Music

In a message posted to her Instagram and Twitter, Taylor Swift expressed why she believes Juneteenth should be a national holiday and announced that she has given her employees the day off. Along with a lengthy caption, Swift reposted a video made by media organization The Root that explains the history of Juneteenth and why

Singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens, accompanied virtually by virtuoso cellist Yo-Yo Ma, has released a new song called “Build a House” in honor of Juneteenth. “This song, ‘Build a House,’ came knocking a week ago and I had to let it in,” Giddens wrote in a Twitter message accompanying the nearly five-minute-long song, which features split video

The annals of contemporary music are rife with legendary unreleased albums: the Beach Boys’ “Smile,” The Who’s “Rock Is Dead,” Marvin Gaye’s “Love Man,” David Bowie’s soundtrack for “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” several from Prince, Bruce Springsteen and perhaps most of all, Neil Young. Usually, such albums turn out to be unfinished and

Louisiana rapper Hurricane Chris (real name: Christopher Dooley) has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with a shooting in Shreveport, La., early Friday, according to local outlet KTVE and multiple news reports. The Shreveport Police Violent Crimes Unit told the station that Dooley — best known for his 2007 hit “A Bay Bay” — 

It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since Fergie has recorded with the Black Eyed Peas. The swaggering vocal presence who helped push BEP into the pop/EDM marketplace — in accordance with founding songwriter-producer will.i.am’s broadened soundscapes, of course — wanted a solo career, got it at first with the mega-selling “The Dutchess,”

With new album “Bigger Love” just out, but no tour in sight due to the coronavirus pandemic, John Legend is letting resourcefulness take the lead this roll-out weekend. To promote the release, and be part of an auspicious occasion such as “Juneteenth” — the date in 1865 when slaves received word of their freedom under

Veteran R&B singer Usher has penned a powerful essay stating reasons why Juneteenth should be considered a national holiday. An excerpt is posted below; you can read it in full at the Washington Post. “The liberation Juneteenth commemorates is cause for celebration, but it also reminds us how equality can be delayed. On June 19,

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States — June 19, the day in 1865 when Texas was the final Confederate state to be notified of the Union victory and, thus, the freeing of all slaves in the U.S. To state what is probably obvious, for many Black Americans, the day holds much

ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, today announced the launch of a new paid internship program for students enrolled in historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the U.S. This summer, the PRO will offer five HBCU students the opportunity to join ASCAP’s team to gain real-world experience in the music industry.

Brazilian music phenomenon Anitta has signed a recording contract with Warner Records and is eyeing the release of a multilingual debut produced by Ryan Tedder in the U.S. later this year. The singer brings together elements of reggaetón, bossa nova, R&B, hip-hop, EDM and funk carioca in her own unique musical blend. She has recently

Teyana Taylor is set to release “The Album” on Friday, coinciding with Juneteenth, the day marking word of  emancipation reaching enslaved African-Americans in the outermost territories in 1865. To preview the project — featuring such music elites as Erykah Badu, Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill, Future, Kehlani, Quavo, Rick Ross and Davido, among others — Taylor

Carrie Underwood aside, country radio has embraced former “American Idol” contestants only reluctantly, as if they were averse to sharing the credit for launching an act. A few have managed to last, though: Underwood’s an arena headliner and a radio mainstay for 15 years now, and Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina, who finished 1-2 on

An ultra-private estate tucked into the celeb-friendly Hidden Hills community in L.A.’s far western suburbs, owned by Canadian singer, songwriter and record producer Abel Tesfaye, otherwise known around the world as The Weeknd, has popped up for sale at nearly $25 million. The three-time Grammy winner paid $18.2 million for the three-acre spread almost three

Do metal lives believe that Black Lives Matter? Some major acts associated with the metal, hard rock or hardcore scenes would like it to be known that the answer is yes, and are giving fans a chance to put their chests where their mouths are using the vital  communications medium of merch. The T-shirt with

Though it was just five months ago, January 2020, was a very different time for Tionna “Tank” Ball and her band Tank & The Bangas, not to mention the entire world. Just days before traveling to Los Angeles for the band’s first Grammy Week, where they were among the nominees for Best New Artist, Ball,

Phoebe Bridgers has a high, wispy, pretty voice that often camouflages the intense, incisive or batshit things she’s singing about. Combined with the soft-focus production on most of her songs, it’s almost lulling — and if you’re only half-listening, you may not realize a song is told from the perspective of a murderer taking his

The phrase “server fixation date and termination” might sound boring or gibberish to anyone other than an attorney or a tech reporter, but that term, from the U.S. Copyright Office’s April update on the Music Modernization Act, has become a potentially thorny issue among those hammering out rules for the new law, which takes effect

In the wake of the financial havoc wreaked on the live-entertainment industry by the coronavirus pandemic, Live Nation plans to make significant changes to its policies regarding concert tours and festivals when touring is expected to resume in 2021, according to a memo circulated to talent agencies. The changes shift much of the financial risk

The Disco Biscuits will perform a special show in their hometown of Philadelphia on June 23. Teaming with the Philadelphia Phillies, Citizens Bank Park and Live Nation, the jam band’s show, which will be audience-less and livestreamed for free, will support the PLUS1 For Black Lives Fund which is centered on empowering black communities, transforming

Dame Vera Lynn, the iconic British singer best known for her rousing wartime song “We’ll Meet Again,” has died. She was 103. Lynn’s family confirmed the singer died on Thursday morning, surrounded by relatives, according to the BBC. “The family are deeply saddened to announce the passing of one of Britain’s best-loved entertainers,” reads a

Woodstock 50 filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking tens of millions of dollars from Dentsu, accusing the Japanese advertising firm of sabotaging plans for a 50th anniversary festival last year. The lawsuit, filed in New York Supreme Court, contends that Dentsu and its subsidiary agreed to finance the festival but then manufactured an excuse to breach

The recent Epix docu-series “Laurel Canyon” made music fans nostalgic for the Los Angeles rock enclaves of the 1960s and early ’70s, but three sisters who were raised just over the hill from that glen stand poised to inherit the mantle of queens of L.A. rock. “We grew up along Laurel Canyon on the Valley

Last week, music mogul and entrepreneur Russell Simmons, who has been accused of rape or sexual misconduct by multiple women, made an appearance on “The Breakfast Club” morning show during which he spent a good portion of the interview attempting to refute accusations levied against him in the recent documentary “On The Record,” which is

A silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic: it’s revealed the resilience of artists and executives alike in continuing to push out new music. You could even look at this time as a sort of A&R boom — with songs benefitting from captive audiences and creators finding themselves with solitary time on their hands. Which tracks

Musicals “Les Misérables” and “Hamilton” won’t return to the West End until 2021, producer Cameron Mackintosh has confirmed. The British producer — who predicted in early May that major musicals may be on ice across London’s theater district until the new year — revealed on Wednesday that four of his productions via firm Delfont Mackintosh

The Dixie Chicks have a reputation for being one of the most progressive acts in country music. If “Goodbye Earl,” the Texas-bred trio’s 2000 hit about a battered wife who offs her husband by slipping poison into his black-eyed peas, didn’t tip us off, frontwoman Natalie Maines sealed their liberalism — and their fate —

The ASCAP Pop Music Awards are taking place as a virtual event over two days this year, and rather than make anyone wait through any of the programming to find out the winners, the performing rights organization named its honorees right at the outset of the festivities Wednesday morning — including props to the Jonas

Warner Chappell Music has entered into a co-publishing deal with the estate of late rapper Pop Smoke, who was killed in February during a home invasion in Los Angeles. His debut album is slated for a posthumous release this summer by Victor Victor Worldwide, the company helmed by Universal Music Group senior A&R executive Steven

Annie Lennox has enlisted fellow musicians Sting, Emeli Sandé, Jessie J, Yola, Paloma Faith, Jessie Ware, Hozier, Anoushka Shankar, Jack Savoretti, Skin of Skunk Anansie, Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro and Frank Turner to contribute performances for the Circle Music Auction to help raise money for women and girls who have been disproportionately impacted by

Rapper J. Cole surprised fans by dropping a new song titled “Snow on Tha Bluff” on Tuesday night. The single, his first of the year so far, touches on themes such as police brutality, racism and activism in a quick flow. “It’s a reason it took like two hundred years for our ancestors just to