The charts are usually filled with holiday fare each mid-December, but this year is over the top even by that standard. While Shawn Mendes’ “Wonder” debuted at No. 1 on the Rolling Stone Top 200 Albums chart with 41.7 million streams and Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” wasn’t far behind, most of the top 10 was jingle all the way. Michael
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Taylor Swift, an artist now known for turning quarantine into the most productive era of her career, joined Zane Lowe on Apple Music Tuesday to discuss her latest album, “Evermore.” While Swift kept the existence of both albums she released this year under wraps until the day before they arrived, she spoke about the creative
To make sense of all that has transpired in 2020 and what it portends for the media and entertainment sectors going forward, Variety spoke with a cross section of industry leaders about the broad theme of change. For more, click here. The loss to the theater community is already incalculable. It’s shown people who go
To make sense of all that has transpired in 2020 and what it portends for the media and entertainment sectors going forward, Variety spoke with a cross section of industry leaders about the broad theme of change. For more, click here. When you look to next year, what are the biggest challenges and opportunities for
To celebrate Variety’s 115th anniversary, we went to the archives to see how some of Hollywood’s biggest stars first landed in the pages of our magazine. Read more from the archives here. On Aug. 31, 1960, Variety reported on an all-day Gospel Music Festival at Madison Square Garden. The 10-hour show, which Variety dubbed a “religioso
Sam Jayne, the frontman of the indie band Love as Laughter, has died. Jayne was last heard from on Dec. 7 and was reported missing shortly thereafter. He was 46. The NYPD confirmed to Variety that Jayne was found in his car and the cause of death is yet to be determined. Jayne’s Love as Laughter bandmate,
Joie Manda, executive vice president at Interscope Geffen A&M, is leaving the label at the end of the year to pursue new endeavors. His exit comes on the heels of a market share-leading year for the Universal Music Group company, which was named label of the year by Variety at its annual Hitmakers event, which
Last Friday, Death Cab for Cutie released “The Georgia EP” — exclusively on Bandcamp for one day only, with all proceeds going to Fair Fight Action, Stacey Abrams’ voter’s rights organization that promotes fair elections around the country through voter education, election reform, and combating voter suppression. The EP netted proceeds of more than $100,000 within that
The annual Ally Coalition Talent Show is one of the best benefits of the year, which has seen stellar performances in the past from Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Kacey Musgraves, Lorde, the (Dixie) Chicks, the National, Carly Rae Jepsen and Antonoff himself. While this year’s event will be virtual, the lineup is just as
Just in time for the holidays (and COVID vaccinations!), Nick and Vanessa Lachey have sold their showbiz pedigreed Encino, Calif., estate for not quite $6.7 million and at the same time made an off-market deal valued at just over $5 million for a smaller manse in one of the more sought after foothill neighborhoods in
In July, Senators Amy Klobuchar (a Democrat) and John Cornyn (a Republican) authored the Save Our Stages act, which requests $10 billion in pandemic relief for independent venues. A hearing on the impact of the pandemic on the live-entertainment business, as well as that act, a similar version of which passed the House as part of the
Musician and actor Ludacris will visit “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” this week as part of the talk-and-satire show’s focus on Georgia. Ludacris, who spent time growing up in Atlanta and attended Georgia State University, will appear in a segment to talk about his new charity, Kid Nation, which aims to educate with videos of
In a two-hour hearing on Tuesday morning, representatives for the concert industry, which has been ravaged by the pandemic shutdown, made a passionate and compelling case for federal aid before the U.S. Senate. “We’re here before you with our hats in our hands,” said witness Michael Strickland, owner of the lighting company Bandit Lites in
Rita Houston, a steady presence on New York radio — and an important musical tastemaker in her role as program director of Fordham University’s WFUV — died Tuesday after a battle with cancer, the station said in a statement Tuesday. She was 59 years old. “Rita was the north star of WFUV’s sound and its
Kevin Ryder, who spent 30 years at KROQ-FM as one-half of the popular “Kevin & Bean” morning drive show, is launching a daily YouTube series that highlights positive stories in the news. In his first official gig since KROQ fired him in March, Ryder will partner with Mike Catherwood to host “Great News with Kevin
The Highwomen won all three awards the country music supergroup was up for as part of the 2020 Americana Honors & Awards, which were announced online Tuesday morning. John Prine, who died in April of this year from COVID-19, was awarded with artist of the year. The posthumous honor was not necessarily strictly a sentimental
The world of Dionne Warwick’s Twitter account can be a confusing place, a place where Billie Eilish becomes William Eyelash, and where Chance the Rapper can find out, without being entirely sure, that he’s working on a song with the legendary 80-year-old singer. After engaging with Warwick on Twitter, Chance told Stephen Colbert on “The Late
Vevo’s year-end statistics show that Future and Drake’s “Life is Good” is the most viewed Vevo video of 2020, with 1.3 billion views globally; and J Balvin is the most viewed Vevo artist, with 2.7 billion views worldwide. Both cool, and you can see the top 10s below. But arguably more interesting are the songs
Former “Morning Becomes Eclectic” host Jason Bentley is back with his first new project since leaving the signature KCRW show last year. Bentley has partnered with 101 Studios and Soho House to launch a new entertainment podcast, “The Backstory,” which pairs different artists, creators and performers in conversation. The first episode, featuring actor/producer Kristen Bell
Lowly, the independent label launched in 2017 by The Nations’ founder Andre Benz and president Creighton Burke, has named music industry vet Sarah Landy vice president of the label. In this newly created role, Landy will oversee all aspects of label operations for Lowly. Landy comes to Lowly from Kobalt’s AWAL, where she was hired
Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and Random House, a division of Penguin Random House, have announced a new literary publishing partnership to be called Roc Lit 101. According to the announcement, the venture is an imprint devoted to publishing “books at the intersection of entertainment and genre-defying literature, including exhilarating, innovative work from some of the biggest artists and
Taylor Swift made an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday night and addressed the fan theory that she may have a third “Folklore” installment on the way. Ever since Swift surprise released “Evermore” — the sister album to July’s “Folklore” — last week, fans have been speculating that there is another complimentary album in the
Don Zimmermann, the former President/COO of Capitol/EMI Records, died on Dec. 11. He was 85. The cause of death is as yet unknown, but according to his wife, Rosa, he had been battling a respiratory infection. Zimmermann’s tenure at Capitol Records were during the gold and platinum era of success in the 1970s and 1980s,
Q&A, the music technology startup founded by Troy Carter and Suzy Ryoo, has announced Venice Innovation Labs — a newly launched software division that enables record labels to beta-test songs, manage their artist rosters, and distribute music easily and efficiently, according to the announcement. The first products to be released from Venice Innovation Labs are StreamRate
Interscope Records promotes Ramon Alvarez-Smikle to the position of senior vice president, head of urban digital marketing at the label. In this newly created role, Alvarez-Smikle will oversee digital marketing efforts across all of Interscope’s roster of hip-hop and R&B/Soul artists, reporting to Gary Kelly, chief revenue officer/global head of streaming & strategy at Interscope Geffen A&M. He will
Sony Music Entertainment Africa has appointed Christine Mosha, known as “Seven,” to lead Marketing and Artist Development for the East Africa region. Starting with immediate effect, Mosha will build out the company’s roster of local talent and amplify its international repertoire and existing catalogue across the region from her base in Tanzania. She will report
Chris Booker, who spent more than a decade on Entercom’s Los Angeles top 40 outlet 97.1 Amp (KAMP-FM) before exiting in February, is returning to the market — but via a crosstown rival. Booker has been hired as the new afternoon host on iHeartRadio’s Alt 98.7 (KYSR-FM), replacing Andrew Harms, who exited earlier this month
An appeals court on Monday handed a victory to the estate of Michael Jackson in its battle over the 2019 HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland,” which accused the late singer of sexually abusing two young boys. The Jackson estate sued HBO for $100 million, arguing that the documentary violated a 27-year-old non-disparagement clause from a 1992
Jesy Nelson, one of the founding members of popular British music group Little Mix, is leaving the band, it was announced on Monday. “After an amazing 9 years together Jesy has made the decision to leave Little Mix. This is an incredibly sad time for all of us but we are fully supportive of Jesy,”
Scoring a film can feel like an isolated process — but scoring a film about isolation during a pandemic takes it to a whole new level. That was the situation for Academy Award-winning composer Alexandre Desplat, who worked with The London Symphony Orchestra on the score for George Clooney’s “The Midnight Sky.” In the film,