SZA wants more respect for Creed and Nickelback

A pioneering approach to substance misuse has won Dumfries and Galloway’s Specialist Drug and Alcohol Service a top national award.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Kesha has parted ways with both her label and management, a source close to the situation tells Variety. The news comes six months after the singer settled multiple lawsuits with her former producer and label owner Dr. Luke, which stretched over nearly 10 years but were settled out of court in June.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music A gold or platinum record doesn’t just happen: Even if an album, single or EP passes 500,000 (gold) or 1,000,000 (platinum) sales or their streaming-age equivalent, it must be certified by the Recording Industry Association of America, which is a whole process that involves submissions and research and certification and other bureaucratic official-ness. It’s something most commonly associated with chart-topping acts, but as years and sales and streams accumulate, some unexpected artists and albums pass that threshold… including an album and a group that were hardly met with open arms by the record industry establishment when they debuted in 1979: the influential and controversial San Francisco-based punk quartet the Dead Kennedys and their debut album, “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables,” which was certified gold by the RIAA on Friday, some 43-plus years after its October 1980 release.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Jack Harlow, Range Media Productions and Media.Monks, in partnership with Meta, are producing an immersive VR concert and behind-the-scenes VR documentary called “Jack Harlow No Place Like Home: A VR Concert.” The show takes a behind-the-curtain look at his record-breaking, sold-out third annual “No Place Like Home: The Kentucky Tour” in his home state, leading up to the finale concert in Lexington. Tune-in exclusively in Meta’s Horizon Worlds with a Meta Quest VR headset. Jack Harlow No Place Like Home: A VR Concert will premiere in VR on Thursday, January 4 at 5 p.m.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The last “Saturday Night Live” of the year is always a special occasion, and 2023 was no exception: Billie Eilish performed the television debut of “What Was I Made For?,” written and recorded for Greta Gerwig’s summer blockbuster “Barbie.” Eilish was accompanied by her brother/ collaborator Finneas and jazz bassist Christian McBride, as well as a six-piece string ensemble. “What Was I Made For?” was introduced by Gerwig who appeared on stage alongside this week’s host (and “Barbie” costar) Kate McKinnon in a joyful embrace.

here.Kiasmos return to the live stage for the first time in over five years. Headline performances announced for London and Berlin on May 29/31, and a headline slot at OPIA Festival in Utrecht on June 2, 2024.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Variety Hitmaker of the Year SZA, Karol G and Peso Pluma are among the big honorees in the Recording Industry Association of America’s year-end tally and its “Class of 2023,” recognizing the top albums, singles and first-timers who earned their first Gold & Platinum certifications in 2023. Highlights include: SZA has the most certifications with 15 titles, including the Top Album with 3x Platinum SOS and Top Single with 5x Platinum “Kill Bill” Peso Pluma scored the highest album certification for a first-time artist with his Platinum collection, “Génesis” Karol G scored the top Latin album with 5x “Platino Mañana Será Bonito,” while Carin Leon & Grupo Frontera’s collaboration “Que Vuelvas” is the top Latin single.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music As expected, Ariana Grande has signed with Brandon Creed and his new Good World Management firm, sources close to the situation confirm to Variety. The news comes four months after sources confirmed that the singer had parted ways with longtime manager Scooter Braun who, apart from a period of several months in 2017, had managed her since the release of her debut album a decade ago.

Each week we’ve become accustomed to heading over to Frankie Bridge’s Instagram account for her regular Sunday night Frankie’s Faves, which sees the presenter showing off her weekly fashion finds. This week, she shared a whole host of different items including the perfect piece of winter knitwear that’s already got us racing over to the Marks and Spencer website to get our hands on it.

Prince William is reportedly planning ahead, already thinking about his reign on the throne.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Denny Laine, the British singer-guitarist best known for his work with Paul McCartney & Wings and the Moody Blues, has died after a long battle with interstitial lung disease, according to a social media post from his wife. He was 79.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music If there is a bible for the music industry, it’s Donald Passman’s book, “All You Need to Know About the Music Business.” Since the first edition came out more than 30 years ago, it has guided countless musicians and executives, and has prevented many of them from making decisions they’d later regret. Considering the deep detail Passman gets into about contracts, royalties and other complicated business arrangements, his tone is remarkably conversational, and he makes sure readers don’t miss the important stuff: The section on business managers begins with him saying “Listen to me!!!” in italics with several exclamation marks.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music While it includes some of the most iconic Christmas songs of the past 60 years — most notably Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) — if there was ever an album with a problematic history, it’s “A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector.” Spector was the hottest producer in the world at the time of the album’s release, but it dropped on Nov. 22, 1963 — yes, the day President John F.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye will direct $2.5 million toward emergency humanitarian efforts in Gaza, which equates to 4 million emergency meals that could feed more than 173,000 Palestinians for two weeks, according to the announcement. Tesfaye, a United Nations World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador, will contribute the money from his XO Humanitarian Fund. Since the Israel-Hamas violence launched on Oct.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Billie Eilish and her brother and collaborator Finneas O’Connell have received Grammys, an Oscar and just about every award and honor and tribute and kudo young recording artists can imagine in the six years since her debut EP in 2017, but even they can still be awed by a tribute from a respected influence. That happened at Variety’s Hitmakers celebration in Los Angeles on Saturday, when Elton John’s lyricist of 56 years, Bernie Taupin — who has written the lyrics for everything from “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” to “Bennie and the Jets” and “Candle in the Wind” — paid tribute to their songwriting partnership when rewarding them with the Film Song of the Year honor for “What Was I Made For?,” their song from the summer blockbuster film “Barbie.” Before an audience that included Boygenius, Joan Baez, Olivia Rodrigo, Victoria Monet and many others (SZA hadn’t arrived yet), the following exchange took place: Taupin’s tribute and Eilish’s response (Finneas just said “Thanks guys!”) follows in full.

It’s been two years since the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home and the movie continues to be one of the most successful films of all time. The film is currently the third highest-grossing movie of all time with a domestic total of $814 million and it’s safe to say that the lead actors took home a lot of money for the film!

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Taylor Swift will earn more than $100 million from Spotify in 2023, according to calculations based on her leading number of streams for the year posted by the streaming giant in its year-end “Wrapped” tally. Based on the 26.1 billion streams she has accumulated since the beginning of the year, and using an average of $0.0035 cents per stream (an inexact calculation, but close enough to speculate), she would have earned around $104 million through November alone (“Wrapped” cut off late last month).

SZA has expressed her love for the music of two of rock’s most polarising bands, Creed and Nickelback in a new interview.The ‘Kill Bill’ singer named Creed and Nickelback while speaking to Variety about her favourite music in commemoration of being named the magazine’s ‘Hitmaker of the Year’.“The other day you know what I pulled up? Creed, Nickelback, Train’s ‘Drops of Jupiter’, just a whole bunch of that,” she said, as the interviewer facepalmed and burst out in laughter. “Wait, you know what’s crazy? Do white people hate Creed and Nickelback? Why? Black people love them! They rock! That shit is bomb!”She proceeded to specifically express her admiration for ‘Higher’, the ninth track off Creed’s 1999 sophomore full-length, ‘Human Clay’.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music How does a six-year-old song become a hit? In 2023, of course the short answer is TikTok, but it takes a lot more than that to make a song into a genuine hit single — let alone take the longest climb to No. 1 for a non-holiday song in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. That’s the story of the Weeknd’s “Die for You” — No.

Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service have announced their 2024 co-headline tour and teased their return to the UK.Frontman Ben Gibbard (who plays in both bands) will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Postal Service’s debut album ‘Give Up’ and Death Cab for Cutie’s fourth record ‘Transatlanticism’. Each band will play the 2003 albums in full.After a string of shows in September and October, Gibbard announced today (November 30) a string of extra US tour dates, and revealed an extra London show.