The April dates of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and its companion Stagecoach country music festival have been canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser. A rep for the officer tells Variety that it remains possible that the festivals could be rescheduled for
Music
The last time audiences witnessed Martin Gore, David Gahan and Andrew Fletcher – collectively, Euro-electronic pop avatars Depeche Mode – together was when the trio, virtually and humorously, accepted their award as part of the 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Come March, Depeche will be up for another award, as its
Veteran rapper T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris have denied the most recent round of allegations from Sabrina Peterson, who previously accused the rapper of holding a gun to her head. The latest round of allegations are in a series of screenshots of DMs from several women accusing the rapper and his wife of disturbing incidents of
When the Netflix series “Bridgerton” debuted on Dec. 25, 22-year-old singer-songwriter Abigail Barlow and 19-year-old pianist and composer Emily Bear binge-watched the entire show in a matter of days, as did as did millions of other households, making it Netflix’s most-watched original series. But, within the show — which is set in Regency Era London
Arlo Parks is the kind of artist who almost could have been created in a test tube for a certain type of music fan. A 20-year-old singer-songwriter raised in London to Nigerian/Chadian-French parents (her real name is Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho). Songs with personal yet universal lyrics culled from journals, steeped in R&B and alt-rock
Over the course of 25+ years and 13 studio albums, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo has reliably chronicled life’s ups and downs by navigating the fine line between ironic detachment and ultra-earnest confessionals. On the heels of two different self-titled releases in 2019, he and his bandmates were eyeing two more new albums for release in
Four albums released by the Jacksons in the late 1970s and early ’80s are being reissued in expanded digital or vinyl format in February and March, as part of a campaign by the family’s original label, Epic, and Sony Music’s catalog imprint, Legacy, to re-expose the music the group made between the Jackson 5’s enormous
“You and I,” the lead single and video from the soundtrack to the Amazon original sci-fi film, “Bliss” starring Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek, premieres exclusively on Variety today, one week ahead of the film’s Feb. 5 release on Prime Video. The song is written by the film’s composer, Will Bates, and features the unmistakable
If you’re one of those people who think music has lost its dangerous edge, Sacha Baron Cohen had the cure for that in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” Taking on two levels of disguise in the 2020 sequel, Cohen again played his fictional Borat character, who in turn disguised himself for a key sequence in the movie
Duran Duran premiered the video for its cover of David Bowie’s “Five Years” this morning on the band’s YouTube channel. The song was released Jan. 8, on what would have been the iconic artist’s 74th birthday. The band members were shot individually for the VR-heavy video, with vocalist Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and
Miley Cyrus’ latest album, “Plastic Hearts,” is a rousing return to form, but just as exciting is the awesome covers album she’s apparently releasing on the installment plan via various radio and video guest appearances as well as the occasional official release. The latest in a long string of well-curated covers — ranging from Hall
Gordy Haab’s award-winning scores for the video games “Star Wars: Battlefront” and “Star Wars: Battlefront II” are about to be released by Walt Disney Records. “Battlefront” is slated to hit digital retail and streaming services at midnight Eastern time tonight, 9 pm Pacific time; “Battlefront II” will land on Feb. 5. The first “Battlefront,” released
When most major stars with a music career retire, proper announcements are in order, if not farewell tours or tribute shows. But when Kris Kristofferson made the decision to retire last year, there were no such fireworks set off, and the public didn’t learn about it until it was tucked deep into a press release
When did I get on board?” filmmaker Edgar Wright asks himself, repeating the question about when, over Sparks’ five-decade career, he first took a liking to the band. “I saw Sparks for the first time on TV when I was 5. And even when I was 5…” “What kept ya?” interjects singer Russell Mael. “What
Caroline Yim and Zach Iser have joined WME as partners and co-heads of the music department’s hip-hop/R&B team. They were previously at CAA, which they’d joined in 2018 after several years at ICM. A rep for WME declined to reveal which artists might be making the jump with them, but artists the duo has worked
Legendary musician and music scholar Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is bringing his musical expertise to the movie business, making his directorial debut with “Summer of Soul … (Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” as part of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. “I’m very excited. This has been a long time coming and there’s been
Melissa Ruderman has joined Range Media Partners as a partner in the music division. Founded in Sept. 2020, with sights set on shaking up the competitive entertainment-industry representation landscape, Range was founded by Peter Micelli and a group of high-profile defectors from super-agencies including CAA, UTA and WME as a new management firm that will
In an interview slated to air Friday on Apple Music Country, country superstar Eric Church talks for the first time about being picked to sing the national anthem at the upcoming Super Bowl — admitting that he had vowed before never to perform it because of the vocal challenge it poses, saying, “I’m not Chris
Warner Chappell Music, the publishing arm of Warner Music Group, has named David Woirhaye as the company’s new executive vice president and global chief financial officer, effectively immediately. In his new role, he will report into Guy Moot, Co-Chair and CEO and Carianne Marshall, Co-Chair and COO. According to the announcement, in partnership with Warner Chappell’s leadership team, Woirhaye will
In a key scene from Pixar-Disney’s latest film “Soul,” the protagonist, Joe Gardner, a frustrated middle-school band teacher yearning to be a jazz pianist, describes moments of sublime musical creativity as being “in the zone.” While that state plays a pivotal role in the film, it also describes the rarified atmosphere that pianist Jon Batiste
When it comes to comic songs at the Oscars, writing a tune with a satirical edge has generally not been the key to the Academy music branch’s heart. For the most part, the only ostensibly funny numbers to get nominated are from family films, like “Man or Muppet,” a rare winner, from 2011’s “The Muppets.”
On Tuesday, which would have been Eddie Van Halen’s 66th birthday, a giant mural of the guitar hero titled “Long Live the King” was unveiled outside the Guitar Center’s flagship store on Sunset Strip in Hollywood. Rendered by Los Angeles artist Robert Vargas, the mural depicts Eddie, with the Van Halen logo and his signature
Few people, if any, were surprised that the annual Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala — the music industry’s biggest and most exclusive event, held every year since 1976 on the night before the big show — would be virtual in this unprecedented year. However, many people were surprised that when the Grammys moved their date up
Allegations of abuse and impropriety in the New Zealand music business have caused a second major manager to resign, following earlier news that Lorde’s ex-manager had stepped down from his firm. Now the manager of “Supalonely” singer Benee, Paul McKessar, has left the firm he cofounded and directed, CRS Management director, after after days of
Showtime has unveiled the first trailer for its forthcoming docu-series “Supervillain: The Making of Tekashi 6ix9ine, which details the controversial rapper’s “epic rise to notoriety and spectacular fall to convicted criminal.” The series premieres on Sunday, February 21 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. New episodes will debut on-air every Sunday through March 7, while the entire series
Nothing is clear-cut when it comes to “Cobra Kai,” the “Karate Kid” universe of series creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. The line between good and bad is blurry and fluctuating, and you find yourself rooting for characters representing one or the other interchangeably. Similarly, the show is both a teenage soap and
If there’s any silver lining to the pandemic for country star Brett Young, it’s that he’s spending a lot of unexpected time with his baby daughter, Presley Elizabeth. “I miss the road, but I wouldn’t trade a thing because I didn’t miss any of the firsts with our daughter. I saw her first steps. I
Britney Spears was a symbol for her entire public life. And, even in her seclusion, we can’t stop seeing her as something more, and less, than simply a person. The new Samantha Stark-directed documentary “Framing Britney Spears,” produced by the New York Times and Left/Right and airing on Feb. 5 on FX and Hulu, looks
With Sara Watkins — of Nickel Creek, I’m With Her and Watkins Family fame — there isn’t any way of knowing… which direction she is going, as Gene Wilder might say. For 2021, she’s taking a perhaps surprising turn toward children’s music with the forthcoming release of “Under the Pepper Tree,” an album of family-suited
Big Hit Entertainment, the management company behind K-pop sensation BTS, is to make its first significant acquisition since going public in mid-October. It will inject $63 million (KRW70 billion) into YG Entertainment, the agency that is behind Blackpink, Treasure and recently-renewed brother and sister folk music act AKMU. BHE and its media arm beNX will