Jem Aswad-Senior Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThree songs from the posthumous 2010 Michael Jackson album “Michael,” which some fans have long insisted were not sung by the late artist, have been removed from streaming services.A statement from Jackson’s estate and Sony Music, which acquired the rights to unreleased material from the singer’s vaults in a blockbuster $250 million deal in 2010, says the songs were removed in an effort to “move beyond” the controversy but effectively maintains that the vocals were not faked: “Nothing should be read into this action concerning the authenticity of the tracks,” it emphasizes.“The Estate of Michael Jackson and Sony Music decided to remove the tracks ‘Breaking News,’ ‘Monster’ and ‘Keep Your Head Up,’ from the 2010 album ‘Michael’ as the simplest and best way to move beyond the conversation associated with these tracks once and for all,” the statement, issued Tuesday, reads. “The album’s remaining tracks remain available.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLaPolt Law, the Los Angeles-based music and entertainment firm founded by Dina LaPolt in 2001, is elevating five of its attorneys to partner. The promotions, effective immediately, reflect their contributions to the firm, which specializes in intellectual property law, music law and public policy.The new partners — pictured above (back row, l-r) Kristin Wenning, Mariah Comer, Lindsay Arrington and (front row, l-r) Dominic Chaklos and Tom Dean, with LaPolt in front — have expertise in a range of issues, including brand partnerships, catalog sales, executive contracts, and projects in emerging media such as NFTs, Web3.“They are all zealous advocates for our clients,” LaPolt said of the attorneys.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorVeteran guitarist Carlos Santana passed out onstage during a concert at Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan on Tuesday night, according to social media posts and video, but was treated quickly and was seen waiving to fans as he was wheeled offstage.Santana’s rep did not immediately respond to Variety‘s requests for comment.Carlos Santana waved to clapping fans as he’s helped off the stage pic.twitter.com/YA55N4QCZe— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 6, 2022 Tuesday evening’s incident took place during Santana’s summer-long “Miraculous Supernatural 2022” tour with Earth, Wind & Fire, which launched on June 17 and is scheduled to continue through the end of August. Just two weeks later, the musician, 74, is slated to resume his longstanding Las Vegas residency at the House of Blues in Las Vegas through the end of September before resuming for two more weeks in November.Late last year Santana underwent what his management described as an “unscheduled” heart procedure that caused the cancelation of that month’s residency in Las Vegas.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe French audio streaming service Deezer made its debut on the Paris Euronext market Tuesday and immediately plunged 35% from its €8.5 opening, rising slightly to level off at around €6.2 by late in the afternoon.Earlier this year the company, which is one of the world’s largest streaming services despite a relatively low U.S. profile, merged with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with an eye toward going public at a $1.13 billion valuation.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFirst things first: Adele showed up.And in many ways, that was the biggest hurdle Adele had to clear on her way to triumphing at the first of two shows at London’s American Express Presents BST Hyde Park festival.You see, the last time Adele headlined a massive outdoor run in her hometown, in 2017, she canceled the last two shows of her scheduled four-night Wembley Stadium stint after damaging her vocal cords. In fact, this was her first full live show since then.More recently, there was the small matter of her Las Vegas residency, scrapped at the very last minute, leaving many British fans stranded in Sin City.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDay N Vegas — which was scheduled to feature Travis Scott’s first festival appearance since the Astroworld disaster in which four people died during his headlining set — has been canceled, organizers announced Friday. Produced by Goldenvoice, the festival was scheduled to take place at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on Labor Day weekend, Friday, September 2nd through Sunday, September 4th.“We’re sorry to announce that a combination of logistics, timing and production issues have forced us to cancel Day N Vegas for 2022,” read the announcement on the festival’s socials.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a big win for the publishing and songwriting community, the Copyright Royalty Board reaffirmed the 15.1% headline rate increase in royalties paid by streaming services to publishers for the 2018-22 period.The rate was decided in 2018, but streaming services Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube/Google and Pandora appealed the following year, arguing that the increase will make their business models untenable in light of the billions of dollars that they already pay in royalties.While the decision was not immediately released publicly, sources and National Music Publishers Assn. president/CEO David Israelite shared that the headline rate will increase to 15.1% from 11.4%, as decided.However, in a minor win for the streaming services, the TCC rate, or percentage of label revenue, has been capped, and the definition of bundling — the “family plans” and other discount packages — has reverted to an earlier definition more favorable to the services.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCardi B may not have released a ton of music in the past couple of years, but when she has, she’s made them count: Following “WAP,” her 2020 smash with Megan Thee Stallion, and last year’s “Up” comes “Hot Shit,” a truth-in-advertising new track featuring Kanye West and Lil Durk with a fiery beat from Memphis-born producer Tay Keith, who also co-produced Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode” and Drake’s “Nonstop.”It’s a true collaborative single, with each rapper taking a verse and super-spare production — consisting almost entirely of vocals and beat, with the occasional sound effects — and in the hands of lesser rappers it wouldn’t be anywhere near as strong.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJohn Mayer — singer-songwriter, virtuoso guitarist, solo artist, member of Dead & Co and definitely the funniest speaker at Variety’s Hitmakers event last December — has signed with CAA in all areas globally.He has won seven Grammy Awards out of 19 nominations and since his 2001 debut album “Room for Squares”  has earned three No. 1 debuts on the Billboard Top 200, with the triple-platinum “Heavier Things” (2003), double-platinum “Battle Studies” (2009), and gold-certified “Born and Raised” (2012). He has sold an estimated 20 million-plus albums worldwide.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Weeknd’s opening acts for his global stadium tour, which launches in his hometown of Toronto next Friday, will be R&B singer Snoh Aalegra, Canadian electronic artist Kaytranada and top DJ/producer Mike Dean, his team reveals in an exclusive interview with Variety. The full 19 dates, noting which acts are playing in which cities, appear below.The tour’s original opener, Doja Cat, pulled out last month to undergo throat surgery, and although “the phone was ringing” with calls from interested parties, according to Omar Al-joulani — Live Nation’s president of touring and a Toronto native who has worked with the Weeknd since 2014 — the choices reflect the artist’s long practice of having up-and-coming acts open his tours, even one as massive as the stadium show that will work its way across North America (slowly) through Labor Day weekend before moving on to the rest of the world.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorR. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in a New York court on Wednesday.Kelly, one of the most successful hitmakers of the 1990s and early 2000s, was found guilty of all nine counts against him in September, after a six-week trial revealed how he had used employees and intermediaries to lure fans and hopeful singers into sexually abusive and controlling conditions, including locking them in rooms without food or access to a bathroom for days.The 55-year-old singer, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted of racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which prohibits transporting people across state lines for prostitution.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThose with long memories for Kanye lore may recall the artist getting into an aggressive argument with radio host Sway Calloway during an interview on the SiriusXM station Shade 45 back in 2013. While the two were friends and made up by the end of the interview, West did not take well to Sway’s questions about his earlier, initially money-losing attempts to break into the world of fashion.While Sway attempted to identify with the challenges he too had faced in launching a clothing line, the interview degenerated into West creating whatever passed for memes back then by yelling “You ain’t got the answers, man!” while Sway tried to calm him down, saying “Kanye! Chill out, man!” Well, some genius placed a snippet from that legendary interview over the music from Kendrick Lamar’s harrowing song “We Cry Together,” from his recent “Mr.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a big win for major record labels, the Free Artists From Industry Restrictions (FAIR) Act failed to pass out of the California State Senate’s Judiciary committee late on Tuesday night.According to a report in Billboard, the act, also called AB Bill 983, received four votes, two short of the six needed to reach a majority from the 11-member committee.The bill was the latest in a long campaign to repeal a 1987 amendment to the state’s “Seven-Year Statute” that allows record labels to sue artists if they leave after seven years after their contract was signed before delivering the full number of albums required under the contract. Labels can also sue artists for damages.Artists’ rights groups — including the Black Music Action Coalition, Music Artists Coalition and Songwriters of North America — decried the decision but promised to continue the fight.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPink, Sony Music Publishing Chairman/CEO Jon Platt and the late songwriter/producer Busbee will be honored at the Songwriters of North America’s second annual SONA Warrior Awards, taking place as a hybrid celebration comprised of an in-person gala on July 23 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles and a virtual livestream via mandolin.com on July 24. SONA is one of the only advocacy organizations for songwriters, formed by professional songwriters to advocate for fair pay, safety, equality and a collective voice.The announcement notes that each of the honorees is known for their accomplishments within the industry, the Warrior Awards provide an opportunity to amplify their advocacy.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLegendary hitmaker and 12-time Grammy winner Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds  has signed with Capitol Records, the company announced Tuesday. His first project for the label will be “Girls’ Night Out,” which is described as “a sonic journey through love, heartbreak and all of the emotions in between” and features a number of top young female R&B singers, including Ella Mai, Queen Naija, Ari Lennox, Kehlani, Doechii and others.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLegendary rocker Alice Cooper, who should need no introduction, has signed with CAA to represent his touring in North America.He has sold more than 50 million albums over the years and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. His nightly radio show, “Nights With Alice Cooper,” continues to air in nearly 100 cities in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs part of a big expansion of Shawn Mendes manager Andrew Gertler’s AG Artists, the company has signed fast-rising Canadian singer-songwriter Lauren Spencer-Smith and Arista’s JP Saxe, and Mendes’ longtime A&R Ziggy Chareton has joined as a partner on their management. Chareton will also co-manage Mendes.Gertler and Chareton have a long history together: They met in the early 2010s when both were interns in Atlantic Records’ marketing department.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFast-rising 18-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter Lauren Spencer-Smith has inked with both Warner Chappell Music publishing and longtime Shawn Mendes manager Andrew Gertler’s AG Artists in partnership with Ziggy Chareton, Variety has confirmed. The news was first published in Hits.A native of Vancouver Island, the singer’s confessional, intimate songs like “Fingers Crossed” and her latest single “Flowers” have effectively set her on a track to be this year’s Olivia Rodrigo.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorChaka Zulu, a veteran music executive and longtime manager of Atlanta rapper Ludacris, was shot Sunday night in the city’s Buckhead neighborhood, police confirmed to 11Alive.The executive, who is co-CEO of Disturbing Tha Peace Records, was shot near Peachtree Road at around 11:35 p.m. Two other men were also shot; all three were transported to a local hospital where one died, according to the report.Police do not have a suspect in custody and have not released information about Zulu’s condiction or that of the other surviving victim.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe BET Awards are officially a celebration of “Black excellence,” and Sunday night’s show featured blockbuster performances from Lizzo, Mariah Carey, Latto, Jack Harlow (who was joined by Brandy and Lil Wayne) and an elaborate tribute to Lifetime Achievement honoree Sean “Diddy” Combs that included an unannounced in-person speech from Kanye West.But for the second time in three years, the show coincided with galvanizing events in the United States: In 2020, it was George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police and the ensuing the Black Lives Matter protests, and this year it was the Supreme Court’s polarizing overturn of Roe v. Wade and the impending loss of a woman’s right to choose in many states in the country.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe negotiations over streaming-service royalties are one of the most complex, contentious and important battlegrounds in the contemporary music industry, pitting some of the world’s largest companies — Amazon, Apple, Google/ Alphabet, Pandora/ SiriusXM/ Liberty Media and upstart Spotify — against music publishers and labels.It’s so contentious that even as the battle over rates for 2023-27 approaches later this year, the rates for 2018-22 still have not been determined: In 2018, the Copyright Royalty Board, which determines rates for publishers but not labels, ruled that streaming services must pay approximately 44% more in publishing royalties. In 2019, the four streaming services appealed that decision, arguing that they already pay out billions of dollars in royalties and such an increase would make their business models untenable.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorKanye West made a surprise appearance some three hours into the BET Awards on Sunday night to pay tribute to Sean “Diddy” Combs, the show’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement award.Wearing a grey leather Hood by Air jacket, a matching baseball cap, a full black-stocking facial mask and shades, he gave a speech in Sean Combs’ honor, who has also called himself Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, just Diddy and most recently, simply Love. As West attests below, he is no stranger to changing names: Last year he legally changed his name to “Ye.” Below, he speaks movingly of Combs’ influence on him, stressing that he considers him an artist — and it is easy the influence of Combs viewing his entire creative and business output as part of a whole.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTaraji P. Henson took a moment to be serious in her otherwise upbeat introduction to the BET Awards on Sunday night, delivering the first of three consecutive slams at the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOlivia Rodrigo used her set at England’s Glastonbury Festival to slam the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFollowing BTS’ announcement that they will be focusing on solo projects in the coming months, the group’s J-Hope announced on the Weverse platform early Saturday that he will release a solo album called “Jack in the Box” on July 15. The first single single will drop next week, on July 1.According to the official announcement, “Jack in the Box” lends voice to J-Hope’s aspirations to break the mold and grow further.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLizzo and Live Nation will donate $1 million from the singer’s upcoming “Special” tour to support abortion access groups, after the the Supreme Court’s galvanizing decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.“I’m pledging $500k from my upcoming tour to Planned Parenthood and Abortion Rights.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAbsence can make the heart grow fonder, and one of the ironies of the power-pop revival of the mid-1980s was how hard it was to find records by some of its main archetypes, even if those earlier groups had genuine hits: The brace of great early-‘70s albums and singles by Beatles-obsessed bands like Badfinger, Big Star and the Raspberries had been out of print for years and could only be found at specialty shops for exorbitant prices or as random junkshop jackpots.Even more ironically, one of the greatest albums of that ‘80s wave — Redd Kross’ “Neurotica” — suffered the same fate. It was released in 1987 on the short-lived U.S.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs Adele’s massive concerts in London’s Hyde Park next week approach, workers at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace — where she abruptly postponed her Las Vegas residency on Jan. 20, just a day before it was set to begin — were told this week that they will be laid off for the summer, according to a report in the Las Vegas Review Journal.The move, which will see 11 full-time employees furloughed from the end of Morrissey’s residency on July 9 through preparations for Rod Stewart’s run beginning on Sept.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGeneration Now, the Atlanta-based label imprint founded by DJ Drama, Don Cannon and Leighton “Lake” Morrison, has extended its joint venture partnership with Atlantic Records. The partnership launched in 2015 and labels have launched the careers of Jack Harlow, Lil Uzi Vert — who collectively have achieved a whopping 30 billion-plus streams globally — and many others.