Weezer is a band that inspires extreme loyalty. By releasing two of the most revered rock records of the ’90s — their 1994 debut “Weezer” (aka the “Blue Album”), and 1996’s cult hit “Pinkerton” — the group amassed a fanbase that feverishly connected with its nostalgic lyrics, singalong choruses and guitar riffs. The initial critical
Music
Ashe is a remarkably talented 28-year-old Californian singer-songwriter with melodies that skip from childlike simplicity to sophisticated complexity from one line to the next. The touchpoints in her music range from classic (Carole King, Brian Wilson, Abba) to contemporary (Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves), but there’s sometimes a “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”-like touch of music hall —
As COVID-19 wanes in the United States, symptoms like loss of taste and smell are on the outs too. Imminently returning to the “in” list, though: hearing loss. “This is a fucking rock concert!” yelled Dave Grohl, repeatedly, as a Foo Fighters performance that seemed a third louder than any other act’s capped the Global
Longtime Live Nation CFO Kathy Willard is retiring effective June 30, CEO Michael Rapino announced during the company’s earnings call on Thursday. The company is planning for Joe Berchtold, who currently serves as Live Nation’s president, to assume the role of president and CFO. Willard, who has been with the company for 25 years, will
UPDATED: While tours and festivals for later this year are being announced every day and Live Nation’s stock recently reached an all-time high based on the concert industry’s anticipated return to health, the company’s first-quarter earnings report showed that the concert industry is just beginning to revive, it had a rough quarter — as it
Especially in New York, the music industry has felt the impact of the pandemic more than many businesses — particularly live entertainment. But like the city that might be sleeping a little bit more than it was before 2020, the music industry rose to meet those challenges, and the executives featured in Variety‘s larger New
A week after it was reported that Justin Bieber’s fast-looming 2021 tour would be bumped into next year, Justin Bieber has made it official, announcing that his run of arena shows will now begin in San Diego on Feb. 18, 2022. As recently as this week, tickets were still being sold for dates that had
Sara Bareilles’ singer-songwriter and acting sides both get a workout this month. On May 6, she debuts on Peacock’s “Girls5eva,” a Tina Fey-executive-produced comedy about a late-’90s girl group whose 40-something members reunite after their ancient hit gets sampled in a hip-hop song. And she’s back on more familiar show business turf — albeit what
Live-entertainment giant AEG Presents has announced the formation of Climate Positive Touring, a team of music industry professionals dedicated to moving the live business towards a greener future. Climate Positive Touring (CPT) is comprised of people who work across various business divisions at AEG Presents: Concerts West, Global Touring, International Touring, Marshall Arts, Messina Touring
Agent-producer Brian Sher has been named president of Quality Films, the film and television division of Quality Control, the label and management company that spawned the careers of Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, City Girls, Migos and many more. According to the announcement, in his new role, Sher will oversee development and production of the company’s
Two-time Grammy Producer of the Year Greg Kurstin, who has worked with everyone from Adele and Paul MCartney to Foo Fighters and Beck, will open the 2021 ASCAP Experience conference on Wednesday, May 12 at 3 p.m. ET/ 12 p.m. PT in a virtual conversation with his friend and collaborator, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl,
‘Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World,’ the music event designed to inspire vaccine confidence and help get them to everyone, will air on Insight TV’s linear channels. The concert, pre-taped at SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, before an audience of vaccinated frontline healthcare and essential workers, is hosted by Selena Gomez. It includes musical
Pop star Bebe Rexha has previously revealed that she considers her sexuality “fluid,” and in a new interview with Gay Times published Wednesday, she expanded on her views. “What I believe about sexuality is this: it’s a scale,” Rexha said. “Have I gone out with girls before? Yes. Have I dated girls? Yes, I have.
Hipgnosis Songs has acquired yet another catalog, this one from Andrew Watt, who recently was named 2021 Grammy Producer of the Year for his work with Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, Post Malone and Ozzy Osbourne. Watt has co-written such massive hits as “Señorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, “Havana” by Camila Cabello, “Let Me Love You” by
Friendships, like any other relationship, are complicated. They take work and effort. They’re awkward to talk about. They can mean the world at any given moment — and come crashing down without warning. A recent episode of “The Joe Budden Podcast” showed just how complex a friendship can get when business is involved. Last week’s
Travis Scott announced that his Astroworld Festival fully sold out today in under an hour, with over 100,000 people expected to attend the event. The event, taking place November 5-6 in Scott’s hometown of Houston, sold through all its passes before a lineup has been announced, making Astroworld the only major music festival to sell
The film scoring community continues to find new ways to support emerging composers — especially women and people of color — to the tune of more than $100,000 annually, according to announcements this week by Reel Change: The Fund for Diversity in Film Scoring and the Society of Composers & Lyricists. Reel Change, a project
Joel Zimmerman, more popularly known as the outspoken and pioneering artist deadmau5, has launched beathau5, an electronic dance music label specializing in providing music exclusively for license to film, television, advertising and digital media. beathau5 is a collaboration between Zimmerman’s mau5trap label and Extreme Music in a deal brokered by UTA. As the production library
Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.” Emma Stone may be taking on the role of Cruella de Vil in Disney’s “Cruella,” but that doesn’t mean Glenn Close is done playing the Disney villain. “I have a great story to make another Cruella with my Cruella,” Close tells me. She’s tightlipped about details but teases,
Snap is pulling new star power into its 2021 slate of original shows for Snapchat, unveiling reality series with Megan Thee Stallion and the D’Amelio Sisters, the sibling digital influencers who rose to fame on rival app TikTok. The new shows are among nine new and renewed Snap Originals aimed at Snapchat’s young-skewing user base.
The struggle that independent music venues have been undergoing for the past 14 months has gone on for so long that even supporters have begun to grow numb to it — but the reality is that the independent concert venues that up-and-coming musicians depend on keep seeing federal relief move farther and farther away. Now,
Bailee Madison, most recently seen as the lead in the Netflix musical “A Week Away,” isn’t saving her singing strictly for the odd screen appearance. She’s moving full-on into it off-screen as well, plotting a music career that she’s announcing concurrent with the signing of a management deal with Kevin Jonas Sr.’s Jonas Group Entertainment.
No music artist is more intrinsically identified with Los Angeles than Los Lobos — unless, say, we’re talking the Beach Boys, Thee Midniters, Jackson Browne, Little Feat, Buffalo Springfield or the Blasters, to name a few of the fellow homegrown musicians that the group proudly covers on “Native Sons,” their debut for the New West
Avant-pop singer MNDR has returned with her first new material since 2019, a single co-produced by Grammy-winning producer Mark Ronson (Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse) called “Hell to Be You Baby.” The song is the title track from her second full-length album, slated for release on June 18th on WonderSound Records. The official video, directed by
A picture paints a thousand words, the old cliché goes, but it’s truly amazing how much publicity photos of musicians can say about a certain year: The clothes, the shoes, the hats, the belt buckles, the scarves — and most of all, the hairstyles (and lack of styles). G. Brown’s collection of photos and words,
A measure in Tennessee to honor Brothers Osborne singer TJ Osborne, who recently came out as gay, has been blocked by Republicans in the state’s House of Representatives, after it had unanimously passed the Senate. Rep. Jeremy Faison, chair of the House Republican Caucus, is the lawmaker responsible for blocking — and some say effectively
Solomon Sounds, ne Solomon Sobande, the former manager of the late rapper and songwriter XXXTentacion, has joined Capitol Records as senior vice president of A&R, reporting to Capitol Music Group (CMG) chairman and CEO Jeff Vaughn. Sounds is tasked with signing and develop artists for the company’s flagship label. He’ll be based out of New
J. Cole has announced the release of his highly-anticipated sixth studio album “The Off-Season,” set to drop on May 14. “Is this thing on,” the rapper wrote on Twitter, teasing fans with the possibilities of what he would say next. Moments later, he confirmed the news: a new album was coming. “Just know this was
Baz Halpin, the music touring creative director who founded Silent House 11 years ago, announced an ambitious expansion Tuesday, with his brainchild to now be known as Silent House Group and expanded into three separate companies — Silent House Studiios, Silent House Events and Silent House Productions. Key hires in the expansion include Mark Bracco
How much would you pay to have an intimate video-conferencing session with Madonna, Amy Schumer, Laura Dern, Jennifer Lopez or Judd Apatow? Bright, a startup founded by investor and music manager Guy Oseary (whose clients include Madonna and U2) and former YouTube exec Michael Powers, is going to test the market for live, ticketed events