Music

September 30, 2019 8:25AM PT The Reverend Al Sharpton will speak about the intersection of music and politics at the Mondo.NYC conference, the music and business summit run by the former directors of the CMJ Music Marathon. “Music & Politics: A Conversation with Rev. Al Sharpton” will be moderated by Osei the Dark Secret, host

There are three Judy Garland authorities that Roadside Attractions would most obviously want on board their Oscar campaign for “Judy” and its star, Renee Zellweger: Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft and Rufus Wainwright. Granted, unlike Garland’s two daughters, Wainwright isn’t a relative. But his 2007 album, “Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall,” is widely respected as

In the days since the expected Sept. 27 release of Kanye West’s latest album, “Jesus Is King,” he has held public listening sessions in Detroit, Chicago and New York, announced the October release of a documentary connected to the album, held two of his Sunday Services (in Detroit on Friday and New York on Sunday),

September 30, 2019 7:06AM PT The group’s fall outing was set to be the second leg of their first American tour in four and a half decades. Mott the Hoople, the venerated 1970s band that had recently begun touring America again after a lull of 45 years, has canceled its fall tour in the U.S.

A new audio production and podcast label, Listen Entertainment, has been launched to help TV content creators tune into the power of audio. There is an increasing cross-pollination of podcasts and TV content, with audio series being developed for the small screen and spinoffs of television IP such as “The Chernobyl Podcast” getting traction. Listen

Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer Busbee, who’s worked extensively with a wide array of artists ranging from Maren Morris to Pink to Shakira, has died. He was 43. The news broke in early evening on Sept. 29. Busbee’s real name is Michael James Ryan. He was father to three children, including a just-born baby girl. According

If you buy just one boxed set that came out on the 50th anniversary weekend of the Beatles’ “Abbey Road”… well, try not to burden yourself with such foolish limitations, if you can help it. Because that particular commemorative edition is essential, sure, but celebrating the quintessential band of the ‘60s shouldn’t blot out awarding equal-time

Florida Georgia Line wrapped up their Can’t Say I Ain’t Country Tour with three new Academy of Country Music Awards on Saturday. Before hitting the stage at Irvine’s FivePoint Amphitheater, Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard wandered backstage thinking they were there to greet friends, family and media at a VIP lounge decked out with Mexican

The Global Citizen Festival is a music-and-message event that takes place on the final Saturday in September in New York’s Central Park. Its eighth annual incarnation was headlined by Queen + Adam Lambert, Alicia Keys, Carole King, Pharrell Williams, One Republic, H.E.R., David Gray, French Montana, Ben Platt, K-Pop group NCT 127 and Jon Batiste

September 29, 2019 9:26AM PT For her premiere appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” Billie Eilish almost literally bounced off of the walls while performing her hit “Bad Guy.” Performing on a scaled-down version of the familiar “SNL” set, Eilish seemed to be walking on walls and then the ceiling while brother Finneas and a drummer

September 29, 2019 6:22AM PT As part of the unusual rollout of Kanye West’s forthcoming album “Jesus Is King” — which is apparently now being released sometime today — IMAX announced that it is releasing a companion film of the album, bearing the same name. It will be released exclusively in IMAX theatres around the

Bruce Springsteen was in Freehold, New Jersey, on Saturday night (Sept. 28) for the opening of a new exhibit, “Springsteen: His Hometown.” Hosted at the Monmouth County Historical Association, the exhibit features 150 pieces, including 20 donated by Springsteen himself, and offers a deep-dive into the thematic fabric of his music and lyrics. It opens

William “Bill” Dern, a longtime music executive who worked with such acts as New Edition, the Temptations, Tangerine Dream and the Four Tops, died of a stroke in Los Angeles on Sept. 11. He was 74. Born in Ridgewood, New Jersey on August 22, 1945, Dern was an avid music lover who played multiple instruments

September 28, 2019 2:58PM PT José José, a legendary Mexican singer who was often called “El Príncipe de la Canción or “The Prince of Song,” died Saturday in Miami after a battle with pancreatic cancer, his assistant Laura Núñez confirmed to several media outlets. He was 71. The singer, whose real name was José Rómulo

Metallica announced late Friday that it is postponing its upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand, as frontman James Hetfield again has entered a rehab program. “As most of you probably know, our brother James has been struggling with addiction on and off for many years,” the band wrote in a message to fans. “He

September 27, 2019 2:55PM PT After today’s special Friday edition of his Sunday Service in Detroit, Kanye West is introducing the “Jesus Is King: A Kanye West Experience” at the city’s Fox Theatre tonight. The event is scheduled to start around 8 p.m. ET, with tickets available on Ticketmaster free of charge for those in the Michigan area. Whether or not

September 27, 2019 2:41PM PT To the surprise of basically no one, Taylor Swift’s “Lover” has officially been certified platinum. According to Republic Records, the 18-track album has received its platinum certification from the RIAA after amassing over 1 million U.S sales. The certification comes only four weeks after its Aug. 23 release. Swift’s seventh

Benjamin Franklin believed that only two things were certain in life — death and taxes — but longtime Ryan Murphy collaborator and recently elevated president of Ryan Murphy Productions Alexis Martin Woodall begs to differ. It’s all about music and smells in her estimation. “Nobody is ever going to smell the same thing you smell

A3C has announced that rapper Tauheed “2 Chainz” Epps has purchased a stake in the A3C Festival & Conference and is now part of the ownership group. 2 Chainz will be a creative curator and business advisor involved with curating panels and artist lineups, along with “developing the overall experience of A3C,” according to the

Taylor Swift, BTS, Billie Eilish and the Jonas Brothers are just a few of the artists that will be rocking around the Christmas tree during the 2019 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball tour, the company announced today. The 12-city arena tour will feature different lineups in markets like Tampa; Dallas/Ft. Worth; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Minneapolis/St. Paul;

Judy Garland’s star power has never waned, and her light is shining especially bright ahead of the biopic “Judy,” which premieres today, with Renee Zellweger starring as the iconic performer. Fifty years since her death, artists still look to the beloved “Wizard of Oz” star as a pinnacle of stardom. Indeed, her legendary performance of

September 27, 2019 11:50AM PT Travis Scott has announced the second of his apparently annual Astroworld festivals, this one taking place, again in his hometown of Houston, on November 9. Billed “Astroworld: The Sequel — We’re all in this together,” the festival will again take place at the city’s NRG Park, which is across the

Has Zac Brown gone rogue from country music? That seems to be the prevailing response among fans on social media, after Brown took the opportunity Thursday night to surprise-drop what’s being billed as “his first pop solo album,” just one week after the Zac Brown Band released a new record that fans were already describing

In a March 6, 1973, review of Blood, Sweat & Tears at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Variety briefly praised the opening act: Bruce Springsteen was “a young man with a hot guitar from Asbury Park, N.J.” If you substitute the word “ageless” for “young” — the Boss turned 70 on Sept. 23 — the description

Neal Casal fans, friends, family and fellow music lovers gathered at Port Chester, New York’s Capitol Theater on Sept. 25 for a tribute concert to the late guitarist, singer and songwriter, who took his life on August 26. Casal’s absence is still a fresh wound for the scene barely a month after his death and

Fast-rising star Billie Eilish has announced a massive 2020 arena tour that will take her across North and South America and Europe, and will go well into next summer. Starting on March 8 in Miami, FL, and produced by Live Nation, the “Where Do We Go?” tour finds Eilish continuing the climate-change awareness expressed in her “All the

Katy Perry, BTS, Billie Eilish, Sam Smith, Camila Cabello, Halsey, French Montana, Lizzo and Normani will perform at Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM’s annual “Jingle Ball” holiday concert,  taking place on Friday, December 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the Forum. The event is part of the national iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour, which will hit 12 cities in the U.S. late this year.

September 27, 2019 7:46AM PT Like thousands of people all over the world, we waited until midnight and beyond, checking Spotify and Apple Music, neurotically refreshing Twitter, Instagram and his website. The other Sept. 27 albums were posted shortly after midnight ET — and there was no “Jesus Is King.” And although Kanye West is

September 27, 2019 7:25AM PT Alisa Applegate has joined Caroline, Universal Music’s independent distribution and label services company, as Vice President of Promotion, the company announced this week. Applegate will be based in Los Angeles and report to Senior Vice President of Promotion, Marni Halpern. “I’m thrilled to have Alisa join us and complete our

For veteran recording engineer John Kurlander, this week’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles “Abbey Road” album — complete with a multi-disc box set — is especially sweet. Kurlander, now 68, was principal second engineer on the album, when he was just 18 years old. But he had his first