Music

The Afrobeat legend Tony Allen died in the spring of 2020 at the age of 79. The year prior, the iconic drummer wrote and produced all of the beats for a newly announced album: There Is No End is out on April 30, the anniversary of Allen’s death, via Blue Note. There Is No End

Exclusive The Black choir that sang at Meghan Markle and Prince Harry‘s wedding has a hard time believing Prince Charles is racist, because he personally invited them to perform. Ms. Karen Gibson, founder and conductor of the Kingdom’s Choir, tells TMZ … Charles came off as very sincere in his invitation, and he’s gone out

Audiobook and podcast site Audible has announced a new slate of artists to feature on their Words + Music series. Sleater-Kinney, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Gary Clark Jr., Sting, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Yo-Yo Ma will join the current roster of musicians for the “musical storytelling” program. Sleater-Kinney’s program premieres June 17, and will find

Breaking News The Weeknd‘s only getting more heated with the Grammys — he’s boycotting the awards show, and not just this year, but for good! The singer drew a line in the sand Thursday saying he’ll boycott the awards show from now on “because of the secret committees” he believes are responsible for selecting nominees.

Faith No More’s Mike Patton is the latest vocalist to perform the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song. The new rendition is in the trailer for the upcoming retro-style beat-em-up game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. If you would like to hear Patton sing about Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael, Splinter, and Shredder, watch the

Pacific North West artist Isaac Brock is best known for being the singer and lead guitarist for the incredibly influential indie rock band Modest Mouse … who made their way into the hearts (and ears) of millions with the success of their 2004 album “Good News for People Who Love Bad News” … which featured

Lena Waithe—the writer, producer, and actor from shows including The Chi, Master of None, Twenties, and more—has launched a new partnership with Def Jam Records with the formation of a new label called Hillman Grad Records. A new press release described the label as an effort “Music and storytelling have always gone hand in hand.

Exclusive Adele won’t be cutting monthly checks to her ex-husband now that they’ve finally reached the end of their divorce case … and they’ll be sharing custody of their child. According to the divorce judgment, obtained by TMZ, the singer and her ex are going to have joint legal and physical custody of their 8-year-old

It’s a Wu-Tang family battle: Raekwon and Ghostface Killah have been announced as the next VERZUZ opponents. “Steel sharpen Steel,” Raekwon wrote. It happens on March 20 at 8 p.m. Eastern. It can be viewed the VERZUZ Instagram account or via the Triller app—the new parent company of VERZUZ.  After closing out its first season

Exclusive Sorry, Rep. Matt Gaetz, but your cohorts in Congress don’t plan to put Britney Spears or conservatorships on a front burner — there are just bigger issues, affecting millions of people, to tackle. That’s the gist from a spokesperson for the House Judiciary Committee anyway, who tells TMZ … the committee is currently working

Lou Ottens, the Dutch inventor of the cassette tape, has died at age 94. Ottens died last Saturday, March 6, according to NRC Handelsblad. Ottens’ daughter Arine confirmed the news to WTOP. Born in 1926, Ottens first became involved with recorded music while working as head of the product development department at Dutch-based technology company

Exclusive When the mural gods close one door, they open another … at least for Taylor Swift, who’s about to get an upgrade in Nashville after being removed from an iconic piece of art. You may recall … Taylor was replaced in the “Legends Corner” mural back around Christmas time by the Nashville honky-tonk bar

Janelle Monáe was the musical guest on last night’s episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. She performed the new song “Turntables,” which appears on the soundtrack to the Stacey Abrams documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy. Watch the performance below. Janelle Monáe’s last album was the 2018 release Dirty Computer. She appeared

Justin Bieber‘s on cloud 9 right now, and letting everyone know he was able to snag a pair of Kanye West‘s sold-out new shoes. The Biebs showed off his Yeezy 450 in Cloud Whites while running errands Tuesday in Beverly Hills. The kicks are pretty easy to spot, what with the unique profile and all.

The Brooklyn-based psychedelic rock band Crumb—the quartet of Lila Ramani, Bri Aronow, Jesse Brotter, and Jonathan Gilad—have returned with a new song. “Trophy” arrives with a new music video directed by Haoyan of America and featuring animations by Truba Animation. Watch it below. The new song and video are the first taste of new music

Breaking News Britney Spears‘ conservatorship drama is about to be front and center in front of our nationally elected officials — that is, if Reps. Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz get their way. The congressmen from Ohio and Florida, respectively, sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler … requesting a hearing on the

Ibeyi have released the new song “Recurring Dream,” which the duo wrote and composed for Ed Morris’ new movie How to Stop a Recurring Dream. (Ed Morris has directed Ibeyi’s music videos for “River,” “Ghosts,” and “Deathless.”) Listen below and also check out a trailer for the film. Ibeyi last released Ash in 2017. Revisit

Grimes has signed with Columbia Records. “Thanks for tuning in all these years,” she tweeted. “We’ll meet again soon.” Grimes also shared a link to a new website. Find Grimes’ announcements below. Billboard first reported news of Grimes’ Columbia signing on Friday, March 5. Grimes has released all of her music via independent labels. She

A new study from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative reveals the bleak reality for women in popular music. The report—compiled by Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Dr. Katherine Pieper, Hannah Clark, Ariana Case & Marc Choueiti—sought to “assess the gender and race/ethnicity of artists, songwriters and producers across the 800 top songs from

Exclusive The Naked Cowboy, famous for performing in Times Square, got busted way down in Florida for his same old schtick … and cops say his trusty guitar broke when he resisted arrest. Robert Burck, the nearly naked man behind the Naked Cowboy character, was arrested Saturday on a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest without

Following her 2020 debut, Los Angeles–based artist Helen Ballentine has announced another new Skullcrusher EP. The new release, called Storm in Summer, arrives April 9 via Secretly Canadian. The EP includes the previously released “Song for Nick Drake” and was recorded with collaborator Noah Weinman. Below, check out the new music video for the Storm

Lady of the House is a new hardcover coffee table book by music promoter Laila McKenzie and writer Ian ‘Snowy’ Snowball that gathers interviews with various women from house music history. Among the DJs, vocalists, producers, and industry figures set to feature are Candi Staton, Barbara Tucker, Sam Divine, Ellen Allien, DJ Maxinne, Kym Mazelle,

Gladys Knight and Alessia Cara performed the national anthems of their respective countries at the NBA All-Star 2021 basketball game, which is being held tonight at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Knight was present in Atlanta to sing “The Star Spangled Banner,” while Cara delivered a remote performance of “O Canada” from Toronto.

Play video content Exclusive TMZ.com Jerry Springer revisited his pre-pandemic tradition of singing a famous Elvis tune for the King’s birthday — albeit a couple months late … but still as incredible as ever. The famed talk show host popped into Matteo’s Trattoria Saturday night in Boca Raton, FL — where he and a group

Cardi B, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, HAIM, Megan Thee Stallion, Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, DaBaby, Dua Lipa, Post Malone, and more have been announced as performers at the 2021 Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy dropped the news today (March 7), stating in a press release that “artists will be coming together, while still safely apart,

Play video content Exclusive TMZSports.com The Lakers have won just 3 of their last 10 games … but now is NOT the time to panic — so says L.A. superfan and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, who tells TMZ Sports everyone needs to R-E-L-A-X!!! LeBron James and Co. have struggled quite a bit

Last night on The Late Late Show With James Corden, Caroline Polachek performed her cover of the Corrs’ “Breathless.” Originally released as a bonus track on her album of Pang remixes, the cover was paired with a gothic, steamy set for the performance. Watch it go down below. Polachek released Pang in 2019. She’s since

Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras looked very much like pre-pandemic times, but there were actually some precautions taken. An estimated 35,000 people watched the annual parade at the Sydney Cricket Ground. That’s a ton of folks, but way less than the 200,000 that lined Oxford Street in Mardi Gras’s past. Rita Ora headlined the

Beyoncé has released a brief a capella medley of songs in memory of Lyric Chanel, a 13-year-old girl whose two-year struggle with brain cancer was documented on Instagram before she passed away on Friday, as Rolling Stone reports. The medley, set to a slideshow of photos of Chanel, includes the songs “Brown Skin Girl” (The