NEWS
Jay-Z, Roc Nation Send Letter Demanding Justice For Ahmaud Arbery
Source: Sean Rayford / Getty The cold-blooded murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia has angered the culture. Seeing the jig since it took months for his killers to be arrested, Jay-Z and several Roc Nation artists have penned a letter to Georgia officials demanding justice. By now you should at least be aware of the details. The 25-year old Arbery was simpy jogging in Satilla Shores, Georgia when he was stalked and killed by a father and son duo, and maybe more since there just happened to be video. It wasn’t until said footage was leaked, and a national uproar, that the perpetrators were arrested and it took another day or so before they were even charged with murder and aggravated assault. Team Roc has penned an open letter addressed to Georgia elected officials demanding that this case isn...
Little Richard Was a Quiet Civil Rights Pioneer Whose Concerts Helped Push Culture Past Segregation
“With Richard, although they still had the audiences segregated in the building, they were there together. And most times, before the end of the night, they would all be mixed together,” — producer H.B. Barnum in biography ‘The Life and Times of Little Richard.’ The early history of rock ‘n’ roll is a story of segregation — and Little Richard, who died of bone cancer at 87 on May 9, was a key player in the fight to destroy it. Because of Jim Crow laws, and racism in general, African-American musicians from Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker to Motown revues traveling through the South spent much of the 20th century relegated to black hotels and black restaurants, denied entrance even to hotels where they were headlining. Ballrooms and auditoriums dr...
Bad Bunny Drops Surprise New Album ‘Las Que No Iban a Salir’: Stream It Here
Bad Bunny surprised his fans over the weekend with yet another new album. The 10-track release, titled Las Que No Iban a Salir (The Ones That Were Not Coming Out), dropped on music streaming services Sunday (May 10), marking the Puerto Rican artist’s second new album in 2020. The set features appearances by fellow reggaeton stars Don Omar, Yandel, Zion & Lennox, Nicky Jam, and Jhay Cortez. Las Que No Iban a Salir follows Bad Bunny’s first 2020 album, YHLQMDLG, which dropped in February and made history on the Billboard charts. YHLQMDLG debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, scoring the highest charting all-Spanish-language album ever. Last weekend, Bad Bunny previewed songs from Las Que No Iban a Salir during an epic three-hour appearance on his Instagram Live. In addition ...
P!nk Pens Encouraging Mother’s Day Essay Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
P!nk has an encouraging message for moms around the world this Mother’s Day: “You are doing amazing.” In an essay published by NBC News on Saturday (May 9), the pop superstar chronicles her emotionally draining experience battling Covid-19 and offers hope to less fortunate families around the globe struggling during the pandemic. “Battling COVID-19 along with my 3-year-old son was the most physically and emotionally challenging experience I have gone through as a mother,” writes P!nk, who was diagnosed in early April. “Weeks after receiving our test results, my son was still ill and feverish. It was a terrifying time, not knowing what might come next.” The singer’s experience with coronavirus has opened her eyes to the needs of others around ...
Rolling Stones Unveil Rare Havana Moon Footage in Latest Livestream
The Rolling Stones continued to unveil bonus concert footage with their Extra Licks YouTube series on Sunday (May 10), rolling out clips from the 2016 film Havana Moon. That project documents the band’s historic free show in Havana, Cuba at the Ciudad Deportiva de la Habana, which drew an estimated half-million fans and marked a rare major performance by an international rock band in the country. Havana Moon is the second Extra Licks installment, following the premiere livestream on May 3 featuring outtakes from the Rolling Stones’ 2016 concert movie Olé Olé Olé!: A Trip Across Latin America. The six-part series, part of the streaming service’s #StayHome campaign, will also include footage from their 1994 Voodoo Lounge Tour. Extra Licks follows the band’s surprise-released single...
Betty Wright, Soul Hitmaker and ‘Clean Up Woman’ Singer, Dies at 66
R&B singer Betty Wright, best-known for a string of soulful hits in 1970s and early 1980s, including “Clean Up Woman” and “Where Is the Love?”, has died at age 66. Wright’s niece confirmed the news but didn’t reveal a cause of death, TMZ reports. Wright, born in Miami in 1953, launched her career as a child member of her family’s gospel act, the Echoes of Joy. But she ventured into soul and funk with her first solo album, 1968’s My First Time Around. Wright first found commercial success with 1972’s “Clean Up Woman,” famously sampled three decades later for a remix of Mary J. Blige’s “Real Love.” The vocalist issued a string of solo records and singles in the decade, including minor hits like 1972’s “Is It You, Girl?”, 1974’s “Secretary” and 1975’s “Where is the Love?”, which earned th...
Bono Shares a Playlist of the ’60 Songs That Saved My Life’
Want to feel old? U2 singer Bono turns 60 today. Maybe if you’re young, maybe he’s always been old. But that’s not the point here. In honor of his big birthday, Bono shared a playlist of artists who have inspired him. It’s diverse and wide-ranging that includes expected artists like David Bowie, Sex Pistols, the Ramones, (as in “The Miracle [of Joey Ramone]”), Nirvana and the Clash but also included Kanye West, Billie Eilish, Arcade Fire and Kendrick Lamar. Additionally, he shared a series of letters he wrote to each artist mentioned on the list, thanking them for inspiring him along the way and what their music meant to him. “These are some of the songs that saved my life…. the ones I couldn’t have lived without… the ones that got me from there to here, zero to 60… through all the scrapes...
Little Richard Never Won a Grammy, But He Brought Down the House at the 1988 Grammy Awards
Richard’s tone was genial and good-natured, but you can bet that it reflected a genuine sense that his role as a rock’n’roll pioneer had been under-appreciated. Little Richard never won a Grammy in competition, but he provided one of the most memorable moments at the 30th annual Grammy Awards, held on March 2, 1988 at Radio City Music Hall in New York. That was a strong Grammy show to begin with. It was the year Michael Jackson gave one of the most captivating performances in Grammy history, and U2 won album of the year for the first time. Little Richard and David Johansen, former leader of the New York Dolls (who recorded solo as Buster Poindexter), walked onstage to present the award for best new artist. Richard pointed out that Johansen’s hair was styled in a pom...
Demi Lovato & Max Ehrich Share Romantic Kiss Dancing to ‘Stuck With U’: Watch
Demi Lovato and Max Ehrich let everyone in on an especially lovey-dovey moment inspired by Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande‘s “Stuck With U.” The apparent couple shared a video showing a romantic slow dance — and some smooching — together in a starlit room Friday night (May 8). “Happy to be a part of something so special right now,” Lovato gushed. “Like really REALLY happy if you can’t tell… #stuckwithu.” “my whole heart. #stuckwithu,” Ehrich wrote on his own Instagram, where he posted the same sweet video. A short clip of their endearing dance made it into Bieber and Grande’s actual “Stuck With U” video — one of many celebrity cameos in the star-studded project, which is benefiting the...
Taylor Swift Checks In With Cute ‘Caturday’ Photo
It’s just another crazy “caturday” for Taylor Swift in quarantine. Swift, who’s been popping in with casual updates from home on social media recently, added a meme-ready photo of one of her cats, Olivia Benson, stretching out and looking ready for takeoff on her Instagram stories Saturday (May 9). “In her mind she is zoomin through space and I love that for her,” she captioned the snapshot, along with the appropriate hashtag #caturday. Eagle-eyed Swifties were quick to point out that the mat that is partially obscured in the picture is likely this oh-so-fitting “I HOPE YOU LIKE CATS” doormat. Catch up with Swift’s Instagram updates and see her latest story saved in a fan tweet below.
Boyz II Men and Babyface Perform ‘A Song for Mama’ on SNL
Boyz II Men were the musical guests on the Mother’s Day edition of SNL. The group, along with Babyface on guitar, performed “A Song for Mama” from 1997’s Evolution, and their performance was featured as a part of a montage of the castmembers’ photos with their mothers were spliced on screen. It was the season finale for SNL and it was a strange backend to the season. It was the third “At Home” episode from quarantine which featured guests including Kristen Wiig, Alec Baldwin (as Donald Trump, of course), Martin Short, Josh Gad and Tina Fey. A special acknowledgement of Little Richard’s passing was made as well. Previously, Miley Cyrus performed “Wish You Were Here” in front of a campfire. Watch Boyz II Men and Babyface’s performance below: [embedded content]
Jake Gyllenhaal Sings ‘A Love Song for Quarantine’ in Viral Monologue Series
The song, which includes rhyming lyrics related to home isolation, was posted Friday by the actor. As part of its viral monologue series, The 24 Hour Plays released a bonus track on Friday (May 8) featuring Jake Gyllenhaal. In the clip, the actor sings a musical piece written especially for him by Broadway composer Jeanine Tesori and playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. Titled “Across the Way,” the tune dropped on Instagram and was described in the caption as “a love song in the age of quarantine.” In the accompanying musical video clip, Gyllenhaal sits facing the camera in an orange T-shirt. The song includes lyrics such as “Day 32, I washed my hands, you made a cornish hen. Day 36 you sewed a mask, I washed my hands again.” The four-and-a-half minute piece...
