Jem Aswad-Senior Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Long-running Canadian pop-punk act Sum 41 have announced that they are splitting up after 27 years together, with their forthcoming album, their ninth studio effort, to be their last. “‘Being in Sum 41 since 1996 brought us some of the best moments of our lives,” the band wrote in a social-media message on Monday. “We are forever grateful to our fans both old and new, who have supported us in every way. It is hard to articulate the love and respect we have for all of you and we wanted you to hear this from us first. “Sum 41 will be disbanding,” it continues. “We will still be finishing all of our current tour dates this year, and we’re looking forward to releasing our final album ‘Heaven :x: Hell,’ along with a final worldwide headlining tour to celebrate. Details will be announced as soon as we have them.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Black Eyed Peas frontman and veteran producer, entrepreneur and motor-racing enthusiast Will.I.Am has announced a partnership with Formula 1 that he’s launching with a new single with Lil Wayne titled, naturally enough, “The Formula.” Will is Formula 1’s new Global Artist in Residence, and the 2023 FIA Formula 1 championship season will see the release of more F1-inspired tracks as part of a Global Artist in Residence alliance, culminating in a new Will.I.Am solo album slated for the fall of 2023.  “The Formula” is the first music to be released and will also be featured within the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix broadcast on May 7. 

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Now that’s an entrance. The stage for Kali Uchis’ “Red Moon in Venus” tour is bathed in red-pink light, centered around an elevated platform with stairs leading up either side and archways beneath. A gradually brightening, supernova-like light fills the video screen behind it. The singer enters the stage, slowly carried by her six dancers, but obscured by the kind of giant frilly feathers you see in old movies, where a luxuriating empress is being gently fanned with them by servants. They scale the steps, gently set her down in the middle of the platform, then pull away the feathers as the crowd shrieks, revealing Uchis standing regally with her back turned, looking at the audience over her shoulder, clad in an all-red ensembled of a halter, short skirt, stockings, sleeves and a pair of towering boots with needle-thin heels. As “Telepatia” starts, she busts some slinking moves while the dancers peel off until one of them returns, delivering her microphone.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Despite angry words from Taylor Swift, major issues with its Ticketmaster division, a Senate hearing and incoming legislation, Live Nation posted another record-breaking quarter in Q1 of 2023, with a record $3.1 billion in revenue — up 73% from the same period last year — and a record 19.5 million fans attending its events as the global touring business returns to full strength. The company’s concerts division already has sold almost 90 million tickets for shows this year already, more than 20% ahead of last year, and posted adjusted operating income of $320 million, a 53% increase. “With many major tours — from Beyoncé to Drake to Bruce Springsteen — demand was so strong that even when artists added a number of additional shows, they still were not able to meet all of the fan demand,” Rapino said.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Much of the music industry heaved a collective sigh of relief when the news broke Thursday that Ed Sheeran was found not liable on a copyright claim alleging that he copied key elements from the Marvin Gaye ‘70s hit “Let’s Get It On” for his own song “Thinking Out Loud.” The case is one of countless similar infringement cases that have been brought before courts, settled, or continue in seemingly endless loops of appeals. But there’s little question that recent ones — at least the ones that followed the 2015 “Blurred Lines” decision that shook the industry — have sided with creators. The lawsuit around Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” went on for five years before being decided initially in favor of Christian rapper Marcus Gray — who claimed her song was substantially similar to his earlier track “Joyful Noise” — but was overturned in 2020 when a judge ruled that the eight-note “ostinato” Perry allegedly copied lacked the “quantum of originality” to warrant copyright protection (Gray’s appeal was unsuccessful). Later in 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the long-running copyright battle over Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” leaving in place a ruling that rejected infringement allegations over the 1971 song. The justices denied a petition aimed at reviving the case, ending six years of litigation over claims that the song’s writers, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, plagiarized the song’s iconic intro from the 1968 song “Taurus” by the group Spirit.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Veteran rapper, actor and entrepreneur Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson has announced dates for a global tour in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of his galvanizing debut album, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.” Produced by Live Nation and presented by Sire Spirits, The Final Lap Tour will make stops across North America and Europe including Toronto, Brooklyn, Atlanta, Houston, Amsterdam, Oslo, Paris, and many more. Additional markets are expected to be announced soon.  Busta Rhymes will support on all dates, and Jeremih will support on all North American dates. According to the announcement, the “Final Lap Tour” “will feature the rap icon performing dozens of fan-favorite and chart-topping hits along with select tracks that have not been performed live in decades. Plus, the tour will feature support from special guest and longtime friend,  with more special guests to be announced. 

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor The Songwriters Hall of Fame announced today that Post Malone will be the 2023 recipient of the Hal David Starlight Award, which is intended to honor “gifted young songwriters who are making a significant impact in the music industry with their original songs.” The award was created in 2004 to honor Hal David, Burt Bacharach’s longtime songwriting partner and SHOF chairman emeritus, for his support of young songwriters. Past recipients include Taylor Swift, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Lil Nas X, Sara Bareilles, Nick Jonas, Halsey, Nate Ruess, Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Ne-Yo, Benny Blanco, Jason Mraz, John Mayer, Rob Thomas, and John Rzeznik.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Any serious fan of rapper-actor Jack Harlow knows that he carries a lot of pride for his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky — it’s not only mentioned in many of his songs but he’s made major donations to local organizations (including AMPED, Center for Women and Families, Grace James Academy, Louisville Urban League and Metro United Way), and last year he even played a special American Express-sponsored concert and livestream in Brooklyn where fans were served food made by several of his favorite hometown restaurants, an imaginative way to use a corporate sponsor to benefit fans and hometown businesses. Today he continues to bring it home by announcing the official launch of the Jack Harlow Foundation, which “will serve as the Louisville, KY native’s primary philanthropic vehicle to reinvest, uplift and support organizations aiming to make the city that raised him a better place,” according to the announcement. Head here for more information on the foundation.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Fast-rising R&B star Brent Faiyaz has struck a wide-ranging partnership with Steve Stoute’s company UnitedMasters that spans a recording partnership and a creative agency. UnitedMasters CEO and founder Steve Stoute says, “Brent Faiyaz is one of the most prolific independent artists today and we are extremely excited to embark on this new partnership with him. It’s been inspiring to watch his journey as an artist over the years and with this partnership we look to further amplify his creative vision and support his entrepreneurial ambitions.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement honoring legendary singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, who died Monday at the age of 84. In it, he recalls meeting Lightfoot as a child, when Trudeau’s father Pierre was prime minister in the 1970s and ’80s. “I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing yesterday of Gordon Lightfoot, one of Canada’s greatest singer-songwriters.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Ed Sheeran had strong words for a musicologist on Monday as the court hearing over alleged similarities between his hit “Thinking Out Loud” and Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” entered its second week. “I think what he is doing is criminal,” Sheeran said of the prior testimony from Alexander Stewart, a musicologist hired as an expert witness by Gaye’s estate, according to the New York Times. “I don’t know why he’s allowed to be an expert.” Sheeran, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Publishing are being sued by three heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend, who is the credited co-writer with Gaye on the 1973 song.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Celebrating the 10 th anniversary of her hit “Brave,” Sara Bareilles has announced the “Brave Gowns Collection,” a series of garments for children’s hospitals in partnership with the California-based company of the same name, started by Summer Germann, who lost her own younger brother to cancer.  The collection includes a line of colorful hospital gowns for children intended to provide an alternative to traditional patient wardrobe. Dupporters can gift these gowns to children in hospitals across the United States or contribute a donation of any amount. Head here for more information. Bareilles said, “Over the years, I have seen healthcare communities adopt ‘Brave’ as an anthem — weaving my song into all kinds of stories of patients and their families as they face different challenges and continue to meet each moment with resilience and grace. I am so inspired by the very difficult work being done on the front lines by our health care facilitators and hospital staff and especially by the young patients in hospitals all over the country showing up every single day, even when it’s hard, with bravery and strength. This collection is meant to remind them all HOW BIG THEIR BRAVE IS and how much we love them!”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Ed Sheeran has announced details for the “- Tour” (pronounced “Subtract Tour”), a special run of dates set to take place in theaters and auditoriums in 14 cities across North America. The shows, mostly with singer-songwriter Ben Kweller in support, will take place in between dates on his massive stadium tour — titled  “+ – = ÷ x Tour” (pronounced “Mathematics Tour”) — which was announced last fall. Sheeran is using Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan technology for the theater dates. Registration opens on Friday, April 28 at 10 a.m. ET and closes on Sunday, April 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The Verified Fan onsale is set to begin on Tuesday, May 2 at 10 a.m. local venue time.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Kari Krome, a songwriter for the 1970s all-female rock band the Runaways, has filed a lawsuit against the group’s late manager, Kim Fowley, and longtime KROQ DJ and nightclub owner Rodney Bingenheimer, alleging that both of them sexually assaulted when she was a minor. The news was first reported by Rolling Stone. “Plaintiff, Kari Krome [legal name: Carrie Mitchell] is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, sexual battery, assault, and molestation at the hands of Defendant Rodney Bingenheimer,” the lawsuit, obtained by Variety, reads in part. “When Plaintiff was approximately 13 and 14 and 15 years old, Defendant Rodney Bingenheimer and Defendant Kim Fowley used their roles, status, and power as adults, as well as their connections to and work in the music industry to gain access to manipulate, exploit, and sexually assault Plaintiff in the State of California, County of Los Angeles. As a result of Defendant Rodney Bingenheimer’s and Defendant Kim Fowley’s sexual abuse and assault, Plaintiff has suffered severe emotional, physical and psychological distress, including shame, and guilt, economic loss, economic capacity and emotional loss.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Less than a month after parting ways with Warner Music, Brazilian superstar singer Anitta has signed with Republic Records in partnership with Universal Music Latin Entertainment, the companies officially announced today. Variety broke the news of the deal last week. (Photo IDs below.) About the signing, Anitta shared, “After being in this business for many years, I wanted to find partners that work like a family. After meeting with Monte, Wendy, their team at Republic, and Jesus Lopez I was blown away. Their passion, innovation, creativity and vision is incredible.  I not only felt so connected to them as an artist, but also on a human level. I knew immediately, I was home.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor In the wake of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing examining on Ticketmaster’s powerful presence in the live-entertainment market, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Mn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.) today introduced legislation intended to improve competition in live event ticketing markets. Without naming the company, the announcement notes that “Today’s primary ticketing market is dominated by one company that by some estimates has locked up 70 to 80 percent market share and has used its dominance to pressure venues to agree to ticketing contracts that last up to ten years, insulating it from competition.”  Titled the “Unlock Ticketing Markets Act,” the legislation aims to “help restore competition to live event ticketing markets by empowering the Federal Trade Commission to prevent the use of excessively long multi-year exclusive contracts that lock out competitors, decrease incentives to innovate new services, and increase costs for fans,” referencing ticketing companies’ practice of exclusive contracts with venues and promoters.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Fugees rapper Pras was found guilty Wednesday of 10 counts related to a multimillion-dollar “clandestine foreign influence campaign scheme” funded by a wealthy Malaysian financier to peddle influence in the United States, according to the Associated Press and other news outlets.  The trial included testimony from witnesses ranging from actor Leonardo DiCaprio to former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The rapper, whose real name is Prakazrel Michel, was accused of funneling money from Low Taek Jho, a now-fugitive Malaysian financer, through false donors to Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, and then attempting to quash a Justice Department investigation and influence an extradition case on behalf of China under the Trump administration.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Driven by big releases from Morgan Wallen, Taylor Swift, Tomorrow X Together, Drake and others, Universal Music Group saw its revenues rise 11.5% year over year to $2.71 billion in the first quarter of 2023. But the company’s earnings call on Wednesday was just as newsworthy for the company doubling down on the strong remarks it has made about the fast-rising presence of — some would say threat from — AI in the music world, which hit UMG in the form of “Heart on My Sleeve,” a song using AI-generated soundalikes of two of the company’s biggest artists, Drake and the Weeknd.  “The recent explosive development in generative AI will, if left unchecked, both increase the flood of unwanted content hosted on platforms, and create rights issues with respect to existing copyright law, in the U.S. and other countries, as well as laws governing trademark, name and likeness, voice impersonation, and right of publicity,” chairman-CEO Lucian Grainge said on the call. 

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor + Reach Music Publishing has acquired both the master and publishing rights of heavy metal legends and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Judas Priest’s first two albums, “Rocka Rolla” and “Sad Wings of Destiny,” from Gull Entertainments. According to the announcement, Reach will be working in partnership with Judas Priest on these two albums and is planning a variety of projects to be announced later this year, including special releases for the 50th anniversary of “Rocka Rolla” in 2024. The majority of the group’s catalog was initially released on Sony Music’s Columbia or Epic labels but the first two albums, released in 1974 and 1976 respectively, had been owned by Gull for nearly 50 years.  

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor For those without long memories, Everything But the Girl are a British duo that first emerged in the early 1980s as a sort of neo-jazz outfit combining Tracey Thorn’s virtuoso but downcast vocals and Ben Watt’s formidable guitar playing. Over the next 15 years they morphed impressively through different styles — from Smiths-style jangly alt-rock to the slick pop of “The Language of Life” — but with 1994’s “Amplified Heart,” electronics began to enter their latest jazz-trio-ish incarnation. And when house music producer Todd Terry’s dancefloor-driven remix of that album’s “Missing” became a surprise global hit, Watt immediately embraced the then-burgeoning drum n’ bass scene in the U.K. and within months was behind the turntables for nearly all of the group’s live sets. The next two albums, “Walking Wounded” and “Temperamental,” evolved this sound, with beats and atmospheric keyboards creating the backdrop for Thorn’s increasingly soulful singing.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor The electronic-music dream team of Skrillex, Fred Again and Four Tet — which recently played a rapturously received five-hour set at Madison Square Garden — will close out the Coachella festival this weekend, sources tell Variety.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow, Amy Grant, Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, Maren Morris, Margo Price, Mickey Guyton, Kelsea Ballerini and dozens of other top Nashville musicians are calling for the Tennessee General Assembly to pass “common sense gun safety legislation” before lawmakers end their session a few days from now, according to a report in the Tennessean. (A complete list of signees is below.) The letter calls for extreme risk protection laws and legislation strengthening requirements around secure storage of firearms. The letter was drafted after of the deadly Covenant School shooting last month, in which three adults and three nine-year-old children were killed. It was the 19 th shooting at a school or university in 2023 alone — one of hundreds of mass shootings in a country with a government that, largely due to Republican obstruction, refuses to pass more-thorough gun-control laws.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor In an unusual move that seems intended to eliminate age-discrimination in music releases, BMG, one of the world’s largest music companies, announced Tuesday that it has become the first global music company to abandon the “outdated” industry distinction between “frontline” — a.k.a. new releases — and older catalog recordings. The company, which notes that older catalog recordings account for up to three quarters of revenue in the streaming era, will fully integrate its new release and catalog recordings businesses. CEO Hartwig Masuch, who has led the company since its 2008 relaunch, said, “Music fans demonstrate on a daily basis that they reject the music industry’s outdated privileging of new music over older music. Music is music regardless of its age. Great artists and great music have no expiry date and we believe it is time for the music industry to reflect that.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Lana Del Rey, Boygenius and Maggie Rogers will headline the Washington, D.C.-area’s longrunning All Things Go festival, taking place at Maryland’s Merriweather Post Pavilion for two days: Saturday September 30 and Sunday October 1. Also on the bill are Carly Rae Jepsen, Mt. Joy, Muna, Arlo Parks, Lizzy McAlpine, Tegan And Sara and Fletcher and more. Last year’s edition sold out with Lorde, Mitski and Bleachers headlining. ALL THINGS GO FESTIVAL 2023 LINEUP SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor The Coachella festival probably has more top-shelf musical talent in one place at one time than any other event in the world, and 2023’s day one was no exception: All three Boygeniuses — Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus — joined Muna for an afternoon finale, the two surviving members of De La Soul united with Gorillaz for their 2005 joint hit “Feel Good Inc.,” and Metro Boomin’s hour-long set featured more guests than a DJ Khaled album, with the Weeknd taking the stage for six songs and features from Future, 21 Savage, Diddy, Don Toliver, Mike Dean and more. Less successful was a hotly rumored team-up of main-stage headliner Bad Bunny with Post Malone, which was hobbled by major sound problems — “Something happened to el cabron cable!” Bunny fumed — but his duets with Jowell & Randy and Nengo Flow and Jhay Cortez were more successful (hey, there’s always next weekend). Elsewhere, Kaytranada brought out Kali Uchis and Amine, and the National’s Aaron Dessner joined Taylor Swift at — wait, that was a different concert…

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor It is no understatement to say that Timbaland is one of the most influential and successful songwriter-producers of the last three decades: Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Madonna, Drake, Bjork and even Chris Cornell are just the best-known of the literally hundreds of artists the man born Timothy Zachery Mosely has worked with since the Virginia-born, Miami-based hitmaker first popped onto the scene with records by Aaliyah and Ginuwine in the mid-1990s. His monumentally prolific musical output slowed down to normal speed for a few years while he focused on a multitude of other projects — most prominently “Verzuz,” the pandemic-spawned rap/R&B battle series he launched with fellow hitmaker Swizz Beatz, which he says has a top-secret announcement coming that will “take us to a whole other level”; and Beatclub, a curated platform for producers and songwriters to sell beats, demos and other song elements to artists, brands and music supervisors.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor SZA will bring her dazzling ‘S.O.S.’ tour to Europe and then back to North America this summer and fall, the singer announced on Wednesday. The show, in support of her recent blockbuster album of the same name, will feature 10 dates across Europe — with highly touted British singer Raye in support — before returning to North America for another 23 shows. Produced by Live Nation, the European leg of the tour kicks off June 1 in Amsterdam at Ziggo Dome, making stops in Paris, Berlin, London, and more before wrapping up in Dublin at 3Arena on June 21. The S.O.S. Tour will then circle back to North America, kicking off on September 20 in Miami at Kaseya Center, and making stops in Brooklyn, Houston, Los Angeles and more before wrapping up in Phoenix at Footprint Center on October 29. See full routing below.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor The legendary New York outdoor venue Forest Hills Stadium has unveiled its 2023 season, marking the 100th anniversary of the stadium and the ten-year anniversary of its renovation. The new season will feature around 30 music and comedy acts including Boygenius, the Strokes, Duran Duran, Dave Matthews Band, LCD Soundsystem, Fall Out Boy, Zach Bryan, Kevin Hart, Maggie Rogers, Weezer, Lane 8, The Smile, Arctic Monkeys, Jungle, plus the inaugural Head In The Clouds New York Music & Arts Festival and the return of Rock the Bells Festival, celebrating the 50th year of hip hop. Additionally, The New York Pops – the 78-musician independent pop orchestra will perform with Jason Mraz. The full lineup to date appears below; more shows will be announced in the coming weeks.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Drake is no stranger to taking jabs in his songs, and in his new single “Search & Rescue,” he’s apparently taking one at his frenemy Kanye West: The song features dialogue of West’s estranged wife, Kim Kardashian, apparently talking about divorce. “I didn’t come this far, just to come this far and not be happy,” Kardashian’s vocal fry-laden voice is heard speaking to her mother, Kris Jenner, on their reality show. “Okay, that’s fair,” Jenner replies. Kardashian then says, “Yep, I saw it on the internet.” The song’s lyrics are standard Drake fare about the travails of being a rich superstar looking for love: “I need someone to be patient with me/ Someone to get money with, not take it from me/ Look, they don’t even need to be as famous as me/ I don’t think I’ll meet them at the places I be,” raps Drake for the song’s chorus.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Vivian Trimble, a multi-instrumentalist and singer best known for her 1990s work with Luscious Jackson, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer, a rep for the band confirms to Variety. She was 59. A dancer and choreographer as well as a musician, Trimble (pictured above, far right, with the group in 1995), also released collaboration albums with Luscious Jackson singer-bassist Jill Cunniff in 1995 as the Kostars, and an album with Breeders bassist Josephine Wiggs as Dusty Trails, which featured guest vocals from Emmylou Harris.A post shared by lusciousjackson (@lusciousjackson) Born to classical musicians, Trimble was raised in France and the U.S. and spoke three languages. She attended Oberlin College and met Cunniff in 1991 when both were teaching GED adult education classes in New York.