Music

John Prine had a night off before playing Miami’s historic Gusman Theater. After dinner, he wanted to do something, and thought a movie might be good. I told him there was a small mom ’n’ pop filmhouse called the Surf just up the way showing Rodney Dangerfield’s “Back to School.” Having just started seriously dating

Music is risen — it is risen indeed — this holiday weekend, as scores of artists take to webcams to broadcast live-stream concerts, from the music of the angels to Angel Olsen. The big kahuna, if we may use so un-sacred a term, may be Andrea Bocelli’s Easter Sunday broadcast of “Ave Maria” and other

With the coronavirus pandemic effectively slowing the music industry to a halt, countless musicians have attempted to entertain their fans by hosting live-streamed concerts, participating in virtual rap battles and even dropping surprise singles. However, some are taking it the extra mile by using their influence to raise money for those especially affected by the

Mariah Carey on Friday posted a version of her 1993 song “Hero,” dedicated to the “heroes who are making our daily lives possible: First respondersThe doctorsThe nursesThe midwivesThe store clerksThe janitorsThe postal workersThe pharmacistsThe delivery workersAnd so many more!” In the video, she gives an introductory speech (basically what was posted on YouTube below) and

“This is a total step up,” Ryan Tedder says of the impending return of “Songland” on NBC April 13. “It’s like ‘The Office’ Season 2 versus ‘The Office’ Season 1. You figure out what you’re doing. You figure out what the characters are.” And success had bred confidence. “The panel came back in like they were

Rappers have a reputation for unabashed opulence. Remember 50 Cent’s outrageous Connecticut mansion or MC Hammer’s airport hangar-sized house in Fremont, California? Things didn’t work out too well for either of them. But Canadian rapper Drake, whose net worth is estimated at $170 million, is in a much better financial position than his big spending predecessors.

Icelandic quintet Of Monsters and Men released today an Amazon Original Cover of Post Malone’s “Circles.” The track is available to stream and purchase only on Amazon Music, HERE. In the past few weeks the band have been teasing the track on socials with photos taken at their studio in Iceland (shot by Chad Moore, see here) and today posted a teaser

On March 9, Pearl Jam was one of the first bands to scrap a tour as COVID-19 became a global pandemic, and on Friday morning, the group also postponed the European leg of the jaunt, which was scheduled to begin in late June, until June of 2021. While the announcement hadn’t been made when PJ guitarists

“I wanted the film to provide kind of a vicarious experience,” says Chris Perkel, director and producer of the documentary “Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert,” confirming that there’s absolutely nothing coincidental about the film’s debut today coinciding with what would have been day one of Coachella 2020. “We obviously debated what to do with

Be prepared Disney fans, because although everyone may be feeling like poor unfortunate souls trapped in a kingdom of self-isolation, ABC is inviting you to let it go. The network is asking you to be its guest for “The Disney Family Singalong,” a one-hour musical medley of everyone’s favorite Disney songs, hosted by Ryan Seacrest.

In recent weeks much of the business world has moved to virtual meetings, and while we’re all subject to glitches, wifi dropouts and mockery of our home decor, business is still getting done. Universal Music Publishing Group has announced multiple songwriter signings, all of which took place in the past few weeks over Zoom. Melbourne-based

“The Chronic,” Dr. Dre’s iconic debut album, will be available to stream everywhere just in time for the 420 holiday, according to Entertainment One. For years, “The Chronic” resided only on Beats Music, and then shifted to an Apple Music exclusive when Apple acquired Beats Music in 2014. Starting April 20, the album can be

Was the mysterious ski mask-wearing artist RMR (pronounced rumor) ahead of his time or is his arrival simply well-timed? Those just now experiencing the country-R&B crossover, who became a sensation when his jarring video to the song “Rascal” — featuring RMR dressed in designer-brand militia wear surrounded by gun-toting cronies and crooning an interpolation of

Dave Matthews has long made John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery” a recurring part of his sets. But in paying tribute to the late singer-songwriter on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Thursday night, Matthews chose an equally forlorn but less frequently optioned chestnut from Prine’s deep catalog: “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness.” In contrast

Isn’t the next big thing simply the next banal thing hiding in plain sight, waiting to make bad on its best promises? After a daring debut album and a mostly dazzling but slightly shopworn follow-up, that act will inevitably wear out its welcome and stomp all over its burgeoning legend, fast. Some chase the dragon

After previously canceling all shows at Walt Disney Hall through May 10, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association has followed through with the inevitable and declared the remainder of the 2019-20 season a wash, too, meaning that concerts scheduled at the storied hall through June 6 are officially off. Payroll reductions for full-time staffers and layoffs

For the animated musical “Trolls World Tour,” DreamWorks producer Gina Shay racked up her share of frequent flyer miles over four years — traveling to New York City for reggaeton superstar J Balvin, South Korea for K-Pop girl group Red Velvet and Stockholm for star and music curator Justin Timberlake. “It felt like I was going

In the latest development in the controversy spawned by The Weeknd’s comment to Variety that Usher’s 2012 hit “Climax” is “a Weeknd song,” co-producer Diplo has acknowledged the influence, and Weeknd has called Usher a “king” and said he appreciates the acknowledgement. “The production on ‘Climax’ lends itself to ‘House of Balloons’ era @theweeknd,” Diplo

With glowing reviews and a third consecutive #1 album under her belt, child actor-turned-international pop music and social media superstar Selena Gomez — she has 172 million followers on Instagram alone — has seen fit to considerably upsize her residential circumstances. This time, the frequently house-hopping “Rare” crooner has completed the $4.9 million purchase of

Sheltering-in-place has gone on long enough now that we’re starting to get songs about quarantining that sound fully produced, not like quick novelty knock-offs. That’s the case with Twenty One Pilots’ new release, “Level of Concern,” which the band just dropped to YouTube and most other digital services. The music video serves as its own

Charli XCX today dropped a new song called “Forever” — the first track from her forthcoming recorded-in-quarantine album “How I’m Feeling Now.” According to the announcement, the song was written this week by Charli and co-executive produced by Charli with longtime collaborators A. G. Cook and BJ Burton. The track was created within the last

John Prine, who died Tuesday of complications from coronavirus, might not have been a household name — at least not in households that didn’t contain songwriters — but he was certainly one of the greats of the past 50 years: Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt and virtually every tunesmith in Nashville hold him in

Stephen Colbert did not have to bone up on John Prine to pay tribute to the late singer. As he explained on Wednesday night’s telecast of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” sharing Prine’s music was an early bonding experience between him and his wife-to-be, and he even studied and learned songs of his when

Nickelodeon is bringing popular kids group The BeatBuds to the small screen. The ViacomCBS network has signed a deal with Scooter Braun’s SB Projects, which acquired the property in 2018, for a new animated preschool series. Production is set to being this summer with a 2021 premiere planned. The 10-episode short-form series is written by

In Variety’s cover story on The Weeknd published Wednesday, the artist speaks about the far-reaching influence of his 2011 debut mixtape “House of Balloons.” In that segment, Weeknd says, “I heard ‘Climax,’ that Usher song, and was like, ‘Holy f—, that’s a Weeknd song.’ It was very flattering, and I knew I was doing something

Rising singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers has confirmed details of her sophomore solo album, “Punisher,” to be released on Dead Oceans on June 19th. Watch the clip below. She follows her recent single “Garden Song” with a new track and video called “Kyoto” — watch it below. Bridgers will also perform the song on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

E-sports and gaming company FaZe Clan today announced an exclusive partnership with e-commerce and culture platform Ntwrk. Ntwrk, known for its limited-edition product drops from LeBron James, Billie Eilish, 88rising and others, led the latest round of funding for FaZe Clan, and has secured the global direct-to-consumer product rights for the company. The collaboration will

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched Season 3, episode 11 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired April 8 on Fox. Jordyn Woods had never performed in front of an audience before “The Masked Singer.” But now the model, who on Wednesday became the latest celebrity to be revealed on the

Thanks to the advent of original content on streaming services, recent years have seen a steady influx of newcomers entering the field of film scoring. So for the first time, Variety has chosen 10 talents (really, 11, as one of our choices is a two-person team) to watch. Some are young and fresh — recognition

To probably no one’s surprise, the blockbuster release from the Weeknd tops the albums chart for a second week, even with big names like 5 Seconds of Summer, Dua Lipa and Pearl Jam crashing into the top 10. The Rolling Stone chart shows the star’s “After Hours” accumulating 146,500 album units in week 2, down