Music

Some of Michigan’s favorite sons are vocally supporting the Biden-Harris campaign on the day before the presidential election. Just hours after an ad in which Stevie Wonder calls upon residents of his home state to support the Biden ticket, an ad for the campaign featuring Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” — a song he rarely licenses, let

Stevie Wonder made a call for his home state of Michigan to vote for the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris Democratic presidential ticket in an advertisement created by the MeidasTouch political action committee released Monday (Nov. 2). Michigan has been one of the key swing states in recent elections and this year is no exception: President Trump

Steve Earle, Bobbie Gentry and Steve Earle are among the veteran tunesmiths announced Monday as 2020 inductees into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame — although their honors will have to wait a year, as this year’s and next year’s classes will be inducted together as part of a double-header ceremony scheduled for November 2021.

Twenty years ago this month, Madonna released “Don’t Tell Me,” the second single from her triple-platinum, Grammy nominated “Music” album. The song may be less remembered today than the title track from “Music,” but it arguably holds up even better, thanks not only to its minimalist production and forlorn lyrics, but also its fresh melding

Arashi, one of Japan’s longest-running and most popular supergroups, had zero public online footprint until last November: no Twitter, no Spotify, no YouTube, no Instagram, and certainly no TikTok. Online photos were not even allowed; their agency kept a tight grip on all content and required fans to sign up for an official subscription-based Japanese-language

Hipgnosis Songs has acquired 42 catalogs, comprising more than 33,000 songs, from Kobalt Music Copyrights S.à.r.l. for a total consideration of $322.9 million. The catalogs were owned and sold by investors in Kobalt Capital Limited — which is distinct from the music company itself — and the songs will continue to be administered by Kobalt.

“American Idol” alum Nikki McKibbin, who reached the final three on the show’s inaugural season in 2002, has died at the age of 42. Season one runner-up Justin Guarini broke the news on his Instagram on Oct. 31. The Grand Prairie, Texas native famously finished third in the competition behind Guarini and winner Kelly Clarkson

Sony/ATV Music Publishing has signed music producer and songwriter Johnny Goldstein to a worldwide co-publishing deal, the company announced Friday. Sony/ATV has also partnered with Artist Publishing Group (APG) to provide creative services to Goldstein. Goldstein, a Variety Hitmaker of the Month, worked with Will.I.Am to produce the Black Eyed Peas’ eighth studio album “Translation,” for

Ever since the start of his solo career, Busta Rhymes has been predicting grand, global, life-altering concepts such as man-made pandemics, holy wars, hidden government conspiracies and incendiary racial awakenings. None of Rhymes’ work, however, was as focused or ferocious as 1998’s mega-apocalyptic “Extinction Level Event: Final World Front.” Or as successful, as he received

Legendary Australian singer-songwriter Olivia Newton-John has struck a partnership with Primary Wave Music Publishing that includes the catalog of masters and publishing assets owned by the singer. These include such hits as “Physical,” “I Honestly Love You,” “A Little More Love,” “Please Mr. Please,” and “Have You Never Been Mellow,” as well as some of

Elvis Costello knows that, this deep into a four-decade-plus career, he will always be asked the inevitable then-and-now questions about how his attitude has changed, beckoning the 66-year-old to pit the late-1970s version of himself against the gentler and more accomplished Costello that constitutes this century’s model. That doesn’t mean he has to like it;

It’s been a blockbuster week for new releases — we’ve already covered new albums from Ariana Grande and Sam Smith, as well as new songs from Oneohtrix Point Never (featuring the Weeknd) and election-themed songs from Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile as well as the unexpected teamup from Keke Palmer, Billie Eilish collaborator Finneas and

If you’re a fan of Maynard James Keenan’s rare and complex brand of art-damaged music and refrigerator-magnet prose, the last few years have been golden. Along with his crepuscular metal band, Tool, releasing its first new album in 13 years, “Fear Inoculum,” in 2019, Keenan’s spidery alterna-rock act, A Perfect Circle, unleashed its latest album,

Lady Gaga has recreated her most iconic looks in a new video as she makes a last-minute plea to undecided voters. In the video just-under-three-minute-long video, Gaga begins by applauding those who have already voted. As she delivers a message to non-voters and undecided voters, Gaga switches from her famous meat dress from the 2010

Not to get too alliterative about it, but Ariana Grande is all about the positivity on “Positions,” an album that is simultaneously her most down-tempo and her most upbeat. There will be no ghostin’, boredom-fueled breakup or tears here, not to mention a complete lack of the rainy motifs she’s employed on her own or

Taylor Swift approved her song “Only the Young” for a pro-Joe Biden advertisement, a source close to the situation confirms to Variety. The song, from the Netflix documentary “Taylor Swift: Miss Americana,” appears in a new Biden ad that made the rounds on social media on Friday, four days before the 2020 election. California’s Democratic

The song “The Change,” the official anthem of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris presidential campaign, is the soundtrack for an inspiring new advertisement for the campaign. The ad, which features the song in its original English-language version sung by JoJo and in a Spanish version by Puerto Rican singer Chesca, debuted in both English and Spanish

Matthew Sweet is “At a Loss” for words, as he tells it, in the hard-rocking first single from his upcoming album. You might even imagine that it’s the cat that’s got his tongue, looking at the seemingly menacing feline on the cover of the forthcoming “Catspaw,” which comes out January 21, 2021. The debut track

The third episode of “Live From My Den,” the weekly video series from Artists Den and Variety, features Glass Animals frontman Dave Bayley performing in his London home. We also get a remarkable tour of his townhouse and studio from Bayley himself, who is clad in stylish beige overalls and does some ambitious camerawork with

iHeartRadio has announced the lineup for the 2020 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball, taking place virtually this year, with performances from Billie Eilish, Doja Cat, Dua Lipa, Harry Styles, Lewis Capaldi, Sam Smith, Shawn Mendes and more. The virtual event will broadcast nationally across more than 95 iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on the iHeartRadio app and will also stream on the

Berklee College of Music has appointed Erica Muhl its new president. Muhl becomes the first woman to hold the title in the school’s 75-year history and arrives from University of Southern California’s Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation, where she served as the dean and founding executive

Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile surprised viewers of a voter turnout special Thursday night with a duet performance of a new song, “A Beautiful Noise,” which they immediately released as a single following the premiere on “Every Vote Counts: A Celebration of Democracy.” Keys co-hosted the CBS special along with Kerry Washington and America Ferrera.

Ludwig Göransson, who won an Emmy last month for composing the music to season 1 of “The Mandalorian,” is predictably coy about the show’s return, beginning tomorrow on Disney Plus. But this much is certain: those bass recorders, the distinct and lonely theme for the helmeted bounty hunter, will be back. “There will be a

Veteran rapper Kid Cudi has joined forces with longtime collaborator and writer-producer-director Ian Edelman and software engineer Jonathan Gray to launch a new “mobile-first live music experience,” Encore, that enables artists to directly monetize, engage and grow their fanbases. According to the announcement, Encore offers an all-new format that encourages collaboration between artists and makes it easy for up-and-coming and

The $75 million SaveLive initiative, which would see former WME music head Marc Geiger essentially bailing out small concert venues in a partnership that would see him acquiring 51% ownership of those businesses, has gotten a wide variety of reactions since it was announced on Tuesday. Some are enthusiastic about any effort to preserve the

As rockstar homes go, Ronnie Wood’s London lair — recently listed at $4.98 million (£3.85 million) — isn’t the most lavish or ostentatious of residences, but it’s filled with the kind artistic quirks that earmark the legendary Rolling Stones guitarist and fine artist’s colorful and creative lifestyle. Wood has owned the five-bed, two-bath townhouse in

After recently upgrading their residential circumstances in a big way, married showbiz couple Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin Bieber have unsurprisingly plunked their original Beverly Hills home onto the market. The 6,100-square-foot transitional carries a nearly $9 million pricetag and looks unchanged from how it appeared 19 months ago, when the Biebers bought it for

When “Animaniacs” returns with all-new episodes Nov. 20 on Hulu, a key ingredient of the original animated series will also return: orchestral music by Steve and Julie Bernstein, two of the series’ primary composers from its 1993-98 run. Five of the show’s eight Daytime Emmy Awards were won by the “Animaniacs” music team, including the

Definitely not to be mistaken for the Pharrell Williams song of the same name, the macabre “Happy” is Danny Elfman’s first solo/non-score single in 36 years, and at least a small-scale answer to the prayers Oingo Boingo fans have been offering up since the film composer’s rock ‘n’ roll band went the way of all

Lil Yachty’s dramedy series “Public Figures” has moved to HBO Max for development, Variety has learned exclusively. The half-hour series was originally set up at Quibi last year, but moved over to HBO Max in the wake of Quibi shutting down. This marks the first announcement of a show previously set up at Quibi finding a