City Motown Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Ariana DeBose has arrived to host the Tonys!

LONDON – It would have been very hard to top the mega explosion of love that followed Her Majesty when she appeared in the spoof a "James Bond" skit with Daniel Craig for the 2012 games, but she did it again — a brilliant opener with the Paddington Bear — a huge favorite with the Queen and Princess Charlotte, which really got the whole party at the palace to a cackling start.Then bang, the brilliant Brian May, Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert shook the ground with an explosive performance. The royal family were out in force this evening along with tens of thousands of fans at the star-studded Party at the Palace event, but the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were missing.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRay Parker Jr., the R&B star and singer-songwriter best known for the theme from “Ghostbusters,” gets the documentary treatment in “Who You Gonna Call?,” from Sony Pictures Entertainment, which premieres on June 7 — watch the trailer below.As the documentary shows, there’s much more to Parker’s career than that theme song: He had many R&B hits under his own name and as leader of the group Raydio, and in his mid-teens became an in-demand session guitarist, particularly with Motown acts, like Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, the Temptations and especially Stevie Wonder, even touring with his band when they were the opening act on the Rolling Stones’ legendary 1972 U.S. tour. He later worked with Herbie Hancock, Barry White, Boz Scaggs and many others.

The full line-up and stage times for this 2022's Glastonbury Festival have been revealed. 

The CW brought some Superstition to the Upfronts with a surprise musical performance by R&B legend Stevie Wonder.

Diddy has announced the launch of new record label, Love Records, through which he will release his first album for more than fifteen years. Love Records will release that album in partnership with Motown Records.The label, which will focus exclusively on R&B, will also actively sign artists other than Diddy himself, with him acting as A&R as well as producing music on the label.

Diddy – aka Love – has announced the launch of Love Records, a new R&B label which will release his first solo album since 2006.The hip-hop mogul (real name Sean Combs) will maintain his supervision role at Bad Boy Entertainment – the label he founded in 1993, which put out albums by The Notorious B.I.G., Ma$e, Faith Evans, 112, Black Rob and more – while developing Love Records.The new label will work in partnership with Motown Records and is “dedicated to R&B music and will release singles and collaborative projects from a collective of world-class artists, producers and songwriters,” according to a press release.The announcement marks Diddy’s official return to music. The first release on Love Records will be the rapper and producer’s fifth studio album – his first since 2006’s ‘Press Play’.

Sean “Diddy” Combs, aka Love, is getting back on the mic. On Tuesday, the 52-year-old announced that he was making his grand return to music with a historic deal.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSean “Diddy” Combs has announced the launch of a new R&B label called Love Records via a deal with Motown Records. According to the announcement, the new label “will be dedicated to R&B music and will release singles and collaborative projects from a collective of world-class artists, producers and songwriters.” Also according to the announcement, today’s news marks Combs’ official return to music.An album by Diddy himself will be Love Records’ first project, set to be released this summer.“Music has always been my first love, Love Records is the next chapter is about getting back to the love and making the best music of my life,” said Combs (pictured above, left). “For the label I’m focused on creating timeless R&B music with the next generation of artists and producers.

“West Side Story” breakout star Ariana DeBose will be hosting the evening’s festivities, celebrating the show’s 75th year. The Oscar winner, 31, will grace the stage at Radio City Music Hall.“I’m coming home! I’m so honored to celebrate 75 years of excellence in theater, but more importantly every member of this community who poured themselves into making sure the lights of Broadway have the opportunity to shine brightly once again,” DeBose said in a statement.

NEW YORK -- New Academy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Ariana DeBose will host this year's Tony Awards.The “West Side Story” star will lead the presentation June 12 at New York City's famed Radio City Music Hall live on CBS and on Paramount+ starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m.

story published Monday night, the Times detailed court records and transcripts from jailhouse phone calls that Aariel Maynor made following his arrest. The documents say Maynor called a female friend and said he was enjoying the publicity surrounding the Dec. 1 killing of Avant, who was the wife of former Motown boss Clarence Avant.

Recordings of 9/11 news reports, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speeches and Henry Aaron’s 715th home run will be preserved alongside Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and other albums and singles — and one podcast — as the Library of Congress released its 2022 list of additions to the National Recording Registry today. See the full list below.

Thania Garcia DJ Khaled drew several stars to his own star dedication on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony, held on Monday on the 6200 block of Hollywood Boulevard, was attended by several of Khaled’s key collaborators and supporters, including the moguls Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs; artists Fat Joe, Teyana Taylor, Jeezy and N.O.R.E.; label executives Sylvia Rhone (Epic Records), LA Reid (Hitco), Ethiopia Habtemariam (Motown), Tunji Balogun (Def Jam), LaTrice Burnette (Island), Jeff Harleston (Universal Music Group) and Mark Shimmel (Dick Clark Productions); along with Cool & Dre, Reggie Saunders of Nike and Wayne Barrow.In introducing the rapper-producer, Fat Joe complimented Khaled’s all-orange look before recalling memories of how they first met and grew into friends.

Vince Staples has shared his latest single ‘Rose Street’ – you can hear the track below.The song is the next preview of the Long Beach rapper’s forthcoming new album ‘Ramona Park Broke My Heart’, which is set for release on April 8 via Blacksmith Recordings and Motown Records UK.Following on from the record’s first single ‘Magic’, which arrived last month, Staples has now shared ‘Rose Street’.The track is being accompanied by a short video (directed by the rapper with C. Blacksmith) which stars Staples, who the camera eventually pans in on after a sweeping shot across a beach.

LOS ANGELES -- Ariana DeBose lived up to Oscar predictions and her “West Side Story” predecessor Rita Moreno.DeBose won the best supporting actress trophy Sunday for her breakout performance as the fierce Anita, 60 years after Moreno claimed the award in 1962 for the original film version of the Broadway musical.“Yikes, OK!” DeBose said, holding the statuette up in triumph. “Now you see why Anita says, ‘I want to be in America.’ Because even in this weary world that we live in, dreams do come true.

Tracee Ellis Ross, 49, was practically born to be a star. With her mom being Diana Ross, 77, and her dad being record executive Robert Ellis Silberstein, 76, Tracee grew up around show business. She’s carved out her own career path, rising to fame through her many acting appearances. She became a star in her own rite as one of the leading actresses in the sitcom Girlfriends, and most recently as one of the stars of Black-ish. Still, she’s not the only super talented one in her family! While some of her siblings haven’t pursued a career in the entertainment industry, it’s clear that she’s super close with her brothers and sisters. Find out more about all of her siblings here!

Syd has announced her forthcoming second album, ‘Broken Hearts Club’, alongside the release of new track ‘CYBAH’ featuring Lucky Daye.The Internet singer’s latest track is the third to be previewed from her upcoming LP, following last year’s ‘Missing Out’, ‘Fast Car’ and ‘Right Track’.Speaking about ‘Broken Hearts Club’, Syd said: “The album is about a relationship I had that ended in my first real broken heart. It almost felt like I joined a club because all of my friends went through similar experiences.

EXCLUSIVE: Award-winning filmmakers Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard are partnering on a documentary about the late Archbishop Carl Bean, the pioneering gay African American singer turned pastor and AIDS activist.

Vince Staples has shared the video “commercial” for ‘Magic’, his recent collaboration with Mustard – you can watch the clip below.The track was released last month as the first preview of the Long Beach rapper’s forthcoming new album ‘Ramona Park Broke My Heart’, which is set for release in April (date to be determined) via Blacksmith Recordings and Motown Records UK.“It’s symbolic of home,” Staples has said of the album’s title, which is dedicated to the Ramona Park neighbourhood of Long Beach, CA where the rapper grew up.“And everyone has a home. Even though it’s very personal to me, everyone can relate to it.

“Life After Death” — his second and final studio album — the rapper was making plans to hypnotize London in support of the ambitious double LP. And while the bottles were popping at Vibe magazine’s post-Soul Train Awards party in Los Angeles, he was trying to convince DJ Clark Kent to be his spinning sidekick across the pond.“He was like, ‘Yo, you gotta go on the road with me. We gonna go to London for this new album,’ ” Kent — who at the time was senior vice president of A&R at Motown Records — told The Post.

Atlanta, Georgia. Paige, formerly VP and acting senior VP of A&R for the Universal/Motown Records Group, joins from her own Atlanta-based production business She’s A Movement Media Group, where she was CEO and executive producer for shows including talk show “Don’t Cancel Me with Amara La Negra” for Fuse Media and “Black Ink Crew” for VH-1.

Stevie Wonder has spoken out in support of the Ukraine, which he says is “in a battle for the soul of the world” due to it ongoing conflict with Russia.In a video statement shared on Friday (March 4), the Motown legend condemned Russia’s “evil” invasion and called for people to rise up in order to “prevent World War III”.“Can we survive if Ukraine does not? That is the question that all of us should ask,” Wonder began. “Are we surprised that the forces of evil are alive and aggressive in today’s world? I’m not surprised, and you shouldn’t be either. I write and sing about it because I can feel it. You should know about it because you can see, unless you have a blind eye to it and don’t want to do anything about it, you should see it.”“This is not just a Ukrainian war,” he continued.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The story of the Four Tops, the famous Motown harmony group, began at a high school graduation party in Detroit, when four young men were hoping to impress the girls with an impromptu performance.That night in 1954, when Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Levi Stubbs, Renaldo “Obie” Benton and Lawrence Payton sung together for the first time, was the start of a lifelong brotherhood.

Gordon Cox Theater EditorBrittney Johnson is currently making history as the first Black actor to play Glinda in “Wicked,” but she’s also had a lot of Broadway experience in jobs that are in many ways even more challenging than a starring role: filling the save-the-day shoes of an understudy, a swing or a standby.Listen to this week’s “Stagecraft” podcast below:“I’m so grateful that my first Broadway show was as a swing,” Johnson said on the new episode of Stagecraft, Variety‘s theater podcast. The actor made her debut in 2014 in “Motown,” in which she had to be prepared, at a moment’s notice, to play one of nine roles, including Diana Ross.

Over his illustrious career, Motown legend Smokey Robinson has been responsible for classics like “The Tears of a Clown,” “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” and “Shop Around.” But his most enduring creations? His three kids, Berry, Tamla, and Trey. Smokey’s three adult children each have their own unique relationship with their famous father, though some are closer than others.

Vince Staples has shared his new single ‘MAGIC’, which was co-produced by Mustard – you can hear the track below.The song is the first preview of the Long Beach rapper’s forthcoming new album ‘Ramona Park Broke My Heart’, which is set for release in April (date to be determined) via Blacksmith Recordings and Motown Records UK.The first single from the upcoming LP sees Staples team up with the LA producer and DJ Mustard for the collaborative ‘MAGIC’.The track, which you can hear below, was co-produced by Lewis Hughes, Mustard, Nick “Unknown Nick” Audino and My Best Friend Jacob, while Kenny Beats also contributed to the song as a recording engineer.Speaking about ‘Ramona Park Broke My Heart’ in a press release, Staples said of the title: “It’s symbolic of home. And everyone has a home.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMotown founder Berry Gordy had a galaxy of star executives helping him build the company into the powerhouse it became, but not many of them shone as brightly as Suzanne de Passe.Joining the company relatively late in its heyday, de Passe moved from her native Harlem to Detroit in 1968 and soon convinced a skeptical Berry to sign a group of kids calling themselves the Jackson 5. She quickly took charge of developing the group into the pop-culture juggernaut they immediately became — their first four singles went to No.