Music News

09 May 2023

Lil Yachty Announces Dates For Fall 2023 Field Trip Global Tour

Lil Yachty announced the dates for his fall 2023 The Field Trip tour on Tuesday morning (May 9). The 39-date global tour is slated to kick off on Sept. 21 with a show at the Echostage in Washington, D.C. and make its way across North America with stops in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Indianapolis, Nashville, San Diego, Las Vegas, Denver and Minneapolis before winding down on Nov. 5 at the Fillmore in Detroit.

The outing is then scheduled to hop overseas for a late 2023 European run that will kick off on Nov. 22 at the Sentrum Scene in Oslo, Norway, with dates in Copenhagen, Berlin, London, Paris, Brussels and Barcelona before wrapping things up on Dec. 17 with a gig at the Gasometer in Vienna, Austria.

The Live Nation-produced tour in support of Yachty’s psychedelic Let’s Start Here album will feature support from a variety of as-yet-unnamed fellow Quality Control acts. The artist presale will kick off at 10 a.m.local time on Tuesday in North America and at 1 p.m. BST in Europe. Additional presales will roll out through the rest of the week with the general onsale beginning on Friday (May 12); click here for more ticketing information.

Check out the dates for Yachty’s Field Trip Tour below.

Sept. 21 — Washington, DC @ Echostage

Sept. 22 — New York, NY @ SummerStage in Central Park

Sept. 24 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore 

Sept. 25 — Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz

Sept. 27 — Montreal, QC @ MTELUS

Sept. 29 — Wallingford, CT @ The Dome at Oakdale

Oct. 1 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre

Oct. 2 — Toronto, ON @ HISTORY

Oct. 4 — Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte

Oct. 8 — Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at Old National Centre

Oct. 9 — Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works

Oct. 11 — New Orleans, LA @ The Fillmore 

Oct. 15 — Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre

Oct. 17 — San Diego, CA @ SOMA

Oct. 21 — Vancouver, BC @ UBC – Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre

Oct. 22 — Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom

Oct. 26 — Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas

Oct. 27 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex

Oct. 29 — Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium

Oct. 31 — St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant

Nov. 2 — Minneapolis, MN @ Fillmore 

Nov. 4 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee

Nov. 5 — Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore

European Dates

Nov. 22 — Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene

Nov. 24 — Stockholm, Sweden @ Fryhuset

Nov. 25 — Copenhagen, Denmark @ KB Hallen

Nov. 27 — Berlin, Germany @ Columbiahalle

Nov. 28 — Cologne, Germany @ Palladium

Nov. 30 — Manchester, UK @ O2 Victoria Warehouse

Dec. 1 — London, UK @ OVO Wembley Arena

Dec. 3 — Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy

Dec. 4 — Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy

Dec. 6 — Paris, France @ Salle Pleyel

Dec. 8 — Tilburg, Netherlands @ Poppodium013

Dec. 10 — Brussels, Belgium @ Ancienne Belgique

Dec. 12 — Barcelona, Spain @ Razzmatazz

Dec. 14 — Milan, Italy @ Fabrique

Dec. 16 — Zurich, Switzerland @ Komplex 457

Dec. 17 — Vienna, Austria @ Gasometer

09 May 2023

Grace Bumbry, Pioneering Black Mezzo-Soprano Dies at 86

Grace Bumbry, a pioneering mezzo-soprano who became the first Black singer to perform at Germany’s Bayreuth Festival during a career of more than three decades on the world’s top stages, has died. She was 86. Bumbry died Sunday at Evangelisches Krankenhaus, a hospital in Vienna, according to her publicist, David Lee Brewer.

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She had a stroke on Oct. 20 while on a flight from Vienna to New York to attend her induction into Opera America’s Opera Hall of Fame. She was stricken with the plane 15 minutes from landing, was treated at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens and returned to Vienna on Dec. 8. She had been in and out of facilities since, Brewer said Monday (May 8).

Bumbry was born Jan. 4, 1937, in St. Louis. Her father, Benjamin, was a railroad porter and her mother, the former Melzia Walker, a school teacher.

She sang in the choir at Ville’s Sumner High School and won a talent contest sponsored by radio station KMOX that included a scholarship to the St. Louis Institute of Music, but she was denied admission because she was Black. She sang on CBS’s Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, then attended Boston University College of Fine Arts. and Northwestern, where she met soprano Lotte Lehmann, who became her teacher at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, and a mentor.

Bumbry, known mostly as a mezzo but who also performed some soprano roles. was inspired when her mother took her to a recital of Marian Anderson, the American contralto who in 1955 became the first Black singer at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Bumbry became part of a generation of acclaimed Black opera singers that included Leontyne Price, Shirley Verrett, George Shirley, Reri Grist and Martina Arroyo.

Bumbry was among the winners of the 1958 Met National Council Auditions. She had a recital debut in Paris that same year and made her Paris Opéra debut in 1960 as Amneris in “Aida.”

The following year, she was cast by Wieland Wagner, a grandson of the composer, to sing Venus in a new production of Tannhäuser at the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth. Bumbry’s casting in a staging that included stars Wolfang Windgassen, Victoria de los Angeles and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau resulted in 200 protest letters to the festival.

“I remember being discriminated against in the United States, so why should it be any different in Germany?” Bumbry told St. Louis Magazine in 2021. “I knew that I had to get up there and show them what I’m about. When we were in high school, our teachers — and my parents, of course — taught us that you are no different than anybody else. You are not better than anybody, and you are not lesser than anybody. You have to do your best all the time.”

Reviews of her Bayreuth debut on July 23, 1961, were mostly positive. “A voice of very large size, though a little lacking in color. It is a voice that has not as yet `set,′ as the teachers say,” Harold C. Schonberg wrote in The New York Times. “She is obviously a singer with a big career ahead of her.”

As a result of the attention, Bumbry was invited by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy to sing at a White House state dinner the following February. Debuts followed at Carnegie Hall in November 1962, London’s Royal Opera in 1963 and Milan’s Teatro alla Scala in 1964.

She appeared at the Met on Oct. 7, 1965, as Princess Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlo, the first of 216 performances with the company. “Her assurance, self-possession, and character projection are the kind from which a substantial career can be made,” Irving Kolodin wrote in the Saturday Review.

Bumbry’s final full opera at the Met was at Amneris in Verdi’s Aida on Nov. 3, 1986, though she did return a decade later for the James Levine 25th anniversary gala to sing “Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix (Softly awakes my heart)” from Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila.

Met general manager Peter Gelb said “opera will be forever in her debt for the pioneering role she played as one of the first great African American stars. “

“Grace Bumbry was the first opera star I ever heard in person in 1967 when she was singing the role of Carmen at the Met and I was a 13-year-old sitting with my parents in Rudolf Bing’s box,” Gelb said. “Hearing and seeing her giving a tour-de-force performance made a big impression on my teenage soul and was an early influence on my decision to pursue a career in the arts, just as she influenced generations of younger singers of all ethnicities to follow in her formidable footsteps.”

In 1989, she sang in the first fully staged performance on a work at Paris’ Bastille Opéra in Berlioz’s Les Troyens (The Trojans). In 2009, she was celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors. Bumbry’s 1963 marriage to Polish tenor Erwin Jaeckel ended in divorce in 1972. Bumbry was predeceased by brothers Charles and Benjamin.

Brewer said memorials are being planned for Vienna and New York.

09 May 2023

Orlando Bloom ‘Immensely Proud’ of Katy Perry’s Performance at King Charles III’s Coronation Concert

Katy Perry may have memorably struggled to find her seat during King Charles III’s coronation ceremony in London this weekend, but her performance at Sunday’s royal concert had a front row seat in her fiancé Orlando Bloom’s heart.

The Carnival Row star heaped praise on the singer in a sweet Instagram post on Monday (May 8) in which he wrote, “Immensely proud of you my my love. You always bring the light,” followed by shooting star, flame and heart emoji. The post included the image of an army of drones forming a glowing lion’s head above the stage during Katy’s performance of “Roar” and a snap of the singer smiling with joy during her set while wearing a shimmering golden gown.

Perry responded to the kind words with the glowing phrase, “Our light.” In her own post, Perry luxuriated in the honor of celebrating the new king with a series of photos from her unforgettable weekend, writing “My #idol set is a little different today #CoronationConcert.” The slides included a pic of Perry in her performance dress posing inside Windsor Castle, a peek at the inside of her gown — which featured the inscription “Katy Perry Charles III, 2023 and the initials of designer Vivienne Westwood — as well as the lion drone shot, footage of the crowd singing along to “Roar” and “Firework” and a sweet backstage pic of her sharing a hug with mom, Mary.

Bloom doubled-down on his praise in Perry’s post, writing, “So proud,” while Kardashian clan mom Kris Jenner added, “Wow!!!! Soooo beautiful!!!” and the official British royal family account commented, “Thank you for a fantastic performance at the #CoronationConcert!”

Perry was among the handful of A-listers who celebrated Charles’ ascent to the throne on Saturday alongside queen consort Camilla, joining a list that included Dame Judi Dench, Emma Thompson and her American Idol co-star, Lionel Richie. The Idol pair were absent from the show in order to participate in the concert, where Richie performed “all Night Long” and the Commodores’ “Easy” for the royals and their 20,000 guests.

The evening hosted by Downtown Abbey star Hugh Bonneville also featured performances from Masked Singer panelist Nicole Scherzinger, British man band Take That (minus Robbie Williams), Paloma Faith, opera singer Andrea Bocelli and a global choir led by Steve Winwood singing a version of his hit “Higher Love.”

Check out Bloom and Perry’s posts below.

09 May 2023

John Farnham Makes ‘Full Recovery’ From Chest Infection That Required Hospitalization

John Farnham has bounced back from the respiratory infection that led to him being hospitalized.

“We’re pleased to say that John made a full recovery from a recent chest infection in late March which required hospitalization,” reads a statement from his family.

The singer is “is now comfortable and continues to receive on going treatment and rehabilitation care.”

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Farnham’s illness follows a cancer diagnosis last August, after which he underwent a marathon surgery to have a growth removed from his mouth.

Farnham’s family has paid tribute to medical staff and fans for their support, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports.

“The family would like to re-iterate their appreciation and deepest respect for all the medical staff that have attended to John over the past 8 months and the many thousands of kind messages that been received from across Australia and the world,” the family’s statement continues.

The 73-year-old artist is one of Australia’s most successful — and most recognizable — recording artists, with hits across five decades.

The greatest of them all is “You’re the Voice,” which led the Australian chart (then the Kent Music Report) and peaked at No. 6 on the Official U.K. Chart. “You’re The Voice” and Men At Work’s “Down Under” are regarded in these parts as the “unofficial” national anthems.

The hit appeared on 1986’s Whispering Jack, the first record to sell over a million copies in Australia, and recognized as the highest-selling Australian album in ARIA history, with more than 1.6 million copies shifted.

Farnham has been saluted with awards and honors on many occasions, including the 1987 Australian of the Year, he was made Officer of the Order of Australia in 1996, he’s collected 21 ARIA Awards — the most by a solo artist — and inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2003.

His life, career and storied comebacks will be the subject of a feature-length documentary, John Farnham: Finding The Voice, set for release May 18 through Sony Pictures, with a companion soundtrack arriving the following day, May 19, through Wheatley Records / Sony Music Australia.

08 May 2023

How to Watch Eurovision 2023

Eurovision is back!

This year’s semifinals will kick off at the U.K.’s Liverpool Arena on Tuesday (May 9) and Thursday (May 11), followed by the grand finale on Sunday (May 13).

All three days of Eurovision 2023 will stream on Peacock at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT. Julia Sanina, Graham Norton, Hannah Waddingham and Alesha Dixon are among the hosts for the semi-finals and grand finale.

Rita Ora will perform a medley of her hits during Tuesday’s show, which will also feature performances from Sanina and Ukrainian singer Alyosha.

The international singing competition’s highest-scoring countries from the two previously aired semi-finals, along with the “Big Five” (Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain) will compete for the prize. Participating nations vote on the winner, though citizens can’t vote for their own country. See the grand final rundown here.

Aside from Eurovision, Peacock subscribers can stream exclusive series, movies and more for $4.99 per month ($9.99/month to stream without commercials and get access to NBC).

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$4.99/month

Binge Poker Face, Bel-Air, Bupkis, Mrs. Davis, The Best Man: The Final Chapters, LoveIsland USA, Dr. Death and other exclusive series on Peacock along with movies like Praise This, Cocaine Bear, The Year Between and Inside; in addition to WWE, MLB Sunday Leadoff and other sporting events. Peacock also works on ExpressVPN, for those streaming internationally.

See more on the Eurovision 2023 allocation draw in the video below.

08 May 2023

ACM Awards 2023 Predictions: Who Will Be This Year’s Big Winners?

The 58th annual ACM Awards will stream live via Amazon Prime Video from Frisco, Texas, on Thursday (May 11), guided by megastar co-hosts Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton. This year, nominees ranging from newcomers to Country Music Hall of Fame members are poised take home ACM trophies.

Will leading nominee HARDY — who has seven nods heading into the ceremony — add to his ACM Awards accolades? Could first-time ACM entertainer of the year nominees Kane Brown or Morgan Wallen take home the night’s most coveted trophy? Will six-time ACM nominee Lainey Wilson best her previous year’s wins by taking home the female artist of the year honor? Will Miranda Lambert extend her nine female artist of the year wins? Could The War and Treaty take home their first ACM Awards win for duo of the year?

Here are Billboard’s winners predictions in select categories, from Jessica Nicholson, staff writer, Nashville.

Entertainer of the Year

Jason Aldean
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Miranda Lambert
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Morgan Wallen

Analysis: Sony Music Nashville artists Kane Brown and Luke Combs, as well as Big Loud’s Morgan Wallen, are among the top contenders in the seven artist-strong pack of nominees this year. Brown led a top-tier headlining tour of NBA arenas and notched his ninth Billboard Country Airplay No. 1, this time with “Thank God,” featuring his wife Katelyn. Brown is the first Black or biracial artist to be nominated in the category since Charley Pride, who earned ACM EOY nominations from 1970-1972. Meanwhile, Combs earns his fourth EOY nomination, and released two albums over the past year, Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old. He also launched his World Tour, including breaking records at AT&T Stadium, Busch Stadium and Gillette Stadium. Wallen also earns his first EOY nomination this year, and is selling out shows internationally on his One Night at a Time world tour. Wallen’s One Thing at a Time album has been entrenched in the penthouse of the Billboard 200 for the past nine weeks. Meanwhile, Wallen’s “Last Night” recently became the first song to top the Hot 100 and Country Airplay charts simultaneously. With this being Combs’ fourth nod in the category, look for him to take home his first win.

Will win: Luke Combs

Female artist of the year

Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Lainey Wilson

Analysis: Last year, Wilson picked up two ACM Awards wins — new female artist of the year and song of the year (for “Things a Man Oughta Know”). She is poised to up the ante this year, with six nominations overall. Additionally, she launched a recurring role on the hit television series Yellowstone, released her Bell Bottom Country album, headlined her own Country With a Flare tour, and opened for Luke Combs’ world tour. She also earned two top five Country Airplay hits with “Heart Like a Truck” and “Wait in the Truck” (a collab with HARDY). Reigning ACM entertainer of the year Lambert released the album Palomino, earned a top 10 Hot Country Songs hit with “If I Was a Cowboy,” and led a string of dates on her Velvet Rodeo Las Vegas residency. Meanwhile, McBryde and reigning ACM female artist of the year Pearce saw their collaboration “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” top the Country Airplay chart in May 2022; the song was nominated for two ACM Awards last year, and won the music event of the year trophy. In 2022, Ballerini released the album Subject to Change, spearheaded by the top 25 Country Airplay hit “Heartfirst.” Every artist here has notched stellar career milestones, but Wilson’s career is firing on all cylinders.

Will win: Lainey Wilson

Male Artist of the Year

Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Jordan Davis
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen

Analysis: Stapleton is the reigning winner in this category, while Combs previously won this honor in 2020. They are competing against three first-timers in the category: Brown, Davis and Wallen. With Brown and Combs being labelmates, and given Wallen’s stronghold on the sales chart, Wallen could take home the win here.

Will win: Morgan Wallen

Duo of the Year

Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Maddie & Tae
The War and Treaty

Analysis: Brothers Osborne regained this accolade last year, after Dan+Shay had held the winner’s circle for the previous three years. (Brothers Osborne had taken home the honor for two years before that.) This year, they have competition from Country Music Hall of Famers Brooks & Dunn (who have taken home the win 16 times in their career), as well as Maddie & Tae (who released the two-volume Through the Madness project last year) and husband-and-wife duo The War and Treaty, who released their EP Blank Page in November 2022, followed by their full-length project Lover’s Game this year. With their strong following, look for Brothers Osborne to retain their title.

Will win: Brothers Osborne

Group of the Year

Lady A
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band

Analysis: Old Dominion has taken home this honor the past five consecutive years and have a top 15 Country Airplay hit with “Memory Lane.” Zac Brown Band earned a top 15 Country Airplay hit with “Out in the Middle.” Though all the nominees here had top-notch years, it looks to be a race between Old Dominion and ZBB.

Will win: Old Dominion

Album of the Year

Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville —Ashley McBryde; Producer: John Osborne; Label: Warner Music Nashville

Bell Bottom Country — Lainey Wilson; Producer: Jay Joyce; Label: Broken Bow Records

Growin’ Up — Luke Combs; Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton; Label: Columbia Records

Mr. Saturday Night — Jon Pardi; Producers: Jon Pardi, Bart Butler, Ryan Gore; Label: Capitol Records Nashville

Palomino — Miranda Lambert; Producers: Jon Randall, Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Mikey Reaves; Label: Vanner Records/RCA Records Nashville

Analysis: This year’s album race features a slew of chart-toppers in a range of styles, with Lambert’s freewheeling musical travelogue, Wilson’s hippie-country project, Pardi’s ‘90s country-inspired album and Combs’s hit-filled collection all vying for the win. However, voters could lean toward the out-of-the-box ethos of McBryde’s collaborative, Dennis Linde-inspired project.

Will win: McBryde’s Lindeville

Single of the Year

“Heart Like a Truck” — Lainey Wilson; Producer: Jay Joyce; Label: Broken Bow Records

“Never Wanted To Be That Girl” — Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde; Producers: Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally; Label: Big Machine Records/Warner Music Nashville

“She Had Me at Heads Carolina” — Cole Swindell; Producer: Zach Crowell; Label: Warner Music Nashville

“Thank God” — Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown; Producer: Dann Huff; Label: RCA Nashville

“’Til You Can’t” — Cody Johnson; Producer: Trent Willmon; Label: Warner Music Nashville/CoJo Music

Analysis: Each nomination gained considerable traction on the Country Airplay chart, while “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” earned a Grammy win, Johnson’s “’Til You Can’t” is a previous CMA Award winner, and the Kane/Katelyn collab won big at last month’s CMT Music Awards. In terms of overall commercial success, Swindell’s “Carolina” notched four weeks atop Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, and got an extra boost via a remixed version featuring Jo Dee Messina.

Will win: Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina”

Song of the Year

“Sand in My Boots” — Morgan Wallen; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Josh Osborne, Michael Hardy; Publishers: Relative Music Group; Sony/ATV Accent, Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing, Sony/ATV Tree Publishing

“She Had Me at Heads Carolina” — Cole Swindell; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Cole Swindell, Jesse Frasure, Mark D. Sanders, Thomas Rhett, Tim Nichols; Publishers: Ashley Gorley Publishing Designee, Be a Light Publishing, Colden Rainey Music, EMI Blackwood Music, Songs of Roc Nation Music, Sony Tree Publishing, Telemitry Rhythm House Music, Universal Music, WC Music, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing

“’Til You Can’t” — Cody Johnson; Songwriters: Ben Stennis, Matt Rogers; Publishers: Anthem Canalco Publishing, Dead Aim Music, The Stennis Mightier Music

“wait in the truck” — HARDY featuring Lainey Wilson; Songwriters: Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt, Michael Hardy, Renee Blair; Publishers: Humerus Publishing Global, Nontypical Music, Pile of Schmidt Songs, Rednecker Music, Relative Music Group, Round Hill Verses Publishing, Sony/ ATV Accent, Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, The Money Tree Vibez, WC Music, Who Wants To Buy My Publishing

“You Should Probably Leave” — Chris Stapleton; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Chris DuBois, Chris Stapleton; Publishers: One77 Songs, Sea Gayle Music, Songs of Southside Independent Music Publishing, Spirit Two Nashville, WC Music

Analysis: Songwriter Ashley Gorley co-wrote three of the contenders for this year’s song of the year honor, while Michael Hardy (HARDY) is a contributor to two of this year’s final nominees. Three of these contenders first charted in 2021, thus proving their enduring quality. Lyrically, the songs cover a range of topics including heartbreak (“Sand in My Boots”), making the most of each day (“‘Til You Can’t”), revenge (“wait in the truck”), temptation (“You Should Probably Leave”) and music-fused love (“She Had Me at Heads Carolina”). Given the gritty nature of “wait in the truck” and its addition to country music’s long history of murder ballads, look for it to win here.

Will win: “Wait in the Truck”

Music Event of the Year

“At the End of a Bar” — Chris Young with Mitchell Tenpenny; Producers: Chris DeStefano, Chris Young; Label: RCA Nashville

“She Had Me at Heads Carolina [Remix]” — Cole Swindell & Jo Dee Messina; Producer: Zach Crowell; Label: Warner Music Nashville

“Thank God” — Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown; Producer: Dann Huff; Label: RCA Nashville

“Thinking ’Bout You” — Dustin Lynch featuring MacKenzie Porter; Producer: Zach Crowell; Label: Broken Bow Records

“wait in the truck” — HARDY featuring Lainey Wilson; Producers: Derek Wells, HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt; Label Big Loud Records

Analysis: This year’s category gets competition with the Chris Young/Mitchell Tenpenny collab “At the End of a Bar,” the nostalgic Swindell/Messina musical moment of “She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” the husband-wife duet “Thank God” with Kane and Katelyn Brown, the intense murder ballad “wait in the truck” from HARDY and Wilson, and the Dustin Lynch/MacKenzie Porter duet “Thinking ‘Bout You,” which was a six-week Country Airplay chart-topper in 2021. Look for the stirring “Thank God” to take home the win.

Will win: Kane Brown and Katelyn Brown, “Thank God”

08 May 2023

Britney Spears’ Life After Conservatorship to Be Investigated in Upcoming Fox Special

Fox Entertainment revealed on Monday (May 8) that it’s delving into Britney Spears‘ life since the end of her 13-year-long conservatorship in an upcoming special.

TMZ Investigates: Britney Spears: The Price of Freedom promises “details about her deeply troubled marriage, family estrangement, alarming behavior, failed intervention and how she continues to be an enduring force in the music industry,” according to a press release.

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The pop superstar has been open about how much she dislikes documentaries made about her life and conservatorship in the past. Most recently, in November, she took to Twitter to share a lengthy, since-deleted post about how she’s been portrayed, calling the documentaries “humiliating,” adding, “I am a person … I’m not a robot or a science experiment like they analyzed me in that place !!! I’m a valued soul … so for the documentaries that were done on me, they were trash and nothing more than trash … period !!!”

She also called out those who made “the trashiest docs I’ve ever seen in my life,” and noting that she felt as though there was “deception in claiming it was to help me !!!”

While she didn’t name any documentaries specifically, FX and Hulu’s Controlling Britney Spears, New York Times’ Framing Britney Spears and Netflix’s Britney vs Spears were three of the most popular documentaries released amid the Free Britney movement, which swept the country before the “Piece of Me” star’s conservatorship ended in November 2021.

TMZ Investigates: Britney Spears: The Price of Freedom airs on Monday (May 15) at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.

08 May 2023

Rhiannon Giddens & Michael Abels Win 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music

Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Music, it was announced on Monday (May 8). They won for their opera Omar, which premiered on May 27, 2022, at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, S.C.

The Pulitzer Prize committee called it “an innovative and compelling opera about enslaved people brought to North America from Muslim countries, a musical work that respectfully represents African as well as African American traditions, expanding the language of the operatic form while conveying the humanity of those condemned to bondage.”

Other finalists for the prize this year were Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) by Tyshawn Sorey and Perspective by Jerrilynn Patton.

Giddens, 46, has won two Grammy Awards – best traditional folk album for Genuine Negro Jig (2011) and best folk album for They’re Calling Me Home (2022).

Abels, 60, has scored all three of Jordan Peele’s film to date as a director – Get Out (2017), Us (2019) and Nope (2022), plus other films.

Omar, for which Giddens wrote the libretto, had its West Coast premiere at Los Angeles Opera in October 2022. It was performed at Carolina Performing Arts in February 2023, and will have its New England premiere at Boston Lyric Opera in May 2023.

The opera is about a real person, Omar ibn Said, and is based on his autobiography A Muslim American Slave: The Life of Omar ibn Said, written in 1831, mostly in Arabic. The work was translated into English by Ala Alryyes and published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2011.

The Pulitzer Prize for music has been awarded since 1943. Previous recipients include Kendrick Lamar for DAMN. (2018), Ornette Coleman for Sound Grammar (2007), Wynton Marsalis for Blood on the Fields (1997), Morton Gould for String Music (1995) and Aaron Copland for Appalacian Spring (1945).

08 May 2023

Ted Nugent Lashes Out at ‘Liars & Haters’ After Alabama Venue Cancels His Concert

Ted Nugent has responded after a venue in Birmingham, Alabama, cancelled his upcoming show due to social media backlash.

It all started when it was announced that the guitarist — who is outwardly conservative and a longtime supporter of Donald Trump — would be performing at the Avondale Brewing Co. venue on July 18 as part of his Adios Mofo farewell tour. The post about the concert had thousands of comments protesting the show and Nugent’s right-wing political views, according to AL, which led to venue to cancel the show.

“We have heard the concerns of the Avondale community, which is so important to us, and in conjunction with our partners, have taken the necessary steps to to cancel the Ted Nugent concert scheduled for July 18,” the venue wrote.

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Nugent took to Twitter on Friday (May 5) to respond to a story about the situation, retweeting an article and writing, “liars & haters drunk on stupid incapable to debate me.”

The ringer has most recently come under fire recently for his transphobic tweets and remarks, most recently blasting Anheuser-Busch for working with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. “How can they possibly have a meeting around the table and come to the conclusion that they’re going to piss in the face of the people who pay their salaries?” he said on a recent episode of Newsmax’s Eric Bolling the Balance about the brand’s “core consumer demographic,” seemingly referring to conservatives. “This is the epitome of cultural deprivation in an ongoing tsunami of cultural deprivation.”

His history of disturbing remarks also includes saying that survivors of the Parkland school shooting are wrong to blame the NRA for mass shootings and that the Florida students calling for gun control have “no soul” and are “mushy brained children.”

He also tested positive for COVID-19 in 2021, months after he said the virus was “not a real pandemic,” and weighed in on the Ferguson decision in 2014 that let police officer Darren Wilson walk scot-free after shooting and killing unarmed civilian Michael Brown. “Here’s the lessons from Ferguson America- Don’t let your kids growup to be thugs who think they can steal, assault & attack cops as a way of life & badge of black (dis)honor. Don’t preach your racist bulls— ‘no justice no peace’ as blabbered by Obama’s racist Czar Al Not So Sharpton & their black klansmen,” he wrote in his deeply offensive post at the time.

08 May 2023

Rapper Young Lo Killed in Miami Nightclub Shooting at 37: ‘He Was Just Great Energy,’ Hitmaka Says

A day after the shooting death of Young Lo at a Miami Beach nightclub, the 37-year-old rapper/producer is being remembered by his longtime friend, creative collaborator and Grammy-nominated producer Christian “Hitmaka” Ward.

Along with Chrishan “Prince Chrishan” Dotson, Hitmaka is a co-founder of Makasound Records, where Lo worked in A&R. During his career, the late artist had also collaborated with other label executives and artists on various projects. Young Lo’s credits include collaborations with Drake, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Ray J and Tyga.

“Lo has been a longtime friend of mine for like 15 years,” Hitmaka aka Yung Berg tells Billboard. “We go as far back to when Ray J and I were doing ‘Sexy Can I’ and all these different records. Lo was just a great people person who knew how to put the right people together and had the resources to where maybe a Chris Brown or such-and-such [artist] might be good for a project. Lo was always a great asset to me. He was just great energy. Everybody loved to have Lo around. He was also very selfless, putting a lot of people before himself.

“This is truly a tragedy,” Hitmaka continues. “I haven’t lost a close friend like that, so this has rocked my world. I’m just dealing with picking up the pieces, helping out his mother, his family and his son. I’m sending super condolences to his family and loved ones. And man, I want to preach to everybody to just stay safe. Tomorrow isn’t promised. Tell loved ones that you love them on a daily basis because you just never know.”

According to reports from the Miami Herald, CBS News and other outlets, Young Lo was among three people who were shot at the South Beach nightclub Gala early Sunday morning. Born Lowell Grissom, Young Lo later died at the hospital. Two women were hospitalized with gunshot wounds and are expected to recover. 

As of this writing, no arrests have been made.