Music

Cara Delevingne thinks Taylor Swift is “incredible” for her just-released “You Need to Calm Down” music video and recent public support for LGTBQ rights. “I cried and I’ve been texting her all day,” Delevingne told Variety of watching good friend’s latest clip. Variety spoke to the actress and model on the red carpet before she

June 17, 2019 12:58PM PT “Mudbound” director Dee Rees will direct independent movie musical fantasy “The Kyd’s Exquisite Follies” from her own script. “The Kyd’s Exquisite Follies” will be produced by Cassian Elwes, one of the “Mudbound” producers. Santigold is set to compose the music, with Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic creating the film’s visual effects.

It’s not just a Drake thing — the entire Canadian music business is feeling gleeful over Toronto’s NBA championship. Among the celebrants is Toronto-bred Chris Taylor, the global president of music at Entertainment One, the global music and filmed company based in the land of Raptors. He was at the team’s very first game in 1995

“TYGA? TYGAAA??” A viral moment, courtesy of Soulja Boy’s bewilderment that fellow rapper Tyga had a bigger comeback than him last year, has left the latter unfazed. Tyga simply lets his music to the talking. And musically, Tyga has had one hell of a year. The upbeat, catchy and contagious anthem “Taste,” featuring Offset, rose

June 17, 2019 10:24AM PT Megadeth singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine, who famously began his career as a member of Metallica, has been diagnosed with throat cancer. In a statement released Monday, Mustaine, 57, said that his diagnosis is “clearly something to be respected and faced head on — but I’ve faced obstacles before. I’m working closely

Garbage’s forthright frontwoman Shirley Manson is no stranger to interviews, having given thousands in her 35-year career. But as host of the new seven-episode podcast “The Jump” on the Mailchimp Presents platform, the tables are turned as Manson is in conversation with artists including Courtney Love, Perfume Genius, Big Boi and Karen O, discussing “the

Troy Tomlinson will become the chairman/CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group Nashville after leaving his longtime home, Sony/ATV, where he served as president/CEO of the Nashville division since 2005, it was announced Monday. He assumes the newly created position July 15. Even before the move was officially announced, there was speculation that Sony/ATV’s most prominent songwriter,

Chicago-based R&B singer-songwriter Ann Marie, known for her hit “Secret” with YK Osiris, has signed with Interscope Records, the company announced exclusively to Variety today. “Ann Marie is the prototype for today’s artist,” says Nicole Wyskoarko, the label’s EVP of urban operations. “She’s developed and cultivated a dedicated fan base using the tools of today

Thom Yorke has confirmed “a new series of live electronic performances” to take place this fall in North America with collaborators Nigel Godrich and Tarik Barri under the name Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes. The new shows will feature Thom Yorke along with longtime Radiohead producer Godrich and visual artist Barri, performing songs from Yorke’s solo works “The

Following the release on Thursday of her pro-LGBT song “You Need to Calm Down” and a surprise performance at New York’s gay landmark Stonewall Inn on Friday, Taylor Swift has tripled down on her Pride Month activity this morning with the release of the video for “Calm Down.” She promised in a social media post

Television host, comedian, actor, producer, rapper, and children’s book author Nick Cannon will now add radio host to his long list of endeavors. He’s Power 106’s new morning show host, coming on the heels of J Cruz’s move to Los Angeles competitor Real 92.3 for the afternoon slot. The SoCal native recently shot the 15th

June 15, 2019 9:53AM PT As promised, Drake dropped two new songs Saturday to celebrate the Toronto Raptors’ NBA championship win, “Omertà” and “Money in the Grave” (featuring Rick Ross) — the first new songs he’s dropped so far this year, although he recently appeared on songs by former foes Meek Mill and Chris Brown. Apart from

Taylor Swift is doubling down on her pro-LGBT activity during Pride month: Less than 24 hours after she dropped her new single “You Need to Calm Down,” which includes shout-outs to GLAAD and the LGBT community, she made a surprise appearance before about 100 people at the Stonewall Inn in New York’s Greenwich Village, the

June 14, 2019 2:57PM PT Nick Cannon is adding another hosting job to his resume. The entertainment renaissance man will join KPWR-FM (“Power 106”), Los Angeles’ top hip-hop radio station, as the morning show’s main host and producer. “Nick Cannon Mornings” will launch this Monday, June 17, and air from 5 to 10 a.m.  “Power

A Los Angeles law firm representing several Universal Music recording artists affected by the 2008 fire that destroyed a huge number of master recordings is expected to file a lawsuit as early as next week. King told Variety that he expects to sue for negligence and other torts. He declined to identify his clients, saying

As part of her role as this year’s honoree for the City of Hope “Spirit of Life” initiative, Sylvia Rhone was feted Friday morning at a lovely (although windy) breakfast gathering on the roof of Sony Music’s headquarters in New York. The initiative raises money for the City of Hope cancer treatment and research center

Justin Timberlake stops in mid-sentence. “Aw man, y’all didn’t tell me Bette Midler was gonna be right here in the front! Now I’m nervous — first y’all make me follow Patti LaBelle, now this?” Yep. Justin Timberlake — arguably the most talented song and dance man working today, but honored tonight for his songwriting —

In the summer of 1966, songwriter Johnny Mercer had his final Top 40 American hit with Frank Sinatra’s version of his song “Summer Wind.” That same summer, young songwriter Carole Bayer had her first chart hit with the English rock band the Mindbenders’ version of “A Groovy Kind of Love,” a song she co-wrote with

The best way to define one’s self — particularly laboring beneath a shadow as large as the Red Headed Stranger’s — is simply to go out and do. That’s been Lukas Nelson’s plan for the last decade, culminating in “Turn Off the News (Build a Garden),” his most polished and assured effort to date. Since

Jason Bentley has been at KCRW since he began as a volunteer in 1988, taking a weekend shift in 1992 before becoming elevated, for the past decade-plus, as music director and host of the public radio station’s influential “Morning Becomes Eclectic” show. Bentley’s Labor Day exit from those two jobs after his August 30 air

June 13, 2019 11:29PM PT “Kawhi Leonard bringing a chip to the city — I want my chips with a dip, that’s all I know,” gushed the hip-hop star. No one had to think hard about who the happiest celebrity in the world might be Thursday night. Drake was as over the moon as anyone

Taylor Swift has gone from the personal pride of her seven-week-old single, “Me!,” and moved on to Pride with a capital P in its just-released followup, “You Need to Calm Down” (exclamation point only implied this time). It’s in a long line of anti-haters singles from Swift, but this time she’s returning fire not just

In today’s film news roundup, Kid Cudi and Dyan Cannon get roles, drug addiction drama “Dear Jack” gets a director and Trafalgar Releasing is handling the “Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies” this year. CASTINGS Scott Mescudi , best known by his stage name Kid Cudi, has joined the cast of “Bill & Ted Face

Bruce Springsteen wanted to make Sony Music’s New York staff feel like eastern stars, as he stopped by the office Thursday to offer thanks for their work promoting his new album, which comes out Friday. Among those on the receiving end of a visit on the eve of the release of “Western Stars” were Rob

Celebrities and athletes came together at the Dodgers Foundation Blue Diamond Gala to celebrate the team’s commitment to supporting youth and to catch a glimpse of the event’s headliner: Bruno Mars. Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss were honored at the fifth annual event, which raised over $3 million for programs benefiting Los Angeles youth.

Have Madonna’s fortunes fallen so far that she’s “struggling” to fill small halls in the biggest cities in the world now? Yes, if you believe the New York Post. Naturally, her promoter begs to differ, and is differing loudly in an interview he did with Pollstar to combat the newspaper’s piece on allegedly weak ticket

The controversy surrounding the recent chart battle between DJ Khaled and Tyler the Creator — in which a bundle promoting Khaled’s album was disqualified from adding to its sales tally for the May 24 Billboard 200 album chart, allowing the No. 1 spot to go to Tyler’s “Igor” — has been a first-class problem for

John Prine is, in many ways, the ultimate songwriter’s songwriter. Revered by his peers and his ride-or-die fans, over the past five decades he’s written many brilliant songs with incisive melodies and tongue-twisting (and brain-twisting) lyrics that have been covered by artists ranging from Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash and John Denver to My Morning Jacket

Here’s a little-known pop-diva fact: Madonna used to have nightmares about Whitney Houston. In a 1995 “Primetime Live” interview, she described a dream she had in which she learned that her greatest ’80s chart rival’s then-latest single, “Exhale (Shoop Shoop),” had replaced hers, “You’ll See,” at No. 1. Meanwhile, in another room, her music teacher

The most familiar voice on what is arguably Los Angeles’ most influential radio station, KCRW, is about to exit his two key roles there. Jason Bentley, who had served for a decade as the station’s music director and inheritor of the key “Morning Becomes Eclectic” slot, will step aside at the conclusion of his August