Pop Music

Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reports: A German-born Turkish pop singer has been accused by dozens of complainants in Turkey of blackmailing them with their secret gay love affairs. According to court documents seen by Hürriyet, more than 50 people in the provinces of Istanbul, Bursa and Giresun have recently filed criminal complaints against pop singer Bulut Duman, 28, over similar …

Rolling Stone reports: Ice Cube takes aim at President Trump in his politically charged new song “Arrest the President,” the latest cut off the gangsta rapper’s upcoming album Everythang’s Corrupt. While Ice Cube doesn’t mention Trump by name, he makes his target clear with pointed lyrics like, “Let’s meet at the White House / Run in and turn the lights …

Variety reports: Barbra Streisand seemingly has every award under the sun (she’s one of few people to receive EGOT status), but the famous singer isn’t immune to everyday problems. On the latest installment of “Carpool Karaoke,” which aired Thursday night, Streisand tells James Corden that she failed the test to renew her driver’s license three times. She says she’s constantly …

Millions of copies of Welcome To The Jungle will soon be burned in a red state near you: Axl Rose continued his recent spate of political tweets when he called on his 1.2 million followers to “Vote Blue … Bitches!” in the midterm elections on Nov. 6. He posted a picture of a vote-by-mail envelope along with his Democrat-endorsing message …

US Weekly reports: Rihanna stands with Kap. The “Work” singer declined an offer to headline the Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show because she “supports Colin Kaepernick,” a source tells Us Weekly exclusively. “The NFL and CBS really wanted Rihanna to be next year’s performer in Atlanta,” the insider reveals. “They offered it to her, but she said no because of …

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports: Video footage of audience members waving their hands to “Purple Rain” at one of President Trump’s rallies apparently raised a red flag from some members of Prince’s estate, who issued a statement Thursday night asking that “they cease all use immediately.” The statement, sent out via Twitter, read, “The Prince Estate has never given permission to …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Taylor Swift made history last night at the American Music Awards, earning the most AMA wins ever by a female artist — but she also did something she has never done before: talk about politics during an awards acceptance speech. When Swift won for Artist of the Year during the ceremony she took the opportunity to use …

Rolling Stone reports: The nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019 are in, and the list includes Radiohead, Def Leppard, Stevie Nicks, Rage Against the Machine, the Cure, Devo, Janet Jackson, Kraftwerk, LL Cool J, Roxy Music, Todd Rundgren, John Prine, MC5, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan and the Zombies. The top vote-getters will be announced …

The BBC reports: John Lennon’s Imagine – the third greatest song of all time, according to Rolling Stone magazine – has been given a reworking today for what would’ve been the former Beatle’s 78th birthday. So who better then to deliver this musical gift, other than the track’s co-writer Yoko Ono? The Japanese artist, who married Lennon in 1969, was …

Buzzfeed News reports: Since Taylor Swift flexed her star power Sunday with an Instagram post that encouraged her 112 million followers to register to vote, Vote.org has experienced an unprecedented flood of new voter registrations nationwide. “We are up to 65,000 registrations in a single 24-hour period since T. Swift’s post,” said Kamari Guthrie, director of communications for Vote.org. Guthrie …

CNN reports: If he ever enjoyed Taylor Swift’s music, President Donald Trump now likes the pop star’s tracks “about 25% less.” Trump struck out at Swift a day after the singer and longtime Nashville resident endorsed Democratic candidate Phil Bredesen, a former governor, over Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn in Tennessee’s Senate race. “What’d she say?” Trump said with a smile …

CNBC reports: Taylor Swift usually stays out of the political fray, but this year, with just a month to go until midterm elections, the pop superstar is getting involved in a big way. Swift stunned the pop culture and political worlds Sunday night with a lengthy, impassioned Instagram post in which she endorsed Democrats Phil Bredesen and Rep. Jim Cooper …

The Guardian reports: The French singer Charles Aznavour – often hailed as his country’s Frank Sinatra – has died at the age of 94. Aznavour, who was born Shahnour Varinag Aznavourian in Paris to Armenian parents, sold more than 100 million records in 80 countries and had about 1,400 songs to his name, including 1,300 he wrote himself. He was …

Yahoo News reports: Kanye West has been having a very Kanye West 24 hours. He performed as a giant Perrier bottle on Saturday Night Live, then was cut off at the end of the show during an impromptu pro-Trump speech to awkward silence and a scattered mixture of boos and applause. Which President Trump praised on Twitter. Head spinning yet? …

The Guardian reports: Willie Nelson took to the stage in Austin on Saturday night wearing a “Beto for Texas” cap over his trademark braided hair. It didn’t last long – within minutes he had flung the hat into the crowd and replaced it with his trusted red bandana. That Nelson was there in the heart of the capital to lend …

The Associated Press reports: When Barbra Streisand started writing lyrics for her new political song, “Don’t Lie to Me,” she initially aimed for “very subtle” references to President Donald Trump. But she couldn’t help herself. “I just went ballistic,” she said. “Don’t Lie to Me,” released Thursday, finds a passionate Streisand questioning the nation’s leader and pleading for change. Lyrics …

Roll Call reports: Willie Nelson may be getting up there in years, but there’s always time for firsts. And for the first time ever, the 85-year-old country music star will take the stage to perform on behalf of a political candidate. Nelson is the headline act for a rally in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 29 for Rep. Beto O’Rourke, the …

“I’m sorry I even have to say this, I don’t want to even have to ask this, but please don’t pickax my star, okay guys? I know it’s all the rage these days, but that’s not cool, just please don’t do that. Unless, at some point in the future, I do something unfathomably monstrous and evil, in which case, sure, …

Billboard Magazine reports: La Roux has taken Fox Business to task for using the song “Bulletproof” in a back-to-school segment promoting bulletproof school gear. A broadcast of Mornings With Maria on Monday showed a segment on back-to-school gear lined with hard ballistic plates. The segment used a clip of La Roux’s 2009 single “Bulletproof” as the lead-in track, keeping only …

Variety reports: Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler is demanding President Donald Trump stop using the band’s songs at rallies, like the one held at the Charleston Civic Center in West Virginia on Tuesday (August 21). The band’s 1993 hit “Livin’ on the Edge” was played as Trump devotees entered the venue, which has a capacity of 13,500. Tyler has in turn …