August 9, 2019 4:40PM PT After Donald Trump tried to meddle in A$AP Rocky’s ongoing court case in Sweden, tweeting a plea to release the rapper at the urging of Kanye West, two Swedish creatives made a fake IKEA manual to explain the Swedish judicial system to the U.S. president. Created by Oscar Gierup and
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Kid Rock launched a sexist attack on Taylor Swift’s politics, claiming Swift has sided with Democrats to secure gigs and making a crude reference to oral sex. The “Bawitdaba” rapper/rocker tweeted on Friday morning, “Taylor Swift wants to be a democrat because she wants to be in movies….period. And it looks like she will suck
Since Lil Nas X dropped “Old Town Road” on April 5, the rap-country-pop hit has shattered records (18 weeks at No. 1 and counting) to become one of the biggest songs of all-time. But without Billy Ray Cyrus jumping on the remix, a confluence of ingenuity and opportunity, would the song have soared so high?
August 9, 2019 10:52AM PT This morning, 2018 Grammy Best New Artist winner Alessia Cara dropped “Rooting for You,” the second song from her forthcoming EP, “This Summer,” which ironically drops shortly before the end of summer on Sept. 6. The song is a refreshingly funky and summer-worthy anthem that shows off the singer’s positive
August 9, 2019 7:48AM PT Universal Music Japan announced today that “Lights/Boy With Luv,” the latest Japanese-language single by K-Pop superstars BTS, has received the “Million” certification by the RIAJ (Recording Industry Association of Japan), in recognition of the single shipping more than 1 million physical copies since its release on July 3. While Japan, along
While Katy Perry was at the center of the news cycle last week after a California jury’s controversial decision that her song “Dark Horse” infringed upon the copyright of Flame’s 2008 track “Joyful Noise,” her second single of 2019 is the comparatively lighthearted “Small Talk.” Written with Johann Carlson (Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande), Charlie Puth
August 9, 2019 6:36AM PT Lana Del Rey teased two new songs earlier this week — her new anti-gun track “Looking for America” and a cover of Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” — and dropped full versions of them last night. In an Instagram post sharing a spare version of “Looking for America” earlier this
Halsey is finally coming to terms with her own gender, the 24-year-old singer told author Lizzie Goodman at the Capitol Congress conference in Hollywood on Wednesday. “I spent my whole life being the person who’s like ‘I f–ing hate girls, I only want to hang out with boys; girls are so annoying,’” Halsey revealed. “And now I’m in
Live Nation Entertainment has promoted senior concert promoter Kelly Kapp to VP of Touring and Executive VP of HOBE Talent. According to the announcement, she will be the first executive to have a dual role across Live Nation US Concerts and its Clubs and Theaters division, reporting to both Bob Roux and Ron Bension, respectively.
Taylor Swift covers a lot of ground in Vogue’s sprawling September cover story, which published today. In addition to providing a sneak preview of her forthcoming album, “Lover,” and lots of self-analysis on fame, she spoke about the motivations behind her support of the LGBTQ community, sexism, President Trump and her reunion with Katy Perry.
L.A.’s fabled Sunset Marquis proved the perfect place for Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang to get over his ill-fated attempt to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the fabled 1969 event with another festival — which finally went down in flames last week after several wobbly months of planning. “Be careful who you go into business with,”
August 8, 2019 1:35PM PT Tommy Lee has long since established that he’s no fan of President Trump. Via his Twitter feed and elsewhere, the Motley Crue drummer has lambasted the leader of the free world over gun control, over the California wildfires and other environmental issues, called him “scary delusional” and plenty more. But yesterday,
August 8, 2019 12:45PM PT Hundreds and possibly thousands of Beatles fans crowded at the Abbey Road crosswalk on a beautiful London morning to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band’s iconic album cover, which was taken across the street from the studio in just a few minutes on Aug. 8, 1969. The famous photo,
August 8, 2019 11:45AM PT Quavo is making his foray into the television space with a new animated franchise. The Migos star is set to develop an animated series for kids aged 8-12, alongside Marginal Mediaworks and record labels Quality Control Music and Motown. The imagined world will be set in Atlanta’s hip hop music
We’re two weeks out from the release of Taylor Swift’s seventh album, “Lover,” and while three songs have already been released — “ME!,” “You Need to Calm Down” and “The Archer,” the singer gave Vogue magazine a sneak preview of two more songs from the 18-track album, which drops on Aug. 23. Swift told the
The Music Business Association announced today that longtime President James Donio will be succeeded in this role by Portia Sabin, who will assume day-to-day operations beginning on September 3. Sabin has been president of the indie label Kill Rock Stars since 2006 and has long been active with the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM).
The bestselling of the Beatles’ original run of albums is about to get the super-deluxe treatment. As rumored, the 50th anniversary of “Abbey Road” will be commemorated with a boxed set that includes a new Giles Martin mix of the album as well as two discs’ worth of outtakes from the 1969 sessions, it was
Universal Music Group announced today that Per Sundin, managing director of Universal Music Sweden and president of the company’s Nordic Region, will step down from his current role to become CEO of the Pop House Group, effective Sept. 1. At the same time, he will take on the new role of non-executive chairman of Universal Music
August 7, 2019 10:54PM PT News of the sudden death of David Berman, of beloved indie rock band The Silver Jews and, more recently, Purple Mountains, hit the music community hard. Berman started making music while living in Hoboken, N.J., with college friends Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich. Malkmus went on to form the indie rock group
Willie Nelson has canceled his tour due to a “breathing problem,” the country singer/songwriter announced Wednesday on Facebook. “To my fans, I’m sorry to cancel my tour, but I have a breathing problem that I need to have my doctor check out. I’ll be back,” he wrote. Dates on Nelson’s touring schedule include Toledo on
Katy Perry, Halsey, Niall Horan and Quavo were among the Capitol Music Group artists to appear at the Capitol Congress in Hollywood today (Aug. 7). The sixth annual confab, held at the Arclight Theater, brings together executives, artists and partners to present the company’s slate of projects and initiatives. The 2019 edition was programmed by
David Berman, a singer-songwriter who formed the 1990s indie group Silver Jews as well as creating poetry and cartoons, has died, according to music label Drag City. He was 52. Musician Joe Pernice tweeted that he died by suicide. He was due to start a tour with his new project Purple Mountains on Saturday in
Call it a near-flashback. Sitting at Anaheim’s Honda Center, I felt like a teenager in New Zealand watching Backstreet Boys’ “Into the Millennium” tour on a VHS mailed to me by an American pen pal. Mesmerized as the boy band rose up on a platform above a sea of awestruck fans dressed in “Millennium” and
Jack White’s Third Man Records knows how to put together an elaborate album package, and they’re outdoing themselves with the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition of the White Stripes self-titled debut. Titled “White Stripes XX,” the package includes previously unreleased outtakes from the album’s recording sessions, the “Live at the Ritz – Raleigh, NC – 09/26/99”
Clap, clap! Often it’s the unintentional that ignites the most memorable musical moments. In the case of “Beverly Hills 90210,” the theme song’s iconic claps were mere filler for a gap that had composer John E. Davis stumped during a spontaneous all-nighter to churn out a track for producer Aaron Spelling. Turned in just days
Midway through the opening night of Queen + Adam Lambert’s two-date stand at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, guitarist Brian May took a moment to get emotional. “We have so many great memories here,” he said. “Let’s make some new ones.” Since Lambert joined forces with Queen cofounders May and drummer Roger
August 7, 2019 10:02AM PT Ariana Grande joined her idol Barbra Streisand on stage for a surprise performance of “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” Tuesday night at a Chicago concert. The crowd erupted as Grande walked onstage to perform the late Donna Summer’s part on the 1979 hit. The two singers embraced, went into
Taylor Swift will perform at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) just three days after the release of her new album “Lover.” The show will broadcast live from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Aug. 26 and will be her first televised performance following the album’s release. Swift, who earned 10 VMA nominations for
Camila Cabello came very close to not getting a chance to audition for “The X-Factor,” the reality competition series that catapulted the Cuba-born singer into worldwide stardom. That is, until Simon Cowell stepped in. While it may seem that the then-15 year old first met Cowell onstage during her audition, the two had actually been
The rapidly growing Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited and its investment adviser, The Family (Music) Limited, announced in the wee hours of Wednesday that it has acquired 93 songs from the music catalog of Benny Blanco, one of the biggest hitmakers of the past decade. His catalog includes “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber,” “Castle on the