Music

No one told the almost 2,000-strong audience at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles that Supergrass were never as big in North America as they were in their native U.K. After an almost decade-long break-up and reformation in 2019, the excitement for the band’s singular-sounding exuberant pop/rock, which never really went away, is reignited. The

A day after his released his dense and complex album “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” and six days after his mind-melting deep fake clip for “The Heart Part 5,” Kendrick Lamar has unveiled the video for one of the 18-song album’s standout tracks, “N95.” Again directed by Lamar with creative collaborator Dave Free for

Britney Spears has announced that she has suffered miscarriage. The singer shared news of the tragic development to her pregnancy on Saturday afternoon through an announcement signed by her and her fiancé, Sam Asghari. “It is with our deepest sadness we have to announce that we lost our miracle baby early in the pregnancy,” Spears

Paul McCartney has something to prove. What that is is between him and his shrink, although maybe a desire to seem and feel undiminished is not as mysterious as all that. What we do know for certain is that, in the year of our lord 2022, McCartney is doing two-hour-and-40-minute sets that encompass 36 songs.

Raqhid Jevon Render, who was known by his rapper stage name Lil Keed and was a frontrunner of Young Thug’s Young Stoner Life Records label, has died. He was 24 years old. Render’s death was confirmed by his label on Saturday morning. No other details regarding his death were immediately available. Lil Gotit, Render’s blood

Eurovision fans have been left crushed after ticket re-selling site Viagogo failed to deliver tickets to the finals, which takes place tonight in Turin, Italy. Among those left out of pocket was Hila from Israel (she asked that Variety withhold her last name for privacy reasons). She ordered four tickets for her daughter’s bat mitzvah

Hip-hop, like any art form, is a means of creative expression. And while rap music is often semi-autobiographical, when Kanye West recorded in 2018, “I thought about killing you / Premeditated murder,” or when, 18 years earlier, Eminem boasted of putting his dead wife in the trunk of a car, surely those words weren’t meant

Becky G’s second studio album, the vivacious “Esquemas” has arrived via Kemosabe/RCA Records. The new LP sees the Mexican-American pop star dictating her own terms, melting together disco-pop and reggaeton for a unique blend of sounds that’s entirely Becky G.  “Esquemas” takes its listeners through a journey of self-discovery and empowerment beginning with the album’s

Just hours after Kendrick Lamar dropped his long-awaited fifth full-length album, “Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers,” he’s unveiled dates for a massive tour in support of the album, launching in Oklahoma on July 19, moving across North America, Europe and Australia before wrapping in New Zealand late in December, some five months after it

Like virtually every major rock act in the mid-1970s, the Rolling Stones had become bloated and overblown. After the generation-defining singles of the ‘60s and the stellar string of albums running from “Beggars Banquet” to “Exile on Main Street,” they’d eked out three comparatively uninspired sets that, due to Keith Richards’ formidable heroin addiction and

One of Kendrick Lamar’s great strengths as a rapper is his ability to acknowledge and criticize his own biases and prejudices and not place himself above the people he’s singling out. It’s a characteristic that appears frequently in his work, particularly on his deep and dense new album, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers,” which

Italian state broadcaster RAI’s president Marinella Soldi, who is a former CEO of Discovery Networks Southern Europe, has a longstanding rapport with the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s the show on which she remembers first seeing ABBA, one of her favorite pop bands, “with their white flares.” Soldi more recently was mesmerized by Måneskin and the

Kendrick Lamar’s fifth solo album, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers,” finally arrived on Thursday night — his first full-length in five years. The 18-track album includes guest appearances from Summer Walker, Ghostface Killah, Kodak Black, Sampha, Baby Keem, Beth Gibbons of Portishead and a deeply emotional performance from Taylour Paige on the harrowing “We

Florence Welch and the Machine appeared on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” on Wednesday night to promote the band’s new album “Dance Fever.” But before the singer performed her danceable new single “My Love, Welch joined Jimmy Buffet for a surprise duet of his 1977 classic, “Margaritaville.” Fallon, of course, couldn’t help but jump

My Chemical Romance has returned with its first new song since 2014. The six-minute track, titled “The Foundations of Decay,” harkens back to the emo band’s heyday with Gerard Way’s dramatic vocal delivery, soaring guitar riffs and an epic slow build. The song is produced by Way, Doug McKean and lead guitarist Ray Toro. The

It’s safe to say that although Italian rock quartet Maneskin were pretty huge in their home country and parts of Europe when they took the Eurovision stage last year, their name recognition and popularity exploded when they won the coveted prize with their song “Zitti E Buoni.” Over the past year, the group has seen

In what has become the soap opera of the radio industry, Kevin Weatherly, the former program director at Los Angeles’ KROQ, who helped build the station to become a leading arbiter of alternative rock music nationally, is returning to the frequency as senior vice president of programming. He leaves Spotify, where he held the position

Disruptor Records may be known as the home of the Chainsmokers, but ever since New York-based label founder Adam Alpert turned the EDM duo’s success into a joint venture deal with Sony, the imprint is finding its legs outside of the world of electronic music. Most notably, the label has begun growing its own cadre

Thanks to Hulu’s successful run as the streaming partner of Lollapalooza in 2021, the streaming giant is extending its collaboration with Live Nation to serve as the official streaming destination of three of C3 Presents’ biggest music festivals — Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Austin City Limits Music Festival, in both 2022 and 2023. This collaboration marks

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. It’s Harry’s House and we’re all just living in it. Ahead of his second solo album, out May 20, and following two powerhouse headlining performances at Coachella last month, Harry Styles has announced a

Naomi Judd, the country music icon who died on April 30 at the age of 75, died of a self-inflicted firearm wound, her daughter, Ashley Judd, disclosed on Thursday morning. Ashley Judd made an appearance on “Good Morning America” to speak with Diane Sawyer about her mother’s death and how the Judd family has been

Music publishing, a part of the industry that rarely raises its hand to be its hottest or most controversial subject, has recently been an uncharacteristic source of news headlines again and again, due to a seeming gold rush that has major artist-songwriters selling off their catalogs for huge figures. As the chairman-CEO of Sony Music

Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Bad Bunny, Maluma … all are on a first-name basis with Bruno Del Granado, head of the global Latin music touring group at CAA, and our guest on this week’s edition of Variety‘s Strictly Business podcast. And it’s no wonder, seeing as he’s played no small role in their

Sony Music Publishing has signed a global deal with songwriter Ashley Gorley, in partnership with Domain Capital Group. The agreement encompasses Gorley’s complete catalog of songs, as well as future compositions. Gorley has written 59 Country No. 1s for such artists such as Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett and more. Said Domain Capital Group’s

Procter and Gamble (P&G) and iHeartMedia are inviting fans to celebrate visibility and inclusivity for all at the third annual “Can’t Cancel Pride: Proud and Together” fundraiser for the LGBTQ+ community on June 14. The event will feature performances and appearances by Elton John, Katy Perry, Sam Smith, Lizzo, Anitta, Dove Cameron, Betty Who, Kim

Brandon Silverstein, the founder and CEO of S10 Entertainment, is partnering with Simon Fuller for scripted and unscripted projects across film, television, documentary and audio mediums under the S10 Films banner. Fuller, the founder of XIX Entertainment and creator of the “American Idol” format, and Silverstein will develop new entertainment content together, and the partnership

On Tuesday, May 10th, the 70th annual BMI Pop Awards took over the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Hosted by BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill and vice president, worldwide creative Barbara Cade, Carole Bayer Sager and Mike Stoller were honored as BMI Icons for their contributions as songwriters — their many credits

BMG is ramping up its development of new stage musicals in both the U.S., with its first production “Punk Rock Girl!,” and in Germany, following the successful run of its first musical, “Ku’damm 56.” “Punk Rock Girl!” is the debut developmental theatrical production from BMG in the U.S., in partnership with New York-based theatrical company

Rapper Gunna, who was named Monday with fellow Atlanta rapper Young Thug and dozens of others in a massive gang indictment, was booked into Georgia’s Fulton County jail on Wednesday, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other news outlets. The 28-year-old rapper (real name: Sergio Giavonni Kitchens) is charged with a single count of conspiracy

In paying tribute to Bob Dylan at a concert held during the opening festivities for the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Elvis Costello sang an epic, rip-roaring “Like a Rolling Stone,” apparently the first time he’s covered the signature song of his most obvious influence in full in concert. But earlier in the set