Music

The range of musicians, actors, directors and creatives around the globe publicly mourning the loss of legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen demonstrates how far his music and his talent reached. In the hour after his death was announced, Twitter was filled with tributes not just from musicians like former bandmate Sammy Hagar, Motley Crue’s Nikki

Pharrell Williams hasn’t stopped running … on behalf of “Letter to My Godfather,” the original song he wrote for Netflix’s “The Black Godfather,” a documentary about legendary music executive Clarence Avant. Qualifying for the Oscars as a film with a theatrical release, the Emmys as a Netflix production and the Grammys as a work of

After spending the better part of a year languishing on the market, rocker Mike Shinoda’s Los Angeles mansion has finally sold for a few hairs under $9.1 million. That’s down from the $9.5 million the Linkin Park co-founder originally requested but a noteworthy bump above the $7.4 million he paid for the place nearly 14

Meow! Kesha is the latest celebrity to sign on to appear at the upcoming virtual cat convention CatCon From Your Couch. The singer will present during the CatCon Awards on Oct. 11. The Grammy-nominated singer is known for her love of cats and has several as pets. She most recently included her cat Mr. Peeps

Eddie Van Halen, whose innovative and explosive guitar playing kept the hard rock band that bore his family name cemented to the top of the album charts for two decades, died on Tuesday morning after a long battle with cancer. He was 65. Van Halen’s son Wolf announced the news. “He was the best father

Rapper 21 Savage is getting annoyed at the number of artists using a word he claims he coined, “Yessirskii” — so much that he tweeted on Monday that he wants “50 percent of every song” that uses it. “I need 50 percent of every song that come out with a yessirskiii hook y’all getting outrageous

During her musical performance on “Saturday Night Live” last weekend, Megan Thee Stallion voiced strong opposition to Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron’s handling of the Breonna Taylor case. Taylor was shot and killed by police during a forced entry into her home during a drug raid in March. In the middle of performing her hit

Camila Cabello, John Legend, Yungblud and Ben Platt lead this year’s nominations for the Lockdown Awards, presented by LiveXLive, with three nods each. Andrea Bocelli, Chris Martin and Cynthia Erivo also round out the top honors with three nominations. On Tuesday, LiveXLive Media announced the nominees for its Dec. 11 quarantine-based music award show, which

The Live Free 999 Fund established in honor of the late rapper Jarad “Juice WRLD” Higgins by his mother announced today that it has donated a complete set of band and orchestral instruments to his former school, Deer Creek Christian School, in Chicago Heights, IL. The instrument donation fully outfits the school’s band and orchestra and also provides beginning instruments for younger students in

Rihanna has apologized to the Muslim community after an uproar over an appearance on an Amazon Prime-streamed lingerie show that included a song containing excerpts from sacred Islamic texts, calling its inclusion an “honest yet careless mistake.” “The use of the song in our project was completely irresponsible!” the singer admitted in a written statement

Goldenvoice, founder and producer of the Coachella Festival, has announced several social-justice initiatives including Black Lives Matter-inspired clothing by four Black designers based in California. The initiatives, launched by GV Black, an internal organization launched in 2017 to “guide the venues, festivals, and company forward in the mission to expand on racial justice work,” include: We

K-pop girl group Blackpink is coming to Netflix on Oct. 14 in a brand new documentary, titled “Blackpink: Light Up the Sky,” which has released its first trailer. The film, which runs 79 minutes, features footage of performances, behind-the-scenes prep and interviews with the band members as they detail the “dreams and trials behind their

One of the keys to the longevity of Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous,” a love letter to 1970s rock and roll, is the film’s effortless cool. The iconic image of corkscrew-curled Kate Hudson in bell-bottoms and faux fur tossing up a peace sign was so emblematic of the era that it made the then-unknown actress into a

Universal Music Israel has announced the appointment of journalist and radio host Meytal Shevach to the position of A&R Manager, effective immediately. In her new role, Shevach will lead UMG’s efforts in the signing and development of new domestic Israeli musical talent for the label, which launched earlier this year. She will be based in

A few burning questions as we look ahead to the 2021 Grammys… Will TikTok hits have a big showing? TikTok has certainly proven itself to be a hitmaking powerhouse this year, igniting dance crazes and challenges to tunes already building, including Doja Cat’s “Say So” and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage,” and helping to catapult them

Machine Gun Kelly reached the top of the album chart for the first time this week with a collection called “Tickets to My Downfall.” That title actually seemed to be what Tory Lanez was selling, meanwhile, as his self-defensive album “Daystar,” which got about as much attention as any album this year, fizzled out after

Ronan Farrow has a Pulitzer, is a Grammy nomination in his future? Farrow is eligible in the spoken word category for “Catch and Kill,” chronicling how he broke the Harvey Weinstein story. The book is a winner, but his comical narration, complete with Bond-villainesque impersonations of everyone from Eastern European seductresses to Ukrainian henchmen, is

David Bell has been promoted to executive vice president in addition to his current role as head of marketing at Epic Records. He previously served as svp and head of marketing. Bell returned to Epic, a subsidiary of Sony Music, in 2017 following a previous term as vp and head of digital marketing and strategy

Sam Smith and Normani’s “Dancing With a Stranger” was named song of the year in the results for the BMI London Awards, announced online Monday in lieu of a ceremony. The kudos honor the most-performed songs of the year in the U.S. by UK or European songwriters signed to Broadcast Music, Inc. “Dancing With a

During their talk at Fast Company’s Innovation Festival on Monday, Ariana Grande/ Justin Bieber manager Scooter Braun, Raised in Space cofounder Shara Senderoff and Island Recording artist Jessie Reyez spoke about how their artists, their artistry and their businesses have coped during the pandemic and what the prospects look like for the return to live

Apple TV Plus will premiere the documentary about the making of Bruce Springsteen’s “Letter to You” on Oct. 23, the same day the album is released, the streaming service announced Monday. The documentary reunites Springsteen with Thom Zimny, his longtime filmmaking partner. Zimny takes solo credit on the new film after sharing directorial reins with

Best recording package isn’t a category that’s typically top of mind for Grammy prognosticators, but one group’s album art stands out among its peers this year. Surfaces, the Texas duo of Forrest Frank and Colin Padalecki, met on the internet and began collaborating via SoundCloud files, so it stands to reason that their visuals would

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up the long-running copyright battle over Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” leaving in place a ruling that rejected infringement allegations over the 1971 song. The justices denied a petition aimed at reviving the case, ending six years of litigation that the song’s writers, Jimmy Page and

The following chapter appears in the book “TMI: My Life in Scandal” By Perez Hilton, with Leif Eriksson and Martin Svensson; published by Chicago Review Press on Oct 6. Reprinted with permission. I met Amy Winehouse for the first time in London at a fashion magazine party in late 2006. At that point in time,

Vevo has announced a partnership with HeadCount, the non-partisan, non-profit organization that promotes participation in democracy through music, culture and digital media. Since 2004, HeadCount has registered over 800,000 voters and ranks as one of the most active grassroots civic participation organizations in the United States. According to the announcement, Vevo and HeadCount will be

Jared Smith is stepping down as global chairman of Ticketmaster at the end of the year. Smith, 42, has been with the company for more than 17 years, although he was just promoted to chairman in August. According to the announcement, which was first published by Sportico, Smith and Michael Rapino, CEO of Ticketmaster owner Live Nation

As a member of South Korean group Girls’ Generation, Jessica Jung made a name for herself in the highest echelons of pop royalty. Having since gone solo (she left the group in 2014) and launched a fashion line, with plans to open a flagship store in Seoul, Jung is now taking readers on a journey

“Taylor Swift”(2008 ceremony) “1989”(2015 and 2016 ceremonies) Wait, come back, Taylor! All is Grammy-forgiven, and your best is clearly yet to come! “1989” generated 10 nominations over two years, and won three of those, including her second album of the year prize. Repeating in that top category is a rare honor that’s only ever been

Midway through 2018, budding pop star MAX learned he had a polyp on one of his vocal cords. The discovery resulted in canceled tour dates, an operation and months of silence — as well as an unexpected shift in how the artist views music, relationships and life. “I had this vocal surgery and I couldn’t

In a video interview for Variety‘s new Soundboard feature, country superstar Keith Urban discusses how he got into the final creative stretch of his new album, “The Speed of Now, Part 1,” well into the 2020 lockdown — and how, perhaps counterintuitively, that ultimately made the record feel more more energized and cut-loose, not less.