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A Complete Unknown may not have walked away with any Oscars this year, but thanks to the film’s success, Bob Dylan‘s memoir Chronicles: Volume One is charting on Amazon’s best-seller list right now. Ranking at No. 3 on the best-selling rock list, the book explores the legendary singer-songwriter’s personal experience in Greenwich Village, circa 1961, similar to the recent Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet.
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The 304-page book covers three selected points from Dylan’s long career: 1961, 1970, and 1989, while he was writing and recording his debut namesake album, New Morning and Oh Mercy, respectively. The memoir is an incredibly detailed window on the singers thoughts, influences, and personal reflections during these key moments in his life.
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“I’d come from a long ways off and had started a long ways down. But now destiny was about to manifest itself. I felt like it was looking right at me and nobody else,” Dylan writes in his memoir.
The autobiography also explores more candid moments like nightlong parties, literary awakenings, transient loves and unbreakable friendships. Taking side trips to New Orleans, Woodstock, Minnesota, and points west, Chronicles: Volume One is an intimate and intensely personal look at the revolutionary artist. One Amazon reviewer wrote, “for those who have followed his career since the beginning it’s a real treat, a long awaited boon to add to the long list of memories, lines and memorabilia.”
The book spent 19 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover nonfiction books, as well as, being nominated as one of five finalists for best biography/autobiography by the National Book Critics Circle Award for the 2004 publishing year.
Bob Dylan’s Chronicles: Volume One is available to purchase on Amazon and is currently 47% off right now. Act fast and grab this must-have collector’s item for only $10. If you’re a more audio listener, grab the book on Audible, which new users can get a 30-day free trial when signing up.
Bob Dylan ‘Chronicles: Volume One’ Book
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This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: Jay-Z goes on the legal offensive to clear his name of rape allegations, Drake’s lawyers cite Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl show in legal filings, Cardi B wins a re-payment plan from a bankrupt gossip blogger and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Jay-Z Strikes Back
When an unnamed woman accused Jay-Z in December of taking part in one of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ alleged sexual assaults, it was a shocking expansion of the already-sprawling claims against the hip-hop mogul — made all the more explosive by the claim that she was only 13 years old at the time.
But less than three months later, the case against Hov has already been dropped without explanation and without a settlement — and now the superstar is filing his own case aimed at fully clearing his name.
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In a lawsuit filed in Alabama federal court, he accused the Jane Doe plaintiff and her lawyer, Tony Buzbee, of carrying out an “evil conspiracy” to extort a settlement from him by leveling the “false and malicious” allegations of rape. Notably, the new lawsuit said the Doe accuser had “voluntarily admitted” directly to Jay-Z’s team that the star did not assault her and that Buzbee “pushed” her to make those allegations.
“Mr. Carter does not commence this action lightly,” his lawyers wrote. “But the extortion and abuse of Mr. Carter by Doe and her lawyers must stop.”
Go read the full story here, including access to the actual lawsuit Jay-Z’s attorneys filed in court.
Other top stories this week…
THAT DIDN’T TAKE LONG – Just two weeks after Kendrick Lamar’s blistering Super Bowl performance, Drake’s attorneys called out the halftime show in court documents filed in their defamation lawsuit against UMG over Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” The star’s lawyers cited the show as evidence of the ongoing harm that Drake is “continuing to suffer” while the case is delayed in court. And it paid off: Following Drake’s filing, the federal judge overseeing the case sided with the rapper and refused to let UMG postpone an initial hearing.
DEFAMATION DEBT – Gossip blogger Tasha K agreed in bankruptcy court to pay Cardi B more than $1 million in small installments over the next five years — a plan necessary to start paying down a $3.9 million defamation judgment Cardi won against her for making outlandish claims about drug use, STDs and prostitution. Under the terms of the deal, Tasha will still owe the rest of the damages award even after she finishes the repayment plan, and she is barred from “derogatory, disparaging, or defamatory statements” about the superstar while the plan is in effect.
LILES ABUSE LAWSUIT – Kevin Liles was hit with a lawsuit alleging the 300 Entertainment CEO sexually harassed and raped an unnamed executive assistant while serving as the general manager of Def Jam Recordings in the early 2000s. Liles immediately denied the “outrageous claims,” vowing to “fully clear my name” and file a defamation lawsuit against the accuser and her attorneys.
GRACELAND SCAMMER – A Missouri woman named Lisa Jeanine Findley pleaded guilty to a bizarre plot to defraud Elvis Presley’s family by trying to auction off his Graceland mansion. According to prosecutors, Findley falsely claimed that Presley’s daughter had pledged the home as collateral for a loan before her death; Findley then threatened to sell Graceland to the highest bidder if Presley’s family didn’t pay $2.85 million. Following her guilty plea, Findley is scheduled to be sentenced on June 18 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
DRAKE DROPS IHEART – Drake and iHeartMedia reached a settlement to end a legal action claiming iHeart received illegal payments from UMG to boost radio airplay for Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” — a preliminary action that Drake filed last fall in the lead up to his defamation lawsuit against UMG. In a statement to Billboard, the radio giant said it had agreed to provide Drake’s attorneys with documents showing that iHeart had done nothing wrong and that no payments had been made by either party.
ROCKY NOT CLEAR YET – Just over a week after A$AP Rocky was acquitted on criminal charges that he shot former friend A$AP Relli, a Los Angeles judge lifted a hold on Relli’s civil lawsuit against Rocky. As reported by Rolling Stone, Rocky’s lawyer argued at a hearing that “there’s no longer a basis” for the case following the not guilty verdict, but Relli’s lawyer vowed to proceed: “The standard in a criminal case is much higher than … in a civil matter. We still believe that our claims have merit, and we intend on fully litigating them.”
THUG TOURING SETTLEMENT – Young Thug and concert giant AEG quietly settled a multi-million dollar legal battle over a touring partnership gone sour. The lawsuit, first filed in 2020 but delayed for years by Thug’s high-profile criminal case, claimed that the star owed more than $5 million under a 2017 touring agreement — and that he was obligated to hand over some of his music rights to pay down that debt. The settlement came as Thug is gearing up to start performing in concert again for the first time since he took a plea deal to end the years-long criminal drama in Atlanta.
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Hip-Hop continues to have a significant Trump problem. French Montana is catching flack for jumping on Lara Trump’s new song and has some headscratching “bars” on it.
French Montana doesn’t care where and how he gets his money. The rapper decided not to read the room and hopped on Lara Trump, the wife of Felon 47 aka Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump’s new song “No Days Off.”
Trump, who is basically a DEI hire in any job she gets, was the former head of the Republican National Committee, where she helped mold it in her father-in-law’s image, is now a Fox News host while also moonlighting as a pop singer.
On the god awful song, Lara Trump sings about her so-called image and career, bellowing on the songs first line, “”I’m a little hard to read/ You only know what they show you when you turn on the TV/ So think of this as a reboot,” before adding “work, work, work” and “can’t stop, won’t stop.”
The Coke Boys crafter didn’t help elevate the track either, stupidly rapping, “working like a slave, living like a king,” adding, “Me and Lara at your front porch, knock knock.”
French Montana and Lara Trump showing up on your front door is definitely something nobody wants, just like this song, that we will not be sharing.
The Song Is Getting Trashed
As expected, social media has been clowning both artists, specifically French Montana, for even doing the song.
https://x.com/BeanzGotGamez/status/1893066540527816903
“The new Lara Trump & French Montana song is a disgusting display of how someone with only a tiny amount of actual talent can slug their way up to the top of a corrupt industry. To a lesser extent you can say the same about Lara Trump, too,” one user wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Rolling Stone wrote about the song, “French Montana Can’t Save Lara Trump’s Atrocious New Single,”.
Damn.
You can see more reactions to the trash record below.
Sexyy Red is heading to Hollywood. Big Sexyy, Ty Dolla $ign and Ski Mask The Slump God have reportedly been cast in the upcoming movie Rolling Loud. Variety was first to report the news on Tuesday (March 4) of the hip-hop trio joining the comedy film named after the famed hip-hop festival, which also stars […]
No rick rolling here. Rick Astley took to his YouTube channel on Monday (March 3) to deliver a cover of Chappell Roan’s hit, “Pink Pony Club.” In his version, the “Never Gonna Give You Up” star strips the song down to just an acoustic guitar, which he plays while using his characteristically deep vocals to […]
Rapper, vocalist and now actress LISA continues to expand her solo artistry with the highly anticipated project Alter Ego. Fresh off her acting debut as Mook, a hotel staff member on HBO’s original hit series The White Lotus season three (which premiered Feb. 16), the Thai superstar leveraged the social satire’s cross-generational appeal to cement […]
Chappell Roan‘s long-awaited new single finally has a release date. After weeks of teasing — and nearly a year without new music — the pop star has finally announced when she’s dropping new single “The Giver,” and revealed whether or not she’s headed in a country direction on her next album. Sharing a photo of […]
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At the 2025 Oscars, Conan O’Brien dropped a witty Drake joke. This had everyone crying when the host said, “Well, we’re halfway through the show, which means it’s time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile”
omg this Oscars joke from Conan O’Brien
“Well, we’re halfway through the show, which means it’s time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile” pic.twitter.com/d7gzCFHfsF
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) March 3, 2025
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The joke about Drake being a pedophile played off Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.” The joke hit just after Kendrick had a massive halftime performance where he called out Drake, saying he’d probably sue if Kendrick ever performed the track. The timing of O’Brien’s joke was on point, especially with all the heat Kendrick was throwing Drake’s way. But what made it even crazier was that a producer at the Oscars was actually pushing hard for this controversial joke to air.
They believed it was going to land, no matter how risky it seemed. They were all in on the joke. Turns out, it wasn’t just O’Brien who believed in it. The punchline was written by his longtime writer, Skyler Higley, who knew exactly what he was doing.
wrote the Kendrick Lamar joke and bet our executive producer $50 that it would kill. just made $50.
— Skyler Higley (@skyler_higley) March 3, 2025
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After the joke landed and the crowd reacted, Higley hopped on Twitter and let everyone know how confident he was. He tweeted, “Wrote the Kendrick Lamar joke and bet our executive producer $50 that it would kill. Just made $50.” The whole thing was a gamble, but it paid off. The producers stuck their necks out for it, and with the audience laughing, Higley cashed in. Sometimes, timing and a little bit of risk lead to a perfect moment.
Travis Scott made his presence known at WWE’s Elimination Chamber on Saturday night (March 1) in Toronto — but he may have gone a bit overboard with his role in the beatdown of undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news According to Wrestling […]
The country music industry honored those who get (and keep) country music’s top shows on the road on Monday night (March 3), as the 19th CMA Touring Awards were held in Nashville, as members of Nashville’s country music industry elite gathered at Marathon Music Works.
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The annual awards ceremony honored winners in 20 categories, in addition to honoring one touring individual with the lifetime achievement award. Notably, the touring sector represents the largest category of CMA membership.
CMA CEO Sarah Trahern called artists’ touring crews “the backbone of country music’s incredible live experience.” Singer-songwriter-entertainer Keith Urban, who has twice won the CMA’s entertainer of the year honor, served as host for the event for a third year.
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Luke Combs’s Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour crew won the lion’s share of the evening’s trophies, including the evening’s most coveted honor, the crew of the year. Members of Combs’s team and crew also won in categories including tour manager of the year, production manager of the year, lighting director of the year and publicist of the year.
Host Urban said jokingly at one point, “Welcome to the Luke Combs touring awards.” Combs’ record-breaking 2024 stadium tour — which broke attendance records in its first three weekends — has further cemented two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Combs’s superstar status.
Luke Combs and his team won the overall “crew of the year” honor, in addition to numerous other accolades throughout the CMA Touring Awards ceremony.
John Russell/CMA.
“This is one of the coolest nights of my career,” Combs said as he took the stage and welcomed his entire touring crew onstage with him. “I have done so many incredible things, played os many incredible shows in so many incredible places and none of that happens without these people up here… I owe everything that I have to these guys onstage and so many other people who couldn’t be here with us tonight.” He also thanked all of the touring crews of all country artists for all their hard work behind the scenes.
Last year’s crew of the year winner, Chris Stapleton’s “All-American Road Show Tour” crew, took the trophy with them around the world on Stapleton’s tour. Combs promised to carry on the tradition, saying, “We are going to take this thing to some places that country music has never been this year.”
More touring members were honored in categories including lighting director, tour video director, tour videographer/photographer, stage manager and tour manager. Guitarist Charlie Worsham, who picked up the CMA’s musician of the year honor in November, was named touring musician of the year, for his role on the road with Dierks Bentley.
The evening also highlighted the importance of caring for mental health, as the CMA’s senior vp, industry relations and philanthropy Tiffany Kerns led a segment of the evening devoted to spotlighting the trade organization’s work to help touring crews care for their mental health. They also spotlighted the work of organizations Amber Health, All Access Onsite, MusiCares, Backline, Music Health Alliance and Porter’s Call. The evening also spotlighted the CMA’s Touring Mentorship Program, which aims to give early-career touring professionals access to guidance from experienced touring professionals.
“A healthy professional leads to a healthy community,” Kerns said.
Later in the evening, the late concert promoter Ben Farrell was honored with the CMA Touring Awards’ lifetime achievement award. The accolade is reserved for an individual who has achieved the highest level in the country music field of touring. Farrell began his country music career in 1970 and worked in the industry for 52 years. He remained at Varnell Enterprises for the entirety of his career. Notably, during that time, he also served three decades as a concert promoter for Garth Brooks, first joining Brooks in 1989.
Brooks was among several people who took part in a video tribute to Farrell, with Brooks noting, “I knew him, I loved him, and if you knew him, you loved him, too.”
Over the years, Farrell also worked with such artists as The Statler Brothers, Merle Haggard, Randy Travis, Kenny Chesney, George Strait and Charley Pride. Among those honoring Farrell’s legacy Monday night were his wife Autumn, daughter Ella Grace and Morris Higham president/partner Clint Higham.
Higham was also feted as a winner during the evening, being named manager of the year. Higham is known for his decades of work with artists including four-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Chesney, as well as other Morris Higham clients including seven-time CMA group of the year winners Old Dominion, Country Music Hall of Famer Barbara Mandrell and estate work for late music legends Kris Kristofferson and Roger Miller.
See the full list of CMA Touring Awards winners below:
Business manager of the year: Julie Boos (Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy)Coach/truck driver of the year: Wendy Holt (Lainey Wilson)Venue of the year: Ryman Auditoriium (Nashville)Publicist of the year: Carla Sacks (Sacks & Co.)Lighting director of the year: Kevin Northrup (Luke Combs)Tour video director of the year: Tyler Hutcheson (Luke Combs)Tour Videographer/photographer of the year: Andy Barron (Chris Stapleton)Talent agent of the year: Austin Neal (The Neal Agency)Front of House engineer of the year: Todd Lewis (Luke Combs)Monitor engineer of the year: Michael Zuehsow (Luke Combs)Support services company of the year: Dega CateringBackline technician of the year: Derek Benitez (Chris Stapleton)Touring musician of the year: Charlie Worsham (Dierks Bentley)Talent buyer/promoter of the year: Adam Weiser (AEG Presents)Manager of the year: Clint Higham (Morris Higham Management)Production manager of the year: Jerry Slone (Luke Combs)Stage manager of the year: Donnie Floyd (Morgan Wallen)Tour manager of the year: Ethan Strunk (Luke Combs)Unsung hero of the year: Robin Majors (Kenny Chesney)Crew of the year: “Growin’ Up and Getting’ Old Tour” Crew (Luke Combs)Lifetime achievement award: Ben Farrell