Music

The Band’s classic 1970 album is often considered slightly inferior to its two stone-cold-classic predecessors, the group’s debut “Music From Big Pink” and the self-titled follow-up — but what’s not often stated is that “slightly inferior” to those albums still makes it one of the best albums of the year if not the era. While

French media conglomerate Vivendi said on Friday that a consortium led by China’s Tencent will exercise its option to acquire a further 10% stake in Universal Music Group, raising the consortium’s holding to 20%. A Tencent-led consortium completed its deal to buy 10% of UMG in March this year. It retained an option running until

Universal Music Group chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge was one of the first music industry executives to contract COVID-19 this year, entering the hospital shortly after his 60th birthday celebration at the end of February. The scare was among the topics he mentioned in a year-end letter to staff, circulated earlier today. In the

Eminem has “surprise-dropped” so many albums in the past couple of years that the arrival of a rumor has basically become the official announcement. And sure enough, days after very detailed rumors broke about the impending release of a follow-up to his most recent surprise-dropped album, “Music to Get Murdered By,” it arrived. Collaborators include

If it was quarantine fever that prompted Paul McCartney to return to all-DIY studio mode for his new album, “McCartney III,” it may be the the lack of any looming global tour that really helped set the record’s diverting and loose mood. His previous release, 2018’s “Egypt Station,” created with a full band and big-name

It took some patience — six long months of patience — but Paul “PG-13” George has finally managed to unload his mammoth mansion out in guard-gated Hidden Hills, deep within L.A.’s San Fernando Valley. The 1.35-acre property went for $8.4 million, a cut under the $9.5 million asking price but still significantly more than the

Grammy-winning singer Patti Austin has made a bid to get out the vote in Georgia with a new song posted by the political action committee MeidasTouch. The runoff vote, which takes place on Jan. 5, could determine whether or not the Senate goes Democrat or Republican Mitch McConnell remains majority leader. “I know you’ve gotta

Justin Bieber, Post Malone, Lana Del Rey, Ozzy Osbourne, Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa: all of these bold-faced names have 30-year-old Andrew Watt in common and two — Lipa and Malone — are up for album of the year for projects he worked on. No wonder Watt himself is a Grammy contender for producer of

Do the Grammys’ producer of the year nominations provide any kind of bellwether for which singles or albums will win in the top categories? Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa should hope so. Of the five talents who are nominated for producer of the year (non-classical) s this year, only two had anything to do with

Since the beginning of the pandemic, online music retailer Bandcamp has graciously waived its fees on the first Friday of every month, allowing nearly 100% of all sales to go to artists and labels — providing a rare opportunity to maximize the amount of that money that goes to artists. It is an admirable move

SONG OF THE YEAR MAIN EVENT: Beyoncé’s “Black Parade” vs. Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” DARK HORSE: H.E.R.’s “I Can’t Breathe” Collaborators J.P. Saxe and Julia Michaels can feel happy just to be nominated. Roddy Ricch is repped by a behemoth “Box,” but “crime drama” is not usually what the Academy looks for in this

Spotify launched the Songwriters Hub on Thursday, offering access to various playlists and podcasts revolving around songwriters. It also includes a highlights section used to feature songwriters and new releases. “With the launch of the Songwriters Hub, we’re continuing to evolve how music is discovered, appreciated, and enjoyed by the world,” said Jules Parker, Spotify’s

Billie Eilish and her producer/co-writer/brother Finneas gave themselves one rule, and one rule only, when a request came in for the duo to write and perform the James Bond theme song for “No Time to Die.” “Finneas’ whole thing — that I agreed with — was that we have to have the title of the

Sony/ATV Music Publishing has signed rising Canadian singer, songwriter and dancer Tate McRae to a worldwide publishing deal. McRae, 17, has scored hits with “Stupid” and “You Broke Me First,” which has racked up more than 500 million streams worldwide and peaked at No. 3 in the U.K. She recently released her debut EP, “All

Bad Bunny began writing music when he was 14 years old. Today, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, 26, is a Latin music phenomenon who, despite having spent less than five years in the limelight, has already hit international stages and performed for some of the largest audiences imaginable. In 2020, a year that has posed so

In a year filled with things we didn’t want to think about, there were few more indulgent escapes than music books. Thanks to everyone who took the trouble to write and publish them, in a year when record and book stores were closed and, worst of all, music fans were deprived of concerts and will

As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis, who served prison time for attempting to hire someone to murder his estranged wife, is in the hospital after a bonfire accident left him with burns on 25% of his body. The singer of the veteran San Diego heavy metal band posted about the accident on social media Wednesday, showing himself

Color of Change and the Recording Academy have announced the latest step in their partnership with the release the #ChangeMusic Roadmap, which is described as “a guide to move the music industry beyond conversation and intention and towards actionable racial justice.” Read the Roadmap here. Initially announced in October 2020 at the industry-wide #ChangeMusic Summit, the project

Apart from the shocking shutout of The Weeknd from all 2021 Grammy nominations, the hip-hop and R&B categories have arguably been the most controversial and criticized in the 2021 slate. At a time when hip-hop is the most popular and influential genre and R&B is a field of wide-ranging innovation, the nominees are a puzzling

Clive Davis is going virtual. Among the most coveted invitations during Grammy week, the 45th annual pre-Grammy party will not be an in-person affair in 2021. The gala doubles as a salute to industry icons and honors a music executive every year in addition to providing a star-packed evening of performances. Davis, himself a music

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the two-hour Season 4 finale of “The Masked Singer,” which aired Dec. 17 on Fox. LeAnn Rimes shouldn’t feel “Blue”: The singer shined on Wednesday night, as she was unmasked as “The Masked Singer” Season 4 winner — the Sun. Also revealed: Runner-up Aloe

Longtime talent manager Shirley Grant, who developed stars including the Jonas Brothers, Keshia Knight Pulliam and Allison Smith, died Tuesday evening in New Jersey. Dave McKeown, a talent manager and former employee of her firm, Shirley Grant Management, shared the news in a tribute. “I’m saddened to announce the passing of a golden woman in

COVID-19 proposed an important question: In our current image-obsessed age, how does a music artist continue projecting an iconic image when they can’t go on tour? The answer: They hire an animator. As she often does, Billie Eilish had a visual in mind for her “My Future” music video: it would be night, lit by

Snoop Dogg and the upcoming TBS talent competition series “Go-Big Show” have partnered to present a virtual New Year’s Eve special, Variety has learned exclusively. The celebration will be livestreamed from Snoop’s Compound on Dec. 31 beginning at 11 p.m. ET. The special will also feature Snoop’s “Go-Big Show” co-talent Bert Kreischer, Rosario Dawson, Jennifer Nettles,

Numerically speaking, Beyoncé has received more love from the Grammy Awards than virtually any other artist. The 39-year-old performer is the most-nominated female artist in the awards’ history (both solo and as a member of Destiny’s Child), and is tied with Paul McCartney for second place on the all-time list — just one behind her

A series based on the life of music icon Rick James is in the works at Universal Content Productions (UCP). The series is currently titled “Super Freak.” It is described as a funkadelic mix of music biopic and true crime, chronicling James’ plans for a comeback in the early 1990s amidst a heated trial that

In an optimistic and from-your-press-release-to-god’s-ears announcement on Wednesday, Lollapalooza Stockholm unveiled the lineup for its 2021 festival, which includes Pearl Jam, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, The Killers, Zara Larsson, Veronica Maggio, DaBaby, Kacey Musgraves, Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, Doja Cat, Alesso, Lewis Capaldi, Playboy Carti, Jack Harlow and many more. The festival is scheduled for the

When Ryan Murphy called Broadway choreographer Casey Nicholaw to oversee the dance numbers on his film adaptation of “The Prom,” about a group of self-absorbed theater actors who go to a conservative Indiana town to support a lesbian high school student’s dating choice, it was a sort of return engagement. After all, Nicholaw, whose credits

Jeremih opened up about his harrowing battle with COVID-19 during an appearance on “Sway’s Universe” on Tuesday. While he appeared on the show to promote his new holiday album with Chance the Rapper (which includes two new tracks along with songs from their earlier holiday releases), Sway broached the topic about ten minutes into the

They’re singing “Deck the Halls” and it does seem very much like Christmas, all in all, when Darlene Love is belting one out. There’s a new instance of that, in the Chris Columbus-directed Netflix film “The Christmas Chronicles 2,” as Love joins Kurt Russell, who’s returning as Santa Claus, in a large-scale musical number built