“A Strange Loop” was named best musical at the 75th Tony Awards on Sunday, while “The Lehman Trilogy” captured the prize for best play. “Company” won best revival of a musical and “Take Me Out” nabbed the award for best revival of a play. “Company,” which flipped the gender of the protagonist of Stephen Sondheim’s
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Country singer Toby Keith shared a statement Sunday announcing his ongoing battle with stomach cancer. The 60-year-old musician shared that he has been receiving treatment for the illness for the past six months. “Last fall I was diagnosed with stomach cancer,” Keith wrote. “I’ve spent the last 6 months receiving chemo, radiation and surgery. So
Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr., better known by his stage name Roddy Ricch, was arrested Saturday before his scheduled Governors Ball performance for attempting to enter the festival with a loaded weapon. On his way into Citi Field, where the fest was being held, Moore’s vehicle was stopped at a security checkpoint where law enforcement officials
Halsey brought Kate Bush’s resurged “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” to the festival stage as the Saturday headliner for New York City’s Governors Ball Music Festival. Ahead of her performance, they tweeted: “I have surprises tonight for me Gov Ball set,“ but was sure to make the disclaimer: “Songs not people lol
Creem magazine started publishing as a regional monthly in Detroit in 1969, but didn’t go national until 1971, with a firmly anti-establishment bias that took aim at the likes of Jann Wenner’s Rolling Stone and Paul Williams’ Crawdaddy for eminence in the heady early days of rock criticism. Among its earliest writers were certified pioneers
For hundreds of Swifties in New York City, today was a fairytale. That’s because Taylor Swift made a rare public appearance, at Tribeca Festival, to screen her short film “All Too Well” and talk with filmmaker Mike Mills (“C’mon C’mon,” “20th Century Women”) about bringing the 10-minute track to the big screen. “This is not
The so-called Lost Weekend, when John Lennon, from late 1973 through ’74, separated from Yoko Ono and relocated to Los Angeles, where he became a hard-drinking rock-club night owl while carrying on an affair with the 22-year-old May Pang (who had been John and Yoko’s assistant), has long been part of rock mythology. It’s been
Chinese-Canadian superstar Kris Wu is to be sentenced for rape after a secret trial in Beijing on Friday, Hong Kong media reports. He risks spending between three and ten years in jail. Wu was arrested and formally charged in August last year after allegations were made in late July by Du Meizhu, 18, a beauty
Just three days after he replaced Migos on the lineup for New York’s Governors Ball this weekend — and just hours before he was due to perform — Lil Wayne has pulled out due to “flight disruption” and been replaced on the bill by A$AP Ferg (who prefers to be known as just Ferg), the
Dixie D’Amelio, the 20-year-old TikTok powerhouse turned pop singer, manages to experiment with ease on her debut album, “A Letter to Me,” released June 10. On the 15-track album, the Norwalk, Conn. native who bills herself as simply as Dixie is more self-aware than ever. She skips across genres and moods, showing off her vocal
The final public concert appearances of Tony Bennett and Glen Campbell helped tell the world what many families of those suffering with Alzheimer’s disease already know: that music memories can be some of the last to go. A new app, Vera, is dedicated to helping dementia patients by creating personalized playlists that stir different parts
Merck Mercuriadis, founder and CEO of Hipgnosis Songs, was the man of the hour — make that the day — Thursday at Canadian Music Week in Toronto, returning to his native country for three separate sessions. While one saw him presenting the Nile Rodgers Global Creators Award (named, of course, after the legendary Chic cofounder
Justin Bieber took to Instagram on Friday to explain the “pretty serious virus” that has paralyzed half of his face and caused the cancelation of shows in Toronto and D.C. earlier this week. In a two-and-a-half-minute post, he explained and demonstrated that he is suffering from Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a rare virus that affects nerves in
While most proms are filled with cheesy ballads, sparkling dresses and awkward boys in ill-fitting suits; Emo Nite’s prom has a mosh pit to System of a Down, a guest appearance from Travie McCoy (formerly of Gym Class Heroes) and a tombstone mascot affectionately known as “Graveboy.” The event, held on May 6 at the
From the moment Justin Tranter took the stage as the lead singer of ‘00s rock band Semi Precious Weapons in six-inch heels and a full face of makeup, they had their eye on the bigger picture. “My goal was always to be on the cover of Forbes, not the cover of Rolling Stone,” says Tranter,
Eddie Benjamin insists that his first word was “guitar.” “I know that sounds really stupid, but even before I played music [my parents] told me that was my first word,” the 20-year-old multi-instrumentalist tells Variety from his tour bus somewhere in Florida. “I was never really pushed into playing or practicing, or ‘we want you
For those who don’t know, the late, legendary, longtime BBC Radio DJ John Peel was one of the most influential and important people in British music from the 1960s through his death in 2004. He arose in the mid-1960s as the BBC was forced to modernize its programming, and for the next four decades, he
Julee Cruise, whose gorgeous collaborations with David Lynch elevated projects such as “Blue Velvet” and “Twin Peaks,” has died at 65 years old. Her husband, Edward Grinnant, revealed the news on a B-52’s Facebook page, as first reported by The Guardian. Cruise was an occasional touring member of the band, acting as Cindy Wilson’s stand-in
“Demi leaves rehab again/ When is this shit gonna end?” These are the brutally honest opening lines to Demi Lovato’s new single, “Skin of My Teeth,” which sees the Grammy-nominated singer embracing a pop-punk sound and opening up about their struggle with addiction. The guitar-heavy track, which bears some sonic resemblance to Hole’s “Celebrity Skin,”
Britney Spears and longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari officially tied the knot on Thursday night. Asghari’s rep, Brandon Cohen, confirmed the news to Variety, writing in a statement that he is “very ecstatic” about their nuptials. “I know he wanted this for so long. He is so caring and supportive every step of the way,” Cohen
May Fung Lee Pang will be 72 in October, but was barely out of her teens when she boldly entered Apple’s New York offices, lied about being able to type, and secured a job at the Beatles’ multimedia company. She would soon become famous for a much more intimate tie to the group than that,
Britney Spears’ wedding to fiancé Sam Asghari was interrupted on Thursday by the pop star’s ex-husband, Jason Alexander, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to Variety. Sergeant Cyrus Zadeh said that the Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to Spears’ residence to investigate a trespassing complaint, during which they made contact with Alexander. After running a records
The indie band Big Thief has announced the cancelation of two concerts in Tel Aviv following a preemptive Instagram post meant to explain their decision to play in Israel. The shows were scheduled for July 6 and 7 at the Barby club. There was no promoter attached to the dates, which would have wrapped their
There are at least a couple generations of music fans now that have Phoebe Bridgers at the top of a list of artists they’d love to be having still more musical conversations with. But especially for a streaming series that has women in their early 20s at the fore, as Hulu’s “Conversations With Friends” does,
Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp have announced a joint album that’s on the way, after Beck unofficially put word of it out to a concert audience last week, and the pair are heralding it with a video that was released Thursday, for a Depp-penned original song, “This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr.” The
The Tribeca Film Festival kicked off on Wednesday night (June 8) with Jennifer Lopez’s new Netflix documentary “Halftime,” which sees the singer reflect on her evolution as an artist and her myriad professional accomplishments. On the heels of the doc’s premiere, Lopez has unveiled a new partnership with Grameen America, a microfinance organization, to advance
Thursday morning’s announcement of several new Grammy Awards, particularly the long-overdue Songwriter of the Year honor, has already gotten a strong response from the music community. It also reflects an Academy that has been increasingly and more immediately responsive to calls from the community — while the Songwriter of the Year has been a glaring and
Ashley Calhoun has been promoted to president of PULSE Music Group, adding to her role of head of creative. PULSE Music Group currently has credits on the top three songs in the U.S. — Harry Styles’ “As It Was” (via Tyler Johnson), Jack Harlow’s “First Class” (via Angel Lopez) and Future’s “Wait For U Ft.
“It’s a little surreal, seeing my best friend’s face blown up so big,” says multimedia artist Laurie Anderson, gesturing to a giant photo of her late husband, Lou Reed’s, at the beginning of a media tour of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ stunning exhibit on the legendary singer, songwriter and Velvet
Warner Chappell Music and Kevin Hart’s global multi-platform media company, Hartbeat, have announced an exclusive music publishing partnership. Under the deal – a first of its kind for Hartbeat – WCM will administer all of Hartbeat’s music composition copyrights, covering future programming as well as past works from shows like “Die Hart” and “Hart to Heart.” WCM will also help build the company’s music catalog