Warner Music Group will acquire the assets of 12Tone Music, the label founded by industry veteran Doug Morris after he stepped down as CEO of Sony Music, the companies announced Tuesday (July 20). Founded in 2018 and most recently distributed by Warner’s independent label and artists services arm ADA, 12Tone’s catalog and roster include artists such as Aftermath’s
Music
As it turns out, Peter Jackson’s “Get Back” might be only the second-most satisfying authorized Beatles documentary of 2021 when it comes out around Thanksgiving time. Or maybe it’ll come out as the toppermost of the poppermost after all in fan rankings of these thing. But what’s for sure is that the Rick Rubin-hosted “McCartney
Major brands are dumping their partnerships with Kris Wu, a former member of the K-pop group EXO and one of China’s most influential celebrities, after he was accused of predatory behavior toward women. The allegations have created a nationwide scandal and set the Chinese internet on fire. Eight out of the top 10 search items
After several static weeks without much change at the top of the songs chart, the teaming of the Kid Laroi with Justin Bieber has stepped up to shake things up a bit, as has BTS. The Laroi/Bieber collaboration “Stay” debuted at No. 1 on the Rolling Stone songs chart, followed by another new entry, BTS’
Robby Steinhardt, violinist and co-lead vocalist for Kansas, died Saturday after a bout of acute pancreatitis and septic shock, his wife Cindy Steinhardt confirmed on Facebook. He was 71. On May 13, Robby Steinhardt was admitted to the hospital with acute pancreatitis. Later that night, he went into acute septic shock and was placed on
Music supervisor Morgan Rhodes worked alongside co-music supervisor Kier Lehman to craft the soundtrack to “Space Jam 2: A New Legacy, in addition to working in classic needle drops such as “Ghetto Superstar.” This time around, the film follows stars LeBron James as he and his young son, Dom, get trapped in the Serververse by
Keeping track of what has gone on between Damon Dash and Jay-Z – onetime friends and cofounders of Roc-A-Fella Records – in the last three weeks has become something of a bloodlust-y spectator sport with unexpected twists at every turn. One thing, for sure, though: When Dash “lost” in his recent attempt to sell his
Pearl Jam has announced two additional headlining performances this fall, and they’ll be taking place at a familiar location. A week after appearing Sept. 26 at frontman Eddie Vedder’s three-day Ohana festival in Dana Point, Calif., the Seattle group will return for an “encore weekend” of the event at the same venue on Oct. 1-2.
With the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympic games days away, composer Keigo Oyamada has stepped down, after quotes in which he acknowledged bullying classmates in his youth resurfaced and stirred controversy. Keigo Oyamada, 52, also known as Cornelius, posted on his social media platforms, “I sincerely accept the opinions and advice I have received,
Judging by a trailer released early Monday, Lil Nas X is unleashing another salvo in his campaign against haters with his Kanye West-co-produced new single “Industry Baby,” which drops on Friday. The clip takes on the recent controversy around his sneaker line — which brought on a lawsuit from Nike — as well as his
The Killers have a new release coming Aug. 13, “Pressure Machine,” a concept album themed largely around frontman Brandon Flowers’ hometown of Nephi, Utah. Monday’s announcement of the new project was accompanied by a short video trailer that includes shots of the small town, and local citizens offering different takes on what it’s like to
UPDATED: Billionaire investor Bill Ackman announced early Monday that he has decided not to use his SPAC to acquire a 10% stake in Universal Music Group after the Securities and Exchange Commission voiced concerns about the the complicated agreement, which would have been the biggest SPAC transaction to date. However, Ackman plans to use his
YouTube has turned to K-pop megastars BTS — and their global ARMY fanbase — to juice up the platform’s Shorts video-clips feature. BTS and YouTube officially announced the Permission to Dance Challenge, inviting people around the world to record and share their own 15-second versions of the group’s music video for their recently released hit.
The War on Drugs will release “I Don’t Live Here Anymore,” their first studio album since 2017’s “A Deeper Understanding,” on October 29 on Atlantic Records. A North American and European tour scheduled to follow next year, including a date at Madison Square Garden. The group previews the album with its first song and video,
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga will join forces for a pair of shows at Radio City Music Hall in August that are being billed as their final appearances together, reps for the two singers announced Monday morning. The “One Last Time: an Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga” shows will take place August 3
Republic Records as promoted Kevin Lipson to executive vice president of global commerce and digital strategy, the company’s executive VP/general manager Jim Roppo announced. He is based in Republic’s New York headquarters. In this role, Lipson, a seven-year veteran of the Universal Music Group company, will oversee commerce and streaming for the label’s acts worldwide. He and his staff have worked
Kanye West apparently premiered new material at a small listening event in Las Vegas, according to multiple unconfirmed but reliable-seeming social media reports that surfaced Sunday — several of which apparently include snippets of at least two songs. The clips arrived amid reports that a new West album is imminent — possibly the long-delayed “Donda,”
Pop-punk revivalist Jxdn rang in his first live show ever at the Roxy Saturday night with a slew of special guests, including Blink-182 drummer and mentor Travis Barker, rapper Iann Dior and singer Nessa Barrett. The show was a short hour-long event, with no opening acts, but still packed a punch. Jxdn’s gratitude to be
“Her voice — it’s just like butter,” said a patron of the Hollywood Bowl Friday night, using the familiar “SNL”-derived description of Barbra Streisand’s voice and applying it to the weekend’s headliner, Christina Aguilera. Not to critique the critiques of esteemed season ticket-holders, but this comparison seemed exactly wrong. Aguilera’s voice is not like butter;
For close to a half-century, anyone who trusts lyric sheets and official artist websites has been certain of one thing: In Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road,” Mary’s dress waves, and it does not sway. No matter what some people might think they hear him singing, it’s been right there in writing, from the lyrics included with
An executive for global entertainment company Live Nation has been identified as one of the victims in the June 24 Surfside condo collapse in Florida. Theresa Velasquez, 36, was listed as a victim of the collapse on Saturday in the Miami-Dade Police Department’s daily press release. The Miami-Dade PD noted that Velasquez’s body was recovered
The sad news that legendary legacy rapper, beat master and comic actor Biz Markie had passed away at age 57 was not unexpected. For the last several weeks, and after a reported stroke and long struggle with Type II diabetes, the human beat box and genius floacist behind early hip-hop hits such as “Just a
Evoking the sentiment of her own pop anthem “Stronger,” Britney Spears vocalized in an Instagram post that she’s had enough of the insincere behavior from those closest to her. “There’s nothing worse than when the people closest to you who never showed up for you post things in regard to your situation whatever it may
Remember when Robert Johnson was all the Delta variant anyone needed? Mask up and imagine those more innocent days as you line up this weekend for the second half of Record Store Day 2021, which was divided up into two parts this summer to theoretically keep crowds down. As anyone who attended the first of
Biz Markie, the rapper, singer and actor behind the 1989 hit “Just a Friend,” died Friday in Baltimore. He was 57. “It is with profound sadness that we announce, this evening, with his wife Tara by his side, hip hop pioneer Biz Markie peacefully passed away,” his rep Jenni Izumi said in a statement. “We
“Central Park” creator Josh Gad actually called the election results early during a Zoom call with the show’s composers Kate Anderson and Elyssa Samsel. “I’ll never forget that because we all just cried, and then he was like, ‘No wait, never mind that was a fake news article,’” Samsel says. Gad, who also stars in the
The posthumous album is, sadly, as much a part of the hip-hop ethos as is sampling vintage soul snippets or rapping raw lyrics ripe with braggadocio. Be it rap veterans with opulent production values such as DMX, 2Pac and Mac Miller, or newer artists on the lo-fi tip such as XXXTentacion and Juice WRLD “releasing”
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. In a new Hulu documentary “McCartney 3, 2, 1,” out July 16, the 79-year-old rockstar spills never-heard-before anecdotes
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. A$AP Rocky’s first collection as PacSun’s guest artistic director is finally here — and it’s chock-full of the
John Mayer’s new album seems like the material of which Grammy nominations are made — but the question is, should it be up in a pop or comedy category? Not that “Sob Rock” is outrightly comic at its earnest songwriting core, but everything else about it provides at least a gentle nudge to the ribs,