Pop Music

The Guardian reports: During a live set being broadcast on BBC 6 Music to promote his new album this week, Morrissey decided to veer away from traditionally appropriate crowd patter such as, “This is a new song,” and “Woo!” to gravely discuss his views on the UKIP leadership contest. “I was very surprised the other day – it was very …

Rolling Stone reports: The nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018 are in, and the list includes Radiohead, Rage Against The Machine, Bon Jovi, Depeche Mode, Judas Priest, Kate Bush, the Cars, Dire Straits, Eurythmics, J. Geils Band, LL Cool J, MC5, the Meters, the Moody Blues, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Nina Simone, Sister Rosetta …

CBS News reports: Tom Petty, the rocker best known as the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, is dead at 66, CBS News has confirmed. The legendary musician suffered a full cardiac arrest and was found unconscious and not breathing in his Malibu home Sunday night. He was taken to UCLA Santa Monica Hospital and put on life support, …

Rolling Stone reports: Showtime has shared the first trailer for their upcoming documentary George Michael: Freedom. The late singer himself provided narration for the film, which serves as his final work. Through unseen archival and private home footage, as well as Michael’s own anecdotes, the documentary focuses on Michael’s entire career but especially the height of his fame leading up …

Rolling Stone reports: Grant Hart, drummer and singer of the seminal alternative rock band Hüsker Dü, has died at 56 after being diagnosed with cancer. The news was confirmed by his bandmate Bob Mould in a lengthy Facebook post. The St. Paul, Minnesota-born Hart formed Hüsker Dü – Danish for “Do you remember?” – in the late Seventies along with …

“We’ve come together today to love on the people who have been devastated by the hurricanes. When love goes into action, it preferences no color of skin, no ethnicity, no religious beliefs, no sexual preferences, and no political persuasions. It just loves. As we should begin to love and value our planet. And anyone who believes that there’s no such …

Rolling Stone reports: Walter Becker, guitarist, bassist and co-founder of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band Steely Dan, died Sunday at the age of 67. Becker’s official site announced the death; no cause of death or other details were provided. “Walter Becker was my friend, my writing partner and my bandmate since we met as students at Bard …

From the right wing Christian site Charisma News: Jonathan Cain—songwriter and keyboard player for the band Journey—revealed on The Jim Bakker Show the Christian roots of the band’s biggest hit. His father imparted some Christian wisdom to him, including the phrase “Don’t Stop Believing.” He shares his testimony and performs the song live in this clip. Cain is married to …

The Associated Press reports: David Crosby says fellow rocker Ted Nugent has been kept out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because he’s not good enough, not because of his politics. Crosby responded to a fan’s question about whether political correctness kept Nugent out of the Hall by saying that Nugent “just isn’t good enough.” He also used …

Rolling Stone reports: Glen Campbell, the indelible voice behind 21 Top 40 hits including “Wichita Lineman” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” died Tuesday. He was 81. A rep for Universal Music Group, Campbell’s record label, confirmed the singer’s death to Rolling Stone. During a career that spanned six decades, Campbell sold over 45 million records. In 1968, …

The New York Post reports: Aaron Carter came out as bisexual in a revealing Saturday-night Twitter note to fans. “I grew up in this entertainment industry at a very young age and when I was around 13-year-old I started to find boys and girls attractive,” he wrote. Carter, 29, started off by saying he needed to get something off his …

The Houston Chronicle reports: This time Idina Menzel didn’t want to “Let HIM go.” The “Frozen” singer and Broadway legend was closing out her Grand Prairie show and invited children to join her on stage to sing along to “Let It Go. Menzel nonchalantly began talking with Luke, the only boy on stage, and asked if he knew the song …

The Associated Press reports: A founding member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five stabbed a homeless man to death after a passing remark made him think the man was hitting on him, a law enforcement official said Thursday. Kidd Creole, whose real name is Nathaniel Glover, was walking in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday near where he worked security and …

The HuffPost reports: Gloria Carter, Jay-Z’s mother, came out as lesbian in a new track featured on the rapper’s just-released “4:44” album. The song, “Smile,” features both Jay-Z and his mother discussing her sexuality. It is the first time that either of them has publicly addressed her sexual identity. “Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian / Had to …

The New York Daily News reports: It’s a double fantasy. More than 45 years after the release of the 1971 John Lennon classic, “Imagine,” Yoko Ono is getting a songwriting credit for the top song of her husband’s solo career. Lennon himself admitted that he swiped the idea for “Imagine” from a book of Ono poems. In a BBC interview …

Via press release from GLAAD: Today MNDR and Scissor Sisters release a charity single called “SWERLK.”  Proceeds from the single will go to Contigo Fund, which emerged from the Pulse mass shooting and offers financial support to organizations working to heal, educate and empower LGBTQ and Latinx individuals, immigrants and people of color, as well as those working to end …

Vox reports: In order to hack foreign governments, military officials, and embassies, Russian hackers are now using Britney Spears in their operations by posting cryptic comments on her Instagram photos. Hackers at Turla, a group believed to be linked to Moscow, are using Instagram comments on Britney Spears’s photos to control their hacking operation, said researchers at Slovakian security firm …

Billboard reports: The musical version of Cher’s life is coming to Broadway in 2018, the singer herself announced Tuesday. Jason Moore, who previously directed the stage musical Avenue Q as well as the popular a cappella film Pitch Perfect, is directing the show, which is based on the singer’s life and career, according to reports from the New York Post. …

US Weekly reports: Ariana Grande will headline a star-studded benefit concert in Manchester, England, on Sunday, June 4, to raise money for the victims of the May 22 terror attack at her concert. The One Love Manchester event will be broadcast live from the sold-out Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground, which is located just a few miles away from the …

Variety reports: ABC will air Ariana Grande’s One Love benefit concert Sunday, one of a host of international broadcasters that have signed up to air the live event dedicated to helping victims of the Manchester attack. BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, is coordinating the international effort and has placed the concert with broadcasters in 38 countries so …