Pop Music

Rolling Stone reports: Public Enemy announced they are permanently “moving forward” without Flavor Flav, firing one of hip-hop’s most memorable hypemen after more than 35 years. The abrupt dismissal comes just two days after the rapper sent a cease-and-desist letter to Bernie Sanders over Chuck D’s concert at the campaign’s Los Angeles rally Sunday. “Public Enemy and Public Enemy Radio …

NBC News reports: Village People, the American disco group behind the hits “YMCA,” “Macho Man” and “In the Navy,” has given the go-ahead for President Donald Trump to plays its songs at events, despite being “inundated” with requests from fans urging the band to block the president’s use of the music. Trump most recently played Village People’s 1978 track “Macho …

Rolling Stone reports: Neil Young has never hidden his contempt for Donald Trump, but now that he’s officially an American citizen, he’s raising his voice even louder. “You are a disgrace to my country,” Young writes in a long, scathing open letter to Trump on his Neil Young Archives website. “Your mindless destruction of our shared natural resources, our environment, …

Variety reports: It takes a lot to make a performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” before the NBA All-Star Game trend higher on social media than the game itself, but Chaka Khan has managed what Fergie was able to two years ago, with a unique rendering of the National Anthem that threatened to render anything that followed an afterthought. In …

Via press release from GLAAD: Last night’s 62nd Annual Grammy Awards included wins for out LGBTQ artists including Lil Nas X, Brandi Carlile, Lady Gaga, DJ Tracy Young, and more. DJ Tracy Young picked up the Grammy in Best Remixed Recording for her track “I Rise (Tracy Young’s Pride Intro Radio Remix),” a remix of the Madonna track “I Rise.” …

Reuters reports: Britain’s Royal Mint has issued its first commemorative coin featuring a British rock group, in a tribute to the late Freddie Mercury and the three other band members of Queen. “This is a ‘who would’ve thought it’ moment. Here we have a coin of the realm, a five-pound coin in fact, made by The Royal Mint, in the …

The Associated Press reports: Rapper Eminem once again dropped a surprise album, releasing “Music to Be Murdered By” on Friday — along with a video that calls for changes to gun laws. The follow-up to 2018′s “Kamikaze” — also released without warning — was announced on Twitter just after midnight. The Detroit rapper’s new music video for “Darkness,” one of …

Cleveland.com reports: The posthumous inductees Whitney Houston and The Notorious B.I.G. will lead this year’s class into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. They’ll be joined by Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Nine Inch Nails and T. Rex. Houston, the gospel-trained singer with the soaring voice, had a string of No. 1 singles including “I Will Always Love You.” …

The Christian Post reports: Kanye West’s popular Sunday Service events hit the one year mark this week and on the anniversary of the gospel music gatherings, the rapper testified that the services saved his life. “A lot of times people say, ‘Thank you Ye for Sunday Service.’ I’m saying thank God. This thing saved my life,” West revealed while performing …

“The intelligentsia of Berlin and the literati and all the artists were just busy doing their thing. And there were a lot of chances – as Hitler rose to power – there were a lot of chances to stop him and they didn’t speak out. “The industrial complex thought that they could control him once they got him in office …

The Christian Post reports: Kanye West said God has given him a platform to address the “beef” he’s seeing in the Christian community, specifically Christian radio stations not playing both gospel and contemporary Christian music — including songs from his album — which has created a division between white and black artists. “Look, Jesus died for our sins! It’s simple. …

The Associated Press reports: Actress Sally Field, singer Linda Ronstadt and the disco-funk band Earth Wind and Fire awaited their turn in the spotlight Sunday night as part of the latest group of recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievements in the arts. Also in this year’s class are conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and long-running children’s TV show …

NBC News reports: Kid Rock won’t renew his licensing agreement for Kid Rock’s Made in Detroit restaurant, the owners of the sports arena in which it’s housed said Wednesday. The news comes after the singer and musician was recently filmed delivering a vulgarity-laced rant against Oprah Winfrey. Chris Granger, president of sports and entertainment for Ilitch Holdings, said in a …

Variety reports: Kid Rock went a sexually explicit tirade went into against several female talk shows hosts on stage at his own Nashville bar this week, in a state the website TMZ described as “clearly intoxicated.” The video ends with him being helped off the lip of the stage in an awkward manner by handlers. “I’m like, Oprah Winfrey or …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: The day after teasing its world premiere on Twitter, Kanye West dropped the music video for “Closed on Sunday,” the fourth track from his latest gospel-rap album, Jesus Is King, today. The song includes multiple references to famous fast food outlet Chick-fil-A, which is traditionally closed Sundays. The bizarre video, a little less than three minutes …

The Telegraph reports: Hungary has pulled out of next year’s Eurovision song contest amid speculation the decision was triggered by a backlash to the competition’s LGBT-positive messaging. While no official reason has been given for the withdrawal, sources within Hungary’s public broadcaster reportedly believe it is due to a rise in homophobic rhetoric within the country around the contest, with …

Variety reports: The United Nations will award Cyndi Lauper with the first High Note Global Prize award for her promotion of human rights and impacting work to prevent and end homelessness for LGBTQ youth, the organization announced today. On U.N. Human Rights Day — which is December 10 — the High Note Global Prize will be presented to Lauper by …

Reuters reports: Hit South Korean boy band BTS will not be given exemption from mandatory military service, the defense ministry has said, reaffirming its policy of no exceptions for pop stars. The decision is likely to fuel debate in South Korea, which remains technically at war with North Korea, about whether entertainers and athletes should have to do their full …

The New York Times reports: Lizzo, a charismatic new pop and R&B star, has been nominated for eight prizes at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards, leading a class dominated by fresh faces like Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X. Lizzo spent much of the last decade as a struggling rapper and singer, but broke through this year with hits like …

Roll Call reports: Rep. Louie Gohmert has three daughters. Caroline, the middle child, is a musician who lives in California under the artist name BELLSAINT. And her latest single is called Much Like My Father. “Everybody loves you / But there’s poison in the water / You get away with everything / Much like my father,” BELLSAINT begins. “I don’t …