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Ringo Starr is heading down South while simultaneously giving a little help to his friends in the West. As announced Tuesday (Jan. 14), the former Beatle’s upcoming concert special at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium will air this spring on CBS and Paramount+, with some of the proceeds benefiting wildfire relief amid the ongoing crisis in the Los Angeles area.
Titled Ringo & Friends at the Ryman, the two-hour special will find Starr performing songs from his new country album, Look Up, which arrived Jan. 10. He’ll be joined by a star-studded list of friends on stage, including Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle — both of whom collaborated on the drummer’s new LP — as well as Sheryl Crow, Rodney Crowell, Mickey Guyton, Emmylou Harris, Sarah Jarosz, Jamey Johnson, Brenda Lee, Larkin Poe, The War and Treaty, and Jack White.
Beyond the selections from Look Up, Starr and his cohorts will also reimagine tracks such as “Boys,” “Act Naturally,” “With a Little Help From My Friends,” “Yellow Submarine,” “Don’t Pass Me By” and “It Don’t Come Easy” with a country twist. Plus, the rock icon will delve into his life and career as his guest stars reflect on their own personal memories of his influence in the special.
Proceeds from the show will go toward the American Red Cross supporting people affected by the fires devastating L.A. County. In the past week, numerous blazes have broken out in the area — starting in Pacific Palisades followed by Eaton and Hurst — displacing tens of thousands of residents from their homes and burning countless structures. At least 24 people have been reported dead, according to CNN.
Starr’s taping is set for Tuesday and Wednesday (Jan. 15), marking just the latest of six total times the musician has performed at the famed Nashville venue. While speaking to Billboard about his new album and the special earlier this month, he said, “The Ryman means a lot to my soul, because most of the acts that I was following [growing up] were at the Ryman.”
“It is always a thrill to play the Ryman and this time we are going country!” Starr added in a release. “I’m excited to hear my songs done in a country vein and to play with this incredible group of musicians. It will be two nights of peace, love and country music.”
Amazon is committing $10 million to L.A. wildlife relief efforts, the company announced on Monday (Jan. 13). The donation comes from Amazon’s entertainment division (Amazon Music, Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios), along with Ring and Whole Foods Market.
According to a blog post on the Amazon website, the money “will go directly to national and local disaster and response organizations including the American Red Cross of Southern California, FireAid, MusiCares Fire Relief Effort, World Central Kitchen, Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, Habitat for Los Angeles Wildfire Fund, and Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Small Business Relief/Recovery Fund, among others, as well as in-kind advertising opportunities on Prime Video for nonprofits supporting LA fire relief efforts.”
Amazon has already donated more than 145,000 essential items to 17 local organizations working on the wildfire response, including fire stations, community fire brigades, the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Dream Center and multiple YMCA chapters. This includes 30,000 items to the Los Angeles County Salvation Army, 5,000 shelter items, more than 300 wildfire response items, gift cards to LAUSD to support teachers who lost their classrooms in the fires and 1,000 items to support fire stations, among many others.
The company says it’s also “deploying” its AWS cloud technology, including drone support, “to help emergency responders better understand and react to the evolving wildfire situation.” Additionally, it says it’s “curating opportunities” for its Southern California employees to volunteer with organizations including the LA Regional Food Bank and LAUSD.
Amazon’s announcement follows similar commitments made by companies including Sony Group Corporation, which on Monday said it would donate $5 million to wildfire relief efforts, as well as the Warner Music Group/Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund, which pledged $1 million.
Sony Group Corporation has pledged $5 million to support relief efforts related to the Los Angeles-area wildfires. The sum will be allocated to organizations supporting first responders, community relief and rebuilding efforts, as well as employee assistance programs. “Los Angeles has been the home of our entertainment business for more than 35 years. Through our […]
Metallica is using their platform to give back to communities within Los Angeles that have been affected by the catastrophic fires across the city. The band’s philanthropic foundation, All Within My Hands, is granting $500,000 to relief efforts carried out by the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recovery Fund and the Pasadena Community Foundation’s Eaton Canyon […]
Doja Cat is doing her part to give back to her home city as wildfires continue to devastate Los Angeles.
On Monday (Jan. 13), the rapper — who was born and raised in the L.A. area — shared on Instagram that she has partnered with the American Red Cross to specially design a line of merchandise benefitting the charity organization’s relief efforts in California, where tens of thousands of people have had to evacuate since the outbreak of unrelenting wind-fueled fires last week. At least 24 people have been reported dead so far, according to CNN, while countless structures have fallen as the blazes have torn through a collective 38,549 combined acres.
“Please help me and @americanredcross support my beautiful state of California,” Doja wrote, captioning photos of some of the pieces. “100% of proceeds go to American Red Cross to support the people of California affected by the wildfires.”
Designed in partnership with artist Pini, the merch line features T-shirts and hoodies in different shades of blue and gray. One graphic features a sketch of Doja hugging the outline of California while modeling a dress made out of ocean waves; another shows a similar sketch riding the Golden State like a surfboard.
The “Paint the Town Red” musician first shared one of the designs two days prior, writing, “Holding my state with love.” Pini also posted about the collaboration on Instagram Saturday (Jan. 11) and wrote, “LA has been my home for the last ten years, to see the destruction of these fires over the last couple of days has been devastating.”
The clothing pieces are available for purchase now online. Billboard is also collecting resources and ways to support L.A. residents in crisis.
Doja is just one of many Californians left reeling amid the wildfire crisis, which began Jan. 7 when a rapidly spreading fire first broke out in Pacific Palisades. More blazes soon emerged in areas affecting the Hollywood Hills, Pasadena, Altadena, Sylmar and Calabasas, with numerous residents — including stars such as Mandy Moore, Jhené Aiko and Tina Knowles — reporting losing their homes in the destruction.
One loss that may hit close to home for the “Woman” artist is the burning of Malibu’s Harbor Studios, where Doja worked on her 2023 album Scarlet. Owner Zach Brandon announced on Instagram that the legendary recording space had been lost to the fires Jan. 8, writing, “Harbor was taken from so many artists who cared so deeply about Harbor. It was a place of musical freedom… a sanctuary in the most literal sense of the word.”
See Doja’s post and designs below.
A woman accusing Diplo of sharing “revenge porn” has dropped her lawsuit against the DJ, just weeks after a federal judge ruled she would need to reveal her identity if she wanted to proceed with the case.
In a court filing on Monday (Jan. 13), attorneys for the unnamed “Jane Doe” asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit — a case that claims the DJ (Thomas Wesley Pentz) filmed sexual encounters without the woman’s knowledge and shared them on Snapchat.
The motion asked the judge to dismiss the case “without prejudice” — meaning the woman could still refile it at some point in the future. Her attorneys did not immediately return a request for comment on the decision to drop their case or whether they plan to refile it.
The move came two weeks after Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani ruled that the Doe must use her real name to keep pursuing her accusations against Diplo. The judge acknowleged that the allegations were “sensitive and of a highly personal nature,” but said the accuser had failed to legally show that she needs to remain anonymous.
“Those using the courts must be prepared to accept the public scrutiny that is an inherent part of public trials,” the judge wrote, quoting from another old ruling. “Plaintiff has not sufficiently demonstrated that this case warrants an exception.”
At the time, Doe’s attorneys vowed to appeal that ruling, saying revealing her name “risks permanently linking a survivor to their trauma.” The status of any such appellate effort is unclear after Monday’s voluntary dismissal.
Diplo’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the voluntary dismissal of the case against their client. In previous statements, they have strongly denied the lawsuit’s allegations, calling it an “obvious shakedown attempt.”
In a complaint filed in June, Diplo’s accuser alleged she’d had a consensual sexual relationship with the DJ from 2016 to 2023, and that she occasionally “gave defendant Diplo permission to record them having sex.” But she said she later learned that he had sometimes secretly recorded them and then shared footage on the internet “without plaintiff’s knowledge or consent.”
“Plaintiff brings this action to recover for the emotional and physical injuries she endured because of Diplo’s actions and to make sure no one else is forced to suffer the privacy invasions and physical and mental trauma she felt and continues to feel to this day,” Doe’s attorneys wrote.
The lawsuit accused Diplo of violating the federal Violence Against Women Act, which was amended in 2022 to ban the sharing of “intimate” images without the consent of those depicted in them. The case also cited an earlier revenge porn law enacted by the state of California.
The abrupt dismissal of the Jane Doe case came a week after lawyers for Diplo announced a deal to resolve a messy legal dispute with Shelly Auguste, another former romantic partner of the DJ/producer, as reported by Rolling Stone.
In that case, which had been set to go to trial this month, Diplo accused the woman of stalking, trespassing and releasing revenge porn of him. She had also leveled her own set of legal claims against him, including sexual battery and assault.
Legendary hip-hop producer Madlib has become one of the thousands of people to lose their homes in the devastating fires that continue to rage across Los Angeles. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In a post shared to X on Monday (Jan. 13), DJ Premier shared a Donor Box […]
Carrie Underwood is set to perform during Donald Trump’s upcoming presidential inauguration ceremony on Monday, Jan. 20, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Billboard has confirmed. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The eight-time Grammy winner will perform “America the Beautiful,” accompanied by The Armed Forces […]
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has announced updates to its 2025 Oscars key dates and schedule of events due to the impact of the Los Angeles-area fires. The Oscar telecast is still set for March 2, but the nominations announcement is being delayed for the second time to Jan. 23 — and will now be held virtually. The Oscars nominees luncheon, always an A-list event, will not be held this year.
“We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang said in a joint statement. “The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship.
“Due to the still-active fires in the Los Angeles area, we feel it is necessary to extend our voting period and move the date of our nominations announcement to allow additional time for our members.
“Additionally, as we want to be sensitive to the infrastructure and lodging needs of the region in these next few weeks, it is imperative that we make some changes to our schedule of events, which we believe will have the support of our industry.
“Our members always share how important it is for us to come together as a community, and we are determined to use this opportunity to celebrate our resilient and compassionate industry. We also look forward to honoring our frontline workers who have aided with the fires, recognizing those impacted, and encouraging people to join the Academy in supporting the relief efforts.
“We will get through this together and bring a sense of healing to our global film community.”
Updates are outlined as follows:
The nominations voting period is extended through Friday, Jan. 17, at 5 p.m. PT. The voting window was originally set to close on Sunday, Jan. 12. That was pushed back to Tuesday, Jan. 14, before being pushed back again today.
The nominations announcement is rescheduled for Thursday, Jan. 23, at 5:30 a.m. PT. The live announcement will be a virtual event without in-person media coverage. The nominations were originally set to be announced on Friday, Jan. 17, which was pushed back to Sunday, Jan. 19, before being pushed back again today.
The Oscars nominees luncheon, scheduled for Monday, Feb. 10, will not be held this year.
The Scientific and Technical Awards, scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 18, will be rescheduled to a later date yet to be determined.
The Academy stresses that all dates are subject to change.
The 97th Oscars, hosted by Conan O’Brien for the first time, will still be held on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC, streamed live on Hulu and air live in more than 200 territories worldwide.
Metalcore band Ice Nine Kills has stepped up to offer relief for some of the people who’ve been impacted by the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. The Boston-bred group announced over the weekend the launch of a fundraiser they’ve dubbed “Heed the Call For California,” with 100% of the proceeds going to the California Fire Foundation […]