Music

The members of Blackpink suddenly seem like they’re almost angling for the title of Queens of Christmas, as the holiday season has seen a flurry of three big announcements or releases — including Lisa choosing Christmas Eve to drop her cover of a Britney Spears holiday perennial, “My Only Wish (This Year).” The group has

Taylor Swift‘s “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” has returned to the top spot on the Billboard 200, as Nicki Minaj‘s “Pink Friday 2” drops to No. 2 in its second week out. The Swift release is spending its fourth non-consecutive week at No. 1, and its re-ascendency in the last full week before Christmas is no surprise,

Hard as it may be to imagine, at the dawn of the ‘90s, Prince was at a make-or-break point in his career as a chart-busting superstar. It had been several years since he’d had a real hit, and his image and public statements had been confusing, to say the least. So for the first time in years,

Laura Lynch, a founding member of the Dixie Chicks, has died. She was 65. Lynch died in a car crash in West Texas on Friday evening, her cousin Michael Lynch told CBS News. Bass player Lynch founded the Dixie Chicks — now officially known as the Chicks — with Robin Lynn Macy and sisters Martie

Tammy Faye Starlite knows few boundaries in her love for Marianne Faithfull, and the New York-based singer and performance artist is expressing it in two ways this season. For starters, she’s one of 25 performers who participated in a compilation album that came out earlier this month, “The Faithful: A Tribute to Marianne Faithfull,” along

Ruth Seymour, a pioneering figure in public radio who led KCRW for many years until her retirement in 2010, died Friday in Santa Monica after a long illness. She was 88. After serving as program director at KPFK, Seymour joined KCRW in 1977 and was instrumental in transforming the station from a small college radio

Ryan Murphy’s upcoming FX series “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” boasts one of the greatest casts of the TV season. But it has also broken new ground on the music side: a father-daughter team providing the musical score. It’s believed to be a first for music in films and TV. Emmy winner and 15-time Oscar

There’s a secret to having a Christmas record that is successful in the 21st century: Put it out before 1970. That’s clear from just looking at the top 10 songs each December, and knowing that Brenda Lee‘s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first two weeks

Awfulness in music came in so many forms in 2023. Nothing makes for a good annus horribilis like songs that promote xenophobia, racism or just overall divisiveness in the interest of trolling — so here’s a round of Fudge Rounds for strange bedfellows like Jason Aldean and Kanye West. But it’s understandable if you might

Sydney Sweeney’s starring role in the Rolling Stones‘ music video for “Angry,” the lead single off their most recent album “Hackney Diamonds,” led to some claims that she was sexualized during the nearly four-minute clip. The video features Sweeney wearing black studded chaps and dancing in the back seat of a convertible as it speeds down

Norby Walters, a music agent who hosted the annual “Night of 100 Stars” Oscars viewing party for more than 25 years, died Dec. 10 in Burbank. He was 91. Walters, who died in his sleep of natural causes, was described by Variety‘s Steven Gaydos as “one of the most dapper, snappiest characters in a town

Perhaps the best thing that you can say about life in Britain over the last few years is that it’s rarely been boring. And, after a brief lull at the start of the year, the U.K. has once again been the place to be in 2023 for fans of political and economic chaos. And the

The baffling dance around the future of Hipgnosis Songs Fund took another turn on Thursday, as the company reported a drop in the value of its assets after a two-day delay. The company’s operative net assets value per share were at $1.7392 as of Sept. 30, down 9.2% from the end of March, according to

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the two-hour Season 10 Finale of “The Masked Singer,” which aired Dec. 20 on Fox. Because of you, Ne-Yo just had the time of his life on Fox’s “The Masked Singer.” The artist won the Season 10 finale of the hit series on Wednesday

Noah Kahan is Zooming to us right from the heart of Vermont’s stick season, where things are looking cloudy with a chance of multi-platinum. Now, if you happen to know what that “seasonal” reference actually is, you are probably (a) an 80-year-old New Englander who grew up with that term as a euphemism for the

Great Christmas songs, and great versions of great Christmas songs, are as plentiful as letters to Santa Claus. It’s the holiday for which various-artists compilations were seemingly created (and why the two-disc set “Now That’s What I Call Christmas” was certified 6x platinum just three years after its 2001 release). But great Christmas albums are

For Sean Momberger, the journey to bring Jack Harlow’s latest smash “Lovin on Me” to life began on YouTube. It was this past June that the producer, who has spent the last decade stacking up credits on songs by Doja Cat, Nicki Minaj and Lil Baby, logged onto the video streaming platform to scour for

Drake and Morgan Wallen get their just due from a pair of vindictive exes in the video for “You Broke My Heart,” the latest single off of the former’s “For All the Dogs Scary Hours Edition.” In the Theo Skudra-directed clip, the pair cheers leaving behind a cursed relationship while sitting at a restaurant. “I didn’t

What a funny way of saying hello — by saying “Good Riddance.” But as Gracie Abrams happened to be saying goodbye to certain things in her life in the album of that name, she was also introducing herself to much of the general public. Although the now-24-year-old singer-songwriter had released EPs on Interscope going back

While the massively successful albums by major stars such as Bad Bunny, Peso Pluma and Karol G will be cherished for years to come, 2023 also saw the release of some extraordinary Latin sessions that did not enjoy all the recognition they deserved. Think of this list as a collection of B-sides. These lesser-known albums

Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Phoebe Bridgers, the 1975’s Matty Healy… those aren’t just artists that Jack Antonoff has collaborated with over the years, they’re people who have performed at the annual Ally Coalition Talent Show benefit concert he and his sister Rachel stage in New York each year. And while the concert delivers

With Christmas just days away, Ryan Gosling and “Barbie: The Album” producer Mark Ronson have gifted fans a new holiday version of the film’s “I’m Just Ken” musical number. But that’s not all. Gosling has released “Ken The EP,” which includes three new versions of the “Barbie” classic: a holiday version (“Merry Kristmas Barbie”), an

Darlene Love‘s annual television performance of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” was essentially orphaned after “Late Show With David Letterman” went off the air in 2015, putting an end to the 28-year streak that had the music legend singing her signature holiday song with Paul Shaffer‘s band on Letterman’s last original show before Christmas each

The Orchard has finalized a global distribution agreement with Peso Pluma‘s label Double P Records, a subdivision of Prajin Parlay Records. Established in partnership with George Prajin, Double P is the home of Mexican artist Peso Pluma who also serves as the imprint’s CEO and head of A&R. This new deal reinforces that relationship, as

Sudanese-Canadian creator Mustafa has announced a New Jersey concert benefitting humanitarian efforts in Gaza and Sudan, with anticipated performances from Omar Apollo, Clairo, 070 Shake, Daniel Caesar, 6lack and Faye Webster, among others. All proceeds from the event, slated for Jan. 4 at Newark Symphony Hall, will support Human Concern International, an organization that is

Edgar Barrera is a Grammys rarity: The Mexican-American, Texas-born producer and songwriter is the only (and first) Latin act up for songwriter of the year at the 2024 awards. Less happily, he is also the only Latin act to appear in a Grammy category that isn’t Latin music-specific. Be that as it may, those feats

Celine Dion‘s sister, Claudette Dion, claims her sister has lost control of her muscles due to her Stiff-Person Syndrome — a progressive neurological disorder that affects the brain and the spinal cord, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.  Celine shared her Stiff-Person Syndrome diagnosis with the world last December since the disorder affected

Hipgnosis Songs Fund — the company that significantly drove up the value of music catalogs by paying more than $2 billion catalogs by Justin Timberlake, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and others — has delayed its mid-year earnings report at the last minute, amid concerns that its assets are undervalued. The

Jim Ladd, veteran Los Angeles rock DJ and host of SiriusXM‘s classic rock channel “Deep Tracks,” died Dec. 17 at his home in Los Angeles of a heart attack. He was 75. Ladd’s colleague, DJ Meg Griffin, announced the news at the start of Ladd’s “Deep Tracks” slot and hosted in his place. SiriusXM confirmed

Kesha has parted ways with both her label and management, a source close to the situation tells Variety. The news comes six months after the singer settled multiple lawsuits with her former producer and label owner Dr. Luke, which stretched over nearly 10 years but were settled out of court in June. The singer’s deal