April 15, 2019 10:08AM PT Beck today dropped “Saw Lightning,” the first single from his forthcoming album “Hyperspace.” The song is a collaboration with Pharrell Williams, who “contributes drums, keyboards and mumbles,” according to the announcement, while Beck handles acoustic guitar, harmonica and of course lead vocal. The song is featured in a new ad
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Blueface’s “Thotiana” is the latest rap hit to cross over into the pop format. While the track by the Los Angeles rapper first saw radio play in January, it’s steadily picked up spins in top market Top 40 stations like Los Angeles KIIS-FM, Miami’s WPOW and Orlando’s WPYO. While in the Rhythmic format, “Thotiana” overtook
Jay-Z will re-open New York’s Webster Hall with a rarities concert on Friday, April 26. His “B-Sides 2” show will be the first concert at the long-running East Village venue after an extensive renovation. The veteran MC played his first “B-Sides” concert at New York’s Terminal 5 in 2015 as an exclusive show for members
As rumored, Arianna Grande brought out most of the members of ‘N Sync during her Coachella-closing performance Sunday night… and the reaction to the collaboration between the reigning pop superstar and the nearly reunited boy-band kings was mixed, ranging from an exultant “OMG!” to something more like “Oh, meh, god.” Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, Chris
April 15, 2019 12:20AM PT Nicki Minaj took the main stage on Sunday night at Coachella in support of frequent collaborator Ariana Grande. Unfortunately, Minaj couldn’t hear much of her two-song performance with the “thank u, next” star due to ongoing sound issues. It created an especially awkward scene for Minaj, who seemed to lose
Any buzzing artist faces crazy nerves before their first Coachella set because so many things can go wrong. But when the problem is completely beyond their control, it can be painful to witness. Such were the sound problems that plagued Lizzo’s otherwise rousing festival debut. The powerhouse soul diva — who was the breakthrough artist
April 14, 2019 8:28PM PT Would any of Zedd’s mostly female vocal collaborators appear as part of his main stage DJ-ing set at Coachella Sunday night? For a while, it seemed no — concertgoers were left to imagine Maren Morris as her voice came out of the PA during “The Middle.” Ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez did
What do Drake’s “Nice For What,” Migos’ “Motorsport,” Travis Scott’s “Butterfly Effect,” 6ix9ine’s “Fefe,” and 2 Chainz’s “It’s a Vibe” all have in common? Producer/songwriter/DJ Murda Beatz. The 25-year-old Canadian hitmaker — legal name: Shane Lindstrom — began his journey at the age of six, playing drums and idolizing Travis Barker; he made the switch to
April 14, 2019 1:39PM PT Amid the many touching tributes to former Rhino and Apple Music executive Gary Stewart, who died on Thursday at the age of 62, there is one in particular that would have meant a great deal to him: A long and heartfelt post from Elvis Costello, one of Stewart’s all-time favorite
Rock isn’t dead at Coachella, a vast amount of evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. It was alive and well in a performance by Billie Eilish that pushed every rock ‘n’ roll button except the one that demands there be an electric guitar on stage. The 17-going-on-35-year-old star literally bounded through close to half the songs,
With performances from rising Spanish star Rosalía, Chilean singer Mon Laferte, regional Mexican titans Tucanes de Tijuana and one later today from Puerto Rican trap star Bad Bunny, Latin music has had its biggest-ever presence on the Coachella stages this year. But Colombian superstar J Balvin — who joined Beyoncé onstage last year during her
Bruce Springsteen took the stage for the first time in 2019 with photographer Danny Clinch and his Tangiers Blues Band, at New York’s Tribeca Grille on Saturday night at a benefit supporting the Kristen Ann Carr Fund. Springsteen and company rocked the house that included a set similar to the one performed at the opening
April 14, 2019 9:09AM PT Morrissey has postponed the first three dates of his Canadian tour to mid-October after suffering a “medical emergency” in Europe. The Vancouver Civic Theatres, which operates the Orpheum in Vancouver where Morrissey would have performed April 14 and 15, posted the news to its Facebook page. Morrissey will instead perform
April 14, 2019 9:01AM PT The craziest dance party at Coachella this year is not listed on any official schedule, and most of the 125,000 people on the field will likely have no idea it exists. But at 9 p.m. every night, the hidden, fully disco-themed bar Hush Hush throws a New Year’s Eve party
April 14, 2019 2:41AM PT Long before she took the stage half an hour late for her debut at Coachella on the Outdoor Theater stage Saturday night, Billie Eilish had been one of the most anticipated artists at this year’s edition of the fest: the 17-year-old topped the album sales chart last week with her
April 13, 2019 10:03PM PT [embedded content] BTS made history on Saturday night, becoming the first K-pop group to perform as a musical guest on “Saturday Night Live.” The boy band sensation performed songs from its newly released album “Map of the Soul: Persona.” The K-pop group’s performance was highly anticipated, with passionate fans —
April 13, 2019 8:24PM PT At this point it’s probably the worst-kept secret at the Empire Polo Grounds, but multiple sources (and multiple media outlets, including TMZ) are abuzz with rumors that both NSYNC (well, 4/5 of them) and Nicki Minaj will be joining Ariana Grande onstage during her festival closing set at Coachella tomorrow
I’m inside a circular facade with three people pulling hard on a flight suit and rubber mask to set me up to enter a makeshift control room on the Coachella field, where I’ll play a very frustrating version of Simon Says while fest-goers gawk from the field. It’s one of the oddest (and most confounding)
This weekend marks the first of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, but the bash isn’t the only music phenomenon on everyone’s mind. Korean pop artists are posting a banner week in their forge into the U.S. mainstream, with BTS breaking a YouTube record and performing on “SNL” and Blackpink scoring a first with
Gentlemen, start your Crosleys. And ladies, fire up your higher-end Technics. Record Store Day 2019 has brought us 401 brand new slabs of vinyl (give or take one or two cassettes and, God forbid, even a few CDs). Some will be available for months, and some were released in such limited quantities that even joining
April 13, 2019 10:53AM PT Selena Gomez made a surprise appearance Friday during DJ Snake’s set at Coachella, joining Cardi B and Ozuna for their hit “Taki Taki.” The performance marks Gomez’s first appearance on stage since she sought mental health treatment last year following a few hospital stays. The singer, who has lupus, revealed
The two key sets of Coachella 2019’s opening night couldn’t have struck more different chords, at least on the surface. But maybe they weren’t so completely different. Playing in the Sahara Tent mid-evening, but clearly already commanding the status and intrigue of a headliner, K-pop phenom were all about choreography and dazzle — yet the
April 13, 2019 8:41AM PT A fire broke out on the grounds of the Coachella music festival in the early hours of Saturday but was contained by emergency personnel, according to a report in The Guardian. There were no injuries. The fire started in a shower block at the festival’s site, the Empire Polo Grounds
Memo to the Spice Girls: Never mind about that whole-group reunion the world has been wanting for the last couple decades. We may officially be covered on girl groups, for a lot of years to come, based on the reception to Blackpink’s first public full-length concert in America at Coachella Friday night. “I have a
Cardi B won’t be visiting Donald Trump in the White House anytime soon. “I hate him. I just hate him,” the rapper said Friday night at the 2019 Spark Party in WeHo. In an exclusive nterview with Variety, the Grammy-winning artist said she couldn’t elaborate on the Trump comment (“I have a court case, LOL”)
April 12, 2019 9:24PM PT The clock included her favorite number, starting at exactly 13 days out. A countdown clock appeared on Taylor Swift’s website at midnight ET Saturday morning, suggesting that something is imminent in… fans of her numerology may have already guessed it… 13 days (as of that moment). The 8-ball says “signs
Deborah Dugan, CEO of the nonprofit AIDS organization (RED), has been selected to succeed Neil Portnow as the Recording Academy’s president/CEO, a source close to the situation confirmed to Variety. She will replace outgoing president/CEO Neil Portnow in July; the news was first reported by Billboard. Reps for the Academy and for Dugan either had
April 12, 2019 8:33PM PT Jaden Smith got higher than just about anyone at Coachella during his mid-afternoon Friday set — but not in the way you might expect. For a few songs in the young rapper’s high energy performance, he performed on the roof of a Tesla car that dangled from several dozen feet
Coming of age during the post-grunge, nu-metal explosion of the mid-‘90s, Staind, fronted by Aaron Lewis, saw success across seven albums, particularly around its darkly emotive 2001 ballad, “It’s Been Awhile.” But Lewis the solo artist has gone country. It’s been nearly a decade since he kicked things off with the 2010 single “Country Boy,”
One of the most anticipated music festivals of the year kicks off in Indio, Calif., on Friday, and luckily for non-festival goers, many of the first weekend’s performances will be available to stream on YouTube. Sixty-nine artists are already confirmed to live stream their Coachella sets, such as headliners Childish Gambino, Ariana Grande, and Tame