Music

MTV has acquired SnowGlobe Music Festival, the annual three-day December gathering held in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., with plans to expand the brand as a music and lifestyle event and to help freshen up the cabler’s New Year’s Eve programming. The deal is in keeping with Viacom’s goal of growing its activity in live events.

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry was rushed to the hospital after performing with Billy Joel at New York’s Madison Square Garden Saturday night. He remained in the hospital Sunday, according to a rep, where he is “alert and responsive.” “Following a guest performance during Billy Joel’s show last night at Madison Square Garden, Joe Perry experienced shortness of

While it wasn’t quite a Donald Glover turn, Lil Wayne made the most of his appearance on this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live,” performing two songs and contributing a long guest verse to “Permission,” one of the show’s trademark hip-hop comedy clips. In “Permission,” the show’s Kenan Thompson and Chris Redd play the Booty Kings, a

Rosanne Cash, who has been frequently outspoken about gun control issues in recent years, isn’t being shy about speaking up again in the wake of the mass shootings in Thousand Oaks, California, near where she grew up as the daughter of Johnny Cash. “Step back and take the wide view and see that we have

November 9, 2018 1:10PM PT Universal Music Publishing Group today announced that it has signed young singer-songwriter Billie Eilish to an exclusive co-publishing deal. The fast-rising 16-year-old — who is one of Variety’s 2018 Young Hollywood Power Players — posted her song “Ocean Eyes” onto SoundCloud early in 2016, followed with a video in March, and by November

“We don’t get to die young. … We just have to push on. … We don’t get to give up this life.” These words, lyrics obtained by Variety that were purportedly from a collaboration with Swedish dance music superstar Avicii (ne Tim Bergling) before his death in April at age 28, offer a glimpse into

November 9, 2018 7:16AM PT A gunman fired multiple shots at a video shoot in Beverly Hills where Kanye West and Tekashi 6ix9ine were both working Thursday night, according to TMZ and the Blast. Local police confirmed to Variety that shots were fired at around 10:25 p.m. local time on the 900 block of North

Just one week after the release of David Archuleta’s new Christmas album, “Winter in the Air,” Variety has an exclusive video premiere of the title cut. The clip features Archuleta in a snowy forest, while dancers Ezra Sosa and Cassidy Forsyth — from the second season of NBC’s “World of Dance” (featuring former Idol judge

According to, well, just about everyone, hip-hop and R&B are the streaming generation’s musical genres of choice and rock is in a hard place. Yet rock, or at least the style formerly known as alternative rock, is finishing out the year with a bang as two of its biggest acts — Imagine Dragons and Muse

November 8, 2018 10:17PM PT Lady Gaga was honored by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Thursday night alongside Harrison Ford, and took a quick moment to react to Tuesday night’s midterm elections. “There’s 100 women in the House and I’m really happy about that,” she told Variety‘s Marc Malkin on the red carpet. Tuesday’s midterms were notable

In the category of decent jokes that haven’t dated well, count the scene from “Men in Black” in which Tommy Lee Jones walks Will Smith through a lab where aliens are developing new technologies and he holds up a disc even more minuscule than the Sony MiniDisc. “This is gonna replace CDs soon,” says Jones’

Rufus Wainwright introduced himself on May 19th, 1998. He was the first new artist signed to DreamWorks Records, the label appendage of the new film studio which launched in 1996. His self-titled album was only a modest success, sales-wise — there were no hit singles — but critics and musicians immediately genuflected. The album made

Joni Mitchell did not sing during a rare public appearance Wednesday night, but she did show off one of the most instantly recognizable grins in pop music history, which was emotional climax enough for the curtain call of “JONI 75: A Birthday Celebration Live at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.” The tribute took place over two

Not long before Canadian pop-rocker Avril Lavigne and also Canadian Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger announced the end of their two-year marriage in the fall of 2015, via Instagram, they shelled out $5.4 million for a decidedly traditional chateau-inspired mansion in a beautifully leafy, upscale neighborhood of Sherman Oaks, Calif., that’s now back on the market

November 8, 2018 2:00AM PT Singer-songwriter Michael Bublé is set to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Nov. 16, adding the 2,650th star to the legendary sidewalk. The ceremony will take place at 11:30 a.m. PT in front of the W Hollywood Hotel. Throughout his lengthy career, Bublé has sold more than

November 7, 2018 5:05PM PT The “Frozen” sequel may already have its “Let It Go.” “We have a new song that I think is an evolution,” Jennifer Lee, co-director of the first and second films, told Variety on Monday at the “Ralph Breaks the Internet” premiere in L.A. “It’s its own song…Bobby [Lopez] and Kristen

Missy Elliott becomes the first female rapper to be nominated for the Songwriters Hall of Fame as part of its class of 2019, it was announced today. Joining Elliott as performing nominees are Mariah Carey, Chrissie Hynde, Vince Gill, the Beach Boys’ Mike Love, Jimmy Cliff, Jeff Lynne, Cat Stevens, John Prine, Lloyd Price, Tommy

Riot Games created a hologram K-Pop band made up of characters from its “League of Legends” game and had them perform live during the World Championships in Korea over the weekend. The single by K/DA, voiced by Madison Beer, Jaira Burns and (G)I-DLE members Akali and Miyeon, managed to rake in 13 million views in

Ariana Grande performed her new single “Thank U, Next” on “Ellen” Wednesday morning, amplifying the song’s theme by appearing with two dancers on a set made up to look like a wedding reception. Midway through the song, she climbed on top of a chair and stumbled as she stepped down from it, but she literally

November 7, 2018 8:05AM PT It’s a debate as inconclusive as “theater” versus “theatre”: When writing about music licenses, is it “sync” or “synch”? The shorthand for synchronization has become so interchangeable in industry circles that many music-licensing professionals are at a loss for words as to why they use one over the other. BMG

Justin Timberlake, still suffering from bruised vocal cords, has postponed two more shows on his “Man of the Woods” tour. The dates in Tacoma, Wash. previously scheduled for Nov. 12 and 13 will now take place on Feb. 10 and 11 of next year, according to tour promoter Live Nation. His next scheduled concert is

Veteran music industry executive Jason Bernard, one of the early architects of Pulse Music Group, is leaving the company to start his own entertainment venture, bringing with him several of his current songwriter/producer and mixer management clients. Bernard, who was COO and head of Pulse’s management arm, will continue to represent songwriter/producer Tim Pagnotta (Walk

Israel’s annual Tune In Tel Aviv International Music Conference kicked off its seventh edition with a musical showcase featuring a string of up-and-comers in the music space performing at venues across Tel Aviv’s Jaffa, the ancient port city comprising winding cobblestone alleyways, art galleries and scenic seaside restaurants. The brainchild of Jeremy Hulsh, founder and

Billy McFarland, who was sentenced to six years in prison last month for his role in the disastrous 2017 Fyre Festival, has apologized again for his actions, this time in an interview with People magazine. “I am incredibly sorry for my collective actions and will right the wrongs I have delivered to my family, friends,

Bruce Springsteen brought some NSFW jokes to his four-song set at the annual Stand Up for Heroes veterans benefit in New York Monday night. According to the Asbury Park Press, one joke was “about a songwriter who writes songs with X-rated names,” while the other was about “something called a ‘voodoo penis.’” (See fan-shot video

Stand Up for Heroes brought the funny, the serious, and some music on Monday night to the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The evening, which serves as the kick off to Carolines on Broadway’s New York Comedy Festival, included stand-up from Seth Meyers, Jimmy Carr, Jim Gaffigan, and Jon Stewart, as

Frank Ocean hit Election Day 2018 hard, with a surprise episode of his Beats 1 show “Blonded Radio” and a round of pop-up shops in four cities to give away free merchandise to people who present evidence that they voted. A flyer posted on his Tumblr account reads, “Bring proof (a photo of you at the ballot)

November 6, 2018 9:12AM PT Theda Sandiford has been promoted to Senior Vice President of International Commerce & Digital Marketing at Universal Music Group’s Republic Records, Island Records and Def Jam Recordings, it was announced today. In her new role, Sandiford will lead global consumer marketing and commercial strategies to expand the opportunities for artists

The Elton John AIDS Foundation raised $3.9 million Monday night at its 2018 annual New York Fall Gala to support HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, supporting services, and advocacy programs. Sheryl Crow performed a 45-minute set, “CBS This Morning” co-anchor Gayle King hosted, Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson gave a moving speech about meeting Rosa Parks, an

Joni Mitchell is getting the all-star-salute treatment in L.A. this week with two sold-out nights billed as “JONI 75: A Birthday Celebration Live at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.” There are no lightweights in the lineup; everyone in the cast has earned a place at the table, from contemporaries like James Taylor and Graham Nash to