Lady Gaga took to Twitter on Wednesday to condemn the restrictive Alabama abortion bill, which was passed the day before. “It is an outrage to ban abortion in Alabama period, and all the more heinous that it excludes those who have been raped or are experiencing incest non-consensual or not,” the singer and actress wrote.
Music
Ronnie Scott’s, an iconic British music venue dubbed the “world’s favorite jazz club,” is the subject of a new feature documentary. Kew Media Distribution has boarded sales on “Ronnie’s” (working title) and is warming up buyers at Cannes. The club is situated in the heart of London’s Soho district. Founded by late saxophonist Ronnie Scott
The annual Americana Honors & Awards have faced mounting criticism that they, too, like the Grammys, have seen a preponderance of male winners taking the stage. Last year, the much beloved Brandi Carlile and Margo Price were both nominated in the top three categories — artist, album and song of the year — and many
The screaming really is that loud. It’s a physical force — a shrill, trebly shriek that crackles the eardrums and makes your clothes vibrate. It gets so loud you can’t hear a person talking five feet away. But unlike most screaming, it’s a joyful sound — much happier even than the screaming in films of
If you think Bebe Rexha’s and Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant to Be” is already an earworm, be afraid, be very afraid. At the BMI Pop Awards in Beverly Hills Tuesday night, the performing rights organization gave Rexha an award for co-writing the song, which was named the performing rights organization’s most played song of the
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired Benjamin Millepied’s debut feature film “Carmen,” a modern-day reimagining of one of the world’s most celebrated operas that will be headlined by Jamie Dornan and Melissa Barrera, and produced by Dimitri Rassam (“Playmobil”). SPC has acquired rights to the project for North America, Latin America, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, the CIS
Adam Lambert is giving fans a taste of his forthcoming album, ‘Velvet,” with the debut of a soulful and sexy new song, “New Eyes,” which dropped today (May 15) at Midnight. The song, written by Lambert, Paris Carney and Jamie Serota of Echosmith (“Cool Kids”), is a throwback to ’70s classic rock riffs with a
Britney Spears’s longtime manager Larry Rudolph says the singer may never perform again. Speaking to TMZ, Rudolph said, “As the person who guides her career — based on the information I and all of the professionals who work with her are being told on a need-to-know basis — from what I have gathered it’s clear
May 15, 2019 3:00AM PT “Black Mirror” will return for its fifth season on June 5, Netflix announced Wednesday. This new installment of the anthology series will consist of three all-new stories from Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones. They star Anthony Mackie, Miley Cyrus, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Topher Grace, Damson Idris, Andrew Scott, Nicole Beharie,
Even with international headlines whirring about Hamas-fired rockets raining down on southern Israel, there was a feeling of business-as-usual in Tel Aviv ahead of the first semifinal show of the Eurovision Song Contest Wednesday night. In the coastal Mediterranean city, considered a secular bubble of liberal politics and parties stretching well past dawn, both locals
The judge in the $18 million lawsuit pitting the organizers of the troubled Woodstock 50 festival against their former finance partner, Dentsu Aegis, adjourned without a decision this afternoon and said he will take 20 to 36 hours to rule, a rep for the festival tells Variety. Woodstock 50 is seeking an emergency injunction over
What says “sunny, bucolic, green and serene” more than the Cure? Well, possibly lots of things, given the dark and anxious undertones to much of the British band’s music. But the group will be coming to southern California in the most peaceful large-scale setting possible: the picturesque, tree-filled, golf-course grounds outside the Rose Bowl, where
May 14, 2019 11:35AM PT Around 20 years ago, a strapping group of school friends calling themselves the Strokes were honing their sound in New York City rehearsal room. Late the following year their residency at the Mercury Lounge caught the attention of the music press, which then started looking around at the other artists
May 14, 2019 10:08AM PT As part of the rollout for the upcoming NBC show “Songland,” a podcast featuring the show’s mentors and celebrity guests has been launched in conjunction with iHeartMedia, which the radio powerhouse is describing as its first joint effort with a broadcast TV network. The Songland Podcast will primarily function as
The F16s, an indie-rock group from Chennai, India, learned about the hazards of touring the hard way. On their debut tour of Southeast Asia last November, their drummer was denied entry into Thailand, then the band was detained overnight by Hong Kong immigration authorities due to “a minor visa issue” and sent back to their
Sub Pop Records cofounder Jonathan Poneman will be honored by the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) with a Lifetime Achievement award at the organization’s Libera Awards show next month. Over the past 30 years, Sub Pop has become one of the most vital independent labels in the world. The 2019 Libera Awards (presented by
As rappers go, Nav is among the more mysterious talents to emerge from Toronto. Signed to the Weeknd’s XO imprint, he made his name by working on beats for the likes of Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert, Gunna and the Weeknd himself, Abel Tesfaye. While the 29-year-old, whose real name is Navraj Singh Goraya, confesses
May 13, 2019 3:02PM PT The “Old Town Road” phenomenon has new representation. Atlanta rapper Lil Nas X has signed with CAA, the agency announced. The news coincides with the hip-hop/country hybrid smash “Old Town Road” topping the Billboard pop chart for the fifth consecutive week. Ironically, the viral single grew even larger from publicity
Though half of her heart famously remains in Havana, it seems the rest of Camila Cabello is increasingly tethered to Hollywood. And the 22-year-old pop music superstar recently cemented those Tinseltown ties with the nearly $3.4 million purchase of a Mediterranean-style villa in the proverbial heart of town. Call the 3,570-square-foot casita a celeb-style starter
May 13, 2019 1:01PM PT Paul Sinclair has been promoted to general manager & executive vice president of Atlantic Records, it was announced today by Atlantic Chairman & COO Julie Greenwald and Chairman & CEO Craig Kallman. Sinclair joined Atlantic in 2006 and was most recently the label’s EVP of digital strategy & innovation. In
May 13, 2019 10:55AM PT Paradigm Talent Agency has hired Chappel McCollister as senior VP of strategic partnerships, based in the agency’s Nashville office. According to the announcement, McCollister will represent Paradigm’s music clients, with a focus on the Nashville roster, across a range of areas including brand & corporate partnerships, premium VIP experiences, product
May 13, 2019 10:48AM PT Hollywood took to social media to mourn the death of icon Doris Day on Monday. One of the most popular stars in the movie industry in the ’50s and ’60s, Day was known for her wholesome girl-next-door personality, her comedies that pushed the envelope and her public love life. The
May 13, 2019 10:00AM PT “American Idol” has been renewed for a third season at ABC. This will be the singing competition show’s 18th season overall, including the 15 seasons that aired on Fox before the show moved to ABC in 2018. The question remains, however, if the show’s current judging panel of Katy Perry,
It all started with a cold call. “Beginners” and “20th Century Women” director Mike Mills, with no prior meeting, called up Matt Berninger of The National looking to work together on a project. At first contact, the two learned they were mutual fans. It was a done deal. Together they created the short music film
Lawyers for erstwhile Woodstock 50 financier Dentsu slammed festival organizer Michael Lang in legal documents filed before a hearing today in which the company is seeking an emergency injunction over nearly $18 million for the event, which is scheduled to take place at the Watkins Glen International speedway August 16-18 — just three months from
May 13, 2019 5:55AM PT Will Tanous, Universal Music Group’s executive vice president of communications and member of the company’s executive management board, received the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor at the 34th annual ceremony on Ellis Island in New York Harbor. The award is presented annually to U.S. citizens “who have distinguished themselves
In the past year, hell has frozen over a couple of times for Todd Rundgren. There was that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination — devotees never thought they’d see the meritorious day — which, if only the fan vote had counted, would have seen him sliding in. And then there is the matter
Concerts at the annual Red Bull New York Music Festival always have a limited-edition quality — the shows nearly always are either unique or held in unusual venues that are chosen because they enhance the visual aspect of the performance. In 2017 Solange — accompanied by around 100 dancers — took over the entire Guggenheim
May 12, 2019 10:52AM PT Following his Easter Sunday Service at the Coachella festival last month, Kanye West is back with another livestream of his semi-regular church-inspired performance — this one in honor of Mothers’ Day. Naturally, this one opened with a full choir rendition of his 2005 “Late Registration” song, “Hey Mama.” The day
In 2014, the members of BTS literally walked around Los Angeles trying to drum up people to attend their free concert — about 200 showed up. Last week, the group kicked off its “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself” world tour with a pair of sold-out shows at the Rose Bowl Stadium near L.A., and on a