Music

The LA Philharmonic has revealed additional concerts and programs set to take place at Walt Disney Hall in a winter/spring schedule that stretches through June 14, 2022, including newly announced concerts that will have hip-hop star Nas and singer-songwriter Father John Misty doing orchestral concerts with the LA Phil. The concert with Father John Misty

As expected, the Grammy Awards have been postponed indefinitely due to coronavirus-related concerns, an Academy spokesperson has confirmed to Variety. No new date has been confirmed as of yet. While the 2022 show had been moving full speed ahead to take place on Jan. 31 before a full audience at its traditional venue, the Crypto.com

After scoring his first No. 1 with country artist Morgan Wallen, who was caught on tape using the N-word last year, rapper Lil Durk says other hip-hop acts should follow his lead. When asked about his recent rap-country hit “Broadway Girls,” Durk said of his collaborator Wallen, “He ain’t no racist, that’s my boy. We

American Cinema Editors announced the new date and venue for the 72nd annual Ace Eddie Awards, which will now take place on March 5 at 4 p.m. at the Theater at the Ace Hotel, with nominations being announced on Jan. 27. “We are thrilled to be partnering with the Theater at the Ace Hotel for

The Smile, a new group with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood and Sons Of Kemet’s Tom Skinner, have released their debut single, “You Will Never Work In Television Again.” The song was produced by longtime Radiohead associate Nigel Godrich and was first aired during the group’s secret show as part of last year’s Glastonbury

Death Cab for Cutie, David Byrne, Yo La Tengo, Japanese Breakfast, Sharon Van Etten and the Flaming Lips are among the artists featured on “Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono,” a compilation tribute album “imagined and curated” by Death Cab’s Benjamin Gibbard and coming on Canvasback-Atlantic Records on Feb. 18, Ono’s 89th birthday. The full

Columbia Records has named Julian Swirsky senior vice president of A&R, the label’s chairman and CEO Ron Perry has announced. Swirsky, who will also launch his own venture with the label, is based in New York and starts at the company on January 18. Previously, Swirsky was a senior VP of A&R at Republic Records,

All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Cher and Saweetie aren’t exactly an expected duo, but considering each of their unique holds on popular culture

Adele, Ed Sheeran, ABBA and Olivia Rodrigo had the top albums of 2021 in the U.K., according to a new survey of the year in music released by the BPI, based on Official Charts Company data. The overall news was positive for the record industry in Europe, with an asterisk: Streaming was up a fairly

The multinational vocal quartet Il Divo has announced that its U.S. tour will go on as scheduled beginning Feb. 2, despite the Dec. 19 death of member Carlos Marin. Mexican American baritone Steven LaBrie has been drafted to join the surviving members for the tour, which has been rechristened as a “Greatest Hits” trek and

The first U.S. chart news of 2022 finds that we haven’t actually gone out with the old and in with the new. Adele comes into the year still on top of the Billboard 200 album chart, as she probably will be for at least one more week… and Mariah Carey enters it still commanding the

Nicholas Britell has a leading three nominations from the Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards, with Tuesday’s announcement of this year’s nominees for music in visual media finding Britell in contention for both song and score for his work on Adam McKay’s satire “Don’t Look Up,” as well as a nom for TV score for “Succession.”

Plenty of pop stars get tired of looking perfect all the time and do things to mess up or dirty up their images — but Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. the Weeknd, has taken that to a new level over the course of the past two years. In videos and other appearances for his “After Hours” album

A judge has dismissed the lawsuit filed against the surviving members of Nirvana over the cover image of their iconic album “Nevermind.” Earlier this year, Spencer Elden — the baby pictured naked on the front of the album — sued a number of individuals and companies associated with the record including Nirvana band members Dave

Current Grammy-nominated for best alternative album for “Daddy’s Home,” St. Vincent had a hella-holy good year in 2021, not just putting out her first new collection in four years but taking it on the road with her most satisfying tour to date, a combination of soul revue and big blowout rock show that included triumphant

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, has begun work on “Donda 2,” a direct follow-up to his 2021 certified gold album “Donda.” The development was confirmed by Steven Victor to Complex. Victor is currently the chief operating officer of G.O.O.D. Music, the record label founded by West in 2004. Victor is also senior

Richard James Burgess — president/CEO of the American Association of Independent Music and a veteran producer, musician and author — has been awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in her New Year’s Honours List. The honor — which has been awarded to the Beatles, Adele and Ed

Sony Music Publishing has signed Brazilian superstar singer Anitta to a worldwide publishing agreement, the company announced on Monday. While the singer has released four albums and has been a superstar in Latin America and other territories for years, 2021 saw her U.S. breakthrough single “Girl From Rio” reach the top 40 on its way

A 17-track album of demos recorded by Lou Reed titled “I’m So Free: The 1971 RCA Demos” was briefly released by RCA/ Sony Music on iTunes in Europe over the holiday in an apparent “copyright dump” to extend the company’s’ ownership of the recordings. The album, which was not available in the U.S., was posted

After months of teases, the Weeknd has finally announced that his new album, “Dawn FM,” will be dropping on Friday (Jan. 7). He unveiled  the news in a characteristically cryptic video that, in line with his series of videos from his previous album, “After Hours,” finds him well dressed, in some kind of peril, and

UPDATED: After months of negotiations, David Bowie’s estate has sold the singer’s formidable publishing catalog to Warner Chappell Music for a price upwards of $250 million, sources confirm to Variety. The catalog spans six decades and includes such songs as “Heroes,” “Changes,” “Space Oddity,” “Fame,” “Let’s Dance,” “Rebel Rebel,” “Golden Years,” “Ziggy Stardust,” “All the

Since the omicron variant of COVID-19 surfaced in the United States, social media pundits, have flippantly (or accidentally) referred to it as the Omarion variant. Well, the R&B artist has heard all the jokes and he’s running with it.  “Hi, this is Omarion. I am an artist — not a variant,” he begins the first

Stephen J. Lawrence, a musical talent whose credits included 1972’s “Free to Be… You and Me” and a prolific run on “Sesame Street,” died on Thursday at Clara Maas Medical Center in Belleville, New Jersey. He was 82 years old. His death was confirmed to Variety by his wife Cantor Cathy Lawrence. Born on Sept. 5, 1939,

Songs that make you go hmmm took no holiday during the second year of the pandemic. Libs-owning country? Check. Gay-baiting hip-hop? Sure, we had that. Anti-vax rock? It’s practically become its own subgenre — why not? Defiantly rabble-rousing songs from Kid Rock, DaBaby, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Aaron Lewis and Brantley Gilbert weren’t exactly the

Bobby Bones said on Friday that he will not be returning as a mentor on “American Idol” for the hit competition show’s 20th season. The radio personality and “Dancing With the Stars” winner, who became a full-time mentor on “American Idol” during Season 17, revealed via a now-expired Instagram story that he won’t be returning

It’s brutal out there, and that’s why, more than ever, we needed the consoling and prodding pleasures of popular music to help everything make sense in here. [Stage direction: taps chest, knowingly.] This list of the 50 best songs of 2021 — out of about 500 that were under consideration — is a modest attempt

Rob Stringer, the UK-born and -raised chairman of Sony Music Group, has been honored by the Queen of England with a CBE ranking (for Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for his service to the music industry and philanthropic endeavors. The Queen hands out the honor annually on New Year’s Day. It is

Soundtrack labels continued to thrive in 2021, discovering old film scores worth preserving and expanding classics to meet the seemingly insatiable thirst for music written for screens large and small. Limited-edition runs continue to be the primary marketing plan for most – with pressings of anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 copies – and fan favorites

From Issa Rae of “Insecure” to Discovery Inc.’s indefatigable CEO David Zaslav, Variety chronicled — as we have since 1905 — the stories of the biggest powerbrokers, dealmakers and creative trailblazers in Hollywood. Stephen Colbert, Anthony Mackie, Chloé Zhao, Phoebe Bridgers, Michaela Coel, Lil Nas X, Jean Smart and Jack Harlow are just some of

The universe has a new a queen — and her name is Grag Queen. The Brazilian performer was crowned the winner Wednesday of the debut season of “Queen of the Universe,” Paramount Plus’ international drag queen singing competition series from the creators of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” The finale, in which the audience chose the winner