Music

Marie Fredriksson, singer of Swedish 80s pop duo, Roxette, died on Dec. 9. She was 61. Fredriksson died after a long battle with brain cancer for which she received aggressive treatment after being diagnosed in 2002, her management team said in a statement. “It is with great sadness we have to announce that Marie Fredriksson

Tanya Tucker is very much a “next woman of country,” as far as the Grammys are concerned, as the 61-year-old singer was practically the only veteran shown any love in multiple categories in the most recent nominations, with four nods, including song of the year. Now CMT is making it official, by putting her out

ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) today announced the official launch of ASCAP TuneUp — a member program to meet the evolving wellness needs of music creators. The goal is to focus on “its members’ physical and mental well-being to support their creativity, life balance and longevity.” “Creating music is an all-consuming

The Blues Foundation has set 14 musicians, recordings and behind-the-scenes figures to be honored at part of its 41st class of inductees into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2020. As might be expected, the kudos are heavy on the classic blues era, but also include figures as alive and well as Bettye LaVette, the

The Regina Spektor song from “Bombshell” and at least six major scores including “The Two Popes” and “The Irishman” won’t be on Oscar’s music shortlists when they are announced next week. That’s because none of them are on the official Academy eligibility lists from which music-branch members are now voting. Preliminary voting ends tomorrow afternoon,

Joni Mitchell will receive the prestigious Les Paul Innovation Award at the 35th Annual NAMM Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards, to be held Saturday, January 18, 2020 in Anaheim, California. According to the announcement, the award is given on behalf of the Les Paul Foundation to honor individuals that have set the highest standards of excellence in creative application

December 9, 2019 1:00PM PT The cause of Chicago rapper Juice Wrld’s death is still unknown after the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office released its initial findings of an autopsy on Monday. The Medical Examiner’s Office released a statement saying “additional studies are required to establish the cause and manner of death” for the 21-year-old

In an interview with Elle for her January 2020 cover story, Queen Bey answered questions ranging from whether she has a Snapchat to how she felt about “Lemonade” losing its Grammy nomination. In a candid response to a fan’s question from Instagram, Beyoncé admitted that her “Lemonade” loss for album of the year at the

December 9, 2019 12:02PM PT The Prince Estate and Warner Records have outdone themselves with their re-release of Prince’s iconic “1999” album, with a massive boxed set containing tons of unreleased material and even a four-part podcast series titled “Prince: The Story of 1999,” produced with 89.3 The Current. The fourth and final installment drops

In an age when streaming may be slowly killing the radio star, KROQ’s Absolut Almost Acoustic Christmas proved that radio stars are alive and well. Night two of the sold-out show (which turned 30 this year) at Anaheim’s Honda Center brought out acts spanning the rock spectrum — from the genre-bending headlining duo of Twenty

December 9, 2019 10:05AM PT Law-enforcement officials were in the process of confiscating guns and drugs from Juice Wrld’s flight at Chicago’s Midway Airport when the rapper suffered convulsions and went into cardiac arrest early Sunday, police told the Chicago Tribune. The rapper was briefly revived but died at a local hospital. According to the

December 9, 2019 10:00AM PT Whiteside comes over to head the L.A.-based org from a top job at the Nashville-based Country Music Association. Nearly seven months after Pete Fisher announced his resignation as head of the Academy of Country Music, a new CEO has been announced. Damon Whiteside will exit his role as chief marketing

Nominations for the 77th annual Golden Globes were announced early Monday morning, revealing that three of the biggest names in music will compete for best original song. Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Elton John all earned nominations. Even though “Cats” did screen in time for HFPA members and was supposedly received well by voters, Swift landed

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Political chatter was kept to a minimum Sunday night as the Kennedy Center Honors presented elaborate tributes to “Sesame Street” — made more poignant by the death of legendary puppeteer Caroll Spinney earlier in the day — as well as Sally Field, Linda Ronstadt, Earth, Wind and Fire and conductor Michael Tilson

A long-simmering battle between Chris Cornell’s widow and the other members of Soundgarden broke into the open Monday morning when Vicky Cornell announced that she is suing the group over hundreds of thousands of dollars in allegedly unpaid royalties and the rights to seven unreleased recordings made before the singer’s death in May of 2017.

December 9, 2019 7:08AM PT Lizzo put on a show at the Lakers-Minnesota game on Sunday night and then some. While sitting courtside for the NBA matchup, the “Juice” singer danced on the jumbotron as the Lakers’ cheerleaders performed a routine to her hit song. She then turned around, revealing her thong in an, um,

Music industry veteran and humanitarian Ken Kragen, the driving force behind the “We Are The World” and “Hands Across America” campaigns, has joined hands with award-winning composer A.R. Rahman for a climate change initiative. Kragen, a recipient of the 1985 United Nations Peace Medal for producing “We Are The World,” has teamed with immersive entertainment

Moody emo-trap-pop hits such as “Lucid Dreams” are the tracks most associated with SoundCloud king Juice Wrld. But the 21-year-old Chicago rapper, who passed away Sunday morning after an apparent seizure, crafted a sizable, diverse catalog for his ever-so-shadowy lyrical mien, touching on depression, drugs, doom and death to go with his silt and silken

In the wake of Juice Wrld’s death on Sunday, many of his friends, colleagues and collaborators weighed in with tributes on social media. The rapper, who’d just turned 21 last week, had already collaborated with a wide range of artists, from his close friend Ski Mask the Slump God (who was also close friends with

Beyonce is not doing a Las Vegas residency, her rep has confirmed to Variety. It’s “absolutely not true,” the rep stated. Rumors that Queen Bey would be hitting the strip began circulating Saturday after website LoveBScott posted a story citing “sources” that said she would announce the residency in the first half of 2020. The

iHeartRadio took over the Forum in Los Angeles on Friday night, bringing together a stellar lineup for its annual Jingle Ball that included Katy Perry, BTS, Billie Eilish, Sam Smith, Camila Cabello, Halsey, Lizzo, Louis Tomlinson and Normani. It was a festive affair as concert-goers pulled up to the iconic venue to find it flooded

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Linda Ronstadt, one of this year’s Kennedy Center Honorees, had sharp words for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday night during a State Department reception for the Kennedy Center kudos. Ronstadt and Pompeo faced off in the U.S. State Department’s ornate diplomatic greeting rooms at the traditional event that precedes Sunday’s

Juice Wrld, the fast-rising young rapper best known for his 2018 hit “Lucid Dreams,” died on Sunday shortly after suffering a seizure at Chicago’s Midway Airport, Variety has confirmed. He was 21 years old. A statement from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office said that Jarad A. Higgins, 21, of Homewood, Ill., had died. The

Billie Eilish was named Variety’s Hitmaker of the Year at our annual Hitmakers event in Hollywood on Saturday.which also featured Lil Nas X, Kacey Musgraves, Tyga, YG, Ellie Goulding and others.  She thanked many people, including her brother and collaborator Finneas — whom she welcome onstage to share the award — her family, her team,

Songstress Kacey Musgraves sang a sea of praises to her manager Jason Owen as she presented him with the manager of the Y=year award at the Variety Hitmakers brunch. “The second I met Jason Owen, my life completely changed. That was almost 10 years ago. We just had this instant connection. I mean, first of

Billie Eilish thanked her brother Finneas O’Connell in a heartfelt acceptance speech at Variety‘s Hitmakers brunch at Soho House in West Hollywood on Dec. 7. “Thank you so much, Variety. Thank you for not wanting to make me look stupid like everybody else wants to do on TV,” Eilish started. “When we were working on

Billie Eilish might have become the subject of some online vitriol after she had a less than enthusiastic response to Lady Gaga’s 2010 VMAs meat dress and admitted she didn’t know Van Halen, but Variety‘s 2019 hitmaker of the year really doesn’t care. “I didn’t even know about it,” she said of the uproar. “I don’t

December 7, 2019 2:12PM PT The seven-member boy band known as BTS announced that they were in the process of creating new music and an album will be out soon at Variety‘s Hitmakers brunch at the Soho House in West Hollywood on Dec. 7. In their acceptance speech for Variety‘s group of the year, RM

Sheryl Crow is a survivor. Not only of breast cancer, a brain tumor, debilitating depression and a toxic relationship (don’t even ask about Lance Armstrong) but also the music industry. The controversy surrounding songwriting credit — not to mention two related deaths, including her ex-boyfriend and collaborator, Kevin Gilbert — linked to her Grammy-winning debut

Like a zombie that just won’t stay dead, the “Blurred Lines” case keeps coming back. While the 2015 verdict, in which Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke and the song’s publisher were ordered to pay nearly $5 million to Marvin Gaye’s family for infringing upon the late singer’s 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up,” was basically