Actor-musician-vegan Maggie Baird, mother of Billie Eilish and Finneas, is expanding her Support + Feed initiative from its Los Angeles base to two other cities, she tells Variety. The goal of the initiative is to feed first responders, senior centers and economically vulnerable people during the coronavirus crisis while helping plant-based restaurants stay afloat. “People
Music
Country singer Cady Groves, best known for her 2009 EP “A Month of Sundays,” died in Nashville over the weekend, according to a statement from her label. “Her death appears to be from natural causes, pending a final coroner’s report,” the announcement states. “Foul play and self-harm have both been ruled out by the coroner.”
With the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy, any look back at 2019 financial performance feels like an exercise in nostalgia, but the data released by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry on Monday shows that the streaming boom’s impact on recorded-music revenues was already starting to level off. For
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Zoey’s Extraordinary Dad,” the Season 1 finale of “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.” The time Zoey Clarke (Jane Levy) — and let’s face it, most of the audience of “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” — has been dreading has come. In the first season finale of Austin Winsberg’s
The Grammy-winning band Gorillaz has dropped a new song titled “How Far?” in honor of the legendary Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, who died April 30 at the age of 79 from an aortic aneurysm. Allen, an Afrobeat pioneer who worked for many years with Fela Kuti, was featured on several songs by Gorillaz, the group
Drake helped break the tedium of lockdown with a mixtape drop on Friday, which had been teased for a few hours before its release. “Dark Lane Demo Tapes, aptly named for the these somber times, includes all of the rapper’s recent singles including the massive, TikTok-assisted “Toosie Slide,” “When to Say When” and “Chicago Freestyle”
Investing banking giant Goldman Sachs has donated $100,000 to the Team Rubicon emergency response organization through the latest installment of the “Quarantunes” fundraising effort spearheaded by WME partner Richard Weitz and his daughter, Demi Weitz. On Saturday, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon joined the invitation-only Quarantunes Zoom call to announce the donation. The series began
Kesha’s “Resentment” is among the standout tracks from her album “High Road,” released in January, and not just because Brian Wilson (of Beach Boys fame), Sturgill Simpson and Wrabel are featured on it. Kesha delivers the country ballad about a frayed relationship with believability and intensity, as the artist proved during her appearance on Elvis
Since its opening last October in West Hollywood as the first consumption lounge in the country, the re-branded OG Cannabis Café has seen its share of challenges. Among them: a December split from original partner Lowell Herb Co. and then, last month, its forced closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Because its license from the
Madonna announced via Instagram today that she has tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, meaning that she has likely already been infected with the virus. The pop star broke the news in the 14th edition of her “Quarantine Diary” IGTV series, in which she sits at a typewriter and lets her thoughts flow freely. “Took a
Megan Thee Stallion caught up with Hot 97’s Ebro Darden on Apple Music on Friday to talk about collaborating with Beyonce for her “Savage” remix, how the song came together and what Queen Bey means to her as an artist. It turns out the rapper was as amazed as anyone that fellow Houston native Beyonce
Checking into the Hotel California is turning out to be a lot tougher than leaving after all. Dates on a 2020 tour in which the Eagles were to perform the “Hotel California” album in its entirety have now been postponed for a second time. Once slated for this spring, then subsequently bumped to this fall,
The line on Joanna Levesque, then and now, has been nearly the same since she began making records at age 13. JoJo, the youngest female solo artist to have a No. 1 in the U.S. with 2004’s “Leave (Get Out),” made mature-for-her-age pop R&B. Sure, as a teen, she was more pop than R&B —
AMP Music Summit has announced the final speakers and topics for discussion for its fireside chats and panels for their upcoming virtual summit, taking place on Thursday, May 6. Exploring the impact and opportunities created by the coronavirus pandemic, key topics include: how to lead through tough times, pivoting in the face of immense challenge, livestreaming case
Metallica drummer and co-founder Lars Ulrich has had a lot on his mind since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, from the stronger connections he’s forged with his family and his fanbase, to nature’s rebound in the absence of normal human activity, even new ways technology can help artists share their work with the world. But when
SiriusXM is launching several new artist channels today — including Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, the Rolling Stones and others — but there’s little question that the most interesting one is a Prince channel that the artist himself curated back in 2005, but never aired until today. You can listen to it for free, starting at
ASCAP, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, reported record financial results for 2019, with total revenue topping $1.274 billion in 2019, a $47 million increase over 2018, according to an announcement from the performing rights organization. Royalty distributions to ASCAP members also hit a record high in 2019 and increased by $75 million,
Grammy-winning band Portugal. The Man are taking a stand against a recent book ban made by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough school board in Alaska. The school board voted to remove five classic works of literature from the curriculum due to what it deemed “controversial” content: “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Invisible Man” by Ralph
Eight albums and EPs from singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson’s catalog of independent album releases have been acquired for distribution by Universal Music Group in a deal with Spirit Music Group, which picked up most of her publishing and master recordings last year. Universal’s catalog division, UMe, will handle the re-release of the albums, with the digital
As the coronavirus has devastated the live-music industry, many have asked the best ways to support musicians who suddenly and abruptly lost their main form of income. The usual answer is “buy an album or merch” — and today (Friday, May 1) offers a rare opportunity to maximize the amount of that money that will
Mattell has entered into an exclusive, multi-year global music licensing agreement with Warner Music Group’s Arts Music division as the sole distributor of Mattel’s current catalog of more than 1,000 songs from iconic toy brands including Barbie, Thomas & Friends, Hot Wheels, American Girl and Fisher-Price. In addition, Arts Music and Mattel will make hundreds
After teasing his new mixtape earlier in the day, Drake has finally given fans “Dark Lane Demo Tapes” on Thursday night. The new mixtape features guest verses by rappers Playboi Carti, Future, Young Thug, Chris Brown and more. It includes his viral new track “Toose Slide,” which came out earlier in April, and “When to
Kenny Chesney can’t possibly have imagined the world in which we’d be listening to “Here and Now.” The country superstar’s 19th studio album was supposed to arrive two weeks into a stadium-and-amphitheater “Chillaxification Tour 2020” that would have kept parking lot parties going well into college football season. With its call-and-response chorus, opening track “We
Queen and Adam Lambert are honoring healthcare workers and first responders on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic with a new song: “You Are The Champions,” a reworking of the band’s 1977 classic “We Are The Champions.” Individually isolated in their homes, Queen founders Brian May and Roger Taylor along with Lambert recorded a
MusiCares, the charitable wing of the Recording Academy, which has raised nearly $14 million through its COVID-19 Relief Fund, has been forced to stop accepting new applications for aid until it raises more money, the organization announced Thursday. MusiCares staff and executives have been hard at work fundraising, but until further notice, the need has
Tory Lanez, whose “New Toronto 3” mixtape has been among the top 10 albums for the last two weeks, is one of the hottest current stars putting up a concert livestream in the coming days. If country is more your music lane, Luke Combs or the pairing of Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood will have
“The Voice” is adapting to the coronavirus pandemic by staging a series of remotely-filmed live shows, NBC announced Thursday. Beginning Monday, May 4, Carson Daly will host the live rounds from a soundstage without a live audience in front of the red “Voice” chairs. The four coaches — Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, Nick Jonas, and
Virtual raves have proven to be a popular entertainment option during the coronavirus pandemic. From festivals held online — Earth Night, Room Service, Club House and Desert Hearts are among those that took place just last weekend — to rooftop events headlined by the likes of David Guetta (from the Icon Brickell in Downtown Miami)
When Harvey Mason, jr. took the job as chair of the Recording Academy’s Board of Trustees last June, it’s safe to say he had no idea what was coming. A veteran songwriter-producer who has worked with Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton and Jennifer Hudson as well as film and television hits like “Dreamgirls,”
A Canadian company filed suit on Thursday accusing Spotify of stealing its trade secrets to develop its user-generated ad platform. VoxTonePRO, headquartered in Toronto, alleges that it had a series of meetings in 2016 and 2017, during which Spotify executives dangled the prospect of a partnership in order to gain access to VoxTonePRO’s trade secrets.