February 13, 2020 6:16PM PT Dear Diane Warren, We’re sad. When you didn’t win the best original song Oscar on Sunday’s telecast, it was like we too had been handed our 11th rejection in a row. We’ve been on this journey with you, and gosh darn it, your time to be “Academy Award winner Diane
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With six Grammys, 13 platinum singles and one of the biggest debut albums in recent memory, Billie Eilish has already conquered the music world and has moved on to film. After performing a unique take on the Beatles’ classic “Yesterday” at the Academy Awards last weekend, the singer has dropped the theme song to the
February 13, 2020 2:20PM PT Rufus Sewell will portray the reserved, soft-spoken Vernon Presley, the King of Rock and Roll’s father, in Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” sources tell Variety. The Warner Bros. film stars Austin Butler in the title role and Tom Hanks as Elvis Presley’s manger, Colonel Tom Parker. Luhrmann co-wrote the script with Craig
Sony label TriStar Pictures has acquired an untitled feature film about NSYNC superfans who followed the boy band on tour in 2001, packed in a Winnebago bought with prize money from “The Price Is Right.” Lance Bass, who first teased the project to Variety out of SXSW last year, is producing through his eponymous company
Yellowcard’s lawsuit against Juice Wrld, which alleges that the rapper’s song “Lucid Dreams” infringed on its 2006 song “Holly Wood Died,” has been stayed by United States District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall. According to Pitchfork, which cited legal documents, Marshall ordered a stay until a representative for Juice Wrld’s estate could be appointed. Yellowcard filed
February 13, 2020 11:26AM PT The Weeknd on Thursday dropped a teaser for his next album, “After Hours,” which is “coming soon” via XO / Republic Records, according to the announcement. He had loosely titled the album “Chapter Six” in a social-media post from 2018, although that was apparently a placeholder title. The album was
Buried in Vivendi’s earnings report released today is the blockbuster news that its subsidiary Universal Music Group is planning an IPO within the next three years. Vivendi recently sold 10% of UMG to a consortium led by Tencent Holdings for $3.3 billion, a sum that values the company at a whopping $33 billion. “Vivendi is
Zeus has announced a partnership with singer-songwriter Omarion to release “The Millennium Tour Live Concert featuring B2K,” as well as other original and existing content for the network. Omarion, an actor and multi-platinum selling artist, was a key figure in the popularity of boy bands in the early 2000s as lead singer of the group
February 13, 2020 6:46AM PT The NBA today announced that Jennifer Hudson will perform a special tribute to the late Kobe Bryant at the All-Star Game on Sunday at Chicago’s United Center.
The tribute will also honor Bryant’s daughter Gianna and seven others who died with them in a helicopter crash on Feb. 26. The
Fear of the spread of coronavirus has taken a heavy toll on the South Korean entertainment industry, where many scheduled concerts and events have been canceled. The K-pop sector has been especially hurt. Leading music talent management agency, JYP Entertainment postponed boy band GOT7’s concert at Thailand’s Rajamangala Stadium that had been scheduled for Feb.
Almost a week after creating a firestorm by calling Gayle King “a dog-head b—” and telling her to beware “before we come get you,” Snoop Dogg took to his Instagram account again Wednesday, this time to formally apologize to the newscaster. “Two wrongs don’t make no right. When you’re wrong, you gotta fix it,” he
Taylor Swift made a surprise appearance to pick up a trophy at Wednesday’s NME Awards in England, calling it “the craziest awards show I have ever been to.” In the United States, some might save that description for the Grammys, which Swift did not attend, but then, that would only apply behind the scenes. The
“The Masked Singer” is coming to a concert venue near you. Fox is set to announce on Wednesday night’s episode that tickets have gone on sale for a nationwide tour this summer inspired by “The Masked Singer.” Such a move is perhaps a no-brainer, given the sustaining ratings power of “The Masked Singer,” which just
The Roaring ’20s redux has only just begun, but it’s already been a whirlwind decade for Amazon head honcho Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend, former TV news anchor Lauren Sanchez. The couple made their public red carpet debut in India, purchased their neighbors’ home in Washington D.C., and have just capped off a Beverly Hills
Red Bull Presents is announcing its return with another full year of music programming in 2020. The program will include a series of live music events in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, Oakland and Philadelphia across the year. Red Bull Presents is a collection of shows that celebrates music scenes in cities across the globe. In
Red Bull Presents is announcing its return with another full year of music programming in 2020. The program will include a series of live music events in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, Oakland and Philadelphia across the year. Red Bull Presents is a collection of shows that celebrates music scenes in cities across the globe. In
Country superstar Garth Brooks has taken to making a radically different appearance each year at Country Radio Seminar, the annual Nashville gathering of country music’s radio and industry pros. Two Februarys ago, he played a bar gig for an invited audience of fewer than 200 at Layla’s on Broadway. Last year, Brooks went the opposite
Just a few days after the trophy for best original song was given out at the Oscars comes news of the first significant new original song of this movie year. The end-titles theme for the upcoming Pixar film “Onward” has been recorded and co-written by multiple Grammy winner Brandi Carlile, Disney announced Wednesday. Carlile co-wrote
February 12, 2020 11:07AM PT Two years on from “step up,” things in the music world seemingly have stepped back in time, from the Recording Academy’s epic diversity failures to the return to male-dominated headliners at many major festivals, including a testosterone-heavy Coachella — as called out by Variety and many others — and Britain’s
Amanda Samii has been named senior vice president of A&R for Capitol Records, the flagship label of Capitol Music Group, it was announced today by label president Jeff Vaughn, to whom Samii will report. She will assume her post on March 2 and will be based at the company’s Hollywood headquarters. Samii comes to Capitol after
February 12, 2020 7:20AM PT Now in its 18th year, the Forecastle Festival will return to Louisville, Kentucky on July 17-19, 2020 and be headlined by local natives Cage the Elephant, British quartet the 1975 and acoustic rocker Jack Johnson. The full lineup appears below. Nominated as Pollstar’s Music Festival of the Year for 2019,
Mariah Carey has moved her 30-year songwriting catalog to ASCAP, the performing rights organization announced Wednesday. The library of hits that will now be administered for public performance by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers extends back three decades to the smashes “Vision of Love” and “Love Takes Time,” from her 1990 debut album.
Recipients of the 29th Polar Music Prize were announced today and include 11-time Oscar nominated songwriter Diane Warren and Russian-born opera singer Anna Netrebko. The 2020 gala ceremony is scheduled for June 9 at Stockholm’s Grand Hôtel. Each Laureate receives prize money of one million Swedish Kroner (just over $100,000). The Polar Music Prize was
Macaulay Culkin opened up about his relationship with Michael Jackson and other personal topics in a rare interview with Esquire. The former child actor starred in Jackson’s music video for “Black and White,” and became close friends with him. Jackson later faced allegations of sexually abusing boys, but Culkin maintained that he had never seen
Ilan Eshkeri has been tapped to score the BBC Earth docuseries “Perfect Planet.” Eshkeri, who has previously composed scores for “Still Alice” and “Young Victoria,” joins the ranks of Hans Zimmer and Steven Price who previously worked on “Planet Earth II” and “Our Planet,” respectively. David Attenborough will once again serve as the program’s host,
Jussie Smollett has been hit with a six-count indictment accusing him of faking a hate crime last year. The indictment comes 11 months after the state’s attorney’s office dropped charges against the “Empire” actor in a controversial deal. Smollett is due in court on Feb. 24. Dan K. Webb, a retired U.S. attorney, was appointed
Stevie Mackey is one of Los Angeles’ most well-respected vocal coaches so it’s no wonder his south L.A. house serves as a singer’s stage. Under the banner Taco Tuesdays, Mackey, who has worked on “The Voice,” hosts this exclusive, invite-only monthly gathering which boasts no list, no RSVP, no Hollywood bullshit. Taco Tuesday has become
It’s every rebellious rocker’s dream optic: getting to sing a song complaining about police literally in the face of police taking the stage. That was the scenario as New Hampshire officers took to the Strokes’ stage when fans swarmed the band as they wrapped up an appearance at a Bernie Sanders rally by performing “New
For most of the music industry, awards season ended when the Grammys came to a close the night of Jan. 26. That wasn’t the case, though, for Interscope Records, which moved on to the Oscars with just as vested an interest in domination. Just two weeks after Billie Eilish swept all four top Grammy categories,
With Universal Music Group recently valued at $33 billion — as part of its agreement to sell 10% of itself to a consortium led by Chinese tech giant Tencent — it’s really no surprise that its competitors would test the waters. What is surprising is that Warner Music Group did it so soon, announcing its initial