Music

Olympic gold medalist gymnast Gabby Douglas is the first-ever winner of “The Masked Dancer,” having scored the show’s diamond mask trophy after being revealed as Cotton Candy. Douglas was victorious despite facing off with two trained dancers in the finale. Runner-up Sloth turned out to be “Dancing with the Stars’” Maksim Chmerkovskiy. And in third

Country stars Luke Combs and Maren Morris took on the elephant in the room in a joint interview for the annual Country Radio Seminar conference Wednesday, address perceptions of racism and a lack of diversity in the genre that have gone from behind-the-scenes Nashville discussions to the talk of the nation in the wake of

Howard Stern has come out in support of the #FreeBritney movement after watching “Framing Britney Spears,” the New York Times-produced documentary streaming on FX and Hulu. “I think I’m Free Britney now, I think I’m full on Free Britney,” Stern said on his Sirius/XM radio show, in conversation with co-host Robin Quivers. Though Stern said

Big Hit Entertainment, the South Korean company that brought BTS to the world, and Universal Music Group today announced an expanded strategic partnership that will see the two companies working together to “increase opportunities for artists through innovation and technology, whilst expanding the global reach of K-pop music and culture around the world,” according the

Lady Gaga’s latest hit isn’t a song but a sweet treat. The pop sing- er’s branded Oreos — inspired by her album, “Chromatica” — have become a viral sensation, with fans posting on Twitter and Instagram about snagging packages of the green-and-pink cookies. “It’s been incredible and beat our wildest expectations,” Oreo senior director Justin

Demi Lovato is opening up on the 2018 overdose that nearly took her life in her YouTube Originals docuseries “Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil.” In the trailer, released on Wednesday, the 28-year-old singer revealed that she suffered three strokes and a heart attack after her overdose in July 2018. “I had three strokes. I

The general consensus on Taylor Swift’s fresh remake of her 2008 smash “Love Story” is that the old and new versions are virtually indistinguishable to the non-audiophile, non-Swiftie layman. Which is exactly as she intended it: In her attempt to push the original Big Machine renditions to the bottom of playlists or search results and

The widow of Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell has sued the surviving bandmembers again, claiming that she was offered a $300,000 buyout that she considers “ludicrously low” and is calling for the group’s holdings to be professionally valued. In the complaint, Vicky Cornell claims that the bandmembers declined her offer of $21 million for their interest

Annie Lennox, Cage the Elephant and Black Pumas will join the line-up for the 34th Annual Tibet House US Virtual Benefit Concert on Wednesday night (February 17). Joining composer and artistic director Philip Glass, who once again curated this year’s line-up, will also be previously announced performers: Eddie Vedder, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Flaming Lips, Phoebe Bridgers, Brittany Howard, Valerie June, Angélique Kidjo,

Richard Stumpf, who acted as CEO of Atlas Music Publishing for more than 7 years, has quietly left the company. His January exit comes in the wake of an internal investigation for workplace misconduct, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation. It’s alleged that Stumpf spoke inappropriately to female staffers specifically. One insider confirms

Veteran rock journalist Lisa Robinson is joining SiriusXM’s Volume channel with a new weekly talk show, “Call Me With Lisa Robinson,” airing Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. EST, starting tomorrow (Feb. 17). Robinson, who authored the book “There Goes Gravity: A Life in Rock and Roll” about her years as a music journalist, will offer

Disney alums Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs are in the early stages of shopping for content companies to roll up into a larger operating company with backing from private equity giant Blackstone. High on the pair’s wish list is Scooter Braun’s media and management firm SB Projects. A source close to the situation characterized the

Almost nine full days after the Super Bowl, the final chart numbers are in, and the Weeknd — who turns 31 today, Feb. 16 — saw an enormous bump in streams and sales thanks to his dazzling halftime performance at the big game: in fact, nearly every single song he performed in those 12-ish minutes

“Buffalo, you’ve been so kind to us,” Todd Rundgren said toward the end of his tour-opening show Sunday night. He was actually performing in Chicago, as most fans watching the pay-per-view livestream knew, but this was not a senior/Spinal Tap “Hello Cleveland!” moment. The current Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee’s entire 25-date “tour”

A year after KROQ owner Entercom shocked the radio biz by yanking the station’s morning program, “Kevin in the Morning with Allie & Jensen” (the successor program to three-decade staple “Kevin & Bean”), host Kevin Ryder is prepping a return to the Los Angeles airwaves. Ryder announced this morning that he’ll be joining Doug “Sluggo”

Consumers are far from done with Morgan Wallen, even if he’s in temporary exile from radio and most other mass media. His “Dangerous: The Double Album” is No. 1 on the album chart, with no sign of being budged from that spot any time soon — even if Wallen did issue a video apology this

If the fix isn’t broke, don’t fix it. That is the plan for the 56th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which for the second year in a row will steer clear of the show’s longtime Las Vegas home base and instead settle in to three iconic Nashville locations, the Grand Ole Opry House, the

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Stax Music Academy, Concord — which owns the legendary soul label Stax Records — has announced the Concord Stax Scholarships, which will provide full tuition to at least 20 students in each year over the next five school years. According to the announcement, Concord has pledged “a minimum of $1 million through donations from its

Warner Music Group has announced an investment in the Arab world’s largest independent record label, Rotana Music, which is part of Rotana Group, widely considered the largest entertainment company in the region. According to the announcement, “the deal will expand WMG’s presence in the rapidly growing Middle East and North African region, while driving cross-cultural

Johnny Pacheco, the Dominican Republic-born flautist-turned-bandleader and the co-founder of the influential Fania Records, the label that brought salsa to the global mainstream, died on Feb.15 in Teaneck, New Jersey. He was 85. A cause of death has yet to be revealed; Billboard, citing sources, reports that Pacheco had “been hospitalized for complications stemming from

Following Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer’s arrest due to his involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, singer Stu Block and bassist Luke Appleton are leaving the heavy metal band. Schaffer, who is the band’s last remaining founding member, was taken into custody by the FBI in his home state of Indiana

Variety has been nominated for 99 National Art and Entertainment Journalism awards, a record-breaking number of nominations for the publication. “This is an amazing achievement by our stellar team of journalists, accomplished during the most challenging year any of us have ever experienced,” said Claudia Eller, editor-in-chief of Variety. Variety was nominated for print entertainment

Reclusive R&B superstar D’Angelo will face off against unnamed “Friends” in a Verzuz DJ battle aimed straight at the hearts of the series’ core audience. The battle will take place on Saturday, Feb. 27 at Harlem’s historic Apollo Theater, where virtually every R&B legend from Billie Holiday and Stevie Wonder to Lauryn Hill and, of

Claudia Conway faces challenges that evoke real and powerful sympathy, and not just because of her tender age. First, this 16-year-old emerged onto the national stage as someone seemingly desiring to make an impact but unable to escape her own famous name. Her parents, anti-Trump lawyer George Conway and Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway, had already

RWQuarantunes, the benefit series hosted by WME partner Richard Weitz and his teenaged daughter Demi, took the show from the Weitzes’ usual kitchen base to Dodger Stadium Friday night for a star-ballplayer-studded webcast that brought in more than $1.1 million in partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

“Bridgerton” star Regé-Jean Page is going straight from the Regency era to Studio 8H. Fresh off the steamy Shondaland hit on Netflix, Page will make his “Saturday Night Live” debut on Feb. 20, with musical guest Bad Bunny, who is also making a first-time appearance on the storied sketch comedy show. On “Bridgerton,” Page plays Simon

Rupert Neve, a pioneering designer of audio recording equipment that revolutionized the industry, has died, according to a statement on his company’s website. He was 94. As reported on his website, Neve died on Feb. 12 in Wimberley, Texas from “non-COVID pneumonia and heart failure.” Often credited as “the man who made the recording console,”

Vivendi plans to list 60% of its share of Universal Music Group on the Euronext market in Amsterdam by the end of the year, according to announcements from the companies in the early hours of Saturday. The minimum target value for the company is 30 billion Euros, or around $36 billion. In a letter to employees obtained by

It’s become clearer that Taylor Swift is making her re-recordings of her older catalog as close to the originals as possible, but the question arises: How difficult is that to pull off without the original musicians? Now that credits have been made available, it’s evident that Swift is using some of the O.G. players, when

Russ Thyret, one of the top executives during Warner Bros. Records’ golden age of the 1970s and 1980s, passed away early Friday after a long illness, Variety has learned. He was 76. Over the course of his 30-year career with the label, Thyret climbed the ranks from sales, marketing and promotions posts — eventually heading