Music

December 11, 2018 8:05AM PT Amber Grimes has been named to the newly-created position of Senior Vice President of Global Creative for Capitol Music Group, it was announced today by Chairman & CEO Steve Barnett, to whom Grimes will report. According to the announcement, in her new position, Grimes will be integrally involved in formulating

December 11, 2018 7:11AM PT [embedded content] Pop star Katy Perry is going to appear in the mobile role-playing game “Final Fantasy Brave Exvius” starting on Wednesday, Dec. 12, publisher Square Enix announced on Sunday. Perry has created an all-new song for the game called “Immortal Flame.” She’s also lending her likeness to several playable

Annie Lennox, Chrissie Hynde, Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, Paloma Faith, Ed Sheeran manager Stuart Camp and Grammy/Emmy award-winning film composer David Arnold and several leading UK music industry bodies are among the signees of a letter drafted by the new organization Music4EU, stating that Brexit “represents a significant threat to the UK’s music industry” and

When the Firesign Theatre’s first comedy album, “Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him,” was released in 1968, Rolling Stone rated the Los Angeles-based sketch comedy foursome as “the funniest team in America today.” With two of the team’s principals, Peter Bergman and Phil Austin, deceased, the creative mantle of the Grammy-nominated group’s freewheeling

James Corden will not be returning as the host of the Grammy Awards this year, Variety has confirmed, although a source close to the situation says that “Late Late Show” show producer Ben Winston is being considered as a successor to longtime executive producer Ken Ehrlich and will work on the 2019 show in an expanded

Allan Bregman, a booking agent and talent manager who represented the likes of the King family, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, died Sept. 25 in La Quinta, Calif. He was 92. Bregman grew up in the neighboring town of Lorain before graduating from Ohio State University and joining the Merchant Marines in 1944.

Universal Music Group today announced that “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the iconic single by British rock legends Queen, officially became the world’s most-streamed song from the 20th Century, as well as the most-streamed Classic Rock song of all time. Today (Dec. 10), the original song and official video for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” taken from the group’s 1975 album

Tony Dimitriades, who managed Tom Petty for 42 years until the rocker’s death October 2, 2017, and worked with Billy Idol for more than 30 years, tells Variety he is getting out of the “day-to-day business of managing artists.” The veteran manager has also worked with Yes and Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, among

Sony/ATV Music Publishing has extended its worldwide deal with Swedish songwriter Noonie Bao, whose hits include “Stay” by Zedd and Alessia Cara and “Never Be The Same” by Camila Cabello. The Los Angeles-based Bao currently is credited on Rita Ora’s UK smash “Let You Love Me.” The company first signed Bao 11 years ago. Said Sony/ATV UK

Lindsey Buckingham has peacefully gone his own way — with a stop at the bank, presumably — now that he and the four other longtime members of Fleetwood Mac have reached an out-of-court settlement about his dismissal from the group. The agreement was reached “only a couple of weeks” ago, Buckingham said in an interview

When illusionist and magician Criss Angel debuts the latest incarnation of his popular “Mindfreak” live show in Las Vegas later this month, he’ll do so with a little help from musician Jonathan Davis of the nu metal band Korn. The eccentric men have been pals for many years now, and Angel has featured Davis in his

Maxwell is usually a happy and gracious performer. But he was downright giddy at New York’s Beacon Theatre on Sunday night: The gig was not only the finale of his “50 Intimate Nights” tour, which started in September, it was the first hometown show he played on the entire trek. Rarely was he not smiling:

December 10, 2018 10:35AM PT Grammy-nominated Warner/Chappell songwriter and producer Busbee, who’s worked extensively with a wide array of artists ranging from Maren Morris to Pink to Shakira, today the launch of a joint-venture music company with Warner Bros. Records called Altadena. The new company has also entered into a worldwide publishing agreement with Warner/Chappell

After hosting Smashing Pumpkins, Thirty Seconds to Mars, and Third Eye Blind on Saturday night, Kroq returned to the Forum in Los Angeles on Sunday for night two of its annual Almost Acoustic Christmas bonanza with some very different sets. Three of the most memorable acts of the night had one things in common: they’re

December 10, 2018 9:18AM PT The Fyre Festival is a gift that keeps on giving for video streaming services, as Netflix today announced a documentary about the disastrous 2017 festival, which collapsed before it even started and landed its organizer, Billy McFarland, a six-year prison sentence. “Fyre” will be directed by Chris Smith, who helmed

Former Blink-182 member Tom DeLonge left the hugely successful band in 2015 in part to explore other opportunities, including his interest in aliens and the paranormal. His passion resulted in the acclaimed graphic novel, “Strange Times,” which is now being turned into a series for TBS. The series, which Variety can exclusively announce is being

Ariana Grande has added multiple dates to her “Sweetener” world tour, which is scheduled to launch in March. Second arena shows have been added in major cities including Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Miami. Produced by Live Nation, the tour is slated to begin March 18 in Albany, NY and wrap in Toronto on June 26. Fifth

Ever since Jon Platt announced in September that he will be stepping down from his post at the helm of Warner/Chappell Publishing to take the top job at Sony/ATV when Martin Bandier’s contract is up at the end of March, speculation has been rife about who will take over for him. One name has been

KROQ held the first night of its annual Almost Acoustic Christmas on Saturday at the Forum, and from new punk to ska to classics from the ’90s, the Los Angeles institution served up a formidable line-up. Smashing Pumpkins got top billing at the concert, joining groups like 30 Seconds to Mars, Bad Religion, Greta Van

First-round voting is underway for Oscar’s Original Song and Original Score categories, but Academy music-branch voters are discovering that four talked-about scores are missing from the eligibility list. Music for “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” “Green Book,” “Mandy” and “The Other Side of the Wind” has been disqualified for various reasons, Variety has learned. More

Mumford & Sons have come a long way from their raw and rustic roots to have happily come no way at all.  Even though the British quartet smoothed and softened elements of the rough, intimate folk of their 2007 origin story to include flickering arena-rock guitars (on 2015’s “Wilder Mind”) and windy synths (2018’s “Delta”),

Despite having a court date in Queens Friday morning (Dec. 7), Cardi B was on hand for holiday cheer and a victory lap celebrating her five Grammy nominations on stage at the Z100 Jingle Ball at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The hip-hop star faced a judge answering that morning to answer to charges that

Nothing takes you back to time and a place like the music of a particular era. That’s one big reason why music documentaries are flourishing at a time of enormous demand for high-end docu productions. This year’s five Grammy Award nominees for best music film reflect the appetite for stories about renowned and beloved musical figures,

John Carpenter’s “Halloween” music? A “Star Wars” compendium? It’s no shock to see these show up on a list of soundtrack label Varèse Sarabande’s historical 10 biggest selling albums. More surprising? Non-genre soundtracks like “Rudy” and “The Man from Snowy River,” which film music fans snatched up in numbers matching some of the more obvious

“It’s one of the true pioneering enterprises in our business,” says composer Alan Silvestri about the preeminent film music label, Varèse Sarabande, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Silvestri won a 2001 Grammy for instrumental composition for his theme for “Cast Away,” a movie that has very little music and was an unlikely

Varèse Sarabande, renowned as Hollywood’s preeminent soundtrack label, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, going into its fifth decade under new ownership — Concord Music acquired the label in February — while renewing its goal of presenting the best of movie and TV music, both current and past. According to label VP and veteran producer

December 7 is a big day in the life, or rather death, of rapper XXXTentacion. The divisive artist, who was shot dead outside a motorcycle dealer in Deerfield Park, Florida on June 18, claims one of the most consumed songs of 2018, “Sad!” (No. 3 on the BuzzAngle Top 30 chart logging more than 350

On Friday morning, a lot of people were asking “Who is H.E.R.?,” and with good reason: Not only is she nominated for a whopping five Grammy Awards — that’s as many as Cardi B, Childish Gambino and Lady Gaga — the 21-year-old California native has intentionally kept a rather anonymous profile, doing few interviews and

Soulja Boy, best known for his hit 2007 single “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” is now selling what appear to be cheap emulator consoles, as spotted by IGN. The SouljaGame Console and a handheld console, marketed as the SouljaGame Handheld, are offered up via the website SouljaWatch.com for $149.99 and $99.99, respectively. These are apparently sale prices,

Kacey Musgaves’ nomination for “Golden Hour” in the Album of the Year category gives the singer one of 2018’s most buzzed-about nominations. With a total of four nominations, including Musgraves would seem to be the Queen of Country, as far as the Grammys are concerned. But is she a queen without a country? As far