The 66th annual Grammy awards saw pre-telecast wins from SZA, Victoria Monét, Chris Stapleton and Killer Mike
Gracie Abrams
Fred again..
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Coco Jones
Noah Kahan
Victoria Monét – WINNER
The War and Treaty
Category Archives: Culture
Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett, bassist with Bob Marley and the Wailers, dies aged 77
Influential musician also co-produced group’s albums and mentored many Jamaican artists
Aston “Family Man” Barrett, bassist for Bob Marley and the Wailers, has died aged 77.
The news was confirmed on Saturday by Olivia Grange, Jamaica’s minister for culture, who wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “I share with you my deep regret at the passing of Aston Francis Barrett, popularly known as ‘Family Man’ or ‘Fams’ … He died at the University of Miami Hospital in Florida in the United States early this morning.”
Continue reading...HBO hit TV series the White Lotus drops actor Miloš Biković over Russia ties
Network says role will be recast after Ukraine hit out over casting of Serbian for new season
The makers of hit TV show the White Lotus have dropped actor Miloš Biković from the upcoming series after criticism from Ukraine over the Serbian native’s ties to Russia.
Biković, who was cast for the third season of the award-winning dark comedy just weeks ago, has protested against HBO’s decision as “the triumph of absurdity and the defeat of art”.
Continue reading...And the winner is… the Scottish chocolatier creating sweet treats for the Oscars
Fiona McArthur’s vegan sweets began as an experiment – and now they’re food for the Hollywood stars
It’s a long way from the windswept waterfront of Campbeltown to Hollywood: but for next month’s Oscar nominees a taste of this remote corner of Scotland awaits, after the owner of the town’s chocolate shop was chosen to produce the sweet treats for the famed $125,000 award ceremony goodie bags.
Fiona McArthur, who started creating her chocolates in her mother’s kitchen four-and-a-half years ago, says she’s still pinching herself at the coup. “It’s blowing my mind that my chocolates are going to be eaten by people like Bradley Cooper and Margot Robbie,” she says.
Continue reading...‘We’re going to blame the women, not our sexism’: bias holding back top female pianists
Discrimination and misogyny in classical music are denying women opportunities at festivals, venues and in recordings, research finds
A discordant chord over sexism in the classical music world has sounded again. The head of one of the most prestigious competitions is calling for the industry to confront an apparent bias that is holding back female pianists from pursuing concert careers, however brilliant their talent.
Fiona Sinclair, chief executive of the Leeds International Piano Competition, told the Observer that female pianists are failing to reach the top of their profession despite an equal number of men and women now training at conservatoires.
Continue reading...Wayne Kramer, co-founder of rock band MC5, dies aged 75
Guitarist helped to give Detroit band their powerful, politically charged sound and continued their legacy into the 21st century
Wayne Kramer, the guitarist who co-created MC5 – one of the rawest, most influential and politically engaged bands in US history – has died aged 75. His Instagram page announced the news: “Wayne S Kramer. Peace be with you. April 30 1948 – February 2 2024.”
Born and raised in Detroit, Kramer teamed with teenage friend and fellow guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith, each of them influenced as much by free jazz as they were by R&B and rock’n’roll. Along with the frontman Rob Tyner, they made MC5 into an incendiary force in their city’s music scene, alongside peers such as the Stooges.
Continue reading...You need to calm down: Taylor Swift can fly from Tokyo to Super Bowl in time, says Japan embassy
Singer should be able to see boyfriend Travis Kelce in person despite 17-hour time change and 12-hour flight, embassy says
Japan’s embassy in Washington has assured an angsty public that Taylor Swift should make it to the Super Bowl in time to see her boyfriend Travis Kelce play in the big game – as long as her post-concert flight from Tokyo leaves on time.
The embassy’s Friday statement answered a question weighing on the minds of the pop star’s multitude of fans, who wondered if it was even logistically possible for her to be in position to cheer on Kelce in person as he seeks a third NFL championship with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Continue reading...Presenter of Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun Jonnie Irwin dies at 50
The TV personality, who also hosted the BBC show Escape to the Country, said in 2022 his lung cancer had spread to his brain
The TV presenter Jonnie Irwin has died aged 50, his agent has confirmed.
Irwin, who presented Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun and the BBC’s Escape to the Country, revealed in November 2022 that his lung cancer had spread to his brain and it was terminal.
Continue reading...Italian minister investigated over alleged art theft quits
Vittorio Sgarbi, who denies allegations over painting, cites separate antitrust investigation in resignation
An Italian art critic who was recently placed under investigation over allegations that a 17th-century painting in his possession was stolen from a castle more than a decade ago has resigned as a junior culture minister.
“I am resigning with immediate effect as undersecretary of the government and will inform [the prime minister, Giorgia] Meloni in the next few hours,” Vittorio Sgarbi said on the sidelines of a conference in Milan.
Continue reading...‘I’m devastated it’s closing’: London shoppers bid sad farewell to Fenwick
New Bond Street department store, which opened in 1890s, to close doors for final time this weekend
More than 130 years after it opened, the flagship Fenwick department store in central London, will close its doors for the last time on Saturday.
The historic four-storey shop in New Bond Street, Mayfair, is shutting after the retailer – which is owned by more than 40 descendants of John James Fenwick who founded the company with a single store in Newcastle in 1882 – sold the property to developers for £430m.
Continue reading...Brad Pitt set to star in Quentin Tarantino’s final movie – report
Pair are rumored to be reuniting for 70s-set drama The Movie Critic after last working together in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Brad Pitt is reportedly starring in Quentin Tarantino’s final film The Movie Critic, according to a Deadline report.
The pair previously worked together in 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with the role bringing Pitt his first Oscar for best supporting actor. Pitt also starred in 2009’s Inglourious Basterds and featured in 1993’s True Romance, which was co-written by Tarantino.
Continue reading...Laurie Anderson ends German professorship after criticism of Palestine support
Essen’s Folkwang University took issue with the American artist’s support of a ‘letter against apartheid’ by Palestinian artists
The artist, musician and film director Laurie Anderson has withdrawn from a guest professorship at a university in Germany after officials took issue with her support for a 2021 statement by Palestinian artists titled Letter Against Apartheid.
The decision, announced days before Anderson is due to receive a lifetime achievement award at this year’s Grammys, adds to the wave of cultural events that have been scrapped in Germany after artists expressed views deemed by officials to be anti-Israel.
Continue reading...Of death – and laughter: how to write plays in Ukraine during wartime
A dozen playwrights and directors meet in Kyiv and find comedy can be an important part of their creative process
In a studio theatre tucked into a courtyard behind Kyiv’s main Khreshchatyk Street, six playwrights and six directors were hammering out a fraught question: how to write plays about war, during the war.
One unexpected outcome of their workshops was: through jokes.
Continue reading...Cher denied temporary conservatorship over 47-year-old son Elijah Blue Allman
The singer argued that receiving payments from the trust of his late father, Gregg Allman, put him in danger due to his substance abuse
A judge has rejected Cher’s request that her adult son be put into an emergency court conservatorship controlling his money.
The Oscar- and Grammy-winning singer and actor had argued in a petition that 47-year-old Elijah Blue Allman’s large payments from the trust of his late father, rocker Gregg Allman, are putting him in danger because of his struggles with mental health and substance abuse.
Continue reading...N Scott Momaday, Pulitzer-winning Native American novelist, dies aged 89
The Kiowa tribe member’s debut House Made of Dawn is credited as the starting point for contemporary Native American literature
N Scott Momaday, a Pulitzer prize-winning storyteller, poet, educator and folklorist whose debut novel House Made of Dawn is widely credited as the starting point for contemporary Native American literature, has died. He was 89.
Momaday died Wednesday at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, publisher HarperCollins announced. He had been in failing health.
Something like a leaf lies here within me; / it wavers almost not at all, / and there is no light to see it by / that it withers upon a black field. / If it could ascend the thousand years into my mouth, / I would make a word of it at last, / and I would speak it into the silence of the sun.
Continue reading...Swedish music stars call for Israel Eurovision ban over Gaza
Open letter signed by more than 1,000 musicians from 2024 host country follows petition from artists in Finland and Iceland
More than 1,000 musical artists from Eurovision host country Sweden have signed an open letter calling for Israel to be excluded from this year’s edition of the song contest over its “brutal warfare in Gaza”.
Published in Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, the open letter says that by allowing Israel to participate, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) “is exhibiting a remarkable double standard that undermines the organisation’s credibility”.
Continue reading...Dying man who stole Dorothy’s Wizard of Oz ruby slippers escapes jail term
Terry Jon Martin, 76, who is living in hospice care, stole slippers from Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in 2005
A dying thief who confessed to stealing a pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in The Wizard of Oz because he wanted to pull off “one last score” was given no prison time at his sentencing hearing Monday.
Terry Jon Martin, 76, stole the slippers in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in the late actor’s home town of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. He gave into temptation after an old mob associate told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1m insured value, his attorney revealed in a memo to the federal court ahead of his sentencing in Duluth.
Continue reading...Italian actor Sandra Milo, star of Federico Fellini’s 8½, dies aged 90
Renowned figure in Italian film died in her sleep at her residence in Rome, according to a family statement
The Italian actor Sandra Milo, a renowned figure in Italy’s film industry known for her performance in Federico Fellini’s 8½, has died aged 90.
Milo died in her sleep at her residence in Rome surrounded by her family and her dogs, Jim and Lady, according to a statement from the family carried by state-run RAI television.
Continue reading...Amazon’s Expats series not available in Hong Kong, where it is set
First two episodes inaccessible to viewers in city, with some attributing censorship to umbrella protest scenes
Amazon’s big-ticket series Expats, set and filmed in Hong Kong, is not available for viewing in the city despite being billed as a worldwide release.
The first two episodes of the drama, starring Nicole Kidman and directed by The Farewell’s Lulu Wang, were released on Friday but listed as “currently unavailable” for viewers in Hong Kong. The series, based on a 2016 novel, The Expatriates, focuses on the lives of three American women in Hong Kong.
Continue reading...Protesters throw soup at Mona Lisa in Paris
Visitors at Louvre look on in shock as Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece attacked by environmental protesters
Two environmental protesters have hurled soup at the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris, calling for “healthy and sustainable food”. The painting, which was behind bulletproof glass, appeared to be undamaged.
Gallery visitors looked on in shock as two women threw the yellow-coloured soup before climbing under the barrier in front of the work and flanking the splattered painting, their right hands held up in a salute-like gesture.
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