Iggy Pop to receive this year’s Polar Music Prize: “I’m honoured”

Part concert film, part character portrait, Andrew Dominik’s This Much I Know To Be True is another glimpse into the life and world of musician Nick Cave. The Berlin Film Festival Berlinale Special documentary flits between interviews in his home to performances of the songs from his albums “Ghosteen” (with the Bad Seeds) and “Carnage” (with Warren Ellis).

Saturday night's alright... when you have some brand new entertainment shows to watch.

EXCLUSIVE: Following a global search that took almost a year before making a decision, Paramount Pictures looks to have found the person to play its Reggae legend for its upcoming untitled Bob Marley biopic. Sources tell Deadline, Kingsley Ben-Adir has been tapped to play Reggae singer and musical icon Bob Marley in the biopic with King RIchard helmer Reinaldo Marcus Green directing.

Sting has become the latest elder rocker to cash in his songwriting catalog, selling his back output to Universal Music for a reported $300 million.

Jonathan Cohen Amazon Music and Amazon Live will unveil an in-depth conversation between Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Bruce Springsteen centered around Vedder’s new solo album, “Earthling,” which will be released tomorrow by Seattle Surf/Republic. Directed by longtime Springsteen collaborator Thom Zimny, the interview premieres tomorrow at 2 p.m.

EXCLUSIVE: Amid a streaming-spurred frenzy for music catalog rights, Multimedia Music has acquired film and TV scores from nine-time Oscar nominee James Newton Howard.

BRIT Awards, Måneskin gave us the lowdown on competing against ABBA, collaborating with Iggy Pop, partying with Ed Sheeran and what to expect from their next record. Watch our full video interview with the band above.The Italian Eurovision winners were in town for the London ceremony were they were nominated for Best International Group and International Song Of The Year.“It’s very exciting to be nominated,” frontman Damiano David told NME. “We didn’t expect it actually.

Chris Willman Music WriterHarry Styles’ success as an arena headliner was celebrated with an award for major tour of the year Tuesday night at the Pollstar Awards, held annually to honor the tours, festivals, venues, promoters, agents, managers, talent buyers and others judged to have achieved the greatest success in the live music sphere in the past year.Other artists singled out at the 33rd annual ceremony, held at the Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom as part of the Pollstar Live! conference, included Lady Gaga, Chris Stapleton, Foo Fighters, J. Cole, Maroon 5, Dave Chappelle, Sebastian Maniscalco and Billy Strings.Artists typically make their acceptance speeches on video, as Styles did this year (although Elton John showed up to accept the top prize in the flesh two years ago).

BRIT Awards for a star-studded celebration of the industry.Heading into the big night, Adele and Ed Sheeran led the pack with four noms each — alongside artists Dave and Little Simz — in a year where more female artists were nominated for awards than any time before.Throughout the gala event — hosted by comedian Mo Gilligan and presented by the British Phonographic Industry — the show doled out the trophies with some surprising and well-deserved victories.Check out the full list of the show's big winners below.   Adele, Columbia, Sony Music Dave, Dave Neighbourhood, Universal Music Ed Sheeran, Asylum, Warner Music Little Simz, Age 101/Awal Sam Fender, Polydor, Universal Music Coldplay, Parlophone, Warner Music D-Block Europe, D-Block Europe, Universal Music Little Mix, RCA, Sony Music London Grammar, Ministry Of Sound, Sony Music Bree Runway EMI, Universal Music Lola Young, Island, Universal Music “Latest Trends,” A1 & J1 “Don’t Play" Anne-Marie/KSI/Digital Farm Animals “Remember,” Becky Hill & David Guetta “Obsessed With You,” Central Cee  “Clash,” Dave featuring Stormzy “Bad Habits,” Ed Sheeran “Cold Heart (Pnau Mix),” Elton John & Dua Lipa «Heat Waves,” Glass Animals “Bed,” Joel Corry/Raye/David Guetta, “Holiday,” KSI “Wellerman,” Nathan Evans/220Kid/Billen Ted “Friday (Dopamine Re-Edit)» Riton X Nightcrawlers feat.

Charlie Puth has revealed that Elton John told him the music he released in 2019 “sucked”.Puth was discussing his collaboration with John on ‘The Lockdown Sessions’ while appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Monday (February 7). During the interview, Puth opened up about the “brutally honest” criticism the pop icon gave him right before they started working together.

K.J. Yossman Iggy Pop and Paris-based contemporary music troupe Ensemble intercontemporain have been named the 2022 recipients of the Polar Music Prize.The Polar Music Prize, which was founded in 1989 by Swedish musician Stig ”Stikkan” Anderson, is one of the world’s most prestigious music awards.

Iggy Pop and Ensemble Intercontemporain have been announced as the winners of this year’s Polar Music Prize. Each will receive one million Swedish kroner (about £83,000) and a nice trophy at a ceremony later this year.“We are delighted to return in 2022, after a two year absence due to the pandemic, with two incredibly worthy laureates”, says award MD Marie Ledin.

Elton John and David Furnish are celebrating after announcing that their Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party is returning after two years.MORE: Elton John makes unexpected revelation about life at family home amid Covid battleThe couple, who share two children together, Zachary, 11, and Elijah, nine, jointly revealed the news on their respective Instagram accounts.WATCH: David Furnish praises Meghan Markle as they work together on new show PearlThe party, which will benefit the Elton John Aids Foundation, will take place on 27 March and will include a performance from Brandi Carlile.MORE: Elton John's husband David Furnish pays tribute to singer following health battleSEE: 10 rare photos of Elton John's children with husband David Furnish"I'm so excited to welcome our friends back to West Hollywood Park this March for the return of #EJAFOscars!" David wrote alongside a video which announced the news. The couple announced the news ahead of the nominations being revealed"It's been over two years since we gathered in-person and we promise nothing but a spectacular evening, featuring a special performance by the gorgeously talented @BrandiCarlile, to mark @EJAF's 30th anniversary and raise funds for our life-saving work."Elton posted a picture of himself alongside Brandi to his nearly four million fans, and added: "#EJAFOscars is back.

Charlie Puth confessed that one of his biggest critics is Elton John.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorElton John is back.The legendary rocker and his husband David Furnish’s annual Oscar viewing party for the Elton John AIDS Foundation will return as an in-person event on March 27 after going virtual last year due to the pandemic. The AIDS organization announced Monday morning that Grammy winner Brandi Carlile will perform during the festivities, which take place in West Hollywood Park.“David and I are so grateful to celebrate 30 years of the foundation and especially grateful to Brandi Carlile and the many fabulous guests supporting us for another magnificent night in West Hollywood Park,” John said in a statement.

Sir Elton John will miss his own Oscars bash this year. The 74-year-old singer has thrown an annual Hollywood party on Academy Awards night for the past 30 years, in order to raise money for his Aids Foundation, but he will be absent this year due to a scheduling clash. The Oscars have been postponed from February to March 27 when Elton is back on his 'Farewell Yellow Brick Road' tour and he didn't want to disappoint fans after the tour was previously postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spotify has reportedly removed 70 episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience that see the comedian using racist slurs.However, the controversial episodes about vaccine misinformation are still available to listen to despite Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removing their music from the platform.Yesterday (February 4) India.Aria shared a compilation of clips that featured Rogan using the N-word repeatedly and describing a Black neighbourhood as being similar to the Planet Of The Apes movie.Earlier in the week, the singer announced they too were pulling their music from Spotify, citing their hosting of Rogan’s podcast and his “language around race” as the reasons why.#DeleteSpotify Clarity: Artist give their LIVES making music that streams for a 28th of a penny. Yes 28th of a penny.

Elton John thanked the wrong city after a performance in Kansas City, Missouri, earlier this week. Early Wednesday morning, a tweet from the music icon's account featured a series of photos from John's performance at Kansas City's T-Mobile Center along with a sweet message for the attendees.

Former Mumford & Sons band member Winston Marshall released a lengthy essay comparing calls for action against Joe Rogan’s podcast on Spotify to Soviet-era censorship.  On Thursday, Marshall released an essay on Substack with the title "When Artists Become the Censors" in which he criticizes artists like Neil Young, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren and India Arie, all of whom have pulled their music off Spotify until it addresses misinformation on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.  In his essay, Marshall begins by discussing the state of music censorship in the Soviet Union in 1984 before comparing it to the conditions that Spotify is facing today as calls for it to pull Rogan’s work mount. He even called out Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who previously voiced their "concerns" about misinformation on Spotify.  "Of course, Spotify is a private company; they’re under no obligation to platform anybody.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSpotify’s staff was up in arms about the company and co-founder/CEO Daniel Ek’s defense of Joe Rogan in a town hall meeting Wednesday that followed its middling quarterly report and subsequent stock drop, according to a report in the Verge that cites a leaked audio recording of the meeting.In Ek’s 15-minute speech, he positioned the company as both a platform and publisher, saying that “There are many things that Joe Rogan says that I strongly disagree with and find very offensive,” he said, but defended the company’s relationship with the controversial podcaster by stating, “If we want even a shot at achieving our bold ambitions, it will mean having content on Spotify that many of us may not be proud to be associated with. Not anything goes, but there will be opinions, ideas, and beliefs that we disagree with strongly and even makes us angry or sad.” Reps for Spotify did not immediately respond to Variety‘s requests for comment.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has defended the streaming platform, saying “it’s too early to know” the impact of the recent Joe Rogan row on the company’s future.Earlier this month, hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on The Joe Rogan Experience.More than 270 members of the science and medical community signed the open letter, which called Rogan’s actions “not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous”.The situation then made headline news, with Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Crazy Horse member Nils Lofgren and more pulling their music from the service after Young sparked a protest against the misinformation being spread about the virus on Rogan’s Spotify original podcast.Other public figures also weighed in on the debate, with Catherine Mayer – the widow of Gang Of Four‘s Andy Gill – criticising Spotify for platforming anti-vax sentiments. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, meanwhile, said in a statement that they had expressed concerns about misinformation to Spotify last year.

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis-featuring film This Much I Know To Be True has been released – you can watch the clip below.The Andrew Dominik-directed film is set for release later this year, and will be a companion piece to the 2016 music documentary One More Time With Feeling. It’ll premiere at the Berlin Film Festival later this month.This Much I Know To Be True will explore Cave and Ellis’ creative relationship and feature songs from their last two studio albums, 2019’s ‘Ghosteen’ (by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds) and last year’s ‘Carnage’ (Nick Cave and Warren Ellis).The first clip from This Much I Know To Be True has been released today (February 3), and begins with Cave discussing his own definition of his artistry.The clip concludes with Ellis conducting a string quartet as Cave performs the track ‘Lavender Fields’ – you can watch the first teaser video for This Much I Know To Be True above.The film was shot on location in London and Brighton last year, and will “document the duo’s first performances of the albums and feature a special appearance by close friend and long-term collaborator, Marianne Faithfull“ (via Deadline).It’ll also visit the workshop where Cave is “creating a series of sculptures depicting the life of the Devil”.

Chris Willman Music WriterSheryl Crow, Nick Cave, King Crimson, Dio, XXXTentacion, Tanya Tucker, Chumbawamba, Courtney Barnett, Cesária Évora and Mojo Nixon — together again for the first time: These are some of the highly diverse subjects of a slate of music documentaries (or, in the case of Tierra Whack, a fictional film) set to unspool at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin March 11-20.The 16 movies represented in the “24 Beats Per Second” lineup are nearly all world premieres, in a film festival that skews toward SXSW’s original roots as a pure music festival by always carving out a special category for features that chronicle musicians or music scenes.The music doc coming into the festival with probably the highest level of fan anticipation is , which promises to have director Sabaah Folayan offering “a sensitive portrayal” of a precocious, highly controversial, Soundcloud-based rapper “whose acts of violence, raw musical talent and open struggles with mental health left an indelible mark on his generation before his death at the age of 20.” While many of the festival entries are looking for a sale from their exposure at SXSW, “Look at Me!” is already set to stream on Hulu this summer. Joining the artist profiles in the film lineup are documentaries about the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story,” by co-directors Frank Marshall and Ryan Suffern, and rubber bridge guitars, in “Really Good Rejects,” a film that will have producer Aaron Dessner talking about using them on Taylor Swift’s recent folkier albums.Some of the films promise to be complete life and career chronicles, like those devoted to Crow, Barnett and Dio.

Crosby, Stills & Nash have joined a growing number of acts who’ve demanded that their music be removed from Spotify amid the COVID controversy involving Joe Rogan.Members of the disbanded folk supergroup, which when joined by Neil Young were known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, have thrown their support behind Young who last month said that he wanted all his music pulled from the streaming platform.Young took particular aim at controversial podcaster Joe Rogan – a prominent skeptic of the COVID vaccine who has a $100million exclusivity contract with Spotify – pointing out the widespread misinformation shared through his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.Spotify complied with Young’s request, also announcing in a statement that it would add content advisories to all relevant podcast episodes.Now, Crosby, Stills & Nash have revealed their decision to back Young (Nash had already given his support to Young).pic.twitter.com/yyhHTQi7fm— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) February 2, 2022“We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify’s Joe Rogan podcast,” the group wrote in a joint statement shared via Crosby’s social media.“While we always value alternate points of view, knowingly spreading disinformation during this global pandemic has deadly consequences.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn Wednesday (Feb. 2), nearly a week after Joni Mitchell requested for her music to be removed from Spotify, several of her albums remain available on the streaming service.

India Arie is opening up on her decision to withdraw her music and “SongVersation” podcast from Spotify following controversy over Joe Rogan’s involvement with the platform.

Claudia Eller Co-Editor-in-ChiefWhen Neil Young pulled his music from Spotify over the audio streamer’s continued support of Joe Rogan, whom he accused of spreading “misinformation and lies” about COVID via his podcast interviews, there were some nasty “who cares?” tweets directed at the folk-rock icon. But the haters should care that this deadly pandemic has been raging for nearly two years and it ain’t over yet.Young has been adamant for some time that artists shouldn’t be touring because of COVID; he even pulled out of a Farm Aid benefit, a charity he co-founded.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDavid Crosby and Stephen Stills have joined Neil Young and Graham Nash in asking their labels to remove their collective recordings from Spotify.According to the announcement, in support of stopping harmful misinformation about Covid-19 on Joe Rogan’s Spotify-hosted podcast, the musicians have decided to remove their records from the streaming platform including the recordings of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; Crosby, Stills & Nash and Crosby-Nash, as well as Crosby’s and Stills’ solo projects. Nash has already begun the process to take down his solo recordings.In a unified statement, the band members commented, “We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify’s Joe Rogan podcast. While we always value alternate points of view, knowingly spreading disinformation during this global pandemic has deadly consequences. Until real action is taken to show that a concern for humanity must be balanced with commerce, we don’t want our music – or the music we made together – to be on the same platform.” Reps for Spotify did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.Following a similar request by Joni Mitchell, the move reunites the five artists, who have been friends and collaborators since the 1960s, in a stance that they certainly could not have imagined 50 years ago.

EXCLUSIVE: The story of Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell, who created the sound of Philly Soul, is to be chronicled in a new feature documentary.

Tim Reid Howard Hesseman, the veteran actor known for starring in sitcoms “WKRP in Cincinnati” and “Head of the Class,” died Jan. 29 at the age of 81. The actor is remembered here by his friend and fellow “WKRP” star, actor-director Tim Reid.I first met Howard Hesseman at a cast meeting before we shot the pilot for “WKRP in Cincinnati.” The first thing I had to do was admit that I’d lifted something from him years back.Back in the early 1970s, I was one-half of a Black and white comedy duo with Tom Dreesen.

Zack Sharf Dwayne Johnson commended Joe Rogan on Instagram (via Newsweek) after the controversial podcast host issued a statement on his spread of COVID misinformation. Johnson even told Rogan that he “looks forward” to coming on the podcast one day and “breaking out the tequila with you.” The controversy over Rogan’s podcast resulted in artists such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removing their music from Spotify, citing Rogan’s damaging spread of COVID misinformation.

Graham Nash has declared his support for Neil Young, announcing plans to remove his music from Spotify in protest of the service platforming misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine.Young demanded that his music be pulled from Spotify last week, asserting in a since-deleted open letter to his management that content like the Joe Rogan Experience podcast “spread[s] false information about vaccines”.The streaming platform obliged, confirming on Wednesday (January 26) that Young’s content would indeed be removed from the platform.The saga drew mixed reactions from the wider music industry, while many seemed to side with Young, including Joni Mitchell who also announced she would be pulling her discography from Spotify over its conduct surrounding vaccine misinformation, as did Crazy Horse and E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren.Nash, Young’s longtime friend and CSNY bandmate, has now followed suit, issuing a statement to Rolling Stone in which he revealed he has requested his solo material be removed from Spotify.“Having heard the Covid disinformation spread by Joe Rogan on Spotify, I completely agree with and support my friend Neil Young and I am requesting that my solo recordings be removed from the service,” Nash began his statement.“There is a difference between being open to varying viewpoints on a matter and knowingly spreading false information which some 270 medical professionals have derided as not only false but dangerous,” he continued.“Likewise, there is a difference between misinformation, in which one is unaware that what is being said is false, versus disinformation which is knowingly false and intended to mislead and sway public opinion.“The opinions publicized by Rogan are so dishonest and unsupported

Joe Rogan controversy. In separate Instagram posts, Graham Nash and India Arie announced that they're leaving the music streaming platform, following in the footsteps of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. All of the Spotify exits are in response to podcast's COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, save Arie, who cited Rogan's «language about race» as the reason she's acting.In response to criticism against Rogan's COVID-19 interviews, the podcaster said he would do his «best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view.» Spotify, meanwhile, confirmed that it is in the process of adding a «content advisory» to any podcast episode that includes discussion of COVID-19 in an «effort to combat misinformation.»In his post, Nash noted that he's taking the same action as Young because he «completely agree[s] with and support[s]» his Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmate, who was the first to pull his music from Spotify.«There is a difference between being open to varying viewpoints on a matter and knowingly spreading false information which some 270 medical professionals have derided not only false but dangerous,» Nash wrote, citing an open letter in which scientists, medical professionals, professors, and science communicators asked Spotify to stop spreading Rogan's «baseless conspiracy theories.»«Likewise there is a difference between misinformation, in which one is unaware that what is being said is false, versus disinformation which is knowingly false and intended to mislead and sway pubic opinion,» Nash continued.

Two more artists are joining Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren in pulling their music libraries from Spotify due to the content on Joe Rogan’s podcast.  Graham Nash and India Arie announced Tuesday that they plan to have the platform remove their music. Nash, who performed with Young in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, provided a statement to Fox News Digital explaining that his decision comes after hearing the content on "The Joe Rogan Experience."  "Having heard the Covid disinformation spread by Joe Rogan on Spotify, I completely agree with and support my friend, Neil Young and I am requesting that my solo recordings be removed from the service," Nash said in a statement.  Joe Rogan is facing criticism over the content of his podcast.

Neil Young’s former and longtime bandmates Graham Nash and Nils Lofgren, along with singer-songwriter India.Arie, are the latest musicians to join Neil Young and Joni Mitchell in announcing the removal of their songs from Spotify.