entertainment blog
Adele’s ’30’ Sales Prove She Can Still Deliver at Retail in a Streaming Industry
With Adele’s 30 breaking through with 1.45 million album consumption units and selling consistently with the holiday sales rush in full force, an initial fear that Columbia/Sony Music may have shipped too much product into the U.S. marketplace has dissipated. While it didn’t take off like a moonshot the way 25 did when it opened with 3.5 million units sold in 2015, Adele’s latest “did fantastic in the debut week and now there are consistent sales,” says one physical music executive. “This title feels like it definitely has legs.” Nevertheless, industry sources initially speculated that Sony had shipped anywhere from 1.2 million to 1.7 million pieces of physical product in the U.S., with that higher figure fueled by the belief that as much as 1 million combined CD and vinyl albums went to T...
Taylor Swift Rings in Her Birthday With Alana Haim: ‘I’M FEELIN 32’
As all die-hard Swifties know, Thursday (Dec. 13) is Taylor Swift‘s birthday, and the superstar took to social media to celebrate — set to the tune of a fan-favorite Red single. The “I Bet You Think About Me” songstress rang in her 32nd birthday with a dual party alongside bestie Alana Haim. “*Don’t say it, don’t say it OKAY I’m saying it:* I’M FEELIN 32. And Alana is feeling 30. Don’t worry we tested everyone! Thank you so much for the birthday wishes, I love you all so much,” she captioned a pair of snaps from the party, showing off her and the littlest Haim’s matching birthday cakes adorned with photos of them as kids. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news According to the candid shots, the bash was also attended by Booksmart actress Diana Silvers...
Britney Spears Says She ‘Hated’ Her Old Touring Schedule: ‘I Don’t Think I Ever Want to Do it Again’
It’s been three years since Britney Spears has been on tour, and the pop star divulged on Instagram about how difficult life on the road was. In a new post Monday (Dec. 13), Spears reflected on all the gifts from A-listers she received on her 40th birthday earlier this month and took a moment to count all her blessings. But when it came to the hardships from her old life as an active touring musician, the “Toxic” singer revealed how much she “hated” her old, laborious touring schedule. “I know I’m not playing in huge arenas with my loud band anymore but I will be honest and say life on the road is hard !!!” she wrote in the lengthy post. “My first three years in the biz and on the road were great but I’ll be completely honest and say that after those three tours and the pace I was going … ...
First-Ever DJ Workshop for the Deaf In the U.K. Scheduled for 2022
Nearly two decades after Deaf Rave was founded in 2003, the organization will be introducing its first-ever DJ workshop in 2022. Founded by Troi Lee, Deaf Rave is Europe’s first and only events organization dedicated to providing rave experiences to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Over the years, the U.K. organization has brought together artists, sign language rappers, dancers, and more for their beloved semi-annual events. Now, Deaf Rave is ensuring aspiring artists from the deaf community have the opportunity to pick up the art of DJing with new beginner’s workshops that will be based in London. Dance music fans from the deaf community primarily engage with the medium by way of touch. Feeling the reverberations of the sounds emitting from the stage monitors allo...
Brian Eno Develops Limited Batch of Mesmerizing, Color-Changing Turntables
Brian Eno is an ambient artist in every sense of the word, from his role in first coining the term “ambient music” to creating ethereal lighting installations, which yield an infinite combination of kaleidoscopic perspectives. His latest venture could be seen as a convergence of these realms of expertise. Collaborating with London’s Paul Stolper Gallery, Eno has developed a limited run of psychedelic, color-changing turntables. The turntable cycles through an array of gentle hues and has lighting mechanisms included in both the base and platter of the unit, leading to a free flow of unique LED color combinations. “The light from it was tangible as if caught in a cloud of vapor,” Eno explained upon first seeing the finished product. “We sat...
Klas Bergling Reflects On “Dangerous Combination” of Avicii’s Fame and Fortune In Candid Interview
In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Avicii‘s father, Klas Bergling, continues to advocate for the mental health of rising musicians. Though there’s a natural, innate discomfort around the conversation of suicide, Bergling isn’t shying away from the term. “You should call things what they are,” he told The Times. Bergling also shows he has no hesitations about confronting difficult memories related to his son’s passing head-on. In the immediate aftermath of Avicii’s heartbreaking death, conversations swirled around the circumstances that could have led to such a tragedy. Ultimately, Bergling attributes some of the reason to a lack of structure in the midst of his son’s meteoric rise to fame. “It’s fame and fortune, and t...
The h.wood Group Announces Plans for First-Ever Metaverse Nightclub, Sunset Boulevard’s Bootsy Bellows
Los Angeles hospitality company The h.wood Group is looking to maintain their prestigious status within the world’s next technological frontier: the metaverse. The company, led by John Terzian and Brian Toll, is aiming to take The h.wood Group’s Bootsy Bellows nightclub brand to the digital realm. Working alongside Alex Shultz, the founder of Looks Rare Studio, they’ve already ushered in several promising developments to cement the brand’s digital future. The vaudeville-inspired club interior was notably modeled after Frank Sinatra’s Palm Springs home. Co-owned by actor David Arquette, Bootsy Bellows sits on one of the priciest plots of land in the U.S. on Sunset Boulevard. However, a new kind of land grab is happening befor...
These Studio Pros Each Have Three 2022 Grammy Nods in a Marquee Category
This year, three studio pros each have three Grammy nominations in a marquee category: record or album of the year. Manny Marroquin has three album of the year nods as an engineer/mixer on Jon Batiste’s We Are, H.E.R.’s Back of My Mind and Lil Nas X’s Montero. Serban Ghenea and John Hanes each have three record of the year nods as engineer/mixers on Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me by Your Name),” Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” and the Doja Cat/SZA collab “Kiss Me More.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Remarkably, this is the second time that Ghenea and Hanes have had three record of the year nominations in one year. And the last time they did it, in 2015, there were just five nominees in the category. (There are 10 this year.) Ghenea and Hane...
Music Executives Remember Mexican Icon Vicente Fernández: ‘The Hearts of the Industry Are Heavy’
A mass for Vicente Fernández was televised Monday (Dec. 13) live from his Los 3 Potrillos ranch in Guadalajara featuring a beautiful tribute by his family and longtime mariachi, as well as fans chanting his songs and bidding their final goodbyes. While colleagues and family members gathered in person to honor the life of “El Rey de la Ranchera,” others, including key industry figures, who weren’t in attendance shared what it was like working closely with Fernández and about the significance of his legacy. In an official statement given to Billboard, Pepe Garza, programming director at L.A.’s Que Buena 105.5/94.3 FM station and founder of Premios de la Radio, said: “Whenever you listen to a Vicente Fernández song, it’s going back to that time when you were happy. That, to me, is the most im...
Kelly Clarkson Begs ‘Christmas Come Early’ for Festive New Performance
Christmas couldn’t feel farther away for Kelly Clarkson, who performed her own hopeful holiday song “Christmas Come Early” on Monday’s (Dec. 13) Kelly Clarkson Show. Joined by her band Y’all, the Emmy-winning daytime talk-show host sang earnestly about needing the holiday season to come sooner and bring joy to the world when it needs it most, pleading, “Christmas, won’t you please come early this year?” in front of a makeshift white Christmas trees. Explore See latest videos, charts and news “Christmas Come Early” is featured on Clarkson’s second holiday album, When Christmas Comes Around…, which was released on Oct. 15 via Atlantic Records. The album, which features star-studded collaborations with her fellow The Voice coach Ariana Grande, Chris Stapleton and Brett Eldredge, went No. 1 on...
Sam Cooke’s Music Still ‘Sends’ Grammy Voters, Decades After His Death
Sam Cooke died 57 years ago, on Dec. 11, 1964, but his music remains timeless. And it figures in four 2022 Grammy nominations. Leslie Odom Jr. has two nominations for his work on One Night in Miami…, the film for which he received two Oscar nominations (best supporting actor and best original song) earlier this year. Odom is Grammy-nominated for best compilation soundtrack for visual media, alongside compilation producer Nicholai Baxter and music supervisor Randall Poster. He is also nominated for best song written for visual media for “Speak Now,” alongside his co-writer Sam Ashworth. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news BJ the Chicago Kid, PJ Morton & Kenyon Dixon featuring Charlie Bereal are nominated for best traditional R&B performance ...
Stevie J Was Kicked Off A Flight In LAX Due To Some Booze, Allegedly
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty Last Friday (December 10) Stevie J was kicked off a Delta flight in LAX due to his son, Stevie II, trying to board the plane with a drink in hand, but the Love & Hip Hop star insists that those reports are false and offered his side of the story. According to TMZ, Stevie J is disputing the story that he and his friend were removed from their flight in Atlanta over a drink and says that the real reason they were taken off the flight was because they didn’t follow instructions immediately. Thought Stevie admits that he and his son were enjoying drinks while they waited to board their flight, he denies that they brought it onboard and actually downed them and discarded the cups before getting on the plane. Related Stories “He in...
