Music

Before Mexican songwriter-producer Edgar Barrera enters the room for his Hitmaker of the Month interview, an entourage of 10-15 people precedes him. Stitched on each one of their matching jerseys is the logo Grupo Frontera — identifying a few of those smiling faces as the Texas-based indie group whose catchy cumbia beats have become synonymous

“Red” was unfortunately more than just a metaphor for Taylor Swift over the weekend, as fans took to social media after her Houston three-night stadium stand wrapped up to share photos and video of what looked like a gnarly injury to her hand midway through the second of three concerts in the city. On Monday,

SPOILER ALERT: This recap contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 3 of “Blindspotting,” now streaming on Starz. The latest episode of Starz’s “Blindspotting” forces Ashley (Jasmine Cephas Jones) and Miles (Rafael Casal) into parenting mode after their young son Sean, played by Atticus Woodward, uses the N-word. Titled “N*ggaz and Jesus,” Ashley takes Sean to visit

Asked by a Twitter follower if Matchbox Twenty’s forthcoming album “Where the Light Goes” features bonus tracks, band co-founder Paul Doucette replied, “No. But really the record is a bonus, so yes 12.” Fans may have chuckled, but the multi-instrumentalist wasn’t kidding. In his mind, future recordings with the Grammy-nominated group were not in the

In these media-oversaturated times, it can be hard to form an objective opinion about a project involving Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Drake or any other similarly world-shaking artist because there’s so much noise around them at the time of the project’s release — so much “YAAASSS!” and “BOOOO!” and “MEHHHH!” that it’s like trying to

U2 has announced the first dates this fall for a series of shows being billed as “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere” — just five nights in late September and early October, for now, although the possibility of more shows being added seems more like a probability. The ambition and logistical planning of creating a

Comes a time when even Neil Young is going to set foot on a stage again after the pandemic, and the recently gig-shy legend turned in his first substantial live performance in almost four years Saturday night at a benefit concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Young shared much of his time on

Zendaya joined Labrinth tonight at Coachella for the second weekend of the arts and music festival to perform their Emmy-nominated hit “I’m Tired” as well as the song “All of Us.” The “Euphoria” star, wearing a pink corset top and frilly skirt, emerged shortly after the start of “I’m Tired” and delivered her vocals softly

Drummer Bill Kreutzmann, one of the founders of the Grateful Dead and a member of spinoff group Dead and Company, will not be a part of the latter group’s farewell tour this summer, the band announced in a social media post Saturday. Although fans might assume his exit could be health-related, since he has had to sit

The checkout lines for Record Store Day might move more swiftly than usual this year, due to the likely numbers of customers who will be buying one exclusive album and one exclusive alone — Taylor Swift’s “Folklore: The Long Pond Sessions,” the most massively coveted item RSD has seen or ever might see. And listen,

For those without long memories, Everything But the Girl are a British duo that first emerged in the early 1980s as a sort of neo-jazz outfit combining Tracey Thorn’s virtuoso but downcast vocals and Ben Watt’s formidable guitar playing. Over the next 15 years they morphed impressively through different styles — from Smiths-style jangly alt-rock

Karol G’s winning streak at the Latin American Music Awards continues for the second year in a row as the Colombian star won in eight categories including artist of the year. Though Karol wasn’t in Las Vegas to collect her Latin AMA in person, her collaborator — and the second biggest winner of the evening

Equal opportunity and visibility for women in the music industry continue to be a problem. Despite a few high-profile signs of progress, there continues to be discouraging data that shows a lot of work must be done to close the gender gap. While women artists are increasing their presence as performers of popular music, they

Lana Del Rey is set to headline London’s Hyde Park music festival this summer. The “Born to Die” singer will play BST Hyde Park in central London, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary, on July 9. BST Hyde Park is a concert series that takes place over two or three weekends every summer with a

The electronic-music dream team of Skrillex, Fred Again and Four Tet — which recently played a rapturously received five-hour set at Madison Square Garden — will close out the Coachella festival this weekend, sources tell Variety. The trio will follow Blink-182, who Variety revealed will fill the slot vacated when Frank Ocean announced he will

Sugar trap queen Rico Nasty came to Brooklyn on her first headlining tour since 2019, and her legions of hardcore, mosh-pit-loving fans shook the floors of the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Wednesday night. With her unique style and sound, a witch’s brew of carefree punk and new-age grunge mixed with banging trap and Gen-Z

It’s a great time to be Peso Pluma, as the Guadalajara native is seeing the work he’s put into his life in music coming up roses in recent months — even translating into the U.S., with his name being attached to several monumental moments and historic metrics. His collaboration with Eslabon Armado, a trumpet-led corrido

Just two weeks after her not-so-amicable parting from Warner Music was announced, Brazilian superstar singer Anitta has inked with Universal’s Republic Records, sources close to the deal tell Variety. Republic declined requests for comment. The singer, who is managed by Brandon Silverstein at S10 Entertainment, left Warner after 11 years at the company and a

The era of “Truckin’” is now conjoined with the age of TikTok-in’. Although the Grateful Dead has been defunct as an actual band since the mid-’90s, the group now officially has a presence on the social platform TikTok. Coincidentally, or perhaps strategically, the band joined on the fan-favorite stoner holiday 4/20. The first post from

Mandolin, a live-stream concert platform that thrived after COVID-19 put a pause on in-person experiences, quietly closed its doors on Monday amid the resurgence of live touring and concerts. Mandolin launched on June 1, 2020, months into the pandemic, and less than a year later was named the best streaming platform at the 2021 Pollstar Awards

Pearl Jam has announced a short tour for late summer and early fall of 2023, playing nine arena shows in five cities in August and September. Perhaps not surprisingly with a group long known for its careful attention to ticket practices, the explanation of how the band will be handling the ticket sales runs much

Pharrell’s Icecream brand and web3 company Doodles have teamed up for an exclusive capsule collection to be launched during the “Happy” singer’s Something in the Water music festival. The line will debut at a pop-up during the festival, which runs April 28-30 in Pharrell’s hometown of Virginia Beach, Va., Variety can exclusively report. A portion

Frank Ocean will not be performing his scheduled headlining slot at Coachella this Sunday, a rep for the singer confirms to Variety. A source close to the situation says his spot will be taken by Blink-182. The statement reads: “Frank Ocean will not be performing at weekend 2 of Coachella.  “After suffering an injury to

Songwriting partners Harry Styles and Kid Harpoon have received Ivor Novello nominations for the 2023 iteration of the awards show that honors British or Irish songwriters and composers. They’re tied with Cleo Soul (Cleopatra Nikolic) and Dean “Inflo” Josiah Cover as the most nominated pair of the evening with three nominations each. In partnership with

Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow, Amy Grant, Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, Maren Morris, Margo Price, Mickey Guyton, Kelsea Ballerini and dozens of other top Nashville musicians are calling for the Tennessee General Assembly to pass “common sense gun safety legislation” before lawmakers end their session a few days from now, according to a report in the

According to the Seoul Gangnam Police (via Yonhap News), K-pop singer Moonbin was found dead in his Seoul home by his manager on Wednesday. The 25-year-old was a part of the boy band Astro, a five-member group formed by Fantagio Music. The South Korean entertainment company confirmed the news in a social media post that was

Two former hockey players who bailed on Frank Ocean’s Coachella performance after it seemingly became enveloped in chaos Sunday have spoken up about the experience in a podcast. Brothers Dan and Chris Powers say that they and more than a hundred other skaters had a positive experience through a good month of rehearsal in L.A.,

Foo Fighters has announced its first album since the sudden death of drummer Taylor Hawkins in March 2022. “But Here We Are” is set to arrive on June 2, with its lead single, “Rescued,” available now. “A brutally honest and emotionally raw response to everything Foo Fighters endured over the last year, ‘But Here We Are’ is

Jung Ho-seok, better known as J-Hope, Tuesday became the second member of K-pop sensation BTS to join the Korean military. Approaching his 30th birthday, J-Hope attended an army camp at Wongju, south of Seoul, and is expected to begin five weeks of basic training there. Local news agencies reported a small crowd of fans, seemingly

The battle for corporate dominance of K-Pop has become a drama that never stops giving. After the acrimonious takeover battle between BTS-backer Hybe Corp. and tech giant Kakao for control of SM Entertainment, Korea’s financial regulators are probing the deal-making that eventually led to Kakao’s victory. Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service raided the offices of SM