Pop Music

The BBC reports: Steve Bronski, co-founder and keyboard player in 1980s pop group Bronski Beat, has died at the age of 61. Bronski, from Glasgow, was born Steve Forrest and formed the group in 1983 with singer Jimmy Somerville and fellow-musician Larry Steinbachek. They enjoyed UK top 10 hits with the gay anthem Smalltown Boy, Why? and a cover of …

Billboard Magazine reports: Olivia Rodrigo and FINNEAS are each nominated in each of the Big Four categories at the 64th annual Grammy Awards – album, record and song of the year plus best new artist. Rodrigo was honored for her debut album, Sour, and its smash single “drivers license.” FINNEAS is up for producing and co-writing work with his sister, …

The BBC reports: Adele has persuaded Spotify to take the shuffle button off all album pages so tracks play in the artist’s own order. The singer tweeted: “We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our track listing for no reason.” “Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank …

The New York Post reports: Fans injured in the Astroworld tragedy, along with the families of some of the dead, have filed more than 100 lawsuits against Travis Scott and Live Nation. Nine people died and more than 300 were hurt, including a 9-year-old boy who was left in a coma, when the first night of what was to be …

“If you’re willing to walk among us unvaccinated, you are an enemy. I don’t care about your political beliefs. You are not allowed to infect anybody just because you think you’ve got rights that are delusional, of course. “You don’t have the right to go through a red light — actually, the government has the right to tell you to …

Dallas’s NBC News affiliate reports: A 22-year-old college senior who was critically injured at the Astroworld festival in Houston has died, the family’s lawyer said Thursday, making her the 9th fatality from the event. Bharti Shahani died Wednesday, attorney James Lassiter said during a news conference. Hundreds of others were injured in the melee Friday night as rapper Travis Scott …

The BBC reports: Abba singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad has said “don’t be too sure” that their comeback album Voyage is their last, in her first interview about the reunion. The Swedish superstars released the LP, their first for 40 years, on Friday. It is on course to be the fastest-selling album of the year so far and outsold the rest of …

The Hill reports: Rappers Travis Scott and Drake are being sued in relation to a stampede at Scott’s Astroworld music festival Friday that left hundreds injured and eight dead. A tweet from the law firm Thomas J. Henry Law on Sunday confirmed that it had filed one of the first lawsuits on behalf of victims from the festival, alleging Scott …

The Associated Press reports: A criminal investigation is underway in Houston, including by homicide and narcotics detectives, as law enforcement officials seek to understand how eight people died and many more were injured at a sold-out music festival Friday night. “This is now a criminal investigation that’s going to involve our homicide division as well as narcotics, and we’re going …

Houston’s ABC News affiliate reports: Eight people died Friday night and hundreds of others were injured during the opening night of a popular weekend music festival at NRG Park, authorities said. It happened at the third-annual Astroworld Festival, a sold-out concert event featuring multiple acts. The worst of the incident began around 9:15 p.m. when the crowd of approximately 50,000 …

CNET reports: The world’s greatest rock and roll band has met its match in the world’s greatest robot dog. Boston Dynamics’ creepy-cute Spot whipped out its best moves-like-Jagger impression in a shot-by-shot video tribute to The Rolling Stones’ 1981 hit (and Windows 95 commercial jingle) Start Me Up. The video shows Spot mimicking the dancing and singing of front man …

The Associated Press reports: Minnesota’s Congressional delegation on Monday is introducing a resolution to posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to pop superstar Prince, citing his “indelible mark on Minnesota and American culture,” The Associated Press has learned. The medal is one of the nation’s highest civilian honors and past recipients include George Washington, the Wright Brothers, Rosa Parks, Mother …

Los Angeles’s ABC News affiliate reports: Don’t call him Kanye anymore. A Los Angeles judge on Monday approved a petition by rapper Kanye West to officially change his name to be known simply as “Ye,” with no middle or last name. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michelle Williams Court gave her nod to the request by the singer, who filed …

Variety reports: In a surprise move, the Coachella festival has reversed its plan to require vaccinations for ticketholders to its April 2022 events, and instead will only require proof of a negative test taken within 72 hours of the event (although proof of full vaccination will work as well). Curiously, the announcement was made Tuesday afternoon via the festival’s Instagram …

The Associated Press reports: Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar will perform for the first time on stage together at the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show. The NFL, Pepsi and Roc Nation announced Thursday that the five music icons will perform on Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Lamar …

“I’m pro-vax; the COVID is real. My biggest joy right now is that by 2022, I figure all the anti-vaxxers will have died. So, we will be left with a world of intelligent people who believe in science. How about that? Do I have an opinion? You do not want to go down this road with Dee Snider because I …

Complete Music reports: A judge in New York has declined to dismiss Eddy Grant’s copyright infringement lawsuit against Donald Trump over the use of the former’s track ‘Electric Avenue’ in one of the latter’s campaign videos last year. Team Trump claimed that their use of the song was ‘transformative’ and therefore covered by the ‘fair use’ principle in US copyright …

New York City’s CBS News affiliate reports: R. Kelly has been found guilty on all counts following a trial in New York City. He faced nine charges including racketeering and eight violations of the Mann Act involving two women. The Mann Act makes it illegal to transport anyone across state lines for any immoral purpose. Jurors began deliberations last Friday …

New Music Express reports: Eric Clapton has given a performance in New Orleans at a venue that requires evidence of a COVID-19 vaccine or negative test result, effectively undoing the stance he took against such measures earlier this year. In July, Clapton vowed never to perform at a venue that required proof of vaccination, shortly after UK Prime Minister Boris …

PHOTO CREDIT: Shefik. Billboard Magazine reports: Sarah Dash, a co-founder of pioneering R&B/rock group Labelle of “Lady Marmalade” fame, died Monday (Sept. 20). She was 76. “We were just onstage together on Saturday [Sept. 18] and it was such a powerful and special moment,” group namesake Patti LaBelle said in a statement sent to Billboard. Born Aug. 18, 1945 in …