Variety parent company Penske Media and sister brand Rolling Stone have acquired a majority interest in the Life Is Beautiful music festival. Founded in 2013 by the late Tony Hsieh, former CEO of Zappos, Life Is Beautiful is an annual music and arts festival in Las Vegas, Nev. Its most recent installment in 2021 boasted
Music
Anyone who’s had a longtime preset for a rock or pop oldies station is well aware of the generational shift: “Oldies” now almost entirely means the late ’70s and especially 1980s and ’90s, with rarely a pre-1970 tune to be found that isn’t the Beatles. Even given the recurring resurgence of the Fab Four, you’re
The road to UTA was a circuitous one for Mike Guirguis, better known as Mike G, one of the top agents working in music today with a roster that includes Young Thug, The Kid Laroi, Burna Boy and Wizkid, among others. The Los Angeles-born and -bred industry veteran, who’s of Egyptian descent, started out in
Mitski Miyawaki’s rise through the indie rock ranks is the stuff of envy, even if she herself seems to be of two minds as to whether it should be. The 31-year-old’s most recent albums, 2016’s “Puberty 2” and 2018’s “Be the Cowboy,” earned spots on countless best-of lists, millions of streams, and TikTok meme-ification, thanks
The Band’s Robbie Robertson has joined the growing catalog-sale party and sold his music publishing, recorded interests and name, image & likeness rights to Iconoclast, a new firm founded by Olivier Chastan, the former CEO of Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group. The news was first reported by Music Business Worldwide. The acquisition covers Robertson’s entire
Italian actor and singer Michele Morrone is set to make his Indian debut alongside Bollywood star Jacqueline Fernandez with music video “Mud Mud Ke.” Morrone starred in Polish erotic film ‘365 Days,’ which is getting two sequels from Netflix. Fernandez is a Sri Lankan actor who made a mark in Bollywood with “Kick,” alongside Salman
The Recording Academy and Clive Davis have announced that the 2022 Pre-Grammy Gala, the star-studded “Clive Party” held the night before the awards, will be postponed until next year, Variety has confirmed. The Grammys’ move to Las Vegas presumably complicated the arrangements for the event. However, the announcement notes that other Grammy Week events will
Dolly Parton has been named as the host of the Academy of Country Music Awards, set to be streamed live March 7 on Prime Video from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Parton’s last and only time hosting the ACM Awards was 22 years ago, in 2000. The country-pop superstar does have other country awards show
Fox is staying radio silent on a report that former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani — more recently remembered for his part in encouraging a coup against the elected United States president on Jan. 6, 2021 — was revealed as a contestant during a recent taping of its reality competition series “The Masked Singer.”
The family of late rapper Drakeo the Ruler has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Live Nation, citing a lack of “proper safety measures” at the Once Upon a Time in LA festival on Dec. 18. The 28-year-old rapper was fatally stabbed backstage at the festival, before he was scheduled to perform. The court documents
It’s been more than two decades since Björk’s once-maligned, now-revered Marjan Pejoski “swan dress” became the talk of the 73rd Academy Awards red carpet, and since then her way-left-of-center proclivities have become more and more commonplace. Kanye West wearing a mask while performing the seismic Yeezus Tour? Lady Gaga’s meat outfit? Katy Perry’s singing, phallic
On Wednesday (Feb. 2), nearly a week after Joni Mitchell requested for her music to be removed from Spotify, several of her albums remain available on the streaming service. Last Thursday, Mitchell made the request in solidarity with her longtime friend and collaborator Neil Young as a form of protest against the streaming giant “spreading
Italy’s Grammy-wining singer Laura Pausini, Alessandro Cattelan and Lebanese/British pop star Mika are set to host the upcoming 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy. The hosts of Eurovision — which boasts an audience of over 180 million viewers, making it the world’s biggest and most-watched song competition — were announced Wednesday during
Lil Nas X is a lot of things: Grammy-winner, social media darling and international superstar. Now, he’s adding comic book character to that list. This Wednesday, TidalWaves Comics published “Fame: Lil Nas X,” the latest entry into its popular “Fame” comic book series. Launched in 2010, the anthology tells the life stories of beloved and
New York University’s Clive Davis Institute has introduced its first-ever course on Taylor Swift, which launched on Jan. 26 and continues through March 9. Taught by Rolling Stone’s Brittany Spanos, the class will cover her evolution as a creative music entrepreneur, the legacy of pop and country songwriters, discourses of youth and girlhood, and the politics of
David Crosby and Stephen Stills have joined Neil Young and Graham Nash in asking their labels to remove their collective recordings from Spotify. According to the announcement, in support of stopping harmful misinformation about Covid-19 on Joe Rogan’s Spotify-hosted podcast, the musicians have decided to remove their records from the streaming platform including the recordings
On Tuesday evening in New York City, “MJ The Musical,” a new biographical musical celebrating the life and work of Michael Jackson, opened on Broadway. “MJ The Musical,” written by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and produced in arrangement with the Michael Jackson estate, depicts the rehearsal process for Jackson’s 1992 “Dangerous” world tour—set
Dave Franco’s character Xavier plummets to his death within the first minute of “The Afterparty.” But there’s plenty more to learn about the dweeb-turned-pop-superstar, whose origins and motivations unravel across eight episodes of Chris Miller and Phil Lord’s whodunnit, which premiered on Apple TV Plus on Jan. 28. While the series only gives viewers a
“The Sound of Philadelphia,” a documentary on the 1970s “Philly Soul” sound and its masterminds Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell, is coming from Warner Music Entertainment, Warner Chappell Music, and Imagine Documentaries, in partnership with Jigsaw Productions, the companies announced on Wednesday. The lushly orchestrated but soulful sound — exemplified by songs like “Love
British singer-songwriter George Ezra, best known for hit singles “Shotgun,” “Paradise” and “Budapest,” will star in feature documentary “End to End.” The documentary is from producers Richard Yee (“An Idiot Abroad”), Catherine Miller and Fiona Neilson (“Oasis:Supersonic”) and is directed by Adam Scarborough and Christy Tattershall. Protagonist Pictures is handling worldwide sales and will introduce
SPOILER ALERT: This piece contains spoilers for the first three episodes in Season 1 of “Pam and Tommy” which premiered on Hulu Feb. 2. If you think the needle drops in the Hulu original series “Pam & Tommy” — based on the real-life torrid tale of “Baywatch” babe Pamela Anderson and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy
Beck, Duran Duran, Eminem, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon and A Tribe Called Quest are making their first appearances as potential inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in nominations for the class of 2022 that were announced Wednesday morning. These seven join 10 more artists who have been previously nominated in
Sony Group’s pictures division achieved net profits of $1.3 billion in the three months to December 2021, boosted by a return to theatrical releasing and the blockbuster performance of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” in particular. The pictures division’s $1.31 billion figure, reported Wednesday in a regulatory filing, compares with profits of $288 million in the
In answer to the question of whether it’s possible to separate the art from the artist, “MJ” performs a slick, crotch-grabbing sidestep. Packed with nearly 40 hits from Michael Jackson’s irresistible catalogue, the Broadway production from director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon is not so much a biomusical as a high-shine and surface-skimming rehabilitation tour for
Counterculture revivalism: it’s not just about vinyl after all. Principles in music, as it turns out, is another remnant of that era that’s experiencing a comeback, thanks to Neil Young being re-elevated by many to hero status for taking an influential stand. Nice to see you again, personal-integrity-at-the-cost-of-pocketbook-lining! Take off your dusty sandals and stay
The love for Miss Janet was palpable on Friday and Saturday, as the Queen of Pop’s self-titled documentary reigned supreme on primetime, drawing over 15.7 million total viewers across Lifetime and A&E’s linear and digital platforms. It was No. 1 on both Jan. 28 and 29 with women in the 25-54 age range. Among total
Megaforce Records co-founder Jon Zazula — who launched the iconic label, which released the first albums from Metallica, Anthrax and many others, with his wife Marsha in 1982 — died on Tuesday, a rep for the label confirms to Variety. He passed away in Florida surrounded by his brother, daughters, grand-daughters and friends; he was
As part of its first Environment Social Governance report, Warner Music Group announced on Tuesday that it will waive unrecoupled debts for heritage artists, following Sony Music, which made that move last year. Just hours later, a source confirmed to Variety that Universal plans to make a similar announcement as part of its ESG report
After the world last saw her crying over her unexpected exit from Las Vegas, Adele has put on a very happy face in a new Instagram post in which she announces that she’ll be performing live on the Brit Awards telecast Feb. 8. “Hiya, so I’m really happy to say that I am performing at
Brazilian superstar Anitta has signed with UTA for worldwide representation in all areas excluding Brazil. She was previously with WME. At UTA, she will be represented by an all-star team that includes CEO Jeremy Zimmer, global head of music David Zedeck and Jbeau Lewis. Anitta is managed by Brandon Silverstein, founder and CEO of S10