Tag Archives: pop music

The New York Times reports: Meat Loaf, the larger-than-life rocker whose 1977 album “Bat Out of Hell” was one of the best-selling albums of all time, died on Thursday. He was 74. His death was confirmed by his manager, Michael Greene. A statement on the musician’s Facebook page said his wife was by his side and his friends had been …

Rolling Stone reports: Ronnie Spector, the leader of the girl group the Ronettes and the voice behind immortal classics like “Be My Baby” and “Walking in the Rain,” died Wednesday after a brief battle with cancer. She was 78. Spector sang with the Ronettes from their formation in 1959 through their dissolution in 1967, though there were several reunions over …

The New York Times reports: Bruce Springsteen has sold his music rights to Sony Music Entertainment in what may well be the biggest transaction ever struck for a single artist’s body of work, according to two people briefed on the deal. The arrangement, which has been gossiped about in music industry circles for weeks, includes both Springsteen’s recorded music catalog …

Variety reports: Michael Nesmith, who attained TV and pop stardom in the Monkees and later became a prophetic figure on the Los Angeles country-rock scene and then a multimedia entrepreneur, died Friday of natural causes. He was 78. “With Infinite Love we announce that Michael Nesmith has passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully and of …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Paste Magazine reports: Among the COVID-conscious, the name “Eric Clapton” has become a consistent source of eye rolls, groans and general aggravation. The 76-year-old English musician has been outspoken in his skepticism about lockdowns, vaccines and other such common-sense pandemic safety measures. But according to an in-depth Rolling Stone report published Oct. 10, Clapton’s vocal support of the anti-vaccine movement …

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 …