Tom Stevens, bassist for the Los Angeles rock quartet the Long Ryders, a key member of the so-called “Paisley Underground” scene of the 1980s, died on January 24, according to an announcement from the band. No cause of death was cited; he was 64. While the group, heavily influenced by Gram Parsons, the Byrds, Buffalo
Music
After logging two massive No. 1 hits last year, Megan Thee Stallion seems poised to have a bright career ahead… even if she does win the 2021 Grammy for best new artist. Old superstitions die hard, though. Ever since Starland Vocal Band won the category in 1977 on the strength of their No. 1 single
Long before Jo Ellen Pellman was cast in the starring role of Emma in Ryan Murphy’s movie adaptation of “The Prom,” she saw the original production of the Broadway musical. “I’m only 25, yet I still wish I had this story growing up,” Pellman says on Tuesday’s episode of the Variety and iHeart podcast “The
RCA Records has announced new leadership for its promotions teams with Sam Selolwane and Keith Rothschild each being named head of promotion. Selolwane will oversee the hip-hop, R&B and mixshow formats while Rothschild will oversee the pop, rhythm and rock formats. Both will individually report into John Fleckenstein, who was recently promoted to COO of
The South by Southwest Music Festival has announced its initial list of showcasing artists who have been invited to perform online at the 35th annual event, taking place March 16 – 20, 2021. According to the announcement, the event “will be a unique online musical experience where industry professionals and music lovers can discover an
In a letter to President Biden on Tuesday, major live-entertainment organizations — AEG, Bandit Lites, Broadway League, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM), Live Nation, the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), Oak View Group (OVG), and
Capitol Music Group has promoted Greg Marella to the post of president of promotion and executive vice president. The announcement was made by the company’s new chairman & CEO, Jeff Vaughn, to whom Marella reports. Marella will continue to oversee the planning and execution of promotion strategies for the company’s portfolio of labels, and in
If Sabrina Carpenter wanted to start off her career at Island Records with a bang, she succeeded: Even before word of her signing with the label had been announced, she’d dropped a headline-grabbing new single called “Skin.“ Carpenter praised Island president/CEO Darcus Beese and the Island staff in a statement. “I’m so excited to join
A key scene in Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman” has audiences falling in love with Paris Hilton’s underrated 2006 single, “Stars are Blind.” The film’s Stars Carey Mulligan and Bo Burnham dance to the song affectionately while in a local pharmacy. The tango soundtracks the two characters’ budding relationship, before — spoiler alert — it
In today’s TV news roundup, ABC announced the premiere dates for new series “Pooch Perfect,” “Home Economics” and “Rebel,” and HBO Max unveiled the trailer for its five-part limited series “It’s a Sin.” CASTING Constance Zimmer will join the cast of Freeform’s “Good Trouble” in a recurring role as Kathleen Gale, a fearless yet secretive
Demi Lovato is attached to star in a single-camera comedy series that has scored a put pilot order at NBC. The project is titled “Hungry.” It follows friends who belong to a food issues group as they help each other look for love, success and the perfect thing in the fridge that’s going to make
Ariana Grande was nearly able to make her song “34+35” add up to No. 1, by releasing a hit remix that includes Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat. The song moves up to second place on the new Rolling Stone songs chart, thanks to the trio version that was issued on Jan. 14, giving the
Sub Pop Records has opened a new retail store in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. The flagship location at 2130 7th Ave. sells shirts, hats, hoodies, various knick-knacks, trinkets and “objets d’art,” according to an announcement, “as well as actual vinyl LP copies (aka ‘records’) of every Hardly Art and Sub Pop release currently in
The Big Loud/Republic Records team, which currently has what is far and away the biggest album in the country with Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album,” is celebrating that success by joining with Back Blocks in signing Lily Rose, the partnership’s first shot at breaking a female artist in country music. But in a very
In 1999, opera legend Andrea Bocelli sang at the Academy Awards with Celine Dion when their duet of “The Prayer” was up for a best song Oscar. Twenty-two years later, Bocelli has another shot at boosting a theme song to a nomination as “Gratia Plena,” which he recorded for the movie “Fatima,” enters the race. Composer Paolo
From Donald Trump’s lifetime ban to Elon Musk’s comments about the coronavirus, the rules and policies that govern Twitter have been a subject of extensive discussion and analysis in recent months. The topic flared up again last week, when K-pop fans essentially hijacked the right-wing-leaning “#ImpeachBidenNow” hashtag, filling it with photos and videos of K-pop
NBC and Dick Clark Productions have announced that the 2021 Billboard Music Awards will take place on Sunday, May 23. The show will air live on NBC at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT, and will serve to celebrate the hottest names in music today. The honorees are determined by their performance on the Billboard
R&B singer Trey Songz was arrested in Kansas City on Sunday after getting into an altercation with a police officer during the AFC Championship Game, an attorney for the artist confirmed to the Kansas City Star on Monday. Details of the arrest were not immediately available; attorney John P. O’Connor confirmed that Songz — whose
The NFL has announced that Miley Cyrus will headline the NFL TikTok Tailgate at Super Bowl LV in Tampa Bay on February 7. According to the announcement, the Tailgate will be the on-site pregame hospitality event exclusively for the 7,500 vaccinated health care heroes the NFL invited to attend Super Bowl LV. The league announced last week that around
Warner Music Group terminated the employment contract of Scott Maclachlan, a senior VP of A&R in its Australian office, after an investigation into sexual harassment claims, a rep for the company confirms to Variety. The British-born Maclachlan is widely credited with discovering Grammy-winning singer Lorde and managing her at his Saiko Management until 2016. The
Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated TV and film composer Perry Botkin Jr., known for his theme songs for “The Young and the Restless,” the late ’70s sitcom “Mork & Mindy” and “The ABC Friday/Sunday Night Movie,” died Jan. 18, his publicist announced. He was 87. Botkin, whose career spanned four decades, was also an arranger on Glen
The inauguration television special “Celebrating America” was only about six weeks in the making. “We did election night, and people are calling me and going, ‘Okay, what are we doing for the inaugural?,’” producer Ricky Kirshner tells Variety. “I was like, ‘No one’s called me.’ It was cool that no one called me because I
Despite disruptions to the music industry caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Big Hit Entertainment, the management company behind K-pop superstars BTS, had a booming 2020. Last year saw BTS fully penetrate the U.S. music market, landing a No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, massive YouTube tallies, a Grammy nomination and swift album sales. In
Halsey has officially pulled the plug on what would have been her 2020, then 2021, tour, as the resumption of major arena tours this year looks increasingly uncertain. The announcement came in a message to fans on Twitter Friday afternoon. “Safety is the priority.,” the singer tweeted. “I wish things were different. I love you.
JoJo Siwa, the 17-year-old singer, dancer, actor and YouTube personality, has come out as gay, after alluding to it on social media over the past couple days. Siwa first hinted at her coming out in a TikTok video posted to her over 31 million (and growing) followers on Thursday. In the video, she dances to
As screenwriters of the Lifetime original movies “Salt-N-Pepa” and “Wendy Williams: The Movie,” Abdul Williams and Leigh Davenport, respectively, were each proposed an exciting challenge by Lifetime: They had to condense the rich and aspirant lives of cultural trailblazers to fit neatly into the television movie format. “Salt-N-Pepa” follows a 20-year journey for the titular
“Saturday Night Live” is set to return with its first episode of the new year on Jan. 30, with John Krasinski as host and Machine Gun Kelly as the musical guest. NBC also announced the hosts and musical guests for the Feb. 6 and Feb. 13 episodes of the late-night sketch comedy series. Feb. 6
The late Sam Cooke would be 90 years old today. Cooke’s relevance and artistry has never been clearer, thanks to Regina King’s new film, “One Night in Miami,” which brings the Kemp Powers play of the same name to the big screen. The movie imagines the personal sparks, bonds, and struggles of four key Black
Rhye is the brainchild of Canadian singer-songwriter Michael Milosh, who is possessed of a high, aching voice that is usually mistaken for a woman’s (the bio tastefully describes it as “gender non-conforming”). Milosh has been releasing albums since the early ‘00s, either under his last name or, since 2013, as Rhye, but his voice makes
In today’s Global Bulletin, DJ Khaled signs on to host the MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021, Foxtel snags “The Drew Barrymore Show” in Australia and “SAS: Who Dares Wins” gets a Swedish adaptation. AWARDS Grammy-winning producer, DJ and record exec DJ Khaled will host the MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021 (MAMA), broadcasting globally