Music

Music supervisors behind the songs of “Wicked” and “A Complete Unknown” led the winners at the 15th annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards on Sunday night. On the TV side, the music supervisors behind “Agatha All Along” and “Baby Reindeer” triumphed. Stephen Schwartz was awarded the Icon Award to celebrate his contributions to the music and

Legendary pop/R&B vocalist Roberta Flack, who was launched to stardom in the early ’70s by the Grammy-winning hits “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” has died, according to a statement from her rep. No cause of death was cited; she was 88. “We are heartbroken that

Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts have announced dates for the “Love Earth” world tour, taking place this summer. The first leg of the tour launches on June 18 in Rättvik, Sweden and continues through Europe and the U.K., with North American dates (produced by Live Nation) beginning in North Carolina on August 8 before concluding in Los Angeles

The long-running hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan have announced what is described as “the start of their final tour,” titled “Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber.” Produced by AEG, the 27-date tour will kick off on June 6 in Baltimore at CFG Bank Arena and visit Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, Chicago, New York’s Madison Square Garden, Boston, and more

South Korea’s SM Entertainment is betting big on its latest venture into the K-pop scene, launching its first multi-member girl group since the phenomenally successful Girls’ Generation. Hearts2Hearts, an eight-member ensemble, made their highly anticipated debut on Feb. 24 with their first single “The Chase.” The octet — comprising members Jiwoo, Carmen, Yuha, Stella, Juun,

There are the ladies who lunch. And then there are the ladies of musical theater who eat everyone else’s lunch. “Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends” has plenty of the latter, and as a revue, as opposed to a narrative musical, it has no limit on the number of power diva ballads that can be packed into

It might’ve been a long time coming, but Drake has finally scored a win in his contentious rap beef with Kendrick Lamar: “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U,” Drake and PartyNextDoor’s first joint LP, tops the Billboard 200 at No. 1, taking the spot from Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX.” “$ome $exy” earned the equivalent of 246,000 album

It’s been established for years that Phil Collins won’t be returning to the drum kit, as he spent the final Genesis tour several years ago singing from a seated position and letting his son handle percussion duties. But in a new interview with Mojo magazine, Collins makes it clear that he has no inclination to

Chlöe Bailey is being accused of not paying a songwriter-producer, Melvin Moore, professionally known as “OneInThe4Rest” (“4Rest”), for his contributions across her “Trouble In Paradise” album. In a lawsuit filed Feb. 20, and independently viewed by Variety, Moore accuses Bailey and her labels, Columbia Records and Parkwood Entertainment, of deceptive business practices including withholding payment

Titan Content has secured a strategic partnership with Republic Records’ Imperial Music division for its upcoming K-pop girl group AtHeart, while simultaneously revealing the complete lineup and dropping the group’s first teaser video along with official social media channels. The seven-member group, which will make their official debut this summer, consists of Michi, Katelyn, Seohyeon,

Voletta Wallace, the Notorious B.I.G.‘s mother who kept his legacy alive in the decades following his passing, has died. Wallace was in hospice care at her residence in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, when she died of natural causes. The Monroe County Coroner’s Office confirmed her death in a statement to Variety. She was 78. Born in Jamaica,

Anthony Ricco, one of the lawyers representing Sean “Diddy” Combs in his federal case, has entered a bid to withdraw as the imprisoned mogul’s counsel, according to a motion filed on Friday morning. In the motion, Ricco is vague about the reasons why he wants to withdraw from representing Combs, whose trial is set to

Lady Gaga is set to perform at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in May. The landmark free concert, set to take place on May 3, will be broadcast live on Multishow and TV Globo, starting at 9 p.m. BRT. The show will be open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis for

Chicago soul giant Jerry Butler, who succeeded early hits as lead singer of the keystone R&B group Impressions and a notable solo career with years as a Windy City politician, has died, according to the Chicago Sun TImes. No cause of death was announced, although he had suffered from Parkinson’s disease; he was 85. Alongside

On “Cut My Hair,” the opening declaration of her 2023 sophomore album “Think Later,” Tate McRae cast off the gloomy clouds that hung over her oft-downbeat catalog: “Sad girl bit got a little boring,” she proclaimed. Indeed, up until that point, the Canadian pop star was prone to teenage navel-gazing — “Feel Like Shit” and

Jennie has shared her new Doechii-featuring single, “ExtraL,” the third single from the former’s forthcoming “Ruby” LP, out March 7. The track blends elements of Doechii’s sleek hip-hop beats with Jennie’s signature pop sound. In a music video directed by Lyrical Lemonade (Cole Bennett), Jennie and Doechii are looking chic, sporting white pantsuits as they

Selena Gomez, Benny Blanco and Gracie Abrams deliver on their new collaboration, a pop anthem dubbed “Call Me When You Break Up.” The song is the second offering from Gomez and Blanco’s forthcoming “I Said I Love You First” collaborative album, set to be released on March 21 via SMG Music/Friend Keep Secrets/Interscope Records. Over a

Live Nation had moderate year-over-year growth, with the release of its year-end report that saw total revenue of $23 billion, operating income of $825 million and adjusted operating income of $2.15 billion. According to the report, the 2024 year-end earnings and increases were notable, yet didn’t hit comparable percentage shifts from years prior. This year’s

On January 24, 1975, Keith Jarrett gave a solo piano performance at the Opera House in Cologne, Germany. The concert lasted a little over an hour, it was entirely improvised, and it was recorded and turned into a double album, “The Köln Concert,” released later that year. It became the best-selling solo album in jazz

Canadian pop star Tate McRae has been booked and busy: Between headlining her world tour and choreographing her elaborate dance moves, she found the time to craft her latest album, “So Close To What,” and one of its standout tracks, “Sports car,” is quickly becoming a fan favorite. In an episode of Variety’s Behind the

By most measurements, James Blake is quite a successful musician: a popular, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter-producer specializing in electronic-based, pop-leaning music, who released eight albums on major labels over the past decade, sells out major venues regularly and has guested on songs by Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott and Kanye West. He even performed with Timothee Chalamet

IFPI, the global recorded-music industry trade organization, has announced that “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone is the winner of the IFPI Global Single Award for 2024. Boone was also named, with Shaboozey, Variety‘s Hitmakers newcomer of the year for 2024. Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” was No. 2 and Teddy Swims’ with “Lose Control” landed at No. 3 — see the complete

“Naruto,” one of the world’s most popular and profitable manga and anime franchises, is getting its first-ever North American symphonic concert tour. Variety can now exclusively unveil the tour’s dates and locations. Fresh off a successful European tour that drew over 60,000 fans, Naruto the Symphonic Experience will visit more than 60 North American cities,

Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman (“Slumdog Millionaire”) continues to push creative boundaries with his latest score for the historical film “Chhaava,” while simultaneously spearheading ambitious plans to revolutionize India’s musical theater landscape. The globally acclaimed musician, speaking with Variety, reveals how he approached the score for director Laxman Utekar’s historical epic following their previous successful collaboration

SPOILER ALERT: Details follow for Season 13, Episode 2 of “The Masked Singer,” “Shrek Night,” which aired February 19 on Fox. Oscar De La Hoya earned a Grammy nomination back in 2001 for best Latin pop album — so he does know a thing or two about singing. But nonetheless, he faced tough competition on

Warner Records has announced a partnership with executive Tim Hinshaw and his creative studio Free Lunch Agency, launching Free Lunch Records and revealing its first signees Syd and Alex Isley. Over the past five years, Hinshaw has etched a space for music as head of hip-hop and R&B at Amazon Music. In 2022, he brokered

Universal Pictures has landed the rights to Tanya Smith’s memoir “Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System — and Pocketed $40 Million.” Janelle Monáe is attached to star in the film adaptation, which she’ll also produce through her company Wondaland Pictures. Smith, who will be involved in the

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team is going on the offensive with a new motion that seeks to dismiss one of the three federal charges against him, claiming that the charges are racially motivated and that “no white person has ever been the target of a remotely similar prosecution” under the Mann Act. In the memorandum

The scores for Italian horror films, from giallos to zombie movies, have in recent years become a cornerstone of the vinyl reissue market. Not a month goes by when collectors can’t acquire a new copy of the soundtrack to “Suspiria,” “Zombi 2,” “Nightmare City” or dozens of other terrifying titles. The music for Italian comedies,

The plethora of solo albums from Blackpink members is not keeping the K-pop quartet from getting back together to play stadiums. This summer the group will play a “limited” run of large-scale shows in 10 cities around the world, including North American stops in L.A.. New York, Chicago and Toronto, it was announced Wednesday. The