Rolling Stone Canada

Miley (who has dropped the last name 'Cyrus' from her artist moniker) is giving Canadian fans an early listen to her new album Bass Persuades before it officially arrives. Six record stores across five Canadian cities will host listening parties on Thursday, September 17, one day ahead of the album’s scheduled release. In Toronto, both Sonic Boom and Pop Music will host parties starting at 6 p.m. Montréal fans can head to Le Noise, while Halifax’s Taz Records, Vancouver’s Neptoon Records and Ottawa’s Odds and Sods are also taking part. > See on Instagram The events will see participating stores offer various album-related giveaways and promotional items. Taz Records, for example, has advertised posters and lanyards, with additional giveaways available to fans who purchase the album at the event. Neptoon has also teased additional goodies for its Vancouver crowd. The advance-listening push arrives as Miley enters a new chapter with Bass Persuades, her 10th studio album. The project follows 2023’s Endless Summer Vacation and its breakout single "Flowers," which became one of the biggest hits of her career. Miley has described the new era as a return to a more physical, communal relationship with music, which can explain in part her decision to present these events in partnership with independent record stores across the country.

Drake is giving fans a little more insight into his mysterious new film project, FOMO, ahead of its release Tuesday night. The Toronto rapper has described the project as a “not so short film,” positioning it as a surreal, self-funded experiment created by members of his inner circle. It arrives tonight at 9 p.m. ET on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music. “This is self-funded surrealism,” Drake wrote on Instagram alongside a blurry image of himself. “A story about making the absolute most of it all in one summer. Credit to nobody but the members. Here’s some life advice before you watch. Nobody is coming to save you. You must use each day to decipher who you love and trust and march forward with them.” > See on Instagram Drake urged fans to make the call, take the trip, release the song, open the business, visit their parents, spend the money or reconsider a relationship. Last week, he shared a clip, where we can see Drake ride aboard a neon-green speedboat while a woman narrates a story about two possible versions of a life. One is defined by fear, withheld affection and avoiding risk, while the other leads toward self-discovery. 2026 has been one of Drake’s busiest years in recent memory. In May, he unveiled three separate projects, Iceman, Maid of Honour and Habibti, shooting back onto the charts and into the pop culture dialogue at large, after his infamous rift with Kendrick Lamar, which might have affected his reputation, but clearly not his success.

Seth Rogen was officially welcomed into TIFF’s Canadian hall of fame Sunday night, receiving the Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award at the festival’s annual Tribute Awards. The Vancouver-born actor, writer, producer and director was honoured for a career that has stretched from Freaks and Geeks and Superbad to Pineapple Express, The Fabelmans and the Emmy-winning Apple TV+ series The Studio. The award recognizes Canadian talent whose work has made a global impact. Rogen accepted the honour at the Fairmont Royal York, where the evening brought together a star-heavy mix of Hollywood figures and Canadian power players, with Prime Minister Mark Carney in attendance, walking the TIFF Tribute Awards red carpet alongside stars including Helen Mirren and Penélope Cruz. Seth Rogen surprised by Mark Carney at TIFF event Rogen's longtime collaborator Anna Kendrick introduced him, describing him as having the "best heart and worst laugh in Hollywood." Rogen stars opposite Kendrick in Babies, directed by his wife Lauren Miller Rogen, which premiered at the festival this week. The comedy follows a couple confronting the question of whether they actually want children after a friend and her baby enter their lives. Rogen is also part of Tangles, an animated film he co-produced and voices, based on Sarah Leavitt's graphic memoir about Alzheimer's disease. Rogen and his wife have long been advocating around Alzheimer's, having previously produced the documentary Taking Care.

Google wants to add another layer of age checks as governments and tech companies move toward tighter restrictions on Canadian minors online. The company says its AI-powered age estimation system will begin rolling out gradually in Canada in the coming days. Users won’t have to provide new information upfront, as Google’s model will analyze signals already connected to an account, including the kinds of searches a person makes and the categories of videos they watch on YouTube. If Google determines that an account likely belongs to someone under 18, it will automatically apply additional protections across its services. Those can include turning off personalized advertising, disabling Google Maps Timeline, restricting access to adult-rated downloads on Google Play and adding digital-wellbeing measures such as break reminders on YouTube. The company has also said its system can add safeguards around content recommendations. If an adult is incorrectly classified as a minor, they can challenge the result by verifying their age with a government-issued ID or a selfie. Jeanette Patell, Google Canada’s director of government affairs and public policy, said the company is not collecting new information that is not already associated with users’ accounts. The rollout comes as Canada considers its own rules for protecting children online. The Liberal government’s proposed digital safety legislation, Bill C-34, would require social media platforms to temporarily block access for users under 16. The bill has not yet become law, and Ottawa has not settled on a specific approach to age verification.

The ongoing trade war between the United States and Canada has seeped into culture. With the Toronto International Film Festival well under way, more and more stars are using their time onstage and on the red carpet to decry Donald Trump's tariffs, comments, and his recent renaming of Lake Ontario to 'Lake America'. British legend Dame Helen Mirren was among them. The iconic actress is in Toronto, where she received a TIFF Tribute award last night. Speaking to Radio-Canada, she expressed support to Canadians, adding that she feels like she's one of us. ''I want to defend all of Canada, French and English,'' she said. ''I wanted to print t-shirts before I came here that said 'We Are All Canadians', because I believe it's important that everyone supports Canada in this particular moment.'' She also took time in her speech to honour two pioneering women who inspired her, Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem. “I was remembering what was allowed of women as I came into the professional world, when I was 13 or 14. You couldn't buy a house on your own if you're a woman. You couldn't have a credit card on your own if you were a woman.[...] And then came along two incredible farm girls. Do you know who they were? Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem. It is so hard to change culture, but these two women did it in their very different ways. They did it with humor, with tenacity and with huge intelligence. So I thank them both, and I dedicate this fabulous groundbreaking award to them.” Helen Mirren will be back on our screens as Maeve Harrigan in the second season of crime drama series MobLand, which premieres September 18.