Music

As promised, SZA dropped four new songs on Sunday, ahead of her appearance with Kendrick Lamar during the Super Bowl Halftime show, creating a sort of second deluxe edition of her Grammy-winning “SOS” album; the deluxe edition is titled “Lana.” While previously unreleased and technically new, the songs are mostly updated versions of tracks that

Lauren Daigle stepped onto the Caesars Superdome field at Sunday’s Super Bowl in New Orleans to sing “America the Beautiful.” The former Louisiana State University student, perform alongside fellow Louisianian Trombone Shorty (aka Troy Andrews) In an interview with NOLA.com ahead of the Super Bowl, Daigle said Trombone Shorty asked Daigle if she could join him for

Fresh off her Grammy win, Lady Gaga headed to New Orleans for the Super Bowl where she performed an emotional rendition of “Hold My Hand.” Gaga performed the song on Bourbon Street as a tribute to the victims of the New Year’s attack which left 14 people dead. Gaga, who played piano during her performance,

The Weeknd’s “Hurry Up Tomorrow” is the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with a staggering 490,500 equivalent album units, making it the biggest debut of 2025. That marks the largest week for any album since Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” debuted at No. 1 in May of 2024 (with 2.61 million). This

Anyone seeking a stellar example of seven-time Grammy winner Jon Batiste’s talent need look no further than his rendition of the National Anthem before the Super Bowl on Sunday. Stationed on a platform at midfield behind a white grand piano with multicolored psychedelic swishes pained on it, Batiste sang an innovative and bluesy but respectful

Ledisi gave a soul-stirring and impassioned performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” during the pregame ceremony at the Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday. The R&B singer stood on a platform in a billowing white dress, backed by a choir of 125 New Orleans high school students in yellow robes to celebrate

Travis Kelce is back at the Super Bowl, and so is Taylor Swift, who has arrived at Caesar’s Superdome in New Orlean’s to support her boyfriend. Swift is once again prepared to root for Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs teammates as they face off against the Philadelphia Eagles, who lost to the Chiefs in

Oscar-winning songwriter and Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Buffy Sainte-Marie, known for the anti-war song “Universal Soldier” and stolen-land lament “Now That the Buffalo’s Gone,” has had her prestigious Order of Canada appointment terminated. The award is the country’s highest honor presented to a civilian. “Notice is hereby given that the appointment of Buffy

Before John Densmore exits a conversation about 2025’s celebration of the Doors’ 60th anniversary with alive-and-thriving guitarist Robby Krieger, the drummer jokes about another six-decade-old ensemble. “Maybe Robby and I should join with Paul and Ringo,” Densmore says. “That’d be something. The two Fab Four guys are making great new music like Robby and I.

Backstage Production Team Image Credit: Michael Becker Back row (seated): Baz Halpin (Silent House production design), Tabitha D’umo (producer), Alex Papa (producer), Kristen Merlino (art director), Jody Kolozsvari (producer), Hilary Gladstein (supervising producer) Front row: Raj Kapoor (co-executive producer), Patrick Mention (co-executive producer), Eric Cook (co-executive producer), Jesse Collins (co-executive producer), Jeannae Rouzan-Clay (co-executive producer)

Kendrick Lamar’s ascension to the top of the rap game has no parallel. Equally lauded for his lyrics, songwriting, creativity and perspective, Lamar has amassed a catalog that nimbly balances self-reflection and analysis of the world around him. Whether rapping about addiction, violence, class, his family, Compton, or how he really hates Drake, Lamar contorts

I’m talking to Guy Fieri a few days after Diplo revealed during a live interview with Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper on CNN’s New Year’s Eve special that he was under the influence because he had just done some LSD. The celebrity chef and cooking show star is promoting his annual Guy’s Flavortown Tailgate Super

The world loves a good “rise of” story — one that captures the first months of a now-superstar artist’s meteoric rise, whether it’s Elvis or the Beatles or Madonna or Prince or Nirvana (that sound you hear is keyboards clicking on “Rise of Chappell Roan” biopic scripts). It’s an undeniably compelling premise: seeing how and

SZA isn’t done with fine-tuning “Lana,” the deluxe version of her blockbuster sophomore album “SOS” that released in December. The singer, poised to perform with Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday, will honor her appearance by adding new songs to the album. She revealed the news on the landing page of

Kanye West is being condemned by the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee after posting an antisemitic rant on X in which the rapper declared “I’m a Nazi,” called Hitler “so fresh” and wrote that “he loves when Jewish people come to me and say they can’t work with me,” among other racist posts.

The controversy continued over a Hollywood Reporter op-ed regarding Chappell Roan’s Grammy night speech in which she called for record labels to support artists with “a livable wage and health care”: Early Friday, the singer challenged the writer of the article to match her $25,000 donation to an unnamed fund for “struggling” artists who have

Inhaler don’t mind if you call them a pop band. The Dublin-bred quartet — made up of singer and guitarist Eli Hewson, guitarist Josh Jenkinson, bassist Robert Keating and drummer Ryan McMahon — got their roots in the alt-rock scene, and embraced that sound with debut album “It Won’t Always Be Like This” and 2023’s

Lil Wayne has officially announced his upcoming album “Tha Carter VI,” arriving on June 6. The rapper made waves earlier today when he teased the new project at the end of a Super Bowl ad for Cetaphil. Though it was unclear if that meant the album would officially arrive this summer, his label Republic Records

In the immediate wake of the news breaking that Universal Music Group Nashville CEO Cindy Mabe was gone from the company’s top role, UMG moved quickly to announce two new appointments, with Mike Harris moving into the Nashville company’s CEO post, along with renowned producer Dave Cobb (Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell) being named the label

Lisa has teamed up with Doja Cat and Raye on “Born Again,” the latest single off her upcoming album “Alter Ego” out Feb. 28. On “Born Again,” the Blackpink member leads the trio across the disco-tinged tune that folds in bits of electro-pop. Lisa and Raye trade off on the first verse and chorus before

Anitta has released “Romeo,” her first solo single this year, and a follow-up to her Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated, “Funk Generation” album. An artist known for her work across numerous genres, the Brazilian star makes a return to reggaeton with “Romeo,” produced by Subelo NEO (Bad Bunny, Eladio Carrión, Mora). Just in time for Valentines

Netflix has canceled the release of what was supposed to be a six-part Prince documentary directed by Ezra Edelman. “The Prince Estate and Netflix have come to a mutual agreement that will allow the estate to develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from Prince’s archive,” Netflix said in a statement shared with Variety

UTA has signed seven-time-Grammy and Academy Award-winning artist Jon Batiste for representation in all areas. He is set to perform the National Anthem at the 2025Super Bowl LIX pregame in his hometown of New Orleans on Feb. 9 at the Caesars Superdome. In November, Batiste released his studio album, “Beethoven Blues,” which is comprised of Beethoven

In a long-rumored move, Cindy Mabe has stepped down from her position as chair and CEO of Universal Music Nashville after nearly 18 years with the company and two in the role, multiple sources confirm to Variety. Mabe took the role in April 2023, a few months after longtime CEO Mike Dungan announced his retirement.

A TV series, a documentary, tours, a Las Vegas residency — Wu-Tang Clan have undoubtedly been busy the past eight years. The one thing missing? A new LP. But the group’s longtime friend, Wu affiliate and show DJ Mathematics, has wrangled the entire Clan for a brand new project, as he did with their 2017 album,

Late Wednesday evening, an uproar erupted across the music industry over an op-ed published in the Hollywood Reporter, in which Jeff Rabhan (former chair of New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music) unpacked some of the implications of Chappell Roan’s passionate statement about music companies owing musicians “a livable wage and health care”

Prince & the New Power Generation“Live At Glam Slam”4,000 copiesBroken out from the Grammy-nominated “Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe Edition” as a stand-alone piece for the first time as a Record Store Day exclusive, this 3-LP set comprises a complete concert performance of Prince & the NPG previewing the Diamonds And Pearls Tour at Prince’s

Kellyman says it was intense to step back in time to 1920s Britain for writer/director Will Seefried’s upcoming film “Lilies Not for Me,” about a gay novelist (Fionn O’Shea) whose doctor prescribes a series of teatime “dates” with the psychiatric nurse she plays. “It was so emotional to see what people in our community would

Tim Kappel and Loren Wells of Wells Kappel LLP were the attorneys behind a recent copyright-termination lawsuit that saw songwriter Cyril Vetter re-acquire the global rights to a hit song he’d unknowingly signed away — for one dollar — in his youth. Variety welcomes responsible commentary, send submissions to music@variety.com. One afternoon in the summer of

Rufus Wainwright will perform at Cure Addiction Now’s inaugural fundraising gala in Los Angeles. CAN was founded by Nancy Davis and her late son Jason Davis to support innovative treatment for addiction and also efforts to eliminate the stigma and shame often experienced by people living with addiction. “Our first ever event is dedicated in