Jem Aswad-Senior Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor U2 is joining forces with Irving and Jeffrey Azoff’s Full Stop Management after nearly 10 years with Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers manager Guy Oseary, sources tell Variety. A rep for Full Stop had no comment; the news was first reported by Hits. While the group played two stadium dates last year, they have largely been off the road since their massive “Innocence and Experience” trek in 2017-2018, and it seems likely a new album is in the works if not nearly done. The band has not released a new album since “Songs of Experience” in December of 2017. Earlier this week, singer Bono announced a book tour in support of his forthcoming memoir, “Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story,” which arrives on Nov. 1; he will tour North America and Europe throughout November.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Primary Wave Music has acquired a major stake in Joey Ramone’s music-publishing assets for around $10 million, according to people close to the transaction. Terms of the deal include non-exclusive rights to license Joey Ramone’s name and likeness, as well as income for songs across the band’s repertoire of music; the news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. While the music-catalog market has been booming for the past several years, with blockbuster deals for catalogs by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen (both for around $600 million), Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, James Brown (all around the low nine figures) and more, this is possibly the first such deal for a punk-era artist, and could open up a new field of opportunity in a rapidly narrowing market.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Primary Wave Music, a top player in the music-catalog and publishing boom, has joined forces with Brookfield Asset Management in a $2 billion deal to invest in music copyrights, the companies confirmed. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Brookfield, which is new the space, will take a significant minority interest in Primary Wave, and commit $1.7 billion to fund a permanent capital vehicle focused on acquiring music rights from top acts. Primary Wave Music is primarily a music publisher but has become a leader in the catalog-acquisition business with its ability to market those catalogs biographical films, Broadway shows, song interpolations and brand deals. Its assets include interests in the catalogs of Whitney Houston, James Brown, half of the Prince estate, Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks and more.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Back in the day (“the day” being the 1990s), Pavement became so typecast as a cliché-lambasting, anti-rock band that they never really got credit for what a great rock band they were — and, as their ongoing 30th-ish anniversary tour shows, still are. The stereotypical scrawny, bookish, indie vibe and image of the group’s early records had become so cemented that few seemed to notice how tight and accomplished they became after drummer Steve West joined the group in 1993. Although they always downplayed their ability to “rock out” and still do, when the band locks in on hypnotic grooves while singer-guitarist Stephen Malkmus plays solos with a Lou Reed-ish combination of soaring melodies and brittle squall (usually finishing with some self-mocking gesture), they can hold their own with virtually any rock band. On their later albums, that seasoning carried over to their songwriting, as Malkmus’ almost run-on melodies were delivered in a cleaner, sharper manner, as if he were no longer quite so embarrassed by how pretty or catchy they can be.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Drake, arguably the biggest rapper in the world, will play a special concert at the legenday Apollo Theater in New York’s Harlem neighborhood that will be broadcast on SiriusXM, he and the network announced on Tuesday. Details on the show were slim — “Drake will perform at the world-famous Apollo Theater in New York. The exclusive SiriusXM concert marks the first time that Drake will perform at the iconic theater,” the announcement reads — but the concert will be the latest in a long series of special, intimate gigs the network has staged at the 1,500-capacity venue. Fans should head here to score tickets, but act fast.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor While there’s been no official word, Pink Floyd has been shopping its recorded-music catalog and other assets for several months, seeking as much as $500 million, according to the Financial Times, with both major music companies and investment firms as the top bidders. But sources say an explosive new interview with founding member, main songwriter and stakeholder Roger Waters — in which he makes extensive remarks about Israel, Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and other political matters that one could politely characterize as controversial — is giving at least one potential buyer cold feet and seems likely to lead others to rethink their positions. For years Waters has sounded off about politics in the press and at his concerts, most controversially Israel’s policies. But the new interview in Rolling Stone raises (or lowers) the bar considerably. While interviewer James Ball does his best to challenge some of Waters’ more far-fetched statements, the former Pink Floyd singer argues emphatically that some Jewish people in the U.S. and U.K. bear responsibility for the actions of Israel “because they pay for everything”; that well-documented accounts of Russian war crimes in Ukraine are “lies, lies, lies”; that the United States is “the most evil [country in the world] of all by a factor of at least 10 times”; that Russia’s brutal military involvement in Syria is justified because “they were there at the invitation of the Syrian government” (which is led by one of the world’s most murderous dictators, Bashar Assad), and more. (See a 12,000-word transcript of the interview here).

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor In observance of World Mental Health Day on October 10, singer-songwriter Lauv has teamed up with therapy platform BetterHelp to provide up to $3 million in free therapy for any fan who applies. An outspoken advocate for mental health via his music and nonprofit Blue Boy Foundation, BetterHelp is helping to amplify his intent to de-stigmatize asking for mental-health help. Any fan new to the organization can sign up and be matched to a licensed therapist for a free month of professional therapy by visitingwww.betterhelp.com/lauv. “Lauv is a global superstar and well-known advocate for mental health,” says Alon Matas, President and Founder of BetterHelp. “We’re excited to work with an artist who is as passionate as we are about reducing the stigma around mental health and spreading awareness of free therapy resources to millions of people.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Twenty years before “Moonage Daydream” was a sprawling documentary film about David Bowie‘s life and art, it was a massive photo book focusing on his Ziggy Stardust years, with photos by Mick Rock — his exclusive photographer at the time — and an introduction and commentary written by both of them. The limited-edition book was snapped up quickly and for years has fetched horrifying prices on the secondary market. But original publisher Genesis Books — which specializes in such state-of-the-art photography books — is releasing a 20th anniversary edition of the book today (Oct. 4, 2022). Where the film focuses on Bowie’s entire life, the book is entirely about the rise and fall of the Ziggy Stardust character in 1972 and 1973 — “Eighteen months, that’s all it was,” Bowie writes in the book. Alongside over 600 photographs taken by Rock, Bowie’s provides commentary on the creation and proliferation of the character that, in no understatement, changed rock music.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Although the weekend’s announcements postponing Ringo Starr’s two recent tour dates stressed that the 82-year-old singer-drummer did not have COVID, the former Beatle has since tested positive. The next six dates of the legendary former Beatle’s tour with his All Starr Band will be canceled. Rather than dishonesty or inaccuracy, it seems likely that, as with countless other people in recent months, Starr showed symptoms of the disease before testing positive. “It has been confirmed today that Ringo has Covid and the tour will be on hold while Ringo recuperates,” the announcement reads. “Ringo hopes to resume as soon as possible and is recovering at home. As always, he and the All Starrs send peace and love to their fans and hope to see them back out on the road soon. We will keep fans updated with any further news or changes.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Ed Sheeran has announced details for the North American leg of his “+ – = ÷ x Tour” (pronounced “The Mathematics Tour”), hitting stadiums across the continent for the first time since his 2018 “Divide” tour, Dates begin on May 6th at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, before wrapping up on September 23rd at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA (see itinerary below). Main support on a majority of the dates comes from R&B singer Khalid (May 6th-September 2nd), with rapper/singer-songwriter Russ rounding out the tour (September 9th-23rd); Dylan, Cat Burns, Maisie Peters, and Rosa Linn alternate as first of three. Sheeran recently wrapped the European leg of the tour, performing in front of over 3 million people in six months, including a five-night stand at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor U2 singer Bono will undertake a 14-city book tour in support of his forthcoming memoir “Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story,” which is published on Nov. 1. Full dates appear below. The book tour, titled “Stories of Surrender” and produced by Live Nation, is billed as “An evening of words, music and some mischief…” The tour kicks off at New York’s Beacon Theatre on Nov. 2, the day after the book is released, and continues across the U.S. and Europe before concluding in Madrid, Spain on Nov. 28. Tickets will go on sale Friday, October 7 at 10 a.m. (local time); every ticket sold includes a copy of the book. All tickets purchased online will be delivered as secure mobile tickets. There will be a two-ticket limit per person.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Jack Harlow Partners With American Express to Present ‘Louisville by Jack Harlow’ Jack Harlow has partnered with American Express to present “Louisville by Jack Harlow,” a special concert taking place at Brooklyn Steel in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday, October 12. According to the announcement, the show, which is part of the company’s Member Week and is exclusively for card members, “will transport fans deep into Harlow’s world, paying homage to the rapper’s hometown of Louisville, KY and give fans an up-close-and-personal taste of Harlow’s favorite small businesses, artists, and restaurants.”
 The show will be livestreamed on Amazon Music’s Twitch channel and Card Members will have exclusive access to a custom merchandise collection from Louisville illustrator, Bri Bowers, known for her depictions of Louisville’s neighborhoods & landmarks. Her “Jack Harlow x American Express” collection will be sold IRL and online; all other merch items will be sold online.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Two decades ago, as the turn-of-the-century NYC indie-rock scene burst out of its East Village and Williamsburg incubators, few probably expected that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs would end up having the most wide-ranging career of the bunch. After all, a trio consisting of a wiz-kid guitarist, powerhouse drummer and a fireball lead singer might have made for explosive shows and a scrappy, deceptively diverse debut EP, but with no shade intended to the Strokes, Interpol, LCD Soundsystem, TV on the Radio and all the others, the multiple musical directions the band would go did not seem to be in the cards. The Yeahs had the first hit single of the pack (2003’s “Maps”) and varied their approach with each successive album, peaking with 2009’s unexpectedly electronic-heavy “It’s Blitz.” That album represented the end of that particular thread: The group released one more, rockier album “Mosquito” in 2013 (which, significantly, fulfilled their major-label contract) and then basically went on hiatus. In the years since, singer Karen O released a stellar collaboration with Danger Mouse, “Lux Prima” and co-composed the score for the animated film “Where Is Anne Frank?,” guitarist Nick Zinner also scored films and worked with Phoebe Bridgers and Songhoy Blues, and drummer Brian Chase started his own label. Such hiatuses are often permanent, but the group reunited for a tour in 2017, and five years and a pandemic later, there’s finally a reunion album — and it continues the group’s evolution with a powerful, more seasoned take on their earlier sounds.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor As has been well documented, the 2018, Scooter Braun-led acquisition of Big Machine Music Group — and the rights to Taylor Swift’s first six albums — caused some controversy. Swift — who had attempted, unsuccessfully, to acquire the rights herself — was outraged, launching not only a global dialog about artists owning the rights to their work, but sticking it to the new owners by beginning a campaign to re-record all of those albums and encouraging her fans to stream the new “Taylor’s Versions” instead of the earlier ones; two such albums have been released to great success. She had few kind words for Braun in the process. Braun bore the substantial wrath of the Swifties for a year or two before selling off the catalog (for a tidy profit) and said he had attempted to speak with the singer about the issue multiple times after the sale was finally revealed, to little avail. He has since sold his own company to the South Korean entertainment powerhouse HYBE, and continues to run it and manage the careers of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and others.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Phil Collins and his Genesis bandmates Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford have agreed to sell their publishing copyrights and “a mix of recorded music-income streams” to Concord Music Group, the company confirmed to the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. Sources told the publication the deal was for upward of $300 million. The deal includes the solo material of all three, most notably Collins’ multiplatinum solo albums and Rutherford’s band Mike & the Mechanics, which achieved chart success in the 1980s. The catalogs of Peter Gabriel and other former members of Genesis were not included in the deal. A rep for Concord tells Variety an official announcement will be made Friday morning.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor With lead vocals by Springsteen, “Only The Strong Survive” features songs from the catalogs of Motown and Stax Records, the songwriting duo of Gamble and Huff and more. This album, Springsteen’s 21st studio outing, will also feature guest vocals by soul great Sam Moore, as well as contributions from the E Street Horns, string arrangements by Rob Mathes, and backing vocals by Soozie Tyrell, Lisa Lowell, Michelle Moore, Curtis King Jr., Dennis Collins and Fonzi Thornton. Bruce Springsteen commented: “I wanted to make an album where I just sang. And what better music to work with than the great American songbook of the Sixties and Seventies? I’ve taken my inspiration from Levi Stubbs, David Ruffin, Jimmy Ruffin, the Iceman Jerry Butler, Diana Ross, Dobie Gray, and Scott Walker, among many others. I’ve tried to do justice to them all—and to the fabulous writers of this glorious music. My goal is for the modern audience to experience its beauty and joy, just as I have since I first heard it. I hope you love listening to it as much as I loved making it.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor A teenager and a woman are in custody in the murder of rapper PnB Rock, who was shot fatally on Sept. 12 in Los Angeles, police confirmed to Variety on Wednesday. Police are also searching for the teenager’s father in connection with the murder, whom they say is armed and dangerous. A minor was arrested on suspicion of murder, and Shauntel Trone, 38, was arrested on suspicion of accessory to murder, LAPD Capt. Kelly Muniz told the Los Angeles Times. The minor’s father, Freddie Lee Trone, 40, is still at large. The LAPD has released his photograph and requested public assistance in locating him. Rock, 30 (real name: Rakim Allen) was murdered at Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles in South Los Angeles, where he had been dining with his girlfriend. A gunman demanded jewelry and other valuables from him before getting into a struggle with PnB and opening fire, LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the Times. Moore added that the shooting occurred soon after the rapper was tagged online as being at the restaurant, and police are investigating whether the post led to the attack, although an earlier report in TMZ says that the attackers had been sitting in the restaurant’s parking lot at the time of the post. That report also says that Trone and his son burned the getaway car in an effort to destroy evidence.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Columbia Records has entered into a joint venture with former Capitol Records chairman-CEO Jeff Vaughn to launch Signal Records, the company announced Wednesday. The Los Angeles-based imprint will operate as a new label with Columbia Records of Sony Music Entertainment and begin operations immediately, with an artist roster to be announced in the coming weeks. As founder and CEO, Vaughn will lead the company’s creative direction and business development while utilizing Columbia’s marketing, promotion, and label services. Ron Perry, Chairman & CEO of Columbia Records, said, “I’ve admired Jeff’s work from afar for a while. He has incredible musical instincts, an infectious work ethic, and great passion. I’m looking forward to working together on this new chapter.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor The family of Avicii, the late, multi-platinum-selling Swedish DJ, has sold 75% of his master recordings and publishing to Pophouse Entertainment, the Stockholm-based company co-founded by ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus, which is behind that group’s multi-million-dollar “Voyage” show in London and other enterprises. The family and estate will maintain ownership of the remaining 25%. Terms of the deal, which is estimated to be for nine figures, were not disclosed. According to the announcement, a joint venture has been created between the family and estate of Avicii (real name: Tim Bergling) and Pophouse “to safeguard Avicii’s indelible legacy through future global endeavours,” such as the interactive tribute museum in Stockholm, “Avicii Experience,” that Pophouse and the Bergling family together opened in February.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor In a telling example of the state of the touring industry in 2022, indie artist Santigold has canceled her upcoming North American tour, citing the “devastating” costs due to inflation, soaring costs and the glut of artists on the road after pandemic restrictions lifted early this year.  “As a touring musician, I don’t think anyone anticipated the new reality that awaited us,” she wrote in a long and impassioned post on Instagram. “After sitting idle (not being able to do shows) for the past couple years, many of us like everyone else, earning no or little income during that time, every musician that could, rushed back out immediately when it was deemed safe to do shows. We were met with the height of inflation — gas, tour buses, hotels, and flight costs skyrocketed — many of our tried-and-true venues unavailable due to a flooded market of artists trying to book shows in the same cities, and positive test results constantly halting schedules with devastating financial consequences.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Orlando Wharton has been named executive vice president of Capitol Music Group and president of Priority Records. The announcement was made by CMG chair & CEO Michelle Jubelirer, to whom Wharton will report.  According to the announcement, in his new position, Wharton will sign and guide artists across CMG’s portfolio of labels, and will relaunch the legendary Priority Records label as a dedicated home for new, developing and established hip hop artists.  Wharton will assume his positions at CMG early next year, and will be based at the company’s offices in New York. The announcement closely follows the company’s hiring of Doja Cat co-manager Gordan Dillard as EVP of A&R and artist development.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Metallica have announced that they will perform a special tribute concert on Nov. 6 to honor Jonny and Marsha Zazula, the founders of their original label, Megaforce Records. The group, which will be joined by fellow Megaforce alums Raven, will perform songs from their early career, dating from 1983 and ’84. The concert will take place at the 7,000-capacity Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. — an unusually small venue for the band. The Zazulas, for decades an influential and well-respected power couple on the metal scene, passed away within a year of each other in 2021 and 2022.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor In recent years, artists have created a booming business out of essentially putting their archives on tour — the “David Bowie Is” and “Rolling Stones Exhibitionism” — traveling exhibitions of their wardrobes, instruments and multiple other artifacts from their long careers. Well look out, because here comes “Pavements 1933-2022: A Pavement Museum” — a semi-jokingly titled international museum exhibition from the legendary indie-rock band featuring “previously unseen imagery, artwork and ephemera, commendations and commemorations, alongside rumored relics of the band’s real and imagined history (as well as exclusive merchandise and classic museum souvenirs),” according to the announcement. (The “1933” part is a deep reference to Pavement’s debut EP, “Slay Tracks 1933-1969,” which of course was released in 1989.)

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Days after top YouTube exec Robert Kyncl was named as the next CEO of Warner Music Group, the company revealed in an SEC filing that he will earn approximately $15 million in his first year on the job, depending on performance targets. When Kyncl’s name was first mentioned as a potential successor to outgoing CEO Stephen Cooper, who leaves after 11 years in the role, many wondered whether the job would be sufficiently appealing for the executive who led Netflix from DVDs to streaming and has been YouTube’s business chief for much of his 12 years at the company. However, the SEC filing makes clear that the job is financially appealing: He will receive a base salary of $2 million, a target performance-based bonus of $3 million and an annual grant of performance share units with an aggregate, pre-tax value of $10 million.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Pharoah Sanders, an American jazz saxophonist whose career sprawled across six decades, has died at the age of 81. His death was confirmed to Variety by a representative for his label, Luaka Bop. “We are devastated to share that Pharoah Sanders has passed away,” the label’s statement reads. “He died peacefully surrounded by loving family and friends in Los Angeles earlier this morning. Always and forever the most beautiful human being, may he rest in peace.” His soulful playing and leading role in the style often described as spiritual jazz placed him at the edge of the genre’s innovation for many years, initially in bands with such explorers as Sun Ra (who dubbed him “Pharoah”) and John Coltrane and later by leading his own ensembles.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor The Temple of Dendur in the Egyptian art wing of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the most unique and visually arresting places in a city filled with them, containing the 2,000-year-old Temple itself along with other sculptures and pieces of art, a large reflecting pool and a giant, 25-foot-tall floor-to-ceiling window that extends the entire length of the hall and overlooks Central Park. It also may be the most unique and visually arresting music venue in the city. Over the years the room has hosted concerts by everyone from Interpol to the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, but it’s hard to think of a more fitting artist for such a setting than Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab, who won a Grammy earlier this year for her song “Mohabbat” from her latest album “Vulture Prince,” and was also nominated for Best New Artist.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor When the NFL announced at midnight ET that Apple Music is the new sponsor of the Super Bowl Halftime Show, the Swift-iverse went into overdrive speculating that Taylor Swift will be the performer: The announcement was made at midnight, Taylor releases her new music at midnight (er, like 99% of all major artists in the streaming age) and her new album is called “Midnights.” With no disrespect to the Swifties, there are actually many more-tangible reasons why Swift seems a likely front-runner for the Super Bowl Halftime Show — which, with an estimated 103 million viewers this year, is the single largest platform for a music artist in the entire world.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor There’s been no shortage of neo-R&B albums over the past few years, but so many of them are led by breathy female singers who feel like they’re singing in your ear — very few have had full-voiced singers at the forefront. And although Muni Long isn’t a belter and does put on the bedroom voice on a couple of tracks, her first full-length album is a blast of vintage ‘90s R&B that isn’t trying to be cute: It’s filled with frank lyrics about of love and sex from an artist who’s been around for more than a minute. Working under the name of Priscilla Renea, Muni has long been a songwriter whose soul and pop smarts helped forge hits such as Ariana Grande’s “Imagine,” Fifth Harmony’s “Worth It,” Rihanna’s “California King Bed,” along with tracks for Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Madonna, Mary J. Blige, Miranda Lambert, Selena Gomez and more.She released strong albums under that name too — 2009’s “Jukebox” and 2018’s “Coloured” — but neither of those records had the sparkle, innovation and warmth that her songwriting catalog contained. A change of name, an independently-released EP featuring the haunting, quirky hit “Hrs and Hrs,” and suddenly, Muni Long is a new artist with a remarkably seasoned and strong debut album.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Compton-based house-music producer-singer Channel Tres has inked a deal that sees him joining RCA Records in partnership with L.A. indie Godmode. The partnership kicks off tonight with the release of the new single “No Limit,” with his debut full-length album “Real Cultural Shit” arriving later this fall. The album will also feature his singles from earlier this year, “Acid in my Blood,” “Ganzfeld Experiment” and “Just Can’t Get Enough.” Channel Tres, who has toured with Robyn, Vince Staples, Disclosure and Toro y Moi and performed at Coachella and New York’s Gov Ball, calls his style of dance music “Compton house”; it meshes the rhythms of Chicago house and Detroit techno with the bite of West Coast rap.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Since the dawn of radio, the United States has been and remains the only major country in the world where terrestrial radio pays no royalties to performers or recorded-music copyright owners of the songs it plays — a situation that is largely due to the powerful radio lobby’s influence in Congress. While the more than 8,300 AM and FM stations across the country pay royalties to songwriters and publishers, they have never paid performers or copyright holders, although streaming services and satellite radio do. On Thursday morning, Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced the bipartisan American Music Fairness Act, which aims to rectify that situation by “ensur[ing] artists and music creators receive fair compensation for the use of their songs on AM/FM radio. This legislation will bring corporate radio broadcasters up-to-speed with all other music streaming platforms, which already pay artists for their music.”