Taylor Swift’s “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” has put her back at the top of the album charts — for the third time in a little over eight months. The re-recorded version of her second album — which became her first No. 1 record back in 2008 — debuted at No. 1 this week on Billboard’s Top
Music
The Academy of Country Music Awards show is airing Sunday night. Come back here for a complete list of winners as the telecast proceeds. To watch the show live, tune in to CBS at 8 p.m. on the east coast or 7 in the central time zone, including Nashville, host city for the telecast. On
In 2002, when Halle Berry won the Oscar for her performance in “Monster’s Ball,” becoming the first African American to take home the Academy Award for best actress, after 30 seconds of convulsive tears she said, “This moment is so much bigger than me. This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll…And it’s
Black Rob, the New York City rapper formerly part of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Bad Boy label, has died, according to his former label mate, Mark Curry. He was 51. Rob’s former label mate, Mark Curry, announced Rob’s death in two videos posted to Instagram on Saturday, and Variety has confirmed his passing through additional sources.
Audiences have had the feels for Atlanta-bred crooner-rapper ILovemakkonen since 2014. Known for a dreamy brand of club-hop, via such tracks as “I Don’t Sell Molly No More,” ILovemakkonen got the attention of Drake with his song, “Tuesdays” and the superstar rapper later did a guest feature on a remix version. In short order, ILovemakkonen
As fans of Selena Quintanilla remember the Tejano music star on what would have been her 50th birthday, tributes and posts have flooded social media, causing the hashtag #Selena50 to trend for much of April 16. It’s been 26 years since Quintanilla was shot and killed on March 31st 1995, but the late artist’s legacy
Jon Schaffer, a guitarist for the metal band Iced Earth whose angry image made him one of the faces of the pro-Trump mob that invaded the U.S. Capitol in January, has become the first rioter to plead guilty for playing a role in the attack. A plea deal described the musician as “unlawfully entering the
In an Instagram post Friday, singer-songwriter Angel Olsen came out as gay. “My beau, I’m gay,” she captioned a series of photos that included her partner, a tattoo, loafers and a massive bear statue. Olsen accompanied the post with a photo of herself, golden hour sunshine beaming on her smiling face, on her Instagram story.
Brooklyn’s Barclays Center will host a public memorial for DMX on April 24, the rapper’s manager confirmed to TMZ, although attendance is destined to be far below normal arena levels if current COVID-19 protocols hold. A private funeral service will take place the following day at a New York City-area church, TMZ also reported. DMX’s
The Oscars have confirmed that the best original song nominees will be performed in full on the pre-telecast “Oscars: Into the Spotlight” show Sunday, April 26, with each of the five performed in full by the singer who introduced the song on film. Four of the five performances will be pre-recorded on the Dolby Family
It’s safe to say that if any musical artist was underrated, it was ex-Supreme Mary Wilson, who died in February at the age of 76. An elegant soul singer whose voice struck gold and platinum repeatedly as a member of the Supremes from 1961 — when Wilson and fellow Supreme Diana Ross signed with Motown
Early Friday, Apple Music sent a carefully worded letter to artists, music labels and publishers that briefly explained “how creators earn royalties” from the service, which is the world’s second-largest, behind Spotify. The letter, which was not sent to the media, was obtained by the Wall Street Journal, which published a report that was not
Brandi Carlile has talked about being a part of the island of misfit toys, but she’s not looking like such an odd-woman-out at the moment, with her book, “Broken Horses: A Memoir,” sitting at No. 1 atop the New York Times’ nonfiction bestseller list. It’s a milestone to sit alongside the four Grammy Awards she’s
Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before: Benedict Cumberbatch guest stars as a moody 80s-era UK crooner who becomes Lisa’s imaginary friend on this Sunday’s episode of “The Simpsons.” Variety has a first look at this Fauxissey as he gives his take on the citizens of Springfield; scroll down to watch. In
The lines that divide tribute from parody or pastiche are very fine ones, and the concepts are hardly mutually exclusive — especially in the music world. Songs ranging from Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl,” Madonna’s “True Blue” and Whitesnake’s “Still of the Night” to Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s recent hit “Leave the Door Open” —
Apple Music claims it pays artists a penny per stream in a letter posted Friday on the streaming service’s artist dashboard, according to the Wall Street Journal. The disclosure, made in a letter to artists delivered Friday via the service’s artist dashboard and sent to labels and publishers, is seemingly a response to Spotify’s “Loud
Poco’s co-founder and longtime frontman, Rusty Young, died Wednesday night. (Read Variety‘s obituary here.) He had no more fervent acolyte than Tom Hampton, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter who has been a session player and touring musician with the Marshall Tucker Band and other groups, and who had officially joined Poco last year after sitting in with
From its modest beginnings on the campus of Indiana University a quarter century ago, Secretly Canadian has grown into one of the most respected independent labels in the world, having released albums by the War On Drugs, Antony and the Johnsons, Major Lazer, Yoko Ono and Jason Molina. The company, which was founded by brothers
Just days after DMX died, a new song from the Epix series “Godfather of Harlem” has been released, featuring the late rapper with his longtime friend Swizz Beatz and French Montana. The track, “Been to War,” is from the soundtrack to the second season of the series, which premieres April 18. The track is likely the first among many posthumous
Paul McCartney gets by on his new project, “McCartney III Imagined,” with a little help from… well, some strangers he may never actually have met before the album was completed. But the collection of remakes and re-thinkings of songs from his 2020 “McCartney III” album is bringing him some new pal now that it’s coming
Rusty Young, who co-founded the country-rock group Poco in 1968 and was the only mainstay through the band’s five-decade-plus history, died Wednesday at age 75. A representative said Young died of a heart attack at his home in Davisville, Missouri. “I just received word that my friend Rusty Young has passed away and crossed that
Even without today’s well-timed announcement that Pete Davidson would be playing Joey Ramone in an upcoming biopic, the 20th anniversary of his death would not have gone unnoted. April 15 stands out as Tax Day to many (even though in 2021, that doomy occasion won’t occur until May), but for some, it looms even larger
The Fyre Festival has reached a settlement with 277 ticketholders from the famously disastrous 2017 concert-that-never-happened, with each recipient being awarded $7,220 payouts. The settlement between the ticketholders and the trustee of Fyre festival assets was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday; the news was first reported
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ryan Coogler, producer Zinzi Coogler and writer and producer Sev Ohanian have teamed with Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer Ludwig Göransson, Senior VP of Marketing at RCA Records Archie Davis and Emmy-winning filmmaker Peter Nicks to launch Proximity, a new multimedia company. “It has been a great joy to form Proximity with some of
Independent music venues have been crushed by the pandemic, and last week’s breakdown of the Small Business Administration’s website has only delayed the $16 billion in federal relief they’re scheduled to receive. But they have received some financial aid from friends in high places, including Spotify, YouTube Music, and now Mick Jagger. The Rolling Stones
Gwen Stefani isn’t one to celebrate anniversaries. “I don’t really pay attention to that stuff,” Stefani tells Variety. “I know some people live by it, birthdays and all that, but it’s just not something I care about.” But as “Don’t Speak” — No Doubt’s biggest hit, from their third album, “Tragic Kingdom” — turns 25
The late rocker and TV/theater composer Adam Schlesinger, who died from complications of COVID-19 in April 2020, will be feted by dozens of musicians and actors in May in an online tribute being produced by Jody Porter, his longtime bandmate in Fountains of Wayne. Titled “Adam Schlesinger, A Music Celebration, Virtual Show,” the stream will
Warner Music Group and Spotify have entered into a new partnership that will see the two companies develop a series of original podcasts built around WMG’s extensive and diverse artists’ and songwriters’ catalogs. “The most impactful podcasts share with music the key component of storytelling and personal experience. In partnership with Warner Music Group, we
Rising R&B singer Maeta has signed with the Roc Nation label, the company announced, and is kicking off the relationship with a new EP, “Habits,” which comes out April 30 and features her single and video “Toxic.” The track, which is executive produced by Skrillex, features a verse from Beam and details the dialogue of
Independent music venues and theaters in the U.S. have been mostly shuttered for 13 months now — and although the #SaveOurStages act was signed into law on Dec. 27, promising $16 billion in relief to those businesses, when the website through which venues could apply for relief finally opened last Thursday, it immediately crashed. No