R&B Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Frank Ocean has re-released ‘Blonde’ on Vinyl and has released new merch along with it.The lauded and long-awaited third album from the star came out in September 2016, with Ocean then selling vinyl copies of the album for just 24 hours two months later.The vinyl comes as a two-record gatefold packaging that features a 12” x 36” lyrics foldout and 12” x 24” foldout poster of Kendall Roy from the Emmy Award-winning HBO series Succession. It retails for $65 (£52) and is available for purchase on the blonded.co site.On the website, it reads that those who order the vinyl should allow for 4-8 weeks for fulfillment.

Frank Ocean has shared a snippet of an unreleased song. The track in question can be heard in a 24-second video uploaded to Ocean’s Instagram story Thursday afternoon (December 7), in which Frank can be seen dancing to it in a recording studio.

Back in October Kelela announced a remix album to accompany this year's Raven. Today it has been confirmed that RAVE:N, The Remixes will be released on February 9 and include contributions from artists including Shygirl, Yaeji, Liv.e, BbyMutha, LSDXOXO, and Loraine James among others.

Beyoncé has shared her first new solo material since the release of her 2022 album Renaissance. "My House" appears over the credits of the Renaissance movie, which hits theaters across the world today (December 1).

SZA is one of the most popular artists in the world, and some portions of her fanbase are particularly internet savvy. This combination has made the R&B star a target for hackers to illegally obtain and leak her music, either to paying customers or for internet clout. In a new Variety profile, she revealed how leaks hinder her creative process.

Rolling Stone that the singer had passed away aged 80.“She was the first person we appointed on the board when we took it over and we had a long relationship with her and she was just fabulous,” Cyrus – who served as the executive director of the Louisiana Music Commission for two decades – told the outlet.“She was always willing to get involved with good causes and help out,” he added. “‘Mr.

The FADER’s transgender charity covers compilation FADER & Friends Volume 1 is out now, available exclusively on Bandcamp until December 1, 2023. 100% of the proceeds go towards the Transgender Law Center, Mermaids, and Rainbow Railroad.

Spotify is set to release its annual ‘Wrapped’ feature once again this year, where music fans can look back at their favourite releases of 2023.The feature arrives at the end of each year and shares stats, rankings and summaries with subscribers about their most listened to songs, albums, podcasts artists and genres.The streaming service has already begun teasing the rollout of this year’s ‘Wrapped’. Last year saw Taylor Swift named as the most streamed artist in the UK, while Bad Bunny took the global title for the record-breaking third year in a row.Spotify has not yet shared an official date that users will be able to access their ‘Wrapped’ roundup, but it’s usually any time between the final days of November and the first week of December.

confirmed.Knights’ family noted the “indelible mark she left on the world” in a statement detailing her historic run in the music industry.“Jean Knight’s legacy is not just a musical one; it is a testament to the enduring love between an artist, her hometown, and the fans who adored her,” the family statement read. “As we bid farewell to this iconic soulstress, New Orleans and her global fan base join together in gratitude for the indelible mark she left on the world.”The New Orleans native began her career as a singer after graduating high school, singing with bands at her cousin’s bar in the early 1960s.Knight — born Jean Caliste before changing her last name — released her first song, “Stop Doggin’ Me Around,” in 1965, landing a recording contract with Jet Star/Tribe record labels while working as a baker.Her big break would begin to form when she linked with songwriter Ralph Williams and began working with record producer Wardell Quezergue in 1970.Still working as a baker, Knight would record her hit song “Mr.

Destiny’s Child reunited at the premiere for Beyoncé‘s ‘Renaissance’ tour concert film this weekend.Beyoncé’s former bandmates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams – as well as LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, who both left the group in 2000 – attended the premiere for Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills on Saturday (November 25).Beyoncé dropped the latest trailer for her film last week ahead of its worldwide cinema release on December 1.“The Renaissance film is NOT TO BE MISSED PERIOD!” Rowland posted on Instagram Sunday (November 26). “Truly inspired! I’m so proud of you BB!”A post shared by Donatella Versace (@donatella_versace)A post shared by Kelly Rowland (@kellyrowland)Williams took to Instagram to share her thoughts on the concert film, describing it as “awesome” and “amazing” in a video message.

BRIT Awards have announced that they will be tweaking their rules for the 2024 instalment, following a row over diversity.The structuring of the award ceremony faced criticism at the start of the year when it was revealed that no female artists had been shortlisted for the 2023 Best Artist award. This came following the 2021 merging of the Best Male and Best Female categories.The winner of this year’s prize was pop icon Harry Styles, who also made a nod towards the perceived lack of fairness in the broader category – dedicating his speech to female artists including Rina Sawayama, Charli XCX, and Becky Hill, and acknowledging his “privilege”.Now, according to a new report by BBC News, it has been announced that the organisers of the BRITS will now increase the number of shortlisted artists for the Best Artist award.

Nas and Ezra Collective have been announced in the first wave of acts set to perform at All Points East 2024 alongside headliner Loyle Carner.Also joining the previously announced Carner at the East London festival in Victoria Park on Saturday, August 17 are Sainté, Joe James, ENNY and Navy Blue.Many more headliners and acts are set to be announced for All Points East 2024, which takes place across two weekends from August 16 to 25.A post shared by Uber One presents All Points East (@allpointseastuk)Carner’s hometown show is set to be his biggest show ever and his only live London date for 2024.AMEX presale is now live until 9am BST on Thursday, November 23, before general sale start 10am BST on Thursday from here.This year’s edition of the festival saw The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Walkmen and more take to the stage.The Strokes’ set was described as “a brilliant balancing act” in a four-star NME review, despite battling sound issues. It added: “The New York indie icons bring big-hitters and less obvious choices to All Points East as they battle, once again, with volume levels.”Stormzy also performed a career-highlight headline performance as part of his ‘This Is What We Mean’ day.

Smokey Robinson.The 1987 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, who just dropped “Gasms,” his first album in over a decade, has eight concerts lined up from November 2023 all the way up until June 2024.That includes gigs at Huntington, NY’s The Paramount on Wednesday, Nov. 29 and Atlantic City, NJ’s Etess Arena at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on Friday, Dec.

Earth Wind and Fire has embraced these past few years.In 2022, they toured with guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana on their ‘Miraculous Supernatural Tour.’This year, Philip Bailey, Verdine White and co. hit the road alongside R&B icon Lionel Richie on the ‘Sing A Song All Night Long Tour.’ Next up, they’ll share the stage with classic rockers Chicago on their summer 2024 ‘Heart and Soul Tour.’From July through September (no, they’re not booked on Sept.

Bruno Mars has teamed up with Fender to released a classic-inspired signature Stratocaster – check it out below.The ‘Bruno Mars Stratocaster’ will be a limited-edition model. A statement from Fender says that “Mars envisioned an instrument with class that could still appeal to the most technically driven shredders.”Speaking about creating the guitar, Mars said: “I don’t think of myself as a guitar player.

Little Simz has brought out Cleo Sol as a special guest at her Ally Pally show – watch the fotoage below.The rapper has just rounded off her ‘NO THANK YOU’ tour performing the album of the same name. In our NME review, we praised the album saying: “The case for Simz to be recognised as a true modern great has only been strengthened with this release.”Finishing her tour at London’s iconic Ally Pally, Simz had a surprise in store for concertgoers.

New Edition in Las Vegas sold out.“We sold that boy out in record time, that’s crazy,” the band shared on Instagram.And while it may seem like there aren’t any tickets to catch the famed R&B group’s six-concert residency at the intimate Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas from Feb. 28 through March 9, 2024, we’re here to dispel that notion.As of now, tickets to hear Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, Mike, Ralph and Johnny croon the classics like “Candy Girl,” “Can You Stand The Rain,” “If It Isn’t Love,” “Cool It Now” and “Mr.

The Recording Academy has announced the nominees for the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, taking place on February 4, 2023, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. AI has become a major talking point in the run-up to the 2024 ceremony. In June the Recording Academy updated their rules to account for the rise of generative AI as a songwriting and production tool.

Brooklyn-based R&B auteur Yaya Bey has shared two new songs, “crying through my teeth” and “the evidence.” Keen-eared listeners may remember “crying” from Bey’s COLORS August studio show; along with “the evidence,” it’s the first taste of a new album from Bey arriving in 2024. Scroll down to stream both songs alongside a music video for “the evidence.” The video focuses on different generations of Black woman and the minutiae of their daily lives, balancing both portraiture and dreamlike dance sequences.

Spotify has confirmed the streaming thresholds for its new royalty model.Reports emerged last month that the streaming giant’s restructuring would mean that less popular tracks wouldn’t earn any royalties, despite the company reporting profits and subscriber gains.According to a Billboard report, a track would have to meet a minimum annual streaming threshold before it would start to generate royalties.However, the streaming threshold at which tracks will generate royalties has now been confirmed in a Consequence guest column by Kristin Graziani, president of music distribution platform Stem.“After doing some analysis on what Spotify has actually communicated to distributors, we can say that in reality, these changes are intended to benefit emerging and growing artists,” Graziani wrote.According to the article, Spotify is introducing three new policies in 2024. Firstly, all tracks will have to reach a minimum streaming threshold of 1000 streams within 12 months to be paid a royalty.

Lucky Daye has dropped a new song titled "That’s You." The R&B artist co-wrote and co-produced the track with Bruno Mars. Check it out below.

READ MORE: Dave at the Brits – how his searing performance of ‘Black’ took on every racist tosser in the countryThe Music Is Black: A British Story will feature new contributions and BBC archive material from contemporary Black British music acts including Little Simz, Stormzy and Jorja Smith.A soundtrack spanning generations alongside an “evocative” set design will be on display at the exhibition, which charts the impact of early 20th century pioneers including Samuel Coleridge-Taylor through to later century stars Sade, Joan Armatrading and Tricky on British music culture.The V&A East Museum is set to open in 2025 as the latest offshoot of South Kensington’s The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), the world-famous museum founded by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1852.The V&A has expanded in recent years, with The V&A Dundee having opened recently. Bethnal Green’s The Young V&A also reopened in June.Its upcoming expansion is in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in an area called the East Bank, which is home to a new arts, innovation and education hub.

SZA has said she initially thought Drake was trying to “sabotage” her on their recent collaboration ‘Slime You Out‘.In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, the singer admitted that when playing demos to friends and collaborators, she often “won’t trust” them if they “accept my first draft.”She went on to reveal this also happened with Drake when the pair teamed up to create ‘Slime You Out’.“I just handed in the first draft to Drake, and he’s putting it on his album,” she said. “I’m scared because I handed in second vocals and he didn’t use that. And now I’m like, ‘Are you trying to sabotage me?’ I know that’s not true.

Foo Fighters were joined by H.E.R.

Usher has shown his love for Dr Dre by dedicating a moment to him during a recent show in Las Vegas.After a brief run of concerts in Paris, the ‘U Got It Bad’ singer’s iconic ‘My Way’ Las Vegas residency has resumed. Last week, Dre was in attendance and Usher took time out of his set to run through a few of the hip-hop revolutionary’s hits as well as give a brief speech on why Dre is so important today.“He is an amazing contributor to this music industry,” he said before his DJ played a medley of Dre’s biggest hits, including ‘Still D.R.E’ and ‘Nuthin’ But A G Thang’.

Rihanna has reportedly been planning her musical comeback, looking to release new music and go on a world tour next year.The ‘Don’t Stop’ singer has been teasing her ninth studio album, dubbed ‘R9’ since 2018, first promising to release it in 2019. That year, she captioned a video of a dog dancing to House Of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’ with the message “Update: me listening to R9 by myself and refusing to release it.”Now, Entertainment Tonight has reported that the Bajan-born pop star is planning her musical return and has recently signed a deal with Live Nation.

ONE Music Fest.On Oct. 28-29, the annual extravaganza returns to Atlanta’s Piedmont Park for two days featuring the biggest names in Hip-Hop and R&B.Just a few of the mega headliners on this year’s star-studded bill include Kendrick Lamar, Janet Jackson, Megan Thee Stallion, Brent Faiyaz and Bryson Tiller.They’ll be joined by Tems, Kodak Black, Coi Leray, Key Glock and Chief Keef.Plus, old school favorites like Nelly, T-Pain, Lil Kim, Jadakiss and Fat Joe will be there on the “50 years of Hip-Hop stage” too.And, of course, Big Daddy Kane, Too Short, Waka Flocka, KRS-One and El DeBarge to round out the lineup.We’re barely scratching the surface too — all in all, 49 acts are set to take the stage at this year’s ONE Music Fest.Want to go?As of now, it isn’t too late to pick up last-minute tickets.At the time of publication, two-day general admission passes are going for as low as $250 before fees on Vivid Seats.Single-day passes are currently going for more than $250 — therefore, your best bet is to grab tickets that will get you in on both Saturday and Sunday.Need a few more details before smashing that buy button?Keep scrolling.We’ve got all the details you’re looking for and more about the 2023 ONE Music Fest below.All prices listed above are subject to fluctuation.A complete breakdown of all the best prices on single and multi-day passes for the festival can be found here:(Note: The New York Post confirmed all above prices at the publication time. All prices are in US dollars, subject to fluctuation and include additional fees at checkout.)Vivid Seats is a verified secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.

Usher performed a cover of Daniel Caesar and H.E.R.’s ‘Best Part’ on the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge this week – watch the footage below.The R&B star performed his single ‘Good Good’ featuring Summer Walker and 21 Savage yesterday (October 23) with a live band, before he performed his cover of the 2017 track alongside singers Serena Prince and Teni Tinks, who he described as the “finest voices” of the UK.During the performance, Usher walked around the studio and uttered ad libs alongside the vocalists like “don’t play like this” and “there’s enough of me to go around.”Watch footage of the performance below.During his appearance in the Live Lounge, the artist remained tight-lipped about what songs might feature during his Super Bowl Half Time performance next year.The singer will perform at the Super Bowl LVIII at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on February 11, 2024.“It’s an honour of a lifetime to finally check a Super Bowl performance off my bucket list,” Usher said in a statement upon the announcement (via Billboard). “I can’t wait to bring the world a show unlike anything else they’ve seen from me before.

Usher has serenaded Doja Cat at his residency in Las Vegas – watch the footage below.The R&B crooner, whose latest Las Vegas stint started on October 11, spotted Doja Cat in the crowd and held her hand. There, he sang his song ‘There Goes My Baby’ from the 2010 album ‘Raymond v.

Shygirl and Tinashe have announced they will be cancelling their co-headline tour.The pair were due to embark on a tour next week in the US, supported by Jersey club pioneer UNIIQU3. However, the duo have had to cancel, citing Shygirl’s ongoing respiratory illness.In a statement, the London pop experimentalist Shygirl wrote: “Devastated to share that due to an ongoing respiratory condition I’ve been forced to make the difficult decision to cancel my appearances on the upcoming US tour on the advice of my doctor that I can no longer delay surgery.“My thoughts also go to Tinashe and Uniiqu3 as we were all so looking forward to this tour together,” she continued.