Music

Just two days after Def Jam Records co-founder Russell Simmons was sued for rape by a former Def Jam executive, he was hit on Thursday with another lawsuit for a former employee, Drew Dixon, who has leveled claims of sexual assault against  him in the past. She is suing Simmons for defamation for calling her

UPDATED: Shortly after releasing “Vultures 1,” his collaborative album with Ty Dolla Sign, Kanye West is facing a rocky road in keeping the project on streaming services: The album was removed from Apple Music and iTunes on Thursday afternoon (although several of its singles remain) amid word that its distributor was working to have it

This year’s Met Gala will be a garden party. Vogue announced Thursday that the 2024 gala — taking place May 6 — will coincide with the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” exhibit. Dress code for the evening is “The Garden of Time.” Anna Wintour’s co-chairs for the evening include Zendaya,

Shakira is set to release her first full-length LP in seven years on March 22. The album’s name, which references Shakira’s most quoted line in her and Bizarrap’s Latin Grammy-winning “Music Sessions Vol. 53,” is “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” (“Women Don’t Cry Anymore”). “Making this body of work has been an alchemical process,” said

The Black Music Action Coalition and live-entertainment giant Live Nation are partnering to launch a music business intensive course and paid internship program to provide industry newcomers with “insight and the technical skills required to bring a show to the stage,” the organizations announced Thursday. Kicking off this Summer, the program will offer non-college bound,

Legendary rock singer Rod Stewart has sold his song catalog to Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists for nearly $100 million in a deal that comprises interests in his publishing catalog and recorded music, as well as some name and likeness rights, according to the Wall Street Journal. Stewart commented on the sale to the publication, saying

Following the release of her new album, “This Is Me…Now,” and the premiere of its matching short film, Jennifer Lopez has announced she is heading out on tour. The Live Nation-produced trek marks the singer and actor’s first time on the road since 2019’s “It’s My Party” tour and sees her hitting arenas in over

Spotify is leaning into catalog programming with the launch of its first-ever catalog hub, Spotify Classics, curated by the streaming service’s editorial team. The program, which will be highlighted as a hub on the platform starting today, seeks to define more recent albums that the editorial team has deemed as streaming classics. The collection of

Broadway is coming to Santa Monica. Jenna Ushkowitz (“Glee”) and Merle Dandridge (“The Last of Us,” “Station 19”) are teaming up and gathering their singer friends to raise money for Harvest Home L.A., a non-profit for unhoused pregnant women. “Jenna, Merle, and Friends: A Night of Song” will feature pop and Broadway tunes performed by

Simu Liu’s hosting reel keeps on growing. The “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” star’s past hosting gigs include the Time 100 gala and the Junos. He also hosted “Saturday Night Live” in 2021 and has guest-hosted “Jimmy Kimmy Live!” Now, he’s taking the reins of the People’s Choice Awards. “The PCAs are unique,”

After several teasers, Brent Faiyaz has dropped the video for his song “WY@” — featuring “Black Panther”/ “Star Wars”/ “12 Years a Slave” star Lupita Nyong’o. Directed by Markpeaced, the clip features the two filming scenes from a (presumably fictional) action film, involved in a high-speed chase across the desert and apparently arguing. It also

On the heels of a charismatic Super Bowl halftime performance, Usher is now bringing his music to the small screen. The eight-time Grammy winner has partnered with UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, to develop a drama series. Executive producers are Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, Katie Zucker (Mad Massive Entertainment) and Kenny Meiselas (KMei Productions).

A remix of Ariana Grande‘s chart-topping single “Yes, And?” featuring Mariah Carey is set to arrive on Feb. 16. Grande shared the news on Wednesday morning after both singers sneakily changed their Instagram profile pictures to a picture of their eyes. Grande later shared a photo of her and Carey with the caption confirming the

On “Do It,” nestled halfway through Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign’s collaborative album “Vultures 1,” America’s second-biggest controversy magnet raps, “You don’t like it? That’s your loss.” Contending and conversing with West’s music in 2024 is an obstacle course. The rapper, undeniably one of music’s most influential creative forces, has spent the past few

Eminem, whose 2000 song “Stan” coined the term for fanatical and sometimes delusional superfans, is co-producing a documentary on the phenomenon via his Shady Films, in association with DIGA Studios and Hill District Media, with initial distribution from Paramount/MTV. The film, directed by Steven Leckart (“Challenger: The Final Flight,” writer of “What’s My Name: Muhammad

Scooter Braun, Emmy Rossum and Helen Mirren are among 400 celebrities and industry executives who’ve signed an open letter supporting Israel’s inclusion in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Although there has been no suggestion the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the annual singing competition, has any intention of barring Israel from the event, the open

When it comes to Tennessee’s recently Grammy-winning musical heroes, the state’s House Republicans are making it clear — they’re good with Paramore, but not so much Allison Russell, for reasons yet to be explained. Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) brought resolutions before the body to honor the Grammy achievements of Paramore, who won for best

Is Beyoncé going to get some love at the country radio format, now that she’s released a single, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” that openly embraces the genre? That’s a big question mark, as radio programmers, like many others in the music industry, are still reeling from the shock of her surprise release the night of the

A former music video producer sued Russell Simmons on Tuesday, alleging that he raped her when she worked for Def Jam Recordings in the late 1990s. The woman, identified in the complaint as Jane Doe, alleges that she went to Simmons’ Manhattan apartment to get his approval for a rough cut of a video. While

Neil Young & Crazy Horse will make a national road trip for the first time in a decade this spring, making good on plans that were being laid for the band to hit the road before the pandemic interrupted the reunion. The 16-date tour begins with two nights in San Diego April 24-25 and wraps

Pearl Jam has simultaneously announced a world tour and the arrival of their twelfth studio effort, “Dark Matter,” slated for release on April 19. The band shared the set’s electrifying title track on Tuesday morning. The 35-date worldwide tour will launch in May, just a few weeks after the release of “Dark Matter,” and hit

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Usher is on a roll. Following a high-energy halftime performance at the Super Bowl, where the R&B star performed for the biggest audience of his career, and the release of his ninth studio album

Canadian superstar singer Michael Bublé thinks he has a global smash on his hands with “Spicy Margarita,” his collaboration with Jason Derulo. The pair performed the Latin-flavoured banger together last week on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and recently shared their mutual respect by getting tattoos of the other — Derulo got a Bublé face on his

Just two days after performing with Usher during the Super Bowl Halftime show, Grammy-Oscar-Emmy winner H.E.R. has announced that she’s signed with Lighthouse Management and Media for management across all areas of her career. She will be managed at the company by Aleen Keshishian, Zack Morgenroth and Jacob Epstein. According to the announcement, “H.E.R. is

AWARD Kylie Minogue will receive the Brits Global Icon award at this year’s ceremony on March 2, “in recognition of her career spanning across five decades as one of the world’s most successful and iconic music stars,” the organizers said. The Brits Icon is the highest accolade given by the Brit Awards, with previous winners

“Harley” director Jean-Cosme Delaloye has wrapped production on a documentary celebrating pioneering Detroit techno music producer Carl Craig. “Desire: The Carl Craig Story” is structured as an intimate portrait of Craig and an ode to his beloved Detroit. With Detroit’s decline and recovery as a backdrop, the film follows the career of producer whose genre-defying

Katy Perry caused a bit of a Firework on Monday night, revealing on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” that this upcoming season of “American Idol” will be her last one as a judge. Perry was a guest on Monday night’s “Kimmel.” When the host asked Perry how much longer she would stick with “Idol” — she’s

Beyoncé sent her fans a shocker on Super Bowl Sunday, using a Verizon ad to announce “Renaissance Act II” and drop two brand-new country songs. But members of the BeyHive with a penchant for half-hour comedies got a two-for-one deal, as the pop star appeared in the commercial opposite an unexpected partner: “Veep” and “Arrested

Toby Keith has posthumously earned his fifth No. 1 album, topping the Billboard 200 list (dated Feb. 17) with his nearly 16-year-old greatest hits compilation. Including folk and country singles like “Who’s Your Daddy?,” and the Willie Nelson-featuring “Beer for My Horses,” Keith’s “35 Biggest Hits” just barely managed to take the No. 1 slot

Usher‘s Super Bowl Halftime performance earned gold stars for the R&B star’s suave — and seemingly tireless — delivery of his classic hits. Unfortunately, most (if not all) of the negative criticism of the show has been pointed at one of his special guests, Alicia Keys, who delivered a rendition of her 2003 hit, “If