The music of Little Richard, who died on Saturday at the age of 87, was one of the genuine architects of not only rock and roll but R&B, soul, hip-hop and other genres as well. Few artists can truly be said to have directly inspired the Beatles, James Brown, the Rolling Stones, Prince and countless
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News of the death of veteran music executive Andre Harrell hit the industry hard with many artists, former colleagues, fans and friends expressing their grief on social media Friday night, May 8, into Saturday morning. Harrell founded Uptown Records and hired Sean “P. Diddy” Combs as an intern, later promoting him to vice president of
Flamboyant singer-instrumentalist Little Richard, whose high-voltage, keyboard-shattering R&B singles supplied lift-off for the ’50s rock ‘n’ roll revolution, has died. The musician, whose birth name was Richard Penniman, was 87, although some sources say he was older. His death was confirmed by his son, Danny Jones Penniman, who told the New York Times the cause
Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks, a large media and entertainment law firm, appears to have been the victim of a cyberattack that resulted in the theft of an enormous batch of private information on dozens of celebrities, according to a data security researcher. The trove of data allegedly stolen from the New York-based firm by
Andre Harrell, a veteran music executive best known as the founder of Uptown Records, where Sean “Puffy” Combs got his start in the business, who later went on to head Motown Records, has died. He was 59. The cause of death is as yet unclear. DJ D-Nice revealed the sad news while spinning on Instagram
Whether it’s pandemic boredom, slavish dedication or a combination of both, fans of some of pop music’s top divas have been amusing themselves lately by launching social media campaigns to get their favorite singers’ less respected albums to the top of the download charts, years after the fact. It happened when Mariah Carey’s “lambs” drove
By now we all know that time spent with oneself does not always mean excavating life-shattering revelations. But like a bucket of cold water to the face, Hayley Williams’ self-analysis on her new solo album, “Petals for Armor,” embraces the active work of personal change. Standing alone in the spotlight, as opposed to with her
Just hours after Punjabi-Canadian rapper Nav dropped his new album, “Good Intentions” — executive produced by The Weeknd — he also dropped a new video for the song “No Debate,” featuring Young Thug. The clip features the two stars and associated crew members behaving in a manner that used to be called “flossing,” with lots
For a special edition of Variety’s Corona Chronicles, we asked moms to talk about how they are dealing in these unprecedented times ahead of Mother’s Day. Here are 13 essays — from Lady Gaga’s mom Cynthia Germanotta to Brooke Shields — about the messages they’d like to share. This pandemic continues to impact the industry.
When you think of the electronically inclined duo Daft Punk, two things that assuredly don’t come to mind first are (a) a personnel count that requires more than half of one hand and (b) violins. But Miami’s Nu Deco Ensemble is out to provide a different spin on their material with a symphonic suite’s worth
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “The Eddy,” streaming now on Netflix. “The Eddy” opens with a five-minute long take, the camera weaving its way through the titular Parisian jazz club, lingering on the house band as the members swing through an upbeat number before leaving for the pitch black, cigarette-strewn
John Lennon’s former Palm Beach estate has just popped up for sale $47.5 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. No doubt the superstar musician and his wife Yoko Ono envisioned escaping the brutal New York winters in the Florida sun, though they bought the property only months before his 1980 assassination. The 14,000 sq.
Kevin Liles has done a lot. The 52-year-old Baltimore native started off his career as an artist with the DJ crew Numarx — who had a song called “Girl You Know It’s True” that was not only covered by Milli Vanilli, it was the title track on the controversial multiplatinum-selling duo’s Grammy-winning (and Grammy-retracted) 1990
Music livestreamer LiveXLive is diversifying its business with the acquisition of PodcastOne, a podcast network that hosts shows by Adam Carolla, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Shaquille O’Neal and others, in an all-stock deal valued at about $18 million. Under the deal, LiveXLive — which to date has been a money-losing venture and last month received
Southern California is first and foremost a car culture. Everything’s so spread out, any trip to the mall, the movies, the beach takes place on wheels. For today’s So Cal teens, those trips offer a chance to catchup on cell phone conversations, podcasts, maybe NPR, but back in the early ’80s, drive time was dominated
Taylor Swift only got one full headlining show in to promote her “Lover” album before the coronavirus pandemic came down, causing all the stadium shows she had planned for this year to be pushed at least into 2021. Fortunately for fans, that lone gig was filmed for posterity, and ABC will air portions of it
Quaranteens rejoice! Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande have collaborated on a new charity single called “Stuck with U” to benefit the First Responders Children’s Foundation. The two artists share management — Scooter Braun’s SB Projects — and directing credit on the “Stuck With U” video (along with Braun, Rory Kramer and Alfredo Flores) which features
Bob Dylan released his third new song in six weeks, “False Prophet,” Thursday night — and now the question of whether his career paradigm for the 2020s has switched to being strictly a “singles artist” has been answered. Embedded in the artwork for the song was the promise of a new album, to be titled
Some musicians rock too hard, but Queen’s Brian May gardened too hard. The lead guitarist announced he’s been hospitalized after ripping the muscles in his glutes “to shreds” after working too furiously in his garden. May posted a photo and video on his Instagram on Wednesday with the unusual announcement. “As well as getting over-stretched
The Jazz Foundation of America’s annual “Great Night in Harlem” benefit at the Apollo in New York in April had to be called off after the pandemic broke out this year. But the music charity is now aiming to bring a different kind of great night to homes nationwide May 14 with an online benefit,
Rebecca Black, of viral “Friday” fame, is releasing a new song to benefit Best Buddies International, a nonprofit dedicated to helping create opportunities for people with disabilities. “Alone Together” hits all streaming services at midnight EST on May 8 and will be available for purchase. Black’s affiliation with Best Buddies, which was formed in 1989
Celebrities have taken to social media to express outrage and demand justice for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man who was fatally shot by two white men with ties to law enforcement while jogging in February. Arbery was chased and shot on Feb. 23 in Brunswick, Ga. Police have identified the men who
There’s not an obvious reason to compare the music of Hayley Williams and Hailee Steinfeld, besides the fact that they are both pop musicians (in the broadest sense of the term), and they share a name (albeit with conveniently different spellings). More concerning is that it would be easy to see this as just one
After sharing the screen for six seasons of “Madam Secretary,” Téa Leoni and Erich Bergen have teamed up again for the massive undertaking of producing UNICEF USA’s first streaming event, “UNICEF Won’t Stop,” which will broadcast on Saturday, May 9. With Bergen as the event’s executive producer and Leoni serving as a UNICEF ambassador since
At the end of Live Nation’s first-quarter earnings call on Thursday, CEO Michael Rapino fielded questions about the company’s finances, but mostly, as expected, about when and how the concert industry might begin to reopen from coronavirus lockdown. Not surprisingly, the company’s earnings report revealed challenges, even though the lockdown began in the last three
Live Nation gets right to the point in the announcement accompanying its earnings statement for the first quarter of this unprecedentedly troubled year for the live-entertainment business. “At the beginning of the year, we were on track for tremendous growth across all our businesses with both fan demand and artist touring increasing on a global
Streaming is considered to be the savior of the music business, but what really saved it — until recently, anyway — was concerts. Yes, the meteoric rise of legal streaming services during the 2010s provided a way for artists to earn some money from recorded music — after years of making nothing due to illegal
When Billie Eilish and Finneas performed the 1960s hit “Sunny” from their home on the recent “One World: Together at Home” broadcast, it was an indication of just how much pop music the siblings might have picked up from their parents that goes back way before their time. Fans will get an even better look
Executives from Spotify, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Columbia Records are the focus of a “Women in Music” webinar, the third in FYI Brand Group’s #FYIFiresides virtual series via Zoom, taking place today (Thursday, May 7) at 6 p.m. ET/ 3 p.m. PT. The conversation is moderated by Variety’s executive music editor Shirley Halperin and features:Whitney-Gayle Benta (Head
André Holland may have always loved jazz, but he admits he didn’t really know much about the music genre until he was cast in the new Netflix drama series “The Eddy.” “I had to read a bunch of books about it,” Holland says on Thursday’s episode of the Variety and iHeart podcast “The Big Ticket.”