State Champ Radio Music News
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Celine Dion has paid tribute to iconic producer/arranger/composer and bandleader Quincy Jones, following his death Sunday at age 91.
“I am heartbroken to learn of the passing of my friend, the one and only musical genius, Quincy Jones,” Dion wrote on her official social media accounts. “Quincy touched my world as both a cherished mentor and as also as someone I looked up to for his deep impact on virtually every form of American music. I was privileged to work with Quincy, it was a dream come true. In our sessions, his musical intuition was nothing short of profound – he helped me capture “a little piece of heaven.” Quincy always knew exactly what each song needed.
“In addition to his kindness and countless achievements, I also admired him for his philanthropic work which benefited the arts, global famine and underprivileged youth. His reach truly extends to all corners of the globe! Quincy once said, ‘Music is the soul of the universe. It connects us all on a level that words alone cannot reach. ‘May his wisdom and joy remain with us always. – Celine xx…”
Dion also shared a few photos of herself working on projects with Jones, including a pic of the two music titans from February 2010, when Dion took part in the recording session for “We Are the World 25 for Haiti,” to benefit the island nation in the wake of a devastating earthquake. The session was held at the Jim Henson Studios in Hollywood.
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Another photo the singer shared featured Dion with Jones and Humberto Gatica from a Los Angeles recording session in 2006, when Dion recorded the song “I Knew I Loved You,” the theme song from Once Upon a Time in America.
Jones was a 28-time Grammy Award winner (and 80-time nominee), known for his work in producing and arranging on timeless albums, including Michael Jackson’s 1979 album Off The Wall, 1982’s Thriller, and 1987’s Bad. He also guided the recording sessions for the all-star charity single “We Are the World” in 1985; the song rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and featured artists including Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and Kenny Rogers.
Prior to his pop prominence, Jones worked with Frank Sinatra beginning in 1958. He worked on Sinatra’s 1964 album It Might As Well Be Swing, with the Count Basie Orchestra. That project included Sinatra’s rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon.”
But Jones’ influence and work expanded far beyond solely working with music artists. He also acquired the rights to the novel The Color Purple, casting Oprah Winfrey in the book’s 1985 film adaptation. Jones scored Sidney Lumet’s 1964 film The Pawnbroker, and soon composed the music for the 1967 films In the Heat of the Night and In Cold Blood. He composed the theme songs for series including Sanford and Son, The Bill Cosby Show (1969-1971), and Ironside. In 1977, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding music composition for a series for his work on Roots: Part 1. Jones was also an executive producer on series including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (starring Will Smith) and LL Cool J’s In the House. Jones also founded the hip-hop magazine Vibe.
With a hotly-contested presidential election going on, Shaboozey thinks we could all use a little “Good News.” So, he’s here to give us a taste of just that. In a TikTok posted on Monday (Nov. 5), the “Bar Song” singer shared a snippet of his yet-to-be announced new single, in which he looks for some […]
Texas singer Jada Arnell Thomas was shot following a performance in downtown Dallas on Saturday evening (Nov. 2). Per NBC DFW, Thomas was signing autographs after the show at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters and wounded by gunfire from a person in the audience. The 26-year-old was transported to a local hospital and […]
Tyka Nelson, Minneapolis singer-songwriter and sister of Prince, has died. She was 64 years old.
President Nelson, Tyka’s son, confirmed the news of his mother’s death to The Minnesota Star Tribune. He declined to offer further details, other than the date of her passing: Monday (Nov. 4).
The daughter of John L. Nelson and Mattie Shaw Nelson, Tyka was the “Purple Rain” singer’s only full sibling. The pair also shared five half-siblings: Sharon Nelson, Norrine Nelson, John R. Nelson, Omarr Baker and Alfred Jackson.
Like her famous brother, Tyka was also a musician. She released four albums from 1988 to 2011, according to the Star Tribune, and she was supposed to have her retirement and farewell concert in June in her home city. Leading up to the show, however, she got sick and dropped out of the performance, telling the publication, “I’m getting older … I really wasn’t a singer. I’m a writer. I just happen to be able to sing. I enjoy singing.”
She also said at the time that she was writing a memoir.
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Since Prince died from an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2016, Tyka and her half-siblings had been engaged in a yearslong legal disagreement over the handling of the seven-time Grammy winner’s estate. In July, a Delaware judge ruled against Sharon, Norrine and John’s wishes for advisors L. Londell McMillan and Charles Spicer Jr. to be removed as managers of Prince Legacy LLC, which was created to operate half of Prince’s estate. The three siblings had initially appointed McMillan and Spicer Jr. to their positions and gave each of them a 10% interest in the company, but Sharon later regretted the decision, sparking the lawsuit.
Tyka, Omarr and Alfred, on the other hand, sold their inherited shares of Prince’s estate to Primary Wave. Prince Legacy LLC and Primary Wave split the responsibility of managing the late superstar’s affairs and keeping his legacy alive, something that was paramount to Tyka in her life.
“I’d like for my brother to be remembered as the consummate artist that he is,” she said in a 2018 interview with Studio 10. “He was also a clothes designer and — not only a musician and a singer — but an entertainer and an actor. You’re gonna see a lot more footage of him and hear a lot of his music. I want you to see everything that he kept for you because his life was for you.”
When you’re just one member of a genre-defining pop band such as BTS, how do you make room for just yourself? That’s the question RM finds himself pondering in the newest trailer for his forthcoming documentary RM: Right People, Wrong Place released on Tuesday (Nov. 5). The new clip follows RM as he performs in […]
Three years after its release, Illenium is sharing the emotional backstory behind his track “Brave Soul,” the closer from his 2021 album Fallen Embers.
In a video posted to YouTube Monday (Nov. 4), the producer tells this story alongside Jordan Hamilton, the CEO of Choice House, the Colorado addiction and mental health treatment center for men where Illenium (born Nick Miller) got sober more than a decade ago after an opiate addiction.
“I met Jordan when I was on my long trek of rehabs,” Miller says in the video. “Jordan had two years sober at the time. I had gone through treatment a couple years before that and was just trying to figure out how to live life.” Watch the complete video below.
The pair became friends, with Jordan’s sister Emma, a singer-songwriter, getting introduced to the group. Together, they eventually wrote a song that turned into “Brave Soul,” with this music written in memory of Jordan and Emma’s late brother Braden, who they lost to an overdose in 2018.
“Emma and I shared the love of [being] able to speak through music and heal through music,” Miller says in the clip. “I think that’s a really impactful thing to give back to a person that you love, and give back to yourself.”
Illenium debuted the track at his Trilogy show at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on July 3, 2021. “It was so sick having you there and having Emma there and being able to give your brother the words from beyond,” Miller says in the video.
“To hear 40,000 people respond to that and to hear his memory, it was a super special special moment,” Hamilton continues of the song, whose lyrics honor his brother memory by saying “here’s to your brave soul/ you fought but you lost hold/ and now I’m alone to face the truth.”
Illenium opened up about his journey of finding sobriety and going on to became a stadium filling artist in his Billboard cover story this past March. Of how addiction effected his relationship with his mom, he said, “Watching that relationship get torn by the s–t you keep doing — at first, it’s like, ‘Why are you on me so much, I’m not even that bad,.’ Then it goes into ‘OK, I can’t stop’ and then it goes into, like, “F–k everyone. I can’t live without it.’ And then you’re just breaking down.”
“For anyone who’s in that place, it feels so horrible in that moment,” Hamilton says in the video, “but if you’re willing to ask for help and take some steps, that’s the jumping off point of where we get better.”
If you or anyone you know is struggling with substance abuse, visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s website for resources.
During Puerto Rico’s Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5, Bad Bunny cast his vote early at Saint John’s School in San Juan. Dressed in a classic salsero style sporting shades, an open-buttoned tee and burgundy pants, the superstar took a moment to address undecided voters. “Listen to your heart,” he advised after submitting his ballot, […]
Jason Kelce is taking responsibility after a heated clash with a heckler who insulted Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift went viral earlier this week.
On the latest episode of Monday Night Countdown, the retired Philadelphia Eagles center opened the show with his co-hosts by addressing the incident — which found Jason smashing the phone of an instigator who’d called his little brother a homophobic slur — head on. “Everybody’s seen on social media everything that took place this week,” he began. “Listen, I’m not happy with anything that took place.”
“I’m not proud of it,” Jason continued with a solemn expression. “In a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that that’s a productive thing.”
The moment in question went down at the Ohio State vs. Penn State football game Saturday (Nov. 2), where onlookers filmed as a heckler taunted Jason by saying, “Hey, Kelce! How does it feel your brother’s a f—– dating Taylor Swift?”
Jason then turned around, grabbed the heckler’s phone and threw it to the ground before picking it back up and walking away. As the instigator chased him down trying to retrieve the phone, the New Heights podcaster again turned around and said, “Who’s the f—– now?”
“In that moment, I fell down to a level that I shouldn’t have,” Jason reflected on Monday Night Countdown. “Bottom line is, I try to live my life by the Golden Rule … treat people with common decency and respect. I’m going to keep doing that moving forward, even though I fell short this week.”
Penn State University Police confirmed to The New York Times on Tuesday (Nov. 5) they they are investigating the incident.
Travis and the “Anti-Hero” singer have been dating since summer 2023, since which time Swift has become close with Jason and the Kelce brothers’ parents, Donna and Ed. At the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game Monday (Nov. 4), the 14-time Grammy winner watched the tight end play alongside Jason and Donna in a box suite at Arrowhead Stadium.
Jason has also been indoctrinated into Swiftieland since his little brother’s romance with the star began. In October, the elder Kelce attended Swift’s Eras Tour show in Miami and afterward raved on New Heights, “It was on another level … When Reputation came on, and she came out in the new outfit, and the rain was coming down, the place could’ve f–king erupted.”
Azealia Banks has changed her mind about the presidential election. The mercurial MC best known for her frequent beefs with fellow celebs announced on Monday (Nov. 4) that she is now endorsing Democrat Kamala Harris over her previous commander-in-chief pick, Donald Trump.
Though the endorsement included a reference to the sitting Vice President as “stupid and incoherent” — as well as calling Harris’ VP pick, Gov. Tim Walz “trash” — Banks said she’s bailing on convicted felon Trump in large part because of her fears that the three-time presidential nominee will make good on his vow to give equally mercurial SpaceX/Tesla CEO Elon Musk a place in his potential second administration.
“I really think keeping Elon Musk away from any type of political power in the USA is tantamount to any issue on the table here. You have to be a complete idiot to think that dirtbag cares about anyone or anything other than himself,” Banks, 33, tweeted about Musk, who has become one of Trump’s biggest financial supporters and stumpers over the past month.
“He’s already been given way too much tax payer money – Allowing him to ascend to any position of political authority is very f–king dangerous,” wrote Banks in an attack on Musk featuring a string of provocative claims. “One does not become the richest man in the world because of honesty and good character lol, you must be an expert liar, thief and cheater to become that.” The tweet also included incendiary, unverified statements about Musk’s alleged business practices as well as his parenting and treatment of singer Grimes, who has two children with the tech billionaire; at press time a spokesperson for Musk had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on Banks’ claims.
In 2016, Banks endorsed Trump and congratulated him following the former reality TV star’s win over former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton in that year’s election, offering to perform at his inauguration. While she was seemingly not invited to play that event, Trump was feted with sets from Toby Keith, Three Doors Down, Lee Greenwood, Jackie Evancho, DJ Ravidrums, the Piano Guys and a speech from actor Jon Voight. Last year, Banks said she would be supporting Trump again because she thought he was “f–king funny.”
NBC reported that Musk’s financial and stump support of Trump could be result in lucrative business wins for the world’s richest man, noting that the billionaire has turned X into “a pro-Trump echo chamber” over the past few months in the apparent expectation that Trump will offer up more tax breaks for the richest Americans and provide more government contracts for SpaceX. Musk has reportedly donated nearly $120 million to convicted the twice impeached former President’s third White House bid. Though he is not expected to have an official seat in a Trump cabinet owing to his many foreign business interests and government contracts, there are report that Musk could have an unofficial role as the “secretary of cost-cutting.”
Banks concluded her Harris endorsement tweet — one of dozens she posted on Monday in which she weighed in on everything from her distaste for iPhones and owning property in South Florida to a plea for Harris to “incentivize” men who don’t want to have children to get vasectomies — by explaining her latest swipe at Musk.
“I will be Voting For Kamala Harris tomorrow because Elon Musk (a f–king overrated Ketamine addict) belongs no where near American Politics. The End,” she wrote. Musk has spoken openly in the past about his use of prescription Ketamine, an anesthetic that has gained interest from doctors and researchers for its potential to treat depression and anxiety. In an interview with CNN earlier this year, Musk denied overusing Ketamine, saying, “if you use too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done. I have a lot of work, I’m typically putting in 16-hour days … so I don’t really have a situation where I can be not mentally acute for an extended period of time.”
The rapper — who has released just one full-length album to date, 2014’s Broke With Expensive Taste, along with a handful of EPs and mixtapes — referred to an overnight stay at Musk’s home in 2018 as being akin to “a real life episode of ‘Get Out‘”; she later apologized for those remarks.
Banks’ 11th hour support for Harris comes after a galaxy of A-listers have lined up behind the VP, including: Taylor Swift, Cardi B, Eminem, Scarlett Johansson, Ricky Martin, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Bad Bunny, Harrison Ford, Cher, Usher, Olivia Rodrigo, Madonna, Kesha, Billie Eilish, Bruce Springsteen, Charli XCX and many more.
“Colombia gang gang,” J Balvin sings in a teaser of the star-powered collaboration titled “+57” set to drop on Thursday (Nov. 7). Featuring Karol G, Balvin, Feid, Maluma, Ryan Castro, Blessd, Ovy on the Drums and DFZM, the new track unites Colombia’s biggest hitmakers in one song, which takes its name after the area code […]
