March 26, 2019 6:01AM PT Audible announced Monday a deal with Rolling Stone to produce an audio series focused on the lives of legendary icons. “The Wild Heart of Stevie Nicks,” a look at the life and music of the lead singer of Fleetwood Mac, will be released exclusively on Audible on April 4. Rolling
Music
One of Las Vegas’ biggest music players is doubling down on the power of a global brand instead of just a single DJ to help them stay on top of Sin City’s increasingly competitive clubbing scene. Wynn Nightlife has announced a year-long residency and partnership with Spain’s Elrow, a respected Ibiza-born party that last year
March 25, 2019 1:08PM PT PledgeMusic, the direct-to-fan marketplace that has faced serious financial troubles in recent months, is down to a “skeleton staff” and payroll in the U.S. office ceased within the last month, sources close to the situation tell Variety, although a potential buyer is “very interested” in the company and has been
March 25, 2019 9:26AM PT Dr. Dre’s attempt to throw shade on the recent celebrity college admissions scandals backfired after he apparently belatedly realized that he’d donated $70 million to the college his daughter, Truly, is attending. On Saturday Dre posted a photo with the caption, “My daughter got accepted into USC all on her
March 25, 2019 6:10AM PT The MTV EMAs are returning to Spain, heading for the city of Seville after last year’s edition in Bilbao, MTV announced Monday. The 26th annual MTV Europe Music Awards, which will feature acts and music from around the world, is to take place Nov. 3. “We are thrilled to land
The government of Dubai has denied that any R. Kelly concerts are planned in the United Arab Emirates after Kelly’s attorney asked a Chicago judge last week to delay a ruling on the R&B singer’s request to travel to Dubai to perform. Local newspaper “The National,” which has government ties, carried a story Monday quoting
Scott Walker, the American singer who attained massive success as a pop star in England before veering off into avante-garde music, has died, according to his label, 4AD. He was 76; no cause or date of death was immediately announced. “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Scott Walker,” a post
Yoko One was — is — nothing if not an artist of many facets, as someone who started out in the most avant-garde corners of the visual and performance art worlds and ended up having a flair for conventional pop songwriting. Both sides, the disrupter and the sentimentalist, were celebrated in a wide-ranging tribute concert
Barbra Streisand only met Michael Jackson a few times, but she definitely has some opinions about his alleged molestation of several young boys. Streisand shared her thoughts with the Times in the U.K. ahead of her July concert at London’s Hyde Park. Given that Streisand is one of the few people alive to have experienced
March 22, 2019 2:45PM PT Jonathan Lamy, the Recording Industry Association of America’s longtime executive VP of communications and marketing, is stepping down from his post after 17 years, he announced today. As he put it in an email to Variety, “I started back in 2002, which means it’s been 17+ years, four different RIAA
For Suzi Quatro, portraying intimidating rocker chick Leather Tuscadero on the 1970s sitcom “Happy Days” was art imitating life. A veteran musician who came up in the rough and tumble rock scene of 1960s Detroit, her tough-but-sexy small-screen persona wasn’t an act, and it’s served Quatro well in her pioneering role as arguably the first
March 22, 2019 12:00PM PT Fat Joe has been cast in the “New York Undercover” pilot currently in the works at ABC, Variety has learned exclusively. Picking up 20 years after the end of the original series, “New York Undercover” will follow detectives Nat Gilmore (Toby Sandeman) and Melissa Ortiz (Otmara Marrero) as they investigate the
Danielle Brooks earned a Tony nomination when she made her Broadway debut as Sofia in the 2015 revival of “The Color Purple,” but now the “Orange Is the New Black” star is working behind the scenes as a producer on the new jukebox musical “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations.” “I
Barry Manilow’s place as one of America’s best-loved entertainers was secured decades ago, but the 75-year-old shows no signs of resting on his laurels, which include nearly 50 top 40 hits, beaucoup gold and platinum albums, sold-out tours, an Emmy, a Grammy, a Tony and a Clio. His 21st century accomplishments include more SRO dates,
March 22, 2019 9:00AM PT R. Kelly’s court hearing on Friday morning produced little of substance, as the singer’s attorney Steve Greenberg asked the judge to delay a ruling on his request to travel to Dubai to perform several still-unconfirmed concerts next month. After the hearing, another Kelly attorney, Doug Anton, said the singer’s team
Early on in her new record, Jenny Lewis warns us that Mercury’s retrograde wrath is far from over. Her cautionary words form the conceit of “Wasted Youth,” a lament dressed in melody and charm. With the prospect of planetary bad luck looming, Lewis spends the chorus listing some of the ways in which we doom
Victoria Monét is what you’d call an all-around creative. A singer, songwriter and dancer, the Sacramento native is also among Ariana Grande’s go-to collaborators. Most recently, Monet had a hand in constructing Grande’s “Thank U, Next,” which topped the charts in multiple territories upon its November 2018 release, including the United States, the U.K., Australia,
Australia’s Tame Impala tend to switch things up with each album, but we’d have to say that an infusion of house music and Philadelphia soul were not what we were expecting. The group — which, in the studio, is essentially frontman Kevin Parker — has delivered what may be their most infectious single yet with “Patience,”
Verve Label Group president/CEO Danny Bennett has stepped down, Universal Music Group announced Thursday. Oversight of Verve will be taken over by Dickon Stainer, president/CEO of Universal Classics and Jazz, who will add the labels to a stable that already includes heading up Deutsche Grammophon and the Decca Label Group. The restructuring was cited by the
What happens when a Canadian country girl goes pop? America is finding out this year via Lennon Stella, the 19-year-old former co-star of TV’s “Nashville,” who signed to Barry Weiss’ Records imprint (which has a deal via Columbia Records) in the winter of 2018, and who this month released a stellar new song, “Bitch (Takes
Texas country music upstart Justin Carter has died from a gunshot wound, in an accident that took place while a gun was being as a prop for a music video being filmed in his apartment, according to reports out of Houston. Carter, 35, died Saturday, the same week he had signed a management deal and
Texas country music upstart Justin Carter has died from a gunshot wound, in an accident that took place while a gun was being as a prop for a music video being filmed in his apartment, according to reports out of Houston. Carter, 35, died Saturday, the same week he had signed a management deal and
“We’re gonna do one more song…” Karen O said at her and Danger Mouse’s performance and chat in New York Wednesday night, “… and then comes the hard part, which is talking about music.” She was probably inadvertently paraphrasing the age-old adage that attempting to write about music is like “dancing about architecture,” but the
Whither the Who? That’s a big question for anyone perusing the Woodstock 50 lineup and noticing that the biggest act from the original 1969 lineup that is still around and active is not on the bill. The timing might have even seemed fortuitous, since the band recently announced plans for a 29-city American tour this
Influential public radio station KCRW has finally left the basement and entered its new home: a sparkling, 34,000-square-foot, three-story $21.7 million glass structure on the campus of Santa Monica College. Part of a $115 million development of its Center for Media and Design, it’s a glittering, shiny and massive step up from its previous studio
Kaaboo Del Mar today announced the music and comedy lineups for its fifth annual festival happening September 13-15, 2019. Kings of Leon, Dave Matthews Band and Mumford & Sons will headline on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively, while the lineup is rounded out with artists including Duran Duran, Black Eyed Peas, OneRepublic, Sheryl Crow, Maren
March 21, 2019 3:05AM PT “Noughts and Crosses” just added another musical heavy hitter with grime supremo Stormzy set to star in the adaptation of the Malorie Blackman novels for the BBC. Jay-Z’s Roc Nation is already on board and will exec produce, as will Participant Media. Stormzy has an on-screen role and will play
Siddhartha Khosla, one of the busiest composers in TV with ongoing assignments for “This Is Us,” “The Kids Are Alright” and “Marvel’s Runaways,” has made the move to ASCAP, the performing-rights organization announced Wednesday. For all of his steady television gigs, “This is Us” remains by far the most prominent, partly because he provides prominent
“I know it’s been a really long time since I made a record,” said Sara Bareilles, introducing a night of mostly new music at the Troubadour Tuesday. Hearing some shouted assents from the audience, she parroted back what she heard to be some fan umbrage about that. “’You bitch!’” she echoed, bemused. “Well, I’ve been
March 20, 2019 2:55PM PT Mom + Pop Music has promoted Hallie Anderson to co-GM and head of marketing and Jessica Page to co-GM and head of digital, the company announced today. They had previously served as VP of marketing and VP of digital strategy, respectively. “Being able to promote, empower and support Hallie and