Music

Taylor Swift is back at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with “The Tortured Poets Department” returning to the top of the albums chart for a 16th non-consecutive week. Though the album was released in April, the Grammy-nominated set launched back to the summit from its previous No. 8 position following the first physical release

Charli xcx delivered a heartfelt salute to “The Velvet Underground & Nico.” Jack Antonoff cheekily told a roomful of music industry insiders that “some of you care more about Pop Crave than Pitchfork.” Lana Del Rey confessed she didn’t submit her music for Grammy nominations early on because she didn’t know how. Olivia Rodrigo outed

While presenting producer and long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff with the Producer of the Decade award at Variety’s eighth-annual Hitmakers event, Lana Del Rey made a rare mention of her husband Jeremy Dufrene, crediting Antonoff’s marriage to actress Margaret Qualley as “a big reason” why she married the 49-year-old Louisiana boat captain. “I’m grateful for [Antonoff]

The definition of a polarizing figure is one who can be as popular as they are toxic, and it’s no mystery that the man formerly known as Kanye West has embraced that status. The seemingly chaotic swirl around his life applies to his music-making as well, and thus it’s not surprising that “Carnival,” a ferocious

Morgan Wallen remains the most popular country artist in contemporary music, as the Tennessee bad boy lands four songs on this year’s Hitmakers countdown. Leading the way is “I Had Some Help,” his chart-topping collaboration with Post Malone, followed by three songs from 2023’s seven-times platinum “One Thing at a Time” album: “Last Night” and

“Dynasty” is a big word — one thinks of the New York Yankees (well, maybe not this year), MGM Pictures, Motown — and Republic Records is deep into its reign. The company has been Variety’s Hitmakers label of the year five out of the last eight years, and it’s had the most consistently high market share of

“It was pretty dire,” says Warner Records co-chairman-COO Tom Corson of his first few months at the label. A veteran executive who’s held senior roles at A&M, Capitol, Columbia, Arista and J Records, Corson came to Warner after a very successful run as COO of RCA Records. But even he was daunted by the task

When Billie Eilish chose “Happier Than Ever” as the title of her previous album, you didn’t have to look far past the straight-faced album cover to find levels of irony in that. She didn’t completely put on a happy face for this year’s full-length follow-up, “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” either. But one track, “Birds

Everyone loves a guitar hero. And young talents who seem to have arrived fully formed, too. So there’s a lot of love in the room for Grace Bowers, the 18-year-old who this year became the fretboard’s new best friend. A player since age 9, Bowers made a name for her music on Instagram and YouTube

In reviewing Laufey‘s August concert with the LA Philharmonic, Variety wrote, “Laufey feels like she was born to play the Hollywood Bowl, with her rapturously received pop/jazz/classical set.” Something else she might have been born for: the big screen. She’s on Imax screens across America this weekend (and some slightly less massive-scale ones as well) with “Laufey’s

“It’s the ho, ho, ho-iest special of all!” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Nonsense Christmas” show arrived on Netflix on Friday. Highlighting her 2023 “Fruitcake” EP, the 49-minute show was chock-full of celebrity appearances, sketch comedy and a blend of her festive tunes and Christmas classics with Carpenter’s signature remixed lyrics. While some of Carpenter’s holiday tracks are

A breakup song and a love letter to his home state of Vermont, Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” had a longer road to chart glory than most. The story begins deep in the pandemic, when Kahan teased the opening verse on Instagram, instantly striking a chord with lonely and isolated followers. He performed the song live

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched Season 11, Episode 10 of “The Masked Singer,” “Quarter Finals: Final Four,” which aired May 8 on Fox. “This Is Us” star Chrissy Metz knew “The Masked Singer” would be a challenge. But that’s why Metz, who was revealed as latest celebrity to be

A day after an unidentified assailant shot a security guard at Drake’s Toronto home, an intruder has been arrested for trying to gain access to the property, located in Bridle Path. Toronto police have confirmed that they returned to the rapper’s house around 2 p.m. on Wednesday (May 8) to arrest the intruder. “Officers were

Meshell Ndegeocello, Fishbone and others lead the 2024 season of the long-running BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival lineup. Now in its 46 th year, the festival returns to the Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park beginning on June 8 and wrapping on August 24. It is the longest-running free performing arts festival in New York City.

Olivia Rodrigo will tour Asia and Australia for the first time in her career, the singer announced Wednesday. Rodrigo has added nine international dates to her massive “Guts” world tour for a total of 82 shows globally. The new dates kick off Sept. 16 in Bangkok, Thailand and continue through Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore,

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The Beatles‘ “Let It Be” documentary, which first released in theaters in 1970, finally sees the light of day once again. The documentary re-releases on Disney+ on Wednesday, May 8. The film was restored

A long list of artists including Robert Plant, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Peter Frampton, Bryan Adams and more have joined the late British singer Steve Marriott’s children and bandmates in opposing the release of “new” recordings featuring AI-generated versions of his vocals. The former frontman of the Small Faces and Humble Pie (and Rock and

Nearly three years after a crowd crush at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival left 10 concertgoers dead, event promoter Live Nation has settled nine of the 10 wrongful death lawsuits that came in the wake of the catastrophe. News of the settlements comes as one of the lawsuits was set to go to trial this week.

An HBO concert special based on Lady Gaga’s 2022 “Chromatica Ball” tour will premiere on the network on Saturday, May 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT  and will be available to stream on Max.   The special was filmed before a sold-out crowd of 52,000 people at Los Angeles’s Dodger Stadium in September of 2022 and features

Steve Albini, a leading light of indie-rock’s sound and morality as frontman of Big Black and Shellac and recording engineer for Nirvana, PJ Harvey and many other artists, has died at the age 61. The news was confirmed to Variety on Wednesday by Taylor Hales, who works at Albini’s Chicago recording studio, Electronic Audio; no

(This article is unintentionally a counterpoint to my colleague Owen Gleiberman’s considerably more-positive take on the Beatles‘ “Let It Be” film, restored by Peter Jackson and released today on Disney+.) When I was a Beatles-obsessed seven-year-old, my mother, in an act of selfless parental love, took me to a Fab Four film festival: “Hard Day’s

North West, the daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, has joined the cast of Disney’s “The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl,” a live concert event that will be filmed across two performances and released as a special on Disney+. West is set to star alongside previously announced cast members Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, Billy

Tyler Childers and Sierra Ferrell lead the nominations for the 2024 Americana Honors & Awards, both picking up nods in each of the three categories in which they were eligible — album of the year, song of the year and artist of the year. Longtime favorite Childers is up for “Rustin’ In The Rain” for

It’s a strange sensation to see an artist who you last saw performing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before a global audience of 120 million-plus at the Super Bowl singing ten feet in front of you at the Blue Note jazz club in New York’s Greenwich Village. But that was the consolation prize for 400

The Academy of Country Music Awards show set for May 16 is getting some additional octane in its performance lineup with the addition of two of the biggest artists of the moment from outside the country genre, Post Malone and Noah Kahan. Malone looks set for a solo moment on the ACM Awards show, while

Global talent, entertainment, sports and advisory company UTA has signed composer Laura Karpman for representation in all areas. The signing comes on the heels of her Oscar-nominated score for best picture nominee “American Fiction.”  In a statement, Karpman who has won five Emmys said, “While I’m at my core a musician and composer, there are so many

Kobalt has signed singer-songwriter Imani “Mocha” Lewis, co-writer of Tyla’s Grammy winning “Water,” and eight other tracks on the South African singer’s self-titled debut album. “Mocha is a phenomenally gifted and versatile songwriter whose power to create lyrics and melody are only just now being recognized in the creative community,” said Genevieve Jackson Huguely, creative

Dua Lipa, Tyler, The Creator, Chris Stapleton, Blink-182, Sturgill Simpson, Pretty Lights, Khruangbin and Leon Bridges are the headliners for the 2022 Austin City Limits Music Festival, along with performances from Khruangbin, Leon Bridges, Carin León, Norah Jones, Reneé Rapp, Foster The People, Kehlani (only weekend one), Teddy Swims, Benson Boone, CAAMP, Dominic Fike, the

Tiwa Savage has long held a unique position in African music as the leading female artist in the Afrobeats genius. After headlining global tours, collaborating with Beyoncé and Brandy and championing newcomers, Savage Tiwa is embarking on her next venture: starring in and executive producing her debut full-length feature film, “Water and Garri.” The film,