Universal Music Group’s board on May 29 unanimously rejected an unsolicited takeover proposal from Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square, saying the April 7 offer “fundamentally and materially undervalues UMG” and is not in the best interests of the company, its shareholders, artists, songwriters, employees or other stakeholders. Pershing Square had proposed a cash-and-stock transaction valuing UMG at about €30.40 per share, roughly €55.7 billion (about $64–65 billion by published estimates). The board said it reached its decision after review with external financial and legal advisers and after hearing from major shareholders, including the Bolloré Group, which holds about 28% and publicly urged rejection days earlier. UMG highlighted recent corporate moves to boost shareholder value — expanding a share buyback programme, plans to sell half its Spotify stake and commitments to enhanced financial disclosure — and reiterated plans to pursue a U.S. listing. Ackman and Pershing Square, who were significant investors in UMG from 2021 and for a time had a board seat, did not immediately comment.

London-based singer-songwriter Samuel Smith, 49, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2020, used generative AI tools to complete his second album, The Art of Letting Go, after the illness eroded his ability to play guitar. For the instrumental track “Horizon” Smith hummed melodies into his phone and uploaded the recordings to AI music platforms such as Suno and Udio to generate demo arrangements. He says the synthetic demos — produced after dozens or even hundreds of attempts and extensive editing — were never intended for the final mix but served to communicate his musical vision to session players. The album, produced by Grammy-winner Matt Rollings, features established roots and bluegrass musicians including Jerry Douglas, Alison Brown, Stuart Duncan, Bryan Sutton, Viktor Krauss, Jonatha Brooke, Glen Phillips and a guitar duet with Julian Lage, captured during a brief studio reprieve in Smith’s symptoms. The story joins wider industry debate: major labels sued Suno and Udio in 2024 over training data, though Universal later settled with Udio and Warner struck a deal with Suno. Experts say AI tools can expand access for musicians with disabilities while raising copyright and ethical questions.

Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil has published an excerpt from his memoir, A Screaming Life: Into the Superunknown with Soundgarden and Beyond, recounting how he learned of bandmate Chris Cornell’s death on May 18, 2017. The preview, shared by Rolling Stone on May 29 ahead of the book’s June 9 release via William Morrow, describes the band leaving Detroit after a Fox Theatre show en route to Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio when members saw social media reports of Cornell’s death. Thayil writes of initial disbelief, the confirmation that Cornell died by suicide in a hotel room, and his lingering guilt — “I feel like I let Chris down” — for not recognising warning signs. Other outlets (Louder Sound, Metal Injection) have carried the excerpt and reported that Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd and drummer Matt Cameron are finishing a collection of unreleased songs built around Cornell’s final demo recordings, material that had been the subject of a long-running legal dispute with Cornell’s estate.

On the night of May 29, 2026 the Dublin band The Coronas halted and ultimately cancelled a sold-out concert at King John’s Castle in Limerick after guitarist Lar Kaye suffered a medical emergency on stage. The show, attended by thousands, was stopped minutes after it began while medics treated Kaye. Frontman Danny O’Reilly later returned to the stage to address the audience and said the band had wanted to continue but it “just doesn’t feel right.” Organisers Dolan’s confirmed the performance has been cancelled and will be rescheduled; the band has indicated a likely return date in mid-July (reported as July 10 or 11). Ticket holders will be contacted with details. The Coronas, formed in Dublin and active since the mid-2000s with seven studio albums, are among Ireland’s better-known contemporary rock acts.

Olivia Rodrigo told The New York Times' Popcast she does not ‘read too far into’ online speculation about a supposed rift with Taylor Swift, as she promotes her third studio album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, due June 12, 2026. The 23-year-old said diving into every “internet detective” theory would make her “go crazy” and that she learned to detach after the intense scrutiny around her 2021 breakout single “Drivers License.” Rodrigo reiterated she has no interest in publicly naming subjects of her songs and described the post‑Sour songwriting credit changes — which retroactively added Swift, Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent to “Deja Vu” and credited Swift on “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back” — as a confusing period she was not closely involved in. Renewed attention followed March photos of Rodrigo and Swift leaving a Paul McCartney concert at the same time; Rodrigo said she tries to focus on making music and being kind rather than engaging with rumours.