cousins, special nephew Mitchell Blalock and special friends Nancy Hurst and Kathy Farr.
Dolly Parton has not publicly commented on her brother’s passing, though Denver’s death marks another loss for the Parton family in recent years. Dolly’s brother Randy Parton, a singer and musician who performed with her over the years, died in 2021 at age 67. Her brother Floyd Parton, who co-wrote songs including Dolly’s “Rockin’ Years,” died in 2018. Her brother David Parton died in 2024, and Dolly’s husband, Carl Dean, died in March 2025.
Following Randy’s death, Dolly shared a statement reflecting on the family’s faith. “The family and I are grieving his loss but we know he is in a better place than we are at this time,” she wrote at the time. “We are a family of faith and we believe that he is safe with God.”
Dolly Parton remains one of the most influential artists in country music history. Across her decades-long career, she has placed 25 songs at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, including “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You” and “9 to 5.” She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 and released the rock album Rockstar the following year.
The National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs) have named blues musician Marlene Cummins and Elcho Island’s Saltwater Band as the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees, ahead of the ceremony in Darwin next month.
Cummins — a Guguyelandji woman on her father’s side and Woppaburra on her mother’s — is regarded as one of Australia’s leading Indigenous female blues voices. Born in Cunnamulla, Queensland, she studied saxophone and songwriting at Boston’s Berklee College of Music and has worked across music, broadcasting, activism, dance and acting.
Her career has included award-winning radio work, the documentary Black Panther Woman, which chronicled her own history within the Australian Black Panther movement, and the song “Koori Woman,” written as a dedication to Indigenous women.
Saltwater Band, from Galiwin’ku on Elcho Island, are recognised for a catalogue that threaded traditional song through reggae and ska-influenced pop, sung mostly in Yolŋu languages. The band’s most prominent member was the late Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, already a Hall of Fame inductee — inducted by fellow founding member Manuel Dhurrkay — who went on to become the most commercially successful Aboriginal Australian musician in history.
Before co-founding Saltwater Band, Yunupingu played in Yothu Yindi, the internationally recognised group behind the landmark 1991 single “Treaty.” His solo debut Gurrumul (2008) reached No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart and won two ARIA Awards, and he sold an estimated half a million records worldwide before his death in 2017 at 46. Saltwater Band earned multiple NIMAs and Deadly Awards across their career, with their album Djarridjarri nominated for the ARIA Award for Best World Music Album in 2004.
The 2026 NIMAs take place at Darwin Amphitheater in Garramilla/Darwin on Saturday, Aug. 8, hosted by Rob Collins and Leila Gurruwiwi. The performance lineup features Baker Boy, Electric Fields, BIG NOTER, Stiff Gins, Bumpy, Casii Williams, South Summit and Zipporah, with more to be announced. The night’s Artist of the Year nominees include 3%, Baker Boy, Birdz and Fred Leone, Bumpy, Jem Cassar-Daley, Miss Kaninna and South Summit.
Ahead of the ceremony, the Blak Loud Showcase — presented by Amazon Music Australia and Awesome Blak — will serve as the unofficial opening night at Darwin’s Bustard Town on Aug. 7, featuring South Summit, Zipporah and Casii Williams. Free RSVPs are available through the NIMA website.
Beyond the Valley, billed as Australia’s largest multi-day music festival, has revealed the lineup for its 11th edition, led by John Summit, the Black Eyed Peas, KI/KI and Skepta.
The festival returns to Barunah Plains in Victoria from Dec. 28 through Jan. 1, 2027, after selling out in under an hour last year. U.S. dance producer John Summit takes the New Year’s Eve countdown slot, while the Black Eyed Peas will play an Australian-exclusive show. Dutch DJ KI/KI and British grime pioneer Skepta — returning to the festival for the first time since 2019/20 — also feature high on the bill.
The lineup spans dance, hip-hop, pop and rock across five days, with Ocean Alley, Overmono, Disco Lines, Nia Archives, Armand Van Helden, The Veronicas, Vince Staples, Frost Children, SPFDJ, Jayda G, salute, southstar, Odd Mob and Dean Turnley among the acts announced. The daily bill also features The Jungle Giants, Boys Noize, Rum Jungle, Ewan McVicar, Job Jobse and dozens more across the festival’s stages.
The 2026/27 edition is presented by Untitled Group and triple j. Its daily headline structure places John Summit and the Black Eyed Peas on Dec. 31, Ocean Alley and Overmono on Dec. 30, Skepta, Disco Lines and Nia Archives on Dec. 29, and a three-hour KI/KI set on Dec. 28.
At the top of the bill sits some of the biggest commercial firepower in recent pop history. The Black Eyed Peas remain one of the best-selling acts of the 21st century, having sold an estimated 80 million records and scored three consecutive Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s in 2009 with “Boom Boom Pow,” “I Gotta Feeling” and “Imma Be” — the first two combining for a then-record 26 consecutive weeks atop the chart.
Their album The E.N.D. debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. John Summit has become one of dance music’s most in-demand live draws, topping Billboard’s Dance/Electronic charts and headlining arenas and festivals worldwide, while Skepta remains a defining figure of British grime, having won the Mercury Prize for 2016’s Konnichiwa and reached the Billboard Hot 100 through his feature on A$AP Rocky’s double-platinum “Praise the Lord (Da Shine).”
