Music

Everything being relative, the 2021 MTV VMAs represented a big rebound from the all-time low point of last year’s show, which ended up being pre-recorded without an audience due to pandemic conditions, yet which had everyone involved weirdly trying to pretend that the show was going out live, complete with canned laughter and applause. This

Oscar-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez won their first primetime Emmy Sunday night for their popular “Agatha All Along” song from Marvel Studios and Disney Plus’ limited series “WandaVision.” The collaborators, whose Academy Award wins include Disney’s “Frozen” and “Coco” movies, won in Emmy’s music and lyrics category, beating out tunes from “The Queen’s

Machine Gun Kelly and UFC Champ Conor McGregor got into a scuffle just before the broadcast of the MTV Video Music Awards at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, according to multiple reports on social media. Photos snapped online show both men being pulled apart, with McGregor’s drink hurled at Kelly. Kelly, wearing a red glittered suit, shielded

Bo Burnham, the original internet comedian, has won his first Emmys. The actor, musical comic and filmmaker took home the music direction, variety special directing and variety special writing awards during the third Creative Arts ceremony, on Sunday, Sept. 12. He was nominated for six awards overall for his groundbreaking one-man pandemic special “Bo Burnham:

“And they said we wouldn’t last, but we are still here, motherfuckers!” With those words, Madonna opened the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards, which along with her iconic 40-year career as the Queen of Pop, is also celebrating the network’s four-decades-long anniversary. The pop legend nodded to her own arrival in New York City as

The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards are hours away! Last year’s VMAs took place across multiple outdoor venues in New York City, due to the pandemic. This year, the ceremony will return to a traditional in-person event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., in accordance with local public health guidelines, to “celebrate the return

The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards took place on Sept. 12, returning to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. after last year’s socially distanced event. Doja Cat hosted the night and performed. The stacked list of performers also included Camila Cabello, Chlöe (of Chloe x Halle, making her solo debut), Jack Harlow, Justin Bieber, Kacey

Less than a week after Britney Spears’ father asked a judge to end her 13-year conservatorship, the pop star has announced her engagement to longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari. Spears broke the news in an Instagram post on Sunday, writing: “I can’t fucking believe it!!!!!!” with a slew of ring and heart emojis. In the post,

Mick Brigden, a tour manager who worked with artists including The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, died on Sept. 5 after an accident at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. He was 73. Brigden’s wife, Julia Dreyer Brigden, told the Press Democrat that her husband was on the property digging a grave for

Miley Cyrus and Metallica performed “Nothing Else Matters” live on “The Howard Stern Show” to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band’s eponymous record, also known as “The Black Album.” To commemorate the anniversary, a remastered version of “The Black Album” was released on Sept. 10, along with “The Metallica Blacklist,” a cover album performed

The prospect of watching a two-and-a-half hour documentary on Oscar winning film composer Ennio Morricone, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, a Oscar winner himself with “Cinema Paradiso,” saw cineastes stream into the film’s Friday evening world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. There was a quiet gathering on the red carpet for Tornatore and friends, who

Foo Fighters’ hit “Everlong” first climbed the Billboard charts in 1997, but nearly a quarter-century later — thanks to a viral performance with 11-year-old drummer Nandi Bushell — the song is back. The band invited Bushell on stage for an electrifying performance of “Everlong” to close out their Los Angeles gig on Aug. 26 at

When the late Michael Been of the Call was working on the soundtrack to the 1992 film “Light Sleeper,” his then-teenage son, Robert Levon Been, later of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, would hide when the film’s director, Paul Schrader, came to Been’s home to check on the music’s progress. “Everything was recorded in our house,

The Guild of Music Supervisors has partnered with Mondo.NYC for its 4th annual one day education seminar on Oct. 14, which will once again be held virtually. The program track will feature some of the top music supervisors in the field today, along with their creative partners and collaborators, who will present case studies and

A few years ago, John Sloss worried that the major talent agencies had figured out the formula for his secret sauce. The Cinetic Media founder established himself as the business consigliere for a certain kind of auteur, helping to find buyers and backers for Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” and Lee Daniels’ “Precious.” Now companies like CAA

Like seemingly most of the rest of the planet, Doja Cat has always had an affection for the world of the Pink Ladies — that is, “Grease.” So it wasn’t as huge a stretch as it might seem for the singer who hit it big with “Hot Pink” to take on the role of Sandy

Italian helmer Giuseppe Tornatore’s (“Cinema Paradiso”) documentary “Ennio,” on the late music composer Ennio Morricone, features a pantheon of commentators influenced by the maestro’s scores, from Bruce Springsteen to Hans Zimmer — not to mention the music. Morricone is a two-time Oscar winner who scored over 500 film tracks, including a slew of Sergio Leone

Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club is one of America’s great concert venues, a place that has not only staged nearly every major rock band of the past 41 years early in their careers, it’s also hosted shows by Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Al Green, Willie Nelson, James Brown, Nirvana, Billie Eilish, Adele, Justin Timberlake, R.E.M., Green

Danielle Bregoli, aka Bhad Bhabie, is going indie, launching her own label, BHAD Music, and releasing a new single called “Miss Understood” on Sept. 17.  She’s also advocating for artists to retain master rights to their music, crediting Kanye West for inspiring the move. “Kanye brought a lot of attention last year to artists owning

The irreverent wit of Kacey Musgraves’ first two albums has long since given way on the last couple to an earnestness and, most of all, a gravitas  about love — falling into it, on her last release, 2018’s Grammy-winning “Golden Hour,” and falling back out, in a big way, on the just-released “Star-Crossed.” She does

After 13 years of overseeing the conservatorship he placed his famous daughter under in 2008, Jamie Spears abruptly asked a judge to terminate Britney Spears’ court-ordered arrangement. But why now? “As Mr. Spears has said again and again, all he wants is what is best for his daughter,” Tuesday’s filing stated when Jamie asked a

Yebba — a.k.a. Abbey Smith — is a prodigiously talented 26-year-old singer who’s been buzzing for so long it’s hard to believe “Dawn” is her debut album. She’s already won a Grammy (for a 2019 collaboration with PJ Morton) and over the past five years has duetted with Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, A Tribe Called Quest,

Go ahead: make the “None more black” Spinal Tap joke when it comes to Metallica’s eponymously titled 1991 album. It wasn’t just the cover but the band’s melodic nihilism that made that dopey dig unironic. And it’s Metallica’s bleak romanticism and the mainstreaming of its intricate thrash-speed aesthetic that make the so-called “Black Album” worth

Ed Sheeran will perform at the 2021 MTV VMAs on Sunday night, where he will take over the Toyota Stage for performance of his brand-new single “Shivers,” which dropped Thursday night and is featured on his forthcoming new album “=,” due on Oct. 29. Sheeran is up for three nominations at this year’s show for

After a remarkable 54-year run, Genesis singer and drummer Phil Collins seems finally ready to “put it to bed” after the band’s next tour, he said in a recent interview. After a year-and-a-half-long pandemic postponement, the The Last Domino Tour will now kick off in the U.K. in October and move on to North America

Arlo Parks won the 2021 Hyundai Mercury Prize with her debut album, “Collapsed in Sunbeams,” as the U.K. music industry awards circuit returned with a bang. Parks was the hot favorite to take the prize, awarded to the best British/Irish album of the year, as judged by a panel of respected musicians, broadcasters and journalists.

Jennifer Hudson won a Daytime Emmy Thursday for her role as executive producer in Baobab Studios’ “Baba Yaga,” putting her one award short of achieving EGOT status. VR animated film “Baba Yaga,” made for the Oculus Quest, won in the interactive media for a daytime program category. Hudson starred alongside Glenn Close, Kate Winslet and

Morgan Wallen returned to the stage Thursday night in Nashville for his first officially billed headlining gig since his career went into crisis back in February. And his most diehard fans were able to hear the words they’ve hoped to hear out of his lips for seven months now: “This is the new single we

After Beyoncé and Jay-Z starred in the launch of Tiffany & Co.’s “About Love” campaign, the partnership continued with the launch of the new About Love Scholarship program with BeyGOOD and the Shawn Carter Foundation — created for students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) pursuing creative fields. Tiffany & Co. has pledged $2

A rumor that Ariana Grande is planning to release a Christmas album paired with a NBC special has been debunked. “There are no plans for a Christmas project,” a rep for the singer tells Variety when asked about an item that appeared on gossip aggregator Deuxmoi. The two-time Grammy Award winner is no stranger to