Music

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Coachella is almost here. The three-day music festival, which will celebrate its 24th anniversary this year, will return to its home at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, Calif., on the weekends of April

Mortality may be a central theme of Bruce Springsteen’s recent work, but at his concert with the E Street Band at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night: Despite several COVID-related bandmember absences and three recent show postponements for reasons unstated beyond the vague “illness,” the group isn’t going down without a fight. Indeed, Springsteen

One of the ironies about the rise of 100 Gecs — who have become poster children for “hyper-pop,” whether they want to be or not — is the fact that their hyperactive music, which is filled with lyrical and sonic pranks, changes direction every few seconds and has melodies that are like bubblegum pop through

To the 12 members of Mirror, forming a boy band and becoming Hong Kong’s Canto-pop singing sensation upon winning a reality show in 2018 was a dream come true. Five years on, the boys are dreaming bigger than ever. “Some of us really want to join Marvel,” Mirror member Edan Lui tells Variety in an

The fast rise of AI technology has opened up a world of brain-busting questions about copyright and creators’ rights — for example, if David Guetta drops a song with a ChatGPT-generated verse from a fake Eminem, who gets paid? — and it’s safe to say them music industry is alarmed by this universe of new

Twice will be Pandora’s newest guest DJs for the streaming platform’s Artist Takeover series. Starting today, the nine-member girl group will be the new faces of their “New K-pop” station for “The Takeover: Twice” — the first-ever feature on the streaming platform with content in both English and Korean, Variety can exclusively share. The Takeover

For Marcus Mumford, getting involved with the original music for “Daisy Jones & the Six” was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. The Mumford & Sons frontman was working at L.A.’s Sound City Studios on his solo record with multi-instrumentalist and producer Blake Mills — who co-wrote and executive

Whenever country-rock pioneers of the late ‘60s and very early ‘70s come up — whether it’s the Byrds, Burritos, Poco, Michael Nesmith, et al. — the Rolling Stones tend to be left out of the conversation. Maybe that’s fine: It’s not as if there aren’t other reasons to bring them their (dead) flowers. Still, they

Sony Music Entertainment India has appointed Vinit Thakkar as managing director, reporting into Shridhar Subramaniam, president of corporate strategy and market development for Asia and the Middle East. Thakkar will take over from Rajat Kakar, who is scheduled to leave at the end of March. Thakkar was previously COO, India and South Asia, for Universal

By the time Kiddo A.I. put pen to paper on a new verse for Rema’s “Calm Down,” the mellow afrobeats banger had already amassed hundreds of millions of streams and propelled the Nigerian artist to global stardom. If that wasn’t intimidating enough, the Miami-based songwriter had to capture the voice and allure of childhood hero

“Midnight” just got even more exciting, as Taylor Swift revealed she will drop four unreleased songs at midnight ET/ 9 p.m. PT, on the eve of the first night of her Eras Tour. Three of the songs are part of Swift’s massive re-recording undertaking, and one is a never officially released track that was written

Though technology has allowed for the execution of hologram tours to be sharper than ever — with performances from late legends like Tupac and Amy Winehouse — some of the existential aspects of those showcases are still a major turn-off to many musicians. Most recently, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda shut down the idea of performing

Being in U2 means never having to say you’re sorry, and yet it has sometimes seemed like Bono has been on a kind of apology tour in recent years, whether the singer has been waxing humble about the universal iTunes album drop or about U2’s grandeur or about the sound of his own voice. But

The living hell of concert ticket-buying loomed into the foreground again this week, but this time it was not millions clamoring for a limited number of Taylor Swift or Bruce Springsteen tickets but rather attempts by long-running British alternative band the Cure to avoid gouging fans for its forthcoming “Lost World” North American tour. While

Nickelback’s induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at Monday’s Juno Awards called for a local hero — and who better to introduce the honorees than Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid. “The LeBron of hockey,” as Junos host Simu Liu called the athlete, is currently regarded as the NHL’s best player. In Edmonton, not

At some point over the course of every South by Southwest, most attendees ask themselves some version of this question: “Who can I see tonight in a club that will likely be playing an arena in a year?” Judging from the line to get in (and the floor packed in anticipation) for many Gen Zers

The past year has seen the K-pop industry expanding into everything from ETFs to Broadway, and today, March 15, marks its leap into the comic and graphic novel world: Top group NCT 127 has teamed up with Z2 Comics alongside Universal Music Group and its Korean label SM Entertainment for “NCT 127: Limitless,” an original

Jim Gordon, a top drummer for Eric Clapton, George Harrison and countless others who was diagnosed with schizophrenia after murdering his mother in 1983, has died. According to the announcement, he died Monday from natural causes at California Medical Facility in Vacavillle, Calif., after a long incarceration and lifelong battle with mental illness. He was

Miranda Lambert announced Wednesday that she is leaving Sony Music Nashville, the company she’s been with since the beginning of her almost two-decade recording career. She did not say where she might be landing after her departure — only that she “can’t wait” to see what comes next. “Since I was 19 years old, Sony

The entertainment business is filled with polymaths, but this week’s “Strictly Business” podcast guest, Evan Bogart, is a rarity even by its standards: He’s a songwriter of hits for Beyonce, Rihanna, Lizzo and others; owner of the large publishing company Seeker Music; chair of the Recording Academy’s new songwriters and composers wing; and not least,

“It’s clear this theater isn’t used to rock concerts,” Nick Jonas roared from the stage. “The spotlights can’t hit us because you’re all standing.”  He was right: Broadway’s Marquis Theater, which has housed acclaimed but not quite foot-stomping, hip-shaking productions of musicals like “Tootsie” and “Beetlejuice,” isn’t accustomed to two hours of 1,600 jumping, screaming fans. Yet

Bobby Caldwell, the soulful singer-songwriter behind the 1978 hit “What You Won’t Do for Love,” has died after a long illness. He was 71. His wife, Mary Caldwell, announced the news on Bobby’s Twitter, writing, “Bobby passed away here at home. I held him tight in my arms as he left us. I am forever

Clipse (a.k.a Pusha T and No Malice), Grace Jones, Lil Wayne, Skrillex, Lil Uzi Vert, Mumford & Sons, Lil Yachty, Summer Walker and more top the lineup for Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Water festival, returning to Virginia Beach from Friday, April 28 – Sunday, April 30. Presented by Walmart and produced by IMGoing and

Sometimes, when a documentary has a great subject, it can explore that subject with an intimacy that’s arresting, only to treat other aspects of the story with a kind of cavalier casualness. “Love to Love You Donna Summer” is that kind of documentary. Co-directed by Roger Ross Williams and Brooklyn Sudano (who is Summer’s daughter),

Everything old is new again, at some point — and at this late date, it’s a fierce debate over how strong Meg White’s drumming chops were during her 1997-2011 tenure in the White Stripes. The fierceness, though, has mostly been on the side of White’s defenders, who shamed the antagonist who’d called her drumming a

Elton John is just one “E” away from being an EGOT, and there was no mistaking that an event for Television Academy members at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre Monday night was not just about celebrating the success of Disney+’s livestreamed Dodger Stadium special from last November, but about reminding potential voters that the star lacks

Canada’s Juno Awards broadcast didn’t need the Weeknd in the house for a little excitement at Edmonton’s Rogers Place Monday night (March 13). Albertans were already pumped with pride for the induction of their hometown rock stars, Nickelback, later in the show and a night-capping medley by the band, who hail from the tiny town

Juno Awards host Simu Liu ended the two-hour broadcast from Edmonton’s Rogers Place on March 13 with these immortal lines: “Sorry for the boobs.” Not something one would expect to hear at a Canadian music awards show and the “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” star didn’t need to apologize; they weren’t his

Grace Jones, the iconic singer, actor and fixture of New York City’s late-’70s disco scene, will return to Manhattan to perform at the 2023 Blue Note Jazz Festival, marking her first solo headlining show in the city in over 10 years. Jones will kick off the 12th annual edition of the festival on May 31

In a move that signals the unexpected strength of the vinyl market, Metallica has acquired a majority interest in one of the largest vinyl pressing companies in the U.S. —  Furnace Record Pressing, a leading provider of high-quality vinyl records and related services. The acquisition formalizes a long-standing relationship between the band and the company, which