entertainment blog
Carlos Marin, Singer in Classic Crossover Act Il Divo, Dies at 53
Carlos Marín, who was part of the British singing group Il Divo, died Sunday at age 53. The cause of death was not revealed; however, he had been hospitalized recently. The group announced his death via its Instagram account. “It is with heavy hearts that we are letting you know that our friend and partner, Carlos Marin, has passed away,” the post reads. “He will be missed by his friends, family and fans. There will never be another voice or spirit like Carlos. For 17 years the four of us have been on this incredible journey of Il Divo together, and we will miss our dear friend. We hope and pray that his beautiful soul will rest in peace.” The post was signed by the group’s three surviving members: David Miller, Sébastien Izambard and Urs Bühler. The news of his death comes three days afte...
Adele’s ‘30’ Extends U.K. Chart Reign
Adele’s 30 (Columbia) remains rock-solid atop the Official U.K. Albums Chart. The British singer’s fourth album enters a fourth week at No. 1, for the longest consecutive run at the top for any album in 2021, the OCC reports. When the chart week wrapped up last Friday (Dec. 17), it wasn’t even close. According to the charts compiler, 30 scooped nearly twice the volume of chart sales of its closest competitor, Ed Sheeran’s = (equals via Asylum). If Adele’s latest LP manages another week at No. 1, it will equal Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour (Interscope) for the most total weeks at the summit, with five. Sour’s reign, however, wasn’t a continuous one. The highest new entry on the current frame belongs to Paul Weller, whose An Orchestrated Songbook (Polydor) starts at No. 4, for the former Jam frontma...
Future Proclaims He’s Bigger Than JAY-Z “In the Streets”
Future took to Twitter over the weekend to proclaim that he’s bigger than JAY-Z. The tweets caught hip-hop fans in a surprise and quickly went viral as they discussed the legitimacy of Future’s claims. In separate tweets, he wrote, “I’m the only one can get YE to pull up whenever wherever..tuh,” which referred to their recent performance at Rolling Loud California, “Everything I do legendary or it want get done. Tuh,” “In the streets im bigger then jigga. Ima run me a B up easy,” which referred to Hov’s status as hip-hop’s first billionaire, and “100M’s not the goal anymore.” Twitter users replied with a mixture of memes and explanations of whether or not they agree with Future’s tweet. A fan pointed out JAY-Z’s lyric of “Yeah, so in summation, I don’t know who you racing / I’m already at ...
Mobb Deep’s Prodigy To Reportedly Receive a Street Named After Him in Queensbridge, New York
Mobb Deep‘s Prodigy will supposedly have a street named after him in Queensbridge, New York in 2022. According to reports, the corner of 12th Street and 41st Road will be co-named “Prodigy Way” and has just received final approval from the City Council. Prodigy’s family, fellow Mobb Deep member Havoc, Big Twins and Kenny Carter’s Fathers Alive in the Hood organization greatly helped in the co-naming of the block, with its proposal “graciously approved.” Prodigy died in June 2017 while hospitalized for complications in relation to his sickle-cell anemia. Havoc shared in 2018 that he’s working on a new Mobb Deep album “in conjunction with [Prodigy’s] family” and that it will release “pretty soon, before the end of the year,” but any updates surrounding the followup to The Infamous Mobb Deep ...
Watch Kanye West’s Latest Sunday Service in Los Angeles
Kanye West is back with another edition of Sunday Service, with this week’s service taking place in Los Angeles once again. The one-hour event was livestreamed and uploaded as an unlisted video on Ye’s YouTube account. The Sunday Service Choir appeared in all-black hoodies and sang renditions of Frank Ocean’s “Lost” and Jeremih’s “Paradise,” holiday-appropriate favorites like “O Come All Ye Faithful” and West’s own songs including “24.” Meanwhile, children also dressed in black hoodies can be seen running around and having fun during the service. The last iteration of Sunday Service took place in late November and was dedicated to the late Virgil Abloh. The Sunday Service Choir melody performed a somber medley that included a take of Adele‘s “Easy On Me,” followed by a message th...
Adele’s ‘30’ Spends Fourth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart
Adele’s 30 holds firm at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for a fourth consecutive, and total, week. It’s the first album with four weeks in a row at No. 1 since March. 30 earned 183,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 16 (down 6%) according to MRC Data. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The last album with four straight weeks at No. 1 was Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album, which spent all 10 of its weeks at No. 1 from its debut frame, between the charts dated Jan. 23 and March 27. The last album by a woman with four weeks in a row at No. 1 was Taylor Swift’s Folklore, which spent its first six weeks atop the list (of its total of eight nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1) beginning in August 2020. 30 is the ...
Charli XCX Joins Paul Rudd for Pre-Recorded ‘SNL’ Musical Sketch ‘The Christmas Socks’
Charli XCX‘s SNL performance was called off Saturday night (Dec. 18) due to a limited crew amid the surge of COVID-19 cases linked to the omicron variant in New York City, but she did make a cameo in a pre-recorded musical sketch for the show. “The Christmas Socks,” possibly a parody of the 2000 song “The Christmas Shoes,” was led by SNL host Paul Rudd and featured Charli as a very special guest: a singing bird named T.J. Rocks. Explore Explore Charli XCX See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Christmas is a time of charity and giving, and that was the inspiration for this next music video, which I shot yesterday morning with Kyle Mooney, Aidy Bryant, Kenan Thompson, Alex Moffat and what should have been tonight’s musical guest, Charli XCX,” Rudd said in his...
Jingle Ball Concert Called Off Due to Omicron Variant Concerns
Jingle Ball’s stop in Florida, which was scheduled for Sunday (Dec. 19) in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale market, has been canceled. The event at the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, was called off due to COVID-19 concerns, amid the surge of the omicron variant. In a statement posted on Twitter on Sunday, iHeartRadio wrote, “Due to the increased transmission of the new Covid-19 variant and to further minimize any potential risks, as a precautionary measure and for the safety of our staff, talent and guests, we have made the decision to cancel tonight’s iHeartRadio Y100 Jingle Ball. Thank you for your understanding. Ticket holders will receive a refund within 48 hours and if they have any issues, they should reach out to their point of purchase.” The message was followed with a tweet reg...
Festival Where Drakeo the Ruler Was Killed Signed JV With Live Nation This Year
The organizers of a Los Angeles festival that was the scene of a high-profile homicide Saturday night (Dec. 18), when rapper Drakeo the Ruler was fatally stabbed, had recently made a major management change, ending its relationship with the organizers of Coachella in July to ink a new joint venture with global concert promoter Live Nation. Last month, Live Nation came under heavy fire for its alleged role in the deadly Astroworld festival headlined by Travis Scott that killed 10 people and left scores more injured. Authorities say that Drakeo was murdered in a stabbing attack Saturday during the Once Upon a Time in LA festival at Exposition Park and Banc of California Stadium in downtown Los Angeles. Headlined by Snoop Dogg, the festival was a joint venture between Live Nation and veteran ...
LCD Soundsystem Cancel Remaining Brooklyn Residency Dates Due to COVID-19
LCD Soundsystem have canceled the final three shows of their 2021 Brooklyn Steel residency. The band announced the news in a statement on Instagram earlier today (December 19). “You all have spoken. The last three shows are cancelled,” they wrote. “You good people who want to return your tickets and try again another time have spoken, but so has the new info, the hospital capacity, and those of us in the band, crew, and venue. We certainly had enough cancellations to make the vote count, but we also, now with all the new info, want to stop for our own sakes.” Find their full statement below. The last three dates of LCD Soundsystem’s residency were scheduled for December 19, 20, and 21. On December 17, the band issued a statement saying that they would not be cancelling the final three show...
Big Freedia Settles Lawsuit With Former Choreographer
Big Freedia has settled a lawsuit she filed against her former choreographer Wilberto Dejarnetti in 2018, Pitchfork can confirm. According to court documents viewed by Pitchfork, “negotiations were successful and a settlement was reached.” The case was dismissed without costs and prejudice. In a statement shared with Pitchfork via a representative, Big Freedia wrote: “Wilberto has been a great friend and collaborator to me over the years. He is a unique talent and I’m glad that we were able to move past this dispute. We’re both looking towards the future and all the opportunity it holds for each of us.” Freedia sued Dejarnetti, who regularly appeared on her Fuse reality TV show “Queen of Bounce,” in November 2018. Freedia filed the complaint for monetary damages and ownership of the choreo...
Lil Durk & India Royale Got Engaged, Goals Twitter Reacts
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: Aaron J. Thornton / Getty Lil Durk is officially off the market. Last night (Dec. 18), the Chicago rapper proposed to his llongtime girlfriend India Royale, and she said yes. Per 2021 Hip-Hop protocol, the proposal was public and soon enough became a trending topic because it’s the holiday season and why not? The proposal went down at 107.5 WGCI Big Jam 2021 concert in Chicago. You know it was real because Durk got down on one knee, while rocking white jean no less. “You know I love you to death,” said Durk, as seen anf heard in footage that made it onto the Internets. “You’ve been holding me down when I was going through a lot. You’re the realest and I just love you to death. Would you want to be my wife?” You already know the answer. Sure, there t...
