Jem Aswad: Celebs Rumors

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The Weeknd doesn’t do anything by half, and a day after he announced a September concert in Brazil that will feature a “never-before-seen production,” he dropped an elaborate video teaser of what his next project will look and sound like — and it’s the third and final chapter in his “After Hours” / “Dawn FM” / TBD trilogy, which he hinted to Variety last year will have a visual component, possibly a film, as well; the new video concludes with the written words, “There are three chapters in this tale.” The minute-plus-long clip, posted in his Instagram story, is a surreal series of dream-like images from the last four years of his musical career: There’s the sports car, poker thee, red suit and sunglasses and sports car he sported in “Blinding Lights” and the other videos from his blockbuster 2020 “After Hours” album, segueing into the old man imagery from “Dawn FM,” then the hooded characters featured in his “After Hours Til the Dawn” tour, and then new elements come in. There’s a character, possibly a mannequin, wearing a mask that looks very much like his own face (he wore a lot of masks on the tour) and, in the conclusion, a character that looks like him as a young boy, surrounded by a horde of white mannequins reaching for him.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Actor-singer Kyla Pratt stars “The Memo,” a film adaptation of the psychological thriller by Minda Harts, which also features music from pioneering female rapper and musician MC Lyte. According to the announcement, the film is a first-hand account of the tumultuous journey of a woman navigating the corporate ladder, starring Pratt, who starred in Eddie Murphy’s “Dr. Dolittle” films and multiple television series.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Dick Asher, a veteran music-business executive who was president of PolyGram and Columbia Records and worked with artists ranging from Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi to Bob Dylan, has died, his family confirms to Variety. His age and cause of death were unconfirmed at the time of this article’s publication.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, has reported a mixed second quarter for 2024, with revenue of $3.2 billion, an increase of 8.7% year-over-year, or 9.6% in constant currency. Recorded music revenue grew 5.8% year-over-year, or 6.8% in constant currency; music publishing grew 10.1% year-over-year, or 10.4% in constant currency; and merchandising grew 44.6% year-over-year, or 43.7% in constant currency, according to the report.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last surviving original member of Motown legends the Four Tops, died on Monday at his home in Detroit, his family confirmed to the New York Times. The cause was heart failure; he was 88. The group’s tough, soulful voices were one of the defining sounds not just of Motown’s golden era, but the 1960s in general.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music With no disrespect to the five fine solo albums Jack White has created in the last dozen years, it’s safe to say that “No Name” — the vinyl-only set he stealth-released on Friday, packaged in a plain white sleeve and given away for free at his Third Man Records stores — is the one fans have been lusting for: a fiery, straight-ahead, just-plug-in-and-let-rip rock and roll album in the vein of his dearly beloved and dearly departed White Stripes, but without seeming retro or leaning too heavily on nostalgia. We can also say, with as much confidence as two and a half days and multiple plays can offer, it’s the freshest and most exciting rock and roll album to come down the pike in years — and as of right now, it’s only available on rare vinyl, bootleg streams or seemingly-official MP3s: Late Friday, Third Man posted a graphic over an image of the LP on its Instagram Story with the caption “Rip It.” (Awesomely, the MP3 includes some vinyl run-off-groove scratches at the end.) Fans will know what to expect: 42 minutes and 14 songs of full-throttle, hard-riffing rock, much of it seemingly recorded live in the studio, comprised entirely of White’s testifying vocals and scorching guitar accompanied by a kickass rhythm section (likely his longtime drummer Daru Jones and bassist Dominic Davis), with just the occasional keyboard or backing vocal overdub.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Eddie Rosenblatt, who was president of Geffen Records from its inception in 1980 through its glory years of Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana, Don Henley and countless others, died Tuesday at a hospital in Santa Barbara, Variety has confirmed. His son Michael told Hits the cause of death was pneumonia; he was 89.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The Weeknd has announced a special, “one-night-only” concert featuring an all-new show in Brazil taking place on September 7. The concert, which will take place at Sao Paulo’s Estádio MorumBIS and is produced by Live Nation, will debut a “never-before-seen production,” according to the announcement. The Weekend has largely been off the radar since completing his “After Hours Til Dawn” tour of North America and Europe last year and starring in “The Idol” last summer.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Exclusive bonus tracks… Five different shades of vinyl… Tour booklet with exclusive photos… “Fans First” exclusive picture disc… Boxed set with candle, hoodie and CD… Target exclusive, Amazon exclusive, Urban Outfitters exclusive… exclusive exclusive exclusive… “Variants” — multiple different vinyl, CD or cassette versions of an already-released album or EP — have become a booming business in the music industry, helping to drive sales and chart numbers for artists ranging from superstars to cult favorites. According to Luminate Data’s 2024 mid-year report released Tuesday morning, the top 10 U.S. physical albums of 2024 carried an average of seven different vinyl variants, two cassettes and 13 CDs (the latter mostly for K-pop acts).

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Republic Records has appointed David Wolter and Miles Beard as co-heads of East and West Coast A&R respectively, as announced Monday by label president and chief creative officer Wendy Goldstein. According to the announcement, Wolter and Beard will “spearhead, develop and lead A&R for the Republic Records roster in partnership with a host of ventures and strategic alliances and in tandem with Republic Records EVP Danielle Price,” who spearheads the company’s hip-hop/ R&B A&R team. Wolter has worked closely with Conan Gray, Greta Van Fleet (on the Laval imprint) and Miranda Lambert, and recently signed Livingstone, the Dare, Zoe Kravitz, and others to Republic.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The Sphere — the groundbreaking, immersive new venue in in Las Vegas that hosted eye-popping residencies by U2, Dead & Co., Phish and soon the Eagles — has announced its first-ever EDM show, which will take place on New Year’s Eve: Afterlife-Interscope recording artist Anyma, who will present his ambitious “The End of Genesys” audio-visual show at the venue. Currently, there will be just one performance at the venue.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music In an unusual follow-up commentary on a just-released video, Katy Perry dropped a brief clip on Instagram explaining that her new, seemingly female-empowering “Woman’s World” video, which landed to a largely negative reaction after its release Thursday night, was intended to be sarcastic, and suggests that her intent may become clearer in the weeks to come because, “It’s a whole different world we go to after this.” The clip was roundly slammed after it dropped, in part because of the revealing outfits in a pro-female video (and also in part because the song was co-produced and co-written by Dr. Luke, the hitmaker who was accused of sexual misconduct by his former protégé Kesha; the case was settled with no conviction or admission of guilt on his part, but the association was still not a positive one).

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music It’s hard to imagine that anyone who clicked on this article isn’t familiar with “I Like the Way You Kiss Me,” the song by fast-rising 24-year-old British singer-songwriter-producer Artemas that has quickly become one of the biggest and most ubiquitous songs of 2024. The song’s pulsating beat and dark vibe, which contrasts with the happy-sounding chorus, is a perfect entrée for Artemas’ dark bedroom pop, which got its first extended airing on the “Pretty” mixtape, which was released in February.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music It wouldn’t be an Eminem album without some choice and often off-color-if-not-offensive words for fellow hip-hop luminaries, and the veteran rapper’s just-released 12th studio LP, “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce),” singles out Kanye West, Ja Rule and even Lizzo, along with Caitlyn Jenner, the late Christopher Reeve and his own mother. However, he saved his most vicious attacks for Sean “Diddy” Combs, who has been slammed with multiple sexual assault or misconduct lawsuits amid allegations reaching back decades.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music For the uninitiated, Cassandra Jenkins is a New York-based singer-songwriter with a pristine voice, precise enunciation and a tone that at times recalls St. Vincent (although you’d rarely confuse the two).

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Keyboardist Rod Argent, founder of legendary British groups the Zombies and Argent, will retire from touring as he recovers from a stroke, the group’s management announced on Thursday. “Rod had recently returned home from a triumphant Zombies tour of the UK, and spent a weekend in London with his beloved wife Cathy, celebrating his 79th birthday and their 52nd wedding anniversary, before the stroke occurred,” the announcement reads. “He was hospitalized overnight, and released the next day.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Following Universal Music’s restructuring of its U.S. labels earlier this year, the company’s U.K. division is reorganizing as well, notably with the merging of two iconic frontline labels, Island Records U.K.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer was sued for wrongful death Wednesday for allegedly running over and killing a pedestrian in Los Angeles. According to the lawsuit, which was accompanied by video and still photography of the accident from the suing attorneys, Klinghoffer was allegedly on his phone while making a left turn and striking Israel Sanchez, 47, causing blunt-force trauma to the head.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music One of the biggest challenges for any artist is knowing when a creation — a song, a story, a painting — is finished and ready to be shared with the world. More than many, Neil Young has shown a willingness to wait, recording songs and full albums — and even performing them in concert — and then sitting on them for years… or decades.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music As this album’s cover artwork suggests — it appears to show a restaurant table with one man drinking tea and eating baked beans, and the other drinking syrup — a full-length collaboration album between British avant singer-songwriter James Blake and psychedelicized Atlanta rapper Lil Yachty might not have been on anyone’s prediction list for 2024. But even knowing both artists’ predilection for the unexpected, it’s a surprisingly symbiotic alliance.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music In a brief Instagram Live video Wednesday, Donald Glover — aka Childish Gambino — somewhat clarified the burst of unclear messaging about his new album and film that appeared on the Internet the previous night.CHILDISH GAMBINOLITHONIAJULY 2 pic.twitter.com/Hqg3jaSoVa Several online posts stated that he has a project titled “Lithonia” arriving on July 2, which was accompanied by an official-looking graphic and a photograph of letters projected onto a wall simply stating “Bando is coming.” All of those things were consistent with the cryptic messaging he’s been dropping for the past few weeks via his Gilga Radio show and website — Lithonia is a city near Atlanta, setting of his popular television series; Bando is part of the title of his next album and film — but it was unclear where these messages came from, although some pointed to a post that appeared briefly on the streaming distributor Audiomack before being taken down. In a rambling talk Wednesday night on Instagram Live — that was frequently paused by poor connectivity — as he wandered around his beloved California farm, Glover said that what is arriving on July 2 is a single titled “Lithonia” that is apparently a prequel to the album.

Variety‘s music staff — executive editor Jem Aswad, senior writer Steven J. Horowitz, associate editor Thania Garcia and senior writer/chief music critic Chris Willman — to playlist your summer and beyond.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music As part of its long-term effort to update and diversify its membership, the Recording Academy — home of the Grammy Awards — has extended membership invitations to more than 3,900 established music professionals spanning diverse backgrounds, genres and disciplines. According to the announcement, the 2024 class of invitees is 45% women, 57% people of color and 47% under the age of 40. With this year’s new member invitees, the Recording Academy is on track to achieve its goal of adding 2,500 women voting members by 2025 this year — one year ahead of schedule.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music After your masterplan succeeds and so many of your dreams come true… then what? That is a question a 26-year-old Prince may well have been asking himself after “Purple Rain” transformed him into a global superstar virtually overnight (or whatever passed for “overnight” in 1984). While his rise was gradual — “Purple Rain,” released on this day 40 years ago, was Prince’s sixth album — there’s no disputing the remarkable speed with which his fame skyrocketed during the summer of “Ghostbusters,” the Los Angeles Olympics and “Born in the U.S.A.” Granted, musical careers, like nearly everything else, moved more gradually back then.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Rob Stone, who co-founded the influential music marketing company Cornerstone Agency and the magazine the Fader, died Monday after a battle with cancer, according to social media posts from his family and his longtime friend and co-CEO Jon Cohen. He was 55. “It is with a heavy heart and sadness we share the news of the passing of Rob Stone,” his family wrote.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music It is a plight common to most professional songwriters: Everyone knows their songs, but few people know who they are. And it’s hard to think of a more vivid example of that syndrome than Gerry Goffin, Carole King’s late ex-husband and longtime writing partner, who was responsible for the lyrics of such timeless songs as “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?,” “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman,” “Up on the Roof,” “The Loco-Motion,” “One Fine Day” and dozens more — he wrote the lyrics for a total of 114 Billboard Hot 100 hits for artists including Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, Natalie Cole, James Taylor, Ray Charles, Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue and of course, King (with whom he is pictured above, in the early 1960s).

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Lainey Wilson and Chuck D joined U.S. Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken and YouTube’s head of music Lyor Cohen in Washington D.C.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Justin Timberlake thanked fans in the way most suited for him at his first concert since spending the night in jail after being arrested for DWI earlier this week. “It’s been a tough week,” he said at Chicago’s United Center Friday night, after a long pause filled with cheering from the crowd. “I know sometimes I’m hard to love, but you keep on loving me and I love you right back.” He then led the band into “Selfish,” the first single from his latest album, “Everything I Thought It Was.” He didn’t apologize explicitly or refer directly to the incident, but his sentiment seemed implicit to many vocal members of the audience.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Fast-rising pop singer-songwriter Chappell Roan made a memorable appearance on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” Thursday, wearing a wild feathered black outfit for her chat with the host before donning a completely different feather-bedecked dress to perform her latest single, “Good Luck, Babe!” Her performance of the song was vivid, as she showed off her formidable vocal range on the final “I told you so!” segment of the song from a surreal garden-like setting, which begin and ended with her singing while seated on a throne shaped like a white swan. The interview — her first on late-night TV — was lively from the start.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Kendrick Lamar did not half-step during the opening of his “Pop Out” concert in Los Angeles on Wednesday night: He not only opened his set with the Drake diss “Euphoria,” he rolled out a new verse for it: ““Give me Tupac’s ring back and I might give you a little respect.”KENDRICK OPENING UP WITH PERFORMING EUPHORIA FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH EVERY ONE SINGING ALONGTHIS IS LEGENDARY SHIT

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The Queen music catalog, along with a number of other rights, is in the process of being acquired by Sony Music for £1 billion (around $1.27 billion), two sources confirm to Variety. The news was first reported by Hits; according to their report, the only revenue not covered in the deal is for live performances, which founding members Brian May and Roger Taylor, who still actively tour with singer Adam Lambert, will retain.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Verzuz, the online platform launched during the pandemic by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, has struck a distribution partnership with Elon Musk’s X. The pair made the announcement during Cannes Lions conference in France on Wednesday. Earlier in the year, Swizz and Timbaland reacquired Verzuz from their previous partner Triller and now own 100% of the platform, while retaining their equity (along with the artists who participated in Verzuz) in Triller, according to the announcement.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Sabrina Carpenter performed her two songs of the summer candidates, “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” along with a cover of fast-rising labelmate Chappell Roan’s latest single “Good Luck, Babe!” for BBC Radio One’s Live Lounge on Tuesday. Carpenter’s version of the song, which starts at around the 20-minute mark below, starts off low-key and near-acoustic, but gathers steam on the second verse as the band and backing singers join in.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Scooter Braun, who had unofficially stepped back from managing such top artists as Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande at least two years ago, finally made it official on Monday: He is stepping back from being a manager to focus on being CEO of HYBE America, the company to which he sold his own company in 2021, and to focus on his family. He made the announcement in a nearly 1,400-word statement that follows in full: 23 years. 23 years.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Coldplay have announced the release of their tenth studio album, “Moon Music,” slated for release on October 4.
The album’s first single, “feelslikeimfallinginlove,” is due this
Friday. The album is produced by Max Martin, who has worked with everyone from Britney Spears and the Weeknd to Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Jeremy Tepper, a musician, journalist, executive, program director of SiriusXM’s “Outlaw Country” channel and for decades a leading light of the Americana/ alt-country movement, died Friday of a heart attack. Singer Laura Cantrell, Tepper’s wife of 27 years, confirmed the news on social media. He was 60.