“It’s been a long time, Los Angeles,” gushed a grateful, still baby-faced Gerard Way. “We didn’t know if this was ever gonna happen again, so we really appreciate you showing up.” Not only did fans show up — they’d been camped out at the venue for days. Outside the Shrine Expo Hall, just before doors
Music
What’s the greatest Christmas record of the 21st century so far? The one you’d most swear was recorded midway through the 20th. JD McPherson went back to the spirit and sound of the late ‘50s to record “Socks,” an all-originals album that was released in 2018 and which he’s been taking out on tour again in
Despite an increasingly fragmented media landscape in which television commercials rarely go “viral” — outside of the Super Bowl — December of 2019 will go down as the month America couldn’t look away from Peloton’s bizarre holiday ad. The spot has been written about extensively and the lead actress in the ad even went onto
Concord today announced that Glen Barros will leave his post as the company’s Chief Operating Officer on December 31, 2019 in order to form a new business venture entitled Exceleration Music. According to the announcement, through this new venture, Barros plans to invest in music rights while providing strategic services to third-party entities, primarily within
The last time fans saw a short film from Grammy-nominated songwriter Lana Del Rey was in 2013 with “Tropico,” a nearly half-hour-long saga featuring songs from her 2012 album “Paradise.” Today, we got another one, a 15-minute ode to her critically-acclaimed “Norman F—ing Rockwell.” In “Tropico,” the singer played biblical Eve alongside model Shaun Ross
Frank Ocean has signed with Warner Chappell Music publishing, a source close to the situation confirms to Variety. The deal was done during the fall, the source added, noting that it was intentionally kept quiet. The deal is among several big ones made by the company’s new co-chairs Guy Moot and Carianne Marshall, along with
Are we ready to shake it off — the 2010s? Just about, but before the decade slaps us on the behinds on our way out the door, here are some of the albums that Variety music critics Jem Aswad, Andrew Barker and Chris Willman couldn’t have made it through the terrible teens without. (Click here to
Lee Daniels and Brian Kelley, one half of the country music duo Florida Georgia Line, are developing a drama together at ABC. The duo have set up a country music-gospel mashup series to a script plus penalty deal at the Disney-owned network, meaning ABC will be forced to pay a penalty if the series isn’t
December 20, 2019 10:57AM PT MCR reps had blankets made up for fans waiting in line overnight to get into the group’s first reunion show. In honor of My Chemical Romance’s Los Angeles reunion show, the University of Southern California’s marching band performed an instrumental version of “Welcome to the Black Parade,” the band’s first
Moviegoers will not just be thinking about Jennifer Hudson in terms of how she fares as a feline over the holidays. In timing that may serve either to capitalize on her appearance in “Cats” or to ameliorate any blowback she might get as part of the critical savaging of the movie musical, or both, a
In the beginning, the 62nd Grammy Awards looked set to be an inevitable showdown between two of the hottest new stars of 2019: Lizzo vs. Billie Eilish. In a way, it could still be. When the nominees were announced Nov. 20, Lizzo scored the most, with eight. In second place: Eilish, who landed six. But
December 20, 2019 7:52AM PT In a long-anticipated installment of James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke,” Billie Eilish talked about her love for Green Day and Justin Bieber, rocked two songs on the ukulele — the Beatles’ “I Will” and “What a Wonderful Life,” the first song she ever wrote — and sang several of her own
Hipgnosis Songs’ music-acquisition binge has gained steam as 2019 draws to a close, with a new catalog being announced almost every day: Today the company announced that it has acquired a catalog from Savan Kotecha, the Indian-American songwriter, producer and frequent Max Martin collaborator whose songs have been nominated for 17 Grammy Awards. Kotecha has collaborated
December 19, 2019 9:04PM PT The inaugural Variety International Achievement in Music Award was presented to Andrea Bocelli onstage at Madison Square Garden Wednesday evening by Variety‘s EVP of content and executive editor, Steven Gaydos. Boceilli’s wife Veronica Berti and their young daughter, Virginia, joined Bocelli and Gaydos for the award ceremony onstage at the
When My Chemical Romance teased four cryptic logos and then subsequently announced a one-night-only reunion show on Oct. 31, Killjoys rightfully lost their minds. The band hadn’t performed together since 2012 and officially announced its breakup on March 22, 2013. Unanswered questions were aplenty: did it mean new music? Would a full-length tour be announced
While growing up in Queens, N.Y., Awkwafina says she never knew what she wanted to be when she grew up. “I really think a big source of my anxiety, which is one of the first things I ever remember feeling, is that I didn’t know,” she says on the latest episode of “The Big Ticket,”
Sony Music Group chairman Rob Stringer sent a holiday message to the company’s staff, extolling everything from a 30% roster increase to the unexpected current chart dominance of a Christmas song by a returning roster member, Mariah Carey. Obtained by Variety, the memo follows below. Dear Colleagues, With the 2019 calendar year coming to an end, I’d like to
UPDATED: Live Nation has reached a tentative settlement with the Department of Justice’s antitrust division and will extend the 2010 consent decree regarding the company’s merger with Ticketmaster until 2025, a source close to the situation confirmed to Variety. The consent decree will feature updated guidelines regarding the company’s reported retaliation against venues that use
December 19, 2019 10:06AM PT The Michael Jackson Estate has reached a confidential settlement with Disney over a 2018 TV special that included numerous clips from Jackson’s songs and music videos. The estate sued in May 2018, alleging that “The Last Days of Michael Jackson” engaged in “astounding” copyright infringement. According to the suit, the
Amy Winehouse, whose impact on music, style and culture was wildly disproportionate to the mere two albums she released during her lifetime, will be the subject of an exhibit at L.A.’s Grammy Museum for four months in early 2020, beginning in late January. It’ll mark the first time the late singer has been celebrated with
Sofar Sounds has made a name and a business for itself by staging “secret gigs and intimate concerts” featuring emerging artists for an invited, engaged audience — but as detailed in an article in the Talkhouse and a subsequent report in Variety, its model is problematic because it has generated millions in funding yet relies largely on unpaid volunteers,
December 19, 2019 8:45AM PT Homeward Bound will feature performances by Elle King, Jason Mraz, the Doors’ Robby Krieger and John Densmore, among others. The first-ever Homeward Bound concert will take place on Jan. 23 at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. The Red Light Management and Live Nation hosted event will feature performances and
Universal Music Group chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge sent a holiday message to the company’s staff. It follows below. Dear Colleagues: Even before wishing you all a happy holiday, I want to say two things: First, thank you, and, second, congratulations. You have made 2019 an astonishing year for UMG, another one that will go
December 19, 2019 7:40AM PT R. Kelly’s attorney entered a not guilty plea in the singer’s New York racketeering case via a remote connection from a Chicago courtroom on Monday, according to the city’s WGN and other outlets. Among multiple other charges against Kelly, the Justice Department earlier this month added a charge of bribery against the
December 19, 2019 7:13AM PT Chicago, Roberta Flack, Isaac Hayes, Iggy Pop, John Prine, Public Enemy (pictured above) and Sister Rosetta Tharpe will all receive Lifetime Achievement awards from the Recording Academy, the organization announced today, as part of its 2020 Special Merit Awards. Ken Ehrlich, Philip Glass and Frank Walker are Trustees Award honorees,
TDE, the influential hip-hop label that’s home to some of today’s biggest names in rap including Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, SZA, and more, put on its sixth — and biggest to date — holiday toy drive and concert on Wednesday, Dec. 18th, taking over Nickerson Gardens in the Los Angeles neighborhood of
The Harry Styles charm offensive continued thus week on the heels of the Dec. 13 release of his new album, “Fine Line,” On Dec. 18, Styles sat down with Ellen DeGeneres to share stories about the genesis of “Fine Line,” including living in Japan alone for a month, and how he ended up posing nude
December 18, 2019 3:55PM PT BTS and the ABB FIA Formula E Championship electric street-racing series today announced they are joining forces to help promote the benefits of electric vehicles and the role they can play in combating climate change. The group is teaming up with Formula E as a global ambassador, using their platform
Christmas is a time when things often become difficult for divorced parents. That seems to hold true for Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff, the mother and father of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which is arguably the most popular holiday song in the world right now, and certainly the most favored one to
As expected, rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine received a relatively lenient sentence of two years in prison on racketeering, gun and drug charges today after cooperating with police and testifying against several former associates in the Nine Trey gang, according to CNN. He was also sentenced to five years supervised release plus 300 hours of community service.