Drake captured the Number One spot on the Artists 500 for the third week in a row, pulling in 122.6 million streams for the week of June 12th through June 18th. The Toronto rapper’s closest challenger was Lil Baby, who underscored an impressive week on the charts with a rise …
Read More »Prince's 'Blue Angel' Cloud 2 Guitar Sells for $563,000 at Auction
Prince’s “Blue Angel” Cloud 2 electric guitar — “the most significant Prince guitar that’ll ever come up for auction” — sold for a high bid of $563,000 Saturday, exceeding pre- auction estimates. The 1984 custom-made instrument, long thought to be lost, was played by Prince on the tours in support …
Read More »Weezer Deliver Piano Ballad Rendition of 'Hero' on 'Fallon'
Weezer put a new spin on socially distanced late-night performances with their rendition of “Hero” on The Tonight Show Wednesday. To start, the band transformed the riff-heavy track into a piano power ballad, led by frontman Rivers Cuomo, who appeared at his piano at home and began performing the song …
Read More »Jeff Tweedy Calls for Music Industry Program to Divert Revenue to Racial Justice Groups
Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy called for the creation of a program that would allow songwriters and musicians to regularly donate a portion of their royalties to organizations fighting for racial justice. Tweedy opened his statement by noting that the modern music industry is “built almost entirely on black art” and that …
Read More »Brian Eno's Collaborative Albums With John Cale, Jah Wobble to Be Reissued
Brian Eno’s collaborative albums with John Cale and bassist Jah Wobble — 1990’s Wrong Way Up and 1995’s Spinner, respectively — will be reissued with a handful of bonus tracks each. The sets will arrive on August 21st via All Saints Records. The reissues coincide with the 30th anniversary of …
Read More »Nile Rodgers Launches New 'Youth to the Front' Fund to Fight Systemic Racism
Nile Rodgers’ We Are Family Foundation announced the creation of its new Youth to the Front Fund, which will benefit activists and organizations fighting to end systemic racism. Per a press release, the YTTF Fund will specifically support and fund “under 30-year-old BIPOC [Black Indigenous People of Color] youth activists, …
Read More »Liverpool's Penny Lane — of Beatles Fame — Might Be Facing a Name Change
UPDATE (6/19): The International Slavery Museum has deduced that Penny Lane’s name is not connected to the slave trade. Liverpool’s Penny Lane — of Beatles fame — might be renamed, according to Steve Rotheram, Liverpool’s Metro Mayor. Last week, four road signs bearing the name were spray-painted over, according to …
Read More »Lollapalooza Canceled Due to Coronavirus Pandemic
Lollapalooza 2020 has been canceled due to ongoing health concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic. “We wish we could bring Lollapalooza to Grant Park again this year, but we understand why things can’t move forward as planned,” the festival wrote on its website. “The health and safety of our fans, …
Read More »Dolly Parton Brings Comfort in a Crisis With New Song, 'When Life Is Good Again'
“Be safe, be respectful, wear your mask, lead with love,” Dolly Parton instructs in her new video for the song “When Life Is Good Again.” The Country Music Hall of Famer has done her part and then some to bring her fans some solace during the COVID-19 pandemic: releasing six …
Read More »'On the Record' Directors Talk Sexual Assault in Music Industry, Loss of Women's Voices
One of the most anticipated films at Sundance is getting a premiere on new service HBO Max Wednesday — after a highly publicized dustup in which original backers Oprah Winfrey and Apple dropped their support right before its premiere at the festival. Helmed by veteran filmmakers Amy Ziering and Kirby …
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