new song

Storied Mexican singer Pepe Aguilar is using his platform to elevate the struggle and celebrate the dignity of the immigration experience in the U.S. with his latest single, “Corrido de Juanito.”

The track, which dropped Friday, explores the societal and emotional trials of being far from home while attempting to make the best of life. The song was originally written and recorded by former Calibre 50 vocalist and accordionist Edén Muñoz in 2017.

Aguilar’s take on the song comes at a time when its message takes on a heavier meaning as Immigration and Customers Enforcement agents have increased their presence in Los Angeles under the directive of President Trump.

The “Por Mujeres Como Tú” singer’s track with a message also acts as a monetary service to the immigrant community of L.A. All the proceeds from the song will go to the immigrant rights organization Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA).

“I’m not making a cent off this song. We’re giving away everything, not only from the song, but from my latest released album,” Aguilar told The Times following the single’s release. “[CHIRLA] is helping immigrants to fight this battle legally and peacefully and respectfully. That’s why I created this song, and that’s why I decided to donate whatever it makes and whatever my album makes, for the time that it’s more valuable.”

The advocacy group focuses on the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees in L.A. and throughout the state of California. Its services include free and low-cost legal services and community education.

“We thank Pepe Aguilar for using his voice and platform to defend and support the immigrant community that is foundational to their fan base,” CHIRLA executive director Angelica Salas said in a statement. “Thank you for your invaluable support and for uplifting the presence and contributions of immigrants in the U.S.”

Following the onset of the ICE raids in June, the 56-year-old Grammy winner posted a message on Instagram in support of the immigrant community.

“I’m not going to fight the system; I’m going to peacefully resist it with art, with memory, with culture, with tradition, with respect,” said in the June 7 social media video.

In the same post, he announced that he would be working on a version of the song that was released today.

Aguilar, who is headlining at the Hollywood Bowl on Aug. 15 and 16, first heard the song at an awards show around the time of its initial release and felt deeply impacted by its message.

“I was really touched by the lyrics and the truthfulness of the song,” Aguilar said Friday morning. “I had a lump in my throat when I first heard it and then it was a hit.”

Flash forward to 2025 and he revisited the Calibre 50 track while singing bohemias with his family at his daughter’s house a few months back.

“Something called me in at that party to sing the song and I had never sang it before,” he said. “I didn’t know what it felt like to sing the song and when I sang it, I loved the way it sounded.”

It was after that experience that he knew he needed to record his own version.

“Now, with everything going on with all these deportations and with immigration, I think it’s a song that applies tremendously to create consciousness around this subject and to portray a reality that is lived by millions,” Aguilar said. “There are millions of Juanitos that are unable to go back home or unable to go to their loved ones funerals and are afraid of being deported, but at the same time they are working and helping the engine of America to remain stable.”

Aguilar channels the pain of homesickness and the worry of becoming forgotten that immigrants face on the daily.

“It’s been almost 14 years since I’ve gone back to the land I was born,” Aguilar sings in the single’s opening lines. “Everything has now changed, I beg God that they don’t forget about me.”

The “Perdonóme” vocalist shared a direct message to the people currently being most affected by the ongoing ICE raids.

“No están solos, we care for you, and when I mean ‘we,’ I’m talking about everybody that understands your situation, not only Mexicans, but I have a lot of friends that are not Mexican, even a lot of full-blooded Americans, who are tremendously worried about what’s going on,” Aguilar said. “[A] lot of associations want to do something about this unfair situation, a tremendously unfair and historically unfair for a country like the U.S. I believe in the principles that created the United States, and I hope that those principles are used in this tremendously sad situation.”

Foo Fighters are celebrating the anniversary of an old album with the release of a new song.

Nearly 30 years to the day after Dave Grohl’s stadium-filling rock band dropped its self-titled debut on July 4, 1995, the group on Wednesday revealed “Today’s Song,” its first piece of original material since 2023’s “But Here We Are” LP, which itself followed the death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022.

“I woke today screaming for change / I knew that I must,” Grohl sings over a subdued organ part, “So here lies the shadow / Ashes to ashes, dust into dust.” Later, the frontman sings about “waiting for someone to repair you” as the song explodes with the band’s signature guitar theatrics and bludgeoning drums.

In a statement, Grohl, 56, said, “Over the years, we’ve had moments of unbridled joy, and moments of devastating heartbreak. Moments of beautiful victory, and moments of painful defeat. We have mended broken bones and broken hearts. But we have followed this road together, with each other, for each other, no matter what. Because in life, you just can’t go it alone.”

Referring to former members of the band, he added, “It should go without saying that without the boundless energy of William Goldsmith, the seasoned wisdom of Franz Stahl, and the thunderous wizardry of Josh Freese, this story would be incomplete, so we extend our heartfelt gratitude for the time, music, and memories that we shared with each of them over the years. Thank you, gentlemen.” (Freese, who took over as drummer following Hawkins’ death, was fired from the band in May for reasons he’s said remain unknown to him.)

“And… Taylor,” Grohl continued. “Your name is spoken every day, sometimes with tears, sometimes with a smile, but you are still in everything we do, everywhere we go, forever. The enormity of your beautiful soul is only rivaled by the infinite longing we feel in your absence. We all miss you beyond words. Foo Fighters will forever include Taylor Hawkins in every note that we play, until we do finally reach our destination.”

A spokesperson for Foo Fighters declined to specify who played drums on “Today’s Song,” though the playing recalls Grohl’s work on the band’s debut, which he recorded as a one-man band, and as the drummer of Nirvana. Earlier this week, Foo Fighters released a cover of Minor Threat’s early-’80s hardcore classic “I Don’t Wanna Hear It,” which the band said combined music recorded in 1995 with vocals recorded in 2025.

“Today’s Song” comes less than a year after Grohl — who has three daughters with his wife, Jordyn Blum — wrote in an Instagram post that he’d fathered a daughter with a woman outside of his marriage.

“I plan to be a loving and supportive parent to her,” he wrote. “I love my wife and my children, and I am doing everything I can to regain their trust and earn their forgiveness.” Grohl’s oldest daughter, 19-year-old Violet, performed Nirvana’s “All Apologies” with Nirvana’s surviving members at January’s FireAid concert; his second-oldest daughter, Harper, designed the single artwork for “Today’s Song.”

Foo Fighters are scheduled to play a series of concerts in Asia in October before headlining Mexico City’s Corona Capital festival in November.

Eight Mile Style, a company that owns some of Eminem’s most popular songs, is suing social media giant Meta over alleged copyright infringement.

The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Michigan, accuses the Menlo Park-based tech company of storing, reproducing and distributing Eminem’s music without obtaining the license to do so.

Eight Mile Style, which is based in Ferndale, Mich., is seeking at least $109 million from Meta and a court order to stop several alleged forms of copyright infringement.

Music is a big part of social media. On Meta’s platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, people add music in photos and videos they share publicly or with their friends and family.

But the way social media has changed the way people listen to and discover new songs has also sparked concerns from artists about whether they’re fairly compensated.

“Meta’s years-long and ongoing infringement of the Eight Mile Compositions is another case of a trillion (with a ‘T’) dollar company exploiting the creative efforts of musical artists for the obscene monetary benefit of its executives and shareholders without a license and without regard to the rights of the owners of the intellectual property,” the lawsuit said.

Meta said in a statement that it has licenses with thousands of partners globally and an “extensive” global licensing programs for music on its platforms.

“Meta had been negotiating in good faith with Eight Mile Style, but rather than continue those discussions, Eight Mile Style chose to sue,” the company said in an email.

Eight Mile Style owns and controls 243 compositions recorded by Eminem, a rapper and music producer that has created popular hits such as “Lose Yourself.” Meta did remove some of these songs including “Lose Yourself” from its music libraries, but other versions of the music including a piano instrumental cover and a karaoke version still remain on the platform, according to the lawsuit.

Meta not only allowed users who upload these songs to infringe on copyright but knowingly stored and reproduced them in its music libraries so users can use the music in videos and photos, the lawsuit alleges. Users have added Eminem’s music in millions of videos that have been viewed billions of times, according to the lawsuit.

Meta also unsuccessfully tried to obtain a license for Eminem’s songs as part of negotiations with the digital music royalty company Audiam even though the firm didn’t have the authority to give them that license.

“Meta executives have actively encouraged such rampant infringement in order to attract as many users as possible to, among other things, make advertising on their services more profitable for themselves,” the lawsuit said.

More than 3 billion people use one of Meta’s apps daily, and the company makes billions of dollars every quarter from advertising.

In the first three months of this year, Meta’s revenue reached $42.31 billion, an increase of 16% year-over-year. The company’s net income jumped by 35% to $16.6 billion in the first quarter.

This isn’t the first time Meta has faced legal issues over the use of Eminem’s music. In 2013, Eight Mile Style sued Facebook, alleging the social network used the Eminem song “Under the Influence” for an ad without their consent.