Beyonce will drop “Break My Soul,” the first single from her forthcoming seventh solo studio album “Renaissance,” tonight at midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT, the singer announced on social media Monday morning. Unusually, the announcement was not made via a tweet or Instagram post but rather on her profile on each platform; the song
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Elton John has made his entrance into the world of web3 by partnering with Jadu and Sweet to auction a Rocket Man NFT hoverboard that will let Metaverse avatars fly in style, with all sales benefiting the Elton John AIDS Foundation. In addition to the NFT hoverboard, John will also be releasing a series of
On the occasion of Paul McCartney’s 80th birthday weekend, anyone reading this is probably thinking the same thing: Only 80 Paul McCartney songs? The hope, of course, is that he lives to 120, in order to provide a hook for a much easier-to-narrow-down list of his 120 finest. But 80 is just enough to cover
Clipse, the duo of brothers Pusha T and No Malice, reunited on stage Saturday night for Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Water festival in Washington D.C. The last time the two gave a live performance as Clipse was in 2010, shortly after the release of their final album “Til The Casket Drops.” Just as Justin Timberlake
Although it wasn’t a winning night on the field for the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, baseball fans received a treat from Neil Diamond, who gave a rare live performance of “Sweet Caroline.” Diamond retired from concert touring in 2018 following his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. This post-retirement appearance is the first time that Diamond has
The last time the Strokes played Chicago’s Metro was in 2001. The band’s debut album “Is This It” was just a few months old, but it had already launched Julian Casablancas and Co. to indie stardom. The now festival anthem and sports arena staple “Reptilia,” which would bring them to new heights, was two years
If you think that this weekend’s Record Store Day Drop feels like a dribble, you’re not completely wrong. The June 18 event is an adjunct to the big collectors’ kahuna that happened back in April, with just under 80 exclusive vinyl titles being released for this bonus RSD, versus the roughly 400 shoppers got in
The music industry’s return to whatever passes for normal these days has been hit and miss, to put it mildly: Grammy Week, Coachella, and the first publishers’ week in three years have seen an uneven balance of caution and carelessness — some events have a relatively high percentage of masks and distancing, some have hardly
“As far as the Drake era, man, we in the golden ages,” Drake proclaimed, lying, on his last album, “Certified Lover Boy,” a behemoth that subsumed everything within its blast radius. A mere 287 days after its arrival, few are still actively stumping for it. Critics characterized the album as a creative nadir, indistinct and
Grammy Awards are one thing, but being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame is another matter — the inductees are decided by a relatively small group of songwriting and music-publishing peers and celebrated at an invite-only event, and it’s a tough crowd. It’s a sadly common assumption that female pop stars don’t write their
The Black Music Action Coalition has issued a report on representation for Blacks and other people of color in mainstream country music, and, probably unsurprisingly to anyone who has followed the genre and some of its attendant racial controversies, the picture painted isn’t a pretty one. The BMAC issued the damning report Thursday in advance
Justin Bieber postponed his remaining North American tour dates Friday, after previously announcing that he is battling Ramsay Hunt syndrome. In Bieber’s case, the rare virus has caused facial paralysis. “In light of Justin’s ongoing recovery, the remaining U.S. tour shows scheduled for June and early July will be postponed,” reads a post on the
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Bey Hive, rejoice: a new Beyonce album is coming. This week, the music mogul announced her new record “Renaissance,” due July 29, on her Instagram, where she linked out to her website allowing fans
Japanese Breakfast, Wet Leg and Madlib were among the top winners at the Libera Awards on Thursday night, the American Association of Independent Music’s annual awards ceremony. The event returned in a hybrid setting, with people from the indie community gathering at New York’s Webster Hall to receive awards, catch a DJ set from Madlib
Nandi Bushell, the teen drummer (she turned 12 in April) who became an internet phenomenon during the pandemic, will join the Foo Fighters in honoring the late Taylor Hawkins at a Wembley Stadium tribute concert in late September. Hawkins died in March in Colombia at the age of 50. The Foo Fighters — comprised of Dave
Paul McCartney welcomed Bruce Springsteen on Thursday night at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., for a performance of the Boss’ anthem “Glory Days” and the early Beatles tune “I Wanna Be Your Man.” Springsteen appeared 29 songs into the show, the last on the North American leg of McCartney’s “Got Back” tour. He
A piece of legislation known as the Free Artists from Industry Restrictions (FAIR) Act has long divided the music industry in California, with powerful forces on both sides taking positions. If enacted, FAIR would undo a 35-year-old amendment to the state’s historic “seven-year statute” and effectively remove the power of record labels to sue artists
Organizers of KCON have unveiled the initial talent lineup for the 10th anniversary edition of the celebration of K-pop and other aspects of South Korean pop culture. The three-day event, presented by Korean entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM, in Los Angeles will feature performances and fan showcase events around K-pop acts Cravity, Enhyphen, Itzy, Nmixx, Stayc,
Drake has unveiled his follow-up to last year’s “Certified Lover Boy.” The rapper announced his seventh studio album titled “Honestly, Nevermind” is set to drop tonight at midnight via an Instagram post earlier today (June 16). See below. Although the news came with little detail (or warning), Kanye West was quick to like the post
There’s no question: As challenging as the music industry can be for men, it’s twice as tough for women. That was one of the many takeaways from a panel discussion involving Grammy-winning songwriter Autumn Rowe (Jon Batiste’s “We Are,” Dua Lipa, Ava Max) and top music publishers Jody Gerson (chairman/CEO of Universal Music Publishing), Golnar
Just hours after Beyoncé announced that her forthcoming sixth solo album, “Renaissance,” will be arriving on July 29, Variety received more information on the release from a source familiar with the project. The album will feature both dance and country-leaning tracks, the source says, with contributions from hit songwriter Ryan Tedder, who co-wrote her 2008
Eminem and CeeLo Green have shared their original song contribution for the upcoming Baz Luhrmann-directed Elvis Presley biopic, out in theatres on June 24. On “The King and I,” Eminem is joined by CeeLo over a sample of Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” as the pair take turns paying homage to the king of rock n’ roll.
Rayna Bass and Selim Bouab have been promoted to co-presidents of 300 Entertainment, it was announced Thursday by co-founder and chairman/CEO Kevin Liles. Bass and Bouab, who both joined 300 in 2014, were most recently the company’s senior VP of marketing and senior VP/head of A&R, respectively. This marks the first major executive move at
The Radio Music License Committee, a trade group representing radio stations in the U.S., has filed a petition in the Federal Southern District of New York to hold consolidated rate proceedings before a single designated judge. That would, in effect, pit ASCAP and BMI, the two largest performance rights organizations in the U.S., against each
Lizzo, Jack Harlow and Roddy Ricch are among this year’s first round of performers taking the stage at the BET Awards, airing live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on June 26 at 8 p.m. Additional performers include Babyface, Chance the Rapper, Chlöe, Doechii, Ella Mai, Fireboy DML, Giveon, Joey Bada$$, Maverick City Music
There’s little question that David Bowie’s rise to superstardom in 1972 was a carefully calculated campaign, involving an unforgettable, otherworldly image, a strategically timed public announcement of his bisexuality, a rapid-fire series of tour dates and television appearances, no small amount of business and P.R. savvy — and most importantly, one of the greatest albums
The long wait for a new Beyonce project will soon come to an end, with the singer officially posting a July 29 date (with pre-save and pre-buy options) for a project titled “Renaissance.” It will be Beyonce Knowles’ first drop of new solo music since 2016’s “Lemonade,” which was itself a surprise release and her
“Making it” in America had long been a dream for Australian production and songwriting duo Isaac “Zac” De Boni (pictured at left) and Michael “Finatik” Mule — or FnZ. And while the pair are not new to the rap scene as producers (or even to Los Angeles, where they are now based), 2022 so far
For this week’s edition of Variety‘s “Strictly Business” podcast. we’re bringing you a panel discussion from the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills on May 4. Titled “Drop the Mic: The Business of Music,” I was joined on stage by four incredibly knowledgable music industry professionals (pictured, from left): Marc Cimino, chief operating officer
HYBE, the Korean music company representing BTS, lost $1.7 billion of market value within the first hour of stock trading on Wednesday (June 15) following the band’s hiatus announcement. On Tuesday, June 14, the seven group members announced that they are going on a hiatus — via a translator — to pursue solo work, which